Editing Charmed (section)

== Series overview ==
{{Quote_box |width=40% |align=right |quote=Before [[Melinda Warren|Melinda]] was [[Salem witch trials|burned at the stake]], she vowed that each generation of Warren witches would become stronger and stronger, culminating in the arrival of three sisters ... the most powerful witches the world has ever known ... the Charmed Ones.|source=—[[Phoebe Halliwell]] ([[Alyssa Milano]]) in "[[Something Wicca This Way Comes]]"}}

The series starts in 1998 when [[Phoebe Halliwell]] ([[Alyssa Milano]]) returns from [[New York City|New York]] and moves back into the family's Halliwell Manor in [[San Francisco]] to live with her sisters [[Prue Halliwell|Prue]] ([[Shannen Doherty]]) and [[Piper Halliwell|Piper]] ([[Holly Marie Combs]]). When Phoebe discovers the family's ''[[Book of Shadows (Charmed)|Book of Shadows]]'' in the attic, she learns that she and her sisters are the most powerful witches ever known, destined to protect both innocents and the world at large from demons, warlocks, and other evil creatures. Phoebe, reasonably suspecting the book to be a novelty, reads its initial inscription&mdash;unaware that it also happens to be an incantation activating the sisters' supernatural powers once all three are reunited in their ancestral home.

[[File:House at 1329 Carroll Ave., Los Angeles (Charmed House).JPG|thumb|left|The [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] building filmed as the Halliwell Manor is located at [[Carroll Avenue]] in [[Los Angeles]], California. In the series, the fictional manor is set in [[San Francisco]].]]

By the end of the first episode, each sister learns that she has a unique magical power that allows them to cast spells and brew potions. Prue, the eldest, has the power of [[Psychokinesis|telekinesis]] (the ability to move objects with her mind), and in [[Charmed (season 2)|season two]] she develops the power of [[astral projection]] (the ability to be in two places at once). Piper, the middle sister, has the power of molecular immobilization. As she grows more proficient, she learns how to freeze only certain people or objects or body parts, as she wishes. In [[Charmed (season 3)|season three]], her powers evolve further, as she is able to cause evil beings or objects to explode using her hands as a development of her powers surrounding molecular movement. Phoebe, the youngest of the three, initially possesses the power of [[Precognition|premonition]] allowing her to receive visions of the future and later of the past. She later develops the powers of [[Levitation (physics)|levitation]] in season three, and empathy in [[Charmed season 6|season six]], the latter allowing her to sense and tap into others' emotions and, sometimes, powers. In accordance with the series' mythology, witches' powers are tied to their emotions.

During the first two seasons, the sisters face various evil beings from week to week. However, in the third season, they discover that their ultimate enemy is The Underworld's demonic ruler, [[The Source (Charmed)|The Source of All Evil]]. Eventually, Prue is killed in the [[All Hell Breaks Loose (Charmed)|season three finale]] by The Source's personal assassin, [[Shax (Charmed)|Shax]] ([[Michael Bailey Smith]]). While grieving for their older sister, Piper and Phoebe discover that they also have a younger half-sister, [[Paige Matthews]] ([[Rose McGowan]]), who had been the secret love child of their witch mother, [[Patty Halliwell|Patty]] ([[Finola Hughes]]), and her "whitelighter" (guardian angel) Sam Wilder ([[Scott Jaeck]]). Paige's magical abilities represent her dual heritage as both a witch and whitelighter; like Prue, she possesses a form of telekinesis, but she has to verbally call for objects to "orb" (teleport) them to their intended destination. As she attempts to control the two sides of her ancestry, Paige also learns how to orb herself and others, and to heal others with the touch of her hand; she eventually receives her own whitelighter charges to train and protect as they learn witchcraft.  Paige can also "glamour", shapeshifting into a different human appearance.

The Source, responsible for the majority of attacks on the sisters, becomes the main villain during [[Charmed (season 4)|season four]] until he is finally vanquished. After his demise, an annual season-long storyline and several antagonists are introduced in subsequent seasons (occasionally following the "[[Big Bad]]" television format). These include Phoebe's demonic ex-husband, [[Cole Turner (Charmed)|Cole Turner]] ([[Julian McMahon]]), until [[Charmed season 5|mid-season five]]; the scheming, misguided [[Elders (Charmed)|Elder]], [[Gideon (Charmed)|Gideon]] (Gildart Jackson), throughout season six; The Avatars until [[Charmed (season 7)|mid-season seven]]; the demon [[Zankou]] ([[Oded Fehr]]) until the season seven finale; and, in season eight, powerful sister witches [[Billie Jenkins|Billie]] ([[Kaley Cuoco]]) and [[Christy Jenkins]] ([[Marnette Patterson]]), who fall under the influence of the demonic [[The Triad (Charmed)|Triad]] (who earlier feature as an early-season three antagonist). In addition to the supernatural themes explored in ''Charmed'', the characters contend with serious issues in their day-to-day lives such as relationships, careers, marriage, childbirth, illness and the deaths of loved ones. The sisters also fight to prevent the exposure of the existence of magic to the human community at large, contending with several police, FBI, and Homeland Security investigations. Often through the assistance of their long-term ally, [[Darryl Morris (Charmed)|Darryl Morris]] ([[Dorian Gregory]]) of the [[San Francisco Police Department]], they are able to avoid police suspicion, including the investigation of the most-recurring human antagonist, [[List of Charmed characters#Inspector Sheridan|Inspector Sheridan]] ([[Jenya Lano]]), in the sixth and seventh seasons.

The sisters also face romantic storylines. Prue's love interests include her high school sweetheart, [[Andy Trudeau|Inspector Andy Trudeau]] ([[Ted King (actor)|Ted King]]), who dies in the [[Charmed (season 1)|season one]] finale in an attempt to save the sisters, and a brief co-worker, [[List of Charmed characters#Jack Sheridan|Jack Sheridan]] ([[Lochlyn Munro]]), in season two. Piper's central love interest throughout the series is the sisters' whitelighter [[Leo Wyatt]] ([[Brian Krause]]); their early relationship is problematic due to the forbidden nature of witch-whitelighter relationships, and so in season two a love triangle forms with Piper, Leo and her neighbor, [[List of Charmed characters#Dan Gordon|Dan Gordon]] ([[Greg Vaughan]]). Eventually, the two manage to marry and consummate their union in season three, producing a son named [[Wyatt Halliwell|Wyatt]] in season five. The couple separate due to supernatural circumstances at the end of the fifth season; however, they reconnect in the subsequent season, resulting in a second son named [[Chris Halliwell|Chris]]. The [[Forever Charmed|final episode of ''Charmed'']] shows them to have a daughter, many grandchildren, and to grow old together in the future. Phoebe's romantic history involves a tortured relationship with half-demon, half-human Cole Turner in the show's third, fourth and fifth seasons; they have a turbulent marriage in the fourth, and in the fifth, following their divorce, she is compelled to vanquish him. Phoebe has a number of multi-episode human boyfriends in subsequent seasons, including her boss, [[List of Charmed characters#Jason Dean|Jason Dean]] ([[Eric Dane]]), before meeting a [[cupid]] named [[Coop (Charmed)|Coop]] ([[Victor Webster]]) in the eighth season, whom she marries. Paige, like Phoebe, has several multi-episode boyfriends, including fellow-witch and magic "[[drug addiction|addict]]" Richard Montana ([[Balthazar Getty]]) in season six, and an unstable FBI agent-turned-whitelighter [[List of Charmed characters#Kyle Brody|Kyle Brody]] ([[Kerr Smith]]) in season seven. In the eighth season, she becomes committed to a human parole officer, [[List of Charmed characters#Henry Mitchell|Henry Mitchell]] ([[Ivan Sergei]]), whom she marries. The final episode's [[flashforward]] montage reveals Piper, Phoebe, and Paige to have three children each with their respective husbands.