Empathy

**Category:** | Supportive Power

**Empathy** is the ability to feel and understand other people's feelings, emotions, and desires. The owner of this ability can feel exactly what another person is feeling, and for the same reasons, without direct contact with them. Although, if someone was to be physically hurt that part of the users body might hurt as well.

The power of Empathy is a very rare gift and only beings that are meant to have it will be able to handle it. It is the one of the few powers that cannot be passed on genetically. If others gain this power, it will eventually overwhelm them, which can drive them insane and even kill them.

## Description

At the most basic level, Empathy involves feeling what other people are feeling, either automatically or by focusing on them. Often times, then owner can immediately interpret the reason or truth behind the emotion, receiving some insight into what they are thinking, or their desires. Other times, they will need to focus more to understand what that person is feeling. As it might not be completely automatic yet.

Although, sometimes the owner of this gift, may have to ask the person they are channeling why they feel the way they do. For they might not understand why that person is feeling what he/she is feeling the way he/she doesn't. Other than the emotional, it can also be triggered by a physical notion, e.g. touch, romantic gestures, etc.

Empathy may initially be hard to switch off, and can cause inexperienced users to act on the emotions as if they were their own or become overwhelmed by them. It can cause them to not think, and even channel others who are not in the same room with them. But meditation and practice will solve this problem.

## Cupids

Cupids, however, cannot feel all emotions, as they are messengers of love, and are not 100% Empaths. Their empathy is limited to only feelings of love and ones that are tied to love, such as; heartbreak, hate, etc. They can also change how others are feeling, and make someone fall in love with another individual. Whether Cupids ever struggled to control their power is not known.

## Whitelighters

A whitelighter's connection to their charges allows them to feel their pain, and know when they are hurt. There empathy is limited to there own charges pain only. e.g. Leo felt Piper's pain, Leo felt another witches pain. But, they can heal there charges so they stop feeling pain and can orb to them to help them. While normal Empaths can't switch it off like that, or make someone stop feeling pain.

## Witches

Witches that have empathy, must have been granted the right to have it. If a witch gets Empathy by accident (spell, power switching, etc), it can cause them to go insane. When Prue Halliwell got Empathy be accident, it nearly killed her. But, when Phoebe was given the gift of Empathy she originally felt everything at once. But, she was able to learn how to control it over time.

## Known Users of Empathy

#### Witches:

* Phoebe Halliwell: Given naturally
* Prue Halliwell: Gained; no longer has ability (Witch days)
* Piper Halliwell: Through a spell
* Lori Grimes: Given naturally (WWTW)
* Carl Grimes: Given naturally (WWTW)

#### Cupids:

* Coop: Given naturally, limited
* Unknown others

#### Whitelighters:

* Paige Matthews: Naturally, limited
* Leo Wyatt: Naturally, limited
* Prue Halliwell: Regained, when made into a whitelighter (WWTW)
* Unknown others

#### Whitelighter-Witches:

* Wyatt Halliwell: Naturally, limited
* Chris Halliwell: Naturally, limited

## Notes & Trivia

* Phoebe Halliwell once claimed that her Empathy could be an advancement of her Premonition power. This was a logical conclusion, since she could often feel what the people in her visions felt, and all her powers share a connection;
* A witch can use a spell to extract this power from someone: To Relinquish an Empath's Power. If physical contact is made while the spell is cast, the power will transfer to the spell caster;
* Witches, Whitelighter-Witches, Whitelighters, and Cupids are the only ones with this power.
* Carl Grimes shares this power with his mother Lori and cousin Phoebe.
* Carl stated that when his powers were bound in San Francisco, that his Empathy *and* Telepathy power(s) were human abilities and were above the power binding spell.