Difference between revisions of "Alastair"

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{{RecurringCharacters
 
{{RecurringCharacters
|image= [[File:3 Alastairs.jpg|350px]]
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|image= [[File:Alastair1.jpg|350px]][[File:Alastair2.jpg|350px]][[File:Alastair3.jpg|350px]]
 
|name= Alastair
 
|name= Alastair
|actor= [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001679/ Mark Rolston] ([[4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer|4.09]] & [[4.10 Heaven and Hell|4.10]])<br>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923766/?ref_=tt_cl_t9 Andrew Wheeler] ([[4.15 Death Takes a Holiday|4.15]])<br>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382216/ Christopher Heyerdahl] ([[4.15 Death Takes a Holiday|4.15]], [[4.16 On the Head of a Pin|4.16]] & [[4.21 When the Levee Breaks|4.21]])
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|actor= [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001679/ Mark Rolston] ([[4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer|4.09]] & [[4.10 Heaven and Hell|4.10]])<br>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923766/ Andrew Wheeler] ([[4.15 Death Takes a Holiday|4.15]])<br>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382216/ Christopher Heyerdahl] ([[4.15 Death Takes a Holiday|4.15]], [[4.16 On the Head of a Pin|4.16]] & [[4.21 When the Levee Breaks|4.21]])
|dates= ???? - 2009 (killed by [[Sam Winchester]])
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|dates= ???? 2009 (killed by [[Sam Winchester]])
 
|location=
 
|location=
|occupation= [[Demonology|White-Eyed Demon]]
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|occupation= [[Demon]] ([[White-eyed Demon|White-Eyed]])<br>Grand Inquisitor of Hell
|episodes= [[4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer]]<br>[[4.10 Heaven and Hell]]<br>[[4.15 Death Takes a Holiday]]<br>[[4.16 On the Head of a Pin]]<br>[[4.18 The Monster at the End of This Book]] (mentioned)<br>[[4.21 When the Levee Breaks]] (hallucination)<br>[[4.22 Lucifer Rising]] (mentioned)<br>[[6.10 Caged Heat]] (mentioned)<br>[[6.20 The Man Who Would Be King]] (mentioned)
+
|episodes= [[4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer]]<br>[[4.10 Heaven and Hell]]<br>[[4.15 Death Takes a Holiday]]<br>[[4.16 On the Head of a Pin]]<br>[[4.21 When the Levee Breaks]] (hallucination)
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}}
 +
{{Quotation
 +
|title=
 +
|text= You know the problem with your generation? Instant gratification. It's all now, now, now. No patience, no craftsmanship. But I do have to say... This knife of yours... It's an exquisite piece. You must tell me where you found it. You know... I haven't been up here since Poland '43. Truth is, I loathe it. It's chilly. No stink of blood or sizzle of flesh or the wet flap of flayed skin. I don't know how you stand it. So, the sooner you cooperate, the sooner I can finish up with this ghastly angel business and return home to my studies. But no rush. Let's take our time... Relish the moment. Now, I'm going to remove this, but don't you go smoking out of that meat. You won't get very far.
 +
|author= Alastair
 +
|source= [[4.10 Heaven and Hell]]
 
}}
 
}}
  
 +
==History==
 +
Alastair was a [[Demonology|white-eyed demon]] and possibly the second demon ever made whose past is unknown, but implied to be almost as long as [[Lilith]]'s. He considered the centuries-old [[Ruby]] to be "young" and believed that her generation's style of torturing is amateurish compared to his methods. Ruby called him the "Grand Inquisitor",<ref name="four10">[[4.10 Heaven and Hell]]</ref> whether the title was official or not is unknown. He also claimed to be an "old friend" of [[Death]]'s,<ref name="four15">[[4.15 Death Takes a Holiday]]</ref> who had been imprisoned since Biblical times.<ref name="five10">[[5.10 Abandon All Hope...]]</ref> Alastair was present for World War II, at which time he is involved with the concentration camps in Poland. He returned to [[Hell]] after 1943 and does not resurface on Earth again until 2008, as he prefers to spend his time in Hell, torturing [[souls]], only heading topside when it is absolutely necessary.<ref name="four10" /> In Hell, Alastair took [[Meg]] as his apprentice and trained her at some point prior to his demise in 2009.<ref name="six10">[[6.10 Caged Heat]]</ref>.
 +
 +
Alastair was charged with breaking the first of [[the 66 Seals]] by forcing "the Righteous Man" to torture other [[soul]]s in Hell. He first attempted to break this seal by torturing [[John Winchester]]'s soul from 2006 to 2007, promising to stop only if John agrees to torture other souls. However, John continually refuses the offer for 100 years (10 months) and eventually escaped Alastair's clutches through the [[Devil's Gate in Wyoming]].<ref name="four16">[[4.16 On the Head of a Pin]]</ref><ref name="two22">[[2.22 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two]]</ref> A year later, Alastair received John's son [[Dean Winchester]] from Lilith as a replacement for John.<ref name="four16" /> Although Alastair expected similar resistance from Dean that he got from John, he succeeded in getting Dean to agree to the offer in 30 years (3 months). Once Dean broke the first seal, this allowed the rest of the seals to be broken.<ref name="four16" /> Impressed by Dean's potential, Alastair kept training him as an apprentice until an army of [[angels]] rescued Dean, including [[Castiel]] who personally pulled him out of Hell.<ref name="four09">[[4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer]]</ref>
 +
 +
==Characteristics==
 
{{Quotation
 
{{Quotation
 
|title=
 
|title=
|text= You know... I haven't been up here since Poland '43. Truth is, I loathe it. It's chilly. No stink of blood or sizzle of flesh or the wet flap of flayed skin. I don't know how you stand it.
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|text= Potestas inferna, me confirma. Potestas inferna, me confirma. Potestas inferna, me confirma!
|author= Alastair  
+
|author= Alastair
 
|source= [[4.10 Heaven and Hell]]
 
|source= [[4.10 Heaven and Hell]]
 
}}
 
}}
  
==Characteristics==
+
Alastair has white eyes (including pupils and irises).<ref name="four09" /> His presence caused statues to weep blood<ref name="four09" /> and was noted as an expert interrogator and torturer,<ref name="four10" /> and was also incredibly resilient to being tortured himself; according to [[Castiel]], he had an exceptionally strong will, allowing him to withstand extended torture from both [[angels]] and one of his own apprentices.<ref name="four16" /> Alastair possessed an extensive knowledge of the occult as well as [[Enochian]] spells and rituals, including an incantation with an unknown negative effect on [[angel]]s,<ref name="four10" /> as well as another incantation that expels an angel from his [[vessel]] and sends him back to [[Heaven]],<ref name="four16" /> and spell-work to incapacitate [[reapers]].<ref name="four15" />
Alastair is a [[Demon|white-eyed demon]]<ref>[[4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer]]</ref> responsible for torturing human souls in [[Hell]]. He is held in high esteem by many of his demon comrades, he is referred to by [[Ruby]] as "practically the Grand Inquisitor downstairs." He possesses an extensive knowledge and awareness of the universe, having occult knowledge, usage of spells cast in [[Enochian]] as well as rituals.  
 
  
Alastair was initially immune to [[Sam]]'s psychic abilities,<ref>[[4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer]]</ref> although, ironically, he is eventually killed by them.<ref name="four16">[[4.16 On the Head of a Pin]]</ref> His durability seems to exceed that of most demons' as [[Ruby's knife]], a weapon that can kill demons, only greatly damaged him without killing him.<ref>[[4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer]]</ref><ref name="four16" />
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Alastair was a strong-willed demon, who was capable of withstanding the interrogations of angels. He was also able to withstand the torture of one of his favored apprentices, Dean Winchester. The only person known to have forced Alastair to break was Sam Winchester, who tortured Alastair with his [[demon blood]]-enhanced powers for information before killing him.<ref name="four16" />
  
As a torturer, he is an expert interrogator in that regard; according to [[Castiel]], he had an exceptionally strong will, allowing him to sustain himself while being tortured.<ref name="four16" /> [[Meg]] was an apprentice of his before his death, giving her a similar strength when facing torture.<ref name="six10">[[6.10 Caged Heat]]</ref> He tortured both [[Dean]] and [[John Winchester]], and in both instances offered to end the torment if they would become torturers themselves. Alastair reveals that the first seal was broken when Dean accepted this offer after thirty years of torture, although John resisted him for over a century.
+
[[File:AlastairKnife416.jpg|thumb|350px|Alastair survives being stabbed with [[Ruby's knife]].]]
 +
===Powers and abilities===
 +
* Arcane knowledge – Being a [[white-eyed demon]] and presumably among the first created, Alastair possessed old and powerful knowledge, such as an [[exorcism]] ritual that could eject an angel from its [[vessel]] and send it back to [[Heaven]].
 +
* [[Possession]] – Like all demons, Alastair was capable of possessing any humans not in possession of an [[anti-possession symbol]].<ref name="four09" /><ref name="four15" />
 +
* [[Telekinesis]] – Alastair can moves anything with a thought. The power also extends to being able to telekinetically inflict damage onto human's hearts with a gesture.<ref name="four09" /><ref name="four10" /><ref name="four15" />
 +
* [[Teleportation]] – As a high-level demon, Alastair had the ability to teleport.<ref name="four10" />
 +
* Superhuman strength and durability – Alastair could overpower [[angels]],<ref name="four10" /> though he did not possess the power to kill them and could be overpowered sufficiently distracted, but had also shown to resistant to the smiting powers of [[angel]]s, though their [[grace]] could destroy his [[meatsuit]].<ref name="four10" /><ref name="four16" /><ref name="four15" /> His durability also extended to a high resistance to the [[demon-killing knife]].<ref name="four09" />
  
He may also be able to send an [[angel]] back to [[Heaven]] by expelling it from its [[vessel]] (he was interrupted in doing so when h tried to perform that ritual, but his age suggests that this ability may simply not be well-known).<ref>[[4.10 Heaven and Hell]]</ref><ref name="four16" /> Alastair has shown to be resistant to an angel's power of [[exorcism]].<ref>[[4.10 Heaven and Hell]]</ref> He possess knowledge of the [[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]] and has demonstrated power to overwhelm a [[reaper]].<ref>[[4.15 Death Takes a Holiday]]</ref>
+
===Weaknesses===
 +
* [[Demon-killing knife]] – While Alastair had survived being stabbed with the knife twice, it's use still caused him great pain.
 +
* [[Devil's traps]] – As a powerful demon Alastair must be trapped and bound into a special old-Enochian devil's trap.<ref name="four16" />
 +
* [[Holy water]] – Holy water has an affect on Alastair like most demons, however he was able to shrug off the effects quicker than typical demons.<ref name="four16" />
 +
* [[Salt]] – Ingestion of salt mixed with holy water was able to cause great discomfort.
 +
* [[Special Children]] – Alastair was killed by [[Sam]]'s powers after Sam had consumed a sufficient amount of [[demon blood]].<ref name="four16" />
  
 
==Episodes==
 
==Episodes==
 
===[[4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer]]===
 
===[[4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer]]===
Sam and Dean find [[Anna Milton]] hiding in her church. [[Ruby]] appears and tells them to run because a powerful [[demon]] is approaching. Suddenly signs of the demon's approach break out, including a statue of the virgin Mary weeping blood. Alastair arrives. Sam attempts to exorcise him with his powers, but to no effect. Dean fights with Alastair, who asks if Dean recognizes him.
+
Alastair leaves [[Hell]] and [[Possession|possesses]] a pediatrician to capture and interrogate [[Anna Milton]]. He follows [[Sam]] and [[Dean]] from Anna's house to her father's church, where she fled to after her escape. [[Ruby]] tries to get Sam, Dean, and Anna to leave as quickly as possible to avoid Alastair, but realizes that it is too late when signs of his approach break out, including a statue of the virgin Mary weeping blood. Although she convinces Sam to [[exorcise]] Alastair with his powers, they have little effect on Alastair, who uses [[telekinesis]] to fling Sam down the staircase before attacking and beating Dean. He taunts Dean about their "closeness" in Hell, prompting Dean to finally recognize Alastair, even in his [[meatsuit]]. Sam returns to stab Alastair in the shoulder with [[Ruby's knife]], but much to the Winchesters' horror, the [[demon]] is undeterred by the knife wound. As Alastair pulls the knife out, Sam and Dean flee from him by jumping out the church window and he allows them to escape so that he can use them to lead him to Anna again.
 
 
{{Quotation
 
|title=
 
|text= '''Alastair:''' Hello again, Dean. Come on, Dean. Don't you recognize me? Oh,I forgot -- I'm wearing a pediatrician. But we were so close... In Hell.<br>
 
'''Dean:''' Alastair.
 
|author= Alastair and [[Dean]]
 
|source= [[4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer]]
 
}}
 
 
 
Sam stabs the [[demon]] with [[Ruby's knife]], but he is unharmed. Sam and Dean escape by jumping out the church window.
 
  
 
===[[4.10 Heaven and Hell]]===
 
===[[4.10 Heaven and Hell]]===
[[File:Alistair with Death's weapon.Jpg|300px|thumb|right|Alastair in his new [[meatsuit]], preparing to break one of [[the 66 Seals]].]]
+
Alastair is described by Ruby as a master torturer who is "practically the Grand Inquisitor" in [[Hell]], whom she is more scared of than even the [[angels]]. After her suggestion to abandon Anna and run from Alastair gets rejected, she tries to get Sam to resume drinking her [[Demon blood|blood]] so that he can successfully [[exorcise]] Alastair. Sam refuses this as well. Later on, Alastair reappears when Ruby leaves to fulfill her part in Sam's plan, burning her [[hex bag]] and letting Alastair find her at a [[crossroads]]. Alastair derides her, a fellow [[demon]], for protecting Anna, an [[angel]] (albeit without her [[grace]]), and rejects her offer to trade him Anna for the safety of herself, Sam, and Dean. Alastair insults her again before having his minions capture her for him to torture her with [[Ruby's knife|her own knife]] to simply make her tell him where Anna is. While torturing her, Alastair reveals that he actually vastly prefers Hell to Earth (which he loathes), having only left it because he must deal with "this ghastly angel business." Eventually, Ruby agrees to lead him and his minions to Anna - she is unwilling to simply tell him what he wants to know because she knows that he would just kill her afterwards. Alastair and his minions accompany her and find that [[Castiel]] and [[Uriel]] are also at the site, about to execute Anna. Contrary to the terror other [[demons]] showed of angels, Alastair dismisses Castiel's warnings that they will be killed if they do not leave and even trades insults with Uriel before leading his forces to fight the angels and stop them from killing Anna so that he may capture and torture her. Although his minions are quickly killed by Uriel, Alastair proves too powerful for Castiel to smite and overpowers the angel, which shocks the latter. When Dean hits him over the head with a crowbar, Alastair shifts his attentions to him and Sam and launches a [[Telekinesis|telekinetic]] attack on their hearts while chastising Dean about his lost "potential." He tries to intervene when he sees Anna regain her [[grace]], only to get his meatsuit vaporized instead, leaving behind only Ruby's knife. Later, Dean tearfully reveals to Sam that after every day of torture in Hell, Alastair would offer to stop if Dean agreed to torture other souls. Although Dean held out for the first thirty years (three months on Earth), he eventually gave in because he couldn't take it anymore and spent the last ten years of his time there (one month on Earth) torturing other souls under Alastair's instruction.
Alastair appears again to [[Ruby]] at a [[crossroads]] where she tries to make a deal with him: giving him [[Anna Milton]] in exchange for allowing her and the Winchesters to go free. He then makes her a counter offer, capturing and torturing her with her knife. He later has a showdown with [[Castiel]] and [[Uriel]] in which he overpowers Castiel, but is distracted from harming him by an attack from [[Dean]]. The fight is interrupted when Anna reacquires her [[grace]] from Uriel, she and Alastair then both disappear in a flash of bright light with Alastair leaving behind only Ruby's knife.
 
  
 +
[[File:Alistair with Death's weapon.Jpg|350px|thumb|left|Alastair in his new [[meatsuit]], preparing to break one of [[the 66 Seals]].]]
 
===[[4.15 Death Takes a Holiday]]===
 
===[[4.15 Death Takes a Holiday]]===
Now in a new [[meatsuit]] (his previous one having been destroyed by [[Anna]]), Alastair is attempting to break one of [[the 66 Seals]] by killing two [[reaper]]s under a solstice moon. He confronts [[Dean]] and [[Sam]] in a cemetery, and injures Dean, but Sam is resistant to his powers and fights back, revealing that he survived his last encounter with Anna. He flees when Sam tries to [[exorcise]] him with his powers and later returns in yet another meatsuit. When the boys become non-corporeal, and therefore subject to [[ghost]]ly weaknesses, they track Alastair down at a funeral home and he traps them with an iron chain. He kills one [[reaper]], but the boys rescue [[Tessa]], preventing the seal from being broken. Later as he confronts Dean, Alastair is captured by [[Castiel]].
+
Alastair is once again made to leave [[Hell]] and assist in starting the [[Apocalypse]], much to his dissatisfaction. Now in a new [[meatsuit]], he is attempting to break one of [[the 66 Seals]] by killing two [[reaper]]s under a solstice moon. He confronts [[Dean]] and [[Sam]] in a cemetery, revealing that he had survived his encounter with [[Anna]], though the pediatrician he had been [[possessing]] did not, and gloating that the latter's wife is still looking for her husband and unaware he is dead, which he finds hilarious. Trying again to kill them, Alastair telekinetically throws Dean into a gravestone and injures him, but finds that Sam is now immune to his powers. He flees when Sam tries to [[exorcise]] him with his powers, and later returns in yet another meatsuit. When the boys become non-corporeal to better find the demons holding the reapers hostage, they track Alastair down at a funeral home warded in [[Enochian]] script against [[angels]]. As they have made themselves subject to [[ghost]]ly weaknesses in their spiritual state, Alastair traps them with an [[iron]] chain and toys with them by shooting them with rock [[salt]] as he sends a minion to kill their unconscious bodies. While their ally [[Pamela Barnes]] is able to hold off Alastair's servant for a time and thwart this aspect of Alastair's plan, she is fatally wounded by Alastair's servant in the process and later dies. Meanwhile, Alastair begins breaking the seal and succeeds in killing one [[reaper]] with [[Death's scythe]], though the boys help [[Tessa]] escape and ultimately save the seal before fleeing. Alastair later tracks Dean down alone as Sam is fighting off Alastair's minion in an attempt to save Pamela. As he begins closing in on Dean, Alastair is struck by lightning and vanishes again as he is captured by Castiel.
  
 
===[[4.16 On the Head of a Pin]]===
 
===[[4.16 On the Head of a Pin]]===
Alastair is captured by [[Castiel]] and [[Uriel]] and imprisoned in a [[devil's trap]], but he refuses to tell them anything about the slain [[angel]]s. [[Dean]] is recruited as an interrogator because he was formerly Alastair's student during his time in [[Hell]]. After extensive torture, Alastair breaks free Uriel having sabotaged the devil's trap to prevent his role in the angelic deaths being revealed. He almost kills Dean, but is stopped by Castiel, who throws [[Ruby's knife]] and embeds it in Alastair's chest. Alastair pulls the knife out and fights Castiel. He manages to trap him against a pillar, and admits that while he is unable to kill the [[angel]], he will send him back to [[Heaven]]. Alastair begins to chant, but he is stopped by Sam, who has become strong enough to overpower him with ease. Sam forces Alastair to talk, then kills him via his abilities.
+
Held captive by [[Castiel]] and [[Uriel]] and imprisoned in am [[Enochian]] [[devil's trap]], Alastair refuses to tell them anything about the slain [[angel]]s. Dean is recruited as an interrogator due to formerly being Alastair's student during his time in [[Hell]]. Amused by the idea, Alastair taunts Dean over the course of the torture session, though he concedes that reality is "too concrete" compared to Hell for Dean to adequately torture him. Dean instead tortures Alastair with [[holy water]] injected into his veins, [[salt]] poured down his mouth, and mutilation from Ruby's knife that he coats with holy water and salt. Instead of giving Dean the information he asks for regarding the angel murders, Alastair plays mind games with Dean by claiming that he tortured Dean's father [[John]] in Hell and even made him the same offer he'd made Dean, but that unlike his son, John was a "hero" who steadfastly refused and ultimately escaped after 100 years (ten months on Earth) of Alastair's torture. Alastair gloats that when Dean accepted the offer in 30 years (3 months) and began torturing souls, he broke the first of [[the 66 Seals]] and enabled [[demons]] to begin breaking the rest of them.
{|align="center"
+
 
|[[File:AlastairKnife416.jpg|thumb|400px|Alastair survives being stabbed with [[Ruby's knife]].]]
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Having kept an eye on the devil's trap he's caught in being compromised -- later revealed to be Uriel's doing to let Alastair kill Dean and escape to make the angels keep thinking the demons are responsible for the angel murders Uriel committed -- Alastair escapes when a devastated Dean turns his back, then begins savagely beating Dean again. As he is about to finish Dean off and send him back to Hell, telling him he has a lot to learn, he becomes distracted by Castiel intervening.
|[[File:AlastairKilled.jpg|thumb|400px|Alastair is killed by [[Sam]].]]
+
 
|}
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[[File:AlastairKilled.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Alastair is killed by [[Sam]].]]
 +
Castiel embeds Ruby's knife in Alastair's shoulder and uses telekinesis to twist the blade, but Alastair simply pulls the knife out and fights Castiel. He again overpowers Castiel and while he is unable to kill the angel as he admits he wishes he could, he reveals that all he can do is send him back to [[Heaven]]. Alastair begins an angel [[exorcism]], but is stopped by Sam, who has become strong enough through his consumption of Ruby's demon blood to overpower him with ease. Agonized by Sam's psychic torture, Alastair finally reveals that he knows none of the demons, including himself and [[Lilith]], are responsible for the angel deaths. Knowing that Sam can psychically [[exorcise]] demons, he challenges Sam to exorcise him back to Hell, where he wants to be, but is shocked when Sam instead uses his enhanced power to kill him.
  
 
===[[4.18 The Monster at the End of This Book]]===
 
===[[4.18 The Monster at the End of This Book]]===
[[Dean]] reveals that [[Castiel]] has told him about [[Sam]] torturing and killing Alastair with ease. Dean thinks that this is one of the signs that Sam is going dark-side.
+
Alastair's death is brought up by Dean, who reveals that Castiel has told him about Sam using his powers to torture and kill Alastair with ease. Dean thinks that Sam being able to do so is another sign that he is going [[dark side]].
 +
 
 +
===[[4.20 The Rapture]]===
 +
Alastair is again mentioned by Dean, who is in disbelief that Sam's powers were strong enough to kill Alastair but are now not even strong enough to kill a low-level demon. The reason, unknown to Dean at the time, is that Sam has not recently fed on demon blood due to a prolonged absence from Ruby.
  
 
===[[4.21 When the Levee Breaks]]===
 
===[[4.21 When the Levee Breaks]]===
While withdrawing from the [[demon blood]], Sam hallucinates that he is being tortured by Alastair.
+
While undergoing forced withdrawal from demon blood, Sam has several hallucinations, the first of which is Alastair inexplicably returning in his last [[meatsuit]]. Finding Sam locked in [[Bobby's Panic Room]] alone with him, Alastair tortures him with a knife. Eventually Alastair disappears and Sam realizes that he had been hallucinating both Alastair and the torture.
  
 
===[[4.22 Lucifer Rising]]===
 
===[[4.22 Lucifer Rising]]===
[[Ruby]] reveals that not even Alastair had known that she was working undercover for [[Lucifer]] and [[Lilith]].
+
Alastair is the only demon explicitly mentioned by Ruby when she is explaining that none of the others besides herself and Lilith had known of her undercover mission for [[Lucifer]] and Lilith.
  
 
===[[6.10 Caged Heat]]===
 
===[[6.10 Caged Heat]]===
To prove that she is capable of making [[Crowley]] give into her demands, [[Meg]] reveals that she had apprenticed under Alastair in [[Hell]] like [[Dean]] had.
+
To prove that she is capable of making [[Crowley]] give into her demands, [[Meg]] reveals that she had apprenticed under Alastair in [[Hell]] like [[Dean]] had, and Dean grudgingly concedes that this means she can make Crowley do whatever she wants.
  
 
===[[6.20 The Man Who Would Be King]]===
 
===[[6.20 The Man Who Would Be King]]===
[[Crowley]] mentions Alastair when listing off those who underestimated the threat the Winchesters pose and paid the price for it.
+
Alastair is mentioned by Crowley when listing off those who underestimated the threat the Winchesters pose and paid the price for it, along with [[Lucifer]], [[Michael]], [[Lilith]], and [[Azazel]].
 +
 
 +
===[[15.01 Back and to the Future]]===
 +
[[Belphegor]] mentions Dean's time in Hell, where he was tortured by Alastair for 30 years until Dean accepted Alastair's deal that he would stop the torture if Dean himself would take his place. Belphegor tells Dean he got to watch him "work" and described the things he did to people as not torture but "art," calling himself a fan of Dean's work. Dean simply states that it was a long time ago.
  
 
==Alastair in Lore==
 
==Alastair in Lore==
Line 82: Line 101:
 
{{reflist}}
 
{{reflist}}
  
[[Category:Canon]][[Category:Characters]][[Category:Demons]][[Category:Demonology]]
+
[[Category:Canon]][[Category:Characters]][[Category:Demons]]

Revision as of 06:08, 4 April 2021


Alastair1.jpgAlastair2.jpgAlastair3.jpg
Name Alastair
Actor Mark Rolston (4.09 & 4.10)
Andrew Wheeler (4.15)
Christopher Heyerdahl (4.15, 4.16 & 4.21)
Dates  ???? – 2009 (killed by Sam Winchester)
Location
Occupation Demon (White-Eyed)
Grand Inquisitor of Hell
Episode(s) 4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer
4.10 Heaven and Hell
4.15 Death Takes a Holiday
4.16 On the Head of a Pin
4.21 When the Levee Breaks (hallucination)

You know the problem with your generation? Instant gratification. It's all now, now, now. No patience, no craftsmanship. But I do have to say... This knife of yours... It's an exquisite piece. You must tell me where you found it. You know... I haven't been up here since Poland '43. Truth is, I loathe it. It's chilly. No stink of blood or sizzle of flesh or the wet flap of flayed skin. I don't know how you stand it. So, the sooner you cooperate, the sooner I can finish up with this ghastly angel business and return home to my studies. But no rush. Let's take our time... Relish the moment. Now, I'm going to remove this, but don't you go smoking out of that meat. You won't get very far.

– Alastair, 4.10 Heaven and Hell

History

Alastair was a white-eyed demon and possibly the second demon ever made whose past is unknown, but implied to be almost as long as Lilith's. He considered the centuries-old Ruby to be "young" and believed that her generation's style of torturing is amateurish compared to his methods. Ruby called him the "Grand Inquisitor",[1] whether the title was official or not is unknown. He also claimed to be an "old friend" of Death's,[2] who had been imprisoned since Biblical times.[3] Alastair was present for World War II, at which time he is involved with the concentration camps in Poland. He returned to Hell after 1943 and does not resurface on Earth again until 2008, as he prefers to spend his time in Hell, torturing souls, only heading topside when it is absolutely necessary.[1] In Hell, Alastair took Meg as his apprentice and trained her at some point prior to his demise in 2009.[4].

Alastair was charged with breaking the first of the 66 Seals by forcing "the Righteous Man" to torture other souls in Hell. He first attempted to break this seal by torturing John Winchester's soul from 2006 to 2007, promising to stop only if John agrees to torture other souls. However, John continually refuses the offer for 100 years (10 months) and eventually escaped Alastair's clutches through the Devil's Gate in Wyoming.[5][6] A year later, Alastair received John's son Dean Winchester from Lilith as a replacement for John.[5] Although Alastair expected similar resistance from Dean that he got from John, he succeeded in getting Dean to agree to the offer in 30 years (3 months). Once Dean broke the first seal, this allowed the rest of the seals to be broken.[5] Impressed by Dean's potential, Alastair kept training him as an apprentice until an army of angels rescued Dean, including Castiel who personally pulled him out of Hell.[7]

Characteristics

Potestas inferna, me confirma. Potestas inferna, me confirma. Potestas inferna, me confirma!

– Alastair, 4.10 Heaven and Hell

Alastair has white eyes (including pupils and irises).[7] His presence caused statues to weep blood[7] and was noted as an expert interrogator and torturer,[1] and was also incredibly resilient to being tortured himself; according to Castiel, he had an exceptionally strong will, allowing him to withstand extended torture from both angels and one of his own apprentices.[5] Alastair possessed an extensive knowledge of the occult as well as Enochian spells and rituals, including an incantation with an unknown negative effect on angels,[1] as well as another incantation that expels an angel from his vessel and sends him back to Heaven,[5] and spell-work to incapacitate reapers.[2]

Alastair was a strong-willed demon, who was capable of withstanding the interrogations of angels. He was also able to withstand the torture of one of his favored apprentices, Dean Winchester. The only person known to have forced Alastair to break was Sam Winchester, who tortured Alastair with his demon blood-enhanced powers for information before killing him.[5]

Alastair survives being stabbed with Ruby's knife.

Powers and abilities

  • Arcane knowledge – Being a white-eyed demon and presumably among the first created, Alastair possessed old and powerful knowledge, such as an exorcism ritual that could eject an angel from its vessel and send it back to Heaven.
  • Possession – Like all demons, Alastair was capable of possessing any humans not in possession of an anti-possession symbol.[7][2]
  • Telekinesis – Alastair can moves anything with a thought. The power also extends to being able to telekinetically inflict damage onto human's hearts with a gesture.[7][1][2]
  • Teleportation – As a high-level demon, Alastair had the ability to teleport.[1]
  • Superhuman strength and durability – Alastair could overpower angels,[1] though he did not possess the power to kill them and could be overpowered sufficiently distracted, but had also shown to resistant to the smiting powers of angels, though their grace could destroy his meatsuit.[1][5][2] His durability also extended to a high resistance to the demon-killing knife.[7]

Weaknesses

  • Demon-killing knife – While Alastair had survived being stabbed with the knife twice, it's use still caused him great pain.
  • Devil's traps – As a powerful demon Alastair must be trapped and bound into a special old-Enochian devil's trap.[5]
  • Holy water – Holy water has an affect on Alastair like most demons, however he was able to shrug off the effects quicker than typical demons.[5]
  • Salt – Ingestion of salt mixed with holy water was able to cause great discomfort.
  • Special Children – Alastair was killed by Sam's powers after Sam had consumed a sufficient amount of demon blood.[5]

Episodes

4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer

Alastair leaves Hell and possesses a pediatrician to capture and interrogate Anna Milton. He follows Sam and Dean from Anna's house to her father's church, where she fled to after her escape. Ruby tries to get Sam, Dean, and Anna to leave as quickly as possible to avoid Alastair, but realizes that it is too late when signs of his approach break out, including a statue of the virgin Mary weeping blood. Although she convinces Sam to exorcise Alastair with his powers, they have little effect on Alastair, who uses telekinesis to fling Sam down the staircase before attacking and beating Dean. He taunts Dean about their "closeness" in Hell, prompting Dean to finally recognize Alastair, even in his meatsuit. Sam returns to stab Alastair in the shoulder with Ruby's knife, but much to the Winchesters' horror, the demon is undeterred by the knife wound. As Alastair pulls the knife out, Sam and Dean flee from him by jumping out the church window and he allows them to escape so that he can use them to lead him to Anna again.

4.10 Heaven and Hell

Alastair is described by Ruby as a master torturer who is "practically the Grand Inquisitor" in Hell, whom she is more scared of than even the angels. After her suggestion to abandon Anna and run from Alastair gets rejected, she tries to get Sam to resume drinking her blood so that he can successfully exorcise Alastair. Sam refuses this as well. Later on, Alastair reappears when Ruby leaves to fulfill her part in Sam's plan, burning her hex bag and letting Alastair find her at a crossroads. Alastair derides her, a fellow demon, for protecting Anna, an angel (albeit without her grace), and rejects her offer to trade him Anna for the safety of herself, Sam, and Dean. Alastair insults her again before having his minions capture her for him to torture her with her own knife to simply make her tell him where Anna is. While torturing her, Alastair reveals that he actually vastly prefers Hell to Earth (which he loathes), having only left it because he must deal with "this ghastly angel business." Eventually, Ruby agrees to lead him and his minions to Anna - she is unwilling to simply tell him what he wants to know because she knows that he would just kill her afterwards. Alastair and his minions accompany her and find that Castiel and Uriel are also at the site, about to execute Anna. Contrary to the terror other demons showed of angels, Alastair dismisses Castiel's warnings that they will be killed if they do not leave and even trades insults with Uriel before leading his forces to fight the angels and stop them from killing Anna so that he may capture and torture her. Although his minions are quickly killed by Uriel, Alastair proves too powerful for Castiel to smite and overpowers the angel, which shocks the latter. When Dean hits him over the head with a crowbar, Alastair shifts his attentions to him and Sam and launches a telekinetic attack on their hearts while chastising Dean about his lost "potential." He tries to intervene when he sees Anna regain her grace, only to get his meatsuit vaporized instead, leaving behind only Ruby's knife. Later, Dean tearfully reveals to Sam that after every day of torture in Hell, Alastair would offer to stop if Dean agreed to torture other souls. Although Dean held out for the first thirty years (three months on Earth), he eventually gave in because he couldn't take it anymore and spent the last ten years of his time there (one month on Earth) torturing other souls under Alastair's instruction.

Alastair in his new meatsuit, preparing to break one of the 66 Seals.

4.15 Death Takes a Holiday

Alastair is once again made to leave Hell and assist in starting the Apocalypse, much to his dissatisfaction. Now in a new meatsuit, he is attempting to break one of the 66 Seals by killing two reapers under a solstice moon. He confronts Dean and Sam in a cemetery, revealing that he had survived his encounter with Anna, though the pediatrician he had been possessing did not, and gloating that the latter's wife is still looking for her husband and unaware he is dead, which he finds hilarious. Trying again to kill them, Alastair telekinetically throws Dean into a gravestone and injures him, but finds that Sam is now immune to his powers. He flees when Sam tries to exorcise him with his powers, and later returns in yet another meatsuit. When the boys become non-corporeal to better find the demons holding the reapers hostage, they track Alastair down at a funeral home warded in Enochian script against angels. As they have made themselves subject to ghostly weaknesses in their spiritual state, Alastair traps them with an iron chain and toys with them by shooting them with rock salt as he sends a minion to kill their unconscious bodies. While their ally Pamela Barnes is able to hold off Alastair's servant for a time and thwart this aspect of Alastair's plan, she is fatally wounded by Alastair's servant in the process and later dies. Meanwhile, Alastair begins breaking the seal and succeeds in killing one reaper with Death's scythe, though the boys help Tessa escape and ultimately save the seal before fleeing. Alastair later tracks Dean down alone as Sam is fighting off Alastair's minion in an attempt to save Pamela. As he begins closing in on Dean, Alastair is struck by lightning and vanishes again as he is captured by Castiel.

4.16 On the Head of a Pin

Held captive by Castiel and Uriel and imprisoned in am Enochian devil's trap, Alastair refuses to tell them anything about the slain angels. Dean is recruited as an interrogator due to formerly being Alastair's student during his time in Hell. Amused by the idea, Alastair taunts Dean over the course of the torture session, though he concedes that reality is "too concrete" compared to Hell for Dean to adequately torture him. Dean instead tortures Alastair with holy water injected into his veins, salt poured down his mouth, and mutilation from Ruby's knife that he coats with holy water and salt. Instead of giving Dean the information he asks for regarding the angel murders, Alastair plays mind games with Dean by claiming that he tortured Dean's father John in Hell and even made him the same offer he'd made Dean, but that unlike his son, John was a "hero" who steadfastly refused and ultimately escaped after 100 years (ten months on Earth) of Alastair's torture. Alastair gloats that when Dean accepted the offer in 30 years (3 months) and began torturing souls, he broke the first of the 66 Seals and enabled demons to begin breaking the rest of them.

Having kept an eye on the devil's trap he's caught in being compromised -- later revealed to be Uriel's doing to let Alastair kill Dean and escape to make the angels keep thinking the demons are responsible for the angel murders Uriel committed -- Alastair escapes when a devastated Dean turns his back, then begins savagely beating Dean again. As he is about to finish Dean off and send him back to Hell, telling him he has a lot to learn, he becomes distracted by Castiel intervening.

Alastair is killed by Sam.

Castiel embeds Ruby's knife in Alastair's shoulder and uses telekinesis to twist the blade, but Alastair simply pulls the knife out and fights Castiel. He again overpowers Castiel and while he is unable to kill the angel as he admits he wishes he could, he reveals that all he can do is send him back to Heaven. Alastair begins an angel exorcism, but is stopped by Sam, who has become strong enough through his consumption of Ruby's demon blood to overpower him with ease. Agonized by Sam's psychic torture, Alastair finally reveals that he knows none of the demons, including himself and Lilith, are responsible for the angel deaths. Knowing that Sam can psychically exorcise demons, he challenges Sam to exorcise him back to Hell, where he wants to be, but is shocked when Sam instead uses his enhanced power to kill him.

4.18 The Monster at the End of This Book

Alastair's death is brought up by Dean, who reveals that Castiel has told him about Sam using his powers to torture and kill Alastair with ease. Dean thinks that Sam being able to do so is another sign that he is going dark side.

4.20 The Rapture

Alastair is again mentioned by Dean, who is in disbelief that Sam's powers were strong enough to kill Alastair but are now not even strong enough to kill a low-level demon. The reason, unknown to Dean at the time, is that Sam has not recently fed on demon blood due to a prolonged absence from Ruby.

4.21 When the Levee Breaks

While undergoing forced withdrawal from demon blood, Sam has several hallucinations, the first of which is Alastair inexplicably returning in his last meatsuit. Finding Sam locked in Bobby's Panic Room alone with him, Alastair tortures him with a knife. Eventually Alastair disappears and Sam realizes that he had been hallucinating both Alastair and the torture.

4.22 Lucifer Rising

Alastair is the only demon explicitly mentioned by Ruby when she is explaining that none of the others besides herself and Lilith had known of her undercover mission for Lucifer and Lilith.

6.10 Caged Heat

To prove that she is capable of making Crowley give into her demands, Meg reveals that she had apprenticed under Alastair in Hell like Dean had, and Dean grudgingly concedes that this means she can make Crowley do whatever she wants.

6.20 The Man Who Would Be King

Alastair is mentioned by Crowley when listing off those who underestimated the threat the Winchesters pose and paid the price for it, along with Lucifer, Michael, Lilith, and Azazel.

15.01 Back and to the Future

Belphegor mentions Dean's time in Hell, where he was tortured by Alastair for 30 years until Dean accepted Alastair's deal that he would stop the torture if Dean himself would take his place. Belphegor tells Dean he got to watch him "work" and described the things he did to people as not torture but "art," calling himself a fan of Dean's work. Dean simply states that it was a long time ago.

Alastair in Lore

The character Alastair may be a reference to the demon Alastor in Christian demonology. Alastor is the chief executioner and torturer for the monarch of Hell. He is an exceptionally cruel demon. The name "Alastor" became a common place term in reference to evil spirits or foul tempered individuals.

Trivia

  • The name "Alastair" is the anglicized form of the Scottish Alasdair, which is the Scottish (Gaelic) version of Alexander. The latter is the English form of the ancient Greek name Alexandros, which has the meaning "protector of men" in Greek.
  • The character may be a reference to British occultist Aleister Crowley, who during his day was dubbed "the wickedest man in the world" by the press. At one point, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page developed an interest in Crowley. Page once owned Boleskine House, Crowley's estate on the shores of Loch Ness.
    • In addition, another demon named Crowley later appears.

External links

References