Raphael



Raphael was the older brother of Gabriel, but still younger than Michael and Lucifer. He appeared the most mysterious of the archangels. He was rarely seen, but was otherwise very powerful.

He probably protected the prophet Chuck Shurley and he was responsible for killing Castiel. With Michael gone, Raphael was at war with Castiel to gain control over Heaven and restart the Apocalypse, but was killed by Castiel, when the latter took all souls from Purgatory.

Personality
Raphael is a stern, serious, traditionally minded angel who has lost faith in God and is weary of his duties. He supports Michael's plan to bring about paradise on Earth. He has little patience with humans.

Season 4
In "The Monster at the End of This Book", Raphael prepares to attack when Lilith is in Chuck Shurley's presence, shaking the room until Lilith flees.

In "Lucifer Rising", Raphael obliterates Castiel and his vessel after he rebels against Heaven by banishing Zachariah and sending Dean to stop Sam from killing Lilith.

Season 5
In "Free to Be You and Me", Raphael possessed his vessel, Donnie Finnerman, during a demon induced riot at a Pump 'n Go gas station in Maine. The damage caused by Raphael was attributed to an explosion, and the incident was witnessed by Deputy Framingham. Raphael abandoned Donnie, who was left in a catatonic state, and returned to Heaven.

Raphael returns to Earth and his vessel to confront Castiel and Dean, who attempted to summon him. He manifests in the abandoned building they are hiding in, shorting out the electricity and the entire Eastern Seaboard. He threatens to take Dean to Michael, and to torture him, but Dean and Castiel trick him into a circle of holy oil, trapping him.

They interrogate him to learn God's location. Raphael tells Dean and Castiel that God is dead, and that the heavenly hosts are tired of waiting with duties to fulfill and no guidelines. They want to bring forth paradise on Earth. Raphael brings about a storm that shatters the windows of the house. Castiel does not believe Raphael's assertion about God, and demands to know how he was resurrected, if not by God. Raphael suggests that it was Lucifer, because he needs all the rebellious angels that he can find. Castiel and Dean then leave Raphael, who warns the other angel not to leave him there, becuase he will catch up with him one day. Castiel replies, "Maybe one day. But today, you're my little bitch!"

In between
In The Man Who Would Be King, Castiel remembers his first encounter with Raphael after the Apocalypse was averted. Raphael is ensconced in a palatial house, apparently part of the Heaven of disgraced Enron executive Ken Lay.

Raphael informs Castiel he will call an assembly of The Host of Heaven, at which he will ask Castiel to pledge his allegiance to Raphael. He announces that he will proceed to free Michael and Lucifer from the Cage and resume their apocalyptic battle.

After Castiel makes his deal with Crowley, he returns to Heaven, and with the power of an extra 50,000 souls obtained from Hell is able to make his first stand against Raphael.

Season 6
In The Third Man, Sam and Dean investigate the deaths of three cops which mirror Egyptian plagues. Dean has summons Castiel, and they discover that a boy has been using part of the Staff of Moses. Castiel later tells Sam and Dean that Heaven has been thrown into chaos without Michael, with angels going rogue, celestial killings, and the theft of their weapons. He also warns them that Raphael is back and trying to gain all of Heaven's weapons so that he can win the civil war against Castiel, then release Lucifer and Michael, putting the apocalypse back on track. When asked why, Castiel simply calls Raphael a "traditionalist" who wants "to end the story the way it was written." A soldier of Raphael attacks Castiel, then returns to his leader.

Raphael and his soldiers track down Balthazar, the angel who stole the weapons and sold part of the Staff of Moses, looking for the other weapons. Sam and Dean banish one of Raphael's soldiers with the Angel Banishing Sigil and Castiel kills one with an Angel Killing Sword. Raphael then appears behind Castiel and attacks him mercilessly.

Just as Raphael is about to kill Castiel, Balthazar appears and turns Raphael's vessel into a pillar of salt using Lot's Salt, forcing Raphael to look for a new vessel.

In "The French Mistake", Sam and Dean are given a key by Balthazar that supposedly opens the repository containing Heaven's weapons and are transported to an alternate reality to protect them from Raphael, who has started to hunt them down. Raphael sends Virgil after them.

When the Winchesters are transported back to their universe, they are greeted by Raphael in a new female vessel. Balthazar then appears and tells Raphael that the key given to Sam and Dean was a decoy. Castiel, now in possession of Heaven's weapons, also appears and threatens Raphael, who disappears.

In The Man Who Knew Too Much, Raphael forms an alliance with Crowley after Castiel betrays Crowley in their search for purgatory. Castiel, who is outnumbered, is forced to give them the blood of a creature from purgatory which is required to obtain all the souls from it. When the spell fails, Castiel returns revealing the blood was fake and that he has the souls and their power. With his power, he kills Raphael with the snap of his fingers.

Powers and Abilities
As a Archangel, Raphael was one of the most powerful beings in existance, more powerful than any other angel, demon and possibly pagan god, only the older archangels, (possibly anti-christ), Death and God are more powerful than him.
 * Immortality: Being the third oldest angel, Raphael is a very old angel, however he is still just as strong.
 * Angeilc Possession: Raphael's true form is too intense to be present on Earth for too long, therefore he requires a human vessel to physically interact on Earth. This must be with the person's permission, however.
 * Invulnerability: Raphael is resistant to basically all forms of harm, but there are methods of injuring, or killing him, such as another Archangel, a sword of an Archangel, or all of Heaven's Weapons together.
 * Super Strength: Raphael increases the strength threshold of his host to to an unmeasurable degree, he could easily overpower lower angels.
 * Healing Factor: If Raphael's vessel were to receive damage, it would be instantly healed. However, to what degree all of Heaven's Weapons would have on him, is unknown.
 * Teleportation: Being an archangel, Raphael can teleport anywhere in time, space, and any place on the face of the Earth.
 * Telekinesis: Raphael is an adept telekinetic, being able to shatter doors and windows easily.
 * Electrokinesis: In manifesting for the 2nd time, Raphael had large electrical arcs twisting around his vessel's back. He thus can manipulate and generate electricity.
 * Terrakinesis: Raphael can create tremors and even full fledge earthquakes just by thinking.
 * Superhuman Intelligence: Raphael possesses an immense amount of knowledge of the Universe.
 * Resurrection: If he wanted to, he could revive a dead person, and easily, but he wouldn't, as he doesn't care about humans.
 * Killing Touch - He prepared to smite Balthazar with his hand.
 * White Light: Raphael can send out a blast of white light from his vessel and can control how powerful it is and what is affected by it. It has been shown to range from simply harming an Angel to utterly destroying a building and dozens of Demons.

Skills

 * Proficient torturer - Raphael describes the nature of his torture as stretching the boundaries of the imagination.

Relationships

 * God (Father)
 * Michael, Lucifer, and Gabriel (Archangel brethren)
 * Other Angels (Brothers and sisters)
 * Chuck Shurley (Prophet under his protection)
 * Donnie Finnerman (Former vessel)
 * Castiel (Archenemy)

Season 4

 * "The Monster at the End of This Book" (possibly)
 * "Lucifer Rising" (seen in holy light)

Season 5

 * "Free to Be You and Me"

Season 6

 * "The Third Man"
 * "The French Mistake"
 * "The Man Who Would Be King"
 * "The Man Who Knew Too Much"

Trivia

 * Raphael is one of the three antagonists of Season 6, them being Crowley and Eve.
 * His name means God Heals his the archangel of healing and protection himself.
 * Dean calls Raphael a "Teenage Mutant Ninja Angel" the first time he hears his name. This is a reference to the series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in which one of the heroes is named Raphael.
 * In The Third Man, Castiel mentions that Raphael likes to "follow traditions". This means that it is possible that he wants to summon back Lucifer and Michael in order to end the Apocalypse the way the traditions says so. An in-joke could be present here as the angels who followed Michael before Raphael seized power would be known as the Pre-Raphaelites.
 * Raphael's new vessel bears many resemblances to Semirhage, one of the Forsaken from the Wheel of Time series, particularly in his/her healing archetype and earlier dismissivness of Zachariah's skill in torture. Raphael also physically resembles this character.
 * Raphael is the only archangel to only use African-American hosts.
 * He, like his brothers Gabriel and Lucifer had been featured in three seasons
 * In the series, Raphael has used 2 vessels, Donnie Finnerman and an unknown female vessel.