The power to throw Energy Balls is an offensive ability used by primarily demons, and in some cases witches, Whitelighters and warlocks. The user can form balls of energy, which resemble electrical discharges, in their hand, and throw them at targets with varying levels of voltage. They can also dissipate and control the energy ball while still in their hand.
History
Inspector Rodriguez is the first evil being the Charmed Ones encounter with this power. Belthazor also possessed this particular power, as do several other demons such as Zotars, a breed of demonic bounty hunters.[1] It is a common, deadly, and effective power, worthy of frequent use in the Demonic Community.
Later in the series, some witches are shown to possess this power, notably the morally ambiguous Montana and Callaway families, Bianca and other Phoenix witches. While usually blue, some demons have shown to create red Energy Balls,[2] and sometimes they have a purple hue.[3]Cole once created a huge, powerful energy ball, with which he attempted to vanquish the Source, but instead killed the Oracle, who sacrificed herself to save the Source.[4] Darklighters and evil witches with Darklighter ancestry also seem to have this power.[5]
Energy Balls appear to be able to be deflected using mirrors, as seen when Cole tries to commit suicide, he throws an energy ball at a mirror, which rebounds and hits him, setting him on fire.[6] Energy Balls seem to be deflected by hard durable objects. Once when the Charmed Ones were being faced by three demons with energy balls, Phoebe hit an energy ball with a crowbar, baseball style, and sent it back towards the demons, effectively vanquishing them.[7] However, cars and other technology can catch on fire and explode when hit by an Energy Ball.[8]
Strength and Control
Energy balls are susceptible to being orbed.
The power of an Energy Ball varies as it depends on the user. For instance, a low-level demon with this power would probably have to use multiple Energy Balls to vanquish a target, while an upper-level demon such as Belthazor would be able to vanquish a target in one hit. Users can nearly always be vanquished by their own Energy Balls because they are as powerful as they are.
Some especially powerful demons can kill or incapacitate multiple targets with a single Energy Ball. For instance, Cole Turner once knocked Piper, Paige and Leo to the ground (and knocked out Piper and Leo) with one Energy Ball.[9] Barbas, after having stolen Cole's powers from the Demonic Wasteland, threw an Energy Ball at Phoebe, which missed and vanquished multiple demons in a single hit.[10] Also, some demons can throw reduced-voltage Energy Balls that can merely stun targets.[11]
Cole Turner once threw an Energy Ball which split in two separate balls, heading toward two Seekers.[12] This would indicate that users have at least some control over their Energy Balls once thrown.
Some Whitelighters are able to create low-voltage Energy Balls that are harmless and use them to train with their charges.[13] This is possibly a sub-power of their Photokinesis.
Though Energy Balls are usually thrown, the users can also form and shoot the ball from their hands immediately without having to move their hands at all.[14]
Energy Balls are usually shot from the open palm of the user's hand, but some demons have displayed the ability to use Energy Balls without opening their palms.[15]
Although users shoot only one Energy Ball at a time, some demons like Zankou and Cole Turner have displayed the ability to shoot Energy Balls from both hands at the same time.[16]
There has been one instance where Cole Turner formed an energy ball with two hands to put more energy into his attack; making the energy ball larger; this was used in an attempt to vanquish the Source.[17]
Resistance
Energy balls are usually lethal, as is the case with mortals and weak magical beings. Mostly, the bodies erupt in flames and all that is left of the victims are scorch marks on the area where their body was. However, some demons are powerful enough that they can withstand the blast. Also, the Charmed Ones eventually grew powerful enough that they could withstand being hit by them. The strength of the ball itself is also a factor as not all energy balls are intended to kill.[18]
List of Users
- Various Beings
- Montana Family
- Callaway Family
- Bianca
- Phoenix Witches
- Warlocks
- Gideon
- Darklighters
- Wyatt Halliwell[19]
- Alternate Leo
- Notable Demons
- Temporarily
- The Charmed Ones (Through the Hollow)
Notes
- In the episode "Soul Survivor", Paige's boss Larry was killed by a low-power energy ball, but his cause of death was ruled a heart-attack. Also, his body didn't burst into flame when he died.
- Whenever Inspector Rodriguez was hit by his own energy ball in "Deja Vu All Over Again", he would endure several seconds of electrocution before finally dying. In episodes beyond this, any demon or warlock hit by an energy ball would explode almost instantaneously.
- In "Sympathy for the Demon", Barbas implies that the trigger for this power may be anger because he claims that it only activates once he gets angry enough, having recently acquired it.
References
- ↑ "Déjà Vu All Over Again" and "Sleuthing with the Enemy"
- ↑ "Bite Me" and "Soul Survivor"
- ↑ "The Good, the Bad and the Cursed", "Sympathy for the Demon" and "Centennial Charmed"
- ↑ "Brain Drain"
- ↑ "It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World, Part 1" and "Chris-Crossed"
- ↑ "Y Tu Mummy Tambien"
- ↑ "There's Something About Leo"
- ↑ "The Demon Who Came in From the Cold" and "The Bare Witch Project"
- ↑ "In Centennial Charmed", when he was only Belthazor
- ↑ "Sympathy for the Demon"
- ↑ "Hell Hath No Fury" and "Enter the Demon"
- ↑ "Death Takes a Halliwell"
- ↑ "Power Outage", "Blinded by the Whitelighter"
- ↑ "Power Outage" and "Hell Hath No Fury"
- ↑ "Bite Me" and "Enter the Demon"
- ↑ "Ordinary Witches", "Sam, I Am"
- ↑ "Brain Drain
- ↑ "Brain Drain"
- ↑ (In the dark future, "Chris-Crossed")