Ward Thomas

"'Easier said than done. Can you tell a ghost to stop haunting you? '"

Early Life
Ward Thomas was a young, talented witch and ally to the Guardians. He was Kayla's first student witch.

Discovering his power of molecular combustion in his teenage years, he mostly kept it secret from his parents, sister and girlfriend, Ripley Ronsen. He met Kayla soon after and she became his mentor. She described him as "a bright young adult and a fast learner, if not a bit rash." At one point, he had met Doyle Kennedy, Kayla's lover and Claire's father.

Ward learned of a prophecy involving him and a 400-year old vampire named Lestat. He decided to bring the fight to Lestat after the vampire made an appearance. Ward made an impression with his display of power but was unable to defeat Lestat. Knowing Ward could spell trouble, the vampire decided to target those closest to him.

Ward and Kayla moved Ward's family and Ripley into hiding but did not disclose the reason why. Lestat tracked down Kayla and used a trick of hypnosis to extract the secret location of Ward's loved ones. He ambushed them at the safe house, killing and siring Ward's sister and torturing his parents into insanity. Ward and Kayla only managed to get Ripley out safely.

Ward was forced to stake and kill his little sister. After these events, Ward retreated into himself and fell deep into dark magic as a way to try and reverse Lestat's atrocities. After many unsuccessful attempts, Ward disappeared into the night, not to be seen by Ripley or Kayla again until a few years later. Sometime during this time frame, Lestat was trapped in stasis in a different dimension.

Season 2
Ward first appeared in San Francisco tracking a demon from his past. Instead, he found he was following the trail of an equally powerful demon, the Second Evil, and found her in the middle of a showdown with the Guardians. Once he realized he was off track, he blasted the demon with his power and promptly left, inadvertently saving the Guardians.

He took note of Kayla's presence but said or did nothing at the time.

Season 3
Remaining in San Francisco, Ward took up shelter in an old cabin in the woods that his family used to own. Kayla tracked him down to prod about why he was in town but Ward shut her down stating he didn't trust her anymore. Their conversation turned violent and Ward promptly left, just one of the many signs of their strained relationship.

Ward crossed paths with the Guardians again when Miller, possessed by the demonic essence of his recently vanquished wife, sought out Ward seeking revenge for his role in her downfall. Ward showcased his "walks like a demon, talks like a demon, vanquish like a demon" mentality as he vanquished Miller, and Izzy along with him, with his power of molecular combustion.

After this encounter, Ward spent majority of his time patrolling at night, hunting and vanquishing various demons in his search for one in particular. On one of these hunts, he ran into Brian Woods who was instantly intrigued in Ward's detached demon slaying lifestyle. This led to the two chasing down a pair of Gorgoth demons terrorizing the local college campus. Ward attempted to vanquish them alone while Brian went to inform the others but it only got Ward knocked unconscious.

Recovering from another rough night of patrolling, Ward found Ripley Ronsen in his cabin. Ripley, someone he once cared about deeply, pried for information about why Ward suddenly disappeared but he shut her down just like most conversations. He urged her to leave and forget about him lest she get herself killed. Clearly trying to protect her from something, he remained apathetic when she told him she wouldn't give up on him.

Ripley eventually ran into Kayla on the streets and recognized her from her time as Ward's mentor although Ripley was never aware of who she really was. Ripley initially wanted to blame Kayla for Ward's disappearance and behavior but knew it wasn't right. She pressed Kayla for some kind of answer to it all but Kayla wouldn't tell her anything. Around the same time, Wallace Claybourne of the Mentor's Guild arrived in town. He wanted to interview Ward about his experiences as Kayla's first student as a means to gauge her progress with mentoring the Guardians. Finding him at a local bar, Ward displayed even greater disdain for Wallace and mentors than he had previously to Kayla or anyone else. Learning that Kayla had spoken to Ripley, he almost flew into a rage but held back and left.

Knowing about Kayla and Ripley's conversation, Ward called Ripley himself and met her at a diner. They talked briefly where Ward only told her that she was in danger by being around him and that someone might hurt her in an attempt to hurt him. He gave her money to catch a bus or a train out of town and left without another word, leaving her more confused than before.

Ward began tracking down a demon simply known as The Alchemist after a tip that he had connections to the demon he was ultimately looking for. At the same time, Kayla and Claire Kennedy were looking for the same demon as he had infected the Guardians with mysterious spores. They sought out Ward for help but he brushed them off and went after the Alchemist himself. The Alchemist ended up not knowing anything about the location of the demon known as Lestat. Only because they were surrounded by zombies, Ward fought alongside Kayla and Claire and promptly left once the Alchemist was vanquished.

After another routine patrolling trip, Ward ran into Brian. Brian pressed him for more details on his patrolling routine and strategies as Ward grew increasingly annoyed and irate. Brian opened up to Ward about his desire to do more of the things Ward was doing since the others wouldn't approve. Ward lashed out, warning Brian not to throw away what he had left of a normal life while he still had a choice. Like every time before, Ward insisted that Brian leave him alone and stop trying identify with him.

Despite his insistence, Ripley did not leave town. Ward discreetly followed her in his down time to ensure her safety. One night, she was ambushed by a vampire and Ward intervened. Due to the influence of a nearby succubus, the two succumb to their urges and kiss mid-conversation. Ward breaks it off and yells at her to go. Ripley's confusion and heartache only grew. Ward later tracked down the demon for an explanation to his confused feelings but decided not to confront her alone due to her innate sway over men. Her song lured Ward in once again, leading him to fight against the demon alongside the Guardians in the backroom of Brian and Sam's wedding.

When an incident with the Amulet of Malcross switched the bodies of Brian, Jake, Cordelia and Ward, he found himself in Cordelia's body. During this time, he received a vision. Startled by Cordelia's power, he was unable to decipher the meaning of it. Ward, in her body, later joined the fray when Fredych, an upper-level demon, returned to wreak havoc. Learning about Cordelia's power, he assisted in a power of four spell to vanquish the demon before everyone's bodies were sorted out. That night, reflecting on what he had seen, Ward finally sorted out the vision.

Ward sought out Ripley, after seeing her in his vision, but she was missing. At this time, Kayla finally revealed her history with Ward and his past with Lestat as the 400-year old vampire had returned. Ward finally found Ripley only to learn that she had been killed and turned into a vampire. Distraught and suicidal by these events, Ward goes to the Golden Gate Bridge. Before he could do anything, Kayla found him and convinced him there was still a reason to fight.

Ward joined with the Guardians to ambush Lestat and prevent his plan to blot out the sun. Ward faced off one-on-one with the vamp-Ripley during the encounter and she told him she could turn him as well and set him free from his pain. Ward cannot stake her because even though she was just a monster in Ripley's skin, she still had all her memories and emotions. The sun, darkened by the successful ritual, allows vampire and demon alike to come to the surface. Ward stole the Orb of Ra, a component of the ritual, during the scuffle.

He brought it to the Guardians and they devised a plan. They learn of a powerful magic, the focus blast, that was capable of destroying Lestat's protective barrier and making him vulnerable to conventional methods of vanquishing. Ward volunteered to perform it despite the consequence that he would be totally severed from his powers and his connection to magic.

In the final encounter with Lestat, Ward successfully created the focus blast and rendered Lestat vulnerable. The Guardians used a power of four spell to soak Lestat in sunlight and Ward delivered the final blow to the heart with a wooden stake. Kayla finds Ward after the battle where she learned that he had truly been cut off from his powers. She inquired about Ripley, who managed to escape from the battle, but Ward did not see a point in pursuing her without his powers or magic. Ward packed his bags and left without much of a plan. Before leaving town, Ward stopped by the mental institute to inform his parents that he had killed the bad man.

Season 4
Despite trying to leave town, Ward found himself still consumed by Ripley and the thought that she was still out there as a vampire. He remained in San Francisco, housed in the old Mentor's Guild local headquarters, and began to research a way to save Ripley's soul.

Ward was the first one to encounter the Dark Guardians and initially assumed the Guardians had been corrupted by their own power and turned evil. He attacked them, looking for answers about the innocent that was killed, but they eventually figured out the dark clones were a by-product of the man in black's blood collection.

While visiting a soothsayer for information about Ripley and her soul, they were ambushed by the Dark Guardians. The soothsayer was killed and used as bait to lure the other Guardians into another trap. During this time, the existence of magic was exposed to the world. Ward's first reaction was to get out of dodge, leaving the Guardians to fend for themselves. He eventually decides to stay for a time as he was also caught on Gale's tape using magic.

Mostly unfazed by the exposure of magic, Ward continues his search for Ripley's soul. After getting his hands on a translated Romanian spellbook of curses, he goes to Kayla for help performing the ritual since he was no longer capable of doing it himself. She refused due to the dark nature of the spell. Knowing he needed someone relatively unconcerned with the nature of the curse, he turned to Claire. With help from a necromancer named Odin, they successful cast the curse unaware of the consequences that would follow.

Believing he had Ripley's soul contained in an Orb of Thesulah, he left to find her, not knowing that he had actually removed Claire's soul. Left unchecked, the now soulless Claire went on a rampage, murdering random innocents and demons alike. She eventually attacked the Guardians themselves and tortured Jake. At that time, Ward confronted Ripley who was disgusted at the idea of returning her human soul. She revealed to Ward that it was in fact not her soul he had. After a fight, Ripley stole the orb along with Claire's soul.

Furious, Kayla goes to Ward and demands the orb back. Explaining what happened, the two track down Ripley again. They fight the vampire and retrieve the orb but Ward stops Kayla from staking and killing Ripley, letting her escape. Ward claims that Ripley is his responsibility.

Disappointed at his own failures and role in Claire's soulless rampage, Ward turned his anger on Odin the necromancer. He killed him in the same demon bar where the bodies of Claire's victims still laid. Claire later returned to the scene of the crime and discussed the burden of her actions with Ward. While in the bar, the man in black summoned Efreet to their dimension to wreak havoc. The two escaped what they thought was an earthquake only to end up right in the fray with the Guardians, Kayla and the newly risen beast.

After being thoroughly trounced, they leave and re-group. Ward takes on the task of tracking Efreet and keeping an eye on him. He encountered Ripley on a rooftop where she told him that demons all over were buzzing with the news of Efreet's arrival. Ward tracks Efreet to a local junkyard where the demon was murdering a man and retrieving some kind of key. Ward tries to fight the beast but is defeated swiftly. Impaled by a stray rebar, Ripley appears again and kidnaps his unconscious self.

Ward awakens in her crypt but finds himself too weak to escape. Ripley begins to rape him but Ward gives in, utterly giving up and losing himself in the moment. Halfway through, she bites him and drains his blood, leaving him for dead in an unoccupied grave plot. A vision from Cordelia leads her to him where she finds him just in time, phoning an ambulance to save him. While en-route to the hospital, the paramedics recognize Ward from the viral video and debate what to do about it.

Despite being near-death and weakened, Ward tries to leave the hospital and resume his mission of tracking Efreet. On a tip from one of the paramedics, Gale finds Ward and corners him looking for an exclusive interview. Then, the beast and the remaining Dark Guardian attack the hospital while the others gather there. All hell breaks loose and chaos spreads as SWAT teams flank the hospital as well. Amidst the chaos, the Angel of Destiny appears and informs Ward and the others of her plan to fold back time and change the exposure event.

Ward is captured by government operatives just as her spell takes effect, altering history and creating a new timeline where magic was never exposed. Only Ward, Brian, Jake, Cordelia, Sam, Kayla, Claire and Wesley retain their memories of the original timeline. Due to a protective charm, Lincoln and Ripley also maintain their memories of the events.

After things settle, Ward and the others learn Efreet is still loose in the new present. Ward assists in the final battle against the beast, the Fourth Evil, and is present when Sam is infected with the essences of all four evils by Lincoln. Following the vanquish, Ward asks the Angel of Destiny for help in re-ensouling Ripley. She complies. Ward tracks down Ripley yet again only to find her incoherent, crazed, confused and manic.

Ward brings Ripley to his current residence in an attempt to calm her down and explain. After learning what has come to pass, Ripley decides to disappear. She calls the city a "coffin of haunting memories" and says she can't "be Ripley Ronsen anymore" because of what happened. Ward asks if he'll ever see her again to which she replies that there may be hope of winning this game one day before departing.

Season 5
Directionless and depressed after the newly re-ensouled Ripley's departure, Ward spends majority of his time staring at the bottom of a bottle. One drunken night, he overhears two demons discussing a rising cult taking in new members. The same cult connected to Sam's disappearance. Drawing similarities between his own attempts to save Ripley and Brian's to save Sam, Ward devises a plan to go undercover and infiltrate the cult with Cordelia's help.

Once in their ranks, he begins to eavesdrop and spy. Listening in on a conversation between Lincoln and Seifer, he catches a glimpse of a demonic "Queen" bearing a striking, 100% resemblance to Sam. He discovers the cult follows the prophecies of the seer, Essler, which sends Brian after him. He also reports to Cordelia that he may have found Sam but tells her to stay quiet until he can figure out more.

Ward attends the congregation in which Harmodious makes her first appearance to her subjects and details her plans to retake the world from the lower beings. Then, Ward searches for a way to return to the surface and report everything back to the others. He encounters the Unyielding, returned in the guise of Wesley Woods, and narrowly escapes.

Ward and the others try to stop Brian from throwing himself right in the middle of the deadly fight between Harmodious and the Unyielding. Brian goes anyway, leaving Ward no choice but to lead him to where he had seen Harmodious last. After the destruction of the showdown settles and everyone returns, Ward tries to go back to his undercover position. Cordelia stops him but Ward refuses to listen, saying they need him down there because they wouldn't have made it this far if he hadn't. They share a moment when Cordelia vehemently tells him it's a suicide mission and he's wrong if he thinks no one cares about what happens to him. He eventually backs down and decides to lay low.

Powers
Molecular combustion