Being Halloween, lots of places are running themed lists including beleaguered AOL which attempts to list the Top 20 witches on television. While we don’t find any glaring omissions, we wonder about many of the placements.
20. Alex Russo, The Wizards of Waverly Place
19. Miss Cackle, The Worst Witch
18. Marge Simpson, Treehouse of Horror VIII
17. Amanda Tucker, Tucker’s Witch
16. Ella, Hex
15. Witch Hazel, Looney Tunes
14. Endora, Passions
13. Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan), Charmed
12. Tabitha Stephens (Lisa Hartman), Tabitha
11. Mildred Hubble (Fairuza Balk), The Worst Witch
10. Prue Halliwell (Shannen Doherty), Charmed
9. Endora (Agnes Moorehead), Bewitched
8. Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo (Billie Hayes), H.R. Pufnstuf
7. Phoebe Halliwell (Alyssa Milano), Charmed
6. Tabitha (Juliet Mills), Passions
5. Sabrina Spellman (Melissa Joan Hart), Sabrina the Teenage Witch
4. Grandmama Addams (Blossom Rock), The Addams Family
3. Piper Halliwell (Holly Marie Combs), Charmed
2. Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), Buffy the Vampire Slayer
1. Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montrgomery), Bewitched
We applaud Piper over her sisters given how grounded she was as a character. On the other hand, Willow saved the world more than once and while she didn’t headline her own TV series, certainly has been displayed as the most powerful witch in this line-up. We adore Samantha and grew up watching her show, but maybe it’s a cultural thing and see Willow having more resonance in today’s television than Samantha ever had.
Sound off below with your own thoughts.
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I'd suggest that Willow was on TV some years ago — not long enough to be in anyone's mind as a Golden Age yet, and some of those years on a network that never even reached this portion of the backwoods until the series was half over. (Same fate as some Star Trek series, though occasionally those reached here in odd times through syndication.) But both Buffy and Star Trek failed in the universality of their appeal due to that.Just saying.
Piper Halliwell was a greater witch than Willow Rosenberg.
I think the Charmed Ones are the most powerful. Don't you think?
Oh, I think Prue was about on par with Phoebe… Piper was definitely the best in the long run, but for a while there, Prue held everything together :)
In my book, Piper is number 1.
Hello Peeps! I think Alyssa Milano rocks… just saying
Where is Angelique from 'Dark Shadows'??She was/is a witch with a capital W. A sorceress supreme
I was just going to say that – how could they not include Angelique????
uh, how in the world did paige get on that list, and grams [penny] didnt???grams was THE witch.and i dont think samantha stephens should have gotten number one, just because we grew up with her?so she was the first on tv witch.. so what?piper was awesome, she DEFINITELY should have been number one.
Amanda Tucker (Catherine Hicks) was terrific! Too bad this only last 13 or so episodes.
Charmed witches rock!!! in my opinion they all are number one but paige has the most powers so i think she deserves the title
I think Piper should be second and Willow should be third
Piper rocks absolutely! (:
Samantha is cool as ppl said shes a classic Willow not so much but PIPER was/is the best witch on the list shes amazing and did anyone else notice tha pipers was 3rd i dont lknow i think its kinda funny but anyways i guess its true the 3rd one is charmed!!
Was Ella Dee from Hex even a witch? She seemed to religious to be a witch i just thought she was like a guardian from God or something to stop Azazeal. Cassie is the main definition of a witch in that programme.And Piper well should have been second over Willow!
Willow was definitely the strongest witch of all time! Think about it, The charmed ones were useless unless they were with each other, whereas willow had the power that was stronger than theirs combined! Sending a meteor into the air, making herself super strength, throwing around jet flashes of powerful spells while the charmed ones had to rush to the book and read before they would actually fight a demon.
How come Prue has higher ranking than Paige? Paige clearly is more powerful and more genious than Prue! furthermore Paige's teleorbing power is an enhancement of Prue's Telekenisis which makes it more powerful… Can Prue even glamour or heal? I think not!
this is not a true representation… Piper Halliwell is the greatest witch that TV has ever seen, and am sure will ever see. I love Paige, but not cause she had the most powers means she would be higher on the list… And I think that Tabitha from Passions should be higher on the list, and that Samantha should be WAY lower (Don't get me wrong, I love Bewitched, but Samantha, to the best of my knowledge, never faced real danger i.e. demons, or saved the world a hundred times over)
Um Alex Russo is a Wizard not a witch…..and Piper is Number 1 followed by Sabrina :)
I do believe that willow would best the charmed ones this being said together and given enough time and prep the charmed ones (together rather with prue or paige) would put up a grand fight but in the end i think willow will take the cake. My reason, she can do all that the charmed ones can do anyway and plus more. I also think paige ought to be higher on the list. her powers do outclass prue's and to an extent can even take on pheobes empath powers. True samantha hasnt had to deal with eveil but at the same time she never had any limits. she didnt need potions or prep work she just made it happen. that in itself is pretty powerful. if she did had to take on someone a twinkle of her nose may just do the trick. as for her being number 1 not sure on that though……..
The charmed ones in the Buffy universe would be tremendously more powerful in then Willow because of the way they made witches on Buffy and that combined with their active powers of telekinesis, freezing and blowing up, and premontion, Willow would be no match for a Buffy-esque power of three.
You all need to remember that you cannot just rank these witch's on power and strength because each show had different limits!Willow at first needed to look up spells in books until she sucked them dry tuning evil, Sam mad whatever she wanted happen and the Charmed ones were passed down individual powers by their ancestors. So to rank them by power and strength they would need to all be from the same show with the same limits…
All of you who think paige was a stronger witch than prue need a reality check; the majority of paige's powers came from her whitelighter father, the only power she inheirited from her mom was telekinesis and even that was tied into her whitelighter powers. As for alex russo; in the wizarding world females are considered witches and males are considered wizards.
Selena Gomez should be #1 then Elizabeth Montgomery although i do like Bewitced, Selena is hotter
My favourite TV witches are the Halliwells/Mattwehs^^Charmed is my favourite Serie ;DBut Samantha Stephens is good,too :)
Piper Halliwell should be the first!!!!! The second Prue,third Phoebe and fourth PaigE! Charmed forever!!!! :)
Piper will always be number one fore me. followed by willow paige, prue then phoebe
Piper should be first, then phoebe 2nd, Paige 3rd, prue 4th Charmed is clearly the best!
Prue should definitely be higher than all of her sisters
Where’s Hermione?
Movies, not TV. (Technically books, but you know what we mean.)
Phoebe Halliwell then Piper then Sabrina!!
My top would be:
1. Samantha Stevens
2. Willow Rosenberg
3. Bonnie Bennet (Vampire Diaries)
4. Piper Halliwell
5. Sabrina Spellman
This list is flawed though. Penny Halliwell, Serena (Bewitched), Billie and Christy Jenkins (Charmed), and Marnie Stonebrook/Antonia (True Blood) at least should get honorable mentions.