The Triad

The Triad was the most powerful collective of upper-level demons. Initially appearing to be loyal to the Source of All Evil, they were considered to be the leaders of the Underworld after his vanquishment. The Triad has been responsible for most of the attacks on the Charmed Ones.As claimed in various episodes of season 3. Given their large behind-the-scenes presence in events, they can be considered the series' primary antagonists.
They first became known to the Charmed Ones in 2000, but were killed by Cole Turner soon after when he turned on them. They then returned five years later as the demons Asmodeus, Baliel and Candor, who were vanquished by the Charmed Ones twice.
==History==
===Background===
The Triad has always been the second highest evil in power when the Source of All Evil ruled the Underworld. They worked separate from him, but did his bidding when necessary. However, it was hinted that other demons, such as the Brotherhood of the Thorn, never fully trusted them. Like the Source, they had many demons working for them who they send out to kill the Charmed Ones.
===The Rise of the Triad===
When the Triad became aware of the Charmed Ones, they sent many demons to kill the sisters. However, when all demons failed, the Triad summoned the half-demon Belthazor to kill them. Belthazor used his human half Cole Turner to get close to the sisters. His plan was to seduce Phoebe, but ended up falling in love with her. This love caused Cole to earn the ire of the Triad, and when they tried to kill him, it caused him to turn on and kill the Triad.
===The Return of the Triad===
Five years later, The Triad reappeared in different bodies and revealed their names as Asmodeus, Baliel and Candor. It was revealed that they were responsible for the kidnapping of Christy Jenkins fifteen years ago in an attempt to harness the Ultimate Power. Under demonic care, Christy was brainwashed to warp her sense of right and wrong, causing her to ultimately believe that the Triad were good and the Charmed Ones were evil. Their goal was to use the Jenkins sisters to kill the Charmed Ones.
When Christy was found by her sister Billie, Christy did as she was told by the Triad and started to gain her sister's trust while starting to manipulate her to turn her against the Halliwells.
===Xar===
It was later revealed that a demon named Xar was a former member of The Triad. Seeking revenge and not wanting them to rule the Underworld, Xar ordered his demons to expose the Triad's return to the Charmed Ones. However, the Triad discovered his involvement through Christy and vanquished him.
The Charmed Ones confronted the Triad at Magic School and managed to vanquish Asmodeus by having Paige orb him into the path of a Fireball thrown by Baliel after they were frozen by Piper. After the collective was weakened, Piper was able blow up Baliel(although she had to hit him with her power three times before she could blow him up), forcing Candor to flee as the sole survivor. Candor later appeared before Christy and told her that she had to go forward alone and unite with her sister as the Ultimate Power.
===The Noxon Demons===
When Carl and Helen Jenkins returned to meet their long lost daughter, Candor began to fear that Christy's humanity and love for her parents would throw her off the path the Triad intended. To prevent this from happening, Candor sent a pair of unvanquishable Noxon Demons to kill the Jenkinses. In a fit of rage, Christy then killed Candor by impaling him with her fist, at which point he congratulated her for passing the final test.
===Return as Spirirts===
It was later revealed that the Triad possessed a power that allowed them to exist in spirit form after their bodies vanquished. In spirit form, the Triad continued to manipulate Christy and Billie through the demon Dumain, a servant who had once posed as an "imaginary friend" to the sisters. Meanwhile, a former servant of the Triad called Nomed started assisting the Charmed Ones and provided them with information on the Triad's plan. As the Ultimate Battle began, both the Ultimate Power and the Charmed Ones summoned The Hollow.
While possessed by The Hollow, the Charmed Ones appeared in Magic School vanquished the Triad in spirit form before confronting Billie and Christy. Both sets of sisters then faced each other in the Ultimate Battle, leading to the deaths of Phoebe, Paige and Christy.
===Final Vanquish===
After the battle, both Piper and Billie travelled back in time to save their respective sisters. However, Dumain tried to manipulate Billie into saving the Triad instead, which causes Billie to realize they were being manipulated. After reversing the Ultimate Battle, Billie tried to reason with her sister, but realized that Christy was too far gone. 
While Billie turned to the Charmed Ones, Dumain kidnapped Coop and stole his ring so he and Christy could use it to travel back in time and warn The Triad. However, Billie and the Charmed Ones arrived at the same moment and the sisters vanquished the Triad one final time with potions. Piper then vanquished Dumain while Billie tried to reason with her sister. However, when Christy attacked her with a giant Fireball, Billie was forced to vanquish her sister in self-defence.
==Book of Shadows==
===The Triad===
:The Triad is a collective of powerful upper-level demons.
:Virtual Emperors of the Underworld, when together, the
:powers of this evil cabal increase exponentially and there
:is no known method of vanquishing them. Though
:unconfirmed, rumours persist of splinter groups seeking to
:carry out their own agendas.
TheTriad.jpg|The Triad entry
TheTriad2.jpg|Alternate entry
==Powers and Abilities==
The Triad were a collective of powerful upper-level demons rivalling the Source of All Evil. As a collective, their powers were tied to each other and they were at their most powerful when working as one force. However, as a collective they suffered from the drawback that one death weakened the collective as a whole. After the Charmed Ones tricked one of the members to kill another, their power decreased, allowing Piper to vanquish the second member with her power of Molecular Combustion.
Basic Powers
*Spell Casting: The ability to cast spells and perform rituals.
Active Powers
* Banishing: The ability banish other beings from a location.
* Apportation: The ability to transport objects from one location to another.
* Energy Balls: The ability to throw spheres of electrical energy.
* Fading: An energy-based form of teleportation.
* Fireballs: The ability to throw upper-level Fireballs, which resemble swirling, flaming rings of metal.
* Hologram: The ability to create holograms from images in the mind.
* Molecular Dispersion: The ability to destroy a being by ripping their molecules apart.
* Optical Fire Bolts: The ability to fire a stream of fire from one's eyes.
* Pyrokinesis: The ability to create and manipulate fire with the mind.
* Remote Teleportation: The ability to teleport other beings from one location to another.
* Resurrection: The ability to resurrect oneself after being vanquished. When the Triad is vanquished, they return in spirit form until they are able to create new bodies for themselves.
* Sensing: The ability sense the location of other beings.
* Summoning: The ability to summon other beings to one's presence.
* Telekinesis: The ability to move objects and beings with the mind.
* Temporal Stasis: The ability to stop or slow down time in a certain area.
* Hypnosis: The ability to put other beings in a trance, bending them to one's will.
* Telepathy: The ability to read the thoughts of others and communicate mentally. The Triad was in telepathic contact with Christy.
* Dream Leaping: The ability to enter and manipulate the dreams of others.
* Manifestation: The ability to exist in spirit form after the body is destroyed.
* Voice Manipulation: The ability to alter one's voice to sound like another.
Other Powers
* Adjusting: The ability to resist and fight through inhibitory molecular powers such as Molecular Immobilization.
* High Resistance: The ability to be highly resistant to physical and magical harm.
* Immunity: The ability to be immune to certain powers, spells or potions.
* Immortality: The ability to possess an infinite lifespan and an arrested aging process.
==Members and Associates==
* First Members: In their first incarnation, the Triad appeared as three demons with pure black eyesOther demons such as the Source of All Evil also have black eyes., dressed in dark red, hooded robes with a gold pentagram on the back.
* Asmodeus, Baliel and Candor: In their second incarnation, the Triad were shown to be more individual than before. In this form the Triad wore black robes without hoods and with an upside down pentagram on their chest. Their eyes were no longer pure black.
* Xar: Xar was a demon who mentioned being a former member of the Triad. At some point in time, they parted ways and Xar desired revenge. He was later vanquished by the Triad.
* Dumain: Dumain was a servant of the Triad who was promised membership after helping them orchestrate the Ultimate Battle.
* Nomed: Nomed was a demon who used to work for the Triad. However, after a falling out, Nomed became interesting in letting a new generation take power, which required the Triad to be gone. To achieve this, he assisted the Charmed Ones in the Ultimate Battle.
==Gallery==
Triad Cole.png|The Triad summoning Cole
Triad Menmer2.png|A Triad member
Triad Member.png|A Triad member
Triad Member3.png|A Triad member
Triad_Cole 2.png|Triad about to vanquish Cole with a Fireball
Cole_Kills_Triad.png|Cole kills a Triad member with an athame
Cole_Kills_Triad2.png|Cole kills another member by twisting his neck
Cole_Kills_Triad 3.png|Cole kills the last member with an Energy Ball
Christy_Triad.png|The Triad returns in new bodies
Asmodeus.png|Asmodeus
Baliel.png|Baliel
Candor.png|Candor
Triad_Orbs.png|Paige orbing Asmodeus in front of Baliel
Triad_Dead.png|Asmodeus is vanquished by Baliel's Fireball
Triad_Dead2.png|Piper blows up Baliel
Triad_Christy_Vanquish.png|Christy impaling Candor with her arm
Triad_Spiritform.png|The Triad in their spirit forms
Triad_Vanquished.png|The Triad vanquished by the Charmed Ones
==Notes and Trivia==
* It is mentioned that the Triad can have more members than the initial three, which would likely strengthen their collective power. The demon Xar mentioned having been a member and the Triad promised Dumain could join them when the Charmed Ones were dead.
* It was revealed the name of the three triad members are Asmodeus, Baliel and Candor. It's also a coincidence that the name of a demon who was helping of them, with hopes of becoming a triad member was Dumain, which is all alphabetical order.
* Perhaps by coincidence, the order of oldest to youngest of the Charmed Ones vanquished the alphabetical order of the Triad the final time (Asmodeus is vanquished by Piper, Baliel by Phoebe, and Candor by Paige)
* It is strongly hinted that the Triad was not completely loyal to the Source of All Evil. This is notable through the apparent distrust of the Triad by the Brotherhood of the Thorn, as well as their plans involing the Ultimate Power. Their ploy went back fifteen years, far before the Halliwell sisters even became the Charmed Ones, possibly indicating that they tried to harness their power for other reasons.
* Asmodeus is the name of a demon from the Ars Goetia, the first section of the demonology book The Lesser Key of Solomon. Here, he is described as a King and governs seventy two legions of inferior spirits. Other names taken from this are Andras, Barbas and Shax.
* Asmodeus is also present in other religions and mythologies. He is described as a King of Demons, one of the Seven Princes of Hell and a demon of Lust.
* Baliel was the name of a Biblical demon.
* During the last season, the pentagram on the robes of the Triad changed direction several times.
* The original Triad in Season 3 are never specified which is which. Due to appearance similarities, it is likely that Baliel is the one Cole throws the athame at, Candor is the one whose neck is snapped, and Asmodeus is the one vanquished with a fireball.
== Appearances==
The Triad appeared in a total of 9 episodes over the course of the series.
;Season 3
:Magic Hour
:Sight Unseen
:Power Outage
;Season 8
:The Last Temptation of Christy
:Engaged and Confused
:Generation Hex
:Gone with the Witches
:Kill Billie Vol. 2
:Forever Charmed
==References==