| “ | What's the matter? I have to be a witch, I have to be a mortal, I have to be a teenager, and I have to be a girl all at the same time. That's the matter. | ” |
— Sabrina to her aunt Zelda in Sabrina Through the Looking Glass
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Sabrina J. Spellman is the protagonist of the series and half-witch half-human. She is the only child and daughter of Edward and Diana Spellman (née Becker).
Character
In the beginning of the show, she discovers that she is half-witch on her father's side. The adventures of the series show Sabrina as she deals with the day to day trials of being a teenager (and later, an adult) as well as being a witch.
High School
In her sophomore year of high school, Sabrina's father, Edward, gets called away to the foreign services and her mother, Diana, goes on an archaelogical dig in Peru so she moves in with her zany aunts Zelda and Hilda in their Victorian house in Westbridge, a small suburb near Boston. At Westbridge High School, she befriends oddball Jenny, meets and develops a close relationship with football player Harvey Kinkle and becomes rivals with the popular captain of the cheerleading squad, Libby Chessler.
On her sixteenth birthday, Sabrina discovers that she is a witch. However, because she is a witch, she cannot communicate with her mortal mother for two years or else the later will turn into a ball of wax, on decree of the Witches Council. Additionally, her father, who is a witch, is in the Other Realm Foreign Services though she can talk to him through his picture in the Magic Book. Her aunts and their Familiar, Salem, a witch who tried to take over the world and was punished by being made into a cat, help her to slowly learn how to control her magical powers while she also tries to navigate through high school like a normal teenager. She slowly learns how to use these powers, starting with turning oranges, and even Libby, into pineapples.
Attempting to get her Witch's License
Sabrina during her junior year
Upon her 17th birthday, Sabrina finds out that she must get her Witch's License. In preparation, she meets her Quizmaster, a personal tutor who will visit her regularly and conduct tests of her magical prowess.
In her personal life, all of her responsiblities and extra-curricular activities put a strain on her relationship with Harvey and the two ultimately decide to start seeing other people, especially on the request of their respective guardians. She meets the anxiety-ridden and overly-shy Valerie and the two soon become best friends in the mysterious absence of Jenny. She finds herself making some very difficult decisions including giving up some of her extra-curricular activities as well as spending less time with Valerie and Harvey, as she needs to study hard for her Witch's License.
Meanwhile, Sabrina meets fellow half-witch/half-mortal, Dashiell Calzone with whom she starts having feelings for as a result of the many things they share in common. Unfortunately, at the same time, Harvey claims his desire to officially renew their relationship. In lieu of the decision to be made, Sabrina sends a letter to her mother in Peru, resulting in the Quizmaster telling her that because she broke the rules she now has to choose between keeping her magic and seeing her mother ever again.
Sabrina ultimately chooses her mother, and her magic is taken away. However, after Sabrina comes back from visiting her mom, she finds out that the decision was only a test, which she passed, earning her magic back.
Sabrina during her junior year.
Just when Sabrina thinks she can't choose between Harvey and Dashiell, she finally gets notice that she has passed all of her tests and can get her witch's license which would allow her the power to make her final decision. But, as it turns out, it is locked and in order to use it she must first figure out her family secret.
After discovering this, she uses a "follow your heart spell" which reveals her love for Harvey over Dashiell.
Sabrina and her aunts are visited by many family members who give her clues that will help her solve the family secret and who also sometimes get her in or out of wacky situations.
Sabrina and her aunts go to a family reunion in Hawaii where she discovers she must solve the family secret before she has any fun. When she finally solves the secret and discovers that "every member of the Spellman family is born with a twin," she must go on trial with her identical twin, Katrina, to prove that she's the good twin as one must be evil and the other good. The initial trial reveals that Sabrina is in fact the evil twin and as is customary, she must be thrown into a volcano by Katrina. However, this was also a test and when Katrina readily pushes Sabrina into the volcano without hesitation, she is revealed as the true evil twin. This makes Sabrina the good twin and she finally recieves her Witch's License as Katrina is sent to prison in the Other Realm.
Sabrina at eighteen.
Sabrina begins her senior year of high school and is very excited it about it; she won't have to deal with Libby anymore because her parents sent her to private school, Valerie's family moved to Alaska so now she's moving in with the Spellmans, and Mr. Kraft is no longer vice principal. However, Sabrina becomes downtrodden when Valerie decides to go to Alaska with her family, it is revealed that Mr. Kraft is now the principal, and Harvey gets a new best friend in Brad Alcerro who doesn't seem to like her at all. Sabrina discovers that unbeknownst to Brad, he is a witch hunter which is the reason why he subconsciously takes a disliking to Sabrina. She must be careful because if he discovers her secret, she will be turned into a mouse for 100 years.
Additionally, the Witch's Council orders Sabrina to become a witch tutor, which is like a quizmaster except "quizmasters get paid." She has to mentor a witch named Dreama who is new to the mortal realm. Sabrina and Dreama soon become friends despite Dreama's clumsiness with magic and unfamiliarity with the mortal realm.
Sabrina also gets a job at a coffee house and becomes attracted to her new boss, Josh. They eventually share a kiss and Harvey catches them and breaks up with Sabrina. They would soon get back together after both of them apologize for the downward spiral in their relationship beforehand.
With her senior year closely coming to a close, Sabrina gets hassled by different people to go to different colleges, but ends up deciding to go to her dream school, John Adams College.
In the season finale, Sabrina casts a spell to make Josh and Harvey fight for her affections, but she discovers that it is a fight to the death which they both fortunately survive. Josh's memory is wiped clean but Harvey reaches his spell quota and finally finds out Sabrina is a witch.
College
Sabrina starting her freshman year of college with a new look.
Summer has just finished and Sabrina and Harvey have broken up. Sabrina (along with Salem) has been attending regular counseling sessions in the Other Realm to get over their break up. Sabrina also starts her freshman year at Adams College. Aunt Hilda's clock shop has gone under.
Sabrina moves out of her aunts' house and into an off campus residence with new roommates; aloof, tough as nails Roxie King, awkward science fiction nerd Miles Goodman, and ditzy, self-absorbed Morgan Cavanaugh.
Throughout the season, Sabrina's aunts both start new jobs in an effort to stay close to their niece: Zelda accepts a professor position at Adams while Hilda buys the coffee house where Sabrina continues to work.
Despite her lingering feelings for Harvey, Sabrina continues developing feelings for Josh who starts dating Morgan. However, Sabrina has a short lived relationship with musician Kevin O'Connor. The year, however, ends with Sabrina and Josh sharing a kiss.
Sabrina's happiness with Josh is soon rocked when she learns, after his return from Europe, that he has been offered a job in Prague. After a true date with Destiny, she realized he should find his own destiny and is ecstatic to find that he found a job in Boston in order to remain with her. Sabrina is given an internship at the newspaper, the Boston Citizen, where she works alongside Josh.
Sabrina is introduced to the matriarch of the Spellman family, Aunt Irma, her sadistic great aunt that makes of habit of poking her nose in the affairs of her family members, particularly Sabrina and her love life. Irma sees Sabrina as the only person worthy enough to take over as the matriarch of the Spellman family; Irma sees herself in Sabrina.
Sabrina discovers that her mother has been sneaking around her every year since her 16th birthday in order to be near her, however, upon laying eyes on one another, her mother turns into a ball of wax. After Sabrina's tear on Diana's melted wax form returns her back to her human form, Hilda and Zelda tell them that if it happens again, there will be no way to turn her back and the mother and daughter resign that they will never see one another again though Diana confirms that she will continue to come up and be near Sabrina in the shadows.
The year culminates in the marriage of Hilda to a man named Will. When Sabrina and Zelda break them up as they think the marriage is happening too quickly, Hilda turns to stone and falls to pieces because she lost her true soul mate. In order to turn her back, Sabrina gambles her own true love and gets the couple back together, the two marrying at the Spellman home. However, during the ceremony, Sabrina is confronted by three loves, Josh, Harvey, and the caterer who helps her fix her shoe. Josh tells Sabrina that he's decided to take that job in Prague, Harvey tells her that he's moving to California, and the caterer tells her that they can never see each other again and Sabrina turns to stone and falls to pieces.
Sabrina at Scorch Magazine.
After Sabrina turns to stone, Zelda gives up her adult form and allows herself to be turned into a child in order to return Sabrina back to her human form. Zelda and the newly married Hilda move back to the Other Realm and Sabrina starts a new chapter of her life as a full fledged adult when she moves into her aunts' house with Roxie and Morgan, with frequent visits from Harvey who decided to stay.
After not being able to find a journalism job anywhere, Sabrina lands a position at Scorch Magazine and deals with all of the pros and cons of the new job while coping with her inexperience. Unfortunately, try as she might, Sabrina can't seem to fit in at Scorch especially with her hard-nosed boss Annie always insulting her, even with the mysterious un-seen publisher Johnathan always having her back for unrevealed reasons. For the most part, Sabrina's witchy wackiness ends up alienating her co-workers, and after one final straw near the end of the season, Sabrina stands up for herself, and decides to quit to become a freelance journalist.
Sabrina meets a handsome mortal named Aaron Jacobs who she initially rejects. However, after realizing the problems in her relationships often stem from her own insecurities and secrets, the two start dating. Simultaneously, Harvey tells Roxie and Morgan that he still carries intense feelings for Sabrina. Shortly after, Aaron proposes and the two begin planning their wedding, all the while Sabrina questions what's really in her heart.
On the day of Sabrina's wedding, she searches for her soul stone -- and although the fit is close, Sabrina's and Aaron's soul stones just don't quite match up, proving that their own true soulmates are still out there. Her mother, cousin Amanda, and Hilda visit as well (and Zelda in the form of a candle) for the wedding and to help her through the emotional turmoil. On the altar, she finally admits to herself (and Aaron) that although she loves him, she isn't truly in love with him and it wouldn't be fair to either of them to go through with the marriage. He is surprisingly understanding and when she walks out of the church, Harvey is waiting for her on his motorcyle after receiving his own soul stone from Amanda. As they ride off together, Sabrina's friends and family look on, all saying "it's about time," and it is seen that her and Harvey's soul stones fit together perfectly.
Appearance
Sabrina appears as an average good-looking young woman.
She's a natural blonde with blue eyes and an average yet petite build (5'2") for the most part. She typically wears normal mortal clothing, although on occasion has worn traditional witch garb (such as during Halloween or when casting spells with her aunts).
In the fifth season, Sabrina's hair becomes increasingly darker, with strawberry blonde tones, until she eventually dyes her hair dark red mid-season which drastically changes her appearance. However, she returns to her natural blonde color in the sixth season. She has also shown to have a variety of hair lengths, with typically always having it a little longer than shoulder length. In the third season, she cuts her hair to a fitting bob style which she occasionally curls.
Sabrina ditches her blonde locks in collège.
Although not overly concerned with her style or appearance, Sabrina does however become self conscious on certain occasions, such as during the school dance in her senior year when she crash diets and ends up turning invisible after taking "Blubber-be-gone." In addition, she also changes her appearance when her boss Annie comments that the type of shirt she is wearing is out of style (although she quickly changes it with a bit of magic, which proves to be a problem, due to the cameras her co-worker Leonard has set up throughout the office). After she enters Leonard's computer to delete the footage of her using magic, Leonard accidentally gives her overly large breasts and a revealing dress that she can't remove through a photoshop-like program, which forces her to go about her daily life looking like a bimbo for a whole day. The incident causes Sabrina to become less preoccupied with her physical appearance, deeming it too superficial a concern.
However, throughout the show, it's quite obvious Sabrina is more comfortable with her looks than many teenage girls. She likes to experiment with in and out styles (hair, clothes, you name it), but her normal look is the typical American mortal garb.
Personality and Traits
Sabrina is typically a very out-going, amiable, and genuinely caring person. She looks out and stands up for her friends Jenny and Valerie whenever the cheerleaders, particulararly Libby, would insult or be condecending towards them, while simultaneously taking slurs and insults herself.
One of Sabrina's most prominent personailty traits is her quick wit. She's a playful smart aleck and seems to always have a clever pun or funny comeback up her sleeve. Some of which get her into more trouble then she's already in.
She is, for the most part, very level-headed and clever although some of her ideas when it comes to using magic often land her in trouble, which often leads her to panic in some cases.
Sabrina is very socially aware and will often speak out against unfair treatment of injustices against those around her. Her often bubbly personality can occasionally be annoying to some around her, which she realizes when Valerie begins turning into her exact duplicate in the third season and when both Roxie and her cynical boss Annie comment on her consistent cheeriness. She has also been characterized as a complete busybody at frequent times, having a habit of butting into the lives of those around her.
Sabrina's two catchphrases throughout the entire run of the show are "Woo-hoo!" and "Gotta go!" She gets made fun of a few times because of her constant use of these phrases.
She is a very loyal friend and for the most part, is liked by those around her. She has a very good relationship with both her fellow-students, friends, and many of her teachers such as Mrs. Quick and Mr. Pool. However, because of her magical nature and resulting odd behavior, she is often scrutinized by some, such as Libby and Mr. Kraft. However at the end of the day, Sabrina is a down-to-earth, caring, passionate individual who only wants to do what's right.
Magic
Sabrina's magic usually manifests as a stream of golden sparkles that shoot from her finger. These sparkles swirl around the object or person Sabrina is targeting with her spell. These sparkles started off a very light yellow/gold, however as Sabrina grows older, her sparkles become a deeper orange/gold color.
In "When Teens Collide," Sabrina and Libby Chessler swapped essences. While Sabrina had Libby's essence, her magic changed to crimson red sparkles.
Photos
- Sabrina Spellman/Gallery
Trivia
- The name "Sabrina" comes from Arthurian folklore; it was the name of the Lady of the Lake at the Habern River (now, the Severn River in England).
- Sabrina's birth date is never specifically stated in the series; however, there are several clues in the series that allow one to deduce when it occurs. It is celebrated on the first day of school in Season 1, Season 2 and Season 4, which suggests it is in September when schools open in the New England area. Since schools in that area open the first Monday after Labor Day, that would place Sabrina's birthday on September 2 in 1996. However, it wasn't celebrated in Season 3 which was actually intended as the second semester of the previous season. In that season, she gets a fake license in Sabrina and the Pirates which claims her birthday is April 22, 1981. However, it stands to reason if her birth year can be faked, so would her birthday. Yet, her birthday changes again in the Season 5 episode You Can't Twin when her passport states that she was born on March 21, 1981, which is erroneous unless one wants to suggest a a different calendar system in the Other Realm. Additionally, when she celebrates her birthday in the Season 6 episode, A Birthday Witch, it occurs in the middle of the season instead of the beginning because the episodes were reshuffled to replace the Christmas episode of the season due to the 9/11 attacks disrupting the schedule. Seasons 5 and 7 didn't have birthday episodes for her, but since Seasons 1, 2 and 4 are the only episodes to consistently place her birthday at the start of the school semester, September 2 is the only logical date that makes sense.
- Since Sabrina is part mortal, she might not live as long as her aunts.
- But since she is half-witch, it could be centuries before she actually dies.
- Sabrina has gotten rid of her appendix in Present Perfect.
- If Sabrina and Harvey had children, their child would be 1/4 Witch and 3/4 Mortal; whether this child would have magical powers is unknown.
- Originally Sabrina would have been able to see her mother again after getting her witches license, but because she broke the rules of trying to have contact with her by sending her a letter the witches council decided that if she ever saw her mom she would turn into a ball of wax.
- Sabrina is one of only two characters who have been in every episode of the series plus both TV movies (the second being Salem)
- Melissa Joan Hart is the only actor from the original Sabrina: the Teenage Witch movie to reprise her role in the series. However Michelle Beaudoin was also in the movie, playing a very similar best friend role to Jenny Kelley, her character in the series.
- Over the course of the series and TV Movies, Melissa Joan Hart portrayed five characters: Sabrina Spellman, her identical twin Katrina Spellman, her Aunt Sophia Spellman, the Petulant Kid, and her own Cyrano de Bergerac.
- Sabrina's passport in the Season 5 episode "You Can't Twin" states that she was born in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem, of course, is the most infamous location in America to have a history with witches, the "Salem Witch Trials," being an integral part of that. However, in addition to getting Sabrina's date of birth wrong, the information about Salem being her home town is clearly wrong as well. In the Season 1 episode, "The Crucible", Sabrina was clearly unfamiliar with Salem prior to visiting it and was nervous as to what to expect.
- The three witch boys that Sabrina dates over the course of the series' names coincidentally all begin with the letter D; Dante, Dashiell, and Derek.
- Many places where Sabrina and her friends hangout and eat are The Slicery (Seasons 1-3), Hilda's Coffee House, (Seasons 4-6) & Eve's Diner (Season 7).
- In Sabrina the Teenage Witch the Movie (1996), Sabrina's family name is Sawyer, instead of Spellman.
- Sabrina usually never goes anywhere without Salem Saberhagen. Both of them are always together and have been in every episode.