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Dr. Griffiths: "What are you?"
Shax: "The end."
— Dr. Griffiths' final words.[src]

Shax was a powerful demon with wind-based abilities. He was best known for being the personal demonic assassin of the Source of All Evil, and the only demon to ever permanently kill a Charmed One; Prue Halliwell. He was vanquished in 2001 by the newly reconstituted Charmed Ones, avenging their eldest sister.[1]

History[]

Killing Prue and Dr. Griffiths[]

After Shax was assigned to kill Dr. Griffiths, Phoebe Halliwell received a premonition of his death. She and her sisters rushed to find him. As soon as they found him, he was taken to the manor. The sisters talked about how they could vanquish Shax, much to the shock of Dr. Griffiths. He believed it was a prank set up by his ex-wife. However, it was not. Shax whirled in and blasted Prue and Piper through the living room wall and into the conservatory.

Shax was about to kill the doctor when Phoebe chased him off by casting his vanquishing spell. After they were healed by Leo, Prue and Piper followed Shax onto the street and Piper blew him up. This was witnessed by a local news crew, exposing magic. Shax later attempted to kill the doctor at the hospital, but was vanquished by Prue and Piper.

When a series of events caused time to be reversed, Phoebe was no longer present when Shax attacked the manor. In this new timeline, Shax killed the doctor after attacking the sisters. He then whirled out of the manor with a grin, slamming the door and shattering the glass. Prue later died of her injuries while Piper was healed in time by Leo.

Attempt to kill Paige Matthews[]

During Prue's funeral, Paige Matthews came to console her sisters. As they shook hands, Phoebe received a premonition about Shax attacking Paige. Later that night, Paige was dancing with her boyfriend Shane at P3. When they left and headed to a rooftop, Shax appeared. He knocked out Shane and attempted to kill Paige, though she orbed away. This was witnessed by Phoebe and Cole, who later prevented Shax from killing Paige.

When Paige met her sisters at the manor, the Power of Three was reconstituted. At that moment, Shax attacked the manor and chased the sisters to the attic. Once there, the newly formed Charmed Ones cast the vanquishing spell, thus vanquishing Shax and avenging Prue.

Alternate Realities[]

In an alternate reality created by Cole Turner, Paige never reconstituted the Charmed Ones. In this reality, Shax was still alive and a vengeful Piper was still hunting him down.[2]

In the dark future where Wyatt Halliwell had turned evil, he turned the manor into a museum. Upon entry, guests were shown a hologram of the Charmed Ones being reconstituted and them facing Shax.[3]

Return[]

Shax was one of the many demons to manifest through Tyler Michaels as the host of Heremus. When he emerged, Shax called out Prue's name and sought to kill her again.[4] He confronted Prue at a motel and attacked Benjamin Turner. The Charmed Ones arrived just as Shax blasted Prue through a wall once more and attempted the vanquishing spell. However, Prue interrupted them and forced Shax to his knees. All four sisters then joined together to vanquish Shax with the spell.[5]

Book of Shadows[]

Shax page

The entry on Shax in the Book of Shadows.[6]

Shax, The Source's Assassin[]

Demonic hitman called
out for only the top
assignments by
the Source.
Corporealizes out of
wind and air. Method
of attack is a ferocious
blast of wind that can
be lethal to it's victim.
To vanquish Shax chant:
Is a demon of
Evil winds that blows
that which forms below
no longer
may you dwell
death takes you
with this spell.

Powers and Abilities[]

ShaxAerokinesis

Firing a ferocious blast of wind.

4x01-ShaxHighResistance

Withstanding high-voltage energy balls.

Active Powers
  • Aerokinesis: The ability to create and manipulate wind and air itself. Shax was able to fire concussive blasts of wind that were lethal to his victims.
  • Whirling: The ability to teleport through wind and air in a way that resembles tornadoes.
  • Super Strength: The ability to possess physical strength beyond humanly possible.
  • Sensing: The ability to locate people or objects.
  • Lightning Teleportation: The ability to teleport through lightning.
Other Powers
  • High Resistance: The ability to be highly resistant to magical and physical harm. Shax could withstand his own air blast and an energy ball thrown at him, and could only be vanquished when all three reconstituted Charmed Ones cast the vanquishing spell.
  • Immortality: Living for an infinitely long lifespan and having an arrested aging process.
  • Reconstitution: The ability to reform one's body after it is destroyed. Shax was blown up by Piper and later reformed.

Notes and Trivia[]

Small triquetra The Shax article has a Photo Gallery.
ShaxHologram

The tour guide showing the Shax-attack hologram.

4x01-ShaxRooftop

Shax' slightly different look in Charmed Again, Part 1.

Shaxcomics

Shax in Season 10 of the comics.

  • Michael Bailey Smith who portrayed Shax also portrayed Belthazor, the Grimlock Janor in "All Halliwell's Eve", the Grimlock leader in "Bite Me", and The Source of All Evil in "All Hell Breaks Loose".
  • Piper considered Shax to be less of a threat to the Charmed Ones than Barbas because at least he could be easily vanquished.[7]
  • Shax is the first demon that the Charmed Ones face, who is capable of recovering after being effected by Piper's Molecular Combustion power.
  • Shax is the only demon to permanently kill a Charmed One.
  • Although the Book of Shadows does not mention this, the vanquishing spell requires more than one witch to make the spell work effectively. If not, it would just cause him pain and force him to retreat.
  • The first sentence of the vanquishing spell "Is a demon of" are never used.
  • Shax is the name of a demon from the Ars Goetia, the first section of the demonology book The Lesser Key of Solomon. Here, he is described as a Great Marquis of Hell, and has power over a thousand legions of demons on evil horses. Other names taken from this are Andras, Asmodeus and Barbas.
  • The entry on Shax was never seen on screen, however, it was included in a sticker-set and was shown in the special features documentary on the Book of Shadows (which was included on the special DVD-BoS set).
  • Shax looks different in Season 4. His hair and skin color is much darker and more grey, while he had a more bluish skin in "All Hell Breaks Loose". His facial appearance is also different.
  • Shax came fourth in a poll of the "Top 10 Villains" in Charmed, conducted by Charmed Magazine and Living (the UK broadcaster of the series).[8] Drawing on his high ranking in demonic hierarchy, his ability to kill one of the Charmed Ones, and his frightening appearance, the poll concluded "he is one very dangerous demon". Although he seldom spoke, his "memorable quote" is also his only line on the show, "the end", uttered after fatally wounding Piper and Prue.
  • Shax is the first evil being seen by Paige, and the first evil being she helped vanquish. He is also the last demon faced by Prue before she died. Additionally, Shax is the only demon all four sisters vanquished together.
  • He appeared in the novel Charmed Again. His role was the same as in the episode.

Appearances[]

Shax appeared in a total of 3 episodes and 2 comic issues over the course of the series.

References[]

  1. Season 4, "Charmed Again, Part 1"
  2. As seen in "Centennial Charmed"
  3. As seen in "Chris-Crossed".
  4. "Fear Always Comes Back"
  5. "Virtue"
  6. Screencap from the BoS-DVD collection feature "The Book of Shadows".
  7. Season 5, "Sympathy for the Demon"
  8. Top 10 Villains. Living TV. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
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