User blog comment:Bharatram1/Who is stronger ? Lilith or Azazel ?/@comment-188.83.194.188-20140218222453/@comment-5619706-20140219000122

I personally do not want to jump into conclusions. In the Kripke Era, extrapolation (although still a territory of assumption and therefore not necessarily canon grounds) is somewhat easy. Currently, it is difficult to say who is more powerful than which, especially if counting invulnerabilities into account. It's not just because of the demons themselves, it's also because of the weapons used to kill them.

Lilith - first demon, white-eyed, can control another really powerful white-eyed demon in his own right, credited as the "messiah", has the white-light ability that other than Samhain, is shared only by angelic beings; incredibly skilled magic practitioner; vulnerability to (regular) angels unknown, vulnerability to colt likely, vulnerability to knife unknown, vilnerability to first blade unknown

Alastair - another white-eyed demon, only known demon in canon proven to be capable of defeating regular angels, skilled magic practitioner like his boss, incredible immunity; vulnerability to (regular) angels extremely low to negligible, vulnerability to colt likely, vulnerability to knife moderate, vulnerability to first blade unknown

Azazel - credited as a "tyrant", displayed several abilities unique to himself, created special children that are immune to many demonic abilities (although whether this is really unique to him due to innate ability or simply due to chance he was the only one present to put the plan in motion is unknown and potentially debatable) and shared a link to them through dream walking, reaper possession

Samhain - not really a strong case, "deity" associated with Halloween, only truly noteworthy abilities are raising the undead (and monsters according to claim, if not retconned since arrival of Eve and hierarchical structure of Purgatory, then this is even more worth taking into consideration) and white light, vulnerability to colt likely, vulnerability to knife moderate, vulnerability to first blade unknown

Crowley - "King" of the crossroads and of Hell, true power lies not in innate strength but in deal-making, spell casting and ingenuity in tinkering new weapons. He is in a very different manner a high-tier demon; vulnerability to (regular) angels high, vulnerability to colt likely, vulnerability to knife high, vulnerability to first blade unknown

Abaddon - Knight, so it's a given she is strong, displayed several abilities not possessed even by white-eyed or yellow-eyed demons, incredibly strong, vulnerability to (regular) angels questionable, vulnerability to colt negligible, vulnerability to knife moderate to low, vulnerability to first blade high

Cain - leader of the Knights, one of the oldest demons (probably second), possessed the ability to insta-kill lower demons by touch, ability to negate lower demons' abilities questionable (Crowley was acting, so it blurs everything and is totally annoying), vulnerability to (regular) angels claimed to be inexistent, vulnerability to colt very confusing, vulnerability to knife inexistent, vulnerability to first blade unknown but present

Clinchers:

First Blade - I know logically if it could kill Knights it should kill lower demons, but given everything that's happened, we never really see the blade used to kill any other group of demons (Cain probably didn't need to but still) so I would put the vulnerabilities of other high-tier demons from the first blade as unknown. We don't know if it could kill any demons or just lower ones. Besides, I wouldn't think White-eyed or even Yellow-eyed demons are 'lower' demons vis-a-vis the knights

Cain's Tactile Smiting - if this is useful against all demons then hands down Cain may be the strongest, but even if it only applies to 'lower' demons, it's still a pretty powerful trick. The question now is similar to the First Blade on whether White or Yellow-eyed demons are considered 'lower' demons (I would think no, but who knows for sure?)

Spell Casting - remember, magic and spells are the true game breakers of this universe. With this, a mere human can bind anything from ghosts to fairies to demons to even Death himself. Spell casting breaks the uneven fighting scale of demons and angels and basically provides good coverage for natural weaknesses of the user's race. Several, but not all of the high-tier demons listed here were shown to perform rituals and spells, and from that lot, even fewer are truly apt

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Canon changes - taking possible retcons into account, this analysis could all go down the drain in an instant. And this is something really problematic given the several changes the show underwent

Appearances - high-tier demons frequently gracing us with their presence have more chances of displaying abilities. Additionally, their appearance with respect to seasons are also a factor, since in order to keep the viewers interested, writers are forced to introduce new and more gamebreakers that sometimes overshadows previous characters, abilities and weaponry.