I'm rewatching Charmed (1998-2006), another show I was obsessed with as a child. Anyway, I have reignited a passion for a character I loved back then and now claim him as a blorbo, officially.
S6 Chris Perry Halliwell. He came from the future. He's Gen Z like me. He's sarcastic. He's so serious. He's saving his big bro from evil. He's a mama's boy. He's got daddy issues. He gives off emo bisexual energy. He keeps his identity secret, but says So Many Things that should implicate him as related to the main characters. He almost breaks up his parents and ruins his chance at getting conceived. He's got pretty eyes. His fiancée gets killed by his evil brother. He's such a brat. He's a mysterious sadboi. He dies in his father's arms after protecting his little big brother and is born the same day.
I loved him as a child. I love him now. I'm obsessed with him.
Chris HalIiwell was insane bc instead of just kiIling his evil overlord big brother and save the world he decided to travel back in time instead; gaslighted gatekeeped, girlbossed everyone. Caused his parents’ divorce and risked never being born. Killed and hunted every single demon and entity he thought was a threat to his brother. And when his big brother hauled his ass back home he was like “I didn’t go back to betray you, I went back to save you.” And not even his dead fiancée as collateral damage stopped him from trying to save Wyatt. He stopped at NOTHING. He was a man on a mission and the only thought that bounced inside his head was “Wyatt”
Also, maybe it's addressed in the show, maybe it's been addressed in fandom, but I haven't seen it, so I'm going to say it.
Am I the only one who believes that in the Dark Future Chris comes back to change, Wyatt's becoming evil was not simply just a result of unresolved trauma?
I'm of the mind that he had doubts due to the trauma of being kidnapped by Gideon and fending off attacks as a kid. But rather than that just automatically making him evil, he was good with doubts. And then the Avatars came along and convinced him that power was everything leading to him taking over the entire world, whether or not that was the Avatars' intention. Just like how they manipulate Leo in s7, just like how they try to manipulate Cole in s5, just like how they're trying to get the Charmed Ones on their side at the point I am in my rewatch. Because in the Dark Future, I imagine they hadn't been dealt with yet, they hadn't made moves yet. And they're all about power, and who better to coerce to their side than the Twice Blessed Child, the next holder of Excalibur, the child of a Charmed One and a whitelighter (presumably turned Elder in the Dark Future as well)?
Because Evil!Wyatt's words echo the Avatars' belief in power and something beyond "good and evil". And my personal assumption is that Evil!Wyatt after being manipulated by them, takes things too far and steals their power for himself, since he's clearly not for a collective.
But yeah, am I the only person who assumed that the Avatars had something to do with Wyatt becoming evil, orginally??
There's this post on tumblr talking about how Chris' sole motivation to change the past by keeping his big brother from becoming evil was his love for said brother, and not even the killing of his (ex?)-fiancée changed anything about that.
And I'm sure Chris did love Wyatt and he did want to save him from becoming the monster he became, but come on.
Chris-Crossed alone debunks this claim three, yes THREE, times.
First, the thought of what Wyatt would do to Bianca if he found out about her betraying him to help Chris get to the past, was enough to have Chris want to kill Wyatt. (And Bianca had to hold him back. Yes, you read that right. She was the one who was more hesitant to kill than Chris.)
Second time Chris was throwing Wyatt so hard into a wall, we heard bones cracking. And did Chris spare him a glance? No. He could've killed the guy and didn't even think about it in that moment.
And the third time was showing Chris, after the death of the love of his life (who he, according to that post, doesn't care about as much as he does about Wyatt), threatening to stop (kill, bc we all know that's what he meant with 'stop') baby Wyatt if he couldn't save him.
I know the show had Chris himself exclaim several times after this episode that he came back to save his family (bc god forbid he mentions Bianca once or twice, why even bother introducing her if she's not portrayed as having any importance afterwards??!!). But one, I'm pretty sure he counts Bianca as family and two, the sisters probably wouldn't have helped him the way they did if he said he primarily came back to save the past for his future wife and children.
My main point is: he definitely didn't do everything he did only for Wyatt.