Lucifer (Supernatural)

"You people misunderstand me. You call me "Satan" and "Devil," but do you know why I fell? Because I loved God too much."

- Lucifer to Nick, his temporary vessel

Lucifer (also known as Satan or The Devil) is a character appearing in the TV series Supernatural. He was the bigger bad of Season 4 (due to controlling Lilith and the other villains), the main antagonist of Season 5 and one of the secondary antagonists (as a hallucination) in Season 7. He is arguably the bigger bad for the first three seasons as well.

He is portrayed by Mark Pellegrino in most of his appearances, and by Jared Padalecki when he's possessing Sam in "The End" and "Swan Song."

History
Lucifer is one of the four Archangels created by God, the brother of Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel.

When God created humans and commanded the angels to bow before them, Lucifer refused, deeming humans to be imperfect and murderous beings, and rebelled. However, he was defeated and cast out of Heaven by Michael. Following this, he somehow breached Gadreel's defenses and entered the Garden of Eden, where he succeeded in corrupting the minds of Adam and Eve.

Later, Lucifer tried to corrupt Adam and Eve's son Abel into becoming his servant, but Abel's brother Cain made a deal with Lucifer: his soul in Hell in exchange for Abel's soul in Heaven. He assented to this arrangement, but only if Cain himself killed Abel. Afterwards, he branded Cain with a mark that ensured that Cain became the first Knight of Hell after he died.

Acting out of spite towards God and eager to prove how imperfect humans were, Lucifer corrupted a human soul into the first demon Lilith; for this act, he was imprisoned in a specific cage in Hell that was bound with over 600 seals, 66 of which needed to be broken in order for Lucifer to be released.

In 1972, when Azazel massacred the nuns in St. Mary's Convent as part of a sacrifice to make contact with him, Lucifer instructed him to free Lilith from Hell so she could break the 66 Seals and thus release him. In 2009, the final seal was broken when Sam Winchester, Lucifer's intended vessel, killed Lilith, and Lucifer rose out of Hell.

As an angel, Lucifer needed to take a vessel on Earth and could only possess someone with his or her consent. Not long after his release from Hell, he possessed a man named Nick, whose wife and child had been murdered by a criminal, and persuaded Nick that he could get revenge on God for allowing his family to be killed.

Later, Lucifer tried to convince Sam to say "yes" to him, as he was his true vessel. Sam, Dean, and Castiel planned to defeat Lucifer by either finding the Colt or finding God. However, when Dean shot Lucifer in the head with the Colt, it did not kill him, as he was one of five beings that the Colt could not kill. Later, Sam and Dean heard from the angel Joshua that God had no interest in stopping the Apocalypse.

In "Hammer of the Gods," Lucifer was called by the Roman god Mercury to a hotel where a group of pagan gods were holding the Winchesters captive. Following a short rant about pagan gods (whom he deemed worse than humans or demons), Lucifer killed Mercury, then killed a vast number of the other pagans. Gabriel then tried to kill Lucifer with a trick, but Lucifer turned Gabriel's own angel-killing blade on him and killed him, much to his visible regret. However, Gabriel revealed to Sam and Dean through a copy of Casa Erotica that they could trap Lucifer again by re-opening his cage with the Four Horsemen's rings.

Sam and Dean collected the rings and formulated a plan to get Lucifer back into the cage. Sam said "yes" to Lucifer, intending to gain control over him and jump into the cage with Lucifer, but Lucifer easily overpowered Sam and turned him onto a dark path by allowing Sam to kill the demons who had secretly controlled a majority of his life.

Lucifer then went to Stull Cemetery in Lawrence, Kansas, where he was met by Michael. After a verbal stand-off with his brother, Lucifer prepared to battle Michael, only for Dean to drive up and attempt to help Sam re-gain control. When Castiel appeared and threw a Molotov cocktail using holy oil at Michael to temporarily send him away, an angry Lucifer destroyed Castiel with a snap of his fingers. When Bobby shot him, Lucifer telekinetically snapped the hunter's neck.

Lucifer then savagely beat up Dean, but when he saw a figurine of a soldier in the Impala, Lucifer was overwhelmed and confused by all of Sam's memories with Dean. Sam was then able to regain control of his body and open Lucifer's cage with the Horsemen's rings. Michael re-appeared, told Sam that he was destined to kill Lucifer, and grabbed hold of Sam just as he jumped into the cage, taking Lucifer and Michael down to Hell with him.

God resurrected Castiel, who resurrected Bobby and freed Sam from Lucifer's cage. Lucifer still remains in the cage; Castiel later discovered that he had freed only Sam's body while Sam's soul was being beaten for all eternity by Michael and Lucifer, who were furious with him. Dean convinced Death to rescue Sam's soul, and Death warned Sam there would be consequences if Sam tried to break the mental wall that Death had put up in his mind. However, Castiel later destroyed the wall and Sam starts to hallucinate seeing Lucifer.

For a time, Lucifer's hallucination tortures Sam and eventually leads to Sam being admitted to a mental hospital. There, Lucifer continues to psychologically torture Sam. However, when Sam is at his worst, Castiel absorbs Sam's hallucinations, healing Sam yet temporarily going insane himself as he sees Lucifer. However, being an angel and therefore stronger than Sam, Castiel manages to get the hallucination of Lucifer under control. Lucifer's hallucination is banished, and Lucifer is still trapped inside his cage with Michael.

Personality
Lucifer was once the most beautiful and beloved angels in all of existence. God loved Lucifer the most of all His angels. Because of his status amongst the other angels and being loved most by God, Lucifer was very prideful. When humanity was created, he was unwilling to accept no longer being God's favorite, and when God commanded all angels to love His new creation more than Himself, Lucifer refused and was cast into Hell.

Being cast out of Heaven enraged Lucifer, so he struck back by tempting and twisting the soul of a human woman, Lilith. After completely stripping her of her humanity, her soul was transformed into the very first demon. Because of this unforgivable blasphemy against God, Lucifer was further punished by being placed into an additional solitary imprisonment within Hell. He remained there in isolation for millennia.

Lucifer's long-term goal was to eventually be freed from the cage, eradicate humanity, and restore Earth to its original "untainted" glory. The demon Crowley once suggested that Lucifer also only uses demons as servants and would eradicate all of them as well because, despite them being his creations, he considers demons to be even less worthy than humans; proof of this is shown when, after several demons sacrifice themselves as part of a ritual to summon Death, Lucifer casually states to a shocked Sam that "they're just demons."

Lucifer claims that he never lies because he does not have to. He promises both his vessels, Nick and Sam, that he will be honest with them. He also says that he sympathizes with his vessels, both of whom are victims like himself. He goes to some lengths to get Sam's acceptance, sparing Dean's life once and allowing Sam revenge against some of the demons that controlled his life. However, Lucifer has been proven to mislead on occasion, suggesting that this is more of a ploy to gain trust rather than an actual commitment or he bends this rule when he sees it to his advantage.

Lucifer shows concern for his fellow angels, though it is the Archangels he loves most. He captures Castiel and admires the angel's loyalty in refusing to reveal the presence of his human friends; when he invites Castiel to join him and Castiel refuses, Lucifer respects his decision. Lucifer is remorseful when forced to kill Gabriel, and disappointed when Michael berates him during their confrontation in Stull Cemetery. When preparing to fight his older sibling in their pre-destined battle, Lucifer pleads with Michael to "walk off the chessboard," but Michael remains determined to fulfill his destiny and serve God. Even so, when Castiel molotovs Michael, Lucifer is outraged by the attack on his brother and obliterates Castiel.

Gabriel criticizes Lucifer, describing his actions as "one big temper tantrum." Death makes a similar observation, characterizing Lucifer as a "petulant child." Nonetheless, Lucifer sees himself as a tragic figure who was punished for being right. He refuses to accept any blame for his actions and suggests that God intentionally made him the way he is, asserting that "God wanted the Devil."

Lucifer is also highly cruel and barbaric to those who get in his way and, despite his claims of being the victim, he has no qualms about killing anything or anyone, even if he has no true reason for doing so. For example, he barbarically massacred a majority of the pagan gods simply because they plotted against him, despite the fact that they posed no real threat to him.

Powers and Abilities
As an Archangel, Lucifer is one of the most powerful beings to exist; the only beings said to be more powerful than him are God, Michael, and Death. The immensity of his power was further shown by how an improper human vessel, Nick, decayed greatly as a result of containing him.


 * Nigh-Invincibility: Lucifer, being the second Archangel, is unimaginably powerful. As only Michael, Death, and God can defeat him, Lucifer has incalculable supernatural power. He can even slay ancient pagan deities with ease.
 * Immortality: Lucifer has an indefinitely long lifespan. Time does not degrade his form, like with all celestial beings. He's unaffected by diseases and toxins. He does not tire, and does not require food, water, oxygen, or sleep. On one occasion, Cas clearly says about killing Lucifer, "It's foolish, it can't be done," and later calls the task "insane." However, an Archangel blade can kill him, as can God or Michael.
 * Angelic Possession: Even Lucifer is required to use a vessel on Earth, as Zachariah emphasizes, and he needs the vessel's permission, like with all angels. Because of the immensity of his power, he must use a vessel descended from Cain and Abel, or it will begin to decay.
 * Invulnerability: Lucifer is impervious to all damage, except when harmed by his Archangel brethren, penetrated with an Archangel blade, or by God. Kali, the most powerful of the pagan gods at the gathering of the pagan gods, tried to harm him with a pyrokinetic attack, but it had no effect and Lucifer simply smiled at her attempt to harm him. The Colt somehow caused him initial pain, but he soon recovered. It should be noted that his temporary vessel was decaying at the time. With Sam as his vessel, Lucifer is much more powerful, and it's probable he'd be completely impervious to the Colt.
 * Cosmic Awareness: Lucifer has immense awareness of everything. He knows spells capable of binding the Horsemen to him, but he, according to Chuck, didn't know about the Impala.
 * Superhuman Strength: Lucifer has slaughtered pagan deities with his bare hands. As Gabriel predicted, it became a blood bath. Lucifer went on a rampage in which he brutally ripped the other gods to shreds, beating them to death, and tearing off their limbs through sheer force. He was able to knock out the powerful pagan god, Kali, with one punch. As the second oldest Archangel, he's significantly stronger than other angels. He once effortlessly threw Dean and later literally beat him to a bloody pulp, nearly killing him. Chuck indicated that Dean only survived because Castiel healed him. He was also able to causally overpower his younger brother Gabriel.
 * Regeneration: If Lucifer's vessel receives any damage, the wound will heal instantaneously. When shot with the Colt, for example, the bullet hole healed in under a minute. Interestingly, the ability does not reverse the decay caused to Nick by Lucifer's power.
 * Shapeshifting: Interestingly, Lucifer could change his form when outside of a vessel; he's the only Archangel to have done so. Also, when in a vessel, Lucifer can change his shape into any person he wants, like Gabriel; Lucifer also took the form of a Reaper to lure Castiel away.
 * Teleportation: Lucifer can travel anywhere instantly, without occupying the space in between.
 * Telekinesis: Lucifer could impart kinetic energy on matter with his mind. He was extremely proficient, being able to rip pagan deities apart.
 * Dream Walking: Lucifer has the ability to enter a person's dreams. Even without a human vessel, Lucifer was a able to speak with Nick in his dreams while taking on the appearance of his deceased wife. He demonstrated this again when he spoke to Sam in his dreams while taking on the appearance of Jessica Moore.
 * Cryokinesis: Lucifer can manipulate and generate cold. He froze a pane of glass by merely breathing on it.
 * Supernatural Perception: Lucifer can perceive the form of beings invisible to the human eye. Lucifer was able to see the true form of Death when he raised the Horseman out of his prison.
 * Weather Manipulation: When Lucifer was released, he altered the weather by creating severe winds.
 * Molecular Combustion: Lucifer killed Castiel by speeding up his molecules to the point where it caused him to explode simply by snapping his fingers.
 * Reality Warping: Although never displayed, Lucifer reminded Gabriel that he taught him everything he knew about using this power, when the latter tried to use it to kill him.
 * Spell Casting: Lucifer was able to bind the Horsemen to his presence with a spell, controlling their actions to a moderate degree. He also performed a ritual to release Death from his coffin.
 * Resurrection: Lucifer can easily revive dead people. He is also said to be able to bring back deceased angels.
 * Terrakinesis: Lucifer could generate earthquakes with ease.
 * Precognition: Lucifer could see the future, but not the whole picture; he knew he would posses Sam in Detroit and told him the first time he met him.

Trivia

 * Though it's said that the Lucifer vision which was manifested from Sam's memories of Hell and tormented him in Season 7 was a mere hallucination, Mark Pellegrino, Lucifer's primary actor, felt otherwise. Pellegrino said that the Lucifer hallucination which tormented Sam in Season 7 might not have really been a hallucination, but rather an avatar of the real Lucifer planted in Sam's mind.