Lucifer (Supernatural)

Lucifer, portrayed primarily by Mark Pellegrino, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins, Rick Springfield and David Chisum, is the second oldest archangel, the first fallen angel, introduced as a recurring character in the fifth season of the television series Supernatural.

From his prison in hell, he orchestrated events not only seen in seasons one through four, but decades prior, to eventually lead to his release by breaking the 66 seals. In the episode "Sin City", he was described as the 'father' and god of the demons, the one who gave them their form and purpose. Azazel reinforced this by referring to him as "My Father" while possessing a priest before slaughtering a convent of nuns. However, in "Abandon All Hope...", Crowley remarks that Lucifer views demons with contempt and his cannon fodder and will destroy them once he has eliminated humanity.

In the episode "The End", Lucifer states his fall was the result of refusing God's decree to love humans more than him. As a result, God had Michael cast him into hell. Ruby also reveals in "When the Levee Breaks" in defiance to God, he turned Lilith into the first demon. Both Death and Gabriel have compared Lucifer's hatred of humans to ""one big temper tantrum!"" because God favored humans over him, his most beloved angel. Lucifer does not like how humans have changed the planet from its original state, and hopes to purify it. He is also very critical of humans, mostly in how they blame him for their own mistakes, wrongdoings, flaws and failures. Creator Eric Kripke has jokingly compared him to a "raging psychotic" version of environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. with "unlimited power".

Due to his angelic and spiritual nature, Lucifer needs a human vessel in order to interact directly with the physical world. Lucifer seeks out a man named Nick, whose wife and baby had recently been murdered. As revealed in season 14's "Damaged Goods," Lucifer himself arranged for the murders through the demon Abraxas so that he could manipulate Nick. Tormenting Nick about the tragedy, he casts illusions such as a baby crying and blood pouring from the crib, eventually appearing to Nick in the form of his late wife Sarah. Openly admitting his identity to Nick, he tries to gain sympathy by telling Nick he was punished for loving God too much. He then convinces Nick to be his vessel by promising to get vengeance against God for allowing his family to be murdered. However, Lucifer later reveals to Sam that he is the true intended vessel. By "Abandon All Hope..." it is shown Nick's body, being a temporary vessel and not his "true" vessel, is incapable of containing Lucifer's immense power and is beginning to wear down; revealed in "Two Minutes to Midnight" he has to consume gallons of demon blood to keep his vessel from combusting. He forms a ritual to summon Death and when the Winchesters, Harvelles and Castiel arrive, he traps Castiel in holy oil and sends Meg after the others. After being ambushed by the brothers he is shot with the Colt but survives; he then reveals his status as one of five things in creation immune to the Colt; while the brothers escape with Castiel's help, he manages to summon Death and bind him under his control.

During a convention of pagan gods in "Hammer of the Gods", Lucifer is made aware of the brothers' location by Mercury, who betrays the rest of them. Slaughtering all the gods, he approaches the brothers and is stalled by Kali until Gabriel arrives. Gabriel provides safe passage for Kali and the brothers, and confronts Lucifer about his ultimate reason for rebellion, claiming that he rebelled not because he recognized that humans were flawed, but because he was no longer their father's favorite son. Lucifer questions Gabriel's loyalties, but he replies that he believes — by virtue of his experiences with them — humans, despite their flaws, strive to do their best. Ultimately, Lucifer kills Gabriel with his own sword when Gabriel's attempt to catch Lucifer off-guard with a duplicate fails, but he is clearly distraught over this.

Having acquired all four rings of the Horseman (which can trap Lucifer back in his prison), Sam and Dean enter Lucifer's hideout, planning to trap him when Sam agrees to be his vessel; this completely fails, as Lucifer is too powerful to fight. Lucifer brings forward four demons, who had been part of Azazel's surveillance of Sam since his youth and kills them all in a way of "letting off steam" and acquiring Sam's trust. Following that, he confronts Michael in a graveyard, attempting to convince him not to fight, reasoning there was no real purpose; Michael refuses. Dean interrupts, while Castiel dissipates Michael, an act Lucifer took unkindly to, and kills him. He starts to pummel Dean and when Bobby attempts to use the Colt to stop him he is killed as well. However, Sam then sees a toy army man in an ashtray of the Impala, a remnant from his youth, and regains control. Sam reopens the hole, and jumps in, taking Michael with him.

Lucifer returns in season seven as part of Sam's hallucinations, caused by the memories of his time in the cage. Lucifer tells Sam that the world he has been in for the last year is not real and Sam is still in the cage, a new form of torture which Lucifer prides himself on as being his best yet. Sam confronts Lucifer and asks him why he doesn't end this dream world to which Lucifer responds by saying that he will only end it when Sam can't take it anymore. Lucifer later changes into Dean and tricks Sam into leaving Bobby's house. Once at the destination, he reveals himself to prove he can control Sam's "dream", although Lucifer is proven to be a hallucination when Dean tells Sam how to figure out what is real. Despite being proven to be a hallucination, he informs Sam that he's not going anywhere. Lucifer tortures Sam by depriving him of sleep by repeatedly waking him up and later making food look like maggots in an attempt to kill him. Although Sam initially manages to ignore the hallucination, it becomes worse when Sam acknowledges Lucifer's advice when trying to get information about Dean's whereabouts, giving the hallucination additional strength. Castiel, found to be alive, tries to rebuild Sam's mental wall, but fails as it's completely gone. In order to save Sam and atone for what he's done, Castiel transfers the problem to himself, leaving him haunted by Lucifer and stuck in a mental hospital. In "Reading is Fundamental," when Castiel comes out of his catatonic state, Sam asks him about seeing Lucifer. Castiel explains that he did at first, but Lucifer eventually disappeared. Castiel believes that Lucifer was simply a projection of Sam's own torment from his time in Hell and that projection disappeared as the torment was no longer in Sam's mind.

In the season eight episode "Goodbye Stranger," it is revealed that Lucifer had a series of crypts around the United States and possibly the world containing his most precious artifacts. The locations were only known to Lucifer himself and his most trusted followers, such as Azazel. Among the items in his crypts, in an angel-proofed box, was the angel Word of God tablet. Eventually Sam, Dean and Castiel locate the right crypt with the help of Meg who knows from her time with Azazel and get the angel tablet.

In the season 10 episode "Brother's Keeper", Death explains that Lucifer and the other archangels once fought a war with an ancient evil called the Darkness, eventually locking it away. Lucifer was given the Mark of Cain, the lock on the Darkness' prison and the Mark corrupted him into his jealousy towards humanity, leading to his fall into evil. The first mention of Lucifer (and Michael)'s activity since their imprisonment in Hell is mentioned in "Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire" when an aide of Crowley informs him that ever since the Darkness broke free of its prison, the two archangels are screaming, trying to tell others about the danger the Darkness will pose to the world.

In "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?" and "the Devil in the Details", Sam travels into Hell to speak to Lucifer, directed by what he believes to be visions from God. Manifesting in the form of Nick, Lucifer is summoned into a smaller cage in Hell where he tells Sam he can defeat the Darkness, but needs Sam to be his vessel again. After the warding suddenly fails, Lucifer teleports Sam into the cage and reveals that he sent the visions to Sam after the Darkness' release damaged his cage and is working with Rowena. Lucifer shows Sam several memories, explaining that while Sam once had the strength to do what needed to be done, he lost that after Dean went to Purgatory. Sam accepts that Lucifer is telling the truth, but refuses to agree to possession again as he knows no matter who wins, Lucifer or the Darkness, humanity is doomed. Lucifer engages Sam, Dean and Castiel in battle, proving to be more than a match for all three together. After Lucifer confirms he can defeat the Darkness, Castiel agrees to possession by him. At that same moment, Rowena completes a spell that apparently banishes Lucifer back to his cage. After the Winchesters leave, Lucifer possessing Castiel reveals himself to Rowena and Crowley and kills Rowena so she can't send him back to the cage.

In "Into the Mystic", Dean finds Lucifer looking through the bunker for a way to summon the Darkness and confides in him about his connection to Amara, believing Lucifer to be Castiel. Lucifer consoles Dean on the connection while secretly interested in this development.

In "The Vessel", Lucifer has regained control of Hell and keeps Crowley as his pet. After receiving a call from the Winchesters, he is shocked to discover that one of the Hands of God survived and agrees to transport Dean back to a submarine in 1943 to get it before the sub sinks. Special warding keeps Lucifer out of the sub and he and Sam attempt to find a way to remove the warding. Sam finds a spell, but doesn't believe it will work as it requires the power of an archangel. As Sam offers his soul to help give "Castiel" the power he needs, Lucifer reveals himself and attempts to destroy Sam. Castiel regains control temporarily, but is unable to eject Lucifer as it is taking all of his strength to keep Lucifer from killing Sam and only Lucifer has the power to rescue Dean. As Delphine Seydoux unleashes the power of the Hand of God, Lucifer pulls Dean back to the present and reveals himself to Dean. Lucifer throws Dean around the bunker and attempts to use the power of the Hand of God, but finds it expended. As Lucifer advances on Dean, Sam uses a blood sigil to banish him from the bunker.

Following his banishment, Lucifer attempts to find another Hand of God through Crowley in "Beyond the Mat." To this end, he sets Crowley up to be "freed" by Lucifer's loyal demon Simmonds so Crowley will lead him to another Hand of God. Crowley leads Lucifer to the Rod of Aaron, but anticipates Lucifer's double-cross. Crowley attempts to kill Lucifer with the Rod's power, but Simmonds takes the brunt of the blast, saving Lucifer. Realizing the Rod's power is expended, Crowley quickly teleports away before Lucifer can kill him. In "Hell's Angel", Lucifer enters Heaven, killing an angel he finds there and intimidates the angels into following him to combat Amara. Amara unleashes a wave of darkness through Heaven, frightening the angels and pushing them closer to following Lucifer. However, the Winchesters, Crowley and the still-alive Rowena team up together to free Castiel and banish Lucifer back to his Cage. To this end, they summon him into warding in a church surrounded by Holy Fire. Once Lucifer is trapped, Dean attempts to use magic to suppress the archangel to restore Castiel, but Lucifer quickly overpowers it. In a desperate attempt, Crowley enters Castiel's vessel where he finds that Lucifer has "really gotten his hooks in good" to Castiel who is apathetic to everything around him even as Lucifer appears in the form of Nick and attacks Crowley. Sam exorcises Crowley to save his life and the warding breaks, releasing Lucifer. Lucifer is able to get the Horn of Joshua from the Winchesters, another Hand of God, just before Amara appears. Lucifer blasts Amara with both his own power and the Horn's to no avail. Amara then captures Lucifer and takes him to a grain silo she is using as her base. Believing Lucifer to be the one thing God still cares about, Amara begins torturing him in hopes of drawing God out.

Over the next few weeks, Amara tortures Lucifer mercilessly, trying and failing to draw out God. In "All in the Family", Amara notices that Lucifer is in bad shape along with Castiel and contacts Dean to pass on the message to God. Having learned that God intends to sacrifice Himself to Amara to save the universe, the Winchesters, Metatron and Prophet Donatello Redfern team up together to rescue Lucifer, hoping to convince God to use Lucifer in battle against Amara. As Dean distracts Amara, Sam, Metatron and Donatello find the heavily injured Lucifer who agrees to set aside his differences with God and fight Amara with them. They set him free, but he is too weakened to teleport them to safety. As Amara approaches, Metatron sacrifices himself to buy them time to get away, but Amara quickly catches up to them. Before she can kill the group, God teleports them and the Impala into the Bunker. There, for the first time in millennia, God and Lucifer are reunited. After commenting on how much each other has changed, God heals Lucifer's injuries to the fallen archangel's surprise.

In "We Happy Few", Lucifer sulks around the Bunker, displeased to be reunited with God who won't apologize to him. Fed up with the two's issues with each other, the Winchesters get God and Lucifer to have a sit-down in which things are tense at first but the two eventually reconcile. Now fully on their side, Lucifer joins God in explaining that the last time they defeated the Darkness, it had taken the four archangels and God to barely win and this time Michael is in no shape to battle and Gabriel and Raphael are dead and God can't resurrect them. As a result, the Winchesters suggest pulling in the witches, angels and demons to help them. As God refuses to order the angels to help, Lucifer returns to Heaven where the angels refuse to hear him out. In response, Lucifer returns control to Castiel who tells the angels that Lucifer is burning both himself and his vessel out but he feels his role in the battle is to give Lucifer form on Earth to fight. Castiel and Lucifer are able to convince the angels to join them and Sam and Dean are able to convince the witches and demons respectively. After the witches, angels and demons strike Amara, she enters the warehouse where the Winchesters, God and Lucifer are waiting for her and Lucifer strikes Amara through the back with an angelic spear. Due to her weakened state, Lucifer's strike brings Amara down and she and God confront each other. However, God waits too long to transfer the Mark of Cain to Sam and Amara recovers and attacks God with all of her power. Lucifer attempts to save his father, but Amara flings him against a pillar and yanks him out of Castiel, while leaving Castiel unconscious. In "Alpha and Omega", Dean goes to check on Lucifer only to find Castiel alone. Castiel tells him that Lucifer is gone from his vessel but he doesn't know what happened to the archangel after Amara pulled him out.

In "Keep Calm and Carry On", a weakened Lucifer searches for a suitable new vessel chased by Crowley, but keeps burning out the people he's possessing. In "Mamma Mia", Lucifer settles on aging rock star Vince Vincente (Rick Springfield) and gains permission by posing as Vince's dead lover. With a new permanent vessel, Lucifer meets with Crowley who works with Rowena in an attempt to force Lucifer from Vince and back into the Cage. However, the effort fails and Crowley flees while Lucifer captures Rowena. In The Foundry, Lucifer attempts to have Rowena make Vince a permanent vessel for him, but she betrays Lucifer and casts a spell that speeds up Vince's decay and banishes Lucifer to the bottom of the ocean. In "Rock Never Dies", a pair of amateur Satanists attempt to summon Lucifer who appears in the decaying body of Vince. Lucifer was actually summoned by one of his feathers they had and kills the Satanists then uses the feather to repair his vessel temporarily. Posing as Vince, Lucifer organizes a concert to murder a lot of people and is confronted by the Winchesters, Crowley and Castiel who are unable to defeat him. Lucifer explains to them that he feels that God only made up with him to defeat the Darkness and has abandoned him once more. Lucifer no longer has a plan except to destroy everything he wants and vacates Vince as his body burns out. In "LOTUS", Lucifer begins possessing people of influence, ultimately possessing President of the United States Jefferson Rooney. As the President, Lucifer sends the Secret Service after the Winchesters and engages in sex with Rooney's mistress Kelly, resulting in her becoming pregnant with his child. Crowley kidnaps Kelly who tricks Lucifer to a motel where the Winchesters, Castiel, Crowley and Rowena are waiting for him. After using a sigil to weaken Lucifer, Sam activates a device created by the British Men of Letters that can exorcise any angel or demon from their vessel. Despite Lucifer's attempts to resist, he is exorcised from Rooney and Rowena casts a spell that apparently returns Lucifer to his cage.

At SDCC 2016, it was affirmed that all Lucifer wants is a "vacation", being tired after ruling both Heaven and Hell, and happy that he finally reconciled with his father.

It is soon revealed that Lucifer was not banished back to the Cage, but was actually transferred back into Nick; Crowley retrieved Nick's corpse and had a team of demons 'repair' him, turning Nick into a new Cage where Lucifer cannot leave his vessel and can only use his powers on Crowley's orders. Lucifer is eventually able to turn the tables on Crowley and escape his captivity (although he is still apparently trapped in Nick), with the Winchesters' attempts to stop him banishing him to a parallel universe where the Apocalypse took place because Dean and Sam were never born, although Lucifer is confronted by Crowley who kills himself to trap him, he is able to kill Castiel and take Mary with him. While the Winchesters try to 'raise' Lucifer's son Jack- who grew to adulthood immediately after birth-, Jack is able to help Castiel come back to life, but Lucifer remains in the other world and alerts the alternate Michael to his existence, prompting him to fight alt-Michael but he is defeated. While imprisoned, Alt-Michael drains his powers and tells him of his plans to travel to the 'prime' universe to conquer it as well. Faced with this threat, Lucifer uses a ritual performed by Michael to return to his world to warn them about Michael, but Castiel initially disbelieves him before they are captured by Asmodeus though escape. Lucifer takes control of Heaven since there are too few angels to mount an effective resistance to Michael. Later, he abandons it to find his son and has no luck.

During "Beat the Devil", he drowns his sorrows before he is captured again but by Gabriel and Rowena who survived his attempts on their lives. His grace is used to power the rift and keep it open. Lucifer learns from a taunting Rowena his son is in that world and breaks free. Lucifer's attempt on her life ends up sending him to Apocalypse World where he resurrects Sam who was killed by vampires, having used the grace of Michael's soldiers to refuel himself. He forces Sam to help him form a bond with his son. Lucifer met his son for the first time.

During "Exodus", Lucifer bonds with Jack and is reluctantly allowed to join the team, revealing that they have thirty-one hours before the rift closes again and killing six attacking angels. During this time, Lucifer's efforts to paint himself in a better light are rebuffed by Gabriel who compares his older brother to a cancer that God had to cut out to protect humanity, but too late. Gabriel's words reduce Lucifer to silent tears. Lucifer later works with Dean to repair an old bus and then drives the bus full of refugees back to the rift. When Michael appears and attacks during the exodus through the rift, Lucifer attacks him, but is easily beaten. Following Gabriel's death at Michael's hands, an injured and weakened Lucifer tries to follow Sam through the rift, but is thrown to the ground by the younger Winchester and abandoned to die. With the rift closed, Lucifer makes a deal with Michael to share the spell to reopen it in exchange for Lucifer getting to take Jack while Michael gets everything else.

In the season 13 finale "Let the Good Times Roll", Lucifer reappears in the Winchesters' universe and entices Jack to leave for the stars with him. At the request of Jack, Lucifer resurrects his friend Maggie who subsequently identifies Lucifer as her killer. During a confrontation with Michael, Lucifer's deal with the other archangel is revealed as is his murder of Maggie. Lucifer is forced to admit the truth by Jack who rejects his father after seeing his true nature. Enraged, Lucifer absorbs his son's grace to become more powerful than ever. With Lucifer virtually unstoppable and poised to destroy everything, Dean agrees to become the vessel of the alternate Michael on the condition that Michael power him to battle Lucifer. Powered by Michael, Dean battles Lucifer who still proves to be more than a match for Dean. However, as Lucifer tries to smite Dean, Sam is able to toss Dean the Archangel Blade, the one weapon that can kill an archangel. Armed with the blade, Dean is able to finally kill Lucifer by stabbing him in the heart. However, in the aftermath of Lucifer's death, Michael betrays his deal with Dean, takes full control of him and disappears.

In season 14's "Stranger in a Strange Land," Lucifer's vessel Nick is revealed to have survived Lucifer's death. Nick has nightmares and flashbacks to his time as Lucifer's vessel and a slowly healing wound in his side where Lucifer was stabbed. Sam and Mary both have trouble looking at Nick due to his time under Lucifer's control, but he is able to tell Sam that Michael had told Lucifer that he wants to "do it right this time" when discussing his plans for the Winchesters' world. Nick subsequently shows Lucifer-like behaviors when angered in "Gods and Monsters," causing Castiel to suspect that Lucifer did more damage to Nick's psyche than was previously realized.

In "Unhuman Nature," Nick's bloody quest for revenge leads to him becoming a serial killer. After killing Frank Kellogg, the man who was possessed by the demon Abraxas when Abraxas murdered his family, Nick prays to Lucifer, having realized that he enjoyed being the archangel's vessel and the freedom that came with it. In response to Nick's prayer, a figure with glowing red eyes rises in the Empty, presumably Lucifer himself, somehow awakened from his eternal sleep by Nick's prayer.

In "Damaged Goods," Nick manages to track down the demon Abraxas who murdered his family. During a confrontation, Abraxas reveals to a shocked Nick that it was in fact Lucifer himself who ordered the death of Nick's family at Abraxas's hands. Abraxas tells Nick that while he was chosen, Nick was nothing special and that "we threw a dart at the phone book" to choose Nick. The enraged Nick then kills Abraxas with an angel blade in revenge for his family's murders. During the confrontation, despite previously being loyal to Lucifer, the demon shows no real care that Lucifer is dead, simply responding that it's "cool" when Nick tells Abraxas who is also amused that Nick is no longer under the control of Lucifer.

In "Prophet and Loss," Nick begins seeking out Lucifer to reunite with him. In "Game Night," Nick kidnaps prophet Donatello Redfield and boosting Donatello's abilities with angel grace, communicates with the awakened Lucifer in the Empty. Lucifer provides Nick with a way to resurrect him using his son's blood. Nick succeeds in getting the blood and performs the spell, opening a portal to the Empty from which Lucifer emerges in the form of a viscous black humanoid figure with wings. However, Jack arrives with Mary Winchester, kills Nick and banishes Lucifer back to the Empty.

In "Absence" and "Jack in the Box," Jack is haunted by a hallucination of Lucifer, the form that his subconscious takes after Jack accidentally kills Mary.

In season 15's "Proverbs 17:3," Sam experiences a vision, part of a series of nightmares he has been having, featuring Lucifer possessing him and wearing a white suit much as Lucifer did in "The End." Dean attempts to kill the archangel with the Colt, but Lucifer is unharmed by the shot and burns Dean to death after stating that they both always knew it had to end this way. Sam later comes to the conclusion that he is witnessing Chuck's possible endings for them. In "The Trap," this is revealed to be the Lucifer of an alternate reality with Chuck explaining that what Sam actually witnessed were Chuck's memories of alternate Sams and Deans.

In the series' penultimate episode "Inherit the Earth," a resurrected Lucifer appears at the bunker, claiming that the Shadow brought him back to help the Winchesters defeat God. As proof, Lucifer kills Betty, a Reaper, so that she will become the new Death and can read Chuck's Death book. However, once Betty has the book open, Lucifer kills her and reveals that it was actually God who brought him back to get the book and that Lucifer is God's new favorite. Lucifer engages in a brief battle with Michael that ends when Michael manages to kill Lucifer with an Archangel Blade that Sam provides him. This time, Lucifer explodes into ash and leaves no remains behind. Sam and Dean later explain to Chuck that Jack absorbed the power from Michael and Lucifer's battle and Lucifer's second death and that Michael's reaction to Lucifer's claims allowed them to put their ultimate plan together.

A homage to John Milton's Paradise Lost, Lucifer will be portrayed as "gentle, almost sympathetic". Kripke reasoned, "He was essentially betrayed, so in some ways he can be viewed sympathetically ... if we can make the angels dicks, Lucifer can be sympathetic." Kripke further characterized him as a "Devil who has doubt" and "a lot of affection for God and the angels", and who "speaks really tenderly and gently and...doesn't lie".

Pellegrino was the second choice to play the angel Castiel, losing the role to Misha Collins.