Melinda Warren

Melinda Warren was the only child of two mortals, Charlotte Warren and Lawrence Cutler, as well as an exceptionally powerful witch. Born on October 31st, 1670, she possessed the powers of Telekinesis, Molecular Immobilization, and Premonition. Melinda later married a man named William Jackson and the pair had one daughter and a son; Prudence Warren-Wentworth and Beauford Warren. Melinda started the line of Warren witches which, as prophesied by herself, culminated in the arrival of the three (four) most powerful witches of all time: The Charmed Ones. Like many Warren ancestors, she has someone named after her: Prudence Melinda Halliwell, Piper Halliwell's only daughter.

Birth
Two years after the Halliwell sisters became the original Charmed Ones, they were sent through a portal to the year 1670, to help Eva and her coven save a woman pregnant with a coveted magical child from an evil witch named Ruth Cobb. Ruth captured Charlotte Warren when she went into labor, wanting to raise the child to be evil. The Original Charmed Ones, with the help of Eva and her coven, rescued Charlotte. With their recently acquired knowledge of natural magic, the original Charmed Ones created a protective shield of good magic that Charlotte gave birth to her child in. Later, Charlotte revealed that her newborn child's name was going to be Melinda Warren, whom the original Charmed Ones knew to be the founder their magical family line

Not much else is know about Melinda's past after her birth is unknown besides the fact that she moved from Colonial Virginia to Salem, Massachusetts during the Witch Trials. Sometime during her life, Melinda gave birth to a daughter whom she named Prudence, and also created the Warren Book of Shadows, that would eventually become the most powerful and coveted tome of witchcraft in the world.

Affair with Matthew Tate
During the time she lived in Salem, Melinda had a lover named Matthew Tate who turned out to be a warlock. He used their "love" as a way to gain her trust and copy her active powers. He outed her as a witch, thus betraying her and making her realize his deceit. After finding out about Matthew's betrayal, Melinda concocted a plan of revenge. When Matthew came to her before her death to gloat, she tricked him into opening her Pewter Heart locket. Cursing the locket with a potion and a spell, Melinda locked Matthew into it, never to be released unless one of her descendants opened it.

Death and Prophecy
Once Matthew Tate outed Melinda as a witch, she was trapped and condemned to be burned at the stake. Melinda did not use her powers to escape, as it would have confirmed her as a witch and put her daughter's life in jeopardy. The day Melinda was burned at the stake, she prophesied the arrival of three sister witches, the Charmed Ones, who would be the most powerful witches ever.

Meeting the Original Charmed Ones
Nearly three hundred years later, not long after Melinda's latest descendants Prudence, Piper, and Phoebe Halliwell became the original Charmed Ones, Melinda's locket ended up at Buckland Auction House. The warlocks Rex Buckland and Hannah Webster wanted to prove that Prudence was a descendant of Melinda Warren, to confirm that she and her sisters were indeed the Charmed Ones. Rex acquired the locket and set things in motion for Prudence to open it, which set the warlock Matthew Tate free.

Matthew tricked Prudence to use her power on him, and eventually copied it. After Phoebe had a premonition of Melinda cursing Matthew into the locket, the sisters found out who he really was. With no known ways of vanquishing him, the sisters summoned Melinda from the afterlife to help them curse him into the locket again. After helping the Charmed Ones to brew the potion and finally cast the spell to trap Matthew forever, she gave the sisters a last goodbye, and told them that she couldn't stay because it wasn't her time; it was theirs. Before she left, Phoebe placed Melinda's hand on her chest which triggered a premonition of more generations of her beautiful daughters. Melinda was then released back into the afterlife, full of joy to see her dreams come true.

Powers and Abilities
Basic Powers Active Powers Other Powers
 * Spell Casting: One of the four basic powers, is the ability to cast spells and perform rituals.
 * Potion Making: One of the four basic powers, is the ability to brew potions containing magical properties.
 * Scrying: One of the four basic powers, is the ability to locate a person or object by using a crystal, a map and a something it requires the use of other tools.
 * Mediumship: One of the four basic powers, is the ability to see and commune with spirits of the dead.
 * Telekinesis: The ability to move objects using only the power of one's mind.
 * Molecular Immobilization: The ability to slow the molecules of an object or a person down to the point that they appear to be frozen in time.
 * Premonition: The ability to see future, present, and past events in time.
 * High Resistance: The ability to be highly resistant to physical and magical harm.

Legacy
For Piper Halliwell and Leo Wyatt's wedding, the "something old" found by Phoebe was Melinda Warren's Blessing Cup that she drank from at her wedding.

It was revealed to Piper when she and her sisters travel into the future that she would eventually have a daughter who was named Melinda. A few years later when she got pregnant, she planned to name the baby Prudence Melinda after both her ancestor and her late sister, only to surprisingly have a son, instead.

Eventually, Piper did have a daughter, whom she named Prudence Melinda.

Notes and Trivia

 * For Piper's wedding, Phoebe found Melinda's blessing cup that she used at her wedding. Presumably, her husband William Jackson possibly left or died sometime before Melinda's affair with Matthew Tate.
 * Prudence once said that she and her sisters could always summon her, however Melinda wasn't seen again in the series of Charmed, except for a season 3 episode, when the sisters met her as a newborn baby.
 * Melinda has been mentioned many times in Destined, yet she hasn't made any actual appearances.
 * The family tree says that William Warren married Melinda Jackson. This is an obvious mistake, as Melinda was born a Warren.
 * According to the family tree, Melinda and William had a son, Beauford Warren. However, his existence is disputed by Penelope Halliwell's statement about Wyatt Halliwell being the first male in generations.
 * Though this argument made by Penny can be easily countered as Penny also had a brother. Also when Penny made her statement, its very likely that she meant that Wyatt was the first male witch in the line.
 * In the Book of Shadows, the title page says that the book was created in 1693. This wouldn't be possible since Melinda created it, yet died one year before the Book's written date.
 * She appears to be the first of The Warren Line to name her child Prudence, which will be quite popular in the family well into the future.
 * Paige Matthews is the only original Charmed One to have never met Melinda.
 * Melinda's birth can be seen as a precursor to Wyatt Halliwell's birth: both Charlotte and Piper were kidnapped in labor; Melinda and Wyatt were prophesied to be extremely powerful children that could be swayed to good or evil.
 * Melinda's birth can also technically be a precursor to Prue Halliwell's birth. It is unknown if Phoebe Halliwell was kidnapped during labor, but Melinda and Prue were prophesied to be extremely powerful children that could be swayed to good or evil.
 * The character is probably named after Mary Warren who took part in the real Salem witch trials. Charmed 's creator and writer, Constance M. Burge, named the character "Melinda" after her niece.
 * Piper with the help of Phoebe and Prudence, delivered Melinda when she born.
 * It is likely that the only reason the Warren line knew the Charmed Ones would one day be in their family is because the original Charmed Ones themselves told Charlotte Warren that they were related in the season 3 episode of Charmed, "All Halliwell's Eve".