| “ | I don't care. I don't care who you are. I don't care why you're here. I don't care about Heaven or Hell or anything. I don't even care that Lucifer's got a bun in the oven. | ” |
Ramiel was a Prince of Hell, one of the first demons created by Lucifer after Lilith and a demonic general before he left for life on Earth.
History
Early Life
After creating the first demon Lilith, Lucifer created the four Princes of Hell: Azazel, Ramiel, Asmodeus and Dagon. The four acted as generals of the demonic armies before Ramiel, Asmodeus and Dagon lost interest in Lucifer's plans and retired to Earth while Azazel went on to rule Hell in order to release Lucifer and cause the Apocalypse.
Aftermath of Lucifer's Defeat
Ramiel meets Crowley.
In 2010, after the defeat of Lucifer, the King of the Crossroads Crowley and another demon approached Ramiel to take rule of Hell as is his right as one of the Princes of Hell. However, Ramiel is uninterested and suggests that Crowley take power for himself. Ramiel requests that he and the other Princes be left alone, warning of dire consequences if he is not. Crowley agrees and gifts Ramiel the Lance of Michael and the Colt, the weapon that had killed his brother Azazel.
Season 12
In Stuck in the Middle (With You), under the orders of the British Men of Letters, hunter Mary Winchester leads Wally, the Seraphim Castiel and her sons Sam and Dean to steal the Colt, pretending that they are simply killing a demon active on Earth. When Ramiel arrives, he is attacked by the Winchesters with devil's trap bullets and the demon-killing knife, but Ramiel is completely unharmed by the attack and easily defeats the Winchesters. During the fight, Ramiel shocks Mary with his yellow eyes as the only yellow-eyed demon she knew of was Azazel who had murdered her. Recognizing Castiel as an angel, Ramiel is amused and stabs him with the Lance of Michael, mortally wounding him. Before Ramiel can do any more, he is hit by Mary with a jeep, knocking him out of the fight briefly, allowing Mary to escape with Castiel joined by her sons after killing two of Crowley's demons who kill Wally.
After the attack on his house, Ramiel chases after the Winchesters to get revenge. Nearing the barn they are hiding in, Ramiel is confronted by Crowley who attempts to convince the Prince of Hell to spare the Winchesters. However, Ramiel refuses to be deterred and throws Crowley through the barn door, knocking him out. Entering the barn, Ramiel is trapped in a circle of holy fire by the Winchesters, amusing him. Ramiel tells the Winchesters that he has no interest in any of the going's on in the world, not even Lucifer's son though he warns Dagon is watching him. Ramiel demands back what was stolen from him, promising to let the Winchesters go if they will comply. Sam and Dean truthfully claim to have no knowledge of what he is talking about while Mary is worried and Ramiel starts a 30-second countdown.
Ramiel is by Sam killed with the Lance of Michael.
After the 30 seconds are up, Ramiel uses the Lance of Michael to send out a shockwave of dirt in order to put out the holy fire and engages in combat with the Winchesters. Despite their best efforts, the Winchesters prove to be no match for the Prince of Hell and he attempts to impale Dean on the Lance. Before he can, Sam grabs the Lance and grapples for control of it at close range with Ramiel. As they struggle, Mary stabs Ramiel in the back with an angel blade, distracting him for a moment. While he's distracted, Sam snatches the Lance of Michael from Ramiel's hands and stabs him in the heart with it. As he flickers gold and his wound catches on fire, Ramiel laughs. Finally, Ramiel explodes into dust, killing him.
In Family Feud, Mary lies that she's still resting after the fight with Ramiel rather than admitting that she's working with Arthur Ketch.
In The Raid, the British Men of Letters reveal their possession of the Colt when coming under attack by the Alpha Vampire. Mary then admits to Sam that she stole it from Ramiel.
In The Future, Dean cites Castiel's failure against Ramiel as one of the reasons Castiel is currently so desperate for a win.
Powers and Abilities
As a Prince of Hell, Ramiel was one of the most powerful demons to ever live.
- Demonic Possession - As a demon, Ramiel required a vessel to walk the Earth.
- Immortality - As one of the first demons to ever be created, Ramiel was several millennia old when he was killed. He was so old he called Crowley, a demon over six hundred years old "kid".
- Invulnerability - As a Prince of Hell, Ramiel was even more invulnerable than a normal demon. Bullets, even carved with a devil's trap didn't even cause him to flinch. Similarly, the demon-killing knife and an angel blade caused him no real harm either. Ramiel was momentarily stunned by being hit by a jeep, but recovered very quickly. He also took blows from the Winchesters in his fight with them and appeared to suffer no pain from it, even though Dean used Enochian Brass Knuckles.
- Immunity - As a Prince of Hell, Ramiel was immune to most demonic weaknesses including the demon-killing knife and angel blades. While he was briefly contained by holy fire, he seemed more amused by it than anything and broke free easily.
- Super Strength - As a Prince of Hell, Ramiel was one of the strongest demons to ever live. He was able to easily throw around Crowley, a powerful demon himself, overpower Castiel, a weakened Seraph and battle three hunters at once with ease.
- Telekinesis - With a wave of his hand, Ramiel closed the doors in his house.
- Super senses - Ramiel was able to smell that Castiel was dying from outside the barn the Winchesters and Castiel were hiding in.
- Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant - Due to his millennia of experience, Ramiel was an expert hand-to-hand combatant capable of fighting three experienced hunters and a Seraph with great ease. He seemingly preferred using fighting skills than his powers in battle.
Weaknesses
As a Prince of Hell and one of the most powerful demons to ever live, Ramiel possessed very few weaknesses.
Harming, Misleading and Trapping
- Holy Fire (possibly) - Sam and Dean attempted to trap him with the holy fire. It is unknown if he could pass through it without getting hurt by not using the Lance of Michael.
- Demon-Killing Knife - Being stabbed with the knife caused Ramiel a brief moment of pain but caused no real harm to him.
- Angel Blades - An angel blade to his back appeared to cause Ramiel a brief moment of pain but did no apparent harm beyond that.
Killing
- Lance of Michael - He was killed by the Lance.
- The Colt - Azazel, who was also a Prince of Hell was killed by the Colt, showing that it is capable of killing them.
Death
Killed By
Enraged over the Colt being stolen from him, Ramiel attacked the Winchesters in an old barn. As he wrestled with Sam over the Lance of Michael, Mary Winchester stabbed Ramiel in the back with an angel blade, briefly distracting him. While Ramiel was distracted, Sam snatched the Lance of Michael from his hands and stabbed Ramiel in the heart with it. Laughing, Ramiel lit up gold and eventually exploded into dust from the effects of the Lance of Michael.
Personality
Ramiel was sadistic in nature; he enjoyed inflicting pain on Castiel and was keen on making the angel suffer a slow and agonizing death, as shown by how he stalked Castiel as the latter tried to crawl away. Ramiel's sadism was not extreme however, as he was able to live a simple, peaceful life for many years and did not like the idea of being Hell's ruler. He enjoyed simplicity and fishing.
Ramiel's yellow eyes.
He could be described as possessive and wrathful, as he was intent on murdering the Winchesters and their allies for breaking into his house and stealing The Colt. He would eagerly turn against anyone who helped his enemies, as he attacked Crowley for trying to protect the Winchesters, despite Crowley being the one to give him The Colt in the first place.
Ramiel was notably intelligent, as he knew about the Lance of Michael and understood its nature and why it was made. He also liked collecting powerful and dangerous weapons, and was visibly pleased when Crowley presented to him with "two gifts".
Unlike his siblings who were shown to rely on their powers heavily in combat, often using telekinesis to fling their opponents around, Ramiel appears to prefer physical combat. When going up against the Winchesters and Castiel, Ramiel fought hand-to-hand, never once using any of his other powers to fight. He appeared to take great joy in fighting his enemies in such a personal way, often laughing when he had the upper hand.
Physical Appearance
Ramiel's vessel was that of a middle aged man with graying hair, dark eyes and a thick beard. He dressed casually, even wore a jumper while at home. As a Prince of Hell, his true eye color was yellow.
Appearances
- Season 12
- Stuck in the Middle (With You)
- Family Feud (mentioned only)
- The Raid (mentioned only)
- The Future (mentioned only)
Lore
In reality, Ramiel (means "thunder of God" from the Hebrew elements ra'am, "Thunder" and El, "God".) is the name of a fallen Watcher angel in the Book of Enoch, rather than a demon. As described in the book, they are the leaders of 200 angels that are turned into fallen Angels, the Grigori, due to them taking wives, mating with human women, and teaching forbidden knowledge. One of the 20 leaders, Ramiel is mentioned as the sixth. While the Book of Enoch is consider apocryphal text, Ramiel does appear in the Bible proper.
Although he is classified as one of the fallen ones, he is described as the angel of hope, who is charged with delivering visions and guiding the faithful to Heaven. So it could be considered as ironic.
Trivia
- Coincidentally, Ramiel's name is shared with a character on Supernatural: Heart of the Dragon novel. However, Ramiel in the novel is an angel, much like his biblical counterpart.
- Ramiel is the second powerful enemy to laugh after being mortally wounded by a Winchester. The first was Dick Roman when Dean killed him with the Bone of Righteous Mortal Washed in the Three Bloods of Fallen.
- Before his death, Ramiel owned both the weapon that killed his brother and the weapon that would ultimately kill him. Both weapons were subsequently destroyed, the former by Dagon and the latter by Crowley.
- He is the first Prince of Hell and yellow-eyed demon to appear in the present timeline since Azazel's death in Season 2.
- Unlike Azazel however, Ramiel's name was introduced at the time of his introduction, so he was never referred to as The Yellow-Eyed Demon.
- He is the only Prince of Hell to be an enemy for a single episode with Azazel and Dagon having multiple episodes before their respective deaths.
- He is the only known Prince of Hell to own a house.
- Unlike Azazel, Asmodeus and Dagon, Ramiel did not kill anyone on screen.
- When talking to the Winchesters, Crowley was shown to believe Ramiel to be beyond their ability to defeat. Crowley suggested that maybe with enough time the Winchesters could find a way to defeat him, but he didn't believe they could at that moment in the barn they were hiding in.
- According to Crowley, with Azazel and Lilith's death, Ramiel was the next in line for the throne of Hell.
- Ramiel along with Samhain, are the only high-tier demons that appeared in just one episode.
- Ramiel is the only Prince of Hell that was killed in his inaugural episode, as well as the only one to appear in a single episode.
- Ramiel is the second collector of supernatural articles seen in the series. The first was Cuthbert Sinclair and the third was Luther Shrike.