The CW's Supernatural followed two brothers for 15 seasons as they hunted down monsters. However, Sam and Dean Winchester soon found themselves involved in an ancient war between Heaven and Hell. Trapped between powerful demons and manipulative angels, the Winchesters forged their own path in the war.
The Winchester brothers have made some friends like the angelic Castiel and a lot of enemies like the demonic Azazel over the years. They’ve fought classic monsters like ghosts, vampires, and werewolves, but have also fought and allied themselves with powerful demons and angels of varying power levels.
Updated on February 15, 2023, by Scoot Allan: Fans of Supernatural mourned the loss of Sam and Dean's adventures after the series ended, though they didn't have to wait too long for more monster hunting. The CW released a hit prequel series called The Winchesters that followed Sam and Dean's parents' own battles against the strongest angels and demons from Supernatural.
Supernatural's Strongest Demons
Deanmon
The “Deanmon,” also referred to as Demon Dean first appeared at the end of season 9. He then challenged Sam throughout the first half of Supernatural’s 10th season. The Deanmon revitalized Supernatural as fans were used to seeing demons walking around in self-proclaimed “meat suits.”
However, fans hadn't seen their favorite Supernatural characters' souls turn demonic before. They faced a similar separation and challenge when Sam lost his soul. However, the Deanmon unlocked all the darkest parts of Dean Winchester. All of his knowledge and fighting skills combined with zero remorse made the Deanmon a formidable threat for Sam.
Cain
Cain was the firstborn son of Adam and Eve and the leader of the Knights of Hell. His backstory in Supernatural was slightly altered from the more well-known Bible story. Cain didn’t murder his brother out of jealousy, but because his brother was talking to Lucifer.
The blade Cain fashioned to eliminate his brother, the First Blade, became a recurring element in Supernatural. The Mark of Cain that appeared on various hosts was the only thing that could defeat the Darkness, but it turned the bearer dark as well. When Cain turned into a demon after ending himself with the First Blade, he was the most feared being that roamed the Earth.
Abaddon
Abaddon is another Knight of Hell who was responsible for taking out the original American Men of Letters, an old order who studied and fought supernatural beings. Her plan, when the Winchesters first encountered her, was to become the Queen of Hell, and she was almost successful.
Because she was a Knight of Hell, Abaddon had superior strength. It didn’t take much effort at all for her to win a confrontation. The Winchesters ended up taking her down, but she was able to return with little effort. Her only weakness was underestimating Dean, who defeated her with the demon-killing First Blade.
Dagon
Dagon was a Prince of Hell, one of the first demons created by Lucifer. In addition to being one of the first demons ever created, she is also one of the few who choose to take a female vessel. Dagon was a threat to both humans and angels, as she had a rare ability to cause angels' forms to molecularly disperse with a touch.
Dagon tracked Kelly down, who was carrying Lucifer’s baby. When the Winchesters and Castiel found her, she was nearly impossible to defeat. Normal means of defeating demons didn’t work on her, as bullets and blades did nothing. It took the baby’s raw angelic power combined with Castiel’s own to finally end Dagon's threat.
Ramiel
Ramiel is another Prince of Hell who retired to Earth while Lucifer remained in Hell. Crowley approached Ramiel to become the King of Hell when the throne was vacated, but Ramiel was uninterested. As with the other Princes of Hell, it took a coordinated group effort for the Winchesters to even have a fighting chance against him.
Devil’s traps didn't work, holy fire was ineffective, and angel blades were little more than a nuisance. it took Ramiel’s own weapon, the Lance of Michael, to defeat him after he stole the legendary demon-killing Colt from the Winchesters.
Asmodeus
Asmodeus was the main villain of the 13th season and the last remaining Prince of Hell. He turned on Lucifer and imprisoned him, turning his temporary status as the King of Hell into a more permanent one. Asmodeus wore an immaculate white suit which distracted others from his pure evilness.
Asmodeus further increased his Prince of Hell powers after he absorbed the grace of Gabriel, making him even more difficult to fight. Once considered the weakest of the Princes of Hell, he became the last remaining and the most powerful. It was only the renewed form of the powerful Gabriel who was able to defeat Asmodeus in the end.
Azazel
Azazel is a Prince of Hell from Supernatural’s early seasons. Azazel killed Mary Winchester in Sam's nursery, kicking off a long-standing rivalry with Jeffrey Dean Morgan's John Winchester and his sons. The Winchesters hunted Azazel for decades before getting their revenge. Azazel was one of the only demons with yellow eyes, making him stand out from the rest of the crowd.
Azazel had a number of powers that both demons and angels feared. He once possessed a reaper, which is unheard of and hasn’t been done since. The only weapon that was capable of defeating Azazel was the Colt. Though the brothers killed Azazel with the Colt, they discovered even more about the yellow-eyed demon over the years.
Crowley
Crowley was a human turned demon who became the King of the Crossroads. He also spent time as the King of Hell and became an ally of the Winchester Brothers. He was responsible for the adorable nicknames "Moose and Squirrel" for Sam and Dean from the Rocky & Bullwinkle series. He increased his powers quite a few times over his many years of existence.
Crowley could make nearly anything happen with a snap of his fingers. He could teleport himself and others and he knew how to cast spells since his mother was a witch. He ultimately trapped Lucifer in an alternate reality by taking his own demonic life with an angel blade to seal the dimensional rift.
Alastair
Alastair was one of the first demons the Winchester brothers encountered in the earliest seasons of Supernatural. He trained Meg and brutally tortured Dean during his time in Hell. Alastair is one of the few demons with white eyes, which is a mark of the power he holds.
Alastair was considered unstable even for a demon, and he is widely considered one of the most powerful demons in the Supernatural universe. His presence alone caused a statue of Mary to weep tears of blood. Sam was able to kill the largely invulnerable Alastair with his psychic powers, which was an important element lost by the end of Supernatural.
Lilith
Lilith is the first demon that Lucifer created and there’s power in being the first. She was the highest-ranking demon who also became the Queen of Hell. She loved chaos, and it was her plan to break the seals that allowed Lucifer to escape his ancient prison.
Lilith gave her own life for Lucifer to escape, though it was Sam who dealt the final blow. Lilith was widely feared and respected as the mother of all demons. While she didn't appear after the fourth season, her impact continued to be felt throughout the rest of the series.
Supernatural's Strongest Angels
Anna Milton
Anna Milton was a recurring character in Supernatural’s fourth and fifth seasons. She was an angel who loved humans so much that she removed her grace (a painful process) and was reborn as a human woman. She reabsorbed her grace, which led her down a path towards time traveling to take out Sam and Dean’s parents in one of Supernatural's scariest episodes.
When Anna had her grace, she was a very powerful angel. She’s considered a level above the fan-favorite angel, Castiel. With her angel powers, she could time travel, destroy powerful demon vessels as an afterthought, and regenerate with ease. Her relationship with the Winchesters remained complicated to the end.
Metatron
Metatron is the chosen scribe of God who also sometimes acts as the voice of God on Supernatural. When God disappeared and the Archangels wanted to know what was going on, they turned to the only being that’s been known to interact with God on a regular basis.
Metatron’s actions with the Angel Tablet caused Dean to turn into a demon, proving that angels weren't always the good guys in the Supernatural universe. What made Metatron so powerful was his closeness to God. As his scribe, Metatron worked on God’s autobiography and increased his knowledge along with his power.
Akobel
In the Supernatural world, the Seraphim are a class of angels that sit under Archangels but above regular angels. Akobel was a Seraphim sent to Earth to learn more about humanity, but he made the mistake of falling in love with a human woman.
Akobel and Lily Sunder had a daughter Nephilim named May. Angels came after Akobel and Lily and discovered the existence of the Nephilim. The angel commander named Ishim killed Akobel and his daughter, leaving Lily alive to pursue her vengeance. She made herself immortal through magic so she could take revenge on the angels who took out her family.
Tamiel
Tamiel belonged to an elite class of angels called the Grigori. The Winchester brothers encountered him in one of Supernatural's best "Monster of the Week" episodes. The Grigori were originally sent to Earth to help humans, but they turned bad and began to consume the souls of humans. Grigori's wielded a deadly angel sword, as opposed to the traditional angel blade.
As a Grigori, Tamiel was a powerful angel. He got the attention of the Winchesters because he was feeding on the wife of Castiel’s vessel Jimmy Novak. He’s incredibly strong and it took a coordinated effort from Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Jimmy's daughter Claire to take him down. He had lived for thousands of years, so his defeat at the hands of a human was impressive.
Castiel
Castiel is a Seraphim who has been around since he first took Jimmy Novak as a vessel in Supernatural's fifth season. The friendship that developed between Castiel and Dean over the years was heavily celebrated by Supernatural fans. One of the biggest comedic draws of Castiel was watching the oblivious angel try to understand American pop culture.
Though Castiel had a powerful influence on fans, he was also a powerful angel. He was taken out by both demons and angels multiple times while helping the Winchesters, and he came back time and time again. He has the standard angel powers of healing and strength, but what really makes Castiel powerful is his heart. He will do whatever it takes to protect his loved ones.
Raphael
Raphael is the middle brother of God’s four Archangels. An angel civil war broke out during Supernatural's sixth season that put Raphael and Castiel on opposing sides. This led to more angel in-fighting and, eventually, Raphael’s demise. Raphael took on both male and female vessels and displayed mighty abilities in each.
Castiel even admitted that Raphael was stronger than him, and he was further deprived of strength by Raphael’s holy light. Castiel took on the power of all the souls in Purgatory and killed Raphael to end the angelic civil war, proving just how powerful Raphael was without a soul boost.
Gabriel
The recurring character Gabriel, also known as Loki or The Trickster, had been manipulating the Winchester brothers since Supernatural's second season. There’s magic in trickster characters and Gabriel was no exception. One of the best Supernatural episodes followed Sam and Dean as they tried to escape a time loop created by Gabriel.
Though mischievous, Gabriel had heart and could be scared into submission, as he was with Asmodeus. He was a powerful Archangel who put up a fight against Asmodeus even when weakened. He decided he was done running from his older brothers, and Gabriel died in a heroic fashion when he chose to face the more powerful Michael.
Lucifer
Lucifer is the most notorious of Heaven’s archangels. In the Supernatural universe, Lucifer had a unique and interesting relationship with the Winchesters that captivated fans. The Prince of Darkness had an incredible array of abilities, though he decided to leave his mark by having the Nephilim named Jack.
Lucifer was a red-eyed fallen angel who led the demons in a war against Heaven. His brother was the Archangel Michael, and the pair had a couple of powerful battles over the series that heavily impacted the world. Lucifer's final death at Michael's hands helped provide the necessary energy to defeat God in Supernatural's climactic battle.
Michael
Michael was the first Archangel ever created by God. He banished Lucifer and restricted him to the Cage in Hell. Michael returned and possessed Sam and Dean's younger brother Adam. They were both imprisoned in that same Cage, while an alternate version of Michael from an alternate reality possessed Dean before he died.
Michael escaped from the Cage after God decided to end the world and opened every door in Hell. He killed his brother Lucifer with an archangel blade, further proving his superiority over his brother Archangels. It was God who ultimately killed Michael in the end, further adding to the energy absorbed by the young Nephelim, Jack Kline.
Jack Kline
Jack is the Nephilim child of Lucifer and Kelly Kline who literally grew up overnight. Before anyone knew what was happening, Sam, Dean, and Castiel had to parent an adolescent half-angel, half-human who was entirely confused about human life.
Angels fear Nephilims because lore states they will become more powerful than their parent angel. In Jack’s case, that meant he could grow up to become even more powerful than Lucifer, Supernatural's most feared angel. Jack helped the Winchester brothers in the final battle against God. He ascended as the new God, resurrected humanity, and disappeared from mortal affairs.