Raphael

Raphael
Seasons	4-6
Species	Archangel
Status	Deceased (killed by Castiel)
Occupation	Ruler of Heaven (formerly) Protector of Prophet Chuck Shurley
Affiliation	God (formerly) Michael Lucifer (formerly) Gabriel (formerly) Crowley (briefly) His followers
Family	God (father/creator) Michael (older brother) Lucifer (older brother) Gabriel (younger brother) † Angels (younger siblings) Jack (nephew) Donnie Finnerman (first vessel) † Unidentified female vessel † The Darkness (aunt) [see family tree]
Portrayed by	Demore Barnes (male vessel) Lanette Ware (female vessel)

“	We're tired. We just want it to be over. We just want...Paradise [...] And whatever we want, we get!	”
	— Raphael to Dean Winchester in Free to Be You and Me

Raphael was the third of the four archangels created by God. He was older than Gabriel but younger than Michael and Lucifer. After Lucifer's rebellion and banishment, Raphael stood by Michael in taking over the Universe.

In Season 4, Raphael protected Chuck from Lilith's harm and then tried to stop Dean and Castiel from stopping Sam from breaking the last seal and killed Castiel. In Season 5, he became a target of Castiel, resurrected, and Dean to find God but he didn't have answers and they left him in a ring of holy fire as he vowed to kill the angel.  

In Season 6, Raphael escaped and returned to Heaven with the intent of taking over and restarting the Apocalypse but was opposed by Castiel and a civil war began, forcing Castiel to team up with Crowley to obtain the souls of Purgatory. When Castiel betrayed him, Raphael allied himself with Crowley to obtain the power for himself, only to be killed by the angel when he took the power. 

History

Early Life

The third archangel, Raphael lived happily in Heaven with his father God and his angelic brothers. With the Darkness existing alongside them, Raphael, his brothers, and God fought in a war against the Darkness, eventually winning the war by sealing her away.

When God created humans and asked all angels to bow down before them, Raphael was among those that did so. When Lucifer rebelled against God and Gabriel skipped out of Heaven and on to Earth, Raphael chose to side with God and Michael. However, at some point, Raphael lost faith in God and became weary of his father's duties. He also even believed that God was dead and that they were "living in a God-less universe".

Season 2

Raphael is referenced when Sam and Dean investigate a case where people claim angels are ordering them to kill. Father Reynolds, while administering Last Rites to Father Gregory's spirit, says "I call upon the archangel Raphael, master of the air, to make open the way. Let the fire of the Holy Spirit now descend, that this being might be awakened to the world beyond."

Season 4

Raphael begins his arrival.

Raphael prepares to attack when Lilith is in Chuck Shurley's presence, shaking the room until Lilith flees.

Raphael obliterates Castiel and his vessel after he rebels against Heaven by banishing Zachariah and sending Dean to stop Sam from killing Lilith.

Season 5

File:Vlcsnap-2010-08-26-15h28m52s1.png

Raphael manifesting in his vessel on Earth.

Raphael possessed his vessel, Donnie Finnerman, during a demon induced riot at a Pump 'n Go gas station in Maine. The damage caused by Raphael was attributed to an explosion, and the incident was witnessed by Deputy Framingham. Raphael abandoned Donnie, who was left in a catatonic state, and returned to Heaven.

Raphael returns to Earth and his vessel to confront Castiel and Dean, who attempted to summon him. He manifests in the abandoned building they are hiding in, shorting out the electricity and the entire Eastern Seaboard. He threatens to take Dean to Michael, and to torture him, but Dean and Castiel trick him into a circle of holy oil, trapping him.

Raphael talks to Castiel.

They interrogate him to learn God's location. Raphael tells Dean and Castiel that God is dead, and that the Heavenly Hosts are tired of waiting with duties to fulfill and no guidelines. They want to bring forth paradise on Earth. Raphael brings about a storm that shatters the windows of the house. Castiel does not believe Raphael's assertion about God, and demands to know how he was resurrected, if not by God. Raphael suggests that it was Lucifer, because he needs all the rebellious angels that he can find. Castiel and Dean then leave Raphael, who warns the other angel not to leave him there, because he will catch up with him one day. Castiel replies, "Maybe one day. But today, you're my little bitch!"

Season 6

Raphael in Heaven.

At some point, Raphael somehow escapes the Holy Fire Dean and Castiel left him trapped in. Castiel meets with Raphael after the Apocalypse was averted. Raphael is ensconced in a palatial house, apparently part of the Heaven of disgraced Enron executive Ken Lay. Raphael informs Castiel he will call an assembly of the Host of Heaven, at which he will ask Castiel to pledge his allegiance to Raphael. He announces that he will proceed to free Michael and Lucifer from the Cage and resume their apocalyptic battle. When Castiel refuses, Raphael beats him up and threatens to destroy him unless he bows down.

After Castiel makes his deal with Crowley, he returns to Heaven, and with the power of an extra 50,000 souls obtained from Hell is able to make his first stand against Raphael.

Raphael overpowers Castiel.

Sam and Dean investigate the deaths of three cops which mirror Egyptian plagues. Dean summons Castiel, and they discover that a boy has been using part of the Staff of Moses. Castiel later tells Sam and Dean that Heaven has been thrown into chaos without Michael, with angels going rogue, celestial killings, and the theft of their weapons. He also warns them that Raphael is back and trying to gain all of Heaven's weapons so that he can win the civil war against Castiel, then release Lucifer and Michael, putting the apocalypse back on track. When asked why, Castiel simply calls Raphael a "traditionalist" who wants "to end the story the way it was written." A soldier of Raphael attacks Castiel, then returns to his leader.

Raphael's vessel is destroyed.

Raphael and his soldiers track down Balthazar, the angel who stole the weapons and sold part of the Staff of Moses. Sam and Dean banish one of Raphael's soldiers with the Angel Banishing Sigil and Castiel kills another with an angel blade. Raphael then appears behind Castiel and attacks him mercilessly. Just as Raphael is about to kill Castiel, Balthazar appears and turns Raphael's vessel into a pillar of salt using Lot's Salt, forcing Raphael to look for a new vessel.

Raphael's new female vessel.

Sam and Dean are given a key by Balthazar that supposedly opens the repository containing Heaven's weapons and are transported to an alternate reality to protect them from Raphael, who has started hunting them down. Raphael sends Virgil after them. When the Winchesters are transported back to their universe, they are greeted by Raphael in a new female vessel. Balthazar then appears and tells Raphael that the key given to Sam and Dean was a decoy. Castiel, now in possession of Heaven's weapons, also appears and threatens Raphael, who disappears.

Crowley with Raphael.

Raphael forms an alliance with Crowley after Castiel betrays Crowley in their search for Purgatory. Castiel, who is outnumbered, is forced to give them the blood of a creature from Purgatory which is required to obtain all the souls from it. When the spell fails, Castiel returns revealing the blood was fake and that he has the souls and their power. Crowley beats a hasty retreat, but Raphael is unable to leave.

Raphael, moment of his death.

Terrified, he asks Castiel why he would let a demon live but not one of his own brothers. Castiel replies that he has plans for Crowley, but not for Raphael, whom he obliterates with a snap of his fingers.

Season 11

In We Happy Few, when discussing battling the Darkness, God tells the Winchesters that its beyond his power to resurrect Raphael and Gabriel to help them as archangels are different from regular angels as they are entities of primordial creation.

Personality

“	Castiel, did you really think I would let you open that door? Take in that much power? If anyone is going to be the new God, it's me.	”
	— Raphael to Castiel in The Man Who Knew Too Much

Raphael is a stern, serious, traditionally-minded angel who has lost faith in God and is weary of his duties. He believes that God is dead and that they are living in a godless universe. He supports Michael's plan to bring about paradise on Earth. He has little patience with humans, and virtually no respect or consideration for human life, as evidenced by the fact that he callously left his first vessel Donnie Finnerman in a broken state. Raphael also has little tolerance for disobedience among his fellow angels and will not hesitate to slaughter anyone or anything that challenges him. Raphael is also incredibly arrogant, and appointed himself as the distributor of God's will. When asked how he knew that the Apocalypse was what God wanted, he simply replied "because that's what I want."

Despite this, Raphael was not entirely without forgiveness or mercy, at least when dealing with his own kind. Upon their first meeting since Castiel's resurrection, although hostile, Raphael was willing to forgive Castiel. Similarly upon their first meeting after the Apocalypse, Raphael was again willing to offer him another chance, even after promising to destroy him on their next encounter, at the end of their last meeting.

Castiel has also once called Raphael a traditionalist, as he said to the Winchesters.

Powers and Abilities

As an archangel, Raphael was one of the oldest and most powerful beings in existence, possessing a considerably high amount of supernatural power that made him more powerful than any ghost, demon, lower angel or nearly anything else for that matter. As Castiel said, "Raphael was stronger than me. I wouldn't survive a straight fight." Merely trying to summon and trap him is, according to Castiel, harder than capturing a hurricane in a butterfly net. Only a few beings are known to be more powerful than him, for example his older brothers. Below are listed the powers he has demonstrated on the show.

• Lower Tier Nigh-Omnipotence - Being an archangel, Raphael possesses a vast amount of incredible supernatural power, enough to cause a blackout on the entire eastern seaboard and can summon powerful storms even while trapped in a holy ring of fire. However, he is shown to be significantly weaker than his older brothers. Among the powers he showed were:
  • Angelic Possession - Raphael, like all celestial beings, required the use of a human vessel in order to physically interact with humans while on Earth, as it is a law that applies for all angelic beings. As an angel, he also needed the vessels consent. Despite needing the vessel's permission, his presence was so powerful that it permanently damages his vessel.
  • Molecular Combustion - Like Lucifer, Raphael can render lower angels down to their component molecules as he did Castiel.
  • Reality Warping - His mere arrival on earth was enough to blackout everything from an entire room and the eastern US seaboard.
  • Electrokinesis - Raphael could generate and manipulate electricity as he did when manifesting before Dean and Castiel.
  • Superior Strength - Being an archangel, Raphael endowed his vessels with tremendous physical strength, as he could exert immense amounts of physical force. He was able to casually and easily overpower other younger angels, seraphim, demons, monsters, spirits, pagan deities, and humans with his might with relative ease. He easily overpowered Castiel during a fight, nearly beating the seraph to a bloody pulp.
  • Superhuman Reflexes - Raphael had incredibly reflexes, as seen when Dean threw an Angel Blade at Raphael, the latter caught it in his grasp before it could hit him. He also did so without even turning around.
  • Regeneration - Raphael's nonlethal wounds healed nearly instantly.
  • Teleportation - Raphael could travel from one place to another, instantly, without occupying the space in between. He could also teleport objects or people with or without him accompanying them.
  • Telekinesis - Raphael could impart kinetic energy on objects with his mind.
  • Terrakinesis - Raphael could manipulate the earth itself, causing tremors and earthquakes.
  • Biokinesis - Raphael was able to cause Sam and Dean internal pain when confronting them. 
  • Weather Manipulation - Raphael possessed total control over the weather, able to summon colossal storms easily. His mere arrival on Earth could cause lightning storms.
  • Power Granting - Raphael was able to grant Crowley immunity from the Seraph Castiel's killing touch.
  • Resurrection - Raphael could bring humans back to life, with great ease.

Raphael about to use Holy White Light

• • White Light - Raphael, like all archangels, could generate immense amounts of energy and release a divine light from his vessel, capable of killing humans, demons, monsters and angels. He could use it as a powerful blast of light which seems to manifest as kinetic force, concussively throwing or repelling objects a considerable distance., as he used it to beat Castiel. He had complete control of the intensity of the blast, being able to obliterate or damage any target.
    • Torturing - Raphael described the nature of his torture as being beyond that of Zachariah's "imagination".
• Nigh-Omniscience - Raphael possessed an immense amount of knowledge of the Universe. He knew of an unknown method of releasing Michael and Lucifer from the Cage.
• Immortality - Raphael had an indefinitely long lifespan, and was unaffected by diseases and toxins. He never tires and did not require food, sleep, water, or oxygen to survive.
  • Invulnerability - Raphael could not be killed with conventional weapons, however certain weapons (such as an Archangel Blade, Death's Scythe, and possibly certain weapons of Heaven) could kill him. More powerful entities, such as Lucifer, Michael, God, The Darkness, Death, and Castiel (while empowered by millions of Purgatory souls) were able to kill him.

Weaknesses

Despite being one of the Archangels, making him one of the most powerful beings in creation, Raphael has weaknesses inherited in all angels, even archangels.

Harming, Misleading and Trapping

• Enochian sigils - Raphael cannot locate someone if they are warded by enochian sigils.
• Heaven's Weapons - Lot's Salt could dissolve Raphael's vessel, but couldn't harm Raphael himself. When Castiel obtained the weapons of Heaven and threatened Raphael with their power, he chose to retreat. 
• Holy Oil - Raphael can be trapped in a loop of holy fire.
• Angel blades (possibly) - Raphael was cautious against an angel blade and caught one when Dean threw at him. It is unknown if it could hurt or kill him.

Banishing or Destroying

• Primordial Entities - The Darkness, God, and Death can effortlessly kill Raphael.
• Souls - With 50,000 souls, Castiel was able to banish Raphael. Consumption of millions of souls and Leviathans gave Castiel so much power that he could snap his fingers and obliterate Raphael.

Death

Killed By

• Castiel

After taking in all of the souls of Purgatory, Castiel rendered Raphael powerless, preventing Raphael from escaping. As Raphael tried to convince Castiel to spare him, Castiel exploded Raphael at the molecular level with a snap of his fingers, killing the archangel.

Appearances

• Season 2
  • Houses of the Holy (mentioned only in Last Rites)
• Season 4
  • The Monster at the End of This Book (presence only)
  • Lucifer Rising (presence only)
• Season 5
  • Free To Be You and Me
• Season 6
  • The Third Man
  • The French Mistake
  • The Man Who Would Be King
  • The Man Who Knew Too Much
• Season 11
  • The Devil in the Details (mentioned only)
  • We Happy Few (mentioned only)

Lore

Saint Raphael the Archangel by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

His name means "God Heals". In multiple interpretations, including the Book of Enoch, Raphael was responsible for binding Azazel to a clear, deserted landscape. He was also mentioned in the Book of Tobit, although the Book isn't found in Protestant Holy Bibles. In the Book of Tobit, Raphael healed Tobit of his blindness and delivered Tobit's daughter, Sarah, from Asmodeus.

In Islam, Raphael, under the name Israfel, is the Archangel who sounds the start of Judgment Day. To Roman Catholics, Raphael (venerated as Saint Raphael) is the patron saint of doctors, medical workers and travelers.

He is also said to be the one to slay the Leviathan.

Trivia

• Raphael is one of the three main antagonists of Season 6; the others are Crowley and Castiel.
• He is the only Archangel who never interacted with Lucifer while on Earth in a vessel; although, as brothers, interactions between them did take place in Heaven.
• His name means God Heals - he is the archangel of healing and protection which is fitting for his role as Chuck's protector. 
• Dean calls Raphael a "Teenage Mutant Ninja Angel" the first time he hears his name. This is a reference to the series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in which one of the heroes is named Raphael.
• In The Third Man, Castiel mentions that Raphael likes to "follow traditions". This explains why he wants to summon back Lucifer and Michael in order to end the Apocalypse the way the traditions says so. An in-joke could be present here as the angels who followed Michael before Raphael seized power would be known as the Pre-Raphaelites.
• Raphael's new vessel bears many resemblances to Semirhage, one of the Forsaken from the Wheel of Time series, particularly in his/her healing archetype and earlier dismissive attitude of Zachariah's skill in torture. Raphael also physically resembles this character.
• Raphael is the only Archangel to only use African-American hosts.
• Raphael has been featured second-least out of the four archangels, having appeared in a total of 3 seasons and 5 episodes.
• He is currently the only main antagonist who has been killed by someone that isn't a Winchester. Metatron, on the other hand, was killed by The Darkness after he had switched sides and joined the Winchesters. He was a main antagonist of Season 9. 
• He is also currently one of only three main antagonists to die who is also an Angel, the others being Naomi and Metatron, as Lucifer, Michael, and Castiel all lived in the end.
• Raphael is one of three angels shown to possess a male and female vessel, alongside Castiel and Hannah.
• Raphael was killed in the same manner he had killed Castiel in ''Lucifer Rising'', by Castiel himself.

• Raphael is the first and only archangel shown to possess both a male and female vessel.

• Raphael is the second archangel to die, following Gabriel. Notably, they died in the opposite order in which they were created.