Crowley

"Don't worry about - what, like Lucifer didn't worry? Or Michael? Or Lilith or Alastair or Azazel didn't worry?! Am I the only game piece on the board who doesn't underestimate those denim-wrapped nightmares?!"

- Crowley, to Castiel talking about Sam and Dean

Fergus Rodric "Crowley" McLeod was the right-hand man of Lilith and King of the Crossroads Demons. It was revealed by Becky Rosen that Bela Talbot didn't give the Colt to Lilith like she said, but actually gave it to him. Unlike other demons, he is not loyal to Lucifer as Lucifer is an angel. Crowley realizes that Lucifer doesn't care about demons at all and believes that if Lucifer destroys humanity, then demons will be next.

He ultimately wants Lucifer dead so things will go back to normal before the Apocalypse happened. He forms an alliance with the Winchester brothers by giving them the Colt and when it fails to kill Lucifer, he then proceeds to help the brothers get the rings of the four horsemen to put Lucifer back into his cage. After Lucifer was resealed and with Lilith dead, Crowley was made King of Hell. As King of Hell, he wishes to gain the souls in Purgatory and has made an alliance with Castiel with the promise of splitting the souls in Purgatory fifty-fifty. However, this plan was foiled when Castiel betrayed him and took all the souls for himself.

In Season 7, Crowley once again allied himself with the Winchesters, this time to defeat the Leviathan.

Early Life
Crowley was born Fergus Roderick McLeod in 1661 Scotland (which resulted in other demons calling him "Lucky the Leprechaun" behind his back). He was a "two-bit" tailor who sold his soul for an extra three inches below the waist. He also had a son named Gavin who, after Crowley died, set sail for America and died in a shipwreck.

After becoming a demon, Crowley eventually became the King of all Crossroad Demons - a very high ranking position in Hell. He also became Lilith's second-in-command and possibly her lover. At some point during Season 3, Bela Talbot met with Crowley and gave him the Colt.

Season 5
In "The Real Ghostbusters", Becky Rosen tells Sam that there is a scene in Chuck's books that reveals that Bela Talbot lied to Dean when she told him that she gave the Colt to Lilith. The scene in the book explains that Bela actually gave the Colt to Lilith's right-hand man, Crowley.



In "Abandon All Hope...", when he appears behind a banker that has summoned a crossroads demon. The man is at first very confused due to the fact his previous negotiations about his deal were with a young, attractive woman. Crowley explains to the banker that he is a "big fish" so he did him the honor of coming personally to seal the deal. As Crowley and the banker kiss (much to the banker's displeasure) to seal the deal, they are being spied on by Castiel from a distance.

Castiel tails Crowley when he leaves but he is stopped due to Crowley's home being protected by Enochian sigils. Later, the Winchester brothers, with the help of Jo, kill Crowley's two demon guards at the front gate and enter his home, while he's watching television.

The Winchester brothers cut off the power to Crowley's home and then confront the demon. Crowley begins to walk toward the brothers, but stops as he realizes that they drew a devil's trap underneath a rug. As he turns over the rug and reveals the devil's trap, two demons sneak up behind Dean and Sam and restrain them. Crowley pulls out the Colt and then shoots the two demons.

Crowley explains to the brothers that he wants them to kill Lucifer with the Colt. Dean, who doesn't believe him, asks Crowley why he would want Lucifer dead. Crowley answers that Lucifer is an angel, who's well known for his hatred of humanity. He then asks the brothers if Lucifer has this much hatred for humanity then what are his feelings towards demons. Crowley continues saying that Lucifer thinks of demons as only servants and that once he destroys all of humanity, demons will be next. He then gives Sam the Colt.

Sam then asks Crowley about the whereabouts of Lucifer to which he answers that he's in Carthage, Missouri. Sam then thanks him and fires the Colt at his head, only to learn that it has no ammo. As Crowley searches for more ammo, Dean asks him that by helping them isn't he signing his own death warrant and what he'll do if they fail to kill Lucifer. Crowley explains that Lucifer is going to kill all demons anyway and that he'll be going into hiding as soon as he is done helping them. Crowley then throws bullets to the Colt at Dean and teleports away.

In "The Devil You Know", when he pops into the Impala. Sam claims Crowley knew the Colt won't work, but Crowley shoots this down. He expresses his anger of the fact that now he has to hide from all the demons. He also tells them he can help them with the hunt for the horsemen (he was eavesdropping on them). He takes them back to his hideout and tells them he doesn't exactly know where the horsemen are, but he knows someone who does. The Winchesters reluctantly agree to work with him.

He and Dean head out to a company where the handler is. Crowley takes out the men in the main floor and sends Dean up to the handler with a "deal". When the "deal" backfires, and the handler gives chase, and Crowley knocks the handler out. While driving, Crowley craves a symbol into the handler's chest so he can't escape his meat suit.

Crowley later reveals that the handler, is in fact someone Sam knows, and Crowley wants to take this to another location. When they return, Crowley tells Sam he didn't want to bring the demon back, but Dean trusted Sam. With Brady tied up, Crowley tries to make a deal with Brady, but he refuses.

So Crowley goes to demon nest, kills them all, but one, and "lets" it slip that he and Brady are, "Lovers Against Lucifer". Brady now cooperates. Then Hellhounds come when Crowley got followed, and he disappears. When he comes back, he brings his own hellhound, which is bigger. Crowley later shows up at Bobby's to make a deal to find Death.

In "Two Minutes to Midnight", Crowley shows up when Sam and Dean mention Bobby's deal, and Crowley shows them a picture of him and Bobby kissing. As they as about to head out, Crowley remarks about Bobby sitting, when he can do something. It seems in the deal to sell his soul, Crowley threw in Bobby's ability to walk as well.

Now with Bobby walking again, he and Dean head out after death. Crowley gives Dean Death's scythe he got from a deal to cut death's ring off. They head to Chicago, and Crowley finds Death in a pizza parlour after the first location was a dud. With Death's location, Crowley vanishes.

In between
Through a series of flashbacks in "The Man Who Would Be King", from Castiel's POV it is revealed that, following the Apocalypse being averted, Crowley approached Castiel with a proposal that they join forces to locate Purgatory. Castiel is highly reluctant to trust Crowley, but the King of Hell brings the wayward angel around to his way of thinking by revealing his plan to plunder the souls of the 30-40,000,000 monsters trapped in Purgatory, so that they can be used as a means to "go nuclear" against Raphael and his followers.

Crowley even offers an advance loan of 50,000 souls from Hell in exchange for half the souls in Purgatory. Castiel, seeing no other way to stop Raphael from rebooting the Apocalypse, agrees to Crowley's proposal and uses the power of the 50,000 souls to deliver his first strike against Raphael and declare civil war in Heaven.

Season 6
In "Weekend At Bobby's", Bobby summons Crowley so that he can give him back his soul, as he had given it to him in the previous season in exchange for his help in putting Lucifer back into his cell. Bobby reminds him of this, and asks him to hold up his end of the deal, only to have Crowley refuse. Bobby, having anticipated this, turns off the lights, revealing a devil's trap that he had painted in the floor using glow-in-the-dark paint. Despite being trapped, Crowley reveals that he is being accompanied by a large Hellhound, forcing Bobby to release him.

After capturing and torturing a Crossroad Demon, Bobby learns two things: the first is that Crowley is currently the King of Hell, and Crowley's real name from his life as a human: Fergus McLeod. Bobby then uses Crowley's name and other clues to find out more about his background. With some help from fellow hunter Rufus Turner, he learns that he was born in Scotland in 1661, and he had a son, Gavin, who was the captain of a ship that went down. But, they recovered Gavin's ring, which is on display at a museum in Andover, Massachusetts. With some difficulty, Rufus is able to give the ring to Bobby, who uses it to summon the spirit of Gavin.

He then summons Crowley once more, trapped under a devil's trap drawn on the ceiling. When Bobby notices that he appears slightly disheveled, Crowley tells him that being King of Hell is not as fun as he thought that it would be, seeing that Demons are inherently destructive beings who don't want to listen to him and help him make things better, ironically being able to see why Lucifer hated them so much. After refusing once again to return Bobby's soul, Bobby reveals Gavin.

But, after a faux display of affection, he reveals that he cared nothing for his son. Bobby says that he knows that, but says that he and Gavin had a long talk and that Gavin was willing to tell him all about Crowley. It's revealed that in life, Crowley was a tailor who made a deal with a Crossroad Demon to get "an extra three inches below the belt".

He also reveals that Gavin told him where Crowley's mortal remains are buried, and hands him a phone. On the other end is Dean, who is with Sam in Scotland, having flown there to dig up Crowley's bones and torch them if he doesn't give Bobby back his soul. Realizing he has been tricked, he gives back Bobby his soul, leaving in the part of contract that allows Bobby to walk, and after he is released, he teleports to Scotland to retrieve his bones.

In "Family Matters", Dean and Sam track Samuel Campbell to where he is holding the Alpha Vampire. The Alpha tells Dean and Sam that Samuel has been torturing him for information about Purgatory, where creatures like himself go when they die, and hints that Samuel is working for someone else. Dean and Sam are then discovered talking to the Alpha and are held at gunpoint, and, while they argue with Samuel, the Alpha escapes his cage. They resolve to kill it if possible, but it quickly gains the upper hand and is about to turn Sam when demons arrive and take the Alpha vampire away with them.

It is revealed that Crowley is behind Samuel's actions. As the new King of Hell, Crowley had the power to resurrect Samuel and Sam, and he did so because he wanted their help. Since his resurrection, Samuel has been working for Crowley, gathering high-ranking creatures and trying to learn the location of Purgatory because Crowley is interested in "developing" it. Crowley then tells them that if Sam ever wants the return of his soul, he and Dean need to help Samuel continue to capture creatures for him. Currently, they don't see any other option but to help Crowley, but Sam and Dean are determined to get him back eventually.

In "All Dogs Go To Heaven", Crowley visits Sam and Dean at a roadside diner and instructs them to capture another Alpha for him, specifically the Alpha Werewolf, whom he believes might be behind several daylight eviscerations mentioned in the local tabloids (though it later turns out to be the work of a Skinwalker).

Dean immediately refuses and demands Crowley return Sam's soul, so the demon taps Sam's hand, burning a mark into it to prove to Dean that he is stuck in a hostage situation. He must do everything Crowley tells him to do, or else risk having Sam returned to Lucifer's Cage. Dean reluctantly agrees and Crowley promises to return Sam's soul "with a cherry on top" so long as they bring him another living Alpha before vanishing in his usual manner.

In "Caged Heat", the facility where Crowley has been hiding and torturing the Alpha creatures is discovered by the Winchesters through Samuel. Making a deal with the demon Meg, who has a grudge against Crowley, the boys and demon infiltrate the facility, only to be double-crossed by Samuel. Samuel then reveals that Crowley plans to resurrect Mary Winchester in exchange for his help.

After escaping their prison and freeing Meg from torture, the trio trick Crowley into a Devil's Trap, leaving him at their mercy. Keeping their deal, Meg tortures him for the boys, trying to force him to retrieve Sam's soul. In the midst of their conversation, Crowley gets Meg to step in the circle accidentally and breaks free allowing him to throw the Winchester brothers against wall.

As Crowley gloats over his apparent victory, Castiel reappears with a bag containing Crowley's bones. After asking one more time about Sam's soul being returned, Crowley is deemed unhelpful and useless. Castiel then promptly sets the bones ablaze, leaving Crowley nothing but a pile of ash.

In "Mommy Dearest", Eve later reveals that Crowley, is very much alive, and torturing creatures for thier souls. Sam and Dean have no idea how Crowley could be still alive.

Crowley appears before Castiel, and complains about having to clean up Castiel's messes. Crowley is revealed to be Castiel's partner in crime. When Castiel comes to check on Crowley's progress, Crowley asks Castiel to get rid of the Winchesters, but Cas refuses. So later Crowley sends his goons after the Winchesters, but Castiel saves Sam, Dean and, Bobby. When the gang later figures out about Castiel and trap him, Crowley sends demons to the location. So with the oncoming demon threat, the Winchesters and Bobby flee, leaving Castiel trapped fire. Crowley arrives on scene and frees Castiel.

In "Let It Bleed", Crowley makes his move and kidnaps Lisa and Ben. Crowley talks on the phone with Dean. He tell Dean that Lisa and Ben will be fine as long as Dean stops chasing him. If Dean continues to, Crowley will harm them. Castiel later confronts Crowley on kidnapping Ben and Lisa. He also tells Crowley he should have told Castiel first. Crowley laughs at that and tells Castiel he rather ask for forgiveness than permission. He also points out that the Winchester will be pre-occupied with him instead of Castiel. For insurance, Crowley has a demon possess Lisa.

In "The Man Who Knew Too Much", Crowley and Castiel meet up and Crowley has everything ready. Then Castiel double crosses Crowley and tells Crowley that he won't give him any souls. Crowley is angry but Castiel gives two options, flee or die. Crowley chooses flee. Later Crowley comes back in force, and Castiel tries to kill Crowley with a touch, but it doesn't work. Crowley reveals his new ally, Raphael, and gives Castiel the same options Cas gave him before: flee or die (in a mocking tone). Castiel tosses him the jar of blood and leaves.

When the time comes, Crowley conducts the ritual, but nothing happens. Then Castiel reappears, and Crowley figures out that Castiel gave them the wrong blood (they used dog blood instead), and conducted his own ritual. Crowley sarcastically asks Castiel how his ritual went, Castiel shows him in a burst of white light. Crowley then makes his exit. Castiel says that he has plans for Crowley when Raphael asks why he allowed the demon to escape and not his angelic brother.

Season 7
Crowley is hiding away in an angel-proof room when Castiel finds him. As he braces for Castiel to kill him, Castiel tells Crowley that he needs Crowley to go back to being the king of Hell for balance. With no other option, Crowley accepts.

He is later summoned by Sam, Dean and Bobby, and they ask him about how to bind Death. He doesn't tell them due to his new boss, but secretly sends them the ritual (along with a "goodbye forever" note).

He appears again in Slash Fiction where he approaches the head Leviathan, Dick Roman. Crowley attempts to make a partnership with Dick by saying he helped open the door to Purgatory, but is turned down and insulted. Angry and afraid, Crowley leaves.

He later appears in Season 7, Time For a Wedding when one of his crossroad demons, Guy, is killing people before their contracts are up. Crowley is angered by this, because no one would do business with demons anymore if it became known that they didn't keep their promises. He asks the Winchesters to give him the demon so he can make an example of the demon. He also tells Sam and Dean that he has been keeping the demons off their backs so they can deal with the Leviathans. Dean makes Crowley give the souls back and returns the demon back to Crowley. Crowley and the demon vanish.

He is summoned by the Winchesters in There Will Be Blood, and tells them that he will provide his blood, but only after they have the other 3 items. He then gives them a clue to the location of the Alpha Vampire. Later, he is summoned by Dick Roman, and imprisoned within a Devil's Trap. Dick tells him that they have a lot to talk about.



In Survival of the Fittest Dick tells Crowley he's prepared to give the demons all of Canada in exchange for betraying the Winchesters. Crowley pretends to agree (which Dick suspects him of doing) and he and Dick edit and sign a (very long) treaty. He then goes to the Winchesters where he finds the brothers in the company of his two biggest enemies: Castiel and Meg. Initially angered that the Winchesters have been lying to him, Crowley is both amused and disappointed to discover that Castiel has lost his mind. He agrees to hold off on any retribution at least until Castiel is back to normal.

Crowley gives the boys a vial of his blood and warns them that Dick knows they're coming and what they intend to do. Before leaving, he assures Meg that when this is over, he will take her back to Hell and torture her.

Immediately after Dick Roman's demise and the subsequent disappearances of Castiel and Dean (who are transported to Purgatory), Crowley appears to Sam Winchester and triumphantly tells him that with Dick dead, the Leviathan have become just another monster and that it will be Sam's job to prevent them from reorganizing. Sam demands to know what happened to Cas and Dean, but Crowley says he can't help him. He then has two of his men abduct the Prophet Kevin Tran for unknown reasons. His minions also capture Meg outside the building. Crowley offers his condolences to Sam, who is now completely on his own, then teleports away, leaving Sam confused and despondent.

Personality
A powerful and highly intelligent demon, Crowley is a formindible foe, his main goal is self preservation, and is willing to sacrifice anything to ensure this. Unlike most demons, Crowley is not above making deals or alliances with his enemies when he feels its benifical for him.

Even for a demon, Crowley is manipulative, once holding the rank of king of the crossroads. He is clever, cunning and devious, able to manipulate nearly anybody. As Dean describes it, Crowley always makes everyone lose but Crowley. Although arrogant, Crowley is not so foolish that he overlooks any possible dangers, especially the Winchesters, calling them "denim-wrapped nightmares"

Crowley, is often shown to be extremely opportunistic, deceitful, and uncaring, even to his subjects. He will take any opportunity to increase his power or status. Furthermore, he is even shown to be a hypocrite, criticizing other demons for not keeping to their deals, but breaking or finding loop holes in his own. An example of this is when he convinced Bobby Singer to "loan" him his soul in order to obtain the location of one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. He claimed it was a technicality, but in reality he was ensuring he had leverage over the Winchester brothers in case they ever decided to turn on him. He later refused to return Bobby's soul and claimed that in the "fine print written on your naughty bits" he only had to make "best efforts" to return it. After making a half-hearted excuse of a display at attempting to give the soul back, he claimed his part of the bargain to be fulfilled.

Crowley has also demonstrated a capacity for cruelty and ruthlessness, though he does not engage in the behavior simply for the sake of being crule and ruthless like many of his predessors had been shown doing. He is more of a practical utilitarian that is just as content shaking someone's hand as he is stabbing them through the heart if that will best serve his purposes. Although he is indeed merciless to anyone or anything that stands in his way, he is also willing to embrace new ideas, and do things differently, something of a rare trait amongst demons. He is not the pure sadist that most other demons are, usually employing torture killing only when he deems it necessary for a purpose and not purely for sport, although he still does take pleasure out of others suffering. After becoming King of Hell, he goes as far as redesigning it (as Hell before had been horrific even for demons like himself) and eliminates all physical tortures, instead making it purely a psychological one of forcing souls to stand in line for eternity. It's implied that all demons, including Crowley and excluding Alistair, hated the old Hell.

Crowely is easily one of the most intelligent and cunning characters in the series and he has a habit of planning for most contingencies as well as the guts to take great risks in dealings.

Controversy

 * A matter that has been addressed by the actor himself, Crowley's eyes have never flashed red when he has made a crossroads deal as they do with all other crossroads demons.
 * His eyes have also never flashed black, as a normal demons would.
 * Mark Sheppard suggested in an interview that 'Crowley may not even be a demon'.

Powers and Abilities
He is a very powerful demon, one of the strongest Dean and Sam have ever met, as well as one of the smartest. His eye color is unclear, it's never been shown. Despite how powerful he is, he (even as the King of Hell) is not strong enough to fight angels. With that, he cautiously layered his residence with Enochian symbols. Although nowhere near as powerful as angels, he's very crafty, devious and clever. He also has an extreme instinct of self-preservation, making him one of the most dangerous antagonists.

The title King of Hell has had an influence on him physically, making him stronger, and in turn his abilities are greatly elevated.


 * Super-strength - Crowley has been shown to be stronger than Black-eyed demons, he literally once took on a hive of demons, likely simultaneously.
 * Telekinesis - As a demon, he can move objects with his mind. He could pin, throw, and trap humans with it.
 * Reality Warping -  As a Crossroad demon, he is able to warp the reality in the form of a deal. But as the King of the Crossroads, he could do more.
 * Teleportation  - Crowley is one of the most skilled teleporters on the show. Even before becoming King of Hell, he could travel over great distances with ease.
 * Spell Casting- He once hexed an entire building in order to detain Meg inside her vessel. He is also skilled in using Enchoian wording magic.
 * Invisibility - Crowley can easily become invisible.
 * Pyrokinesis- Crowley can manipulate fire. He could channel it with a snap of his fingers. He even caused a sore on Sam's hand with a poke. He was also able to use this ability to burn a message into a table.
 * Resurrection - Originally, Crowley could only resurrect the dead via a deal. But since becoming the King of Hell, he claims he's no longer bound by this.
 * Electronic manipulation-Crowley was able to switch off a television by snapping his fingers.
 * Healing - Crowley was able to heal Bobby Singer's legs via a deal.

Relationships

 * Lucifer (Father, Creator)
 * Demons (Siblings, Subordinates)
 * Lilith (Possible Lover, Superior, Demonic Sister)
 * Gavin MacLeod (Son [as a human])
 * Castiel (former accomplice/partner in the plot to open Purgatory; now arch-enemy)

Season 5

 * "Abandon All Hope..."
 * "The Devil You Know"
 * "Two Minutes to Midnight"

Season 6

 * "Weekend At Bobby's"
 * "Family Matters"
 * "All Dogs Go to Heaven"
 * "Caged Heat"
 * "Mommy Dearest"
 * "The Man Who Would Be King"
 * "Let It Bleed"
 * "The Man Who Knew Too Much"

Season 7

 * "Meet The New Boss"
 * "Slash Fiction"
 * "Season 7, Time For A Wedding"
 * "The Born-Again Identity" (seen in Castiel's flashbacks)
 * "There Will Be Blood"
 * "Survival of the Fittest"

Season 8

 * "We Need To Talk About Kevin"

Trivia

 * Crowley is tied for the first-most-recurring demon on the show. Only Ruby matches him in episode count, with 20 episodes under her belt. But since Crowley is appearing in Season 8, it's likely that he'll break the record.
 * It is implied that Crowley has met Mussolini and Dick Cheney.
 * Crowley is one of the three main antagonists of Season 6, the others are Raphael and Eve.
 * The character may be based on real-life Aleister Crowley, an occultist.
 * The character may be based on the demon Crowley who worked with an angel to prevent the apocalypse, as depicted in the book "Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
 * He is the first demon whose human past has been revealed.