Creation
Piper was created by Constance M Burge.
Origin
Piper is the middle daughter of Patricia Halliwell and Victor Bennett, and the second granddaughter of Penelope Halliwell. Her sister Prue was born before her, while Phoebe and Paige were born after. Together with Prue and Phoebe made up a third of the Charmed Ones, though they were unaware of this in their early lives. Following the death of her mother, Piper was raised by her grandmother, as were Prue and Phoebe. While Prue attended university Piper shared an apartment with her, and sought employment in restaurants. She returned to the familial home in San Francisco following the death of her grandmother. There, she and her sisters discovered the Book of Shadows, which revealed their heritage and activated their magical powers. Piper and her sisters embrace their collective destiny to fight evil and protect the innocent with their powers.
Major Story Arcs
Charmed
For three years Piper and her sisters fight demons, succubi, warlocks and other magical evils. In their third year Piper is shot and killed by an obsessed fan. Phoebe makes a deal for her life with The Source of All Evil, which results in Piper being brought back to life, but also brings about the death of Prue. After Prue’s death, Piper and Phoebe are joined by their hitherto unknown younger half-sister Paige, who completes the Charmed Ones trio; the sisters then return to fighting evil.
The Source
Piper, like her sisters, has settled into a more domestic life. She and Leo Wyatt have their third child together, Prudence Melinda. Alongside Phoebe, Piper attends the funeral of the first person they ever rescued. Soon it becomes clear, through Phoebe’s visions, that all of the people they have saved over the years are in terrible danger. Piper and Paige begin attempting to locate all of the innocents, soon finding some of them under attack by malevolent sources. The sisters determine that they must come out of semi-retirement to confront evil again, eventually coming into conflict with the resurrected Source. They manage to defeat him.
Neena
Piper learns that her daughter is half-whitelighter, a magical guardian angel being, despite her husband’s powers not being active at the time of the girl’s conception. This is revealed to be due to the meddling of the Elders, the whitelighter governing council. Later, Piper is accidentally sent to another dimension during a confrontation with Neena, a former follower of The Source and current ruler of the Underworld. In this other dimension Piper meets the Angel of Destiny, who tells her that Neena is the First Witch, and has sworn revenge on the Elders and the Angel. Also in the alternate dimension is half-demon Cole Turner, who helps her escape and rejoin her sisters. Using their combined powers, as well of those of their ancestors, the sisters are able to defeat Neena.
Patience
Piper opens her own restaurant, called Halliwell’s. Later, she and Phoebe are reunited with Prue, who is revealed to be inhabiting the body of a Salem-based witch named Patience. The reunion is joyful but brief, due to Prue’s negative impact on the current Power of Three’s power structure.
Powers and Abilities
As a witch, Piper is capable of a number of magical skills, including spell casting, potion making and scrying. She can wield these powers to a variety of effects. As a member of the Charmed Ones, she is capable of molecular manipulation. More specifically she is capable of molecular immobilization, which involves freezing objects, people, or energy in place; molecular combustion, which causes objects to explode; and molecular acceleration, which involves exciting molecules in objects to such an extent that they distort and melt or burn. Piper is a skilled chef. She is fairly athletic, with some skill in gymnastics, and competent in hand-to-hand combat.
Other Media
Literature
Charmed Novels
Piper appears in a number of Charmed novels, which are generally viewed as non-canon with the television series, and by extension with the comics.
Television
Charmed
Piper was originally created for the Charmed television series. She appears in all eight seasons of the show, making her first appearance in the episode “Something Wicca This Way Comes”. She is portrayed by Holly Marie Combs.