Characters of Supernatural - Angels

Angels

The following characters are angels of God, making them extremely powerful spiritual beings. Merely perceiving their true form - even psychically - typically results in blindness, as the appearance of their natural "visage" is overwhelming; it is capable of burning an individual's eyes from their sockets, although certain "special people" are able to withstand their true appearances and voices (which sounds like a high-pitched ringing). An angel's wings can be seen through their shadows. Angels are immortal and can heal from any wound they receive as well as being unaffected by disease, but they can be harmed by more powerful beings (e.g. Castiel was harmed by the demon Alastair). However, they can be killed by archangels and the sword of an angel, which can be used by anyone. Upon an angel's death, an enormous release of energy ensues and light which seemingly burns the mark of the angel's wings into the ground.

Enochian sigils and symbols written in blood can be used to repel or banish them from a place temporarily. Enochian magic can also be used to render humans invisible to angelic senses requiring them to use only their vessel's dull human senses to locate their target. There is also at least one incantation which can banish an angel back to Heaven which even demons can use.

Because their true appearances cannot be safely perceived by humans and because they are spirits with no physical being, they often take on humans as vessels in order to exist in and interact with the physical world, though only with the hosts' consent. Angels require a particular vessel to reach their full potential, people being "chosen" to be their hosts or "true vessels". Vessels run in blood lines, and although only one person can be a "true" vessel, others in a particular bloodline have potential to be temporary vessels without suffering any ill affects. With archangels, the vessel suffers debilitating consequences for holding such a powerful being, leaving them brain dead or worse. The only exception to this is Michael, who in "The Song Remains the Same" tells Dean his father John will be "better than new" when he leaves his body and that Dean would receive no damage when he was done "wearing" him. If an archangel possesses someone who is not a "true" vessel or a blood-relative of one, the vessel will slowly decompose and eventually burst into flames, as shown with Lucifer. This process can be slowed by consuming large quantities of demon blood.

While in possession of human hosts, angels have shown a wide range of powers. In addition to telekinesis and superhuman strength, they possess the ability to kill or exorcise most demons simply by touching their palm to the forehead of the hosts, and can cause instant unconsciousness in humans through a similar action. They can heal humans or their wounds just by touching them. In addition to being able to vanish and materialize from thin air, they can also bend time and teleport themselves and others through time. However, although they can change events of time, said changed events will have the same results as the original timeline, as they cannot change destiny. More powerful angels have been shown to even be able to raise the dead, manipulate reality, and create solid things out of thin air. Angels who are cut off from Heaven gradually lose most of their abilities, although the archangels Gabriel and Lucifer appeared to remain unaffected. This may be true of all high-ranking angels as Castiel retained all of his powers the second time he was cut off, even in Purgatory, though the experience weakened him for a time.

Angels can become essentially human, but doing so is the most serious crime of Heaven. By removing his or her 'Grace', which is a very painful process, the angel falls to Earth from Heaven and is then born to human parents. All abilities and memories of his or her angelic life are suppressed, although small amounts can be recalled instinctively in times of need, with full memory recovery requiring methods such as hypnosis. When the Grace is first removed, it also falls to Earth. In Anna Milton's case, her Grace caused the formation of a giant oak tree. If the fallen angel retrieves his or her Grace, he or she will be restored to angelic form.

Most angels are portrayed as emotionless, arrogant, authoritarian beings with a complete disdain and contempt for humanity. However, they consider themselves family, each being brothers and sisters and refer to God as their Father. However, most angels have not actually met God. The angels do not act with God's permission, as He is said to have disappeared and left the angels to protect humanity in His place. Indeed, only four angels have seen God; the keeper of 'The Garden' Joshua speaks with God, or mostly He speaks to him, but has never actually seen Him in person. Joshua claims God is on Earth, hiding from others and is indifferent to the actions of His angels or the Apocalypse.

Creator Eric Kripke originally did not want angels to be featured in the series, believing God worked through hunters rather than angels. However, with so many demonic villains, he and the writers changed their minds when they realized that the show needed angels to create a "cosmic battle". As Kripke put it, "We had the empire, but we didn't really have the rebellion." They had always wanted to have a storyline with a few central characters but having massive battles in the background, comparable to Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, and the addition of angels allowed for this. Kripke has found that it has opened up many new storylines.