Witch Hunters

**Witch Hunters** are mortal vigilantes who hunt down and personally execute witches, either for personal vendetta or because they simply think witches are evil. While quite common during the 17th-19th centuries, witch hunters are very rare in modern times.

## History

Sometime before December 1, 1889, a witch named Florence and her coven was discovered by the Witchfinder General, Lawrence Mortimer Chase, and his men. Before they were burned at the stake, Lawrence and his men brutalized the women and Chase stole Florence's ring. Florence cursed Lawrence and his entire male lineage before her death, causing them to die before their 26th birthday. He died soon afterward. It is known that his son, Rudolph Chase, followed in his footsteps before he too died from the curse. It's presumed that the Chase family left witch hunting after Rudolph, as Jordan Chase was surprised to learn about the supernatural world.

In "*Manic Pixie Nightmare*", Jada Shields and Mel Vera were ambushed by two masked individuals from an unmarked van with crossbows when they were going to visit Jada's adopted parents. Jada was shot in the shoulder with one of the magic blocking arrows.

In "*Touched by a Demon*", Jada and Mel were shown escaping from the witch hunters, however Jada is unable to heal her shoulder wound, due to the properties of the arrow. Later, the two of them found out that Jerry Finch Jr. and Jennifer Finch, two witch hunters that held hatred toward Jada after she hexed their father and caused him to get caught by the authorities which in turn resulted in the Finch siblings losing their trust funds, had posed as Jada's worried parents and hired Niko Hamada to track her down. Niko contacted the two hunters to lure them into a trap at a warehouse. Mel froze niko to keep her safe and the two witches confront the Finch siblings, using a potion as a distraction to beat the siblings. Jada then wiped their memories to protect the secret of magic.

In "*Breaking the Cycle*", a young witch named Cassie was tracked down by a group of unknown hunters who attempted to kidnap her, presumably under the orders of the Faction. Frightened, she unwittingly released her power, which telepathically froze all mortals on Foster Island in Maine. Cassie hid everywhere, fearing for her safety, but she decided to trust Harry Greenwood when he healed her forehead wound. Later, she witnessed how Abigael Jameson-Caine killed the people who were hunting her, which made Cassie terrified and afraid of her.

Other witch hunter groups still exist, but their own personal histories are unknown.

## Known Witch Hunters

* Jennifer Finch (formerly)
* Jerry Finch Jr. (formerly)
* Lawrence Mortimer Chase †
* Rudolph Chase †
* Some of the Faction's mercenaries †

## Trivia

* Witch hunters share some similarities with the Darklighters from the original series, particularly using crossbows with arrows to hunt down members of a particular magical species (Whitelighters for Darklighters and witches for witch hunters).
* In the episode "*All Halliwell's Eve*" of the original series, a troupe of witch hunters patrolled the colonial Virginia village where Melinda Warren was born. Unknown to the rest of the village, their commander, Ruth, was an evil witch herself. She was actually using the witch hunters to pick off the village's good witches. Among them was a hunter named Micah, who was aware of Ruth's evil and helped the Charmed Ones when they went to the past. In the episode "*Witch Way Now?*", the sisters came across a witch hunter called Agent Jackman, who blackmailed them into tracking down and handing over another witch in order to kill her, under the pretense that she was the witch hunter.
* It is unknown how the witch hunters came to possess artifacts enchanted to protect them from the effects of magic, such as the spell blocking rings, arrows and shield. It is possible that these objects were made from materials that have a natural immunity to magic, though this is never specifically stated.

## See Also

* Spell Blockers
* Spell Blocking Arrows
* Magic Detector
* Darklighter Poison

## References

1. ↑ *Past is Present*
2. ↑ *Curse Words*