Max Banes is a natural witch as well as a hunter and the twin brother of Alicia Banes. He was raised by a "good witch."
History[]
Alicia and Max attend the wake of Asa Fox, and share stories with the other hunters, including how close he and their mother were. During the night, the demon Jael, whom Asa had been hunting, and whom it is presumed killed him. He possesses Alicia and slits the throat of hunter Randy Bull and hangs him from the ceiling above Asa's body. The others realize that the demon is possessing each of them in turn. When, Bucky Sims realizes they are dealing with Jael, he attempts to leave the home, only to have Max Banes reveal that the entrances are warded, preventing anyone from leaving. As the group of hunters try to formulate a plan of action and find out who Jael is possessing, Jael reveals himself in the body of Alicia, taunting the group before smoking out of the body and retreating up the fireplace. Later, while possessing Jody Mills, Jael reveals that he learned while possessing Alicia, that Asa was the twins' father. Jael further revealed that, Asa and their mother, Tasha, had conceived them during a one night stand and then raised by their "good witch" mother alone.
After Jael is finally exorcised, Asa's mother decides to spend time getting to know her grandchildren.
Months later, Max joins his sister Alicia in search of their missing mother Tasha Banes. They soon enlist the help of Sam and Dean. They are both surprised and happy when the four find Tasha alive and well at a hotel.
Max's joy is short-lived however, when Sam and Dean discover a room full of bodies, one of them being Tasha's. Realizing the Tasha with Alicia is a fake, Max uses his powers to force the fake Tasha to reveal her true identity. This alerts a nearby witch, who sends two men after the four. Max is able to send one man flying out of the window, but he and Dean are shocked to see the man gradually recover from the impact.
Max uses his powers again to find the witch's location. Once there, the witch tells them she is impressed by Max's ability and proceeds to show Max and Dean what happened to Tasha through visions. Max is distraught seeing his mother die by this witch's hands, only to have her heart removed in order to recreate her as a twig and twine doll.
The witch offers to give Max her powers, at the cost of accepting her burden of going to Hell, since her powers were "borrowed" from a demon. Before Max can accept the ring which holds the witch's powers, Dean shoots the witch dead. Dean warns Max that if he had taken the ring, he would've been making a deal not with the witch, but the demon she got her powers from and thus would've condemned his soul to Hell.
The two men then rush over to where they left Sam and Alicia. Max is horrified to find Alicia dead, with a knife in her stomach. Sam and Dean try to comfort him, but Max wants to be left alone. Despite their warnings, Max chooses to use the witch's power to recreate Alicia as a twig and twine doll despite the fact that using the witch's magic will condemn his soul to Hell. The new Alicia does not recall her own death. As they leave the hotel, Max sets Alicia's corpse aflame.
Powers and Abilities[]
Max is a powerful natural witch. A borrower witch noted that his power was impressive. He has used the powers of both a natural witch and a borrower witch due to circumstance.
Natural Abilities:
- Spell Casting - As a natural witch, Max can use magic in a number of different ways. His eyes tend to glow purple when he uses magic.
- Telekinesis - With a hand gesture, Max was able to fling a reanimated man through a window.
- Tracking spell - Max used the Revelation spell on the twig doll that was impersonating his mother, which then proceeded to reveal to him the location of the witch controlling "her".
- Pyrokinesis - Max was able to light his sister's body and a building on fire with the power of his mind.
- Illuminating Spell - With a gesture of his hand, Max illuminated the symbols of the warding spell that Jael engraved in the inner walls of Asa's home in order to keep the hunters locked inside.
Borrower Abilities:
- Spell Casting - By utilizing the ring of the Borrower Witch, Max was able to utilize her demon-granted powers.
- Resurrection - Max was able to resurrect his sister as a twigs and twine doll.
Hunter abilities
- Exorcism - Max demonstrated knowledge of a shortened form of the exorcism ritual, used to expel a demon from its human host.
Weaknesses[]
- Stronger Witches - The Borrower Witch could easily withstand Max's magic.
- Higher Demons - Jael's warding spell was such strong that Max couldn't break it. Jael also was able to pin Max to the ground without much efforts.
Equipment[]
- Borrower Witch's ring - A magical ring he took for himself, after Borrower Witch's death.
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- Max is an openly gay man and is one of the various LGBT characters to appear on the show along with Alan J. Corbett, Cesar Cuevas, Charlie Bradbury, Gilda, Jesse Cuevas, Demian, Barnes, Lily Baker, Naoki Himura and several others.
- Due to using the Borrower Witch's powers, Max's soul is condemned to go to Hell when he dies.