Austin Herrick is a freshman college student in Philadelphia and a nascent warlock with the power of Energy Beam. He is a descendant from Matthew Tate's bloodline. His father was a warlock and his mother a mortal.
Unlike many other warlocks, Austin was never tempted to use his powers for evil, and thus the Charmed Ones deemed him innocent and worthy of saving.
History[]
Early life[]
Austin was still an infant when his father died at the hands of a witch. His mother got caught in the crossfire and died as well. Austin was since left orphaned and grew up without learning about his magical heritage.
He eventually went to college in Philadelphia with Isaac's help, majoring biotechnics.
Unintentionally Joining the Witch Hunters[]
One day, Isaac brought Austin to an art museum and told him about witches, then forced him to approach a witch in another room. Austin was skeptical about magic and tried to help Alysha. But then, Isaac entered the room and drew out his gun. Austin pushed him away and it went off, alerting everyone. Austin fled the state with Isaac and ended up in Salem, where he met up with his entire faction of Witch Hunters. Isaac told him everything about witchcraft and its dangers, but Austin questioned his explanations.
Later that night, Austin witnessed a local coven being drained of their powers and did not enjoy watching the women's suffering or their loss of magic.
Origins, Near-Death Experience and the Charmed Ones[]
When Isaac brought him back to Philadelphia to target the same witch again, Austin went to warn her instead. The plan backfired as Isaac appeared in his demonic form in public, forcing Alysha to reveal her powers in self-defense. An adrenaline-filled Austin then shot laser beams out of his hands and caught the demon's attention, much to his surprise. Once Isaac knew his power had surfaced, he brought Austin back to the headquarters and tied him up in chains and proceeded to drain him of his blood to create the four Books of Light meant for the Charmed Ones and Prue Halliwell.
He was barely alive when the Charmed Ones found him. With Paige Matthews unable to heal him due to magical blockage from Izax, they brought him back to the All where he healed through closeness with its magic and Alysha's help. Despite his warlock heritage, the Halliwell sisters believed that he was not as evil as the other warlocks they had encountered in the past, and deemed him worthy of saving. Prue noted that Alysha may be able to keep him on the straight and narrow path.
He was last seen witnessing Prue's reunion with the the rest of her family.
Physical Appearance[]
Austin was noted to be "slight, with light, mussed hair, ears that stuck out a bit, and a scruff of stubble on his chin".
Personality[]
Despite finding out his father was a warlock who died in the hands of witches, Austin retained his sense of right and wrong, and did what he believed was right; including saving witches. Being meek and insecure, he was easy to manipulate by others.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Basic Powers
- Spell Casting: The ability to cast spells and perform rituals.
- Potion Brewing: The ability to brew potions.
- Scrying: The ability to locate another being or object with the use of a map and a crystal.
- Active Powers
- Energy Beam: The ability to shoot beams of energy. Austin could shoot beams out of his fingertips.
- Other Powers
- Power Absorption: The ability to absorb the powers of other beings. Warlocks do this by killing them with an athame.
Notes and Trivia[]
- The Charmed Ones theorized that the Window of Opportunity, where a witch whose powers had recently awakened could be easily swayed by Good and Evil within forty-eight hours until they make their decision, may apply to Austin.
- Despite being told that he was a warlock, Austin's mother was mortal. This makes him similar to Brendan Rowe and more prone to goodness.
Appearances[]
Austin Herrick appeared in a total of 1 canon e-book novel throughout the franchise.
| E-books | |||||
| #01 | "The War on Witches" | #02 | "Let Gorgons Be Gorgons" | ||