Gadreel

""I sat in these halls for thousands of years thinking of nothing but redemption, as a nobody. But not anymore. we will no longer let ourselves be blinded by arrogance. our mission was to help and protect those who could not and would not protect themselves: the humans. Castiel, shield yourself my brother, and keep your head down.""

- Gadreel's final moments before sacrificing himself. Gadreel was the angel that guarded the Garden of Eden from evil, particularly Lucifer, who managed to break past his defences and ruptured the Garden's stability, the following events caused the creation of Hell, Lucifer's falling from Heaven, humanity's corruption, and the creation of demons. As punishment for his failure, Gadreel was imprisoned within one of Heaven's dungeons and tortured for thousands of years. After Metatron's spell, he posed as the famed angel Ezekiel, who was considered to be the exact opposite of Gadreel. While masquerading as Ezekiel, Gadreel inhabited Sam Winchester, as a way to heal the hunter and himself, but also to hide from Bartholomew and Malachi. Crowley managed to torture the angel enough for the demon to enter Sam to make him expel Gadreel out. Gadreel moved on from Sam and entered his previous vessel. After working to aid Metatron in his efforts to rebuild Heaven, Gadreel became disgusted with his methods and sacrificed himself so that Castiel could stop Metatron.

He was an indirect catalyst for Lucifer's corruption of man, the creation of demons, God's leaving, the Apocalypse and thus the events of the entire series itself.

Castiel is the better angel.

Background
Gadreel was once God's most trusted angel. He was stationed at the Garden of Eden to protect it from evil. However, he failed at this task by letting the serpent in, cursing the Earth with evil, and so was dishonored but would claim that it was a mistake and not his fault, implying that he let Lucifer in by accident without knowing his intentions. This was, in fact, the reason God left Heaven. His actions led to the chaos in the universe, the severity of which caused him to be locked in the darkest dungeon in Heaven for thousands of years, something that, according to Metatron, broke God's heart. Metatron amounted his image to "a sap" and "Heaven's longest running joke.", with Crowley calling him "the original chump", and Gabriel calling him an "old chest nut". During his imprisonment, Gadreel was abused by the angel guard Thaddeus for countless centuries but also befriended fellow inmate Abner.

Season 8
In Sacrifice, when Metatron tricked Castiel into using a spell to expel all angels from heaven, Gadreel was one of the angels who fell as a result.

Season 9
In I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here, Gadreel fell to Earth with the other angels and took a vessel, but was injured and weakened by falling. When Dean Winchester sent out a desperate prayer to any angel to help Sam, Gadreel, who was traveling by bus, heard the prayer and got back on the bus to help. After Gadreel arrived at Dean's location, he interrupted an angel attacking Dean only to be and Dean killed the angel with his own Angel Blade before Gadreel passed out.

While he is unconscious, Dean traps him in Holy Fire and demands to know what he wants as he is distrusting of angels. Gadreel, identifying himself as "Ezekiel", convinces Dean he wants to help and Castiel later confirms by phone that "Ezekiel" can be trusted, so Dean lets him try. However, both Gadreel and Sam are weak and he is unable to heal him right away.

Two angels arrive and Dean puts up warding to protect Sam and Gadreel as Sam can't leave without dying and manages to banish the two angels who show up. With Sam near death and unable to do anything, Gadreel offers a "bad" solution: he possesses Sam. Doing so would allow him to heal Sam from the inside while recuperating from his own injuries. After showing Dean how close Sam is to giving up, Gadreel takes on Dean's form and enters Sam's mind, convincing him to say "Yes" to him and stop Sam from going with Death and die. Gadreel possesses Sam and leaves the hospital with Dean, leaving his previous vessel there with no memory of what happened. Gadreel decides to let Sam remain in control of his body while he hides away in his mind, but warns Dean that Sam must not know until he can accept it or he will be able to eject the angel from him. Gadreel and Dean decide to erase Sam's memory of his near-death experience and Gadreel gives Sam back control.

In Devil May Care, when Sam is knocked out by three demons, Gadreel takes control of his body and displays what's left of his wings, and distracts them with the light it causes. Gadreel then uses the Demon-killing knife to kill them in order to avoid questions when Sam wakes up. Gadreel's presence causes Abaddon to flee and he and Dean discuss the situation with Dean admitting that he feels guilty about all the deaths that have happened as he stopped Sam from sealing up Hell. Gadreel tells Dean that he understands that he did it to save Sam and that he loves his brother a lot from being in Sam's mind and keeps Sam from knowing what happened while he was knocked out after he gives up control again, having used the knife to kill the demons so Dean could explain away their deaths.

In I'm No Angel, Gadreel takes control of Sam to warn Dean that the angels are looking for Castiel and that a faction is gaining vessels and power. He also reassures Dean that Sam is feeling better and that he is successfully healing him though it is slow going. Dean grows worried about the angels chasing Castiel, but has Gadreel give back control to Sam rather than continue helping.

When Dean gets desperate to find Castiel after learning that Reapers are after him, Dean calls on Gadreel to help. Gadreel reluctantly takes control, telling Dean that he can't be running around in control, but Dean asks him to just help to find Castiel. Gadreel is unable to do so due to Castiel warding himself with a tattoo against angels, but Dean instead has him look for Reapers that are after Castiel. Gadreel is able to locate Castiel this way and gives back control to Sam. After Castiel is killed by the Reaper and Dean kills the Reaper, Gadreel once again takes control of Sam and resurrects Castiel. Dean covers it up by claiming that Sam got knocked out and then he made a deal with April not to kill her if she brought Castiel back and then killed her anyway. At the Men of Letters base, Gadreel takes control and tells Dean that Castiel must leave because angels are after him and while the base is protected, they can't withstand an incursion. Gadreel tells Dean that if Castiel isn't sent away he will have to leave Sam and flee which would lead to Sam's death. With no other choice, Dean tells Castiel he has to leave.

In Slumber Party, when Charlie Bradbury is killed by the Wicked Witch, Dean calls out to Gadreel as soon as Sam enters the room and he takes control. Dean asks for help with Charlie, but Gadreel tells him that Charlie is dead and he can't keep using his powers to help as it weakens him and he is only back at half-strength. He tells Dean he can either bring Charlie back or help with the Witch and Dean has him resurrect Charlie. Dean then tells Sam and Charlie that they got knocked out by the Witch but he drove her off. However Sam becomes suspicious as he heard Dean call for a "Zeke" but Dean tried to say that Sam was out of it. In Dog Dean Afternoon, after Chef Leo slashes Sam's neck, seriously wounding him, Gadreel takes control for a moment to heal the wound and erase Sam's memory of it. As a result, Chef Leo tries to eat Sam to heal his own cancer.

In Rock and a Hard Place, when Dean prepares to tell Sam about Gadreel, the angel quickly takes possession of Sam and tells Dean that Sam is not ready to know the truth, but also promises that he will not be in Sam much longer.

In Holy Terror, he again promises Dean he won't be in Sam much longer. He is not happy when Castiel comes back and asks Dean to get rid of him. While at a bar, he goes outside to get some air where he is met by Metatron who tells him he know who he really is. Metatron tells him that he wants to bring back Heaven to it's former glory and wants him to be his second in command so that he can redeem himself for his failure saying that he used to be God's most trusted. After many secret meeting with Metatron he accepts the offer, Metatron is glad and gives him a piece of paper with a name on it telling him to kill said person. Gadreel says that's not who he is but Metatron says it must be done.

Meanwhile, Dean has figured out the truth from Castiel and asks Kevin to help him find a way to cancel the angel out so that he can tell Sam the truth. They find special sigils and paint them in the storeroom but Gadreel had overheared and alters the form. Dean brings "Sam" to the room and activates the spell and tells him the truth but "Sam" punches him out. "Sam" approaches Kevin and proceeds to smite the prophet. Dean witnesses this in horror and tries to aid, but "Sam" telekinetically pins him to a pillar. Gadreel reveals that he was in possession of Sam's body the whole time they talked. After revealing the truth to Dean, Gadreel then proceeds to leave the bunker with the angel and demon tablets.

In Road Trip, in order to get around, Gadreel stole the Impala while trapping Sam in a fantasy world in his mind so that he would be unaware of what was going on and couldn't expel him, but would be unharmed. Following Metatron's orders, Gadreel tracks down Thaddeus. Gadreel refuses Thaddeus' apologies from their time in Heaven and kills him with his own angel blade. Gadreel meets with Metatron in a bar where he is surprised to find his original vessel working as a bartender. Gadreel turns over the angel and demon tablets and confirms Kevin and Thaddeus' deaths, but not Dean's, saying that Metatron didn't order him to kill Dean. Metatron orders him to kill another man named Alexander Sarver to prove his loyalty and Gadreel is angry that he must kill again, but Metatron yells at him to stop questioning his orders.

Traveling to Sommerset, Pennsylvania, Gadreel is surprised to find that Sarver is actually the vessel of his friend Abner and hesitates in killing him. Meeting with Abner when his family is gone, Gadreel learns that he has taken on the role of his vessel, taking care of the Sarver family and taking up his job, happier with his life as a human than of an angel. Abner is horrified to learn that Gadreel killed Thaddeus. Gadreel then slits Abner's throat, killing him. While cleaning up, Gadreel is approached by Dean while Gadreel is distracted, Castiel knocks him out.

Gadreel is taken to an abandoned warehouse where he is chained up and interrogated by Dean who demands to know who he is and why he betrayed him when he had trusted the angel and fought with him. Gadreel tries to comfort him by telling him that Sam is safely locked away in his mind with no idea of what is happening, but threatens to tear his body apart if they try to expel him. After Castiel confirms that Gadreel healed most of Sam's injuries and he should be able to finish the job once Gadreel is gone, Dean sets Crowley on him to use his spikes to break into Gadreel's base coding to try to draw out Sam's mind. After hours, Crowley succeeds in activating Gadreel's "factory settings" and they learn who he is leaving Cas furious because of all the trouble he caused. However, Gadreel retakes control saying he has withstood much worse torture and can wait forever. Desperate, Dean asks Cas to possess Sam too to wake him up, but as Castiel would need Sam's permission, Crowley offers to do it instead in exchange for his freedom and with no choice, Dean agrees and has Castiel remove Sam's anti-possession tattoo despite Gadreel's warnings.

In Sam's mind, Gadreel, in the form of his original vessel, confronts Sam and Crowley after Sam learns the truth. Gadreel is angered when Crowley calls him the "original chump," saying he isn't anymore and tells Crowley to run. Instead, Crowley fights him to no avail and Sam attacks. Gadreel initially has the upper hand, but Sam manages to overpower him, finally expelling him. Expelled from Sam, Gadreel returns to the bar where Metatron is waiting in his natural form and gains permission from his original vessel once more. Gadreel possesses the man again and Metatron realizes the Winchesters once again interfered in their plans.

In First Born, it is revealed that a side effect of Gadreel's healing of Sam caused some of his grace to remain behind. Castiel tried to extract it from Sam to find Gadreel but the effects caused Sam to revert back to his pre-Gadreel state and started having flashbacks and was forced to stop so Sam wouldn't die, thus the amount of Grace they had was not enough to track him.

In Meta Fiction, Gadreel continued to work for Metatron, who was now playing God with the power of the tablets, and was recruiting angels to join his legion with a spell to lure angels in. Those that refused Gadreel would kill. The angel continued this in a pattern across America but in one hit Metatron ordered Gadreel to deliberatly leave one alive for Castiel to find. Later Gadreel went to a shop of a hunter for ingrediance he needed but killed the owner when he was finished but when he was leaving in the back ally, he was trapped in Holy Fire by Sam and Dean. Gadreel was then placed in an angel's trap and interogated for Metatron's whereabouts but refused to give in and tried to make Dean kill him but he refused to do so and instead knocked him out. When Metatron abducted Castiel he offered Cas inexchange for Gadreel and both side did so willingly. Gadreel later visited Metatron who was writing down his next plan phase, or "story" as he was refering to, and asked if his own capture was a part of the plan but Metatron claimed that Gadreel's capture was unexpected.

In King of the Damned, when an angel infiltrates Castiel's faction and kills a prisoner of from Metatron's faction, Castiel seeks out Gadreel's assistance. Gadreel meets Castiel in a field where he tries to convince him that Metatron is the wrong side and Gadreel is being used just as he was which lead to the angels falling but also Gadreel's release. Gadreel is skeptical because of his honor but Castiel reminds him of his mistake in the garden and that following Metatron will have the same consequences, telling him that there are other ways that he can redeem his failure. Before they can continue they are ambushed by two of Metatron's followers and Gadreel flees in the confusion. Later Gadreel returns to Castiel to apologie and claims not to have known of Metatron's spies but tells Castiel that he cannot simply abandon his cause which he was worked hard for. Castiel tells him that he understands his sense of honor but makes Gadreel an offer to be his spy among Metatron's ranks and asks him to think it over.

In Stairway To Heaven, Gadreel was present with Metatron when he met with other angels in charge of their own factions to gain their trust, all those that refused, Gadreel would kill. However one angel Gadreel was unable to kill due to the number of people in the area but made the point to Metatron that no one would follow him over Castiel. To turn Castiel's minions against him Gadreel, on Metatron's orders forced some of Castiel's angels including Constantine and the Reaper Tessa to suicide themselves in public to kill Metatron's own men and make him look like a victim. As Castiel's former followers leave Castiel and go to Metatron to be his followers, Gadreel questions Metatron's plan as it resulted in the deaths of his own men and leaves Metatron to be Castiel's follower along with Dean and Sam. As he shakes hands with Dean, Dean slashes him across the chest with the First Blade, seriously wounding him.

In Do You Believe In Miracles?, Sam and Castiel find that Gadreel has fled the Bunker in fear for his life. They find his car some distance away and covered in blood with Gadreel close by, seriously wounded. Gadreel begs them not to hurt him and advises Castiel not to heal him as it will weaken him with his already weak grace. Castiel heals a grateful Gadreel's wound anyway. Gadreel is stunned to learn that Dean is being affected by the Mark of Cain and that he used the First Blade on him. Gadreel reveals that Metatron's great power comes from the angel tablet and that if they can break it, it will allow Dean to kill Metatron. In order to do so, Gadreel leads Castiel to the portal to Heaven, pretending that Castiel is his prisoner so that the angels guarding it will let them pass. In Heaven, Castiel and Gadreel are led to what is apparently Metatron's office, but what is really Heaven's dungeon to Gadreel's horror. Castiel and Gadreel try to convince Hannah to release them to no avail as she sees Gadreel as someone who only cares about himself. Realizing this to be true, Gadreel carves the sigil the suicide bomber angels used into his chest and makes a speech about how while imprisoned, he only thought about redeeming himself for his actions above all else when really he should be focusing on the true mission: protect humanity at all costs. Finally understanding this and hoping that his name will one day be remembered as one of those who restored Heaven instead of as the one that let the Serpent into the Garden of Eden, Gadreel orders Castiel and Hannah away and then kills himself with a piece of rock from the dungeon floor, causing an explosion that releases Castiel and convinces a horrified Hannah of the truth. His sacrifice allows Castiel to break the angel tablet and Metatron's power and finally stop him.

Personality
Gadreel was once God's most trusted and reliable angel. He was well-meaning and benign. However, after his failure to prevent evil from infecting the Earth, Gadreel was dishonored.

In his initial appearance, Gadreel imitated what he interpreted as Ezekiel's personality; the stereotypical interpretation of an angel, as he was humble and polite as opposed to being arrogant and condescending like many other angels.

After his true identity is revealed, his personality shifts significantly. It is revealed that he took possession of Sam both for healing purposes, and to hide from Bartholomew and Malachi, but also to make amends for his past mistakes and failures. Despite the stigma he received in Heaven, Gadreel does have some inherent benevolence. When Metatron tasked him to smite Kevin Tran, Gadreel stated that killing the innocent was not who he was. Despite this, Gadreel did as he was told, smiting Kevin, and showing great remorse in doing so. He also imprisoned Sam in a fantasy world rather than harming him as he could have and tried to comfort Dean with this. Despite his conscience, Gadreel did have a vindictive side, killing his former torturer Thaddeus gleefully and claiming he would tear Sam's body apart if Dean tried to expel him. However, despite this threat, he didn't actually do so out of either arrogance or once again his conscience. He also now sees himself as a hero who will lead Heaven back to its former glory, though it is possible he is delusional in this aspect, as he is using less than scrupulous methods to do so.

Gadreel also proves to be quite intelligent, using the demon killing knife instead of smiting the three demons, so Sam wouldn't be suspicious of their deaths. Despite his apparent compassion, he has a self-preservation instinct which shows when he gives Dean an ultimatum: send Castiel away, or he will leave Sam, killing him, to save himself from Bartholomew. Despite this and his weakened state, he is compassionate to a fault, shown when he resurrects Castiel and Charlie despite knowing it will weaken him because Dean was distraught by their deaths.

Despite his benevolence causing him to hesitate to kill, Gadreel is willing to do it on a large scale if needed as he killed dozens of angels who he couldn't recruit for Metatron's legion. Gadreel, presumably because of his Heavenly torturing, seems to favor death over imprisonment as he tried to gloat Dean into killing him by using Sam's true feelings towards Dean. Gadreel has a very strong sense of honor and loyalty, believing angels to be creatures of compassion rather than wrath and when Castiel meets to discuss him changing sides Gadreel immediatly refuses because of his belief in Metatron's cause. But when Metatron's minions ambush Castiel at the meeting Gadreel later returns to Castiel to apologize for their interruption and begins to consider Castiel's offer, hoping that there is still some honor somewhere. He later switches sides after he sees Metatron's unscrupulous methods.

At the end of his life, Gadreel revealed that ever since his imprisonment he had become obsessed with redeeming himself and regaining his good name to the point that he lost sight of the true mission: protect humanity no matter the cost, putting them above even the angels themselves. This causes Gadreel to sacrifice himself to give Castiel the chance to do this, hoping that perhaps one day his name will be remembered among the many who restored the angels to Heaven, rather than as the one who let the Serpent into the Garden. This shows that Gadreel was somewhat selfish, at least after his imprisonment, but he came to understand what was truly important.

Powers & Abilities
Gadreel possesses the common powers of an angel. According to him, he was severely injured when he fell, which left him considerably drained and weakened, as seen when he was easily bested by another fallen angel. However, after regaining a portion of his original strength, he was capable of fighting off and defeating three demons in physically powerful human hosts. Once he regained his strength, he was capable of killing entire groups of angels.
 * Immortality - Gadreel is thousands of years old. He was present at the Garden of Eden and, according to Castiel, has been imprisoned since the beginning of time, making him around 180,000 years old.
 * Super Strength - After his fall, Gadreel retained just enough of his original strength to sufficiently overpower three low-level black-eyed demons at once; as shown when he single-handedly shoved one away with above-average force. However, in his weakened state at that time, he was no match for another fallen angel. His strength is gradually returning, though he was barely back to half-strength during the events of Slumber Party, though he implied that he was strong enough to help defeat the Wicked Witch. As of Holy Terror, his strength is almost completely restored. Despite this, he was overpowered by Castiel who is able to knock him out with one punch when he was caught off guard. By Meta Fiction his strength was fully restored and he was able to kill groups of angels without apparent injury to himself, albeit after catching them by surprise. His high levels of strength compared to average angels suggests that he may be of a higher rank of angel, possibly a seraph.
 * Regeneration - Gadreel heals his vessel's wounds, even mortal ones, in moments. Using this power, he can heal a vessel of damage even to the subatomic level while at the same time healing himself. However, in his weakened state this takes time though he is slowly making progress. A serious neck wound required him to take complete control to heal, but he was able to do it in seconds. After months of possessing Sam, Gadreel had managed to mostly heal him from the damage the Trials had done to him before being expelled to the point that Castiel would be able to finish the job over time. Gadreel later heals damage from torture inflicted by Dean and injuries from an angel blowing himself up. He was not however able to heal damage from the First Blade.
 * Healing - Gadreel can cure the bodily wounds and illnesses suffered by others, even those of a supernatural origin. However, in his weakened state if the person he is healing is weak as he is, he is not able to do this. When he resurrected Castiel, he healed his wound and the ones he got from torture.
 * Electronic Manipulation - Gadreel caused the alarms on a machine connected to Sam to turn off with just a wave of his hand.
 * Smiting - He killed Kevin in the same way he would a demon, by touching his forehead.
 * Telekinesis - Gadreel was able to pin Dean to a wall with just a wave of his hand and keep him there without any apparent concentration. He released Dean by simply walking away. He later threw Dean across a room with just a wave of his hand with enough force to knock him out.
 * Teleportation - As an angel Gadreel would have been able to teleport to anywhere on Earth. However since his wings were destroyed Gadreel can no longer use this power.
 * Memory Manipulation - Gadreel erased Sam's memory that they met in his mind and also that he gave Gadreel permission to possess his body.
 * Angelic Possession - As an angel, Gadreel needs a willing living human vessel to physically exist on Earth. If the vessel chooses, they can expel him. As of right now, Gadreel is back to possessing his original vessel after being expelled by Sam Winchester.
 * Flight - While disembodied, Gadreel can fly.
 * Telepathy - Gadreel can tap into "angel radio" as well as read the minds of humans, but only with physical contact. By placing a hand on two persons, he can let the first person listen to the thoughts of the second.
 * Astral Projection - Gadreel is able to display the remains of his wings, causing a massive flash of white light.
 * Super Senses - Gadreel is able to find a warded Castiel by locating a Reaper who is holding him captive. Like the other angels, he can hear humans prayers and can sense their location.
 * Resurrection - Gadreel is able to bring those who have died back to life, or at least those who have been dead for a short period of time. So far, he has demonstrated this ability on Castiel and Charlie Bradbury.
 * Superhuman Endurance - Gadreel is able to recover quickly from torture that broke Samandriel, saying that he has withstood much worse and can for a very long time.
 * Spell Casting - Gadreel was able to cast the spell that activated the Horn of Gabriel. He also cast Angel Suicide Bombing Spell in order to sacrifice himself.

Weaknesses
Gadreel possesses the standard weaknesses of an angel.
 * Angel Banishing Sigil - An Angel Banishing Sigil could banish him.
 * Enochian Sigils - Certain Enochian Sigils can weaken his power and keep him from finding people.
 * Angel Exiling Spell - Metatron's spell cast Gadreel to Earth.
 * Angel Suppressing Sigil - An Enochian sigil could effectively knock him out for a period of time and keep him from knowing what's going on.
 * Holy Fire - Dean imprisoned Gadreel in a circle of holy fire during their first meeting and later captured him in one.
 * Vessel Expulsion - If his vessel is aware of his presence and wants him gone, they can expel him.
 * Angel Trap- It's another way to trap him besides Holy Fire.
 * The First Blade - As the First Blade can kill anything Lucifer can kill, it can kill Gadreel if he is stabbed with it. Just being slashed with it seriously wounded him.
 * Pieces of Heaven - Gadreel killed himself with a fragment of rock from Heaven's dungeon.

Appearances

 * Season 8
 * ​Sacrifice (Unseen)
 * Season 9
 * I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here
 * Devil May Care
 * I'm No Angel
 * Slumber Party
 * Dog Dean Afternoon
 * Heaven Can't Wait (Unseen)
 * Bad Boys (Unseen)
 * Rock and a Hard Place
 * Holy Terror
 * Road Trip
 * First Born (Flashbacks)
 * Meta Fiction
 * King of the Damned
 * Stairway To Heaven
 * Do You Believe In Miracles?

Trivia

 * Gadreel is listed as one of the chiefs in the fallen Grigori of angels. This is depicted in the second section of the "Book of Enoch"; "Parables". He is said to have been responsible for teaching man warfare. This contradicts the first section of Enoch, which claims that Azazel was responsible for doing this
 * Gadreel's angelic shadow form can be seen behind Sam on the barn in the Season 9 poster.