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"I'm not good or evil, I just am. I'm inevitable."
—The Angel of Death to Prue Halliwell.[src]

The Angel of Death is an ancient, powerful being that is neither good nor evil, but simply neutral. It is his job is to keep the cosmic balance leveled by claiming the souls of the dead.

Death claims the souls of those who die and takes them to the afterlife. It is useless to fight him as he cannot be destroyed for there is always death, and there is only life because of death. The Angel of Death cannot be stopped and never gives up a claim. The only way to change the fate of one destined to die is to make a plea to an Angel of Destiny.

The Angel of Death has come into contact with the Charmed Ones on numerous occasions, which is unusual as most mortal beings only encounter Death once. These meetings have formed a familiar bond between the sisters and Death, something he had never experienced before.[1]

History

Meeting Prue Halliwell

"But I've seen it so many times before. The anger, the pain. You lock up your tears and angrily steel yourself against me as if I was the ultimate evil."
—Death to Prue Halliwell.[src]

While at the beach with her sisters, Prue Halliwell suddenly saw a dark shadow following a woman. When the Seekers killed later her, the shadow appeared again and turned into the Angel of Death to claim her soul. He told Prue there was nothing she could do, as her time had come.

Prue later went back to the beach and cast a spell to summon Death. He appeared before her and taunted her about her mother, telling her she was angry about her early death. Death stated that Prue could not accept death, which prevented her from mourning her mother properly. In order to get her to accept death, the Angel took Prue to the mausoleum to witness the death of Reece Davidson.

The following day, Death told Prue that if she had not accepted death, she would have been next on his list. Prue then admitted she was angry, because she did not know what else to be. Death then told her to grieve and move on before disappearing.[2]

Going after Miles

Despite not appearing in the episode, the Angel of Death went after Phoebe's boyfriend, Miles, whose life has come to an end. His attempt to collect his soul is thwarted every time by Phoebe's premonitions of his dying moments. According to Bacarra, the Angel of Death eventually goes after Phoebe to stop her from messing with the Grand Design. This chain of events is eventually undone when Piper went back in time and talked herself into letting Miles die.[3]

Clarence

Main article: Clarence

A different Angel using the name Clarence appeared to take the soul of Chris Halliwell, as he started fading away due to his parents not conceiving him yet because of his interference in the past. He posed as a janitor at P3 and talked to Chris as he was a special case. He wanted Chris to enjoy his life more. When Chris was conceived, Clarance appeared to him once more and told him not to waste his second chance.[4]

Piper as the Angel of Death

"People have to die in the order on my list. If one person doesn't, all death ceases. Now I have to work overtime to collect the souls I've been unable to claim, to undo the damage you've done to the grand design."
—Death to Piper Halliwell.[src]

The Angel of Death appeared once more after Paige Matthews cast a spell on an innocent, causing him to literally become unable to die. This in turn prevented all people from moving on. After an argument with the sisters, Death temporarily killed Piper and turned her into another Angel of Death in order to repair the damage they had caused.

Death was later confronted by the Half-Demon Sirk, who convinced him to reverse the spell himself. This allowed Sirk to kill his relative. When Sirk proceeded to kill Paige, Piper appeared to take her soul, though Phoebe instead made a deal with Death to take the mortal soul of Sirk instead, so Paige could live and the balance was maintained. Death then took Sirk and restored Piper to life.[5]

Changing Destiny

Some time prior to the Ultimate Battle, the Angel of Death appeared before Piper once more. He informed her that Leo was about to die and offered her a chance to say goodbye, as the time he spent with the sisters caused him to become sympathetic toward them, something that had never happened before.

Piper attempted to fight Death and cast a spell to make every man look exactly like Leo to confuse and stall him. However, Death eventually found the real Leo and he was injured in a car crash. During another conversation, Death hinted there was a reason this was happening, which was why he appeared. Piper then summoned an Elder and an Avatar for answers. Both were reluctant to share information, but informed her that she needed to speak with somebody of higher power.

The sister then proceeded to summon an Angel of Destiny for answers. They then learned that Leo's death was meant to inspire them to fight the Ultimate Battle. They eventually managed to make a deal to trap Leo in ice with the Crystals used by the demon Burke, with the promise that he would be returned after the battle was fought.[6]

The Ancient Athame

While helping a young woman named Faith cross over after she was killed in a car crash, the Angel was confronted by a demon named Valen. Death was surprised Valen could see him and the demon abruptly stabbed him with the Ancient Athame, as it required the blood of someone caught between life and death to be activated.[7]

It is later revealed that Death survived being stabbed by the athame, as he joined the new Tribunal to find a way to defeat the Old Ones.[8] He presumably did not join the assault against Prue Halliwell, though it is unknown if he was among those slaughtered by her.[9]

Spells

To Summon the Angel of Death

Spirits of Air, Sand, and Sea
Converge to set the Angel free
In the Wind, I send this Rhyme
Bring Death before me before my Time.

Powers and Abilities

Basic Powers
Active Powers
  • Intangibility: The ability to become intangible move through solid objects. The Angel once stood in the middle of the road and a car passed through him.
  • Invisibility: The ability to be unseen by the naked eye. The Angel is invisible by definition and will only become visible when he chooses to do so.
  • Power Granting: The ability to grant magical powers to other beings. The Angel once granted Piper Halliwell powers similar to his when he turned her into an Angel of Death to temporarily replace him.
  • Sensing: The ability to sense the location of other beings, most notable the location of the next person on his list.
  • Necrokinesis: The ability to cause instant death without apparent cause and pull a soul out of their body. The Angel once used this to temporarily kill Piper Halliwell.
    • Soul Absorption: The ability to absorb souls. The Angel absorbs souls when he ferries them to the afterlife.
    • Portal Creation: The ability to create portals to the afterlife.
    • Resurrection: The ability to bring other beings back from the dead. The Angel managed to resurrect both Paige and Piper.
  • Telekinesis: The ability to move matter with the power of the mind. The Angel channeled his power through his arm when he threw Sirk into a portal.
  • Conjuration: The ability to draw objects into existence. The Angel used this power when conjuring his list.
  • Dark Wisping: The ability to teleport through dark wisps, leaving the image of a skull for a moment.
  • Elemental Mimicry: The ability to turn one's body into elements. The Angel of Death could transform into a shadowy figure.
Other Powers
  • Immortality: The ability to possess an infinite lifespan and an arrested aging process. The Angel is truly immortal and cannot be vanquished.
  • Invincibility: The ability to be invincible, meaning one cannot be defeated. It has been mentioned many times that one cannot beat death.
  • Immunity: The ability to be immune to certain or all magical powers, spells and potions.

Death's List

Main article: Death's List

The Angel of Death has a list detailing people destined to die according to the Grand Design.[10] There are two columns on the list; Dead and To Die. The ones under Dead are people who are dying, the ones under To Die will soon die. However, the names keep changing, removing themselves, changing places, as destinies are changed continually. Once someone on the list has passed away, the name will disappear.

Notes and Trivia

  • The placeholder names on the list are all names of crew members.
  • The actual prop of Death's List had the names digitally removed and separately added again so that the special effect, names removing themselves and changing places, could be added. The list, when seen from a distance and without any effects, has the same order of names when it has changed a few times already.
  • Simon Templeman was unable to reprise the role in "The Courtship of Wyatt's Father" due to scheduling conflicts. This caused Death to appear in another appearance, Clarence, portrayed by Lou Beatty Jr.

Gallery

Appearances

The Angel of Death appeared in a total of 4 episodes and 3 comic issues over the course of the series.

References

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