Barbas

Barbas, also known as the Demon of Fear, is an ancient and powerful upper-level demon. His primary power is the ability to read the fears of his victims. He then uses those fears against them.

Barbas was originally bound to a cycle which only allowed him to return to earth every thirteen hundred years. This cycle could only be ended if he killed thirteen unmarried witches on Friday the 13th. However, Barbas has since escaped the cycle and has grown into one of the most frequently recurring and dangerous enemies of the original Charmed Ones and later, their children, the Destined Ones.

Original Charmed Ones
On Friday the 13th in 1999, Barbas returned to earth after thirteen hundred years. In order to be freed from the cycle, he needed to kill thirteen unmarried witches before midnight. His first victim was Tanjella, whom he killed with her fear of being buried alive in an earthquake. He then confronted a girl, who believed she had conquered her fear of fire, though Barbas replied she had only repressed it before killing her.

Barbas then targeted the Charmed Ones and nearly drowned Prudence in the shower, though she was saved when Andy Trudeau interrupted him. He proceeded to lure Phoebe to an empty house by pretending to be a client. He then used her phone to lure Prue there as well so he could use both their fears; drowning and losing a sister. When Prue arrived, Barbas pushed her into the pool and she nearly drowned, until the spirit of Patty helped her conquer her fear. Due to Prue no longer being afraid, Barbas was banished.

Ms. Hellfire
The following year, Barbas returned and worked with a criminal named Bane Jessup, who in turn, hired an assassin known as Ms. Hellfire to kill thirteen witches. After the sisters killed the assassin in self-defense, they checked her apartment. When D.J. arrived, he mistook Prudence for Hellfire and took her to see Bane.

When Bane took Prue to meet Barbas, he used her fear of someone killing her sisters to hypnotize her. He convinced her that her sisters had been replaced by imposters. Piper and Phoebe were able to snap Prue out of her trance and confronted Barbas. After a short battle, it became midnight and Barbas ran out of time, sending him to purgatory once more.

Manipulating Cole
While trapped in Purgatory, Barbas met another demon named Stimple, who taught him how to astral project. Barbas then began manipulating Cole Turner and the Charmed Ones as part of his plan to escape. After creating enough conflict, Barbas tricked Paige into giving Cole a power stripping potion. When Cole drank it, Barbas materialized and absorbed the powers.

Barbas freed Stimple and they took over Cole's penthouse. Initially, Barbas was only interested in getting revenge on the sisters, though Stimple convinced him to take over the Underworld. While meeting with the demonic leaders, Phoebe appeared before him and taunted him. Barbas followed her to the Halliwell Manor and overpowered the sisters. He then trapped them in the Manor and brought all their fears to life.

Stimple pleaded to Barbas to forget the witches, though Barbas vanquished him instead. When he confronted the sisters, Paige managed to orb another power stripping potion at him. The stolen powers were then returned to Cole, who vanquished Barbas with an Energy Ball.

The Tribunal
When Inspector Sheridan filmed the sisters using magic to extract a Phantasm, the Cleaners intervened and framed Darryl Morris for murder to cover it up. The sisters sought a way to save their friend and went to the Tribunal with Gideon. When the sisters got a trial, Barbas appeared as the opposing counsel. When Phoebe asked what he was doing there, the Tribunal replied that they liked his "pitch".

Phoebe reasoned that his presence was a conflict of interest, though the Tribunal disagreed. The sisters then began to suspect it was a setup and sent Leo and Chris to investigate. After reviewing several past events, Barbas made his case about the sisters having caused exposure too often and that they should be stripped of their magic.

Just as the Tribunal was about to reach their verdict, Leo and Chris arrived with Inspector Sheridan, revealing she was possessed by a Phantasm and that everything had been set in motion by Barbas. However, Barbas reasoned that the sisters, in particular Phoebe, were still irresponsible with their powers. This resulted in the Tribunal stripping Phoebe's active powers. Due to technically winning his case, Barbas was granted his deal and was resurrected. He then read Gideon's fear, which was that the Charmed Ones would discover he was the one after Wyatt.

Working with Gideon
When Gideon sent Leo and Chris to a Parallel World, they met a good version of Barbas, who revealed that Gideon was the one after Wyatt. With his secret exposed, Gideon fled to the Underworld and proposed an alliance to Barbas. He revealed that his interference had switched the balance between Good and Evil and that a great evil was needed to restore it.

Gideon sent Barbas to distract the sisters. When Barbas learned that only Piper was affected by the shift in moralities, he manipulated her into casting a spell on her sisters. Gideon then sent Barbas after Leo, whom he confronted with his worst fear, Wyatt growing up to become evil and failing as a father. During this time, Gideon kidnapped Wyatt and fatally wounded Chris.

While in the Underworld, Barbas grew impatient and tried to kill Wyatt, causing him to orb away. As Barbas chased the boy through the Underworld by tracking his fear, Leo glamoured into Barbas and confronted Gideon. He then vanquished him, performing an act of evil and restoring the balance between moralities, while Barbas fled.

Being hunted by Leo
Due to Gideon's betrayal, Leo became obsessed and started hunting down Barbas. However, Barbas manipulated him into attacking an Elder named Zola by comparing him to Gideon. As Barbas got healing from a demonic healer, he was visited by a floating head that told him to go after the baby.

Barbas and a small army of demons attacked Piper and the baby, though she was able to defeat them due to being transformed into the goddess Shiva. Blinded by rage, Leo went after him again and Barbas led him to Zola. This time, Barbas was able to manipulate Leo into killing the Elder.

Barbas returned to his lair and wanted to go after the sisters next, though Paige and Phoebe confronted him instead. Barbas read their fear thinking it would paralyze them, though the sisters replied that their desire to protect their nephews was stronger and vanquished him with a potion.

Season 3
In Darkness is Here, Barbas is mentioned by Gadreel as infamous and very popular "up there". The Angels had told Gadreel about Barbas while he was trapped, so when he was released he decided to bring the Demon of Fear back to live. He gave Ignatius the task of finding Barbas, and he succeeded. Barbas is officially back from the dead and working with Gadreel.

The episode Tell me what's your Fear, I'll tell you how you'll Die, is set to focus on Barbas' return and him going after the Destined Ones. He projects all of the Destined One's fear, and all but Chris and Wyatt are able to overcome them. He succeeds in killing Wyatt but is stopped by Gadreel before he can kill Chris as well.

Book of Shadows

 * The Demon of Fear
 * Also known as Barbas, appears on earth once every 1300 years on a Friday
 * the 13th for twenty-four hours. His appearance is attributed to the universal
 * convergence of negative energies as derived from astrological charts. He derives
 * his life force by feeding off the fears of witches. If he can kill 13 unmarried
 * female witches before the stroke of midnight on the 13th he will be able to
 * break free from his eternal bonds and walk the earth for eternity.


 * A witch's only defense is to identify and then release her greatest fears.
 * Do not rely on your Wicca powers for defense, for in the face of your
 * greatest fear, those powers are paralyzed.

Original Powers
Active Powers Other Powers
 * Smoking: The ability to teleport by turning into a puff of smoke and then reappearing elsewhere.
 * Fear Projection: The ability to sense the greatest fear of someone and make them think that their fears are coming true. Barbas used this power to try and kill thirteen witches to be freed from purgatory. This is his most dangerous and strongest power.
 * Sensing: The ability to sense the location of others. Barbas could track baby Wyatt with his fears.
 * Voice Manipulation: The ability to alter one's voice to match that of another person.
 * Intangibility: The ability to be able to pass through solid matter.
 * Immunity: The ability to be immune to certain powers, spells or potion. Barbas stated that he was immune to the powers of witches as well as talismans.
 * Immortality: The ability to possess a possibly infinite lifespan.

Additional Powers

 * Astral Projection: The ability to project one's consciousness elsewhere in astral form. Barbas learned to use this ability from Stimple.
 * Suggestion: The ability to project oneself as an inner voice to others. Combined with his ability to read fears and astral projection, Barbas used this to manipulate his victims.
 * Flaming: The ability to teleport through flames. After being resurrected by the Tribunal, this ability replaced his original Smoking.
 * Energy Balls: The ability to throw spheres of magical energy. Barbas gained this ability after his resurrection by the Tribunal.

Temporary Powers

 * Cole Turner 's Powers: The abilities possessed by Cole Turner after his return from the Demonic Wasteland. While possessing these powers, his own fear powers were also greatly enhanced.

Notes and Trivia

 * Barbas' hands glow white when reading fears.
 * Phoebe is the only Charmed One to witness all of Barbas' vanquishes and defeats.
 * While Barbas' hair is different is each appearance, his clothes always remain mostly the same.
 * Barbas is the first demon the original Charmed One's faced who doesn't have any monstrous features other than his powers.
 * Phoebe herself referred to Barbas as "the worst demon we've ever faced" and "our worst enemy" in Charmed.
 * He was infamous "up there" as mentioned by Gadreel.
 * Gadreel is a fan of Barbas', and this, among other reasons, is why Gadreel brought him back to life.
 * Barbas kills Wyatt by projecting the latter's fear;