God

God (also known as the Creator, the Lord, or the Man Upstairs) is a supernatural being who is best known as the Creator of the entire Universe and all within and without. God is, by far, the most revered supernatural being in biblical lore and is worshiped in accordance with His power. Some of His best-known creations include His Archangels (Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, and Raphael), the Angels beneath them, the Earth (said to be His own personal handiwork by the Archangel Lucifer in The End and implied by the Archangel Gabriel in Changing Channels), and Humanity (a race of beings made in His own image).

Castiel states at the opening of the fourth season that it was He who ordered Dean Winchester to be rescued from Hell. Also, at the opening of the fifth season, God was responsible for rescuing the Winchester brothers from Lucifer's rising, sending Sam Winchester's addiction to demon blood into remission, and resurrecting Castiel after his destruction at Raphael's hands—things that no other supernatural being is known to truly be capable of. It is revealed as the season progresses that God has mysteriously gone missing. He has taken to walking the Earth, and feels He has intervened enough in the happening thereof, refusing to take part in the Apocalypse.

It is revealed at the end of Swan Song that Chuck Shurley was the alter ego of God all along, masquerading as a mere Prophet to escape detection of His true identity. After Lucifer and Michael fall together into Lucifer's cage in Hell while possessing Sam Winchester and Adam Milligan respectively, God restores Castiel to life once again (in addition to rejuvenating his angelic powers and promoting his status) and he in turn restores Bobby Singer to life. After finishing writing the story of the Winchester brothers' quest to save the world and avert the Apocalypse, He vanishes into nothingness. It is also presumed that He is responsible for Sam's rescue from Lucifer's cage at the end of the episode.

Origins
Little is known of God's history or origins but it is known He has existed since the dawn of time and possibly further back. He is known to be an old friend and acquaintance of Death, who at one point makes clear that he and God are around the same age, though neither of them can remember their true ages any more due to how long they have been in existence. God is the Creator of a supernatural dimension known as Heaven where His creations can reside, if they are worthy of it.

To carry out His will, God created from holy fire beings known as Angels. These Angels were to answer to Him without question on pain of banishment. He gave His Angels such powers that are within the realm of His own and allowed them to occupy and tend to the administration of Heaven, though they are forbidden to disobey His commands and thus are not allowed to have their own free will out of loyalty to Him. Chief amongst these Angels were the Archangels that would be the superiors to all other Angels and God's closest confidants. The four known Archangels were named Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, and Raphael.

The Creation of Mankind
At some point in time, God crafted what would be His greatest masterpiece: Humanity, a race of beings made in His own image that would populate the Earth and become the dominant species to govern all others. To this end, He created the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, and from them were born two sons, Cain and Abel, the earliest ancestors of the Winchester bloodline. This fact would mark the members of the Winchester family as the only truly suitable vessels for the Archangels Michael and Lucifer ages later.

One key difference between the Angels of Heaven and the race of Humans is that He gave the Human race free will, a gift the Angels do not enjoy by their required code. Despite the possibility that this could lead to mankind being capable of bad deeds, God reasoned that they were by the same token capable of great good if given the proper guidance. Having finished His work in the creation of mankind, God ordered His Angels to honor what He deemed to be His greatest creation by bowing to them.

The War in Heaven and The Fall of the Rebel Angels
It was this request that would forever alter the history of God and His family, as Lucifer, who possessed a rather large ego and questioned his Father's plan privately, now had his faith in God shaken by such a request that he bow to creatures he deemed to be inferior to himself and far inferior to God. Lucifer refused to acquiesce to God's command, stating that he could not in good conscience bow to such flawed creatures capable of performing evil actions. God attempted to help Lucifer see that while Humans were capable of evil, they were equally capable of great good if they were guided properly. Jealous of God's preference for Humans over Angels and equally jealous that Humans were given the gift of free will where Angels were not, Lucifer refused to listen.

Believing that perhaps his faith in God was misplaced, Lucifer's ego got the better of him as he soon became deluded with the idea of overthrowing God and taking His place on the throne of Heaven. He began gathering followers, among these being Azazel, who went on to become one of Lucifer's most devoted followers. Lucifer then approached his brother Michael and pleaded with him to stand with him against their Father due to their Father's preference for the Human race. Michael, not swayed by his brother's charisma and unfailingly loyal to their Father, reacted with revulsion at Lucifer's request and branded him a monster for even thinking of disobedience to their Father.

Eventually, Lucifer felt he had enough supporters to lay siege to Heaven and overthrow God. A great battle ensued between the factions of the Heavenly Host that sided with Lucifer and those that remained loyal to God. Sadly seeing that Lucifer was now beyond help, God ordered Michael to defeat his brother and his fellow rebel angels. Michael did as instructed without question, battling Lucifer personally and beating him down at last in triumph, though this would forever drive a wedge between the two brothers that once loved one another so much. Michael led the Angels still loyal to God to victory over Lucifer's supporters, defeating them and taking them into custody. Lucifer refused to ask for forgiveness and reconcile with his family, his pride preventing him from seeing reason. God decided that, rather than kill Lucifer then, he would banish Lucifer and his followers from Heaven in punishment for their crimes. He ordered them cast into Hell.

While the rebel angels were cast into the pit of Hell and transformed into the first Demons, Lucifer himself was deposited into a separate cage located in the deepest part of Hell with a single entrance (which would be located in the future beneath St. Mary's Convent in Ilchester, Maryland). The entrance to this cage was locked by the 66 Seals, a series of special Seals which would serve to keep Lucifer locked away and keep him from causing chaos for Heaven and Earth by preventing him from leaving his prison uninhibited. Few to none knew where the entrance to his cage lay, with not even his most loyal supporters knowing where it could be located. Azazel was cast into a desert to wander for years in search of his master by Raphael on God's order. With his fall, Azazel eventually was transformed into a Demon as well, coming to be known as the Yellow-Eyed Demon.

Appearances and Features
God is frequently mentioned and His presence has been confirmed to have been present on at least one occasion prior to the revelation of His true identity. Unbeknown to anyone else, God has been helping the Winchester brothers for much longer than originally believed, though his true identity is not revealed until the end of the brothers' quest to halt the Apocalypse.

Lazarus Rising
At the opening of Season 4, Dean awakens in his own grave several months after his death at the hands of Lilith's Hellhound. He eventually meets the Angel Castiel for the first time, who reveals himself to be Dean's rescuer from Hell. Dean openly questions why an Angel would rescue him from Hell, to which Castiel replies that God Himself gave the command to free Dean from Hell and restore him to life.

The Monster at the End of This Book
Viewers are introduced to God's alter ego for the first time in this episode in the form of an author named Chuck Shurley, who has psychic visions of Sam and Dean's lives and is later declared a Prophet of the Lord. God disguises His true identity by appearing timid and shy while in the form of Chuck so as to evade detection by all, even His Angels. He is revealed to be writing all of Sam and Dean's adventures together in a series ironically called "Supernatural" and is later revealed to be protected by the Archangel Raphael, this aspect being used later in the episode when Dean drags Chuck with him to the motel where Sam is to meet Lilith so that Chuck's "guardian angel" will destroy Lilith, though this fails as she escapes. Chuck ironically foreshadows his true identity in his introduction episode with this exchange:

Chuck: Well, there's only one explanation. Obviously I'm a god.

Sam: You're not a god.

Chuck: How else do you explain it? I write things and then they come to life. Yeah, no, I'm definitely a god. A cruel, cruel, capricious god. The things I put you through -- The physical beatings alone.

Lucifer Rising
Chuck reappears when Dean and Castiel visit him to learn where Sam has gone to confront Lilith. Chuck reveals that everything will go down at the abandoned St. Mary's Convent in Ilchester, Maryland. As Raphael descends upon Chuck's house, Castiel zaps Dean to St. Mary's while he remains behind with Chuck to face Raphael, with Chuck putting his hand on Castiel's shoulder and then quickly removing it when the Angel gives him a strange look.

Sympathy for the Devil
At the opening of Season 5, the Winchester brothers find themselves trapped within the chapel of St. Mary's Convent in Ilchester, Maryland following the death of Lilith at Sam's hands, which broke the final of the 66 Seals and has caused Lucifer's Cage in Hell to begin to open. As the portal to Hell fully opens and the brothers find themselves unable to escape, they fall to their knees as Lucifer's overwhelming presence begins to rise out of Hell and his piercing true voice rings through the structure, believing themselves to be finished. However, it is here that God personally intervenes to save the brothers from Lucifer's rising by teleporting them safely onto a plane passing over Ilchester at that very moment, from which they witness Lucifer's presence shoot up into the sky from the place where St. Mary's stood, heralding the beginning of the Apocalypse. It is also revealed that God personally restored Castiel to life after he was smitten by Raphael.

Good God, Y'all
Castiel seeks to find God so He can put a halt to Lucifer's deeds on the Earth, and to do so, he requests to borrow Dean's pendant given to him long ago as a Christmas gift from Sam, who had in turn gotten it from Bobby Singer. The Angel explains that the pendant is a special device that will glow in the presence of the one true Creator, God Himself.

The End
In 2014, Lucifer's minions are revealed to have unleased the Croatoan virus upon the world after Sam agreed to serve as Lucifer's vessel in Detroit, Michigan at some point four years earlier. In this post-apocalyptic world, most humans have been reduced to murderous zombies. Future Chuck is at Camp Chitaqua with Future Dean, Future Castiel and other survivors of the plague. Future Chuck is in charge of supplies. Toilet paper, he informs Dean, is 'like gold'. A billboard on a dilapidated movie theater advertises "Route 666", indicating that at least one of Chuck's "Supernatural" books was made into a movie.

Free to Be You and Me
Dean embarks with Castiel on a quest to locate God so He can put a stop to Lucifer and halt the Apocalypse. To this end, they trap Raphael and interrogate him as to God's whereabouts. Raphael cynically responds that God is dead, to which Dean berates the Archangel to the point that he finally reveals the truth: God is not dead, but has gone missing, having left Heaven and taken to the Earth without leaving any instruction about how to deal with Lucifer's return. This confirms that God is somewhere on the Earth, but seemingly nobody knows where exactly He is or what form He has assumed to walk the Earth.

The Real Ghostbusters
Chuck is hosting at a Supernatural Convention, which fan Becky Rosen invites Sam and Dean to attend. When real ghosts start attacking people at the convention, Chuck has to step up and help keep everyone safe while Sam, Dean, Damian and Barnes fight the ghosts. His bravery impresses Becky who abandons her pursuit of Sam for a relationship with Chuck.

Dark Side of the Moon
After having been killed by two of their fellow Hunters for their roles in igniting the Apocalypse, Sam and Dean find themselves in Heaven itself and are tasked by Castiel with finding Joshua, the Angel tasked with tending to the central garden that makes up God's kingdom at the center of Heaven and is known to have a direct speaking relationship with God, while dodging Zachariah, who seeks to punish the two brothers for making him look foolish to his peers and then send them back to Earth and force Dean to say "yes" to Michael. With some help from their old friends Ash and Pamela Barnes, the duo are able to get to the edge of the garden, though they are ultimately detained by Zachariah and his cohorts. It is at this moment however that Joshua finds them and sends Zachariah and his company away so he can speak to the brothers.

Taking the Winchesters into the garden, Joshua speaks to them about God, whom he describes as being lonely at times, resulting in His correspondence with Joshua. The brothers demand to see God or know His whereabouts, to which Joshua replies that he has no idea where God is and that he does not have the ability to initiate contact with God. Instead, it is God Himself that initiates contact with Joshua, leaving Joshua clueless as to His whereabouts. However, Joshua relays a personal message from God to the brothers: "Back off." God has tired of them turning to Him to solve the entire problem of the Apocalypse, of which He truly wants no part. Joshua reveals that God, very much aware of the Apocalypse underway and now somewhere on the Earth, has already intervened to help them more than once already, by putting them on the plane to save them from Lucifer's rising and restoring Castiel to life and just now granting Sam salvation to enter Heaven despite his misdeeds. God's basic message is that He wants no part in the Apocalypse and that He will not solve the Winchesters' problems for them, instead pressing them to solve the situation for themselves with the help He has already given them.

After Joshua sends the brothers back to the Earth and restores them to life, Castiel and Dean are left hopeless (Dean dropping the pendant into a wastebasket), though Sam retains hope for their situation and that God may yet reveal Himself when He feels the time is right.

Hammer of the Gods
While they are fighting, Gabriel remarks that Lucifer can stop pretending in front of him and reveals he knows why Lucifer is doing these things to destroy Humanity. He further explains that Lucifer had been God's favorite, but when "Dad brought the new baby (Humans) home", Lucifer couldn't take it, and thus is merely throwing a tantrum to display his displeasure before their Father. He also claims that after being around humans for so long, he finally understands why God likes them so much. True, while some are flawed as Lucifer thinks, many of them still try to do better than that and strive to do the good God envisioned them to be capable of.

Swan Song
In the finale of Season 5, God's true identity is revealed at last. Chuck Shurley, the mild-mannered, timid author who puts into writing the lives of Sam and Dean, is revealed to have been God's alter ego the entire time, watching the brothers from afar though maintaining a connection to them the entire time. This is ironic as God is noted to be the "author" of life itself, making it fitting that his alter ego turned out to be an author. His ruse as Chuck Shurley appears to have merely been a disguise to escape detection of His true identity from everyone, much as His son Gabriel had done in the guise of a Trickster. Throughout the episode, He is seen at intervals writing the final chapter in the story of the Winchester brothers' quest to avert the Apocalypse and restore order to the Earth. He also gives Dean a tip during the episode of where Michael and Lucifer (who by this point now possess Adam Milligan and Sam Winchester respectively) will be meeting to kick off Armageddon. He anwers the phone in this scene asking if it is "Mistress Magda", a blond bombshell who appears in a book on his desk that he readily covers up, this being a reference to Saint Mary Magdalene, a repentant prostitute that Jesus (whom many believe to have been the physical manifestation of God) loved very much.

After Sam is able to regain control of his body from Lucifer momentarily due to the love he feels for his brother, he activates the rings of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, opening the portal to Lucifer's cage in the ground and falling alongside the Michael-possessed Adam into Lucifer's cage in Hell before the portal closes once again. Almost immediately after this however, Castiel appears (having been restored to life once again and his angelic powers restored and promoted by God), revealing that it was God who restored him. After Castiel restores Bobby Singer to life (also having been killed during the confrontation with Lucifer), he notes that God may intend him to ascend to be the new Viceroy of Heaven now that Michael is locked away with Lucifer and Heaven is in anarchy with both God's and Michael's absences. Dean, upset that he has lost Sam and seems to have no personal reward for his efforts, states his displeasure with God for this before Castiel teleports away.

In the second-to-last scene, Chuck Shurley, dressed in white, muses on the task of getting endings right as he completes the final chapter of the story he was writing, and with the words "THE END" smiles to himself and vanishes into nothingness after noting that "nothing really ends", revealing his true nature as God. It is also presumed that, in answer to Dean's feeling of no reward, God grants his wish for a reward by pulling Sam out of Lucifer's cage and returning him to the Earth. The final shot is of a light flickering outside Lisa Braeden's home as Sam seemingly appears out of nowhere and looks around to see Dean through a window having dinner with Lisa and Ben inside.

Powers

 * Omniscience - God knows everything that can be known. God is also aware of everything that happens in the Universe.
 * Omnipotence - God is all-powerful and is able to do anything He wishes he has all kinds of powers. God can also perform the most impossible of feats. For example: God can turn a mountain into a pile of dust, destroy the World/Universe with a single thought, and even make Michael and Lucifer disappear with a mere thought. God can also end the Apocalypse with a single word. God can also resurrect the dead. Joshua told Dean and Sam that it was God who brought Castiel back to life.
 * Teleportation - God can go anywhere he chooses in the universe.

Archangels

 * Michael
 * Lucifer
 * Gabriel
 * Raphael
 * Castiel (Swan Song) (Possible)

Angels

 * Uriel
 * Anna Milton
 * Joshua
 * Castiel (Lazarus Rising to Swan Song; near the end of 5x22 Castiel was changed to an archangel)

Cherubim

 * Cupid

Seraphim

 * Zachariah

Names

 * The Creator
 * The Man Upstairs 
 * Savior 
 * Lord 
 * Chuck Shurley