Charmed
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"My whole life I've had powers and magic and even if I didn't use it, it was just a part of me. And now, uh, it's kind of scary to think I'm gonna be losing it, and losing you too."
—Richard to Paige after giving up his magic.[src]

Richard Montana was a witch belonging to the Montana Family, who were caught in a feud with the Callaways for generations. Despite the feud, Richard fell in love with and became engaged to Olivia Callaway; until she was tragically killed in a crossfire between the families.

After Paige Matthews and her sisters helped put the restless spirit of Olivia to rest, Richard and Paige began dating. The relationship ended when Richard could not deal with magic, leading to him taking a power stripping potion to be free of it forever.

History[]

The Family Feud[]

"Last time I did it is brought me to a place I don't wanna go again."
—Richard on why he stopped using magic.[src]

Although neither family remembered how it started, the Montanas and Callaways had been caught in a feud for generations. Despite this, Richard fell in love with Olivia and they got engaged. However, she was tragically killed in a crossfire in 2003, leading to Richard giving up his magic completely. Bitter that her death was not avenged, Olivia returned as a spirit and reignited the feud by attacking her own family and framing the Montanas. Paige Matthews, who was helping Grandma Callaway a temp job, was there when she attacked.

When Richard saw Paige trying to reach the Callaways, he explained about the feud and that nobody had been able to stop it before. He then saved her from another magical attack. Richard took Paige inside and gave a potion to treat her injury. He revealed that he had not practiced magic since Olivia died.

When his father was killed, Richard wanted to start using magic again, though Paige convinced him to organize peace talks instead, as Olivia would have wanted that. Meanwhile, Piper discovered that Paige had not been attacked by an energy ball, but a plasma ball employed solely by spirits. The families gathered at the manor and performed a seance where Olivia revealed herself as the one behind the attacks. She also revealed that it was Steve, Richard's brother, that accidentally killed her. This led to another fight between the families, who returned home to continue their feud.

Olivia proceeded to possess Paige and tried to seduce Richard into drinking a potion that would restore his powers. When his mother was hurt in the fight, Richard drank it. He was then knocked out in the struggle, prompting Olivia to reveal herself and orb away with him. She entombed them both in a crypt, so they could be together in death. The families then finally made peace and revealed the location of the crypt to the Charmed Ones.

When they arrived, Olivia left Paige's body to confront them. Paige stopped her sisters from banishing Olivia and convinced her to let go of her vengeance and find forgiveness. As Richard woke up, Olivia asked him to forgive her before moving on.

Helping Paige[]

After the feud was ended, Richard's family members all moved east, leaving him alone in the house. He ran into Paige again at the law firm where she had a temp job. She had just witnessed her boss Larry Henderson being killed by a demon due to a Faustian Deal he made. While her sisters told her to let it go, Richard encouraged her to summon Larry's spirit for answers.

Paige and Richard summoned Larry and learned he had made a deal with Zahn for success. When Piper came home, she became angry with Paige for taking such a risk and Paige sent Richard home. However, when Zahn reclaimed Larry's soul, Paige went to him for help. Richard was reluctant about using magic, though Paige told him he didn't need to. While Paige offered her soul to Zahn in exchange for Larry's, she sent Richard to her sisters.

After getting Richard's warning, Piper and Phoebe arrived and vanquished him. Richard and Paige later lit a candle for Larry and they ended up kissing.

Dating Paige[]

"Didn't Richard lose it the last time he used magic? I mean, like really lose it?"
—Phoebe to Piper.[src]

After spending the night at the manor, Richard helped Piper by magically fixing the garbage disposal. This caused Phoebe to become concerned due to his history. Although Piper warned her not to get involved, Phoebe wrote a column about the situation, telling a reader to be careful in a relationship with an alcoholic. When Paige figured out it was about Richard, she angrily confronted Phoebe.

Paige and Phoebe later went to Richard's house to pick up Potion Ingredients from a list Mordaunt gave them, supposedly to vanquish the Dark Knight. When Phoebe was about to throw in the last ingredient, Richard used telekinesis to stop her and revealed that it was highly combustible, meaning Mordaunt tried to kill them. This incident caused Phoebe to change her mind about Richard and she ended up changing her column.

Paige began spending a lot of time at Richard's and they decided to move in together, though Paige had trouble telling her sisters. When Bianca cast a spell to lower the sisters' inhibitions, Paige told her sisters and orbed over there. When Leo figured out what was happening, he and Piper orbed over and used a potion to break the spell. After realizing that they could not keep sacrificing their lives for the greater good, Piper told Paige to move in with Richard.

Cleansing Karma[]

While on a double date with Phoebe and Jason, Richard began talking about karma a lot. Moments later, Leo arrived and told the sisters that Piper needed help vanquishing a hive of Swarm Demons. After vanquishing the hive, the sisters orbed home and accidentally exposed themselves as witches in front of Jason.

Richard told the sisters that he believed he was responsible for what happened, due to carrying around his family's bad karma. He later asked Paige to perform a spell to cleanse his karma, though Paige replied that it was too dangerous and that it could not be done. Unconvinced, Richard used the Book of Shadows to find a spell when the sisters were away.

Richard found a spell to cleanse one's aura and reworded it with karma. Just as he cast the spell, Phoebe entered the manor, causing her to become possessed by Mata Hari. When Paige found out what happened, she confronted Richard and they argued about his use of magic. Richard wanted to use a potion to help Phoebe, though Paige told him not to use any more magic.

After his talk with Paige, Richard went to see his brother Steve because he could not find the book he needed. Steve also tried to talk him out of it, but it did not work. After finishing the potion, Richard handed it to Jason. Although the potion was used to save Phoebe, his use of magic caused Richard to fall into his old habits again.

Break-up[]

Richard: "Look, I just want Paige to accept me the way I am with magic. It's the only way we'll work."
Phoebe: "I don't think magic is the answer to your problems, I think it's the cause of your problems."
— Richard and Phoebe talking.[src]

Feeling bad about what happened, Richard began showering Paige with magical gifts. When Paige went to talk to him, she asked him to give up magic again. However, Richard refused to listen. Seeing no other way to convince him, Paige organized an intervention with his family. When Richard arrived, he became angry with her for embarrassing him.

Richard later showed up at the manor to apologize and conjured flowers. This led to an argument where Paige broke up with him. However, they were interrupted by Jinny and her thieves, who sought to reclaim her former genie bottle with Phoebe trapped inside. Although Paige managed to trap Jinny, Richard left with the bottle.

Richard wanted to use his wishes to make Paige accept him and his magic. When Paige arrived and tried to use a potion on Richard, he flung her across the room. Feeling horrible, Richard apologized and quickly wished Phoebe free, causing him to become the new genie. Just then, Jinny arrived and took the bottle. She wished the sisters dead, which Richard was forced to fulfil.

Due to Leo healing Piper in time, Phoebe and Paige became spirits. Phoebe then possessed Jinny and wished Richard free, causing Jinny to become a genie once more. Richard then wished the sisters back alive and for Zanbar to disappear. After everything that happened, Richard decided that he could not handle magic and took a power stripping potion. He and Paige then broke up so he would not be exposed to magic all the time.

Powers and Abilities[]

Telekinesis-Richard

Richard using Telekinesis

Basic Powers
  • Spell Casting: The ability to cast spells and perform rituals.
  • Potion Brewing: The ability to brew potions.
  • Scrying: The ability to locate a person or object by use of a scrying crystal and a map.
  • Mediumship: The ability to see and commune with spirits of the dead.
Active Powers
  • Telekinesis: The ability to move objects and beings with the mind.
  • Energy Ball: The ability to make and throw balls made of energy.
  • Fading: An energy-based form of teleportation.
  • Conjuration: The ability to materialize imaginary people and objects.
Temporary Powers
  • Genie Powers: All the powers commonly possessed by Genies. He lost these powers when Jinny replaced him as a Genie once more.

Gallery[]

Notes and Trivia[]

  • Other than the Halliwell children, Richard is the only recurring male witch.
  • Richard is the only love interest of the sisters who was a witch.
  • Richard exhibits more active powers than any other witch in the series.
  • Richard's struggle with magic is somewhat similar to Willow's magical addiction in season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
  • Richard appears in the menu of the third disc of the sixth season DVD release. Richard, Evil Chris, Billie Jenkins and Leo Wyatt are the only characters besides the Charmed Ones to be featured in a DVD menu. He is also the only one who isn't played by a regular cast member.

Appearances[]

Richard Montana appears in a total of 6 episodes throughout the course of the series.

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