| “ | Archangels are fierce. They're absolute. They're Heaven's most terrifying weapon." "And these Archangels, they're tied to Prophets?" "Yes." "So if a Prophet was in the same room...as a demon..." "Then the most fearsome wrath of Heaven would rain down on that demon. |
” |
Archangels are the first and most powerful type of angelic being created by God. Being the oldest of the angels, archangels are at the top of the celestial hierarchy. They possess incalculable power and answer only to God, although there are others more powerful than them. They were created in this order: Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel. Michael is the mightiest but also the most loyal and obedient, Lucifer is God's most loved but also the most prideful and avaricious, Raphael was the most ruthless and imperious, while Gabriel was the most mischievous and deceptive and is also the only one who cares for humanity.
The angel Metatron was also considered to be an Archangel by other Angels, until he revealed that he was simply a regular angel who was chosen to be the Scribe of God.
Early life
After coming into existence with The Darkness and possibly Death and after creating the Leviathans, His first beasts, God created His four chief celestial beings whom He christened archangels. They were created in this explicit order: Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel. The archangels acted as siblings, and distinctively interacted with themselves and their father.
Some point after their creation, they and God went into war with The Darkness. They were unable to kill the darkness, but together they succeeded in binding it. God then created a mark, later to be called The Mark of Cain, that would serve as both lock and key for the The Darkness, which He gave to His most loved son and most trusted lieutenant, Lucifer. After the banishing of The Darkness and the creation of Heaven, Michael personally raised his little brother Lucifer, and accordingly, Lucifer took care of Gabriel, and showed him different tricks.
After locking the Leviathans away in Purgatory and following the creation of mankind, God asked all His children to kneel before them. Although the other three archangels complied, Lucifer refused, and led a rebellion trying to overthrow God because when he was trusted with the Mark, it corrupted Lucifer and drove him to be jealous of humanity. Therefore, Michael, on God's command, defeated Lucifer and banished his brother out of Heaven and into Hell. During the turmoil, Gabriel escaped to Earth to avoid taking sides and Raphael chose to side with God and Michael.
After God's departure from Heaven, the archangels, according to Metatron, ferociously whined, cried, and wailed. Whilst they wanted their father back, over time, however, they began to shift their attention into ruling the universe. Although immensely powerful themselves, to rule the universe, they would need the Words of God. However, Metatron, the Scribe of God, predicted the archangels' decision, and proceeded to leave Heaven to protect the tablets and himself. Lucifer, however, was able to take possession of the Angel Tablet sometime after and had it placed in one of his crypts. The archangels were also believed to have killed Lucifer's elite order of demons, the Knights of Hell by everyone who knew of them. However, unknown to everyone, the truth was that the leader of the Knights, Cain, killed all but Abaddon himself instead of the archangels. According to Cain, only Abaddon knew the truth though Crowley somehow later found out.
Characteristics
According to Castiel, they are known in Heaven as absolute, precise and wrathful creatures, as he has called them, "The most fearsome wrath of Heaven". Like all angels, their true forms are very intense, and have proven not only harmful but also fatal to humans, though Castiel also claimed that special humans can see their true forms. Their presence on Earth outside a vessel is often visualized as a blinding, pure white light, and their arrival can cause minor tremors, as shown by Lucifer when the Chapel shook as he escaped the Cage, and by Raphael while intervening to protect the prophet Chuck Shurley from Lilith. Their true voice also emits a piercing sound, which has proven to be excruciatingly painful to humans. During a subsequent appearance, Raphael caused the entire Eastern Sea Board to experience a black out and generated strong winds and heavy rainstorms. Shortly before his defeat, Lucifer's presence caused the temperature to drop drastically in Detroit.
It has been stated that Archangels are tethered to prophets. Raphael seemed to be the one who monitored and protected prophet Chuck Shurley. Before his fall, Lucifer was God's most beloved angel; he was considered beautiful, and was well respected in Heaven.
Archangels view themselves as the highest authority over all of creation since God's departure from Heaven. As leaders in Heaven, Michael and Raphael commanded the Host of Heaven, issuing orders to the "Senior Management" who were responsible for deploying angels to Earth. They did not share all their plans, especially their intention to allow Lucifer to be freed, to avoid rebellion in the lower ranks. Most of them showed little respect while interacting with humans, although Gabriel eventually confessed his appreciation of humanity even believing humans to be better than them.
The relationships between archangels and their true vessels can be complex. Holding an archangel is psychologically damaging to a human; Raphael's vessel Donnie Finnerman was left a drooling, catatonic mess after possession. Lucifer's continued presence in Nick, an alternate vessel, causes the human's body to breakdown, as evidenced by burn-like marks, scarring and tears on his skin. Lucifer's vessels can be strengthened with demon blood to better survive the ordeal; Castiel later commented that Lucifer was drinking gallons of blood to keep his body intact. However when Lucifer transfered to Sam, Nick would die. Despite his contempt and hatred for humanity as a whole, Lucifer showed some sympathy towards Nick, and towards Sam Winchester, his true vessel. Michael, though condescendingly, was willing to explain his position to Dean Winchester while occupying his father, and promised not to leave Dean a "drooling mess" after his service and even promised to restore John Winchester, whom he was possessing, to "better than new", which he later did. This implies that, possibly because of their deep contempt for humanity, archangels leave their vessels in a dilapidated state not as a consequence of possession, but out of sheer spite.
In My Brother's Keeper, Death reveals that it was the archangels that fought off and entrapped the Darkness that existed before God created the universe.
Powers & Abilities
| “ | No one gives us the right; we take it. | ” |
— Lucifer comments on his and his brothers' powers.
in Hammer of the Gods | ||
| “ | Whatever we want, we get! | ” |
— Raphael describing his and his brothers' absolute authority.
in Free To Be You and Me | ||
| “ | No-one makes us do anything! | ” |
— Gabriel describe about his and his brother's powers.
in Hammer of the Gods | ||
Archangels are the highest type of celestial being, who possess a large amount power. They possess the powers and abilities that are inherent in all angels, but to a greater degree. Michael and Lucifer are stated to be far stronger than Raphael and Gabriel. This was later shown when Lucifer easily killed Gabriel while his battle with Michael was expected to devastate the entire planet. Castiel, when powered up by the tens of millions of souls and Leviathans in Purgatory easily killed Raphael, but left Hell intact to continue to serve as a prison for Michael and Lucifer.
Imbued with enormous and unimaginable power by their creator, the archangels are four of the most powerful beings in all of creation. They are held in extremely high esteem by angels, being looked upon as "fierce" and "absolute" in power and capability. All archangels have tremendous power over other supernatural beings.
- Nigh-Omnipotence - Archangels have a vast supply of power and can do practically do and create almost anything out of thin air. Archangels can overpower other Angels, Demons, monsters, lower level deities, and humans.
- Cosmic Awareness - Archangels have near-absolute knowledge and awareness of everything. However, they are not completely all-knowing as Lucifer was unaware of what type of car the Winchesters drive.
- Immortality - Archangels aren't affected by time or disease and don't need to breathe, eat, or sleep to sustain themselves.
- Angelic Possession - By God's law, even archangels require vessels to manifest physically on Earth, with the vessel's consent. Archangels are highly particular about their vessels (even more so than average angels); any vessel that an Archangel such as Michael or Lucifer possesses that is not part of Cain and Abel's bloodline will burn up and deteriorate over time. It also seems that they cannot be expelled by the vessel's consent being revoked.(Though it is possible that Sam did not revoke his consent so as to be able to throw Lucifer back in his cage.)
- Holy White Light - Archangels can blast basically anything into oblivion with holy energy. This power can also be controlled and concentrated from completely obliterating something to only severely damaging it.
- Implosion Smiting - Archangels can explode, or implode, lower Angels, demons, monsters, deities, and humans. Chuck describes it as popping a balloon full of chunky soup.
- Invulnerability - Archangels cannot be damaged or injured by anything that's at least not supernatural.
- Immunity - Archangels have immunity to that which affects lesser angels. Michael was not killed holy fire as lesser angels are, and Lucifer is one of the five things in all creation that the Colt cannot kill, though it can still inflict pain upon him for a time.
- Super Strength - Archangels can exert or apply extreme amounts of force to people and objects. They can overpower and kill anything, besides God, Death, War, Famine, Pestilence, Leviathan, Eve, or the Darkness.
- Super Stamina - Archangels' vessels need nothing to maintain their strength, to strive, or operate, as they are self-sufficient. "Falling", or being banished doesn't affect their powers at all, where as it causes normal angels to lose the ability to smite and heal.
- Telekinesis - Archangels can move matter with their mind.
- Teleportation - Archangels can disappear and reappear anywhere that's not sigil-protected instantly.
- Apporting - Archangels can teleport anything they touch to somewhere else.
- Telepathy - Archangels can read and feel/sense the thoughts of humans.
- Empathy - Archangels can read, and feel/sense the emotions of humans.
- Precognition - Archangels can see into the future, although they do not always see the full picture; as Michael has apparently been "wrong", and neither Lucifer nor Gabriel foresaw their defeats.
- Summoning/Banishing - Archangels can summon and banish angels at their command. This was demonstrated by Michael.
- Memory Manipulation- Archangels can erase, fabricate and restore memories of people.
- Shapeshifting - Archangels can change form, as Lucifer did when he appeared to Nick using Sarah's visage. Gabriel also demonstrated this ability several times, in conjunction with his reality warping abilities.
- Enhanced Reality Warping - Like some Angels and Seraphs, Archangels can alter reality, albeit to a greater degree. This ability is better demonstrated in the archangel Gabriel, who can create anything he wants out of thin air and can even put people in a TV universe. He learned this ability from Lucifer.
- Chronokinesis - Archangels can travel and send themselves, and/or others, backwards or forwards through time.
- Resurrection - Archangels can resurrect deceased individuals back to life.
- Power Granting- Archangels can grant protection or powers to other beings as shown when Raphael made Crowley immune to Castiel's angelic killing touch.
- Supernatural Perception - They can sense and perceive beings and things that are naturally invisible, such as Reapers and even Horsemen. Lucifer was able to casually look at Death's true form upon his release.
- Weather Manipulation - Practically every Archangel changes the weather upon first emergence. The sheer presence can drastically alter the Earth's weather and surroundings, and they are capable of causing raging storms and generating strong air-currents.
- Pyrokinesis - Archangels can manipulate, control and generate fire. They can incinerate any other angel type, all demons, all fairies, alphas, all monsters, deities, and humans with a tap. Michael incinerated Anna, burning her from the inside out.
- Thermokinesis - Archangels can alter the temperature of their surroundings. Lucifer's presence could cause a massive drop in temperature, and he could cause ice to form on a window just by breathing on it. Michael was also to cause a door knob to heat up drastically to prevent Adam from escaping.
- Electrokinesis - Archangels can manipulate, control and generate electricity with such an intensity that they can cause coastal blackouts.
- Terrakinesis - Archangels can cause full-fledged earthquakes, regardless of whether they are in a vessel or not.
- Biokinesis - Archangels, by snapping or clicking their fingers, can spontaneously destroy angels, and therefore monsters and humans alike as well.
- Regeneration - If they are in some way harmed, they can instantly heal all non-fatal wounds.
- Flight - Like regular angels, archangels have demonstrated flight, though not when in a vessel.
- Sedation - Michael used this to put Mary Winchester to sleep.
- Healing- Archangels can cure any disease, wound, or injury.
- Voice Mimicry - Archangels can perfectly mimic the voice of mortals.
- Dream Walking - Archangels can appear in peoples' dreams, and they usually use this ability to communicate when they can't find the person they're looking for, or when they want to talk privately. Lucifer was able to talk to his future vessels in their dreams.
- Astral Projection - Like angels and Seraphim.
- Eidetic Memory - Angels have the faces of every prophet who has existed or will exist etched into their memories. This ability also makes them aware of reality warping and timeline changes.
Weaknesses
Despite them being immensely powerful, the archangels possess a few weaknesses which are common to all angels.
- Archangel blades - Archangel blades can harm and kill archangels.
- Angel blades (possibly) - Angel blades can harm archangels to at least some degree, as Raphael caught one Dean threw at him instead of letting it bounce off.
- Holy Oil - Archangels, except Michael and possibly Lucifer, can be trapped in a loop of holy fire and passing through the flames will kill them and their vessel. Contact with holy fire can temporarily banish and damage Michael's vessel, but not kill him.
- Enochian sigil - Can conceal a person's location from all angels, including archangels.
- Lucifer's Cage - This cell can hold any angel, therefore including archangels, without any internal means of escape.
- Heaven's Weapons - All of Heaven's weapons acting together can mortally and lethally wound, if not kill, Gabriel and Raphael.
- Metatron's Expulsion Spell -Gabriel claimed that he had been greatly affected by the fall despite the fact he had been in hiding. Though it is highly implied it was not the real Gabriel who stated this.
- Souls - Imbued with 50,000 souls, angels are able to hurt Gabriel and Raphael. Consumption of 30-40 million souls and Leviathan gave Castiel so much power that he could snap his fingers and obliterate Raphael.
- Magic - Powerful magic, like the deity Kali's, can affect archangels. She was able to bind Gabriel, the youngest archangel, to her with a blood spell. It is unknown how great of an effect this would have on the older archangels.
- Leviathans- The Leviathan can overpower and kill any celestial being, so it is implied that Leviathans can harm, if not kill archangels
- Eve - As being older than the archangels and being able draw power from souls, she could most likely harm, if not kill archangels.
- Death's Scythe - Can kill anything
- Jesse Turner - He could destroy The Host of Heaven with a word, including the archangels.
- Death - As a primordial being and literally the bringer of death, Death can kill the archangels.
- God - As a primordial being and the one who create the archangels, God can kill the archangels
- The Darkness - As a primordial being that rivals God and Death, It can kill the archangels
- The First Blade - Being powered by the Mark of Cain, and therefore the Darkness, this blade can kill archangels.
Known Vessels
- Dean Winchester - Michael's true vessel (not used).
- Sam Winchester - Lucifer's true vessel.
- Nick - Lucifer's "Plan B" vessel. Presumably deceased after Lucifer abandons his body to possess Sam.
- Donnie Finnerman - Raphael's first vessel. Killed when Balthazar uses Lot's salt on Raphael which kills Donnie but Raphael survives.
- John Winchester - Michael's temporary vessel, restored to normal once Michael was finished. Was killed in 2006 by Azazel.
- Adam Milligan - Michael's replacement vessel. Incapacitated when he, along with Michael possessing him, are thrown into Hell by Sam containing Lucifer where Adam still remains.
- Unnamed male - Gabriel's only known vessel.
- Unnamed female - Raphael's second vessel. Was killed along with Raphael by Castiel.
It has been implied that Cain and Abel, as they are the ancestors to Sam and Dean, could also have been vessels for Michael and Lucifer.
Appearances
- Season 4
- The Monster at the End of This Book (Raphael's presence)
- Lucifer Rising (Raphael's presence and Lucifer's voice)
- Season 5
- Sympathy for the Devil (Lucifer)
- Free To Be You and Me (Raphael and Lucifer)
- The End (Lucifer)
- Changing Channels (Gabriel)
- Abandon All Hope... (Lucifer)
- The Song Remains the Same (Michael)
- Point of No Return (Michael's presence)
- Hammer of the Gods (Gabriel and Lucifer)
- Swan Song (Michael and Lucifer)
- Season 6
- The Third Man (Raphael)
- The French Mistake (Raphael)
- The Man Who Would Be King (Raphael)
- The Man Who Knew Too Much (Raphael; Michael and Lucifer in flashbacks)
- Season 7
- Meet The New Boss (Raphael's corpse, Lucifer as a hallucination)
- Hello, Cruel World (Raphael's corpse, Lucifer as a hallucination)
- Repo Man (Lucifer as a hallucination)
- The Born-Again Identity (Lucifer as a hallucination)
Trivia
- Even though in some religions there are seven archangels, only four have been confirmed in Supernatural - Michael, Lucifer, Raphael and Gabriel - and a few fans have argued that the fact that Metatron (when asking if Sam and Dean worked for any of the archangels in The Great Escapist) only mentioned these four archangels would suggest that there aren't any other archangels in Supernatural. Though given Metatron's lowly position within Heaven, before leaving and cutting himself off from angel radio, there could be more that he was unaware of.
- The archangels are collectively one of the most dangerous and powerful antagonists in the entire series.
- After Season 6, it appeared that no Archangels remained as Michael and Lucifer were trapped in the cage and Gabriel and Raphael were dead; however in Season 9 it was shown that Gabriel might have tricked everyone and survived.
- Metatron was described as an Archangel in one of the Word of God tablets, but he revealed that he was simply an angel that was chosen to be a scribe.
- To date, no one has ever used an Angel Banishing Sigil or an Angel Suppressing Sigil on an Archangel so it is unknown how it would affect Archangels.
- It was originally believed by the Men of Letters that the Archangels were responsible for the extermination of the Knights of Hell except Abaddon, it was actually the Knights' founder, Cain. Whether or not this rumor was started by the angels or by Cain himself is currently unknown.
- In most Christian Bibles, Metatron is 1 of 7 archangels and Lucifer is not considered an Archangel.
- To date, Gabriel is the only Archangel to be currently walking on earth.
- Gabriel, so far, is the only archangel that only used 1 vessel.