Angels

"Like we're actually a family? When what we really are are a bunch of glowing lights filled with self-loathing or delusions of grandeur. Or both."

- Metatron to Castiel

Angels are powerful celestial beings of light created by God and as of recently, the Nephilim Jack Kline, his grandson. They are responsible of maintaining Heaven and guard the souls of righteous humans. They power Heaven and at full potential they are imbued with considerable power. Angels also have connections to Prophets.

Angels are one of the most powerful entities in the series, generally outclassing most demons, monsters, ghosts, and other supernatural creatures with few exceptions.

Upon death, all angels are sent to a realm called The Empty, where they, along with all deceased demons, slumber for eternity.

It was recently revealed that due to the fall and the resulting fighting, angels are now an endangered species. In fact, there are less than a dozen left in Creation.

After Heaven was attacked by an entity called The Shadow, the angel, Duma overthrew Naomi, the current leader of Heaven at the time and took control. Duma manipulated Jack into turning a few humans into angels by taking their souls and forge them into angels, slightly increasing the number of angels until Castiel killed her.

Characteristics
"Perfect. Like a marble statue. Cold... no choice... only obedience."

- Anna to Dean, about being an Angel

As warriors of God and agents of fate, angels are extremely powerful beings in the supernatural world. They are superhuman beings superior to mortals in both power and intelligence. Their true spiritual forms or visages prove overwhelming to most mortals; however, some 'special' people can view their true visages without suffering lasting effects; demons also can't look at them in their true form without damaging their hosts. A key example of this: Pamela Barnes used her psychic powers to see the true form of Castiel and her eyes burned out as a result of her actions. Although not physically seen as they have no physical presence or being of their own, an angel's presence has been seen or manifested on earth as a brilliant white light (or a bluish luminous smoke if they have no wings). Respectively, angels in their true form do have large swan-like wings on their backs which can range in number anywhere from two to six. In "Lazarus Rising", Castiel displays his wings through his shadow.

When angels die after being stabbed by an angel blade, shadows of their wings are burned into the surface on which they are lying, as seen in the opening of "On The Head Of A Pin". Also, in "Dark Side of the Moon", Zachariah tells Dean and Sam that in his true form he has six wings and four faces, one of them being that of a lion. He also explains that the reason that humans can't see an angel's wings while in a vessel is because their senses are limited or too dull to perceive them. In "Sacrifice", an angel's fiery wings were physically seen for the first time.

After Metatron expelled the angels from Heaven, most of them lost their wings as a result. When Gadreel displays his wings to three demons, they are shown to be damaged. Since the spell is irreversible, most angels known have broken wings.

An angel's true form also appear to be very large in height, as evidenced when Castiel states that his true form is "approximately the size of your Chrysler building". However, according to Castiel and Metatron, angels may actually just be waves and lights of pure energy, and how this fits in with their true form, is unknown. Lucifer's true form was so intense it obliterated an entire convent, and as Lucifer rose from the cage, Sam and Dean were able to see an immense white light flash from the perspective of an airplane overhead.

Anna Milton describes angels as being emotionless, not permitted to have feelings or free will. She even goes on to compare angels to marble statues, in the sense that they're both cold, loyal and have no choice. However, Castiel has shown loyalty to the Winchester brothers and regret when he was ordered to kill Anna. Gabriel has shown anger and love towards his brothers, Michael and Lucifer, in "Changing Channels". In "Dark Side of the Moon", Zachariah shows clear signs of anger, pettiness and arrogance. In "Hammer of the Gods", Lucifer is saddened and sheds tears over having killed Gabriel. In "My Bloody Valentine", Cupids are shown to be very cheerful, emotional, and love giving hugs as opposed to handshakes. To be more accurate, angels are very much capable of both developing human emotions and flaws of character, rather the majority of them choose not to show or admit to having emotions as emotions are considered doorways to doubt as well as a weakness, and they are not permitted to display emotions for the same reasons.

Angels consider themselves family to one another, referring to each other as brothers and sisters. The angels also refer to God as their father. Even though God is their 'father', all angels except the archangels, Metatron, and Gadreel have never actually seen God or his true face. According to Anna Milton, only four angels have actually met God and seen his true face. This number later proves to be false, and six angels are said to have met him. This increased to seven after Castiel meets him.

Due to their age and power, many angels look down upon humans and see them as inferior. Lucifer rebelled because God loved humans, a flawed and arrogant species, more than angels. Some angels continued to hold resentment to this many thousands of years later, as evidenced by Uriel and his followers. Despite this, angels guard the souls in Heaven, and as shown in "What's Up, Tiger Mommy?" refuse to pawn them, even for the Word of God. Feelings of resentment aren't universal, as some angels such as Samandriel, Joshua and Inias are much more civil with humans, while others, such as Anna, Gabriel, and (eventually) Metatron, consider them better than angels because, despite their inherent flaws, a lot of them strive to do good.



While outside of a vessel, angels either appear to humans as a brilliant white light, or a bluish luminous smoke (depending if they have their wings or not). While within a vessel, angels only have their powers thanks to their grace. Without it, they are just like humans and become subject to the process of life and death, as stated by Metatron when he removed Castiel's grace. Anna stated that removing it voluntarily is very painful, comparable to a human removing a kidney.

Unlike humans, because they lack physical bodies, angels do not reproduce while in their true forms, as reproduction is a purely physical process. Anna tells Dean that one of the things that humans have that angels don't is sex. Dean even describes angels as "Ken dolls" meaning that the only way for them to have sex is to possess a human. Only while within a human vessel can angels mate with humans, resulting in Nephilim. It has not been seen if they can mate with other angels in human vessels or what the resulting offspring would be.



The episode "Torn and Frayed" has shown that after a sufficient amount of torture, angels can be broken and their "operating system" be accessed. Angels have secret knowledge pre-programmed into their being that they aren't even aware of. The screams an angel makes when tortured sends out ripples that cause strange occurrences, such a glass bottle shattering or a bush lighting on fire.

When angels fall from Heaven, they appear like meteors to the human eye. Anna explained that when she told her story to the Winchesters, and it was demonstrated when all the angels fell from Heaven, due to Metatron's spell. However, being expelled from Heaven due to this spell, doesn't deny angels their Heavenly powers, although it burns off their wings, which denies them teleportation, and forces them to manifest as bluish luminous smoke.

Similar to demons, Angels possessing a vessel can change the eye color of their vessel; in the case of Angels, they can cause the vessel's eyes to turn bright blue. Unlike demons however, Angels rarely do this so as not to draw attention to themselves and only do so in stressful or combat situations. Among Angels, the Archangel Lucifer is unique as his vessel's eyes glow red instead of blue.

Most angels, when possessing vessels, often dress in suits or formal wear. There are a few exceptions. Sometimes, if the vessel they possess did not originally wear something formal, the angel would change. An example of this being Raphael and Alternate Michael.

Many angels have names of Hebrew origin. Many angels also have names ending in "el". Examples include: Castiel, Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Hael, Gadreel, Uriel, Rachel, Nithael, Jophiel, Ambriel, Nathaniel, Mirabel, Asariel, Muriel, and Samandriel.

Angels have also been shown to not be distressed from witnessing violence and gore. While humans can get frighting and traumatized by witnessing violence, angels appear to be typically unphased when seeing bloodshed and gore.

Types of Angels
The Archangels are the four eldest and most powerful of God's angels, they were the only ones to have seen his face, with the exception of Metatron and Gadreel. They are far more powerful than any other angelic rank, being imbued with near unimaginable and immeasurable power and authority. Furthermore, they are some of the strongest beings in all of Creation. The four archangels were created in this specific order: Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel. The archangel Michael (currently imprisoned in Lucifer's Cage) is the only one alive in the main universe. Castiel killed Raphael when the angel was imbued with the power of 40 million souls from Purgatory. Gabriel was killed by the Michael from Apocalypse World, while trying to hold him off so Dean and Sam could escape. While empowered by this Michael who he was acting as a vessel to, Dean Winchester killed Lucifer. Alternate Michael was killed by Jack.
 * -|Archangels=

Before creation, together with God, the archangels took part in a terrible war with Amara. This war resulted in The Darkness being locked away by the Mark of Cain. The Grigori were a squad of elite angels who were sent to watch over and protect humanity but turned bad. They were believed to have been wiped out, but few of them survived. Some of these Angels survived and began preying on humanity, kidnapping humans, trapping them in dream states of their perfect Heaven and feeding off of their souls. These angels had Angel Swords instead of Angel Blades, with each of their names written on them. Seraphim are a whole other type of angelic being, who are stronger and more powerful than regular angels and Cupids. Like the archangels and the grigori, Seraphs powers are imbued within them, and if they fall from or become cut off from Heaven, they don't lose any of their powers. Their current role on Heaven is unknown but one was sent over to watch, observe and learn about humanity.
 * -|Grigori=
 * -|Seraphim=

Akobel and Castiel are the only Seraphim appeared so far. Rit Zien are the medics of Heaven. Their name means "Hands of Mercy" in Enochian. On the battlefields of Heaven, their job was to heal Angels who had been injured. If the injury was too severe for them to heal, then they would give them a quick, painless death, by smiting them. Rit Zien have a unique way of smiting other, which consists of them placing their hand near the victims face, shining a pink light from their palm, and causing them to quickly, and painlessly implode into a pink liquid made of their own essence. These are normal, common angels. In comparison to most other supernatural entities, angels are among the most powerful and feared beings in the series. Though not nearly as powerful as seraphs, archangels, or other higher supernatural beings, angels easily outclass black-eyed demons, lesser monsters, and other supernatural creatures, with the exception of the highest ranking demons. Angels possess a great number of formidable abilities that make them a dominant presence in the supernatural world. They are grouped into garrisons and are commanded by a garrison leader. Cherubs, also called Cupids, are ordered as third class angels, and thus placed at the very bottom of the Celestial chain of command, Heaven's hierarchy. They follow Heaven's orders, particularly serving Michael. In their occupation, they are responsible for manipulating affection in certain, special bloodlines. John and Mary Winchester, for example, were "matched" by a Cupid on Heaven's orders so that Dean and Sam could be born. Intelligence Angels are the intelligence division of Heaven. Their work is to gather information, fix the angels who cause problems, and occasionally, take control of the their minds if needed. These angels were under the leadership of Naomi before the fall. A fallen angel is an angel who was expelled from Heaven. They are not a class of angel and therefore they look no different than normal angels. An angel who has fallen may or may not retain all of his or her abilities, depending on the rank of the angel. For example, a fallen Seraph, like Castiel, retains all of his powers, whereas a standard angel would lose a few of his or her powers, such as smiting and healing. A fallen angel's blood can be used in the Leviathan killing weapon. Known banished angels include Lucifer, Anna Milton, Zachariah, Castiel and the Grigori. Nephilim are beings that consist of a mixture between a human soul and angelic grace. They are normally created when an angel and a human reproduce together. Nephilim are considered as one of the most dangerous beings in Creation and it is strictly forbidden to produce one. The only known Nephilim are Jane and Jack so far. They are shown to be extremely powerful with Jack being described as possessing "unimaginable power." Even from the womb he demonstrates powers such as healing and resurrection and through a partial possession, granted an angel the power to effortlessly incinerate a Prince of Hell, one of the most powerful demons to ever live. A Nephilim grows to be stronger than the angel who sired them. By stealing and absorbing Jack's grace, Lucifer became super-charged to the point that he could destroy the universe if he so wished. By having his grace stolen, Jack's body slowly broke down since the grace keeps his body intact. Through absorbing the grace of Alternate Michael, Jack was able to return to full power and no longer being plagued. Recently, Jack showed the ability to create new angels, something that only God was said to do.
 * -|Rit Zien=
 * -|Regular Angels=
 * -|Cherubim=
 * -|Intelligence Angels=
 * -|Fallen Angels=
 * -|Nephilim=

Archangels

 * Michael
 * Lucifer
 * Raphael
 * Gabriel

Seraphim

 * Akobel
 * Castiel

High-Tier Angels

 * Anna Milton
 * Gadreel
 * Ishim
 * Virgil
 * Zachariah
 * Zachariah (Lebanon)

Intelligence Angels

 * Bartholomew
 * Esper
 * Ion
 * Naomi
 * Naomi's Intelligence Soldier
 * Nathaniel

Angels

 * Abner
 * Adina
 * Asariel
 * Azrael
 * Balthazar
 * Bartholomew's Assistant
 * Benjamin
 * Benjamin (Castiel's Faction)
 * Blonde Angel
 * Castiel (Lebanon)
 * Conrad
 * Constantine
 * Daniel
 * Duma
 * Duma's Henchmen
 * Efram
 * Elijah
 * Eremiel
 * Esther
 * Ezekiel
 * Ezra
 * Farmer Angel
 * First Council Member
 * Flagstaff
 * Glee Club Angel
 * Hael
 * Hannah
 * Head Angel
 * Hester
 * Hozai
 * Indra
 * Ingrid
 * Inias
 * Isaac
 * Jonah
 * Joshua
 * Josiah
 * Kaia's Abductors
 * Kelly's Attackers
 * Kelvin
 * Kim Schortz Angel
 * Lily
 * Malachi
 * Mansion Attackers
 * Metatron
 * Mirabel
 * Miriam
 * Muriel
 * Neil
 * Nithael
 * Oren
 * Pharmacist Angel
 * Purah
 * Rachel
 * Rebecca
 * Samandriel
 * Second Council Member
 * Shipyard Attackers
 * Sophia
 * Thaddeus
 * Theo
 * Third Council Member
 * Tyrus
 * Uriel
 * Zuriel

Low-Tier Angels

 * Ambriel
 * Anael
 * Homeless Angel
 * Jofiel

Nephilim

 * Jane
 * Jack (deceased)
 * Queen of Sheba

Cherubim

 * Cupid
 * Cupid
 * Gail
 * Trucker Cupid

Rit Zien

 * Ephraim

Grigori

 * Tamiel

Alternate Reality Angels

 * Lucifer (The End)
 * Angel Commander 
 * Lucifer (Apocalypse World)
 * Michael (Apocalypse World)
 * Zachariah (Apocalypse World)
 * Zachariah's Henchmen
 * Prison Camp Commander
 * Prison Camp Angels
 * Executioner Angel
 * Balthazar (Apocalypse World)
 * Balthazar's Army
 * Road Attackers
 * Arthur and Charlie's Captors
 * Castiel (Apocalypse World)
 * Gabriel (Apocalypse World)

Non-Canon

 * Azazel (Anime Series)
 * Abbadon

Death
Upon death, a pair of wings, reflecting the angel's own, are brazed into the wall and floor around them. It is revealed in The Big Empty that angels go to The Empty after death where they are to sleep for all eternity with demons. It was hinted in Byzantium and confirmed in Moriah that Nephilim go to the realm after their own death.

Though they can revive humans from death, angels do not seem to have the power to resurrect other angels, although Raphael thought that the fallen archangel Lucifer might have brought Castiel back in an effort to bring the rebellious angel to his side. God, however, was able to revive angels, as he resurrected Castiel three separate times. Miriam has indicated that the Nephilim Jack, who has the power to do "almost anything", cannot resurrect an angel once they are "all the way dead." However Jack was able to telepathically call out to Castiel even in The Empty, a realm which God was said to not have influence over. The Shadow, the ruler of the empty is also capable of resurrecting angels, as it did with Castiel.

When killed by an alternate Michael in Exodus, the archangel Gabriel died the same way as any other angel killed in the series. However in Let the Good Times Roll, when the super-charged Lucifer was killed by Dean Winchester, fire streamed from his fatal wound and his vessel's eyes and mouth before his wings exploded in a burst of fire. After Lucifer's death, he was left surrounded by the burned imprint of his wings like any other dead angel.

Appearances
Even though they didn't officially and properly appear until Season 4, Angels, along with Demons, are arguably the most recurring supernatural creatures in the series, appearing in a total of over 100 episodes so far.


 * Bobby Singer's Guide to Hunting

Season 1

 * Something Wicked
 * Devil's Trap

Season 2

 * Houses of the Holy
 * Tall Tales

Season 3

 * Sin City
 * Red Sky at Morning
 * Malleus Maleficarum
 * Mystery Spot
 * Jus In Bello

Season 4

 * Lazarus Rising
 * Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester
 * In The Beginning
 * Metamorphosis
 * Monster Movie
 * It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester
 * I Know What You Did Last Summer
 * Heaven and Hell
 * Criss Angel Is A Douchebag
 * Death Takes A Holiday
 * On The Head Of A Pin
 * It's A Terrible Life
 * The Monster at the End of This Book
 * Jump the Shark
 * The Rapture
 * When The Levee Breaks
 * Lucifer Rising

Season 5

 * Sympathy for the Devil
 * Good God, Y'all
 * Free To Be You and Me
 * The End
 * Fallen Idols
 * I Believe The Children Are Our Future
 * Changing Channels
 * Abandon All Hope...
 * Sam, Interrupted
 * Swap Meat
 * The Song Remains the Same
 * My Bloody Valentine
 * Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
 * Dark Side of the Moon
 * 99 Problems
 * Point of No Return
 * Hammer of the Gods
 * The Devil You Know
 * Two Minutes to Midnight
 * Swan Song

Season 6

 * The Third Man
 * You Can't Handle The Truth
 * Family Matters
 * Caged Heat
 * Appointment In Samarra
 * Like A Virgin
 * The French Mistake
 * My Heart Will Go On
 * Frontierland
 * Mommy Dearest
 * The Man Who Would Be King
 * Let It Bleed
 * The Man Who Knew Too Much

Season 7

 * Meet the New Boss
 * Hello, Cruel World
 * The Girl Next Door
 * Defending Your Life
 * Slash Fiction
 * Repo Man
 * Out With The Old
 * The Born-Again Identity
 * Reading Is Fundamental
 * There Will Be Blood
 * Survival of the Fittest

Season 8

 * What's Up, Tiger Mommy?
 * Blood Brother
 * A Little Slice of Kevin
 * Hunteri Heroici
 * Torn and Frayed
 * As Time Goes By
 * Goodbye Stranger
 * Taxi Driver
 * The Great Escapist
 * Clip Show
 * Sacrifice

Season 9

 * I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here
 * Devil May Care
 * I'm No Angel
 * Slumber Party
 * Dog Dean Afternoon
 * Heaven Can't Wait
 * Rock and a Hard Place
 * Holy Terror
 * Road Trip
 * First Born
 * Captives
 * Meta Fiction
 * King of the Damned
 * Stairway to Heaven
 * Do You Believe In Miracles?

Season 10

 * Black
 * Reichenbach
 * Soul Survivor
 * Fan Fiction
 * Girls, Girls, Girls
 * The Things We Left Behind
 * The Hunter Games
 * There's No Place Like Home
 * The Executioner's Song
 * Inside Man
 * Angel Heart
 * Dark Dynasty
 * The Prisoner
 * Brother's Keeper

Season 11

 * Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire
 * Form and Void
 * The Bad Seed
 * Baby
 * Thin Lizzie
 * Our Little World
 * O Brother, Where Art Thou?
 * The Devil in the Details
 * Into the Mystic
 * The Vessel
 * Beyond the Mat
 * Hell's Angel
 * The Chitters
 * Don't Call Me Shurley
 * All in the Family
 * We Happy Few
 * Alpha and Omega

Season 12

 * Keep Calm and Carry On
 * Mamma Mia
 * The Foundry
 * American Nightmare
 * The One You've Been Waiting For
 * Celebrating The Life Of Asa Fox
 * Rock Never Dies
 * LOTUS
 * First Blood
 * Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets
 * Stuck in the Middle (With You)
 * Family Feud
 * Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell
 * The British Invasion
 * The Future
 * Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes
 * There's Something About Mary
 * Who We Are
 * All Along the Watchtower

Season 13

 * Lost & Found
 * The Rising Son
 * The Big Empty
 * Advanced Thanatology
 * Tombstone
 * War of the Worlds
 * The Bad Place
 * Various & Sundry Villains
 * Devil's Bargain
 * Good Intentions
 * A Most Holy Man
 * Scoobynatural
 * The Thing
 * Bring 'em Back Alive
 * Funeralia
 * Unfinished Business
 * Beat the Devil
 * Exodus
 * Let the Good Times Roll

Season 14

 * Stranger in a Strange Land
 * Gods and Monsters
 * The Scar
 * Mint Condition
 * Nightmare Logic
 * Optimism
 * Unhuman Nature
 * Byzantium
 * The Spear
 * Nihilism
 * Damaged Goods
 * Prophet and Loss
 * Lebanon
 * Ouroboros
 * Peace of Mind
 * Game Night
 * Absence
 * Jack in the Box
 * Moriah

Trivia

 * Eric Kripke never originally intended for angels (excluding Lucifer) to appear on the series. In the first three seasons, he had a staunch "no angel policy."
 * Season 1 is the only season to not feature an angel.
 * So far only seven angels have met God in person: The Archangels, Gadreel, Metatron, and Castiel.
 * Angels on the main Earth usually wear business suits or dresses but after the fall, some have taken to wearing casual clothing while the angels of Apocalypse World wear field combat attire.
 * When they first appeared, angels were shown to be ignorant of human pop culture (books, movies, TV shows, etc.), and even aspects of speech such as sarcasm and expressions. However, like demons, when an angel possesses a human, they gain all the vessel's memories, which should negate any lack of knowledge they might have had before taking a vessel.
 * Angels of the main reality have lost their ability to teleport, while the angels of Apocalypse World retain their abilities.
 * In the Christian religion, there are 9 ranks in the Christian angelic hierarchy: the Seraphim, the Cherubims, the Thrones, the Dominions, the Virtues, the Powers, the Principalities, the Archangels and the Angels:
 * The Seraphim are the highest angelic class and they serve as the caretakers of God's throne.
 * The Cherubim guard the way to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden and the throne of God.
 * The Thrones are living symbols of God's justice and authority.
 * The Dominions regulate the duties of lower angels.
 * The Virtues supervise the movements of the heavenly bodies in order to ensure that the cosmos remains in order.
 * The Powers are the bearers of conscience and the keepers of history. They are also the warrior angels created to be completely loyal to God.
 * The Principalities preside over the bands of angels and charge them with fulfilling the divine ministry.
 * The Archangels are the administrators of duties for the angels and they are also their commanders.
 * The Angels are the lowest order of the angels. They are sent as messengers to mankind.