Rift

A Rift is a tear in space and time leading from one universe to another.

History
In 1925, insane rogue Man of Letters Diego Avila decided to cleanse the Earth and bring a new paradise. To this end, Diego opened a rift into Yokoth and Glythur's World and summoned Yokoth. Yokoth came through the rift in the form of giant tentacles that enabled Yokoth to take Sandy Porter as her vessel. After Yokoth consumed most of the Men of Letters present, the survivors closed the rift before she could summon Glythur through it. Unable to kill Yokoth, the survivors bound her in their chapter house.

On May 18, 2017, the impending birth of the Nephilim Jack caused his immense powers to open a rift in the backyard of Kelly's cabin between the Main Universe and Apocalypse World. A curious Castiel crossed through the rift where he met the alternate reality Bobby Singer who had been drawn to the location when the rift opening set off "all kinds of alarms" at his colony. Recognizing that Castiel was not like the angels of his world, Bobby filled Castiel in on the history of Apocalypse World before Castiel returned to the Main Universe.

Shortly thereafter, the Winchesters found the cabin and the rift. Castiel explained that the rift was a tear in space and time leading to an alternate reality and reluctantly led the Winchesters through the rift to meet with Bobby. Though Sam and Dean expressed worry about the rift being open, Castiel had faith that Jack would be able to close it after he was born. Bobby provided the Winchesters with a weapon to use against Lucifer, but as he would later tell Mary Winchester, refused to join them in returning to the Main Universe.

Returning to the Main Universe, the Winchesters, Castiel and Crowley devised a plan to finally defeat Lucifer by drawing him through the rift to Apocalypse World and sealing it with Lucifer on the other side. Once Lucifer arrived, the Winchesters led Lucifer through the rift to Apocalypse World where Dean distracted Lucifer and Sam and Crowley performed a ritual to seal the rift. In order to complete the ritual which required the sacrifice of a life, Crowley killed himself with an angel blade, causing the rift to immediately begin to close. However, Lucifer followed the Winchesters back through and killed Castiel. Armed with Enochian Brass Knuckles, Mary Winchester attacked Lucifer and caused him to fall back through the rift. As he fell through, Lucifer grabbed Mary's arm and pulled her with him. Immediately afterwards, the rift sealed, trapping Lucifer and Mary in Apocalypse World.

After dying briefly to talk to the ghosts of Doctor Avery Meadows victims, Dean met with Billie, the new Death who was interested in how Dean slipped between worlds. In exchange for Billie having Jessica help the ghosts move on, Dean explained about the rift and how Jack's birth created it.

After capturing Lucifer, Michael learned about the Main Universe and began desiring to travel to it and take the Main Universe over. In order to do so, Michael brought in the Prophet Kevin Tran who was able to find a ritual on the Apocalypse World Angel Tablet that would open a rift, but required archangel grace as the final ingredient. Michael stole some of Lucifer's grace, allowing Kevin to open a rift to the Main Universe within Michael's fortress. The shockwave generated by the rift opening gave Lucifer the chance to break free of his captors and jump through. To Michael's anger, the rift closed once Lucifer went through, the ritual having been only enough to let one person through before the rift closed again. The rift dumped Lucifer on a busy city street in the Main Universe with none of the nearby pedestrians appearing to notice his unexpected arrival.

After leaving the Winchesters, Jack began experimenting with his powers in an effort to open a rift to Apocalypse World and rescue Mary. However, Jack discovered that he needed a dreamwalker to actually see the alternate reality in order to open the rift. Jack approached Derek Swan who painted the worlds he saw, including the Apocalypse World. Jack was able to convince Derek to help him, but Derek proved to not be strong enough to hold the connection long enough for Jack to succeed. Instead, Derek pointed Jack towards fellow dreamwalker Kaia Nieves who was the most powerful dreamwalker Derek had ever met.

Jack broke Kaia out of a psychiatric facility, but she fled rather than help him moments before Jack was found by the Winchesters. After Jack explained what he had been up to, the Winchesters sought out Kaia, rescuing her from two angels. Kaia, who only saw an alternate reality she called the Bad Place while Dream Walking, refused to help at first due to her fear, but was forced to help by Dean. Jack was later able to convince Kaia to cooperate by showing her the vision of Apocalypse World that he had seen through Derek.

Under attack by more angels, the Winchesters, Jack and Kaia took cover in a derelict cargo ship in the Larsen Bros. Shipyard. Out of options, Kaia suggested traveling to Apocalypse World as an escape plan and combined powers with Jack in an effort to open the rift. Under attack from the angels who began breaking through the angel warding, Kaia suddenly began flashing between the Bad Place and Apocalypse World as she and Jack completed the process. Finally, the two succeeded in opening a rift, disintegrating the attacking angels in the process. When the rift opened, it consumed everyone on the ship with a flash of light that, due to Kaia flashing between Apocalypse World and the Bad Place, transported Kaia to the roadside nearby, Jack to Apocalypse World at Mary's feet and the Winchesters to the Bad Place. The rift itself ended up opened to the Bad Place rather than Apocalypse World as intended.

Over the next few days, the rift between the Main Universe and the Bad Place remained open. During that time, at least one pack of Cloaked Figures made it through to the Main Universe. Worried about the Winchesters disappearance and further concerned by a vision Patience Turner had, Jody Mills, Claire Novak and Alex set out to try to find their missing friends, eventually finding Kaia. After an attack by a Cloaked Figure and Kaia's explanation of the creature's origins, it was realized that the rift must still be open for the creature to have made it to the Main Universe.

Fleeing an attack by more Cloaked Figures, Jody, Patience, Claire and Alex met up with Sheriff Donna Hanscum. With the help of Kaia and Donna, the group was able to determine the location of the rift, further aided by finding the Impala still parked in the shipyard. Jody and Donna located the rift, but an attack by the Cloaked Figures prevented them from going through immediately. By the time they returned, the rift had gotten smaller and they realized that was closing. Under attack and running out of time, Jody, Donna, Patience and Alex held off the pack of Cloaked Figures while Claire and Kaia passed through the rift to the Bad Place where they found and rescued the Winchesters from a hooded figure. Before the group could return through the rift, the hooded figure attacked, killing Kaia with a spear and summoning a Giant. Outmatched and out of time, the Winchesters dragged Claire back through the rift, leaving behind Kaia and the hooded figure. The rift between the Main Universe and the Bad Place sealed itself moments after the return of the Winchesters and Claire.

In the aftermath, Sam warned Jody that the rift had been open for a few days unattended. As a result, more monsters from the Bad Place may have made it through to the Main Universe undetected in that time. Jody promised to take care of anything that had come through while the Winchesters focused on protecting the rest of the world. That night, another rift from the Bad Place was opened by the hooded figure who was actually the alternate reality version of Kaia. The rift brought the alternate Kaia to a park in Sioux Falls.

In late 2017, after learning from Castiel of how the alternate Kevin Tran was able to open a rift using a ritual from the Angel Tablet, the Winchesters enlisted the help of Prophet Donatello Redfield to search the Demon Tablet for a similar ritual since the Main Universe Angel Tablet had been destroyed years before. Donatello was able to find a ritual that required intricate ingredients, but was tricked by the Prince of Hell Asmodeus into telling him about the Winchesters plans. Asmodeus also placed Donatello under his control to spy on the Winchesters progress. Donatello eventually managed to translate the ritual, but due to his lack of a soul, was corrupted by the power of the Demon Tablet. As a result, Castiel forcefully removed the information from Donatello's mind, leaving him brain-dead and the Winchesters and Castiel set out to gather the needed ingredients for the ritual.

At the same time, after capturing Jack, Michael and Zachariah attempt to trick Jack into helping them open a rift to the Main Universe to lead an army through. However, Jack sees through their tricks and manages to escape with Mary.

In 2018, while searching for the Seal of Solomon for the ritual, the Winchesters found and inadvertently released Yokoth, still trapped in the Men of Letters chapter house she had been summoned to in 1925. Using ingredients stored in the chapter house, Yokoth opened a rift into her world and summoned Glythur with the intention that he possess Dean. Before Glythur could do so, Sam arrived with Marco and Ophelia Avila. Dean was able to steal the Seal of Solomon from Yokoth and toss it to Ophelia who cast a reversal spell to seal the rift. As Glythur was pulled back into his own universe, he wrapped his tentacles around Yokoth and pulled her back through the rift with him.

Having gotten all the needed ingredients, the Winchesters used the ritual to open a rift in the Men of Letters bunker to Apocalypse World in order to rescue Mary and Jack. With only twenty-four hours before the rift closed again, Dean passed through with Arthur Ketch, leaving Sam behind in the bunker with Gabriel rather than risking both of them on the rescue mission. The rift the Winchesters opened leads to a snowy forest on Apocalypse World, near where several angels are set to execute several resistance members, including Charlie Bradbury. After rescuing Charlie, Dean and Arthur inform her of their traveling through other worlds before they return to the rift with her which proves their story. With the rift flickering in and out of existence, Dean returns to the Main Universe while Arthur remains behind to continue the search for Mary and Jack and to help the resistance. The rift closes after Dean goes through. However, as Gabriel has left the bunker, the Winchesters no longer have the archangel grace needed to reopen it.

In Apocalypse World, Mary, Jack and a few resistance fighters locate Kevin in Michael's abandoned fortress. The group learns from Kevin that he has perfected the ritual from the Angel Tablet and Michael intends to use it to open a rift from a location where the walls between the worlds are thin to lead an invasion force to the Main Universe. At the same time, the Winchesters locate Gabriel and help him kill Fenrir, Narfi, Sleipnir and Loki in exchange for his help against Michael. After the gods are dead, Gabriel returns to the bunker with the Winchesters who are left only having to wait for Gabriel's grace to recharge to open the rift again. However, Gabriel is only able to extract a small portion of grace and the rift that it opens quickly fizzles out.

With no other option, the Winchesters, Rowena and Gabriel work together to capture Lucifer. With Lucifer's grace constantly draining into the spell and powering the ritual, the rift will remain open for as long as they need. The Winchesters, Castiel and Gabriel pass through, but Lucifer eventually breaks free of his magical bindings and attacks Rowena. In self-defense, Rowena magically repels Lucifer, sending him through the rift. Without Lucifer constantly powering the rift, Rowena realizes that it is danger of closing. After some hesitation, Rowena begins looking through the Black Grimoire for a way to keep the rift open.

Lucifer tells the Winchesters that he left Rowena some grace so they have around thirty-one hours until the rift closes with him no longer there to continuously power it. With Mary unwilling to abandon the people she has grown to care about, Sam and Dean suggest evacuating everyone through the rift to the Main Universe until they can come up with a way to defeat Michael once and for all. After a vote, everyone agrees and the resistance uses a bus to reach the rift as time runs out. Using a spell from the Black Grimoire, Rowena manages to hold the rift open long enough for everyone to pass through except for Gabriel who is killed by Michael and Lucifer who is purposefully stranded by Sam. The rift closes moments before Michael can reach it, but Lucifer proposes an alliance between the two, part of which he offers up the ritual to reopen the rift between the worlds.

Known Users

 * Castiel
 * Sam Winchester
 * Dean Winchester
 * Lucifer
 * Crowley
 * Mary Winchester
 * Michael
 * Kevin Tran
 * Jack
 * Kaia Nieves
 * Cloaked Figures
 * Claire Novak
 * Alternate Kaia Nieves
 * Diego Avila
 * Yokoth
 * Glythur
 * Arthur Ketch
 * Rowena MacLeod
 * Gabriel
 * Bobby Singer
 * Charlie Bradbury
 * Maggie
 * Dozens of people from Apocalypse World

Known Destinations

 * Apocalypse World
 * The Main Universe
 * The Bad Place
 * Yokoth and Glythur's World

Characteristics
When a rift is open, it has the appearance of a jagged tear in the air. The tear is usually relatively thin, but in one case, the rift that opened was wider due to the beings coming through it. As the rift begins to close, it grows thinner before finally folding in on itself and disappearing completely. In One case, along with getting thin, the rift was seen to flicker a few times as it approached its closing. Anything inside when the rift closes will be pulled back to the universe their trip started from.

A rift between universes is a two-way door. As long as the rift is open, beings from both realities can cross back and forth at will. To do so, they must simply touch the rift and they will be transported through it. Anyone or anything touching the person will get sucked through as well.

While most rifts drop the users right next to where it opens, in one case, presumably due to the chaotic circumstances surrounding the opening of the rift, the users were transported some distance away. In that particular case, when the rift opened, it appeared to automatically suck in everyone nearby with the circumstances of the rift opening scattering everyone across three different realities, one of which was the universe the rift was opened from. However, while the rift opening transported people to two other realities, the rift itself only acted as a door between the universe it was opened in and one of the realities it transported people to. It did not connect to the second reality at all nor did a separate rift open to that world.

How long a rift remains open appears to rely on the circumstances surrounding its opening and intervention of outside forces. A rift opened by two individuals combining their powers together remained open for a few days before closing on its own. A rift opened by one ritual only allowed one person through before closing. After it was perfected, this limitation is stated to have been removed. Its opening also created a shockwave that affected all nearby beings. Another ritual could open a rift for twenty-four hours unless a reversal spell was used to close it. When powered continuously by archangel grace, it could remain open much longer. In another case, a rift opened by the birth of a Nephilim was closed using a ritual. It is unknown how long it would have remained open on its own otherwise or if it would've needed someone to close it.

Opening a rift is usually done through a ritual or, if the being in question is powerful enough, using innate power. Both the Demon Tablet of the Main Universe and the Angel Tablet of an alternate reality are known to contain rituals to open rifts from one universe to another, but require intricate ingredients. The Nephilim Jack is powerful enough to open a rift, but requires a dreamwalker to act as his "eyes" so that he can see the world he wishes to open the rift to. Michael and Zachariah expressed a belief that Jack is powerful enough to open a rift big enough for them to lead an army through.

Appearances

 * Season 12
 * All Along the Watchtower
 * Season 13
 * Advanced Thanatology
 * 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

Trivia

 * In Bring 'em Back Alive, Dean calls rift travel "a spin-cycle through space and time."
 * The rifts are sometimes referred to as doors by characters, particularly Kaia Nieves and Claire Novak.