"We are going to be careful, we're going to be wise, and we're going to stick together" - Prue to her sisters.
Prudence Trudeau (née Halliwell), was the oldest sister of the Charmed Ones up until her death in 2001, though she was reborn after the final battle, however not wanting to hurt her sisters, Prue hid herself away and didn't return until the death of her sisters, Leo and Coop nearly twenty years later. She is the wife of her childhood love and now whitelighter; Andy Trudeau and the mother of three;Drew, Patrick and Scott Trudeau.
Her Wiccan powers are focused on mind and movement: the ability to move objects with her mind, and the ability to project herself in an astral form as well as using her telekinesis through her astral projection. Besides this, Prue possesses the basic powers of a witch: the ability to cast spells, brew potions and scry for lost objects or people. She also previously had access to The Power of Three with her sisters; Piper and Phoebe Halliwell and would have been able to access the Power of Four with her sisters and half-sister Paige Matthews.
Before her death, Prue worked as a successful photo journalist at 415 Magazine, a career she wanted to pursue since her youth, but had given up until being introduced to the world of magic which made her realize that her dreams were worth fighting for. However after she was tragically murdered on May 17th, 2001, in her own home by the source of all evil's personal assassin, Shax, she had to leave everything behind.
Prue, as a gift to the Charmed family, was brought back to life in 2006, alongside Andy Trudeau, now a whitelighter, however being unable to hurt her sisters she decided to move to Boston and began a job working for the Boston Paper and worked there until transferring to the Bay Mirror in San Francisco after her sisters were killed.
Prue is a decedent of the Warren family line of witches dating back to Melinda Warren of the 16th Century.
History
Early Life
Prue was born on October 28th, 1970, to the Warren witch Patty Halliwell and the mortal Victor Bennett. She started out as a happy, naive and witty child who often argued with her younger sister, Piper, over toys or the usage of their magic. Despite her young age, Prue had perfect control over her birth power of telekinesis which allowed her to move objects using only the power of her mind.
On March 24th, 1975, she was visited by a future version of herself, alongside a future version of her younger sister Piper, and a future version of her unborn sister, Phoebe Halliwell. After Phoebe was born, their grandmother, Penny, bound their powers in order to prevent the warlock Nicholas from killing them and possessing their powers after he was given immunity from them by Patty against her will. Penny also erased her and Piper's memory of even being witches and having powers.
Three years later, Prue witnessed her mother's corpse get taken away after the Water Demon killed her. This transpired to be a crushing sadness for her to bear, causing a dramatic influence on her psyche: from that day on, she was not able to say "I love you" to anyone, as it was the last thing she ever said to her mother.
She formally had a good relationship with her father, Victor. However, continuous heated arguments between her father and maternal grandmother resulted in him leaving the family, which also caused Prue to resent him bitterly.
Not long after Prue's mother, Patty died, and Victor was still living in the manor, Prue heard the devil's chord, which is a mixture of notes used to attract and capture demonic children. She then saw a demonic child get pulled into the ice cream van and went to try to save him, but got subsequently pulled into the truck, trying to save the "child" and suddenly found herself in the playground where the Nothing resided. A frightened Victor went to check on Prue and noticed she's not in her bed anymore, he ran outside and saw a van, thus, making him think something bad had happened. He opened the door and found himself in the playground as well. He was able to find Prue and return her safely back. However, Grams wasn't too happy about it when she found out.
From a very young age, especially after their mother's death and later their father's abandonment, Prue had to look after her younger sisters, to the extent of sacrificing a majority of her childhood to help raise them. Piper even stated that she and Phoebe were lucky and had an easy life because Prue was so responsible, while Phoebe confessed that Prue took her surrogate-maternal duties so well yet so seriously that she always felt Prue was a strict mother to her than an older sister.
Despite her serious nature and her myriad of responsibilities, during her high school years, Prue was a very popular student. She was the president of the student council and the head cheerleader in her squad. She had an on and off relationship with her and her sisters' childhood friend Andy Trudeau. The relationship would then pick up again in their late twenties. At the age of seventeen, the boy Prue thought she was in love with attacked her incurring the wrath of an indignant Grams. According to Piper, Grams presumably used witchcraft to deal with him as the boy was never seen again afterwards. Three years later, Phoebe and her were in a car accident, resulting in Phoebe getting hospitalized, Prue then blamed herself for hurting her. Grams tried her best to keep them together so they would be able to fulfill their destiny of being the Charmed Ones. However, because Prue and Phoebe could never get along, she believed that they would never mature enough to handle their powers once they're back. Right before Prue's wedding to Roger, Grams went into cardiac arrest and died.
Death
On May 17th, 2001, Prue and her sisters brought a doctor of San Francisco Memorial Hospital to the manor to protect him from Shax, the personal assassin of the Source of All Evil. While trying to tell Dr. Griffiths about demons, witches and The Source, Phoebe goes up to the Book of Shadows to get the vanquishing spell. Suddenly, Prue feels a chill and Shax crashes through the front door.
Shax attempts to attack Dr. Griffiths, but Prue gets up just in time to take his attack, and crashes through the conservatory walls. A distraught Piper attempts to save her sister, but Shax fires at her and she crashes next to Prue leaving both unconscious. He turns to Dr. Griffiths and starts to fire at him, but Phoebe runs down the stairs, says the spell, and Shax turns into the wind. Phoebe leans over Prue and Piper's nearly lifeless bodies and calls out to Leo. Leo orbs down and he heals both of them.
Piper and Prue chase Shax down the street. Shax attacks Prue but she sends it back at him. Piper attempts to blow him up but it only wounds him and he turns back into the wind, once again. Although, unknown to both of them, a reporter from KCSF Channel 8 was able to film the whole attack, live. Darryl Morris starts bringing in numerous parolee's when one of his co-workers, says that the rumors of him and the Halliwell sisters may be true and points to the TV. Back at the Manor Darryl calls the sisters and tells them to turn on a TV. They watch themselves vanquish Shax on live television, and both angrily call down Leo. However, the Elders don't want to get involved in case Whitelighters get exposed as well. Although, they have an idea; they want them to contact Tempus, the Devil's sorcerer that the sisters' defeated, since he's the only one on either side that has the power to manipulate time. Leo then orbs down to the underworld, where Phoebe and Cole are waiting.
Meanwhile, back at the Manor, Piper and Prue are making sure no one else can get into the Manor. They walk into the next room, when they suddenly hear a loud bang. Prue looks down to Piper's stomach, where she can see her blood stained hands. A witch practitioner, Alice Hicks shot Piper due to them not letting her into their "coven." A distraught Prue calls out to Leo, but gets no answer since he is in the underworld. She carries Piper's slowly dying body outside and carefully seats her in the car. She attempts to drive out of the driveway but the crowd of people refuses to get out of her way. Without any way to get out, she uses her power to fling the innocents out of the way; making room to get Piper to the hospital. Once there, they are met by Dr. Griffiths who takes Piper into the emergency room. They attempt to save her, however, it fails and Piper's last words to Prue were "I love you" before she dies. Prue cries as she stands there holding Piper's hand. In the Underworld, Cole has made a deal with the Source so that he'll get Tempus to reset time if Phoebe stays down there with him. She agrees and the time change starts to get effect, right before Prue is shot at by SWAT with wall-penetrating rounds.
Time is reversed back to Prue and Piper taking Dr. Griffiths at the Manor. Shax whirls in once again and attacks Prue, blasting her through a wall. Piper runs after her sister, and gets severely wounded. He then fires at the doctor, throwing him at the window. He smiles as he has completed his task. Unfortunately, because Phoebe was stuck in the Underworld, she couldn't say the spell to temporarily defeat Shax as she had done before. Shax then whirls out of the manor, slamming the Manor doors and shattering the glass; symbolizing the end of the Power of Three. By the time that Phoebe and Leo arrived back at the manor, Prue had already died from blood loss and her sustained injuries though Leo was able to heal Piper.
Afterlife
According to Grams, Prue didn't take her death well, just like Phoebe and Piper. Because of this, added to the fact that Piper and Phoebe wouldn't be able to move on properly if they had seen her, Prue was not able to be summoned from the afterlife and by the time they had accepted her death, she had already been given a second chance at life.
Even after her death, it was revealed that Prue was still watchful and concerned for her sisters, including Paige, her long-lost half-sister whom she had never met. She would silently help the sisters from the afterlife. After her funeral, she flipped the pages of the Book of Shadows so Piper and Phoebe would be able to help Paige with an Enchantment Spell also confirming that she had a pretty good knowledge of the Book of Shadows before she died.
Prue played an important role in helping her sisters win their battle against the demon Zankou: she had, apparently, written a spell on how to channel her power to astral-project, and taught it to Leo sometime before she died. This enabled her sisters to utilize her astral-projection powers to say a vanquishing spell from the basement of the manor in astral form, while their actual bodies were left outside, hidden. When Zankou was vanquished, they astral-projected back into their bodies. As her sisters and Leo left Prescott Street to start a new life, we see Darryl walking down the steps of the Halliwell Manor for the last time, and Prue uses her telekinesis to close the door, just like she did when she was alive.
Children
Birth of Drew Trudeau
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Birth of Patrick Trudeau
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Birth of Scott Trudeau
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Appearance
The only major changes in Prue's appearance involved her hair. Although her fashion sense becomes more risque and revealing.
- Hair: Prue has always had very dark hair with it looking almost black though she does tend to change the shades of her brown hair having it go from lighter to darker, although it has always been noticeably darker than Piper and Phoebe's hair. Almost seven years after her death, Prue now has long waist length brown hair, looking almost black and looking slightly similar to her sister Paige's hair.
- Wardrobe: Her clothing style changes from classy professional clothing to more casual clothing over her three-season run. Prue showed a decided preference for more revealing clothes, often wearing crop tops, tube tops and low cut blouses. When the whitelighter Natalie suggested a costume change because she deemed the Charmed Ones' fashion sense too "fearless", Prue claimed that then she would have 'nothing to wear'. Now although she does show her fun side, she does tend to air on the more classy look.
- Aliases: On her return Prue took the alias of Prudence Trudeau and had altered her appearance as not to raise any attention to anyone bar Andy and her children; by going for the blonde haired look with loose curls and green eyes. Her appearance also seems to look softer. She returned to her normal look upon coming back to San Francisco.
Personality
Prue is stubborn and strong-willed. Unlike Phoebe, she is slow to trust people. She holds a grudge for a long time, having not forgiven her father for years after he left them and not trusting Cole even after he saved their lives on more than one occasion. Though those qualities shifted slightly after she returned from the afterlife with her hiding herself from the world causing her to become a single unit.
At first, her duty as a Charmed One was a burden for her work life but she eventually began taking the initiative in hunting demons. It even at one point progressed into an obsession, believing a break-in to be the work of demons, and disregarding the idea of a human culprit. Prue is the most responsible of the sisters and has made numerous sacrifices throughout her life for them. According to Piper, Prue was known for saying "The Charmed Ones come first" when she alive and was always risking her life in the fight against evil, even sorting out her last will and testament before her death for the sake of her sisters. She's willing to take on a leadership role, having laid down rules when the sisters first got their powers.
After the death of her sisters, Prue comes out of hiding, wanting to find a way to save and protect her sisters as well as find a way to protect her nieces and nephews and has since become massively protective of them all and especially her children. Prue is willing to do anything to protect her family, even it means putting herself in harm's way, or harming innocents with her powers.
Powers and Abilities
Active Abilities
- Telekinesis: The ability to move objects and beings with the mind. This was Prue's primary ability as a witch which she could channel with her eyes and later hands.
- Telematerialization: The ability to teleport liquid with the mind.
- Astral Projection: The ability to project one's consciousness into an astral form outside the body. Prue first developed this power during her second year as a witch as an advancement of her telekinesis. When she returns to the Charmed fold she is able to use her telekinesis in astral form.
Basic Powers
- Spell Casting: The ability to cast spells and perform rituals.
- Potion Making: The ability to brew potions.
- Scrying: The ability to locate a person or object with the use of a scrying crystal, a map, and sometimes other tools.
- Mediumship: The ability to see and commune with spirits of the dead, due to her death, Prue has shown to have a unique understanding for this ability.
Other Powers
- The Power of Three/Four: The collective power of the Charmed Ones that enhances their powers.
- High Resistance: This power causes Prue to be resistant to powers such as Fireballs and other potentially lethal powers.
- Temporary Powers: Powers that Prue temporarily gained when she was transformed into or swapped powers with other beings. She also temporarily had the powers of a whitelighter through her pregnancies with her three children all of which are half-whitelighter.
Professional Life
Prue had graduated with honors from Gold State University, and proved to be an expert at the jobs she applied, showing herself to be an accomplished and skillful woman, not only in the magical world, but also in the mortal world. Given how she later demonstrated expert martial-arts skills that surpassed even those of her sister, Phoebe (who was the only Charmed One shown on screen to have taken self-defense classes), it is also possible that she had taken up the study of martial-arts in her school years, and hence emerged as an extremely effective combatant.
- Museum of Natural History: Prue had been working at the Museum of Natural History in San Francisco since college. In fact, it was there that she met Roger, her boss who later became her fiance. After she found out that Roger was coming onto Phoebe, and was not the man that she thought he was, she resigned, and even unintentionally used her new found powers on Roger when he provoked her. It was also mentioned that he had, apparently, trash-talked her, in hopes that it would prevent her from getting a new job.
- Buckland Auction House: One week after she resigned from the Museum, Prue received a call from Buckland Auction House to interview for an ancient artifacts expert's job. Prue noted that her areas of expertise are dated from the Ming dynasty to a Mark McGwire rookie baseball card. However, the auction house was infiltrated by two demons named Rex Buckland and Hannah Webster, who were plotting to kill the Charmed Ones; after vanquishing them, Prue continued to work there. Also, it was at the auction house that she first discovered the use of her astral projection powers. She decided to quit working there after a dishonest new boss took over, and Prue disagreed with his way of working. Thus also ending her relationship with Jack Sheridan.
- 415 Magazine: Ever since Prue was a child, she had wanted to become a professional photo journalist by the inspiration of a man named Finley Beck. After a year and a half at the auction house, she quit and used her subsequent free time to figure what she really wanted to do. Prue soon fulfilled her childhood dream when she was hired by 415 Magazine, where she quickly became one of their top photographers up until her death in May 17, 2001.
Romantic Life
Andy Trudeau
Having known one another since early childhood Andy and Prue have
Other Relationships
- Eric: Sometime before 1998, Prue traveled to London, England where she had a relationship with this man. Nothing else is known about Eric or Prue's relationship with him. He was mentioned by Cupid in the episode Heartbreak City.
- Alan: Alan was a love interest of Prue's during her time in college. Nothing else is known about Alan or Prue's relationship with him. He was mentioned by Cupid in the episode Heartbreak City.
- Tom Peters: Prue started dating Tom sometime between 1990, her junior year in college and 1992, her senior year. He was a star wide receiver and captain of the Gold State football team while Prue was head cheerleader. In the episode Wrestling with Demons, Prue discovered Tom was preparing to become a demon. Prue, not wanting to have to vanquish Tom, helped him deal with his issues and become mortal again before he murdered an innocent.
- Roger: In her twenties, Prue became engaged to Roger, who was her boss at the Museum of Natural History. However, Roger kept coming on to Phoebe secretly, then claimed that it was Phoebe who went after him. Though she believed Roger, Prue still broke off their engagement, and later quit her job to get away from him, since their relationship had deteriorated to the point where they cannot even work as colleagues, without being hostile or mean to each other.
- Alan Stanton: They were both colleagues at Buckland's. Alan was the first person that Prue showed interest in since Andy died. They went on a couple of dates, but Alan kept his distance. Prue suspected that he was not interested, but he was merely giving her space, knowing she was still healing from her loss. When a spell turned Prue into a man, they held a conversation and Prue learned how he really felt about her. Once the spell reversed, they went on another date.
- Jack Sheridan: They met during a TV Auction where Jack snatched away Prue's auction. He later developed an interest in Prue and transferred to Buckland to get closer to her. Although she initially hated him, she began to warm up and they became good friends, and eventually started a short relationship before she discovered that he wasn't right for her and ended their relationship the same day she quit her job.
- Bane Jessup: When Prue went undercover as the assassin Ms. Hellfire to find out who was behind an assassination attempt on her and her sisters, she met Bane Jessup, a suave crime boss. Eventually, she discovered that the demon Barbas had hired Bane to kill the sisters along with 10 other witches. Bane then hired Ms. Hellfire to complete the job. Seduced by lust and his romance, Prue started to fall for Bane, but had to have him arrested for conspiracy to commit murder once the entire plot was discovered and Barbas was banished back to the Underworld. Bane Jessup later escaped prison trying to get Prue to help him fight off the demon Litvack, who wanted Bane dead. During this time, Prue and Bane fell for each other and consummated their relationship. However, Bane returned to jail willingly and the two never saw each other again after this.
- Brendan Rowe: Prue briefly fell for Brendan, a pure hearted half-warlock who she helped to rid himself of his evil nature. His warlock brothers Greg and Paul saw how much Brendan was starting to feel for Prue, and tried to make him sacrifice her as part of their last attempt to turn him evil. Their relationship would be ultimately short-lived due to Brendan finally fulfilling his dream of becoming a priest.
- Dick: Dick was a boring guy who worked in an office not far from Café Le Blue, where he had a date with Prue. He didn't like taking long lunches. On his date, the Genie appeared three inches tall, distracted Dick, and dived into his mouth. Controlled by the genie, Dick dipped his fingers in the butter and greedily licked it off. He then asked Prue what she wanted in a man, she replied she wanted to be excited by love again, totally unaware that her "boyfriend" was actually the genie speaking to her. The genie, as Dick, granted her wish. We later heard at the end of the episode, that Prue had dumped Dick.
- Micah/Mitch: Micah was a member of the witch-hunter troupe that patrolled the Virginia village where Melinda Warren was born. Though he worked as witch hunter, he was actually riding with them to undo their work and protect good magic. It appeared that he also knew the troupe's commander, Ruth Cobb, was actually an evil witch herself. He encountered the Halliwell sisters and helped them twice. However, his cover was blown after he released the sisters and he was killed by Cole. At the end of the episode, a man who looks identical to Micah, called Mitch, shows interest in Prue at P3.
- Sean: Sean was a man that Prue dated in late 2000. However, due to her obsession with tracking down the demons who continuously sent demons after her and his sisters Piper and Phoebe, Prue stood Sean up on many dates. At the same time, a new manager at P3 named Abbey began to stalk Prue in hopes of taking over her identity and broke into Halliwell Manor. After this breaking and entering took place, Sean ended up being one the many suspects thought to be the stalker. In the end, Abbey was proven to be the stalker.
- Justin Harper: Justin Harper was Prue and Piper's friend from high school. He had a crush on Prue, but they never dated. During their tenth year reunion, he reunited with Piper and Prue, and finally started dating Prue. After a couple of dates the relationship was slowly deteriorating. A Warlock named Zile, then shape-shifted into him to lure Prue with him to turn herself and her sisters into warlocks, thus turning the Power of Three evil for a short time. In the end of it, Prue ultimately broke up with him because he was just too "boring".
- T.J.: Prue started regularly astral projecting to a bar unconsciously in her sleep. At the bar, she met T.J., with whom she flirted. On the day of Piper and Leo's wedding, Prue was wanted for murder, and T.J. denied knowing her. When Prue projected herself back to the bar at noon, he tries to take her away, only to be stopped by the cops. He then crashes Piper and Leo's wedding and Prue immediately astral projects and leaves with him. That same night, T.J. and Prue are enjoying themselves in the woods when Phoebe suddenly casts a spell to bring her back. They never met again after this.
Trivia
- Prue was named after one of her ancestors; Prudence Wentworth and had two of her nieces named after her with; Prudence Melinda and Prudence Johanna.
- Prue's astrological sign is Scorpio. Her ancestor, Melinda Warren, was also a Scorpio, having been born on October 31, 1670 as well as her nieces' Melinda and Parker and her nephew; Chris.
- Prue is the only one out of the four sisters that does not have brown eyes, having green eyes instead which several of her nieces and nephews have inherited as well as her youngest child.
- For almost 20 years, Prue could never say I love you as they were the last words she spoke to her mother before she was killed.
- Prue promised Piper before her wedding that she would stop anybody that tried to ruin the ceremony. Ironically, it was Prue (in her astral form) who ruined Piper's wedding.
- Prue died when she pushed Dr. Griffiths out of the way, if she had moved him telekinetically or had not bothered with him at all, she would more than likely have survived the attack.
- Prue broke her ankle at the age of 7.
- Her past life is P. Bowen.
- Phoebe taught Prue how to French kiss.
- Piper gave Prue the chicken pox as a child.
- Prue has a fondness for Twizzlers.
- According to one of her ex-boyfriends, Jack Sheridan, she uses the Must de Cartier perfume.
- She can't stand when people talk at the previews.
- She argues to win.
- Prue picks her cuticles when she's nervous.
- Piper and Prue went to Duran Duran together and Prue stretched her leg warmers so gave them to Phoebe.
- Prue was a cheerleader and class president in high school.
- Both Prue and her mom were killed by elemental demons; Prue by Shax, a demon who uses wind, and her mother by the Water Demon, which obviously kills with water.
- Prue expresses her fears of being compared to her mother. Scared that her life seemed to be following the same pattern as her mother's and terrified one of the many similarities between the two would be that she will die young. Ironically, these fears were totally justified as she was killed by Shax a year later.
- Both Prue and Phoebe's names came from their ancestors.
- Prue shares many traits with her future nephew Chris. Both have dark hair, green eyes, and share the power of telekinesis. They have similar personalities: both are serious, business-like, stubborn and care greatly for their family's well-being. Also, they both have encountered the Angel of Death sometime before their deaths and have both returned to life.
- In season 3, Prue consistently displayed incredible martial-arts skills that could rival, if not surpass, those of her sister Phoebe's. Examples of such instances are when she fought against demons like Vinceres, the Seekers, Tarkin, the Wrestlers, and the stalker Abbey. She also displayed gun slinging skills. It was never made known as to how or why she was such a formidable combatant, and the only theory seems to be that she had taken up the study of combat during her schooling years, and choose to employ them only after she became more confident and skilled in using her powers.
- Prue is the only sister that has never received any Whitelighter powers. However, she did receive Darklighter abilities, when she switched powers with Alec and was able to use whitelighter powers through her three pregnancies.
- After her death, Piper inherited her golden necklace.
- Even in death, Prue has influenced in some of the most important points of the show:
- Changing the spell to summon her to find Paige and repair the Power of Three, as well as fueling her sisters' determination to defeat the Source once and for all.
- Her sisters using the knowledge of Astral Projection she had left to vanquish Zankou.
- Out of all the characters to magically close the Manor door, Prue has done it the most at 7 different times, 4 of which occurred at the end of a season. Each time she did, she used telekinesis.
- Both Piper and Prue saw visions of Patty whilst almost drowning. On both accounts Patty helped both sisters get over their fears and helped return them to the surface.
- Prue's the only Charmed One to change genders as well as transform into a normal animal (a dog); both with the purpose of locating a demon.