Uriel (Salvation War)

The version of the Archangel Uriel featured in Stuart Slade's Salvation War series of web novels is, like many beings believed by humans to be angels, demons, or gods, is actually an extradimensional alien with powerful natural abilities, in Uriel's case, the ability to manipulate the human brain into shutting down all bodily functions, effectively killing them. Uriel first appears in the second, novel of the series, Pantheocide. After the combined military forces of humanity invade hell itself and overwhelm the powerful but technologically primitive demons with modern military hardware, humanity turns its attention to God, the second belligerent in the feeble attempt at an apocalypse, God orders Uriel to attack human cities while the next "Bowl of Wrath" from the Book of Revalations is prepared. Uriel quickly discovers that his powers are not as effective as they were in the past, with most people being able to resist them simply as they have more to live for, given the massive increase in quality of life since ancient times. Uriel is reduced to killing only a few hundred victims per attack, mostly the poor, destitute, or psychologically depressed, who have less "will to live" and those caught alone- being in groups significantly reduced the effectiveness of Uriel's powers. During an attack on San Francisco, Uriel is severely injured by a combination of missile fire and a concentrated RADAR beam from the AEGIS cruiser USS Normandy. Little did Uriel know, he was intentionally led to well-defended areas by the archangel Michael, who was planning a coup against God, and intended for Uriel, one of Yahweh's greatest supporters, be killed by human military forces. Michael's plot succeeds when he convinces Uriel to attack Los Angeles. Uriel's attack causes no human casualties due to the high density of humans in the area, which allowed them to support each others "mental resistance". Uriel, on the other hand, is finally killed by the YAL-1 Airborne Laser System, an experimental chemical laser weapon mounted on a Boeing 747.