Piper Halliwell is a fictional character from the American television series Charmed, played by Holly Marie Combs from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006. The character was created by Constance M. Burge, who based Piper on her second-oldest sister. Piper is introduced into the series as the middle sister to Prue (Shannen Doherty) and Phoebe Halliwell (Alyssa Milano). She is one of the original featured leads and, more specifically, a Charmed Oneone of the most powerful witches of all time. Piper's power was initially described as the ability to stop time in her surrounding environment. As the series progresses, Leo reveals that her power actually works by slowing down molecules to the point that they stop. She also receives the power to cause evil beings or objects to explode using her hands, by instead speeding up molecules to the point of combustion.
During the first three seasons, Piper is portrayed as the "sweet", "sensitive middle sister", and peacemaker of the group as she often attempts to keep the peace between her two sisters. She later develops a more aggressive and protective personality when she becomes the eldest sister from season four onwards, following Prue's death and the introduction of their younger half-sister Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan). Piper's storylines have often revolved around her protecting innocents and defeating the forces of evil in San Francisco with her sisters, as well as leading a normal life as a chef for a restaurant and later as the owner of a nightclub. Piper's central love interest throughout the series is Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause), the sisters' Whitelightera guardian angel for good witches. After the pair temporarily split in season two, a love triangle forms between Piper, Leo, and her neighbor Dan Gordon (Greg Vaughan). Piper and Leo eventually marry in season three, and later have a son named Wyatt in season five. They separate again at the end of season five, and Piper starts dating other men in the subsequent season. However, Piper and Leo reconnect towards the end of season six, resulting in a second son named Chris.
The character received a positive reception from television critics, who praised Combs' performance as Piper and her relationship with Leo. Combs garnered various awards and nominations for her portrayal of Piper. In 2007 and 2008, AOL TV ranked Piper third on their list of the Top TV Witches, behind Samantha Stephens from Bewitched and Willow Rosenberg from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was ranked sixth on both E! Online's 2011 list of the "Top 10 Most Bitchin' Witches", and The Huffington Posts 2016 list of "The Top 10 Greatest Witches of All Time". In addition to the television series, the character has also appeared in numerous expanded universe material, such as the Charmed novels and its comic book adaptation.
Casting and development In 1998, The WB began searching for a drama series, and looked to Spelling Television, which had produced the network's most successful series 7th Heaven, to create it. Expanding on the popularity of supernatural-themed dramas, the production company explored forms of mythology to find mythological characters they could focus on with contemporary storytelling."Genesis" Documentary, Charmed: The Complete Final Season Region 1 DVD In order to create the series, Constance M. Burge was hired as the creator as she was under contract with 20th Century Fox and Spelling Television after conceiving the drama Savannah.
The character of Piper Halliwell was conceived by Burge, who wrote the pilot script for Charmed. The pilot script was based around three mismatched sisters who are initially based on Burge and her two older sisters, Laura and Edie Burge. Piper is based on Burge's second-oldest sister Edie. On creating Piper, Burge stated "The middle sibling typically tends to be a real people pleaser and very funny, tends to deal with life with a lot of humour. That really applied to my sister, Edie and so I could see the character of Piper [through her]." Executive producer Brad Kern stated that Piper was written into the series as "the middle sister just trying to keep the peace, trying to find love, trying to find her career, and trying to keep Prue and Phoebe from killing each other."
When the series was in its first development stages, executive producer Aaron Spelling had always known who he wanted for the role of Prue, Shannen Doherty, an actress from a previous Spelling Television series, Beverly Hills, 90210. Doherty already devoted to the project pitched the idea of her best friend for the role of Piper Halliwell, former Picket Fences actress Holly Marie Combs. Doherty played the role of Prue in a 28-minute test pilot (the "unaired pilot", never aired on television) alongside Combs and actress Lori Rom who played the youngest sister Phoebe Halliwell. Rom quit the series and a new pilot was filmed with former Who's the Boss actress Alyssa Milano, who took over the role of Phoebe.
Appearances
Television
Piper is the second eldest Halliwell sister and is portrayed by Holly Marie Combs in all of the show's aired 178 episodes as well as the unaired pilot, making Combs the only cast member to appear in the complete series and the first pilot. At the start of season one (1998–99), six months have passed since the death of her Grams, Penny Halliwell (Jennifer Rhodes). Piper having already moved back into her family's Victorian Manor with her eldest sister Prue (Shannen Doherty), is later joined by their youngest sister Phoebe (Alyssa Milano). On the night of Phoebe's return, she finds a book called the Book of Shadows within the Manor's attic. After Phoebe unknowingly recites aloud what turns out to be an incantation from the book, the three sisters each receive a magical power and discover their destiny as The Charmed Ones – the most powerful good witches the world has ever known. Initially Piper receives the power to "freeze" her surrounding environment, beginning as she freezes her chef boss in a timed situation. A major plot for the first episode of the series focuses on Piper realizing that her boyfriend, Jeremy (Eric Scott Woods), is a warlock, when he seizes upon the opportunity to kill her for her powers, forcing Piper and her sisters to vanquish him. Due to her role as the middle sister, Piper is often regarded as the peacemaker of the group as she often attempts to keep the peace between the headstrong Prue and free-spirited Phoebe. During this season, Piper works at the restaurant Quake as a chef and later as its manager. She develops an on-again off-again relationship with the handy-man Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause) who she later discovers to be her whitelighter – a guardian angel for good witches.
In the second season (1999–2000), Piper has quit her job at Quake and has ventured into running her own business in the form of the nightclub P3. After her split with Leo, due to the strenuous nature his Whitelighter duties place on their romantic relationship, Piper begins to date her neighbor Dan Gordon (Greg Vaughan) in an attempt at a normal relationship. This causes major conflict as Leo and Piper retain lingering feelings for one another resulting in a love triangle between the three characters. As Piper hones her skills as a witch and a business owner, she eventually comes to the conclusion that despite her love for Dan, her heart will always belong to Leo. Piper later breaks up with Dan and reconciles with Leo. In the season two finale, Piper and her sisters discover that the many attacks on their lives by evil beings have been orchestrated by a demonic force known as The Council. Piper also desires to learn more about Leo's life as a whitelighter and asks him to take her to meet The Elders, senior whitelighters who act as the authoritative council for all of good magic. The couple are last seen orbing off to The Elders' heavenly realm.
In season three (2000–01), after being detained "Up There" for a month, Piper and Leo are told by The Elders to end their relationship or Leo will no longer be the sisters' whitelighter. Leo subsequently proposes marriage to Piper claiming that once married The Elders will not have the power to break them apart. Leo and Piper attempt to wed in secret during a solar eclipse, a phenomenon which prevents those "Up There" from looking down on Earth, but are caught in the act when The Elders are informed of the wedding by The Triad (who have replaced The Council), who in turn learned of the wedding through their demonic spy Cole Turner (Julian McMahon). Leo is taken into captivity by The Elders as punishment for breaking their rules and Piper is left heartbroken. After Piper makes the choice to continue to protect innocents despite losing Leo, The Elders return Leo to Earth. The Elders allow the couple to prove that their relationship will not interfere with their greater calling. Leo and Piper are finally allowed to wed in mid-season three. Piper and her sisters eventually learn that The Triad work for an even greater evil, The Source of All Evil who is the leader of the demonic realm known as The Underworld. Before the season's end, Piper acquires her second magical ability, the power to cause explosions. During the season three finale, Prue and Piper unwittingly expose themselves as witches to the world after being caught on camera by a local news crew fighting with The Source's personal assassin Shax. In the aftermath of the exposure, Piper is shot by a crazed Wiccan fanatic who wanted to join the sisters' coven and dies in the arms of Prue. In order to save her sister's life, Prue orders Leo to find Phoebe and pass on a deal to The Source to turn back time. This would reset the exposure of magic and save Piper's life. The Source agrees, knowing that he plans to double cross her in the end as Phoebe will be immune to the time reset while in The Underworld. In the end Phoebe will not be able to warn her sisters' of the assassin attack and he will kill her himself. Time is reversed to the sisters' first encounter with Shax, however Phoebe no longer answers when Prue calls for help, as she was never sent back. The season ends on a cliffhanger with Piper and Prue left for dead after losing in the fight against Shax. Meanwhile, Phoebe remains trapped in The Underworld.