Smiting

Castiel attempts to smite Cain.

The angels in Heaven prepare to launch their collective power.

Smiting is an ability inherent in all angels, allowing them to kill anything with a single touch. When an angel places their hand on whomever they wish to smite, the being's face becomes consumed with light, leaving their eye-sockets burned out and liquefying their insides. Alastair was able to deflect Castiel's attempts to smite him in 4.10 Heaven and Hell, and due to Leviathans predating angels, they appeared to be immune as well.

The Host of Heaven is able to combine their powers into one single focused blast of energy. Smiting of this magnitude has such power that it can cause fallout which can poison the area for miles. This fallout can negatively effect humans in proximity to ground zero, inducing a smiting sickness, which can lead to death or, in the case of Lot's wife, transformation into a pillar of salt which resulted in the creation of Lot's Salt. Smiting of this magnitude rarely happens on Earth, with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah being the only known mass smiting before the arrival of Amara.

Episodes

4.01 Lazarus Rising

While Sam is staking out Johnny Mac's Diner after Dean's earlier demon confrontation, he sneaks into the darkened diner. As he creeps in quietly, he sees the cook from earlier face-down on the floor, his hands bloody. Sam crouches and turns the man over, revealing his eyes burned out and drying blood caked on his cheeks. He gets tackled from behind by the demon waitress; they trade blows before Sam eventually shoves her away, revealing that she too has empty, burned out eye sockets and blood trickling down her face.

4.10 Heaven and Hell

When Alastair and his demons try to take Anna away, Castiel and Uriel arrive. While Uriel smites the subordinate demons, Castiel attempts to smite Alastair, but is shocked to find he has no effect on the demon.

4.20 The Rapture

As the demon-possessed Amelia leaves the room, a demon walks towards Claire Novak, who is tied to a chair and unconscious. The demon picks up a pipe and swings it towards her, but she suddenly grabs the pipe in one hand and places the other hand on the demon's forehead. The demon screams as he is killed in a bright light. Using the distraction, Sam and Dean attack the demons holding them. While they struggle, Claire, who is now possessed by Castiel, burns away the ropes holding her. As Dean is being pummeled by the male demon, Castiel approaches and places his hand on the demon's head, killing it.

4.22 Lucifer Rising

While standing with Chuck Shurley as the angel Raphael is descending to Earth, Castiel is smote and explodes, as Chuck put it, "like a water balloon of chunky soup."

5.22 Swan Song

After molotoving Michael at Stull Cemetery, an angry Lucifer snaps his fingers, causing Castiel to blow up at a sub-atomic level.

6.19 Mommy Dearest

To locate Eve, Castiel abducts the vampire Lenore, hoping to use the psychic connection all monsters have with her. After Lenore tells them of Eve's location, she asks to be killed, telling Sam and Dean that Eve's influence and voice are forcing her to feed on living humans. Castiel obliges Lenore's request; as he touches her head a light shines out of her eyes and mouth, causing her face to flame up and killing her.

After Eve is killed by Dean, Castiel regains his nullified powers and smites the diner full of Jefferson Starships.

Castiel smites a pair of demons in Ellsworth's cabin.

6.20 The Man Who Would Be King

To tie up loose ends regarding his partnership with Crowley, Castiel attacks two of Crowley's "hunters," smiting them with ease. As the demon Ellsworth attempts to make his escape, Castiel captures his demon smoke in his hand, shoves it back down Ellsworth's throat, and with his hand covering the demon's mouth smites him.

After Sam, Dean, and Bobby do a sweep of Ellsworth's cabin and find nothing, they are attacked by demons who give them Crowley's regards, but Castiel soon appears and smites them.

6.21 Let It Bleed

While Dean tortures a demon for information on the location of Lisa and Ben, he accidentally breaks the devil's trap, allowing the demon to break free of the restraints and attack him. As the demon takes Dean by the throat, Castiel appears and smites the demon.

6.22 The Man Who Knew Too Much

Empowered with the souls of Purgatory, Castiel, believing to possess the power of God, simply snaps his fingers, causing Raphael to explode at a sub-atomic level.

Castiel remembers who he is while smiting demons.

7.17 The Born-Again Identity

After discovering Castiel as an amnesiac named Emmanuel, Dean and Meg attempt to get him to remember who he is by sending him to confront the demons guarding the hospital Sam is staying in. He walks up to the demons, who stand in shock, having heard Castiel was dead. Castiel lays his hand on the head of the demon standing in front of him and smites him, which causes his memories to flood back. He goes on to smite two more demons simultaneously with a hand to each of their faces. As the last demon attempts to make an escape, Castiel teleports in front of him and tells him he doesn't think running will save him and smites him, having regained his full memory. Castiel then enters the hospital and saves Sam from the demon Marcus, who is giving him electroshock.

8.05 Blood Brother

While in Purgatory, fighting alongside Dean and Benny, Castiel is able to smite an unknown monster with his angelic touch. He ponders afterward what happens when you kill a monster in "monster heaven".

8.07 A Little Slice of Kevin

While looking for Kevin, Castiel and Dean walk through the factory. Dean turns to find a demon behind him; as he attempts to kill it, he is sent flying backwards. When the demon turns his attention to Castiel, Cas begins to take a couple of steps backwards before placing a hand on the demon's head and smiting him.

9.02 Devil May Care

Worrying that Sam will be overcome by Abaddon's demons, Gadreel takes control of the body and smites the demons with an explosion of angelic light.

9.06 Heaven Can't Wait

A suicidal man by the name of Joe is found by the Rit Zien, Ephraim, who feels Joe's pain and attempts to relive this pain by smiting him. Ephraim later pays a visit to a high school where he finds a heartbroken teenage girl, who had just been broken up with. Seeing her crying, Ephraim does the only thing he can think to stop her pain, and smites the young girl. When Castiel realizes what he and Dean are dealing with, he tells Dean that the Rit Zien method of smiting is "so quick and so total that it rendered death virtually painless."

9.09 Holy Terror

As prospective vessels for Bartholomew, followers gather at a campfire and prepare for their angelic possession. Followers of Malachi, however, proceed to launch a sneak attack, killing the angel present while smiting the intended vessels before they could be possessed.

10.14 The Executioner's Song

In their plan to stop Cain, Castiel attempts to smite him. His attempt on Cain is simply shrugged off, with Cain throwing Castiel through the air with a simple gesture.

11.09 O Brother Where Art Thou?

The angels decide to take the fight to Amara. The Head Angel is able to locate her, and with two others by his side, he demands that Amara surrender to the judgement of Heaven. He tells her that if she resists each and every angel in the skies will smite her in a single unified blow. Amara kills the three angels one by one, and when the skies began to crack with thunder and lighting and clouds begin darken to swirl, Amara gives one last look of concern to Dean before she sends him away and takes the angel smiting head on with her arms wide open as a blaze of holy light envelops her and the ground explodes.

11.11 Into the Mystic

While basking in his newly acquired freedom at a park, Lucifer is noticed by the angel Nithael, who begins pursuing him into the woods. As he is about to attack Lucifer with an angel blade, Lucifer stops him. He tells Nithael that he is the only one that can stop the Darkness. Unconvinced, Nithael moves to attack Lucifer, who snaps his fingers, blowing Nithael up.

11.18 Hell's Angel

In the corridors of Heaven, the angel Jofiel is checking the doors when he suddenly comes face to face with Lucifer. While Jofiel is panicked, Lucifer attempts to calm him by telling him he only wants to help. But as Jofiel begins to yell out for other angels, Lucifer snaps his fingers, disintegrating Jofiel into black smoke.

11.22 We Happy Few

While discussing how to defeat Amara with God and Lucifer, Dean remembers that the angel's mass-smiting actually hurt Amara. As a result, Lucifer and Castiel recruit the angels to perform another mass-smiting to help defeat her. After five witches hit Amara with a magical attack, Heaven sends down another blast which Amara once again takes without resistance. Though not having an effect on her to the same degree as the first time, Amara is weakened by the blast, allowing a horde of demons to attack and a strike by Lucifer with his spear to defeat her.

Lily Sunder survives an angel smiting.

12.10 Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets

After finding Mirabel dead in an alley, Ishim is ambushed and cut by Lily Sunder. Before Lily can continue her attack Ishim places his hand on her forehead and attempts to smite her. While white light emanates from Lily's face, the smiting has no effect on her and she quickly gets the upper hand on a shocked Ishim, but before she can strike a killing blow Castiel arrives and saves Ishim.

13.02 The Rising Son

After taking charge of Hell, the Prince of Hell Asmodeus smites four demons just by clenching his fist. The demons are smote in a similar manner to an angel smiting, with white light shining out of them and their eyes burning out.

Lucifer is confronted by a group of angels in Apocalypse World who refuse to believe he is who he says he is. The commanding angel orders his troops to smite Lucifer on his count; the five angels prepare to attack and their eyes begin to glow blue. However, Lucifer snaps his fingers, causing the angels to explode, rendering them into dust.

13.09 The Bad Place

When dreamwalker Derek Swan is uncooperative in giving up Jack's location to a pair of angels, he is killed in his art studio, where his wife finds his body with his eyes burned out.

13.12 Various & Sundry Villains

After escaping his cell with Lucifer's help, Castiel smites the demon Dipper.

13.14 Good Intentions

To prevent Zachariah from killing Mary Winchester, Jack hits Zachariah with a blast of celestial energy which causes him to disintegrate. He then does this to three other angels who are about to dive bomb into the area, causing them to explode in the sky's above.

13.18 Bring 'em Back Alive

Lucifer attempts to smite Dean and Michael.

In Apocalypse World, three hooded humans are brought to a bridge to be executed for high crimes of fomenting rebellion against the archangel Michael. An angel removes the hood from the first person, revealing a woman, and places his hand on her head, filling her with light and killing her. The angel repeats the same process for the next prisoner, a man. Upon reaching the final prisoner, the angels find that she is Charlie Bradbury, a member of the human resistance's inner circle, and she is taken away for questioning.

In the Men of Letters Bunker, Asmodeus leads a small demon incursion to reacquire Gabriel, and in the ensuing fights with Sam and Castiel, Castiel smites a demon before it can kill Sam.

13.23 Let the Good Times Roll

While battling Dean who is now the vessel of the Apocalypse World Michael, the super-charged Lucifer claims that he doesn't need a weapon to end Dean who is in control while Michael is powering him. Lucifer attempts to smite Dean as Sam tosses Dean an archangel blade. The smiting fails to kill Dean, who takes advantage of the moment of distraction to stab Lucifer in the heart with the archangel blade, killing him.

14.02 Gods and Monsters

After using Lydia Crawford to bait Sam, Michael pays a visit to Lydia, who is packing a bag. He reveals to Lydia that he let her escape, telling her you can't have a trap without bait and that once the trap has been sprung you don't need the bait before his eyes glow blue and he smites her with a thought.

The site of Mary Winchester's death.

14.14 Ouroboros

After escaping from Dean's body, Michael (in the body of Rowena) smites Maggie from a distance with just a thought while Maggie is standing right in front of Sam.

14.18 Absence

Jack inadvertently smites Mary Winchester, leaving nothing behind but ash and a large blast site.

14.20 Moriah

After Dean refuses to kill Jack Kline with the Equalizer, Chuck smites him in a similar manner to an angel smiting with just a snap of his fingers. Jack is left with his eyes burned out, surrounded by the imprints of his wings.

15.01 Back and to the Future

During the fight with the zombies, Castiel jettisons two of the Hell Ghosts by smiting. While hiding, Dean suggests Castiel just smite their way out, but he tells Dean that he is too outnumbered for that to work.

After Belphegor takes possession of Jack's body, he is forced to wear sunglasses to blend in, as Jack's eyes remain burned out from God's smiting.

15.03 The Rupture

After Belphegor is revealed to have betrayed them, Castiel kills the demon by smiting. Smiting Belphegor causes Jack's corpse to be burned into a charred skeleton. Lilith's Crook is destroyed in the process.

15.08 Our Father, Who Aren't in Heaven

When Lilith refuses to leave him alone, Michael smites her with just a flash of his eyes, causing the demon to disappear in a flash of white light, leaving only a pile of black ash behind.

15.19 Inherit the Earth

Enraged by Michael's earlier betrayal, God smites the archangel, causing him to glow from the inside before exploding in a wave of energy.

See also

• Smiting Sickness