The powerful and often villainous role of witch is one character archetype where women reign supreme in pop culture. Try as one might, there’s just not the same power invoked by the idea of a male warlock as a real witchy woman who casts spells, controls the forces of Mother Nature, and who knows what else…
From as far back as the classic Wicked Witch of the West in Oz to today’s True Blood and Dante’s Cove Wiccan women, there’s always been something sexy and often lesbian about these super-powered females.
Feeling the Halloween spirit, SheWired salutes the 10 most powerful witches of TV, film, and pop culture who cast unforgettable spells on lesbian fans.
10. The Witches of Bewitched (1964 – 1972)
Sure, the beautiful main witch Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) was irresistible and charming, but it was her dark side, shown off in her dual role as naughty cousin Serena, that truly showcased her magical powers. The anti-good girl to Sam, Serena was known for a beauty mark on her cheek, raven-black cropped hair, and tight mod mini-skirts. Despite her frequent conspiring with Samantha’s witch mother, series antagonist Endora (Agnes Moorehead in an over-the-top role tailored for her), to split up Sam and human husband Darrin, she was a pretty progressive witch. And queer fans had a soft spot for Samantha’s duo of spinster magical aunts Enchantra and Hagatha, who blew through the wall in their antique car “Macbeth” whenever they came to visit.
9. The Witches of Wicked (2004 – present)
While Margaret Hamilton originated the role of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film, Idina Menzel (Rent’s original Maureen) made the emerald green-skinned witch an unforgettable, sympathetic, and even heroic character. In the 2004 Tony Award-winning musical, the truth behind the two witches of Oz is revealed as well-intentioned outcast Elphaba (Menzel) forms a friendship with college roommate, Galinda (Kristin Chenoweth), a ambitious popular blond witch, but eventually abandons the ways of their charlatan Wizard (Joel Grey). Real rumors of rivalries and lesbian romances plagued the female Broadway mega-star leads, and only further illustrated that powerful women often have complex relationships.
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8. The women from The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
In this must-see film adaptation of John Updike’s book, a trio of beautiful women, headstrong sculptor Alexandra Spofford (Cher), submissive musician Jane Smart (Susan Sarandon), and haggard mom of six, Sukie Rougemont (Michelle Pfeiffer), are unaware of their witch powers until they leave/are left by their husbands. They are seduced into a magical group affair by Darryl (Jack Nicholson), a demonic figure or the devil himself, but ultimately have to battle and banish the bad man to protect themselves. With the female stars' of the film at the top of their game, the performances are alternately sexy, hilarious, and so very scary.
7. The coven from Little Witches (1996)
Released the same year as the more mainstream The Craft in 1996, Little Witches focuses on six outcast girls at a Catholic boarding school who become involved with the occult when a Satanic temple is discovered beneath a local church. The girls also stumble upon an ancient book that instructs them on how to summon demons from the pits of hell. Catholic school girl uniforms, teen angst, dark eyeliner, the occult, Little Witches has it all, especially when you toss in stars Sheeri Rappaport, who played Amazoness Otere on Xena, and Clea Duvall, the perennial lesbian favorite who starred in But I’m a Cheerleader and Girl Interrupted.
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6. The witches of The Craft (1996)
When Sarah (Robin Tunney), moves to LA from San Francisco, she falls in with a group of outcast girls rumored to be witches, shy Bonnie (Neve Campbell), brazen Nancy (Fairuza Balk) and surly Rochelle (Rachel True). A true witch descended from a line of powerful women, Sarah completes the girls’ coven and together they call on the powers of elements and successfully start using magic for their own personal vendettas and gains. Nancy, an abused and unstable young woman, ‘invokes the spirit’ to become all powerful and quickly starts showing disregard for human life, especially men who have mistreated her or her sister witches, and it’s up to Sarah to stop her harmful magic. The women of The Craft comprised one of the hottest and most memorable high school covens known to pop culture!
5. Marnie from True Blood
British thespian Fiona Shaw, who’s been romantically involved with actress Saffron Burrows in real life, joined True Blood’s fourth season as Marnie, a necromancer witch who becomes possessed by the spirit of Antonia, a hundreds-year-old witch seeking revenge on vampires who raped and burned her at the stake during the Spanish Inquisition. Originally timid as Marnie, Fiona Shaw chewed the Bon Temps scenery once Antonia set up house in Marnie’s body.
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4. The witches of Dante’s Cove (2005 – present)
Tracy Scoggins, Thea Gill, Erin Cummings, and Jill Bennett may call it Tresum, but there’s no denying the ladies of the Cove have displayed some serious Moon magic powers, ranging from telekinesis, to mind control, to killing with a mere look. And they were so damn sexy-- always plotting against each other to mine power and stumbling into steamy supernatural sexcapades! Often called the gay(er) Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the supernatural series is slated to return on here! TV to scare up more island magic and lesbian hook ups.
3. The witches of Four Rooms (1995)
Madonna, Ione Skye, Lili Taylor, Sammi Davis, Valeria Golino, and Alicia Witt play a coven of hot witches in the segment of the film written and directed by Allison Anders (Gas Food Lodging). They check-in to the Honeymoon Suite to concoct a powerful potion and free their goddess, Amanda De Cadenet, who has been imprisoned under a spell for decades. Madonna and Alicia Witt play the lesbian witch couple of the segment.
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2. The Women of Hex (2004 – 2005)
Forget Hogwarts and their precious Hermoine, we’re dying to matriculate at the magical and posh British boarding school, Medenham Hall. With hot, hilarious lesbian ghosts like Thelma Bates (Jemima Rooper) roaming the halls, and powerful witches engaging in multi-centuries’ old war with the demonic Nephilim, led by Azazeal (Michael Fassbender), there must be zero time to study. But, the series takes exactly 5 minutes to make its first ‘eating out’ joke, and ghostly Thelma uses her new other-worldly powers to enter dreams and make out with Cassie from beyond the grave. It was Thelma’s highly developed love and sacrifice for her best witch friend, Cassie (Christina Coles) that set the series’ events in motion. After Coles left the series, Thelma scores her first ghost girlfriend, Maya, and joins forces with powerful 446-year-old witch and "last of the Anointed Ones," Ella Dee (Laura Pyper), continuing the wicked war in season 2.
1. Willow and Tara from Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997 – 2003)
Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) may have been the chosen one, but for LGBT fans in particular, Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) had the most important arc on the demon-slaying supernatural series. The shy, computer-nerd sidekick develops an interest in Wicca and discovers she is a very powerful witch who can help battle Sunnydale High’s Hellmouth beasts. When she meets and falls in love with fellow witch Tara (Amber Benson) in college, BTVS played out a carefully layered coming out story and their lesbian relationship made primetime TV history. The witchy women made beautiful magic together until tragedy struck. But Willow’s powers and lesbianism only continued to grow.
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