Barbas, the Demon of Fear

Status: Deceased (vanquished in 1999, again in 1999, 2003, & 2004)

Known Powers: Fear Sensing/Projection, Smoking, Voice Manipulation, Astral Projection, & Flaming

Appearances: S1: From Fear to Eternity; S2: Ms. Hellfire; S5: Sympathy for the Demon; S6: Crime and Witch-Demeanors, It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World Part 1, & It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World Part 2; S7: A Call to Arms

Family: unknown

Bio: Barbas was an upper-level demon known as the Demon of Fear, due to the fact that he would read a person's greatest fear and then use that fear against them, literally scaring them to death. It used to be that he could only come to Earth on Friday the 13th every 1,300 years, forcing him to kill thirteen unmarried witches before midnight or he would be banished for another 1,300 years. However, a few months after the Charmed Ones banished him back to the Underworld, he found a way to return, and made a deal with a mortal criminal, Bane Jessup. For his part, Bane hired an assassin named Ms. Hellfire to help Barbas kill thirteen unmarried witches by midnight. When Ms. Hellfire was killed while going after the Chamred Ones, Prue Halliwell assumed the assassin's identity to uncover who was behind the attempt on her and her sisters' lives. Her investigation led her to Bane, and from there, Barbas. The demon then used Prue's own fears to get her to attack her sisters, but in the end, they managed to snap her out of it and run out the clock until Barbas missed his deadline yet again, sending him back to Purgatory once more. Approximately four years later, Barbas managed to return yet again, using astral projection that he picked up from another demon to trick the Charmed Ones into stripping Cole Turner of his powers and allowing Barbas to claim them and become the new Source. The Charmed Ones, however, were eventually able to turn the tables on him, stripping him of the powers he took and returning them to Cole, who proceeded to vanquish Barbas with an energy ball. About a year later, the Charmed Ones were put on trial by a magical Tribunal, and so Barbas made a deal with the Tribunal to argue against the Charmed Ones. In the end, it was revealed that Barbas was behind the events that'd led to the trial, but it didn't matter, since he'd managed to prove that the Charmed Ones had been irresponsible with their magic, causing the Tribunal to strip Phoebe Halliwell of her powers. Since he'd technically won his case, Barbas had won the right to come back entirely. Shortly afterward, Barbas teamed up with Gideon, an Elder who feared Wyatt Halliwell would grow too powerful and become corrupt with his power. Gideon sent Barbas to distract Wyatt's parents with their fears, while Gideon himself worked on trying to penetrate Wyatt's forcefield so he could kill him. Ultimately, Leo Wyatt figured out Gideon was working with Barbas, tracked Gideon down to the Underworld, and killed him. For his part in the attempt on Wyatt's life, Leo hunted Barbas throughout the Underworld, though Barbas was able to use Leo's own fear and paranoia to trick him into attacking another Elder, Zola. Barbas was then himself tricked by the Avatars, who convinced him to go after baby Chris. This only led to him being vanquished, for good, by Phoebe and Paige Matthews, who were able to overcome their fears to protect their nephew.

According to the Halliwells' 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 defence, for in the face of your greatest fear, those powers are paralyzed.
To let go of your fear, trust in the greatest of all powers.

Played By: Billy Drago