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Conversely, angels can also suppress themselves while in vessels, as shown when Gadreel, masquerading as Ezekiel, erased Sam's knowledge of him and retreated into Sam's subconscious in order to allow them both to heal.<ref name="nine01">[[9.01 I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here]]</ref> This was also demonstrated when Michael (from the [[Apocalypse World]]) took Dean as his vessel to fight Lucifer, Michael initially allowing Dean to control their power to confront Lucifer before he took control of Dean's body himself.<ref name="thirteen23" />
After escaping from [[Lucifer's Cage]], the [[archangel]] [[Michael]] allows his vessel [[Adam Milligan]] to have control. As a result of hosting Michael, Adam no longer needs to eat even though he still enjoys [[food]] such as cheeseburgers. Due to reaching an understanding with Adam during their years in the Cage, Michael openly shares control with his vessel, at one point giving Adam control just so he wouldn't have to listen to the truth about [[God]]. While Adam is control of their body, he and Michael have been shown to easily communicate with one another with Michael manifesting to Adam in the waking world as an identical duplicate of Adam that only Adam can see. This duplicate isn't limited to one spot and is able to move around the room Adam is in, though Michael's manifestation is more of a hallucination than a physical duplicate. In this way, Adam and Michael are able to hold conversations and even arguments with each other as easily as if it were two regular people in the same situation.<ref name="fifteen08" />
According to Castiel in his second conversation with Dean, [[angel]]s were "walking among" humans for the first time in 2,000 years.<ref name="four02">[[4.02 Are You There God? It's Me, Dean Winchester]]</ref> [[Uriel]] made a comment in the 1970's that it was against orders to manifest on Earth in a vessel.<ref name="five13" /> At least two angels have been on Earth during this period: [[Anna Milton]] and [[Gabriel]]. Anna fell, cutting out her [[grace]], and was subsequently born as a human. When she regains her grace, her body is destroyed,<ref name="four10">[[4.10 Heaven and Hell]]</ref> but is later regenerated for her to occupy as a vessel.<ref name="four16" /> If [[Gabriel]] has used the same vessel since arriving on Earth after Lucifer's fall, it must have been serving him for thousands of years. Gabriel's vessel is known to have the same outward appearance as [[Loki]] who Gabriel was masquerading as, but it is unknown how this was accomplished.<ref name="thirteen20">[[13.20 Unfinished Business]]</ref> While some angels enjoy their time on Earth in vessels, others resent it. Uriel holds disdain for humans, and [[Zachariah]] in particular, whose vessel is never identified, despises the prospect, as illustrated by the following quote:
An [[angel]] in a vessel can withstand injuries that would kill a human, and can heal the vessel of almost any wound they receive, unlike [[demon]]s who merely suppress the damage their "[[meatsuit]]s" sustain while they are in control. Even so, acting as a vessel is a trial. [[Jimmy Novak]] described his experience as a vessel as "like being chained to a comet."<ref name="four20">[[4.20 The Rapture]]</ref> Although Jimmy came through his time as [[Castiel]]'s vessel physically and mentally intact, apart from being hungry as Castiel never ate, he still recalls having been shot, stabbed, and healed while his body was being "used" by Castiel. Castiel also warns Jimmy that he will not age while occupied by an angel, however long he serves as a vessel.<ref name="four20" />
In the case of [[archangel]]s, the human host takes on even greater risk, as the sheer power of an archangel can inflict permanent mental damage on a vessel (however, this does not seem to be something the archangel cannot control. [[Michael]] was able to protect [[John Winchester]] from suffering significant damage when he took John as a host for a few minutes in the 1970s). [[Donnie Finnerman]] suffered brain damage after his occupation by [[Raphael]], and [[Castiel]] tells [[Dean]], were Michael to possess him, Dean would suffer even greater damage.<ref name="five03">[[5.03 Free to Be You and Me]]</ref> [[Lucifer]]'s presence causes [[Nick]] to deteriorate slowly during his time as a vessel; saying that Nick can barely contain him,<ref name="five03" /><ref name="five19">[[5.19 Hammer of the Gods]]</ref> forcing him to consume gallons of [[demon blood]] to retain enough stability to operate in Nick until [[Sam]] will consent to him. Some years later, Crowley was eventually able to "fix" Nick so that he could serve as a permanent vessel for Lucifer, but this required twelve different demons working together to create the necessary rituals, and this procedure was primarily intended to trap Lucifer in Nick rather than allow Lucifer to use Nick long-term to pursue his own agenda.<ref name="twelve13">[[12.13 Family Feud]]</ref> After Lucifer's death, Nick was able to remember several of the things Lucifer did while possessing him, leading to nightmares and flashbacks while awake.<ref name="fourteen01">[[14.01 Stranger in a Strange Land]]</ref> The possession also left him with psychological effects such as Lucifer-like mannerisms when angered, leading Castiel to believe that Lucifer's possession did more damage to Nick's psyche than was previously realized.<ref name="fourteen02" />
Even if a vessel doesn't remember it, they are aware of everything the angel is aware of and can access their memories.<ref name="nine10" /><ref name="fourteen10" />
An angel can be pulled from its vessel by other angels, or even powerful [[demon]]s;<ref name="four20" /> [[Alastair]] once attempted to [[exorcise]] [[Castiel]] from his vessel using a [[spell]], but he was interrupted before he could finish, leaving it unclear whether he would have been able to actually banish Castiel from Jimmy Novak.<ref name="four16">[[4.16 On the Head of a Pin]]</ref> According to Castiel, there is an open connection between an unoccupied human vessel and its angel.<ref name="five03" /> This connection can be used to summon an angel back to its vessel using the proper incantation. Conversely, a team of demons led by Crowley were able to trap Lucifer in Nick by performing complex spellwork and warding that essentially turned Nick into the new cage, although Lucifer was eventually able to overcome the warding enough to restore himself to full control of his powers while still stuck in Nick's body.<ref name="twelve17">[[12.17 The British Invasion]]</ref>
If the vessel has a great enough strength of will, they are capable of overpowering the angel controlling them for a time to varying degrees. Sam managed to overpower [[Lucifer]]'s control of him and move around without a visible apparent struggle<ref name="five22">[[5.22 Swan Song]]</ref> while Castiel was visibly struggling with holding Lucifer back and stated it was taking all of his strength to do so to the point he couldn't expel the archangel.<ref name="eleven14" /> Dean would eventually be able to trap [[Michael (Apocalypse World)|Michael]] within his own mind, essentially acting as a cage to the archangel.<ref name="fourteen10" /> Castiel later stated to Dean that he couldn't even imagine the strength of will it must take to keep Michael contained and Dean admitted that he was barely sleeping because he couldn't let his guard down at all. When Dean was knocked [[unconscious]], it gave Michael the chance to escape.<ref name="fourteen14" />
Vessels possess the ability to expel the angel using them if they are strong enough and aware of the possession. [[Gadreel]] kept Sam from knowing about his possession to prevent exactly this, especially as he was vulnerable in his weakened state, but was eventually expelled by Sam when [[Crowley]] possessed him to bring the truth to his attention.<ref name="nine10">[[9.10 Road Trip]]</ref> Castiel later regained control from Lucifer but was unable to expel him, telling Sam it was taking all of his strength just to keep Lucifer from killing Sam and he had no strength left to expel the archangel.<ref name="eleven14" /> While Dean was able to manifest himself in a mirror while possessed by [[Michael (Apocalypse World)|Michael]], his attempt to order Michael out of his body completely failed.<ref name="fourteen02">[[14.02 Gods and Monsters]]</ref> Michael later revealed that Dean fought him so hard that although he couldn't eject Michael, Michael chose to leave on his own. Michael's plan was to completely break Dean's spirit so that when he returned to Dean's body, Dean wouldn't fight him again, something he claimed to have worked.<ref name="fourteen09" /> In reality, Michael trapped Dean in a world where he was truly happy within his mind so that Dean wouldn't think to fight back and was unaware of the truth. After being reminded, Dean was able to access several of Michael's memories of his actions the first time he was possessed. Though Dean commanded Michael to shut up when he appeared, he never actively ordered him out and instead trapped Michael within his mind instead of casting him out. Being trapped in such a way cut off Michael's control over [[Michael's Monsters|his monsters]] though he continued to fight to get free. [[Billie]] was able to sense Michael banging on the door locking him in Dean's mind and warned Dean that Michael would eventually escape and retake control according to all but one version of Dean's ultimate fate.<ref name="fourteen10" /> Despite being cut off inside of Dean's mind, Michael appeared to have been aware of everything that Dean did as he was aware of the plan to use the [[Ma'lak Box]] against him and taunted Dean for not implementing it.<ref name="fourteen14" />
While sharing his body with [[Michael (Apocalypse World)|Michael]] after making a deal to retain control of his body, Dean was able to use the archangel's strength, invulnerability, teleportation and flight abilities. Dean was even able to display Michael's wings in a manner similar to the way several angels have done in the past. Although Dean was able to do this through his deal with Michael, when Michael chose to seize full control for himself, Dean was powerless to stop it.<ref name="thirteen23" />
While an [[angel blade]] kills both the vessel and the possessing angel every time,<ref name="nine10" /> the [[archangel bladeNick]] does not have was able to survive the same effect, as shown when death of [[NickLucifer]] survived the death of after being stabbed with an [[Luciferarchangel blade]]. Sam speculated that the archangel blade was designed to kill the possessing archangel , while sparing the vessel (however this is only a theory as evidenced by Gabriel's death appearing to have killed him and his vessel). Nick was able to remember several of the things Lucifer did while possessing him, leading to nightmares and flashbacks while awake.<ref name="fourteen01">[[14.01 Stranger in a Strange Land]]</ref> The possession also left him with psychological effects such as Lucifer-like mannerisms when angered, leading Castiel to believe that Lucifer's possession did more damage to Nick's psyche than was previously realized.<ref name="fourteen02" />
==Vessels==
* [[Nick]] assents to Lucifer near the end of [[5.01 Sympathy for the Devil]]. He serves as a vessel for Lucifer until Sam will consent to be the vessel<ref name="five22" />. Castiel says that Nick must be drinking gallons of [[demon blood]] to remain intact, and Lucifer himself notes that Nick is wearing a bit thin.<ref name="five21">[[5.21 Two Minutes to Midnight]]</ref> Some years after Lucifer was trapped in the Cage, Crowley was able to retrieve Nick and perform various rituals on him so that he would serve as both a permanent vessel for Lucifer after his apparent banishment<ref name="twelve13"/> and a means of torturing Lucifer, runes and spell-work from the Cage carved into every molecule of Nick's form to enable Crowley's torture and render Lucifer powerless and unable to vacate his vessel<ref>[[12.15 Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell]]</ref>. It took a team of twelve demons to perform these rituals, with Crowley killing all of them after the work was over so that none of them could help Lucifer escape<ref name="twelve17"/>, but Lucifer, with the aid of the demon [[Drexel]], was eventually able to turn the security system against Crowley, allowing him to break free of its chains.<ref>[[12.21 There's Something About Mary]]</ref>
:Lucifer is killed by [[Dean Winchester]] while possessed by [[Michael (Apocalypse World)|Micahel]] from Apocalypse World but apparently the [[archangel blade]] killed the archangel and not Nick, who is nursed back to health in the Bunker.<ref name="thirteen23" /><ref name="fourteen01" /> The trauma from Nick's possession by Lucifer was also shown to have deeply damaged his psyche, causing Nick memory lapses about what happened to his family, as well violent tendencies such as when an agitated Nick snaps his fingers at Castiel, but does not recall doing so. Castiel suspected as a result that Lucifer did more damage to Nick's psyche than was previously realized.<ref name="fourteen02" /> After God resurrects Lucifer, he manifests in Nick's form, although he is apparently not actually using the man as his vessel again.<ref name="fifteen19">[[15.19 Inherit the Earth]]</ref>
* [[John Winchester]] assents to Michael to save his wife from [[Anna]], with Michael assuring Dean that he will protect John from experiencing too much damage during his time as Michael's vessel.<ref name="five13" />
* [[Adam Milligan]] is taken by Michael after Dean continues to refuse to consent.<ref name="five18">[[5.18 Point of No Return]]</ref> He serves as a plan B vessel for Michael during the confrontation at Stull Cemetery as a result.<ref name="five22" /> After escaping from [[Lucifer's Cage]], Michael retains Adam as a vessel, but shares control with him and communicates with Adam in the waking world.<ref name="fifteen08">[[15.08 Our Father, Who Aren't in Heaven]]</ref> When God erased every living thing on Earth from existence, Adam dies with the rest of humanity, although Michael continues to occupy Adam's body as his vessel. God ultimately obliterates Michael for the archangel's previous betrayal, destroying Adam's body in the process. However, after becoming the new God, Jack brings back everything Chuck erased, meaning that Adam would've also been restored to life.<ref name="fifteen19" />
* [[Hael]] manifested after being banished from Heaven by possessing a woman<ref name="nine01" /> later identified as Gloria Lewellen Jacobson.<ref name="nine03" /> However, Gloria's body eventually began to deteriorate as she was not strong enough to hold Hael, which forced Hael to try and take Castiel as a vessel before he killed her. It is unclear if Gloria would have been a suitable host for another angel or if she was simply a desperate gambit.<ref name="nine01" />
