User blog comment:General MGD 109/Who's the strongest demon/@comment-5619706-20130724024745/@comment-5619706-20130724030015

I do, however, respect your point of view that this did not translate well into the screen, because of the factors I've said below (i.e. writers' strike, very limited screen time of Lilith vs. Azazel), so it is really understandable on how one would think Azazel > Lilith. But we also can't just throw away the lore of the series--how it has implied Lilith's power and rank, and especially not what the creator himself had to say about the hierarchy.

Abaddon had a reason to hate taking orders from someone who was just a salesman. Hell operates with strength. Crowley may have been intelligent and cunning, but we all know he would lose in a straight-up fight against the other more powerful demons. A very pure and very strong demon who was one of the first-born of their brethren would not bow to someone younger and weaker than her.