Medusa is an infamous gorgon of Greek mythology. She has two older sisters, Stheno and Euryale. Medusa and her sisters were the most powerful witches of their generation (chosen ones) and had done most of the Greek heroic deeds in history, though the credit went to male heroes. While checking out the Greek gods, Medusa was sexually assaulted by Poseidon in Athena's temple, and victim-blamed for it, thus was cursed into her gorgon form by Athena herself.
As a witch, Medusa had the power of Atmokinesis and was the most powerful of all three. She appeared in the e-book novel, Let Gorgons Be Gorgons.
History[]
The Greatest Witch in Ancient Greece[]
In the days of ancient Greece, when Greek gods ruled the world, Medusa and her sisters were up-and-coming witches. Medusa was the most powerful of three by far, but she had a mortal lifespan. Stheno and Euryale were immortal, but weaker on their own.
When things finally got out of hand with the Greek gods, the Elders sent the sisters to Greece to check out what was happening. While they were checking on the Gods, Medusa fell in love with Poseidon, which was against the rules. However, her love soon turned to hatred after he violated her in Athena's temple. As powerful as Medusa was, she could not stop him.
Becoming Gorgon and Later Death[]
Enraged that her temple was defiled, Athena cursed Medusa into becoming a gorgon so that no one would ever want to look upon her. While Athena was motivated by rage, it served a greater purpose as well: it was her way of fighting back against the Elders; by taking out some of their servants. Athena had cursed Medusa's sisters as well when they came after her in a quest to avenge/save their younger sister. It sent a message to Athena's enemies not to mess with her.
Medusa still had magic as a gorgon, but incredibly weaker. She could change her appearance, teleport herself and famously could turn people to stone. Contrary to popular belief and rumor, Medusa did not automatically petrify anyone who looked into her eyes (that was simply a rumor started by Athena, who was still enraged that Medusa still possessed magic). Medusa could control the power to some degree, only petrifying those who upset her.
Not satisfied with the horrors she had already inflicted on Medusa, Athena sent Perseus after the gorgon to end her life. Perseus defeated Medusa by using her reflection against her, which turned her to stone. He then chopped off her head and put it on his shield, which he later gave to Athena to gain favor. Her soul lied in suspense with her ashes, never moved on to the Beyond.
In the year 2002, Medusa was called upon by Phoebe Halliwell in a Petrification Spell. However, as she was powerless at the time, the spell did not work.[1]
Resurrection in the New Millenium[]
In 2009, Medusa was resurrected by Stheno and Euryale who used the magic of the Charmed Ones and the All; Stheno and Euryale petrified a well-known congressman and left him in a park for the sisters to find, Stheno then used her power to sense when they were casting a spell to reverse the petrification, her and Euryale then channeled their energy for a moment to resurrect their fallen sister.
Once restored, her sisters caught her up on everything that had happened since her death; they flooded her mind with images of everything that happened throughout history. They then tried to get Medusa to join their plan of revenge. Medusa refused at first; she had no need for revenge; Athena, Perseus and Poseidon were all dead and could no longer do her harm. She just wanted to live her new life; a better life than the one she had before, one where she gets to experience the exciting times of the modern age. However, she, feeling indebted to them and believed that they were her responsibility, agreed to help them.
Together, Medusa and her sisters were turned several people to stone. However, she quickly came to realize that her sisters were out of control, that they were not content with just punishing those who oppress women—they also wanted to inspire fear. She was horrified to learn that part of their plan included them revealing themselves to the world. Fortunately, the Charmed Ones were able to cover up all their attacks by switching the real statues with fake ones which led people to believe that the whole thing was a viral marketing campaign.
Not long after, the Charmed Ones tracked them down and stopped them from exposing their magic to a stadium full of people. During the confrontation, Paige tried to reason with them, but only Medusa was receptive; mainly because Medusa had secretly been trying to find a way to talk her sisters out of their plan. Things took a turn for the worst when Medusa sensed some of the residual magic that made Athena who she was on Paige. She instantly became enraged and tried to turn Paige to stone. However, Paige was able to orb the gorgon sisters away before orbing herself and her sisters to the Nexus of the All.
Medusa and her sisters found themselves trapped in Alcatraz, but were able to break out with their revived Wiccan powers. They then broke into the All by tapping into the Charmed Ones' magic once again and a huge battle between the sisters ensued. The two sets of sisters were all evenly match due to their connection to the All. However, Phoebe was able to bring the battle to an end by pulling images of the past from her own mind and sharing them with Medusa. She showed her some of her Paige's most heroic deeds and the work of the Charmed Ones as well. Phoebe filled her mind with images of some of their greatest battles, and all the innocents they'd protected—both during their time with Paige, and the early days with Prue. Then she pulled up her most recent images with all four sisters working together. She was able to convince Medusa that Paige was not to blame for Athena's actions.
Phoebe then informed Medusa that her sisters had secretly been working with a former Cupid who had used his own powers to force a woman to love him. And in the process had destroyed that woman's life. Enraged, Medusa made the decision to turn against her sisters and turned them to stone. She also undid the magic done to the statues.
Later that night, Phoebe informed Coop that Medusa was with the Elders and that they had agreed to look after her for a while. Phoebe also announced that she will be checking in with the Elders to make sure Medusa gets the help that she needs from them since they were partly responsible for what happened to her.
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 or person or object with the use of a scrying crystal, a map, and sometimes other tools.
- Mediumship: The ability to see and commune with spirits of the dead.
- Active Powers
- Atmokinesis: The ability to control weather elements. Medusa could only use it to summon lightning.
- Gorgon Powers
- Petrification: The ability to turn living beings into stone.
- Teleportation: The ability to instantly teleport from one location to another.
- Glamouring: The ability to change one's appearance. Medusa could change between her gorgon and human appearance.
- Other Powers
- High Resistance: The ability to be highly resistant to lethal powers.
- Sensing: The ability to sense the location of other beings. Medusa was able to sense residual divine magic on Paige.
Notes and Trivia[]
Andrew Wike's tattoo.
- Medusa decided to keep her sisters as statues until she can help them, only then will she turn them back.
- The criminal Andrew Wike had a tattoo of Medusa on this arm, which Phoebe Halliwell saw in a premonition of a murder, revealing another man about to be convicted was innocent.[2]
- She was also mentioned in the novel Soul of the Bride.
- The Titan Meta has a similar name to Medusa and possessed the ability to turn others to stone with her eyes as well. She is presumably based on the character of Medusa.
- She is a character in Greek mythology. She was a monstrous Gorgon who, according to myths, could turn others to stone if they looked into her eyes.
- Medusa was the strongest of her sisters despite being the youngest. This contradicts the Wiccan seniority in which the firstborn witch was usually the strongest in comparison to its younger siblings.
- Medusa appeared in the first season of the rebooted Charmed. Her history in the episode was the same as the aforementioned information. However, she was also a vengeful creature who targeted people who hurt powerless women and those who turned away instead of helping them.
Appearances[]
Medusa appeared in a total of 1 canonical e-book novel throughout the run of the franchise.
| E-books | |||||
| #01 | "The War on Witches" | #02 | "Let Gorgons Be Gorgons" | ||
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ As seen in "A Witch in Time"
- ↑ As seen in "Trial by Magic"