Whitelighter

From Charmed

Leo Wyatt, the most famous whitelighter

A Whitelighter is a guardian angel who protects good witches. They have many powers which include healing, orbing, hearing calls from charges and sensing their charges. Whitelighters also help and protect future whitelighters so that the last ones would be prepared for their destiny. The whitelighters are hired to guide charges by the Elders, although sometimes it happens randomly.

Description

Whitelighters are "guardian angels". They watch over their charges and intervene when necessary to help them along their path and keep them safe; they can also be called by their charges. They can constantly hear the lives of their charges in their heads, and if one of them calls their Whitelighter's name, he/she can usually show up at a moment's notice.

Whitelighters are people who were previously somehow connected to the magical world or who were generally good people that have died. They are given the choice to become Whitelighters and given the powers of a Whitelighter (such as orbing, healing, immortality, etc.) instead of moving on to the afterlife. Their bodies are replicas of their former human bodies, but are composed of orbs which are described as white lights (hence the term Whitelighter) that have a healing sense to them. If struck by a power that would usually kill a mortal (for example, an energy ball or particle acceleration), their bodies will explode into orbs then reform relatively unharmed; they can, however, be knocked unconscious. After becoming a Whitelighter, the person's DNA will have three helices like that of witches and demons, not just two like normal humans.

There is apparently an instruction manual for whitelighters, which is referenced several times, for example, in the season 5 episode "Sam I am" when talking about Paige's whitelighter abilities, Sam says "Didn't you read the manual?" It is also referenced by Leo, when he says the same line to Chris.

Powers and Abilities

Whitelighters have the ability to orb, a kind of magical teleportation. This comes in handy for visiting their many charges around the world, and in special circumstances (as Leo Wyatt states in Season 1 that it is "against the rules") to orb others with them. They can also orb objects around. Orbing is not an exact science and can be disrupted by magic, sending someone to a place they did not intend to go. Whitelighters can use their ability to sense the people they are trying to find before going anywhere.

Whitelighters are the messengers between the Elders and witches. Leo helps the Charmed Ones by asking the Elders for help whenever they need information not provided by the Book of Shadows.

Healing is another special ability granted to Whitelighters, and is used when their charges have been injured. As long as there is the faintest breath of life left in a person, they can be healed from any injury, whether the injury is magical in origin or not, though they cannot heal self-inflicted damage. However, this power is channelled directly from the Elders. If the Elders do not wish for someone to be healed, a Whitelighter can do nothing about it. If the person being healed is resisting, the Whitelighter cannot heal their wounds until the person allows them to. A Whitelighter's healing abilitiy is triggered by the emotion of love.

Whitelighters are normally not allowed to have relationships with witches as it is deemed to be too complicated and dangerous by the Elders. There are several half-Whitelighters due to this rule being broken or lifted in special circumstances by the Elders. The four known half-Whitelighters are Simon Marks, Paige Matthews, Wyatt Halliwell and Chris Halliwell. All four display most of the abilities of Whitelighters. Wyatt is able to heal, Chris cannot, and Paige apparently can channel Leo's power; during the 8th season, she gains the healing ability for herself.

Because they are pacifists, Whitelighters traditionally avoid fighting, except when desperately needed to protect their charges, but are absolutely not allowed to kill. Leo tries to force Chris into a hearing with the Elders after he suspects (correctly) that Chris killed two warriors in Valhalla, and Leo himself brings balance back into the world of magic by doing a "Great Evil" in killing Gideon. Despite this rule, Leo has killed a few times as the Charmed Ones Whitelighter: while they were trapped in the past he vanquished the Grimlocks, however the Elders may have let that one go as he was all that was there at the time and had no choice and he vanquished the Siren. That one hee personally did with Piper's molecular combustion power, but at the time he had no choice as Piper had his powers and they didn't have another method. He also aided the sisters in several vanquishes, not vanquishing demons himself, but usually aiding in some manner. In one instance, Leo teamed up with Cole and due to his lacking his own offensive powers and Cole unconious, Leo was directly responsible for a demon vanquish by tricking another one into vanquishing his partner by orbing between them then out again when the demon fired a blast at him. Leo later broke this rule as an Elder when he vanquished one of the Game Masters and then later went on a rampage killing demons.

Among the other powers of Whitelighters are Hovering, and "cloaking" their charges (making others unable to sense or see them). Whitelighters can also Empathically feel what their charges feel (which, if not controlled, can actually hurt them), Sensing if they are hurt or have been killed. They also have the ability to speak the language of their charges, whatever it may be, and possess their own sort of Omnilingualism.

Leo is also seen "healing" household appliances, light bulbs, and pipes, and making Phoebes's tea hot again and refilling her water. In one episode during the first season where we first realize that Leo has powers, but not that he is a Whitelighter, we see him "heal" the Charmed Ones' Book of Shadows, which had been erased after the Charmed Ones used the spell to relinquish their powers to a warlock, thus rewriting the entire book and giving back the sisters' powers.

Whitelighters also have their own language, which sounds to human ears like a series of clicks and clacks but to them sounds like words.

Whitelighters have also displayed the ability to Glamour, which allows them to take the physical form of others. Many tend to confuse this with shapeshifting. Glamouring casts an illusion around the being, making it look like another, while shape shifting actually transforms the being into another. Paige also has this ability.

Whitelighters also have the ability to mimic certain demonic powers such as energy balls as Leo Wyatt does when he glamours into the demon Belthazor to train the sisters and as Natalie does while training the sisters to kill a powerful warlock named Eames. Natalie is a fellow Whitelighter and longtime friend of Leo Wyatt during both their Whitelighter years and human years when they fought together in World War II. While Whitelighters have the ability to mimic demonic powers, they are not allowed to use them unless they are training their witch charges. It is known, however, that the demonic powers that they mimic have little to no effect that they would if an actual demon were to use it.

Elders, who are essentially powerful senior administrative Whitelighters, can throw Lightning bolts and have Invisibility and Remote orbing as well as the basic powers of an Whitelighter. Lightning bolts are only used in extreme circumstances such as Leo Wyatt uses when he commits a great evil to restore the balance of good and evil in the two mirroring worlds by Vanquishing the Elder Gideon when he tries to kill Leo's son Wyatt. The Elders use them when they try to kill Leo after they view him as a threat after he discloses to them that he is an Avatar.

Whitelighters have two of the three basic powers of a magical witch i.e. to use and make Spells and Potions. However, no whitelighter has been seen to have the ability to Scry unless they are also part witch. Though in the episode "Spin City" Leo Wyatt as an Elder has shown the ability to scry.

Whitelighters can pass some, and perhaps in some cases, all, of these abilities on to their offspring. Chris and Paige are able to orb and sense others, channel the ability to heal through another Whitelighter, heal on their own, and speak any language other than their own. Chris cannot Hover, though Paige can. They are, however, still very vulnerable to Darklighter Arrows. Paige heals Henry without channeling a Whitelighter's power during an emotional scene that unlocks her power (this could be the natural evolution of her witch powers that the Charmed Ones all have). Until that time, it was thought that half-Whitelighters can not heal, but now it is possible that Chris will eventually gain the healing ability aswell.

Notable Whitelighers and Hybrids

Leo Wyatt - the Charmed Ones' former whitelighter, became a whitelighter in 1942
Sam Wilder - Patty Halliwell's former whitelighter, became a whitelighter between 1800's-1900's
Natalie - Leo's whitelighter friend, became a whitelighter in World War II
Paige Matthews - half-whitelighter/half witch, a Charmed One, part-whitelighter since birth
Wyatt Halliwell - half-whitelighter/half-witch, Twice-Blessed Child, part-whitelighter since birth
Chris Halliwell - half-witch/half-Elder, part-elder since birth
Danny - a whitelighter attacked by the Charmed Ones as Beasts
Marcus - a whitelighter attacked by the Charmed Ones as Beasts
Kyle Brody - Paige's ex-boyfriend, became a whitelighter in 2005
J.D. Williams - Sam's charge from 1956, became a whitelighter in 2005
Simon Marks - member of the Marks line of witches, half-witch/half-whitelighter since birth
Mikelle - Paige's charge, who later became a whitelighter in 2006
Matthew Halliwell - Leo and Piper's eldest grandson, half-witch/half-whitelighter since birth
Henry Mitchell, Jr. - Son to Henry Mitchell and Paige Matthews - half-witch/half-whitelighter since birth
Mitchell Twins - Half-witches/half-whitelighters, daughters to Paige Matthews and Henry Mitchell, part-whitelighters since birth

Gallery

Whitelighters are granted many powers to guide and help their charges by the Elders upon being brought back to life.

Orbing: Simon Marks orbs into the Manor	Healing: Paige heals Piper	Hovering: Phoebe catches Leo changing a lightbulb	Omnilingualism: Piper (with Leo's abilities) can speak and understand French
Energy balls: Natalie practices for a demon attack with Piper