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This article contains plot details.
Am I a witch? Yes. But does that make me any less of a loving father? No. Most certainly not.
— John Hale to Anne Hale

John Hale was a magistrate and also the chief policeman in Salem, thus being one of the town's selectmen. John Hale was a Cradle witch from one of the oldest bloodlines who crept into high public position to destroy the Puritans from the inside.

He was portrayed by American actor Xander Berkeley.

Early Life

As he told his daughter Anne, he was a witch by birth and as a child in Europe, he saw his parents burned alive by Witch Hunters. Welcomed by the survived Essex witches, he emigrated to America coming to Salem where he joined the cause of the witches of the New World to bring Hell on earth.

Personality

John Hale was an experienced and navigated traveler, with a calm, but manipulative personality, always ready to consider possible outcomes before embarking on an attack. Very protective of his family, John Hale believed in his cause and was determined to carry on the Grand Rite to avenge the abuses suffered by his family. Repeatedly opposed by Mary Sibley's resolute personality, however, he was a faithful fellow witch of the Essex Hive. Although he was a Cradle Witch, he did not seem to have any particular prejudices against so-called "contract witches," as he showed himself willing to give way to Mary Sibley and the Essex witches to lead the Grand Rite.

Physical Appearance

John Hale was a tall, well-proportioned man, with white shoulder-length hair, often tied with a black satin ribbon. Because of his job and his social status, he was wearing dark, and elegantly sewn clothes. Several times he was seen wearing a wide-brimmed hat.

Throughout the Salem series

Season One

In 1685, Magistrate Hale was the only one, along with John Alden, to express disappointment because of harsh punitive methods of Isaac Walton and Abigail Coook employed by George Sibley, head of selectmen. Seven years later, when the fear of witches was poisoning the minds of the citizens also through the intercession of Reverend Cotton Mather's sermons, Magistrate Hale was one of the few who sought rational explanations, because according to him a witch hunt would only have caused further economic and social problems to the town. To trouble him, instead, were Indians and French attacks, as he said at a dinner hosted at the House of the Seven Gables by Sibley and Mrs. This hesitancy to give rise to the witch-hunt was secretly moved in reality by the fact that the same Hale was a witch, in league with the very Mary Sibley and other undercover witches to take down the Puritans once and for all. (The Vow)

As the witch panic spread, Magistrate Hale found himself increasingly powerless to contain the impact to a minimum, especially when his daughter Anne voiced his disappointment at not having done anything to prevent the hanging of the midwife Bridget Bishop, her friend. Meanwhile John Hale was also busy with the task entrusted to him by Mary Sibley: discover the identity of those who had disrupted the Sabbath in the woods. To do so he went into the woods to see Petrus, a local seer holed up in the dense forest.(The Stone Child) Once John Hale discovered that Isaac witnessed the Sabbath, he abducted him with the help of the Ghoul bewitching him so that Isaac was accused of witchcraft by having bewitched tools found in his pockets. (In Vain)

Powers and Abilities

Telekinesis

Young John using his deadly telekinetic powers

Despite being a descendant of an important bloodline of witches, as deemed by Tituba, John Hale is a witch who rarely resorts to his powers for personal gains, basically using subterfuges to achieve a goal. John Hale proved to master his own witch powers since childhood when, following the death of his parents, he killed the judge by moving a dagger with the power of his mind, and from a quite considerable distance.

The distinctive feature of John Hale's witchcraft is certainly Teleportation, a variation of Projection obtained through a disturbing mask that resembles his facial features, and conventionally referred to as The Traveler's Mask. Through this enchanted object, he is able to move physically through great distances focusing solely on the power of his will. Although this power is activated through the use of a ritual object, it is noteworthy that John Hale might be the creator of the mask, and therefore he has been able to infuse into it peculiar supernatural abilities.

John Hale is also a connoisseur of traditions and witchcraft from the Old Continent, collecting interesting tribal artifacts in his own house. His knowledge also extends to herblore and potion brewing, as demonstrated by the use of Valerian Root as a deterrent against harmful witches, used as a protection for his daughter inside a locket, or the poison given to Mrs Sibley and Mab to ensure their death.

John Hale kept notes of his journey into Witchcraft in a beautifully-bound Book of Shadows. The contents of the book were visible only to him, or to those who could get John's blood to stain the pages, thus revealing the text.

Relationships

Main article: Anne and John Hale
Anne and John Hale still
John Hale had a difficult relationship with his daughter, mainly because of their opposite character. While John was calm and thoughtful, trying to act as he thought fit, he was hardly able to tolerate his daughter's exuberance, fearing for her inclination at a time when their kind was highly at risk. John was, however, a loving father who placed his daughter's future in the first place, providing her with a life of comfort and convenience. Their main friction was due to the fact that Anne suspected her father's reasons, and they were able to give voice to their thoughts when John revealed to Anne the secret of their family: they were witches.

File:John Hale and wife at market.jpg
John had a happy marriage with his wife, providing the needs of the family in the best way. Their marriage was solid and based on the trust of each other as well as in sharing their secrets. Not strangers to domestic arguments, Mr and Mrs Hale were one of the wealthy couples in town.

Main:John Hale and Mary Sibley

Salem - Episode 1
Hale also had a tough relationship with Mary Sibley. Although he respected her intelligence and power in the hierarchy, John was not very convinced of the harsh methods of the woman, feeling they were overwhelmed and too dangerous. The two often found themselves on opposite faces during decisions, due to the different temperament of their characters.

John Hale did not have a good relationship with John Alden, especially when he noticed that Anne was infatuated with the young captain and feared that the family secret would be exposed.

John Hale was not exactly happy about Cotton Mather's arrival at Salem, since he felt him to be a threat to the Essex witches' plan to complete the Ritum Magni. Magistrate Hale, moreover, did not share the methodologies and ideologies of the young reverend, considering him an exalted one who wanted to prove himself in the eyes of the community.

John Hale had great regard for Tituba and her witchcraft, seeking her advice and helping to accomplish difficult tasks. John Hale also thought he could use his friendship with Tituba to try to mitigate the recklessness of Mary Sibley.

Memorable Quotes

John Hale (to Anne): Am I a witch? Yes. But does that make me any less of a loving father? No. Most certainly not.
Cat And Mouse
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Gallery

Appearances


Name

  • John: English form of Iohannes, the Latin form of the Greek name Ιωαννης (Ioannes), itself derived from the Hebrew name יוֹחָנָן(Yochanan) meaning "God is gracious".
  • Hale: From a surname which was derived from a place name meaning "nook, retreat" from Old English healh.

Trivia

  • Magistrate Hale is based on the historic character of the same name. However, the real John Hale was a minister, as described in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," another famous work about the Salem witch trials.
  • John Hale was the witch wearing the pork mask at the Sabbath in The Vow.
    • In the Western Magical Tradition, the pig is associated with death, the chthonic deities of the Underworld, and among the Greeks was sacred to Persephone, the Queen of Hell.
  • John Hale is the first cradle witch introduced in the series, before the revelation that Anne Hale is a cradle witch too, and the introduction of the Von Marburg witches.
    • According to Tituba in Cry Havoc, John Hale comes from a powerful witch bloodline and his daughter, being a cradle witch herself, will sooner arise in full power than any other Essex witch.

See Also

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