Nick

All right... I'm not very good at this, but the priest said it would help, so, um... I'm gonna try. I say that I do the terrible things I do because I couldn't find who killed Sarah and Teddy. And that once I did, I'd be free of this darkness and this rage... but I lied. Truth is... I like doing these things, and I don't want to stop. I'm bonded to you and what you are. I mean, it's -- it's -- It's how you first found me. I don't know who I am if I'm not you. No consequences. No pain. No sorrow. I want that back. I want it back. I don't want to feel now what I didn't feel then. Where are you? Where are you? Help me. Help me. – Nick, 14.07 Unhuman Nature

History

Nick lived in Pike Creek, Delaware, and was married to a woman named Sarah. Together, they had a son named Teddy. One night, Sarah and the baby were murdered by the demon Abraxas as they slept while Nick was out, drinking at the Elk's Lodge. After their deaths the grief-stricken Nick still resided in the house, and kept some objects that were connected to Sarah and his son.

Lucifer chooses to use him as a so-called "Plan B" vessel when Sam refuses to consent to him. However, because he isn't the "true" vessel, over time Nick’s body slowly becomes more and more degraded. The longer he continues to be occupied by Lucifer the more his body suffers, due to the inability of Nick's body to handle Lucifer's essence. Castiel tells Sam that Nick would be drinking gallons of demon blood in order to be able to host Lucifer. Nick is dispossessed when Lucifer gains consent from Sam, his body left behind in a apartment in Detroit.

Despite no longer using Nick as a vessel, Nick appears to be Lucifer's favored form to manifest visually in. Additionally, when Lucifer was expelled from Castiel by the Darkness, an image of Nick briefly overlaid Castiel. Several years after Lucifer first possessed Nick, his body was found by Crowley's demons, where it was repaired and improved so that Nick's body could be a suitable permanent vessel for Lucifer. Following Lucifer's defeat, he was returned to Nick's unconscious body when Crowley altered Rowena's spell, causing Nick to once more become Lucifer's vessel. Nick remained Lucifer's permanent vessel for the next year and a half until Dean killed Lucifer with an archangel blade while powered and possessed by the Apocalypse World version of Michael.

When Nick survived Lucifer's death, Sam theorized it was because the archangel blade was designed to kill the possessing archangel while leaving the vessel unharmed. As he recuperates from his ordeal, Nick takes up residence in a makeshift bedroom in the dungeon of the Bunker. His subsequent aggressiveness and Lucifer-like mannerisms when angered cause Castiel to believe that Lucifer did more damage to Nick's psyche than had been previously realized.

Nick becomes determined to find Sarah and Teddy's murderer, even going as far as becoming a budding serial killer. He targets people with special knowledge of the murders such as Arty Nielson, a local priest, and Frank Kellogg, but he also gets the urge to kill innocent people, developing quite a taste for the act. He discovers that the demon Abraxas, whom Lucifer knew personally, possessed Kellogg that night and used his meatsuit to kill Nick's family with a hammer. After kidnapping Mary Winchester, Nick finally comes face to face with Abraxas, learning that Abraxas murdered his family on the orders of Lucifer. After getting his revenge upon Abraxas, Nick is arrested by Sheriff Donna Hanscum for his murder spree.

Episodes

Lucifer takes the form of Nick's deceased wife, to convince him into becoming his vessel.

5.01 Sympathy for the Devil

Nick's wife and child have been murdered during a home invasion. As he grieves, he starts hallucinating. Lucifer appears as his wife Sarah and tells him that he is a vessel, and that Lucifer wants his consent to possess him. Lucifer says he is misunderstood, that he was punished for "loving God too much." He says that he will help Nick get justice for his family. Nick assents to possession.

5.03 Free to Be You and Me

While talking to Sam about him being his true vessel, Lucifer told him that Nick was an improvisation or a "Plan B" and can barely hold him for long without spontaneously combusting.

5.10 Abandon All Hope...

Castiel notices that Nick's body is beginning to deteriorate, with Lucifer telling him that his vessel is "wearing a bit thin" and cannot hold him forever, increasing his need to gain consent for possession by Sam.

5.13 The Song Remains the Same

Nick is briefly mentioned by Anna who says that he's "burning away as we speak" while meeting with Castiel in the warehouse.

5.21 Two Minutes to Midnight

Castiel tells Sam that he would have to drink an enormous amount of demon blood before he could let Lucifer inside him when they were discussing Sam's plan on imprisoning him along with himself. All the while, mentioning that Lucifer is drinking gallons as they speak so Nick's body can continue to contain him as it can strengthen the vessel.

5.22 Swan Song

Dean and Sam meet up with Lucifer at an abandoned apartment in Detroit, Michigan where Nick's body appears to be more run down than their last encounter. When Sam agrees to be Lucifer's vessel, Nick's body is seen motionless on the ground after the dispossession.

A comatose Nick about to be repossessed by Lucifer.

12.13 Family Feud

A few years after Lucifer abandoned Nick's body as a vessel, Crowley and his demons find him and have his body repaired and improved to act as a suitable permanent vessel for Lucifer. After Crowley corrupts Rowena's spell to send Lucifer back to the Cage, he is instead sent into Nick's unconscious body where Lucifer is restrained with chains. Due to Crowley's improvements upon Nick's body, he shows no signs of degrading from the possession like he did previously or like Lucifer's other vessels aside from Castiel and President Jefferson Rooney.

12.15 Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

Crowley revealed that he not only improved Nick's body to act as a permanent vessel for Lucifer, he also had the runes and spell-work from the Cage carved into every molecule in order for Crowley to effectively torture him as well as rendering him powerless and preventing him from vacating his vessel.

12.17 The British Invasion

A demon named Drexel was inspecting Nick's body to make certain that it and the security system are both completely intact, in an attempt to help Lucifer by shutting down the security system in Nick's body. Drexel told him that a demon named Spivak designed everything planted in Nick's body, however Crowley had him and the other eleven demons in the Cage Project killed to safeguard its secrets.

12.21 There's Something About Mary

Upon further examination while attempting to power down the spellwork, Drexel discovered that the security system in Nick's body was beginning to power up in the opposite direction, giving Lucifer control over Crowley rather than vice versa. After showing off his newfound puppet-like abilities over Crowley's meatsuit, Lucifer powers himself up, possibly destroying the security system in Nick's body.

12.23 All Along the Watchtower

After inspecting the surveillance photos Sam had taken from Dr. Hess from the British Men of Letters, Sam confirms to Dean and Mary that Lucifer is back and that he returned to his old vessel.

13.23 Let the Good Times Roll

After granting consent to Michael for possession, Dean is able to kill Lucifer with the archangel blade. Nick's body is left lying on the ground with Lucifer's wings singed around him.

14.01 Stranger in a Strange Land

While Sam is talking with Jack, Mary interrupts and tells Sam that "he's awake." Sam enters the Bunker's dungeon, where Nick, still alive after Lucifer was killed, is sitting on his bed. Sam cleans the wound Nick sustained when Dean stabbed Lucifer with the archangel blade. As Sam dabs some hydrogen peroxide on the wound, Nick questions why he is still alive, leading to Sam theorizing that when an archangel blade is used to kill an archangel, the vessel is somehow spared. Nick feels guilty for giving Lucifer his consent to possess him and acknowledges that it's weird how Sam can still see Lucifer when he looks at him. Despite that, Sam and Nick are both glad that Lucifer is dead. When Sam asks what Nick remembers, Nick says that he only remembers bits and pieces from when he was possessed. He tells Sam that while he doesn't remember much about Dean, he remembers something about Michael's plans: how he said "he wanted to do it right this time."

14.02 Gods and Monsters

Nick continues to struggle with having been Lucifer's vessel. He questions Castiel as to why he would do something like that, forcing Castiel to remind him that his family was murdered, causing Nick to have an emotional breakdown as the memories come flooding back to him.

Nick involuntarily snaps his fingers at Castiel as if he was Lucifer.

Later, Nick enters the Bunker library with a laptop and informs Castiel that nothing has been done about the death of his family, revealing there have been no mentions of them past the year of their deaths. Nick begins blaming himself and calling himself a coward, telling Castiel how he would have been on the police to solve the case every day, but that his grief led him to being possessed by Lucifer. As Castiel tries to comfort Nick, he reacts to Castiel touching his shoulder by saying "don't" and snapping his fingers, much like Lucifer has done in the past. When Castiel asks why he did that, Nick appears confused as to what Castiel is talking about. Believing some residual influence from Lucifer remains in Nick, Castiel touches Nick's shoulder to sense his mind, coming to the conclusion that Lucifer may have inflicted more damage on Nick's psyche than they could have imagined. Nick storms out of the library, telling Castiel he is going to find out who killed his family. When Castiel asks what he will do when he does, Nick does not answer him and walks away.

Nick attempts to speak with a police detective about his family's case, but only meets with indifference. He reveals to Castiel that there was a witness who at first claimed to have seen a man leaving his home but later changed his story. When Castiel tries to get Nick to see that he has been given another chance, he tells him about Jimmy Novak and his death as his vessel. In response, Nick compares Castiel to Lucifer, calling him a "stone-cold body snatcher." This visibly shakes Castiel and he leaves Nick alone, telling him that what happened to Jimmy and his family was and still is his greatest regret.

Nick travels to Pike Creek, Delaware, where he meets with his old neighbor, Arty Nielson. Arty had initially given a statement that he saw a man leave Nick's home the night of the murders, but later recanted. Nick begins questioning why he would have done that, and begins asking if he saw a man with a hammer, recounting how his family died. Arty continues denying that he saw any man and only said what he did in hopes of helping Nick. Nick, however, becomes more agitated at Arty, and violently pushes him into a wall telling him he and his family deserve justice. Sometime later, Nick bludgeons Arty to death with a hammer, placing the bloody weapon on an end table before leaving.

14.03 The Scar

Sam questions Castiel about Nick, who informs him that Nick left, leaving a note explaining he had "personal business to attend to." Castiel says that his calls to Nick have gone unanswered, and that he assumes Nick needs some time due to being in such a "dark place".

14.07 Unhuman Nature

Nick sits in an office talking of the hate he feels for himself for enjoying the violent things he does. He accepts that the priest couldn't reveal what Arty told him in confession, but tells the dead priest that he should have helped him find his family's killer, telling the dead and crucified priest he will look into his suggestion of prayer before leaving.

Nick then meets with a reporter from Pike Creek, Diane Fargo, who reported on his wife and son's murder. She tells Nick that there was nothing to go on, even her own theory that he did it wouldn't hold water due to his being drunk at the Elk's Lodge on the night of the murder. She does give him the name of the police officer that worked his street that night, Frank Kellogg, telling him he does security in Montauk now.

As Nick travels to find Frank, he waits in his car in alley when he sees a woman exit a club. He contemplates whether to leave the car or stay. Choosing to exit he approaches the women, who invites him to join her and her friends in the club. Nick however has to fight the impulse he has to kill the women and yells at her to leave as he takes control of his violent urges.

Arriving in Montauk, Nick locates Frank Kellogg's home. When he shows up on his doorstep and reminds him of his family, a panicked Frank attempts to close the door on Nick only for Nick to rush in and restrain him. After torturing Frank for information, Frank finally tells Nick that on the night of his family's murder, Nick’s wife called the police because she heard what she thought was a prowler outside their home. When he arrived, he encountered a man named Abraxas and blacked out, only to find himself in his car covered in blood. Nick realizes that Abraxas is a demon that Lucifer knew and that Frank was possessed when he committed the murders. Despite the realization that Frank was not in control and therefore not to blame, Nick is unable to ignore the fact that Frank's hands were still the ones that murdered his family; Nick bludgeons Frank to death with a hammer.

After brutally murdering Frank, Nick kneels in prayer and begins admitting he enjoyed being Lucifer’s vessel and doesn't want to feel pain or sorrow or consequences any more. As he prays to the archangel, something awakens in the Empty.

Trivia

• The name "Nick" is possibly a reference to "Old Nick" which is a nickname for the Devil.
• Nick's status was unclear following Lucifer's return to his body in 12.13 Family Feud -- whether he remained alive after his first possession by Lucifer, had been resurrected to act as a vessel again, or whether or he was like Jimmy Novak: a dead vessel restored to act as a permanent vessel for their possessing angel. 14.01 Stranger in a Strange Land confirms Nick was either still alive or was resurrected by Crowley.
• Nick being alive at the time of 12.13 Family Feud makes it unclear how Lucifer was able to repossess him as it has been previously established that when an angel leaves their vessel, they need permission once again to reenter. At the time Lucifer reentered Nick, he was unconscious in a chair and did not appear to have consented. However, he may have been in a vegetative state, much like how Donnie Finnerman was shown to be catatonic in 5.03 Free to Be You and Me. Angels also do not require verbal consent, as Gadreel was able to possess Sam through his subconscious. Another possible explanation is that when Lucifer left Nick's body, he left the door open a crack in his mind so that he could return at will as Michael did with Dean as seen in 14.09 The Spear.
• Mark Pellegrino's name did not appear in the opening credits for 14.01 Stranger in a Strange Land, presumably to maintain the surprise of Nick's return. However, during the airing of the episode and before Nick appeared in person, a promo for the movie Halloween was aired featuring Sam asking Nick about Michael, thus ruining the surprise. Mark Pellegrino returned to the opening credits for 14.02 Gods and Monsters for his role as Nick. The same thing happened with Mark's surprise appearance as Lucifer at the end of 12.12 Stuck in the Middle (With You) with Mark then appearing in the opening credits for the very first time as a main cast member as Lucifer in the next episode 12.13 Family Feud.
• Nick is the second main character portrayed by Mark Pellegrino, a role which he took on after Lucifer's death.
• With Nick's arrest at the end of 14.11 Damaged Goods, the death toll during his pursuit for revenge comes to five people and at least three demons, with Nick mentioning to the demon at the beginning of the episode that he had killed at least one more off-screen that led him to her. If either of those two unnamed demons' meatsuits were still alive, he would've killed them as well. In addition to murder, Nick's crimes included kidnapping, torture, breaking and entering, grand theft auto, resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer, and possibly attempted murder for attacking Mary Winchester on Abraxas's orders before Sam and Dean intervened.
• During the scenes where he commits his murders, Nick takes no visible precautions to stop himself from leaving fingerprints, even leaving the hammer which he has touched with his bare hand behind at Arty Nielson's crime scene, which explains why his fingerprints could be used to identify him as the killer. The fact that they specifically identified Nick by name when Donna ran them suggests that Nick has some kind of criminal history that resulted in his fingerprints being on file, otherwise there would've been no reason for Donna to get a specific match on him.