Apocalypse World

"This is a world where you were never born. It's a world you never saved."

- Castiel to Sam and Dean

The Apocalypse World is a universe that came about when Mary Campbell refused to make a deal with the Prince of Hell Azazel to resurrect her boyfriend. As a result, Sam and Dean Winchester were not born to prevent the Apocalypse from happening.

Geography
With the Apocalypse having happened, the Earth has been transformed into a barren wasteland littered with the bodies of angels, demons, and humans. Large angel blade-like spikes can be seen protruding from the ground with bodies impaled on them, while the skies crackle with red lightning. In other places, the world still has forests with small colonies containing the few surviving humans.

Background
"It's Earth. But this Earth is locked in eternal war between Heaven and Hell. There are armies of angels fighting hordes of demons, and the few humans that remain are caught in between."

- Castiel

It shared the same history as the Main Universe until 1973: John Winchester was killed by the Prince of Hell Azazel, who offered Mary Campbell a deal to bring John back in exchange for permission to enter her house in ten years. Unlike in the Main Universe, Mary refused the deal and John remained dead. Mary spent the rest of her life alone and regretting her decision. As a result, Sam and Dean Winchester never came to exist.

In this reality, Heaven and Hell go head to head in a war starting in 2010. With Sam and Dean Winchester not existing here, they were unable to prevent the Apocalypse. In this world, the archangel Michael defeated and killed Lucifer in combat, making him the victor. According to Bobby Singer, when Lucifer and his demons emerged from Hell, the humans believed that angels were there to help them, but instead they began to wage a war of extermination upon the human race after defeating Lucifer and his armies.

By 2017, most of the human race is gone and the Earth is a desolate wasteland. The angels continue their war of extermination upon the human race, determined to wipe them out. Only a small number of human colonies remain and they are all targets for destruction by the angels.

Season 12
While his mother Kelly Kline goes into labor, the Nephilim Jack opens a rift that leads to this alternate universe. His protector Castiel falls into it and meets Bobby Singer there. He manages to escape and show this world to Sam and Dean. When Lucifer arrives in hopes of claiming his son, Sam, Dean, Castiel and Crowley decide to use this portal as a means to lock Lucifer away.

Crowley chooses to sacrifice himself as part of a ritual that will seal the rift. Unfortunately, Lucifer manages to escape and kill Castiel. He is forced back into the rift when Mary Winchester attacks him and both end up trapped.

Season 13
In Lost & Found, in the new world Mary tries to run from Lucifer who easily keeps up with her, reminding Mary that he can fly so she can't outrun him. Mary challenges Lucifer to kill her and he agrees, throwing Mary towards a sword sticking up out of the ground. However, at the last moment, Lucifer telekinetically stops Mary's fall. Grabbing Mary, Lucifer suggests that he needs her alive.

In The Rising Son, Mary follows Lucifer across the wasteland while doubting their chances of escaping. When Lucifer expresses his concern for his son's well being, Mary doesn't believe he could care about raising kids. After attempting to explain himself, Lucifer decides she simply doesn't know him. A bomb is seen flying towards them and Lucifer covers himself using his leather jacket. Once the smoke dissipates he finds Mary gone. He finds her about to be killed by a hunter and promptly punches the hunter through the chest, killing him. Lucifer complains about Mary running away again and suggests that they should be working together in order to reunite with their respective sons. When Mary argues that she does not wish to help Lucifer win, Lucifer forces her to comply by causing her to convulse in pain.



The two continue walking along the wasteland until Mary complains about being tired. Lucifer doesn't let her rest, pointing out that she is the reason they are here and it's not his fault she's a "wimpy human". The two are interrupted by the arrival of a group of angels in search of a creature from Hell. Lucifer jokingly suggests they are referring to Mary to which the angel replies with "False!" When Lucifer tells them who he is, the angel again replies with "False!" since the Lucifer of their universe had been slain by the archangel Michael.



When the angels prepare to smite Lucifer, Lucifer angrily snaps his fingers and obliterates them. He and Mary are soon after approached by the Archangel Michael himself, who is surprised to see his brother alive until he learns they are from another reality. Lucifer thinks this Michael is a knockoff of the one he left in The Cage, to which Michael responds by explaining what he did to his own Lucifer. Michael wishes to do the same thing again, leading Lucifer to punch him in the face. The two archangels get into a fist fight while Mary watches. Michael quickly gains the upper hand by twisting Lucifer's arm. When Lucifer asks if Michael plans on killing him, Michael tells him he will keep him alive because he needs him.

In War of the Worlds, Lucifer is shown being bound inside a cage full of spikes used to torture him. Michael also reads his mind and discovers the world Lucifer left behind is a paradise he wishes to visit himself. Michael tells Lucifer that once he is done using him, he will abandon Lucifer inside this cage knowing it is the thing Lucifer fears the most, as it reminds Lucifer of the Cage in Hell. Lucifer is taken out of the cage temporarily to be used in a ritual to create a rift that will take Michael back to Lucifer's world. Lucifer is shocked to learn that the Kevin Tran of this universe is working with Michael and is the one to perform the spell. Lucifer questions Kevin's decision to serve a monster, but Kevin retorts that Lucifer is the monster since he is Satan, and Michael is the closest thing to God and being a prophet Kevin is obligated to serve him.

When Kevin reveals an ingredient needed to power the spell is the grace of an archangel, Michael extracts a portion of Lucifer's grace and gives it to Kevin, intent on leaving the rest inside Lucifer for future use. Kevin activates the spell and a rift is formed, but Lucifer makes a quick run for it and succeeds in passing through alone. The rift closes behind him. After returning to his world, Lucifer makes contact with his resurrected brother Castiel and tells him of the invading Michael before they are captured by Asmodeus, the current Ruler of Hell. Asmodeus then makes plans to locate and procure Jack if there was truth about the invading Michael.

In The Bad Place, Lucifer's son Jack tried mastering his powers before making contact with a dreamwalker named Derek Swan in order to see other worlds. Jack's effort prove somewhat successful as he able to see the alternate reality and Mary Winchester being held prisoner begging for aid. Sometime later, he is able to show Mary's sons this sight and they set out to track down another dreamwalker, Kaia Nieves. After saving her from angels and threatening her until she was turned to their side, Jack and Kaia were able to combine their powers and navigate through the dimensional plane until they found the world Mary was in. Due to Kaia flashing between Apocalypse World and the Bad Place, the Winchesters were sent to the Bad Place while Jack was sent to Apocalypse World.

In Wayward Sisters, when Kaia rescues the Winchesters from the Bad Place alongside Claire Novak, Sam asks Kaia where Jack is. Kaia tells Sam that she thinks Jack is in "the other world" with their mother.

In Devil's Bargain due to learning of Michael from Castiel, the Winchesters call upon Donatello Redfield to open a rift to Apocalypse World to rescue Jack and Mary from the danger there using the Demon Tablet. Asmodeus is able to trick Donatello into telling him what they are up to and places Donatello under his control to report to him. Donatello is able to find the spell on the tablet while Asmodeus prepares for the upcoming invasion by getting an Archangel Blade and Gabriel.

In Good Intentions, the Winchesters and Castiel attempt to open a rift into the Apocalypse World using the spell Donatello translated, but learn that he has been corrupted by a combination of the power of the Demon Tablet and his soulless state. Castiel is able to strip the spell from Donatello's mind, leaving Donatello brain-dead. Castiel expresses confidence that they are facing a war with Michael and must do whatever it takes to survive and win.

In the Apocalypse World, it is revealed Jack has been captured by Michael who allows Zachariah to attempt to manipulate Jack's mind so that he will help them, but fails as the latter sees through the trick. Jack is subsequently defeated and imprisoned by Michael who places him in a cell with Mary. Jack and Mary are able to escape from Michael's fortress as Michael sends his forces after them. The two escapees soon meet up with Bobby Singer who takes them in after learning of Mary's identity.

Bobby takes them back to his colony where he reveals that the angels are waging a war of extermination upon the humans and are winning. After locating Jack, the angels, led by Zachariah, attack. The humans and Jack are able to dispatch all of the attacking angels, including Zachariah and earning Jack acceptance for his help in the battle. After killing Zachariah, Jack recognizes that humanity in Apocalypse World is in danger of extinction and decides that the only way to truly save it is for Jack to kill Michael.

In The Thing, the Winchesters succeed in gathering all of the ingredients to the ritual that will allow them to open a rift to Apocalypse World for twenty-four hours. With the rift open, Dean travels through with Arthur Ketch to rescue Mary and Jack.

In Bring 'em Back Alive, Dean and Arthur arrive in a snowy forest in Apocalypse World and witness a group of angels executing human prisoners. To Dean's shock, amongst them is Charlie Bradbury who is a high-ranking member of the resistance that has been formed by Mary and Jack in the months since the Attack on the Human Colony. The Prison Camp Commander has Charlie taken to his camp for interrogation to discover information on the resistance.

Witnessing this and still feeling guilt over the murder of his own Charlie Bradbury, Dean becomes intent on rescuing Charlie. Following an encounter with a bounty hunter, Dean becomes poisoned, but is saved by Arthur who he is able to convince to help him. Having learned the location of the Silo from the bounty hunter, Dean and Arthur launch an attack on the camp as Charlie is about to be executed. Armed with angel-killing bullets taken from the bounty hunter, the two men liberate the camp and rescue Charlie while killing all but the commander who flees.

Returning to the rift, Dean explains their mission to Charlie who becomes convinced of Dean's sincerity by the sight of the rift. With Mary and Jack fighting in Des Moines last Charlie knew and the rift closing, Arthur orders Dean to return to the Main Universe while he remains behind with Charlie to find Mary and Jack and coordinate with the resistance for Dean's inevitable return with reinforcements. As Dean leaves, the camp commander appears with more angels and engages Arthur and Charlie in battle.

During Beat the Devil, Sam, Dean, Rowena MacLeod, Gabriel, and Castiel manage to capture Lucifer and use his grace to open a rift. They saved two humans from vampires and are told where the human resistance was located and began to travel. On Earth, Lucifer broke free and was sent to Apocalypse World by Rowena, forcing the witch to prolong the rift's opening. In Exodus, the Winchesters try to implore Mary and Jack to leave but they insisted on saving the world from Michael. Sam came up with the idea to transport everyone to the prime world until they came up with a way to defeat the Archangel.

As the group were evacuating the humans from Apocalypse World through the rift, Michael made his entrance by killing many humans in his arrival. Michael greeted his enemies as his appearance shocked them at finally seeing him, Lucifer stepped forward and attacked him but was promptly overpowered by a mocking Michael. Michael tried to approached the Winchesters and was surprised as he saw Gabriel. Gabriel told Sam and Dean to retreat as he engaged Michael who readied an Archangel Blades, the two fought and although Gabriel briefly held his own, Michael quickly beat Gabriel and killed him. Michael tried to go after the Winchesters as they retreated but to no avail.

Afterwards, Michael was seen talking with Lucifer as they were making a deal to get to the other world. He was skeptical of Lucifer's trustworthiness but the latter told Michael of the ingredients for the ritual as he asked what he wanted. Lucifer wanted his son while Michael wanted everything else and questioned if they had a deal.

In Let the Good Times Roll, Michael and Lucifer travel to the Main Universe, abandoning Apocalypse World entirely. Michael appears to leave his armies behind in favor of only going with Lucifer. Following Lucifer's death, Michael is left loose upon the Main Universe in the body of his true vessel Dean Winchester.

Travelers

 * Castiel
 * Sam Winchester
 * Dean Winchester
 * Crowley
 * Lucifer
 * Mary Winchester
 * Jack
 * Arthur Ketch
 * Gabriel

Travelers

 * Bobby Singer
 * Charlie Bradbury
 * Maggie
 * Ryan
 * Michael
 * Dozens of resistance members

Archangels

 * Michael
 * Lucifer
 * Gabriel

Angels

 * Angel Commander
 * Zachariah
 * Zachariah's Henchmen
 * Prison Camp Angels
 * Executioner Angel
 * Balthazar
 * Balthazar's Army
 * Prison Camp Commander
 * Road Attackers
 * Castiel
 * Arthur and Charlie's Captors

Demons

 * Tempter Demons

Princes of Hell

 * Azazel

Primordial Entities

 * God

Vampires

 * Tunnel Vampires

Hunters

 * Bobby Singer
 * Mary Campbell
 * Unnamed Hunter
 * Bounty Hunter
 * Maggie
 * Floyd

Prophets

 * Kevin Tran

Regular Humans

 * Charlie Bradbury
 * Bobby Singer's colony
 * John Winchester
 * Linda Tran
 * San Antonio colony
 * Donald Trump

Appearances

 * Season 12
 * All Along the Watchtower
 * Season 13
 * Lost & Found
 * The Rising Son
 * War of the Worlds
 * The Bad Place
 * Wayward Sisters
 * Devil's Bargain
 * Good Intentions
 * The Thing
 * Bring 'em Back Alive
 * Unfinished Business
 * Beat the Devil
 * Exodus
 * Let the Good Times Roll 

Major Changes

 * Mary says no to Azazel, which means John stays dead and Sam, Dean and Adam are never born. As a result, Sam and Dean are not around to stop the Apocalypse.
 * Bobby Singer and Charlie Bradbury are still alive.
 * Michael is much more powerful than the one from the Main Universe and much more ruthless.
 * Michael isn't trapped in Lucifer's Cage nor insane.
 * Lucifer was killed by Michael.
 * According to the alternate Kevin Tran, there is no God to serve in the alternate universe and that Michael is effectively the new God.
 * Zachariah was still alive in 2017 and using a different vessel.
 * Balthazar was still alive in 2018 and working for Michael.
 * Kevin Tran was still alive in 2018 and working for Michael.
 * Castiel was still alive in 2018 and was Michael's best torturer. He spoke with a German/Russian accent.
 * Bobby Singer didn't live in Sioux Falls.
 * The vampires of this universe have devolved into more bestial creatures due to the lack of humans in the world.
 * The angels are waging a war of extermination upon the surviving human population who are living in scattered colonies that are slowly being destroyed.

Trivia

 * This universe is similar to the alternate universe of 2014, since both universes depict the world being ravaged by war involving at least one archangel.
 * This is the fourth known alternate universe on the show with the one in The End, The French Mistake, and My Heart Will Go On being the first three.
 * The Apocalypse World is the alternate universe with the most appearances.
 * This is the second alternate universe to feature an alternate Archangel, with The End being the first one.
 * The giant spikes found in this world are actually giant angel blades. When they are seen particularly close up, its clear that they do in fact have the shape of giant angel blades.
 * This world has many titles; Dean calls it "Mad Max World" in All Along the Watchtower, Lucifer called it "Bizarro World" in The Rising Son, Jack gave its title in The Bad Place, Sam referred to this world as "Earth-2" and Asmodeus refers to it as "Michael-land", because of the threat from Michael in the episode Devil's Bargain.
 * Until 1973, this world and the Main Universe shared the same history. The moment of divergence was when Azazel offered Mary Campbell a deal to bring her boyfriend back. In this world, Mary rejected the deal while the Main Universe Mary took it.
 * Crowley was the first visitor of the main world to die. He is the first deceased visitor, the second being Gabriel.
 * Sam briefly died after being attacked by vampires until Lucifer resurrected him.
 * It is unknown what became of Henry Winchester as there was no living descendent of his alive that he could travel to.
 * In Let the Good Times Roll, its shown that this world had both a Donald Trump and the reality show The Apprentice. After learning that Donald Trump is President in the Main Universe, Bobby Singer calls him "that idjit from The Apprentice."