Angels (Supernatural)

"Because they're dicks"

- Dean to his mother Mary about why an angel wants to kill her

Angels are the secondary antagonists in the horror series Supernatural. The angels are one of the oldest life forms in existence, above the soul, humans, and other supernatural creatures, but are younger than the Leviathans due to the beasts being God's first creation.

History
The angels were made in this order - Michael, Lucifer, Raphael and Gabriel, and then the other regular angels - Seraphim next, then Cherubim, then normal Elohim angels. The angels were stationed as God's messengers, and no angel, with the exception of Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, Raphael, Metatron and Gadreel, ever saw God. As only six angels in the entire Host had seen God, many angels doubted His existence, to the point where He became a myth.

In their true forms in Heaven, angels are as large as skyscrapers, with multiple animalistic heads, and can still speak, although their language, Enochian, is piercing and loud, so much that it can make people's brains bleed out from the sound of it.

The Archangels were allowed to see God, being the firstborn, and it was clear God had favorites among his own favorites - Lucifer was His favorite, and made him prideful as a result. Gadreel, however, was God's most trusted angel whom he assigned to protect the Garden of Eden After God created humanity, he demanded that all angels bow before them and love them more than they do even him. Lucifer refused, declaring that humans were flawed and murderous, when really he was jealous that they replaced him as God's favorite.

So, God got Michael to throw Lucifer into Hell, but Lucifer escaped and infiltrated the Garden of Eden and caused humanity to fall. He corrupted Cain and turned him into a demon, along with Lilith, and God threw Lucifer deep into Hell's lowest Pit. God decided that Lucifer should never be freed, so He locked Hell with 600 seals, 66 needed to be broken to release the Devil. For his failure, Gadreel was locked up in Heaven's prison

Afterwards, God left Heaven but not before entrusting Metatron (who would then be known as the Scribe of God) with his secrets which Metatron put on tablets. This caused Metatron to go into hiding out of fear that the archangels planned to steal God's information out of him. He fled to Earth and lived among the Native Americans.

Before the show
Angels began falling voluntarily to Earth, leaving Heaven because of its tragedies and wars. Angels were not tragic, though, and they instigated wars on Earth and fought with each other and humans. Around this time, Gabriel manifested on Earth because of the conflict Upstairs, and he announced the birth of Jesus - who in the show is possibly the human form of the angel Joshua, who is said to have been the only good angel.

Angels populated Earth throughout Jesus' time, serving him, until they were called back to Heaven by Michael at Jesus' death, and became a myth where even hunters didn't believe in them.

In the show
In the 1980s, the Archangels knew the vessels of Michael and Lucifer would be born, having manipulated the Winchester bloodline for centuries; so they made sure Sam and Dean were born by having John unite with Mary. The angels were seeking rogue angel Anna Milton who had defected to Earth, in the end they found her and Michael killed her.

Anna had been seeking to destroy Sam Winchester to prevent him becoming Lucifer's vessel and said she'd scatter his atoms across the cosmos. But Castiel said he'd kill her if she tried.

The first angel the brothers met was Gabriel, the Archangel, but they didn't know this, suspecting him to be a demi-god. Gabriel revealed his true identity when he survived numerous assassination attempts and cloned himself repeatedly. Gabriel then trapped Sam and Dean in a parallel universe and tortured them but redeemed himself when he returned them to their world, fought Lucifer, and was killed by him.

Season 4
"Read The Bible. Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier"

- Castiel to Dean about the nature of angels

In the year 2008, when Dean was in Hell, angels laid siege to it to get Dean and Castiel eventually dragged him out of Hell and left a handprint on Dean's arm. Castiel manifested soon on Earth, possessing a young man named Jimmy Novak, and his true form burned out a medium's eyes when she looked at him.

Castiel was shown to be cold because he abandoned Jimmy at his time of need and didn't help his family. He almost got them killed by demons, but then returned at the last minute when Jimmy was shot, healed him, and possessed him again.

The angels were preparing to free Lucifer from Hell as was their plan all along but they were pretending to their inferior angels that they wanted the Pit sealed. So they sent Uriel and Castiel to "protect" humanity, but Uriel kept threatening to throw Dean back into Hell and curse Sam for using his Satanic powers. Castiel also asked Dean what he remembered from Hell, as a threat.

Season 5
A powerful Seraph, Zachariah, appeared on Earth and was directly under Michael to make Dean say yes to Michael to consent to possession. So when Dean wouldn't say yes, Zachariah got violent and tortured the brothers by breaking Sam's legs and giving Dean cancer. Zachariah was under surveillance from Michael for failure, but when he gave Zachariah another chance, Zachariah blew it and Dean killed him when Zachariah summoned Michael.

Michael took the brothers' third brother, Adam, as his host, killing him effectively and wiping his mind. The comatose Adam (from seeing Michael's true form) was Michael's human host and Lucifer soon possessed Sam to "have a wrestling match in his mind." Adam and Sam, as Michael and Lucifer, soon met, and were about to fight, but then Sam got his consciousness back when beating Dean who gatecrashed the fight, and Sam threw himself and Michael and Lucifer into Hell.

Season 6
Castiel freed Sam from Hell and Death put a wall in Sam's mind when he got his soul back.

Castiel went back to Heaven where the delighted angels saw he had survived the war, and Castiel tried to explain the meaning of Free Will to the angels, as he was the only angel to understand Free Will from being with humans. But because God had programmed the angels into following military orders such as smiting and cleansing, the angels were confused about what Castiel meant and obeyed Raphael's plan to free Lucifer and Michael and put the Apocalypse back on track. Some angels sided with Castiel and others with Raphael and thus a new civil war began in Heaven. Castiel resorted to peaceable methods of challenging Raphael, then soon he went to all-out war, being persuaded by Crowley, who challenged him to believing he was working for humanity's benefits.

In reality, Crowley wanted to become ruler of the Universe, and Crowley ordered Castiel to break into Purgatory, the prison of monsters, and unleash the souls there to destroy Raphael, all the while pretending Crowley was with Castiel, when he was actually with Raphael at the end. Raphael sent a frightening angel, Virgil to kill Castiel, Sam and Dean and any angel who got in his way, but Virgil was humorously trapped in a parallel Earth and his powers were removed; Virgil was imprisoned for mass murder.

However, Castiel became evil and envious of God, ironically becoming like Lucifer, the angel he had fought in the Apocalypse, and Castiel decided that if he were God, he would be better than his Father, and he smashed the wall Death put in Sam's mind, thus rendering Sam almost insane. Sam became tortured with hallucinations of Lucifer and he went mad.

Castiel absorbed the Leviathans and when the angels found out how he was going to kill Raphael who was taking over in Heaven and starting a new war, killing angels and making angels kill each other, Castiel killed all the angels who fought against him.

Castiel killed Raphael when he got the souls by blowing Raphael up. Then he returned to Heaven and killed Raphael's followers.

Season 8
"You're supposed to be their shepherds, not their killers."

- Castiel

The angel Metatron was found to have been on Earth ever since the First Angelic War and he was living amongst Native Americans. When the brothers met him they told him about all the events he was unaware of and then Metatron got them to do a ritual to supposedly seal Hell. However, it was a ritual to banish all angels from Heaven and to seal off Heaven.

An angel named Naomi appeared as Castiel's boss and she said she'd saved him from Purgatory. Metatron revealed how angry he was with her and so he killed her and banished all angels from Heaven for supposedly betraying him.

Season 9
"Angels fighting angels has to stop somewhere. It might as well stop with me"

- Castiel

The fall caused the angels to try and hunt down and attempt to kill Castiel for his part in the fall. It also cuased a silver between two angel factions, one led by Bartholomew and the other led by Malachi. The war ended when both angel leaders were murdered Malachi by Gadreel and Bartholomew by Castiel in self defense. Metatron orchestrated the suicide of Gadreel and Bartholomew was killed by Castiel, and then Metatron filled the vacant place as King of Heaven, performing "miracles" for angels to follow him. Many angels left for Metatron, but he made the mistake of telling every single angel in existence (when he thought he was just speaking to Castiel) that the angels are nothing more than slaves to be ordered around, when Castiel wanted them to be free. The angels led by Castiel rebelled against Metatron, and ordered Castiel to kill Metatron, but Castiel had seen enough slaughter and he refused, choosing to imprison Metatron instead in Heaven, after many angelic conflicts and murders on Earth.

Seaon 10
Following Metatron's defeat and imprisonment, a weakening Castiel returns to Earth while the angels form their own government. According to Metatron, under Hannah's leadership, Heaven is being run better than it has been since God left. Six weeks after Metatron's defeat, Hannah approaches Castiel for help in finding rogue angels and bringing them home. Two of these angels are Daniel and Adinawho wish to stay on Earth and live out human lives. Castiel is forced to kill Daniel to save Hannah, but abandons the mission to aid Sam in his efforts to cure Dean who is now a demon. Their trip is interrupted by Adina who attacks the severely-weakened Castiel and attempts to kill him and Hannah. Crowley saves them, taking Adina's grace and killing her. Crowley restores Castiel's health and power with Adina's grace in exchange for him helping to stop Dean for good. After helping to cure Dean, Castiel and Hannah continue on their mission of finding angels to return to Heaven, but an encounter with her vessel'shusband causes Hannah to return to Heaven permanently so that Caroline can return to her normal life.

After Dean slaughters a group of humans under the influence of theMark of Cain, Castiel enlists Ingrid's help to bring Metatron to Earth so he can be questioned in hopes of a cure. Metatron claims knowledge of the cure, but demands that he gets many things in exchange, leading to Dean torturing and nearly killing him for information. Castiel and Sam break in in time to stop him and Castiel returns Metatron to Heaven rather than continue to risk his life. Following this, Castiel takes up an effort to find a cure for Dean, mainly by locating Cain, the previous wielder of the Mark. Castiel's search for Cain leads him to find out that Cain is slaughtering his descendants and Castiel teams up with the Winchesters and Crowley to bring an end to the Father of Murder. Though Cain is so powerful that not even Castiel's holy abilities can harm him, he succeeds in helping draw Cain into a trap, allowing Dean to finally kill him.

Following Dean's condition worsening, Sam and Castiel decide to force Metatron to help, but Hannah refuses to let Castiel into Heaven to get him, knowing Metatron will want his freedom in exchange which can't happen. Teaming up with Bobby Singer, they raid Heaven and break Metatron out. Castiel removes Metatron's grace, rendering him human and he admits that he actually doesn't know of a cure which Castiel can tell is the truth. To stop Sam shooting him, Metatron confesses that there is some of Castiel's grace left and offers to lead him to it. Metatron leads Castiel to his grace in a library, fighting an angry Cupidalong the way. However, while they search the books for the grace, Metatron reveals his true plan is to retrieve the grace and the demon tablet and escape. He stuns Castiel and retrieves the tablet, but flees when he sees that Castiel has found his grace. Castiel takes in his grace, regaining his full power and status as a Seraphim, though his wings remain broken. However, he and Sam keep Metatron's escape with the demon tablet from Dean despite worrying about what Metatron can do with the tablet and his freedom.

After getting a call that his vessel's daughter is in the hospital, Castiel discovers that some of the Grigori, long thought wiped-out, have survived and are now feeding off of human souls. Castiel and the Winchesters come into conflict with the Grigori Tamiel who had kidnapped Jimmy Novak's wife, Amelia and had been feeding on her soul for two years. Castiel is able to rescue Amelia, but she is beyond his ability to heal and she sacrifices herself to save her daughter Claire. In the fight that follows, Claire kills Tamiel with his own angel sword, but there are other Grigori out there.

Following the encounter with Tamiel, Castiel continues his efforts to save Dean from the Mark of Cain. He acts as a guard for Charlie Bradbury and Rowena as they attempt to translate the Book of the Damned to use it to save Dean. Charlie eventually escapes to get away from Rowena, but is killed by Eldon Frankenstein. Following her death, Dean goes on a revenge rampage and Castiel attempts and fails to stop him. After decoding theBook of the Damned, Castiel calls on Crowley to help gather the necessary ingredients and watches as Rowena successfully removes the Mark of Cain from Dean's arm. However, unknown to them, the Mark's removal unleashes the Darkness, a primordial evil that took God and his Archangels to beat. After the Mark is removed, Rowena escapes and puts Castiel under a spell that makes him attack Crowley.

Season 11
Under the influence of Rowena's spell, Castiel attacks Crowley who escapes by smoking out. Still under the effects of the spell, Castiel travels to the portal to Heaven for help only to find it gone. Learning of the Darkness' release, Castiel prays to his siblings for help and Efram and Jonah respond and lead him to a warehouse, explaining that the angels moved the portal after Metatron's escape. However, they have no intention of taking Castiel to Heaven and instead chain him up. They torture him repeatedly for information on Metatron, refusing to believe Castiel when he correctly informs them that Metatron tricked him and escaped. Finally, Hannah arrives and puts a stop to the torture, but is unable to heal Castiel or break Rowena's spell. Hannah informs Castiel that the alarms in Heaven have gone off for an unknown reason and Castiel informs her of the escape of the Darkness. Hannah asks him about the Winchesters location and Castiel realizes the whole thing is a trick in hopes of getting information out of him. Hannah explains that since he helped Metatron escape, most of the angels hate Castiel now and she is working under orders from the new democracy in charge of Heaven to find out what he knows.

When Castiel refuses to cooperate, Efram and Jonah attempt to use a device similar to the one Crowley used to hack Samandriel and Gadreel to hack Castiel's brain. As Hannah distracts the other angels with her objections, Castiel falls back under the influence of Rowena's spell and breaks free, killing Jonah in self-defense. An angry Efram murders Hannah for her interference before Castiel kills him too. Castiel later travels to the Bunker to enlist Sam and Dean's help. The angels later meet on Earth, aware that Amara plans to take over Heaven. They figure that their leaders won't do anything, so they have to spread the word that they unite and move against the Darkness. When three angels call on Amara to surrender they warn that each and every angel in the sky is ready to smite her with one blow. After Amara kills the angels a blast of Heavenly light smashes down.

Afterwards, the angels send one of their own named Ambriel down to Earth to make sure that Amara is dead. One the way, she meets Castiel and the two work together. She explains that unlike the other angels, she doesn't hate Castiel and that they are both expendable. As they arrive to the site where Amara was smote by the angels, Amara unfortunately recovers and consumes Ambriel and overpowers Castiel, sending him to Hell to deliver a message to Crowley and the Winchesters.

After Lucifer posseses Castiel and escapes his Cage, He goes to a park where he is spotted by a angel stationed there. Recognizing the Devil, the angel follows him as he takes a walk and Lucifer tries to offer him his help in defeating the Amara, even calling the angel "brother" but the angel coldly retorts that Lucifer is no brother of his, and he refuses and tries to kill him which ends in the Devil snapping his fingers, killing the angel and causing him to explode.

Lucifer tastes the angelic blood of his brother and muses over how pleasant it tastes. Eventually, Lucifer comes to meet God, who, to everybody's surprise, was the "prophet" Chuck Shurley all along. Lucifer is initially angry at God but is surprised when God eventually forgives His wayward son.

Afterwards, Lucifer visits Heaven with the intent on recruiting angels to end the threat of the Darkness, but the angels are still arrogant, sanctimonious fanatical pricks, and they refuse to listen to Lucifer, insulting him multiple times by calling him "The Serpent" and "The Deceiver." Lucifer, furious with what he has to do to make the angels see sense, (that he really is here to help) says that it really was due to angelic propaganda that he was cast as Satan in the first place. Lucifer points out the flaws in humanity - among them the Salem Witch Trails, the Third Reich, (pointing out the fact that one of the angels has possessed a man wearing a Nazi trench coat) and the World Trade Center Attacks as proof of humankind's evils, and says that he would make the world much better, if he can defeat the Darkness. Initially frightened and angry, with a strong belief in destiny, (one angel says that God must've cast Lucifer down for a reason) the angels are too terrified of the Darkness to outsmart the Devil.

Lucifer later says "What happens in Heaven, stays in Heaven" referring to the angels and everything divine.

Lucifer returns to Heaven weeks later, fully healed and intent on gaining their help. The angels all gather around him armed with angel blades, showing hostility, so Lucifer switches places with Castiel, in hopes that they would listen to him. The angels disregard Castiel also, but Castiel insists that they all have their part in this war, and for Castiel, it's being Lucifer's vessel. Castiel encourages them to help God fight the Darkness, if they so choose, which they finally agree to.

During the battle, Rowena and the witches launch the first attack, weakening Amara's vessel. Once complete, the angels create another combined smite and launch it against Amara, thus weakening her further. Their attack is followed up by the demons' own assault. However, the battle ends in Amara's favor with God left dying on the floor and Lucifer expelled from his vessel. Convinced the world is going to end, the angels lock up Heaven and choose not to grant any further assistance, as Castiel soon finds out.

Season 12
The angels are mostly vacant, We learn that in 1901, a group of angels, including Castiel, went to a house to destroy a Nephilim. The leader of the angels, Ishim, was lying to them. The alleged 'Nephilim' was a little human girl. The mother of the girl, Lily Sunder, hunted down that group of angels, killing several before the truth came out and Castiel finished it for her. Other than that, the angels have been heard over angel radio after the archangel, Lucifer, got Kelly Kline pregnant.

The main goal of the angels is to get rid of the unborn child, and two angels have already attempted to execute Kelly, only to be stopped by Dagon. The angel Joshua has also decided to take charge of Heaven during the course of this mission, and according to the angel Kelvin, if Castiel helps, he will be forgiven by their siblings and accepted back into Heaven.