Molecular Combustion

Castiel destroys Raphael

Molecular Combustion is the ability to rip a being apart at the subatomic level. Only high-level beings have used this power.

Known Users

• Witches
  • Rowena MacLeod - With the Book of the Damned in her possession, she used this ability to kill three witches. Rowena attempted to kill Dean Winchester with this ability through the Gaelic Obliteration Spell.
• Archangels
  • Raphael - Exploded Castiel for interfering with Heaven's plans for The Apocalypse.
  • Lucifer - Combusted Ganesh, Castiel, Nithael, Jofiel, two demons, eleven alternate reality angels and two priests.
• Castiel (formerly) - When powered by the souls of Purgatory, Castiel was able to use this power to kill Raphael.
• Demons
  • Crowley - Exploded a future Prophet as a lesson to Kevin Tran and his mother's "latest fiancé".
  • Dagon - Combusted five angels to dust.
  • Asmodeus - Combusted a man to dust.
• Primordial Entities
  • The Darkness - Combusted an angel who attempted to apprehend her.
• Nephilim
  • Jack - While combining powers with Kaia Nieves to open a rift to an alternate reality, Kaia's screams caused the two to emit a yellow glow that disintegrated six nearby angels. On his own, Jack was able to explode the alternate reality Zachariah and three other angels with this power.
• Dreamwalkers
  • Kaia Nieves - While combining powers with Jack to open a rift to an alternate reality, Kaia's screams caused the two to emit a yellow glow that disintegrated six nearby angels.

Gallery

Trivia

• While using this power usually leaves behind a bloody mess, when Lucifer killed Jofiel in Heaven, he seemed to explode into dust and smoke, as well as the two demons Lucifer had killed in Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell. In addition, Amara also disintegrated an angel with use of molecular combustion. However, when an angel is destroyed in this manner, the cloud of dust and smoke they are reduced briefly emanates a bluish white light, while demons emanate an orange light, similar to how they generate a flashing light upon being smote. As two priests killed with this power by Lucifer also turned to dust, this is probably at least partially down to a change in special effects.
• Two of the times Castiel has been resurrected have been after he was killed with this power and they were two of the three times he was resurrected by God. God stated that he had to rebuild Castiel when talking about these resurrections with Metatron.
• The effects of the witch-killing spell are similar to molecular combustion, particularly the Sumerian variant Rowena used. The one taken from Bobby Singer also has similar effects but with the being disintegrating rather than exploding.
• One of the powers of the Lance of Michael is to cause any affected demon to explode into dust, similar to molecular combustion.
• In earlier seasons when this power was used to kill angels, they exploded into a shower of blood and gore as seen with Castiel and Raphael's deaths from the power. Starting in Season 11, angels merely explode into a cloud of dust and smoke as seen when the Darkness, Lucifer and Dagon use the power to kill them.
• When using this power, a glowing red circle appears in the center of Dagon's palm, similar to the glow of the Demon-Killing Knife, and she slams it against her target, causing them to explode into a cloud of dust and smoke. This makes her the only being to use this power that used physical contact with their victim.
• The blast fired by Crowley from the Rod of Aaron caused Simmons to explode in a similar manner to molecular combustion.
• Lucifer has killed the most beings with this power. It appears to be his favored method of killing, at least since his release from his Cage in Season 11.

• Castiel has been killed twice by this power by Raphael and Lucifer respectively and returned the favor by using it to kill Raphael when empowered by the souls of Purgatory.
• When Crowley killed Rowena's cheating fiancé with this power after he was cheating on and using her, Rowena said it was the sweetest thing he ever did for her.
• When Asmodeus kills someone with this power in War of the Worlds, Lucifer visibly flinches at the action.
• This is presumably one of the powers Asmodeus got from injecting himself with Gabriel's grace.
• Whenever someone kills another being with this ability they usually snap their fingers.

Appearances

• Season 5
  • Sympathy for the Devil (aftermath of Raphael's use on Castiel)
  • Hammer of the Gods (Lucifer on Ganesh)
  • Swan Song (Lucifer on Castiel)
• Season 6
  • The Man Who Knew Too Much (Castiel on Raphael)
• Season 8
  • A Little Slice of Kevin (Crowley on Krista)
• Season 10
  • Inside Man (attempted by Rowena on Dean Winchester)
• Season 11
  • The Bad Seed (Rowena on three witches)
  • O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Amara on an angel)
  • Into the Mystic (Lucifer on Nithael)
  • Hell's Angel (Lucifer on Jofiel)
  • We Happy Few (attempted by Lucifer on Sam and Dean)
• Season 12
  • LOTUS (Crowley on Louis)
  • Family Feud (Dagon to kill two angels)
  • Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell (Lucifer to kill Thomas and his friend)
  • The Future (Dagon to kill Hozai, Kelvin and Joshua, attempted use on Castiel)
• Season 13
  • The Rising Son (Lucifer to kill several angels in an alternate universe)
  • War of the Worlds (Asmodeus to kill a man in a bar)
  • The Bad Place (Jack and Kaia Nieves to kill six nearby angels)
  • Good Intentions (Jack to kill Zachariah and three of his henchmen)
  • Bring 'em Back Alive (Lucifer on Father Davis and a priest)
  • Exodus (Lucifer on a group of angels)