Possession is the power to take control of living beings by entering their bodies.
Overview[]
When possessing another being, the possessor gains control of the body. Most possessors are able to use both their own powers and the powers of the host.[1]
Whether or not the host retains their memories during their possession is dependent on possessor. For example, temporary hosts to the Source[2] or Possessor Demons[3] do not remember anything, while hosts possessed by spirits do remember their actions.
- "A well-made life essence can possess any living being, but would prove toxic and eventually lethal to the being's pre-existing soul."
- —Prue reading from the Book of Shadows.[src]
When a body is possessed by a life essence, the original soul will slowly be poisoned and will eventually die unless the essence is expelled.
Since one body can't handle having two or more living souls in it, the host's body would rapidly burn out. Worse, the more powerful the host themself is, the faster the body would burn out. This in turn would kill the body and all souls contained in it, unless they are all transferred to a new host all over again or expelled from the body, sending them to the afterlife, until only one single soul remains. Mummification can preserve the body and keep the souls from moving on.
Dispossession[]
Freeing a host from possession can be achieved in several ways. A life essence can be driven out of a host by a dispossessing spell. A potion can also be used.[4] Certain users can be expelled by force, such as an energy ball.[5] If a host has a teleportation power and a strong will, they can use it to teleport themselves out of the spirit. However, not all users can be expelled and must leave their host voluntarily.
Notable Examples[]
- As an evil essence, The Source of All Evil was able to possess a new host when vanquished.[6]
- The Source's Heir was able to take control of his mother Phoebe Halliwell from the womb.[7]
- Kali was able to possess Aviva, though she required Aviva to touch her mirror first. However, she was easily expelled when Piper froze her, causing her to leave Aviva's body when the latter did not freeze.[8]
- Andras could possess other beings, but only if they were angry enough.[5]
- The life essence Terra needed a host body to survive and possessed a businessman, Piper Halliwell and Leo Wyatt before being expelled.[1]
- The ghost of George managed to escape his time loop temporarily and possess a man named Mike. The ghost of Count Roget later followed his example and temporarily possessed Drake dè Mon before being expelled by Phoebe.[9]
- After being sprayed by Heremus's blood, Tyler Michaels becomes infected and gets possessed by several evil beings, and temporarily transforms into them during the possession. The possessions include: Shax, Javna, Jeremy Burns, Abraxas, Barbas, Zankou, a green-scaled demon, and Tuatha.
List of Users[]
- Original Power
- Through spell, potion, power stealing, etc.
- Phoebe Halliwell (as a spirit)
- The Old Ones (possibly because their original bodies were destroyed)
Gallery[]
The Possession article has a Photo Gallery. |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Coyote Piper"
- ↑ "Charmed Again, Part 2"
- ↑ "Once in a Blue Moon"
- ↑ First seen in "Crimes and Witch-Demeanors"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Power Outage"
- ↑ "Charmed and Dangerous"
- ↑ "Womb Raider"
- ↑ "The Fourth Sister"
- ↑ "Show Ghouls"