Changes

Archangels are the stuff of primordial creation ([[Michael]], [[Lucifer]], [[Raphael]] and [[Gabriel]]) they are the first four powerful, angelic beings created by [[God]] before other [[angels]]. They possess possessed immense power far surpassing that of [[demons]], lesser angels, and most other supernatural beings. [[Castiel]] describes described them as "fierce and absolute."<ref name="four18">[[4.18 The Monster at the End of This Book]]</ref>

In the beginning, God and His archangels battled [[the Darkness]], where the . The Darkness was eventually defeated and trapped to maintain [[the Cosmic Balance]]. To , to serve as lock and key to the Darkness' cage, God created a [[Mark of Cain|Mark]]. It was given to Lucifer, His most trusted archangel. The Mark eventually began assert a will of its own, corrupting Lucifer, and becoming the first [[curse]]. The Mark enhanced Lucifer's anger and jealousy when God commanded the angels to bow before humanity.<ref name="ten23" />Lucifer began arguing with his brothers, primarily Michael, who loyally followed their Father's word as law. Lucifer led an unsuccessful rebellion in [[Heaven]], which caused him to be cast out and to [[Fallen Angels|fall from grace]]. He was subsequently imprisoned in [[Lucifer's Cage|a Cage]] by Michael, sometime after passing the Mark on to [[Cain]]. Gabriel was in turn disgusted with his brother's behavior, he refrained from choosing sides by retreating to Earth and masquerading as the [[Trickster]], [[Loki]].<ref name="five08">[[5.08 Changing Channels]]</ref> In God's absence, Michael took over the entire [[The Host of Heaven|Host of Heaven]] while Raphael continued his responsibilities as an archangel.

Lucifer began arguing with his brothersAccording to [[Metatron]], primarily Michaelthe archangels, who loyally followed in their Father's word as lawdespair decided to take over the universe themselves after God left Heaven. Lucifer led an unsuccessful rebellion in Metatron realized that he and the [[HeavenTablets|Word of God]]were needed to do so, which caused him so he fled to be cast out Earth seeking refuge for the tablets and himself. The archangels were unable to [[Fallen Angels|fall locate Metatron due to his extreme isolation from grace]]Heaven, and their plans were delayed. He Metatron was subsequently imprisoned in [[Luciferalso cut off from Heaven making him unaware of the archangels's Cage|a Cage]] by Michael. Gabriel was in turn disgusted fates until contact with his brother's behavior. He refrained from choosing sides by retreating to Earth and masquerading as the [[Trickster]], [[Loki]]Winchester brothers.<ref name="five08eight21">[[58.08 Changing Channels21 The Great Escapist]]</ref> In God's absencethe demon tablet, Michael took over the entire Metatron was falsely identified as an archangel.<ref name="eight07">[[The Host of Heaven|Host 8.07 A Little Slice of HeavenKevin]] while Raphael continued his responsibilities as an archangel.</ref>

According to [[Metatron]]At some point in the past, the archangels, in their despair decided were believed to take over the universe themselves after God left Heaven. Metatron realized that he and have killed all of the [[Tablets|Word Knights of GodHell]] were needed to do so, so he fled to Earth seeking refuge for the tablets and himself. The archangels were unable to locate Metatron due to his extreme isolation from Heaven, and their plans were delayed. Metatron was also cut off from Heaven making him unaware of the archangels' fates until contact with the Winchester brothers.<ref name="eight21">[[8.21 The Great Escapistthe First Blade]]</ref> In the demon tablet. However, Metatron it is falsely identified as an archangelrevealed that this task was actually undertaken by Cain.<ref name="eight07nine11">[[89.07 A Little Slice of Kevin11 First Born]]</ref>

At some point in As the pastplan to release Lucifer and the [[Apocalypse]] started to come to fruition, the archangels were believed to have killed all once more begin playing a role on Earth with Raphael taking on the role of a protector of the [[Knights prophet]] [[Chuck Shurley]]<ref name="four18" /> and later smiting a group of [[demons]] at a gas station after the release of HellLucifer.<ref name="five03">[[5.03 Free to Be You and Me]]</ref> Once Lucifer was freed, Michael began working through his proxy [[Zachariah]] to force Dean to consent to possession so he could have his destined battle with his brother.<ref name="five01">[[5.01 Sympathy for the First BladeDevil]]</ref><ref name="five04">[[5. However, it is revealed that this task was actually undertaken by 04 The End]]</ref><ref name="five16">[[Cain5.16 Dark Side of the Moon]].</ref><ref name="nine11five18">[[95.11 First Born18 Point of No Return]]</ref>

As the plan to release Lucifer and the [[Apocalypse]] starts to come to fruition, the archangels once more begin playing a role on Earth with Raphael taking on the role of a protector of the prophet [[Chuck Shurley]]<ref name="four18" /> and later smiting a group of [[demons]] at a gas station after the release of Lucifer.<ref name="five03">[[5.03 Free to Be You and Me]]</ref> Once Lucifer is free, Michael begins working through his proxy [[Zachariah]] to force Dean to consent to possession so he can have his destined battle with Lucifer.<ref name="five01">[[5.01 Sympathy for the Devil]]</ref><ref name="five04">[[5.04 The End]]</ref><ref name="five16">[[5.16 Dark Side of the Moon]]</ref><ref name="five18">[[5.18 Point of No Return]]</ref> Gabriel, as the Trickster, attempts to convince the Winchesters to "play their roles" as well.<ref name="five08" /> During the Apocalypse, Gabriel is presumably killed by Lucifer while helping the Winchesters and [[Kali]] escape, but not before giving them a way to lock Lucifer away once more. During the final confrontation between Michael and Lucifer at [[Stull Cemetery]], Sam Winchester is was able to overpower Lucifer's control of his body and throw himself, Lucifer, Michael and [[Adam Milligan]] into Lucifer's Cage, leaving Raphael as the only active archangel.<ref name="five22">[[5.22 Swan Song]]</ref> Following the imprisonment of Michael, Raphael took command of Heaven with the intention to release Michael and Lucifer and once again begin the Apocalypse. This caused a divide in Heaven with Raphael and his loyalists against [[Castiel]] and angels loyal to him.<ref name="six03" />

Following With the imprisonment release of Michaelthe Darkness, Raphael takes command of Heaven with the intention Sam Winchester began receiving visions he believed were from God telling him to go to release Michael and Lucifer and once again begin the Apocalypse. This causes a divide in Heaven with Raphael and his loyalists against [[Castiel]] and angels loyal to him's Cage.<ref name="six03eleven02" /><ref name="eleven04" /> In order to defeat Raphael, Castiel forms a deal Using the ''[[Book of the Damned]]'' with the help of [[CrowleyRowena]] , Sam was able to gain access to all the souls of summon Lucifer into a smaller warded cage in [[PurgatoryHell|Limbo]] where Lucifer revealed to gain Sam that he can defeat the power Darkness if he needsis released once more upon the world in a vessel.<ref name="six20eleven09" /> After betraying CrowleyWhile holding Sam captive in the cage, Lucifer tells him that he is the only archangel left capable of giving any sort of help as Raphael and Gabriel are dead and Michael has been driven insane by life in the Cage and is of no use to anyone. Though Sam refused, Lucifer was able to secretly escape by taking Castiel as a vessel<ref name="eleven10" /> and takes all control of the Purgatory souls for himself Hell and uses their power to obliterate Raphaelbriefly Heaven.<ref name="eleven18" />

With the release of the Darkness, Sam begins getting visions he believes are from God telling him to go to Lucifer's Cage.<ref name="eleven02" /><ref name="eleven04" /> Using the ''[[Book of the Damned]]'' with the help of [[Rowena]], Sam is able to summon Lucifer into a smaller warded cage in Limbo where Lucifer tells Sam that he can defeat the Darkness if he is released once more upon the world in a vessel.<ref name="eleven09" /> While holding Sam captive in the cage, Lucifer tells him that he is the only archangel left capable of giving any sort of help as Raphael and Gabriel are dead and Michael has been driven insane by life in the Cage and is of no use to anyone. Though Sam refuses, Lucifer is able to secretly escape by taking Castiel as a vessel<ref name="eleven10" /> and takes control of Hell and briefly Heaven.<ref name="eleven18" /> The Winchesters are eventually able to get Lucifer and God to reconcile, but God is unable to resurrect Raphael and Gabriel in a timely manner to help against the Darkness or call upon Michael for help in his state. With only one archangel to help them, witches, demons and angels are all called upon to substitute for the missing power to defeat the Darkness. Though the Darkness is defeated, she recovers and mortally wounds God, expelling Lucifer from Castiel in the process.<ref name="eleven22" />

After God wipes out every living thing on Earth, Michael later helps agrees to help the Winchesters in their last stand against God by finding a way his father, but is unable to open and read [[Chuck's Death Book]]for them. However, Chuck also revives The group is joined by a resurrected Lucifer shortly thereafter with Lucifer as an emissary claiming that the [[Cosmic Entity]] resurrected him to retrieve give the Winchesters and Jack a hand in destroying God. Lucifer helps open the book. Initially stating he was revived by the Cosmic Entity to aid themkilling [[Betty]], Lucifer kills a reaper named [[BettyReaper]] to make and turning her into the new [[incarnation of Death]]. However, Lucifer betrays his brother, making her capable of opening the Winchesters and Jack and reveals that God was actually the one to resurrect him in order to get the book, but before she can reveal the bookstating that he Lucifer is now God's contents, Lucifer kills her and steals the bookFavorite instead of Michael. He offers Jack After a chance to join their sideshort battle, but Michael kills him is able to kill Lucifer with an archangel bladesupplied to him by the Winchesters. Jealous of Chuck choosing Lucifer over him However, desperate to helpbecome God's Favorite once again, Michael tips Chuck off on betrays the Winchesters and their plan to be use a spell from the ''[[Book of the favorite once again, but Chuck, unable Damned]]'' to look past destroy God. Enraged by Michael's alliance with the Winchestersprevious betrayal, kills him as a resultGod nevertheless obliterates Michael, leaving rendering the archangels extinct. However, but the Winchesters succeed in helping Jack steal Chuckhad anticipated Michael's power, making betrayal and used him the new to feed a false plan to Godin order to lure Him into a trap.<ref name="fifteen19">[[15.19 Inherit the Earth]]</ref>

The relationships between archangels and their vessels can be complex. Holding an archangel is damaging to a human; Raphael's vessel, [[Donnie Finnerman]], was left catatonic after his possession.<ref name="five03" /> Lucifer's continued presence in [[Nick]], an alternate vessel, causes the human's body to break down, as evidenced by burn-like marks on his skin. Lucifer's vessels can be strengthened with demon blood to better survive the ordeal. Despite his contempt for humanity as a whole, Lucifer showed some sympathy toward Nick, and toward Sam, his true vessel. However, as it was later revealed, Lucifer's sympathy towards Nick was simply an act of manipulation as he had orchestrated the murder of Nick's family to get him to say "yes."<ref name="fourteen11" /> Michael, though condescendingly, was willing to explain his position to Dean while occupying his father, and promised not to leave Dean a "drooling mess" like Donnie Finnerman after his service.<ref name="five13">[[5.13 The Song Remains the Same]]</ref> Lucifer also displayed the ability to use [[Castiel]], a lesser angel as his vessel without causing visible damage to the body. However, Castiel is noted by Sam to have a particularly strong vessel<ref name="eleven18">[[11.18 Hell's Angel]]</ref> and Castiel later states that being Lucifer's vessel is in fact slowly burning both it and him out.<ref name="eleven22">[[11.22 We Happy Few]]</ref> In contrast, while housing the [[Apocalypse World]] [[Michael (Apocalypse World)|Michael]] who is far stronger than the Michael from the Winchesters world, Dean was not only able to remain conscious without any apparent ill effects, he was able to retain control of himself and even use some of Michael's powers as per a deal with the archangel. It was only when Michael betrayed their deal that Dean lost control of his body.<ref name="thirteen23" /> The Michael of the Winchesters' world, after escaping from Lucifer's Cage, shares control with his vessel, [[Adam Milligan]]. The two are able to openly converse with each other, with Michael appearing as a duplicate of Adam in the waking world, though only Adam can see him. Adam later explains that he and Michael reached an understanding when they were trapped for all of those years together in Lucifer's Cage during which time they were all each other had. Michael appears to be protective towards Adam, particularly angry with Dean over abandoning Adam in the Cage while he was willing to let Lucifer roam free and the archangel and his vessel even appear to be friends with each other.<ref name="fifteen08" /> After Adam dies with the rest of humanity, Michael is visibly saddened when he informs the Winchesters of this, showing genuine grief over Adam's loss.<ref name="fifteen19" />

Very few things in existence are capable of harming, let alone killing an archangel. [[God]], as the Creator, was stated to be the one being capable of stopping [[Lucifer]] and the Apocalypse if He so chose to.<ref name="five02">[[5.02 Good God, Y'All]]</ref> While trying to keep Lucifer under control, God proved capable of negating Lucifer's powers without Lucifer even noticing until he tried using them on Sam and Dean Winchester.<ref name="eleven22" /> Later, an enraged God effortlessly obliterated [[Michael]], the most powerful of the archangels.<ref name="fifteen19" /> [[Amara]] was shown easily overpowering Lucifer and causing him incredible pain and damage.<ref name="eleven18">[[11.18 Hell's Angel]]</ref><ref name="eleven21">[[11.21 All in the Family]]</ref> Amara is also capable of effortlessly pulling an archangel from their vessel.<ref name="eleven22">[[11.22 We Happy Few]]</ref> A [[Hand of God]], a colloquial term for any object that has come into contact with God and taken on a portion of His power, can possibly kill or at the very least injure an archangel, as an indirect blast from the [[Rod of Aaron]] caused Lucifer to bleed.

Archangels may be able to harm each other without weapons, as Michael and Lucifer went unarmed to their confrontation at [[Stull Cemetery]].<ref name="five22" /> The [[Apocalypse World]] [[Michael (Apocalypse World)|Michael]] stated that he tore his Lucifer apart in the skies over Abilene during his version of the Apocalypse,<ref name="thirteen02" /> and Lucifer, while super-charged, believed he could kill the alternate Michael and Dean simply by [[smiting]] them, though this failed.<ref name="thirteen23" /> After Lucifer's resurrection, he and Michael engaged in a brief battle with their powers before Michael resorted to an archangel blade to kill his brother. Michael noted that he was somewhat winded from the fight and hadn't been in such a battle in centuries.<ref name="fifteen19" /> Archangels are Heaven's most fierce weapon, above all other angels. Despite the fact that angels under normal circumstances can't harm an archangel, if they can tap into the power of enough souls, they can banish, or even kill them.<ref name="six22">[[6.22 The Man Who Knew Too Much]]</ref>

An [[archangel blade]], when wielded by an archangel, is capable of killing an archangel.<ref name="thirteen13" /><ref name="fifteen19" /> It is also effective against archangels when wielded by a [[vessel]] powered by an archangel whether the vessel or the archangel is in control.<ref name="thirteen23" /> Other [[Angelic Weapon|weapons of Heaven]] can harm and possibly kill an archangel. [[Lot's Salt]], one of these weapons, turned Raphael's vessel into a pillar of salt, which made it uninhabitable, and forced Raphael to flee to find a new vessel. The [[Lance of Michael]] was created by Michael for the sole purpose of making Lucifer suffer in their final confrontation. The lance had the power to make all angels die slow, agonizing deaths, and could only be reversed if the spellwork on the Lance has been broken. [[Lucifer's Cage]] was specifically created by God to imprison Lucifer. Its intricate spellwork can tightly secure any archangels, as seen with Michael and Lucifer.<ref name="five22">[[5.22 Swan Song]]</ref>

* At present, only four archangels are known to have existed ([[Michael]], [[Lucifer]], [[Raphael]], [[Gabriel]]) and only one is currently known to be alive: Michael who is currently walking the Earth in the [[vessel]] of [[Adam Milligan]]. Lucifer was killed by Dean Winchester who granted his consent to AW Michael to defeat him with an [[archangel blade]], but he reneged on their deal and took full control of Dean's vessel. Lucifer was later killed a second time by Michael. Gabriel was killed by AW Michael with his archangel blade in Apocalypse World. Raphael was ripped apart on a subatomic level by Castiel when he absorbed the [[Leviathans]] and the countless other [[souls]] from [[Purgatory]] and AW Michael was exorcised from [[Rowena MacLeod]] and burned up by [[Jack]] using the power of his [[soul]]. In addition, the AW Lucifer was "ripped apart in the skies over Abilene" by AW Michael. The ultimate fates of AW Gabriel and Raphael are unknownbut they would've died in any case when God destroyed all of the alternate universes. Michael was ultimately killed by God Himself for his earlier betrayal.