Michael (Supernatural)

Michael is a supporting villain appearing in the fifth season of The CW television series Supernatural. He was portrayed by Matthew Cohen and later Jake Abel.

Michael is one of the four Archangels, the older brother of Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel.

Season 5
In the season premiere "Sympathy for the Devil," Dean Winchester, one of the show's main characters, is revealed to be Michael's chosen human vessel for the war against Lucifer and his demons. Dean adamantly rejects his destiny and responsibility as Michael's vessel, and spends the majority of the season fighting to avoid saying "yes" to Michael (as Michael cannot possess Dean until he gives his consent to possession) to try and find a less devastating solution to stopping Lucifer than Michael and Lucifer's apocalyptic battle.

In "The End," in an alternate future that Zachariah sends Dean to, Dean encounters Lucifer (who is possessing his brother Sam Winchester). While asserting his claim that he was cast down by God for loving Him more than anything, Lucifer states that God had Michael cast him (Lucifer) into Hell for his rebellion. In "Abandon All Hope...," Lucifer reveals to Sam that he and Michael were once very close, and that he (Lucifer) looked up to his older brother. The fallen angel goes on to explain that when he turned to Michael and begged him to stand by him in rebelling against their Father, Michael refused, called him a "freak" and a "monster," and beat him down, pointing out a comparison between himself (Lucifer) and Sam.

In "The Song Remains the Same," in the year 1978, Michael appears to Dean and Sam's father John Winchester, and persuades John to allow him to possess him (John) in order to save John's wife Mary from Anna Milton, who had traveled back through time to kill John and Mary so that Sam won't exist and, consequently, Lucifer can't use Sam as a vessel in the present. John consents and Michael possesses him. Michael then confronts Anna as she's about to kill Mary, and he kills Anna by touching her and reducing her body to ash.

After sending Uriel away with a snap of his fingers, Michael turns his attention to Dean and explains to the hunter about the Winchester bloodline being comprised of vessels for Michael to use (due to being descended from Cain and Abel), and how Dean can't resist what God had ordained long ago (revealing that he doesn't believe in free will, not even for himself). Michael also explains he truthfully doesn't want to kill Lucifer and still loves his little brother, but maintains that he is going to kill Lucifer because it's what God ordered and "it is right." Michael then heals and resurrects Sam (who had earlier been mortally wounded by Anna) before sending him back to 2010. Before sending Dean back to the present, Michael tells him he'll see him soon.

In "Point of No Return," Michael (without taking a human vessel) appears to Zachariah in a bar on Earth, causing a massive earthquake and burning out the eyes of other patrons due to the intensity of his true angelic form. He gives Zachariah (who had previously failed to get Dean's consent for Michael to inhabit his body) a second chance. Later, the angels resurrect Adam Milligan, Dean and Sam's half-brother who was killed by a pair of ghouls the previous season, so Michael can use him as a vessel instead of Dean; however, this turns out to be a ruse by Zachariah to lure Dean to him. Later on, after Dean, accompanied by Sam, comes to rescue Adam from the "green room" he's being held in, Dean finally says "yes" to Michael, at which point Zachariah summons Michael. As Michael descends from Heaven, causing the room to shake, Dean kills Zachariah and he and Sam try to escape with Adam; unfortunately, Adam gets trapped in the green room as Michael finally arrives. When Dean manages to get back inside the green room, Michael and Adam are both gone.

In "Two Minutes to Midnight," Castiel confirms to Sam that Michael has taken Adam as an alternative vessel. In the following episode, the season finale "Swan Song," Lucifer (possessing his chosen vessel Sam) is confronted by Michael in Stull Cemetery in Lawrence, Kansas. The two Archangels greet each other civilly, but when Lucifer asks Michael to walk away, Michael considers it but refuses. The two then argue, and Michael asserts that Lucifer is responsible for causing God to leave Heaven in the first place and remains adamant that he is going to obey God's orders and kill Lucifer. He also calls his little brother out on his habit of never taking responsibility for his actions and blaming everything on other people.

Michael and Lucifer prepare to fight, only to be interrupted by Dean riding up in the Impala. Dean apologizes to Adam, but Michael informs him "Adam isn't home right now" and angrily says Dean is no longer part of the story. Castiel then appears, calls Michael "assbutt," and hurls a Molotov cocktail of holy fire at Michael. Once hit, Michael screams in pain and is temporarily banished from the scene. Moments later, Michael returns, fully recovered, as Sam (who has regained control of his body from Lucifer) opens a portal to Lucifer's cage in Hell. He insists that he has to fight his brother as that is his destiny, but Sam prepares to jump into the portal and re-imprison Lucifer anyway. Michael charges forward to try and stop Sam, and gets pulled through the portal into the cage with him. The portal closes behind them seconds later, leaving Michael, Sam, Adam, and Lucifer locked away in the cage, and the Apocalypse successfully derailed.

Season 6
As of the end of the previous season, Michael and Lucifer remain trapped in Lucifer's cage. In "Caged Heat," Castiel, while trying to explaining the risks of restoring Sam's soul (which had been left in the cage with the two Archangels) to his body, tells Dean that Michael and Lucifer have had nothing to take their anger out on except Sam's soul, and that the experience of that could leave Sam a vegetable. In "Appointment in Samarra," while talking with Sam, Balthazar mentions that Michael and Lucifer are "hate-banging" Sam's soul in the cage. However, Sam only remembered Lucifer torturing him after he was restored, suggesting Michael may not have taken his anger out on his soul after all.