She later develops a more aggressive and protective personality when she becomes the eldest sister from season four onwards, following Prue's death and the introduction of their younger half-sister Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan).

Piper's storylines have often revolved around her protecting innocents and defeating the forces of evil in San Francisco with her sisters, as well as leading a normal life as a chef for a restaurant and later as the owner of a nightclub.

Piper's central love interest throughout the series is Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause), the sisters' Whitelighter – a guardian angel for good witches.

In addition to the television series, the character has also appeared in numerous expanded universe material, such as the Charmed novels and its comic book adaptation.

[1] In order to create the series, Constance M. Burge was hired as the creator as she was under contract with 20th Century Fox and Spelling Television after conceiving the drama Savannah.

[3] On creating Piper, Burge stated "The middle sibling typically tends to be a real people pleaser and very funny, tends to deal with life with a lot of humour.

Doherty already devoted to the project pitched the idea of her best friend for the role of Piper Halliwell, former Picket Fences actress Holly Marie Combs.

She develops an on-again off-again relationship with the handy-man Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause) who she later discovers to be her whitelighter – a guardian angel for good witches.

[17] During the season three finale, Prue and Piper unwittingly expose themselves as witches to the world after being caught on camera by a local news crew fighting with The Source's personal assassin Shax.

This results in Phoebe having a premonition to save a young girl at the funeral and later discovering her identity as their younger half-sister Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan).

[19] Piper struggles to accept the new sister and role of the now eldest sibling as she and Paige initially butt heads,[20][21][22] but eventually grow to have a mutual respect for each other.

[34] After gaining the sisters' trust, Chris informs them that his true mission is to prevent Wyatt from growing up to be the evil dictator he becomes in the future.

[35] Season seven (2004–05) starts with Piper and Leo attending two Indian friends' wedding, where they are possessed by the spirits of two passing Hindu deities, Shakti and Shiva.

[36] In the episode "Someone to Witch Over Me", Leo concedes to the offer of membership extended by The Avatars (powerful neutral beings who seek to create a Utopian reality).

[37] He informs Piper of his decision in the episode "There's Something About Leo"[38] and later urges the sisters to join sides with The Avatars in their plan to turn the world into a utopia against the warnings of Paige's boyfriend Kyle Brody (Kerr Smith) and The Elders.

[40] Piper realises her children's pain over their father's loss and allies with The Underworld's new leader, Zankou (Oded Fehr), to force The Avatars to rewind time to before the change took place.

[41] Piper and Leo encounter evil Future Wyatt (Wes Ramsey) for themselves in the episode "Imaginary Fiends", but are able to stop the last impediment to his becoming a power for good.

[42] In the season seven finale, the sisters are forced to fake their deaths after they destroy Zankou and escape the constant threat of demon attacks, as well as police and government investigations.

[49] In the series finale, "Forever Charmed", Piper uses cupid Coop's (Victor Webster) time-traveling ring to call upon her mother and grandmother and save the lives of her sisters.

[52] Piper's first appearance in Charmed literature takes place within the novel The Power of Three by Eliza Willard on November 1, 1999, which acts as a novelised version of the series premiere episode.

[53] In Issue #4, Mortal Enemies, Piper develops a new power in the form of distorting the molecules of objects when she melts the ground to trap the resurrected Source of All Evil.

This can be seen in the season three episode "Sleuthing with the Enemy", at which point Piper freezes a Zohtar demon named Krell (Scott MacDonald) in midair, then unfreezes his head in order to interrogate him.

As her powers developed, Piper was able to disrupt an object's momentum, as seen in the season four episode "Saving Private Leo", when she caused a dagger thrown at her to fall to the floor after she unfroze it instead of it resuming its original trajectory.

For example, in the season four episode "Long Live the Queen," Phoebe pushed Piper's arms when she attempted to blast the demon Malick and she instead blew up a bicycle.

In the Charmed comics, specifically in Issue #4, Mortal Enemies, Piper's power evolves such that, short of blowing objects up, she can reverberate their molecules at a speed which causes them to become disordered, resulting in either melting or burning.

[68] PopMatters' Michael Abernethy wrote that Combs was "the most enjoyable to watch" and noted that her character Piper played "the role of compassionate mediator between her two sisters" in Charmed's first three seasons.

[69] While reviewing the first season, Brett Cullum of DVD Verdict wrote, "Piper is the most sensitive middle sister who seems to bridge the gap between the oldest and youngest—the diplomat.

"[71] Rachel Day of Geek Speak magazine praised Combs' acting on Charmed, noting that the scenes of Piper grieving over the loss of Prue in the season four episode "Hell Hath No Fury" was "superbly done" and showcased her "anger and pain at Pru[e]'s death.

"[73] In reviewing the fourth season, Leigh H. Edwards of PopMatters felt that Piper and Leo provided "engaging, often funny material" when they were "navigating the equally momentous shoals of domesticity.

Not only does Holly Marie Combs' witch possess...the ability to freeze time and to make objects spontaneously explode, but Piper is driven by the desire to protect her family and won't let anything get in her way.