Lucifer

"You know why God cast me down? Because I loved him. More than anything. And then God created...you. The little...hairless apes. And then he asked all of us to bow down before you—to love you more than him. And I said, "Father...I can't." I said, "These human beings are flawed, murderous!" And for that...God had Michael cast me into Hell. Now, tell me...does the punishment fit the crime? Especially when I was right? Look at what 6 billion of you have done to this thing. And how many of you blame me for it?"

- Lucifer, speaking to Dean

Lucifer, also known as The Devil and/or Satan, is a fallen archangel. He is the former ruler of Hell and the creator of demons, seen by them as a father figure. As the second-born archangel, he is the younger brother of Michael and the older brother of Raphael and Gabriel. According to Gabriel, he was God's favorite celestial, but when God asked for all angels to bow down to humanity, Lucifer refused. He waged a war against God but was banished to Hell by Michael. All of Azazel's actions were motivated with the goal of eventually releasing Lucifer.

Since he is an angel, Lucifer must have the permission of any human he wishes to use as his vessel, as he can not forcefully possess a person. Being an archangel, Lucifer possesses much more power than any normal angel and also every demon, most of whom deify him.

He was finally freed and allowed to roam the Earth when the final seal (the death of Lilith) was broken by Sam. Freed from his cage, he took action to bring about the Apocalypse and cleanse the Earth (aka "The last perfect handiwork of God") of human beings (the flawed creation). Even after Lucifer was able to possess his true vessel, Sam's love for his brother Dean allowed Sam to regain control of his body, and seal himself, Lucifer, Michael, and Adam Milligan in Lucifer's Cage.

Personality
Lucifer was once the most beautiful and beloved angel in all of existence. God loved Lucifer the most of all his angels. Because of his elevated status among the other angels, Lucifer was very proud. When humanity was created, he was unwilling to accept that he was no longer God's favorite. When God commanded all those of Heaven to love his new creation more than himself, Lucifer refused. Lucifer pleaded: "Father, I can't. These human beings are flawed. Murderous!" Lucifer continued his disobedience, asking Michael to stand by his side in his rebellion against God's orders. Michael refused Lucifer's request, and under God's command, Michael cast Lucifer into Hell.

Naturally, being cast out of Heaven enraged Lucifer, and he struck back by tempting and twisting the soul of a human woman, Lilith. After completely stripping her of her humanity, her soul was transformed into the very first demon. Because of this unforgivable blasphemy against God, Lucifer was further punished by being placed into an additional solitary imprisonment within Hell. He remained there in isolation for a millenium. Lucifer's long term goal was to eventually be freed from the Cage, eradicate humanity, and restore Earth to its original "untainted" glory. It is suggested that Lucifer only uses demons as servants and would eradicate all of them as well, because, despite them being his creations, he considers demons to be even less worthy than humans. Proof of this is shown when he casually kills dozens of them.

Lucifer claims that he never lies, because he does not have to. He promised both his vessels, Nick and Sam, that he would be honest with them. He also said that he sympathizes with his vessels, both of whom are victims like himself. He went to some lengths to get Sam's acceptance, sparing Dean's life once, and allowing Sam revenge against some of the demons that controlled his life. Despite this, Lucifer has been proven to mislead on occasion, suggesting that this was more of a ploy to gain trust, rather than an actual commitment, and he would bend this rule when it's to his advantage.

Lucifer shows concern for his fellow angels, though it is the archangels he loves most. He captured Castiel and admired the angel's loyalty in refusing to reveal the presence of his friends. He invited Castiel to join him, and when Castiel refused, Lucifer respected his decision. Lucifer was remorseful when forced to kill Gabriel and disappointed when Michael berated him. When preparing to fight his older sibling in their pre-destined battle, Lucifer pleaded with Michael to "walk off the chessboard," but Michael remained determined to fulfill his destiny and serve God. Even so, when Castiel striked Michael with holy fire, Lucifer was outraged by the attack on his brother and obliterated Castiel.

Gabriel criticized Lucifer, describing his actions as "one great big temper tantrum." Death and Crowley both made similar observations, as they have both called him a bratty and petulant child with daddy issues. Nonetheless, Lucifer sees himself as a tragic figure who was punished for being right. He refuses to accept any blame for his actions and suggests that God intentionally made Lucifer the way he is, asserting that "God wanted the Devil."

Lucifer is also highly cruel and barbaric to those who get in his way, and despite his claims of being the victim, he has no qualms about killing anything or anyone, even if he has no true reason for killing them. For example, he barbarically massacred all the pagan gods (except for Kali, who was rescued and escaped), simply because they plotted against him, despite the fact that they posed no real threat to him.

Powers and Abilities
As an archangel, Lucifer is one of the most powerful beings to exist, the only beings said to be more powerful than him are God, Death and Michael, though he showed no fear when facing the latter. The immensity of his power was further shown by how an improper human vessel, Nick, decayed greatly as a result of containing him.


 * Nigh-Omnipotence - Being the second oldest archangel, Lucifer is incredibly powerful. As only God and Death can defeat him with certainty, Lucifer has incalculable supernatural power. He can even slay ancient pagan deities with ease, despite using an imperfect and decaying vessel. With Sam as his vessel, he can use the full extent of his powers. Unlike most characters, the extent of his powers is not limited by his presence, as such giving them a near infinite range.
 * Immortality - As an angel, Lucifer has an infinitely long lifespan. Time does not degrade his vessel, like with all celestial beings. His vessel is unaffected by diseases and toxins. He does not tire, and does not require food, water, oxygen, or sleep to sustain his vessel. On one occasion, Castiel clearly says about killing Lucifer, "It's foolish, it can't be done", and later calls the task "insane". However, an archangelic blade can kill him, as can God or Death.
 * Angelic Possession - Like all angels Lucifer is required to use a vessel on Earth, as Zachariah emphasizes. And he needs the vessel's permission, as with all angels. Because of the immensity of his power, he must use a vessel descended from Cain or Abel, or it will begin to decay.
 * Invulnerability - Lucifer's vessel is impervious to damage and injury, except when harmed by an archangel blade, God or Death, supernatural weapons of significant power, or his archangel brethren. Kali, the most powerful of the gods at the gathering of the pagan deities, tried to harm him with a pyrokinetic attack, but it had no effect and Lucifer simply smiled at her attempt at harming him, showing him to be unaffected by extreme temperatures. The Colt caused him initial pain, but he soon recovered, though it should be noted that his temporary vessel was decaying at the time.
 * Cosmic Awareness - Lucifer has immense awareness of everything, as Sam has said, "I'm sure he knows a butload we don't". He knows spells capable of binding the Horsemen to him, but he, according to Chuck, didn't know about the Impala.
 * Superhuman Strength - As an archangel, Lucifer endows his vessel with immense superhuman strength, sufficient enough to having slaughtered ancient pagan deities with his bare hands with minor effort. As Gabriel predicted, Lucifer "turned them into finger paint." Lucifer went on a rampage during which he brutally ripped the other gods to shreds, beating them to death and tearing off their limbs through sheer force. He was able to knock out Kali with one punch, sending her into the air and across the room. This makes him among the strongest beings in all of existence. As the second oldest archangel, he's significantly stronger than any other angel as well as all demons, spirits, humans, and earthly monsters, including the alphas. He was also able to casually overpower his younger brother Gabriel, an archangel like him. Humans are powerless against him in terms of physical might; he once effortlessly threw Dean into the Impala with great force and literally beat him to a bloody pulp, nearly killing him. Chuck indicated that Dean only survived because Castiel healed him. Only Michael is his certain equal and possible superior in strength.
 * Regeneration - If Lucifer's vessel receives any physical damage, the wound will completely heal instantaneously. When shot with the Colt, for example, the bullet hole healed in under a minute. Interestingly, the ability does not reverse the decay caused to Nick by Lucifer's power. Lucifer is unaffected by natural diseases and illnesses.
 * Shapeshifting - Lucifer can change his form regardless of being inside a vessel or otherwise. Lucifer can change his shape into any person he wanted, similar to Gabriel's ability; Lucifer once took the form of a Reaper to lure Castiel away.
 * Teleportation - Lucifer can travel anywhere instantly without occupying the space in between. However, once he is in his cage, he cannot get out.
 * Power Negation - Lucifer could prevent lesser supernatural creatures from using their powers, as Baldur and Kali where unable to teleport either themselves or the Winchesters when he arrived at the motel where they were hiding.
 * Telepathy - Lucifer had complete access to Sam's memories, thoughts, and emotions while he possessed him. Lucifer describes Sam's mind as a "grapefruit."
 * Advanced Telekinesis - Lucifer can impart kinetic energy on matter with his mind. He is extremely proficient, being able to rip pagan deities apart with this power.
 * Dream Walking - Lucifer has the ability to enter a person's dreams. Even without a human vessel, Lucifer was able to speak with Nick in his dreams while taking on the appearance of his deceased wife. He demonstrated this again when he spoke to Sam in his dreams while taking on the appearance of Jessica Moore.
 * Cryokinesis - Lucifer can manipulate and generate cold. He froze a pane of glass by merely breathing on it.
 * Supernatural Perception - Lucifer can perceive the true form of beings invisible to the human eye. Lucifer was able to see the true form of Death when he raised the Horseman out of his prison.
 * Weather Manipulation - When Lucifer was released, he altered the weather by creating severe winds and causing hurricanes and tornadoes across the world. He made the entire city of Detroit's temperature drop simply through his presence.
 * Biokinesis - Lucifer killed Castiel by speeding up his molecules to the point where it caused him to explode simply by snapping his fingers.
 * Reality Warping - Although never displayed in person, Lucifer reminded Gabriel that he taught him everything he knew about using this power, when the latter tried to use it to kill him. Upon his escape the Koreans made their first successful nuclear test.
 * Spell Casting - Lucifer was able to bind the Horsemen to his presence with a spell, controlling their actions to a moderate degree. He also performed a ritual sacrifice of demons to release Death from his coffin. He also knew how to ward angels from the Angel Tablet.
 * Resurrection - Lucifer can easily revive dead people. He is also said to be able to bring back deceased angels. In The Devil You Know, Crowley noted Lucifer can also resurrect dead demons.
 * Terrakinesis - Lucifer could generate earthquakes through his mere presence on the earth; he was able to cause them at a colossal range, creating several across the whole world while he was in America.
 * Precognition - Lucifer could see and accurately predict the future, but he could not see the whole picture; he knew he would possess Sam in Detroit and told him the first time he met him.
 * Torturing - Lucifer is skilled in torture, both physical and spiritual. He tortured Lilith's spirit to the point where he turned her into the original demon. He also tortured Sam to the point where the mental damage would have killed him, had Castiel not absorbed the damage.
 * White Light -  He once captured Castiel by disabling him with a burst of white light.
 * Psychic Projection - Despite being trapped in the cage, he could still communicate to beings on Earth, as he did with Azazel. Sam's hallucinations were also potentially a form of the archangel's projection.

Weaknesses
Although incredibly powerful in his own right, even being the second oldest archangel in existence, Lucifer has a few weaknesses in comparison to his archangelic brethren.
 * Archangels - His closest brothers can harm him, like Gabriel did with his telekinesis when Lucifer almost killed Kali. However, he is significantly stronger than Gabriel. Although Lucifer potentially rivals Michael, a selection of angels (like Castiel and Zachariah) recognize that if Lucifer fought Michael, Michael would inevitably win again. He has even fewer weaknesses than his archangel brethren.
 * Lucifer's Cage - God's own creation, powerful enough to imprison Lucifer himself, as God created the cage specifically designed to bind Lucifer's power, since Lucifer has been in their since he created Lilith.
 * Archangel Blade - Designed specifically to kill Archangels.

Origins
Lucifer was the second archangel that God created, and was then raised by his older brother Michael in Heaven. Lucifer was at one time the favorite of God's angels, and his name translates to "The Light Bearer." It was stated that he once had a strong relationship with God and was fiercely loyal and devoted to him. When God created mankind and commanded that his angels honor humans by bowing to them and loving them even more than God himself, Lucifer refused to do so. Being full of pride, Lucifer refused to bow to a creature that he considered lesser than himself. Eventually Lucifer's arrogance was out of control, to the point that he had even attempted to wage war against God.

After convincing one-third of Heaven's army to join him, Lucifer had then approached his older brother, the archangel Michael, hoping his elder sibling would stand by his side during the rebellion. After Michael rejected Lucifer's request, the elder brother cast Lucifer into Hell under orders from God.

Once in Hell, Lucifer became associated with and was often referred to by the name "Satan." The word "Satan" literally means 'The Adversary' or 'The Accuser.' After Lucifer had been cast out of Heaven but before he was locked into Hell, he had attempted to spite God by twisting and corrupting the soul of a woman into the first demon, Lilith. After this unpardonable insult towards God, Lucifer was further punished by being sealed in an impregnable cage within Hell. Despite being sealed away, he was still considered the ruler of Hell and the god of all demons.

The cage that Lucifer was imprisoned in was designed so that he could never leave or escape it on his own, and it was then further locked with 600 powerful seals. Any 66 of those 600 seals would have to be broken by an outside being in order to free Lucifer. The seals served to bind Lucifer's power and to keep him from escaping his new prison in Hell. Of the 66 seals required to free Lucifer, only 2 of them are required in a specific order. The first seal is quoted by Alastair as, "And it is written, that the first seal shall be broken when a righteous man sheds blood in Hell. As he breaks, so shall it break." The final seal is quoted by Ruby as "And it is written, that the first demon shall be the last seal." Aside from those two seals, any other 64 of the remaining 600 seals will suffice.

In an unspecified time before his imprisonment, Lucifer had possession of the Angel Tablet, which he hid in one of his crypts. He protected it with wards to keep angels away from it. His motives in keeping the tablet, or if keeping it was a task assigned to him, have yet to be revealed.

The Coming of Azazel
During his long imprisonment within the confines of his cage in Hell, Lucifer was served by his many demons, one of the most prominent being his confidant, the Yellow-Eyed Demon known as Azazel. None of them had truly seen Lucifer, as he was locked away in a special part of Hell that had only one entrance kept locked by the 66 seals; this left the vast majority of demons without hope that they would ever find Lucifer and return him to power, save for one demon in particular: Azazel, who eventually escaped to the Earth in search of a way to free Lucifer from Hell.

In 1972, after leaving Hell and wandering the world for years in search of the entrance to Lucifer's Cage, Azazel discovered the location of Lucifer's prison in one of the most ironic of places: a convent. He possessed the body of the chief priest of the church, St. Mary's Convent, in Ilchester, Maryland (the location where Lucifer would eventually be released), and pretended to carry out the priest's current mass, with an audience of eight nuns in attendance. Eventually, the priest's words began to speak of a different Father, Lucifer, and the priest was then revealed to be Azazel, who then proceeded to slaughter the nuns.

After they were dead and the church was left a bloody mess, Azazel, still possessing the priest's body, spoke directly to Lucifer himself, who in turn spoke through the body of a nun. Azazel stated his great relief to hear Lucifer's voice once again after so many ages. Lucifer commended Azazel's unshakeable faith in him and stated that he had done well to find him. Azazel then requested knowledge of what was binding Lucifer in Hell and how he could help Lucifer break free and rise once more. Lucifer then told Azazel that "Lilith will break the seals,' to which Azazel reluctantly agreed, mentioning that releasing her will "not be easy."

Revealing that Lilith would have to be freed from Hell and then sacrificed by a special child with psychic powers strong enough to perform the deed, Lucifer entreated Azazel to devise a way to break this seal and set him free. It is here that Azazel is revealed to be ultimately loyal to Lucifer and that his endgame throughout the series has been the release of Lucifer from Hell. With Lucifer's location now confirmed and knowing what he had to do in order to release him, Azazel departed his meeting with Lucifer with great hope and a plan in mind to fulfill Lucifer's release from Hell.

The Release of Lilith
Armed with the knowledge of the 66 seals, Azazel crafted a plan to break the final seal by finding the prophesized special child that would be strong enough to kill Lilith when the time came. He also devised a plot to break Lilith out of Hell at the right time. In search of the special child spoken of by Lucifer himself, Azazel began to search far and wide for parents sure to bear children with certain psychic abilities if properly activated. To this end, Azazel would typically blackmail the parents of the child in question, by means of quid pro quo, into allowing him to visit the child in question upon the night of their six-month birthday, as he would ordinarily be unable to enter without their permission. What Azazel did not reveal to the parents, however, was that he would bleed into the mouth of the child, feeding them demon blood and activating/creating their psychic powers. He did this with many children, knowing that one day he would have to determine which would be powerful enough in the end to kill Lilith and release Lucifer from Hell.

Azazel finally learned of a way to release Lilith from Hell, by means of a portal connecting the Earth to Hell called a Devil's Gate. After discovering the Devil's Gate to be protected by numerous backups including a one hundred mile Devils Trap set in place by the legendary Samuel Colt and that the key to the gate was the gun created by Colt himself, Azazel began to also search for this key and found another use for the special child he sought: to pass through the barriers Colt had set in place around the Devil's Gate and open the gate itself once the key had been located.

Season 3
The demon Casey claims that demons have a belief system just like humans, but while humans believe in God as a higher power, demons view Lucifer in the same regard. Casey tells Dean Winchester that Lucifer was once an angel, and that his name means "light-bringer." Casey also states that no demon has ever actually seen Lucifer.

The Breaking of the 66 Seals
Dean is dragged into Hell by Lilith's Hellhounds at the end of the third season - this is due to the bargain with the Crossroad Demon to revive Sam in exchange for his soul. Dean spent four months of Earth time in Hell (around 40 years in Hell time) and for the first thirty of those forty years, the chief executioner of Hell, Alastair tortured Dean daily and offered to stop his torture if Dean himself would torture other souls trapped in Hell. Dean refused the offer each time; however, after thirty years of pain and misery, Dean began to crack and finally could take no more, and so he accepted Alastair's offer, getting out of his own torture and taking up torturing other souls for a total of ten years.

Dean did not know that this was the first seal that bound Lucifer in Hell, and that as long as the true first seal remained intact, the others could not be broken. This had been Lilith and Alastair's plan all along: to force Dean, a righteous man, to crack under torture and begin torturing other souls to spare himself from further torment. From the moment Dean first began torturing souls under Alastair's tutelage, the first seal binding Lucifer was at last broken, enabling Lilith and several hundred demons now on Earth to begin breaking others in order to release Lucifer from his prison.

The fourth season of the series chronicles the efforts of Lucifer's demon minions to break the other seals. The seals operated as locks on a door. Some of these included the Rising of the Witnesses, the summoning of Samhain, and the sacrifice of two Reapers under the Solstice moon. Although there were over six hundred seals in place, only sixty-six needed to be broken in order for Lucifer to escape his prison. There was also a stipulation in the initiating and ending of the process of breaking the seals: The first seal and the final seal had to both be satisfied regardless of what other seals were broken. The first seal, which had to be satisfied before the others could then be broken, was the cracking of a righteous man in Hell. Dean broke this seal unknowingly during his imprisonment in Hell, he is rescued soon after, before he is recruited, along with his brother Sam, to fight against Lilith's forces to save the other seals from being broken. As it was nearly impossible to know which Seals Lilith would choose to target, it was also next to impossible to stop her from breaking others.

Sam was also slowly turned into a demon-blood addict by the demon Ruby as she prepared him to fulfill his own secret role in Lucifer's release: carrying out the execution of Lilith and becoming strong enough to take his place as Lucifer's vessel. Finally, near the end of the fourth season, only the true final seal remained: the death of Lilith herself. Lilith had planned out the breaking of the seals, and once sixty-five of them were broken, she prepared to play her own personal role in Lucifer's release, to die in order to ensure the release of her creator and the coming of the Apocalypse.

The Rising of Lucifer
By this point, Dean had been rescued from Hell by the angel Castiel, who had hoped to rescue Dean before he gave into his torture in order to prevent the first seal from being broken, and Sam had honed his demonic powers with the help of Ruby, who had been preparing Sam to be able to battle and kill Lilith (convincing him that this would prevent the final seal from being broken and as an act of revenge for Lilith sending Dean to Hell in the first place). What Ruby did not confide to Sam or his brother, however, was that the truth was just the opposite: Lilith must die, as her death was the final seal necessary to be broken in order to fully release Lucifer, something Lilith herself already knew and was willing to undertake.

By the time Dean realised this and escaped confinement by the angels (who wished to confront the demons and Lucifer in the Apocalypse so as to ultimately defeat them and bring about paradise on Earth), he was too late to warn Sam that killing Lilith would, in fact, ensure Lucifer's release rather than prevent it. Sam was torn for a moment between listening to Dean's cries to stop and Ruby's screams for him to kill Lilith, but when Lilith mocked him, that overrode all else. Sam killed Lilith with his powers, and Ruby then goaded him for having in fact caused the Apocalypse rather than having stopped it, revealing she had been working with Lilith the entire time and that Lucifer himself had foretold that only Sam could kill Lilith. Dean killed Ruby with her own demon-killing knife, but the Winchester brothers watched together in horror as Lilith's blood revealed the mouth of Lucifer's Cage, which began to open, allowing the Devil himself to rise out of his prison.

As the gate to Hell fully opened and Lucifer's true angelic essence began to ascend out of the cage to Earth, the brothers attempted to flee, only to have the chapel's doors slam shut and lock. Seeing that running was futile, they turned and watched in horror as the portal opened and the Devil's piercing true angelic voice rang through the church. Though they fell to the ground in pain, God personally intervened to save the brothers from Lucifer's rising by teleporting them onto a plane passing over Ilchester at that moment, from which they watched as Lucifer's essence shot up into the sky from where St. Mary's Convent stood, blowing it apart. This signalled the beginning of the Apocalypse.

Preparations for the Apocalypse
Now free, Lucifer set out to find a vessel, someone Lucifer could take control of in order to walk the Earth. Lucifer's chosen vessel turned out to be a lonely man named Nick, whose wife and baby were killed by an intruder who broke into their home one night. Lucifer began to manipulate and mentally torture Nick, making him start to see things in his sleep, like mass amounts of blood dripping out of his dead child's crib, hearing his dead child crying through a baby monitor, and making his child's swing move without apparent cause.

Lucifer then appeared in Nick's dream again, taking the form of his dead wife to communicate with him. Lucifer explained to Nick that he needed his permission to take over his body, but Nick refused. Lucifer then told Nick some of his origins, such as how he loved God "too much" and felt that though God created them that He should not be allowed to "toy" with them. He went on to further manipulate Nick, explaining that God didn't do anything to stop the death of his family, making Him either sadistic or meaning that He simply didn't care. Lucifer then tempted Nick, saying that it was God's fault that his family died and that if he allowed him to take over his body, he would make sure justice is served. Nick agreed, and in a burst of bright light, Lucifer took over his vessel, regaining much of his former strength and full corporeal form.

In Good God, Y'all, Lucifer inside his vessel Nick, indirectly creates high-altitude winds, which causes some damage to humans.

In Free To Be You and Me, it was revealed that Sam is Lucifer's true vessel, and that the vessel he now occupies is only an improvisation. Sometime later in "Abandon All Hope..", it is shown that Nick's body is beginning to decompose and deteriorate, as he cannot properly contain Lucifer's angelic essence. Lucifer's physical angelic complexion, as is the case for all archangels, proves overwhelming to a normal human vessel that is not their true, pre-destined vessel (like Sam is for Lucifer). True vessels give archangels a full corporeal body to manifest in while on the Earth. The fact that Lucifer's improvisational vessel is "wearing a bit thin" means that Lucifer would likely be placing a greater focus on finding Sam and somehow obtaining his consent to inhabit his body, in a similar way that the angels seek to obtain Dean's consent to allow the archangel Michael into his body as he is Michael's true vessel.

In The End, Zachariah finds Dean and sends him five years into the future so that Dean can see the repercussions which will follow if he refuses to be Michael's vessel. In the year 2014, Dean travels with the older version of himself, and a group of other hunters, including Castiel, to Detroit to confront the Devil. In this future, Sam consented to serve as a vessel, and the world is ending. Future Dean tries to use the Colt on Lucifer, but the archangel snaps Dean's neck with his foot. Lucifer, wearing Sam, tells the Dean of the past that he does not want to destroy the world, but to rid it of an imperfection. He insists that he was unfairly cast out. Lucifer also tells Dean that Sam will always consent to him in Detroit; no matter what they do, Sam will become his vessel. Zachariah then retrieves Dean and he returns to his current year.

In Abandon All Hope Lucifer is in Carthage, Missouri on a mission to summon Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He manages to trap Castiel inside a ring of Holy Oil, and his demons trap Sam, Dean, Jo, and Ellen. Lucifer speaks to Castiel, asking him whether he came with the Winchesters. Castiel lies that he came alone, but Lucifer is not fooled, though he admires the other angel's loyalty. Castiel asks about his vessel, which is breaking down. Lucifer invites Castiel to join him, reasoning that, as two of Heaven's castoffs, they are on the same side and Heaven will hunt Castiel if they manage to defeat Lucifer. Castiel refuses. Meg approaches her father, asking what to do with the Winchesters, and Lucifer tells her to leave them be, and gives her a reassuring touch.

Lucifer begins conducting the ritual to free Death. The Winchesters locate him, and while Sam distracts him, Dean shoots him through the skull with the Colt. He crumples to the ground, but after a few moments reawakens, and slowly gets to his feet. He punches Dean into a tree, and continues work on the ritual. When Sam asks him about the missing townspeople, Lucifer reveals that the women and children are in the mass grave he has been filling in, and that all the men are possessed. He tries to convince Sam that it was necessary, and insists that Sam should understand what he is doing, as someone who has always been out of place in his own family.

Lucifer completes the ritual by commanding the demons around him to sacrifice themselves. Castiel, who has managed to escape, takes Sam and Dean away. Lucifer sees, but does not interfere. He turns, and greets Death.

In Changing Channels, Gabriel reveals to Dean and Sam that they were, since the birth of humanity, destined to be the vessels of Michael and Lucifer respectively. While noting comparisons between the Winchester brothers and the two archangels, Gabriel states that their relationship mirrors Michael and Lucifer's.

''"Michael -- the big brother, loyal to an absent Father, and Lucifer -- the little brother, rebellious of Daddy's plan. You were born to this, boys. It's your destiny! It was always you! As it is in Heaven, so it must be on Earth. One brother has to kill the other." - ''Gabriel to Dean and Sam Winchester

In Hammer of the Gods, a group of Pagan gods of the supernatural realm gather to discuss the Apocalypse threatening to destroy the Earth while holding the Winchesters captive. Lucifer is tipped off about their meeting by Mercury.

Upon arrival, Lucifer expresses his disgust with the pagan gods' lack of loyalty and obliterates at least 8 of them in a bloody massacre until only Kali and the Winchesters remain. It is here that Gabriel intervenes on their behalf and sends them away before confronting his brother alone.

Gabriel tells Lucifer that he still loves him and that he is on nobody's side but humanity's. He tells Lucifer that he has no legitimate grievance and is merely jealous that humanity replaced him in the foremost of God's affections and that it is time for him to grow up. Gabriel wields his Archangel Blade against Lucifer (one of the few weapons that could truly kill him and his kind) which causes him to remain cautious during their exchange. Gabriel attempts to keep Lucifer distracted with a copy of himself while the real Gabriel tries to sneak up behind him and stab him. Lucifer sees through the charade, however, and turns his brother's own blade upon him, telling him that the trick he just tried to pull amounted to "amateur hocus pocus" and reminding him that Gabriel learnt all of his tricks from him.

After Gabriel died, Lucifer looks down upon his brother's corpse and lightly grieves for his brother's passing, openly weeping. The Winchesters learn in a posthumous message from Gabriel, that they have no chance at all of killing Lucifer without his aid, though they can still trap him back in his cage in Hell if they can acquire the four rings of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Once they possess all of the rings, a plan is formed for Sam to consent to possession by Lucifer and then for him to jump into Lucifer's Cage with the Archangel in tow, a plan which Dean initially is resistant to but ultimately comes to accept the idea after realizing that Sam is now grown up and can make his own choices.

Defeat and Re-imprisonment
In Swan Song, Lucifer is tracked to Detroit, Michigan. Having ingested gallons of Demon Blood, Sam finally consents to Lucifer's possession even though the Devil reveals he already knows of their plan to try to force him back into his cage. Despite this, Sam goes forward with the plan in an agreed proposition with Lucifer: if Sam wins in their struggle for supremacy, he may jump in the hole and take Lucifer with him; but if Lucifer wins, he wins. Sam then says "Yes". The archangel quickly abandons his vessel to become one with Sam Winchester, knocking both out momentarily. This gives Dean the time he needs to open the cage before Sam seemingly recovers and walks toward the cage's mouth only to turn around and reveal that Lucifer is now in control of Sam's body. He closes the cage, takes the rings and vanishes.

Lucifer gathers several members of Azazel's demonic minions before him. Demon-possessed humans from Sam's past that secretly manipulated his entire life as they worked for Azazel just as Brady had done. The Devil decides to "take the gag off" and allow Sam to speak, telling him that he is his true family and that he should embrace their union. Hoping to appease Sam, Lucifer offers an olive branch to him by killing the demon-occupied people such as Sam's prom date, one of his former teachers, and all others present in revenge for their manipulation of Sam's life. Sam is only able to speak as his own reflection and finds himself outmatched by Lucifer.

The next day, Lucifer travels to Stull Cemetery outside Lawrence, Kansas, the place where he is fated to meet his older brother, Michael, who has since gained consent from Adam Milligan for their final confrontation. Lucifer tries to dissuade Michael from their battle and blames their current situation on God, suggesting that they may be able to just walk away. Michael, however, refuses to back down, stating that he must be a "good son" to their Father while chastising Lucifer for not taking any of the blame for what has happened. Michael calls him a monster. Despite telling Michael he'd like to see him try to kill him, Lucifer appears slightly hurt by his comment. Before either can make a move however, Dean Winchester arrives in the Impala and demands to speak to Sam. Michael is annoyed by Dean's audacity and demands that he leave, stating that he has no place on the battlefield now while Lucifer tells him that its whole new level of stupid, even for Dean.

Before he can do anything else however, Castiel hurls a molotov cocktail of burning Holy Oil at him, banishing Michael for several minutes and allowing Dean time to try to reach Sam. Lucifer, outraged that Castiel would strike Michael, snaps his fingers and obliterates Castiel. He then begins to beat Dean but is shot several times by Bobby Singer before he turns and telekinetically snaps Bobby's neck. Continuing his assault on Dean, the Archangel states that he will break every one of Dean's bones and make Sam feel it. Despite the brutal beating he takes, Dean does not resist and merely tells Sam that he will not leave him.

As Lucifer attacks Dean, he glances in the back of the Impala at an old army figure Sam had stuck in the ashtray as a child. The Archangel is then overwhelmed by all of Sam's happy memories of his life with Dean leading up to now, with his love for his brother finally breaking Lucifer's grip on Sam's body, allowing Sam to take control of the Devil at last. Sam tells Dean that everything is going to be all right and that he now has Lucifer under his control before tossing the Horsemen's rings to the ground and reciting the incantation to open Lucifer's Cage. As Sam goes to the mouth of the pit to throw himself in, Michael reappears and demands a fight with Lucifer, stating that it is his destiny to do so.

Sam disregards this however and, with one last look at Dean, outstretches his arms and begins to fall backwards into the mouth of the cage. Michael attempts to stop him but only ends up being pulled down into the pit alongside his brother as the portal shuts behind them in a thunderous flash of white light, leaving behind only the red-hot rings of the Horsemen. Dean, after being healed by Castiel, who also resurrects and heals Bobby after being restored himself by God, returns to the home of Lisa Braeden and sits down to dinner with her and Ben. The street light flickers outside her house and there, standing beneath the light and watching them, is Sam.

Season 6
Although Sam was brought back from the cage, albeit without his soul, Lucifer and Michael were still inside the cage. Castiel said that they were in the deepest corner of Hell and that they were probably torturing Sam's soul, having nothing else to do and blaming him for their imprisonment. Although they both were locked up, it is still possible to release the two of them. Raphael was attempting to break Michael and Lucifer free to continue God's plan. There was a Civil War in Heaven. Raphael's side wanted to continue the Apocalypse by setting Michael and Lucifer free, while Castiel's side wants to prevent it from happening again. At the end of season six, Raphael's side loses the civil war as Castiel has killed Raphael (and soon after his followers) after imbibing all the souls of Purgatory into his vessel (along with the Leviathans).

Season 7
Lucifer is still in the cage, but appears as a hallucination, due to Sam's memories of his time in Hell. This first happens with Sam in Meet The New Boss, where Lucifer tells Sam that the world he has been in for the last year is not real and Sam is still in the cage. A new form of torture which Lucifer prides himself on as being his best yet.

In Hello, Cruel World, Lucifer continues to taunt Sam on how this world isn't real. He points out that he made this world, because it was the most believable. Later Sam confronts Lucifer and asks him why doesn't he end this dream world to which Lucifer responds by saying that he will only end it when Sam can no longer take it anymore. Lucifer later changes into Dean and tricks Sam into leaving Bobby's house.

Once at the destination, he reveals himself to prove he can control Sam's "dream". Although Lucifer is proven to be a hallucination when Dean explains to Sam how to tell the difference between hallucinations and reality. Despite being proven a figment of Sam's imagination, Lucifer informs Sam that he's not going anywhere.

Lucifer is heard but not seen in The Girl Next Door and Defending Your Life.

In How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters, Sam and Bobby talk about how things are going. Bobby asks about Sam's mental state and Sam comments that he has it under control while touching his scar. Bobby doesn't believe this but lets it go.

In Death's Door, Sam is seen using his scar to keep Lucifer at bay while dealing with the state of Bobby Singer after being shot in the head by the Leviathan leader Dick Roman.

Lucifer returns in Repo Man, once again trying to tempt Sam into acknowledging his existence, thereby "letting him in" [to his head] again. He eventually succeeds after 'helping' Sam during the case. The episode ends with him once again gleefully tormenting Sam while Dean sleeps after a hard day's work.

Although not seen, he continued to torture Sam in Out With The Old causing him insomnia.

He again returns in The Born-Again Identity where his torture got too much and put Sam in a mental institute, Lucifer continued to torture him, linking it to when they were in the pit, making him hallucinate maggots in his food, throwing fire crackers at him to keep him up. Eventually, it got too much, and Sam snapped, his mind was so broken that it couldn't be healed (reaching the point where all people that Sam saw was Lucifer). However, in a last act to redeem himself for his previous actions in The Man Who Knew Too Much and Meet The New Boss, Castiel transferred the hallucinations from Sam's mind to his own mind. Lucifer, uncaring about the change, just calmy said, "Hello brother" and presumably went on to torture Castiel as he did to Sam.

Castiel later reveals in Reading Is Fundamental that Lucifer's appearance to him was more of an "aftertaste" of Sam's experiences, which quickly wore off, eventually replaced by visions of everything Castiel had done wrong.

Season 8
In Goodbye Stranger, while Lucifer himself doesn't appear, it is revealed that he has a series of crypts that are buried around the world containing important things, including the angel tablet. Only those closest to him know their locations, including Azazel, so when Crowley went after the tablet, he tortured Meg for the locations as she knew from her time with Azazel. Eventually Dean and Castiel found the tablet in an angel-proofed box in one of his crypts. By the end of Sacrifice he along with Michael and Metatron are the only angels left as the rest were cast out of Heaven and left powerless and mortal.

Appearances

 * Season 3
 * Sin City  (Mentioned only)


 * Season 4
 * Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester (Mentioned only)
 * It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester (Mentioned only)
 * Lucifer Rising


 * Season 5
 * Sympathy for the Devil
 * Free To Be You and Me
 * The End
 * Abandon All Hope...
 * Hammer of the Gods
 * Swan Song


 * Season 6
 * The Man Who Would Be King (Flashbacks)


 * Season 7
 * Meet The New Boss (Sam's hallucination)
 * Hello, Cruel World (Sam's hallucination)
 * The Girl Next Door (Voice only)
 * Defending Your Life (Voice only)
 * Repo Man (Sam's hallucination)
 * The Born-Again Identity (Sam's and Castiel's hallucinations respectively)


 * Season 8
 * Goodbye Stranger (Mentioned only)
 * The Great Escapist (Mentioned only)

Trivia

 * Series creator Eric Kripke has jokingly compared him to a "raging psychotic" version of environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr., with "unlimited power". * A homage to John Milton's Paradise Lost, Lucifer will be portrayed as "gentle, almost sympathetic". Kripke further characterized him as a "Devil who has doubt" and "a lot of affection for God and the angels", and who "speaks really tenderly and gently and...doesn't lie".
 * Kripke reasoned, "He was essentially betrayed, so in some ways he can be viewed sympathetically ... if we can make the angels dicks, Lucifer can be sympathetic."
 * Lucifer is the main antagonist of the Season 5.
 * The way Lucifer killed Baldur is similar to the way, Albert Wesker killed Ozwell E. Spencer in the video game series Resident Evil, in both method and words delivered upon killing their respective victims.
 * Of all the archangels, Lucifer has appeared the most in the series.
 * So far in the series, Lucifer has used two vessels, Nick and Sam Winchester.
 * Lucifer is the only archangel whose name doesn't end with "el" but end with "er". This is because Lucifer is the Latin calque of the Hebrew Heylel.
 * Before Season 5 it was believed that God was the one who locked him in his cage but it was then revealed in Season 5 that it was actually Michael who cast Lucifer into Hell on God's orders.
 * The Devil is known by many names throughout different faiths: Lucifer (Latin for " 'The Morning Star' or 'light bringer'"), The Devil, The Serpent, and Satan (Hebrew for "Adversary").
 * According to Mark Pellegrino in the Season 7 Companion Guide, Lucifer was probably more than just a hallucination and that he was possibly a psychic projection of Lucifer still stuck in The Cage.
 * Lucifer was named one of TV Guide's "Top 60 Villains of All Time"..