Bartholomew

Bartholomew was a fallen angel and Naomi's former protege. After the angels had been cast out of Heaven, he assembled his own faction of followers, wishing to gather enough strength to retake Heaven. When his attempted recruitment of Castiel grew violent, he was killed by his own angel blade.

Background
Bartholomew had been a soldier in Heaven, following Castiel during the civil war between him and Raphael after The Apocalypse. Bartholomew had doubted Castiel's ambition during the time. Castiel had left Bartholomew in charge of Raphael's followers that had been taken captive during the civil war. Bartholomew tortured his captives without mercy. At some point in his past, Bartholomew had been groomed by Naomi as her protege due to the similarly controversial lengths he'd go to when dealing with fellow angels.

Season 9
In I'm No Angel, Bartholomew and his fellow fallen are manipulating a devout religious group led by preacher Buddy Boyle into convincing people to let angels into their bodies. They achieve this through online podcasts that are viewed by deeply religious people, who subsequently allow angels to possess them. Their plan is to find as many true vessels as possible to contain their power.

Aside from assembling his forces through finding vessels, Bartholomew focused on finding the angel that most blame for the fall from Heaven, Castiel. Unfortunately, Castiel had warded himself from being found by angels so Bartholomew and his faction remained unable to find their target. Cunningly, Bartholomew looked for help from Rogue Reapers, who would be able to find Castiel without any trouble. Bartholomew helped in their search by telling them that to find Castiel, they simply needed to find the Winchesters. The Reapers were successful in their search, torturing Castiel and even killing him for a brief time, informing him and the Winchesters of Bartholomew gaining support and strength amongst the fallen angels.

In Heaven Can't Wait, Bartholomew's strategy for obtaining vessels showed continued success. The Rit Zien, Ephraim, had taken his vessel after his vessel had become deeply religious and became an avid follower of Buddy Boyle, who continued to spread Bartholomew's message.

In Holy Terror, a bloody massacre of some of Bartholomew's followers took place at a biker bar. A leader of a seperate faction of fallen angels, Malachi, was responsible for the slaughter and had called for a meeting between he and Bartholomew, believing that the only way to take back Heaven from Metatron was to unite all of the angels. Bartholomew, seeing Malachi as nothing but a thug, didn't bother showing up to the meeting personally, instead sending one of his assistants in his place. Malachi was furious with the sign of disrespect, citing that Bartholomew had no right to leading Heaven. Malachi and his forces brutally killed Bartholomew's representatives, officially declaring war. All out warfare came quickly, with Bartholomew's forces intercepting Malachi's angels from finding vessels. The blood feud continued, both Bartholomew's faction and Malachi fighting over who would overthrow Metatron and rule Heaven.

In Captives, Castiel discovered that Bartholomew had wiped out a peaceful faction of angels led by Rebecca. After Castiel was found and captured some of Bartholomew's angels, he was brought to him. When Castiel arrived, Bartholomew greeted him with joy and friendliness, telling him it had been too long. After confiscating Castiel's blade, Bartholomew explained that he had no ill will towards Castiel, bringing up the history between them though Cas seemed less overjoyed to see his old comrade.

Bartholomew revealed that he and his angels had purged their human allies, believing they were more trouble than they were worth. They had commandeered Buddy Boyle's company, Boyle Ministries Inc. for their own use, making Buddy and his colleagues that had survived the process vessels for angels. Bartholomew had no ill will against Castiel, telling him he was free to go if he wanted but asked him why he would. Bartholomew offered to allow Castiel to aid him in the hunt for Metatron, telling him that they wanted the same thing; to return to Heaven and remove Metatron from his seat of power. When asked why he wiped out Rebecca's faction, Bartholomew told him it was better to kill them early before they could grow into another threat. He then declared that he would beat his rival, Malachi, to Metatron and take Heaven and he wanted Castiel to help him do it.

Bartholomew brought Castiel to a room where he and his angels were tracking Metatron, using their operation to do it. Castiel offered to lure him out with Bartholomew's information. Bartholomew was happy to hear it, acknowledging how he'd been too busy with the factions to deal with the real problem, Metatron. With Castiel's help, though, he believed they'd be able to unite the angels and return to Heaven. One of Rebecca's followers who had told Castiel about the faction massacre, was brought into the room and Bartholomew planned to torture him and then kill him, wanting Castiel to help him do with the act. Bartholomew tortured him before handing an angel blade to him, wanting him to murder the angel. When Cas realized that he was never going to be allowed to leave, he refused to help Bartholomew who murdered the captive angel anyway, sorry to hear Castiel's rejection. Bartholomew grew angry with Castiel, challenging him to a fight, beginning to beat him but again Castiel refused Bartholomew's spurs to violence. Bartholomew attacked him with an angel blade, telling his men to stay back since it was between him and Castiel. Castiel managed to disarm him, holding the blade to him. Bartholomew simply laughed, telling him to kill him since he had won. When Castiel yet again wouldn't be goaded into harming another, wanting to just leave instead, Bartholomew lunged at him with a second blade. Castiel defended himself, impaling Bartholomew with his own weapon, killing him.

After Bartholomew's demise, many of his faction decided to follow Castiel as their new leader.

Powers & Abilities
Bartholomew possesses the standard powers of an angel.


 * Angelic Possession - As an angel, he needs a vessel to exist in corporeal form. He needs the vessel's permission to do this.
 * Telepathy - He can listen in on "angel radio".
 * Angel Summoning - He possesses the unique ability to summon angels and infuse them into the bodies of various humans.
 * Superhuman Strength - As an angel, Bartholomew was stronger than humans, spirits, monsters and most demons, but was overcome and killed by Castiel.
 * Immortality - As an angel, Bartholomew was immortal and could live forever.

Weaknesses
Bartholomew possessed the standard angel weaknesses. He is an angel so he has many similar weakness.
 * Angel Blade  - Bartholomew could be killed by an angel blade, and was during his fight with Castiel.

Trivia

 * He is the first season antagonist, either primary or secondary, who never had any interaction with Sam and Dean Winchester.  The second is Malachi, his rival.


 * In the Bible, "Bartholomew" was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus.

Appearances

 * Season 9
 * I'm No Angel
 * Holy Terror (unseen)
 * Captives
 * Meta Fiction  (mentioned only)


 * Season 10
 * Black (Mentioned only)