Azrael
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"All of creation cares not whether you live or die."
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| Azrael Also Known As: Angel of Death, Steward of the Underworld, Watcher of the Well, Gatekeeper
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| Characteristics | |
| Race | Angel |
| Gender | Male |
| Size | Large |
| Eyes | White |
| Hair Color | Silver |
| Means of Travel | Flight |
| Special Features | Glowing runes on wings |
| Status | |
| Affiliation | Heaven |
| Occupation | Watcher of the Well |
| Partner(s) | Abaddon (former) |
| Armament | |
| Main Weapon | None |
| Skills | Magic |
| Relations | |
| Enemies | Hell |
| Allies | War Death |
| Voice | |
| Actor Name (en) | Keith Szarabajka |
| [Source] | |
| “ | The Universe... is sick, Horseman. The Charred Council refuses to admit it, but those of us who look... we see... we had to do something. – Azrael to War | ” |
Azrael is the "Archangel of Death". When War first encounters Azrael, he is imprisoned in the Black Throne. He is the narrator heard in the beginning of the story.
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Biography
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The Abomination Vault
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When the Maker Belisatra sent her construct army to retrieve Nephilim weapons lost on the battlefield at Eden, Azrael was amongst the angels sent to reinforce the garrison there. When the angels had repulsed the attack, they removed their fallen from the field and Azrael cast a powerful illusion to hide all signs of carnage. When the Horseman Death arrived to investigate the attack, he at first could not tell that anything was amiss. He discovered an angel's corpse that Azrael's forces had missed and used his necromantic abilities to interrogate the deceased, an act the angels found blasphemous. Several angels broke cover and attacked him only to be defeated handily. Realizing the illusion, Death called for Azrael to reveal himself and the angel allowed the illusion to fade. After explaining that the angels guarded Eden because the Council did not bother, the Archangel brought Death their camp to speak with Abaddon. Once they had arrived, the trio begrudgingly discussed terms of sharing information until the attackers were uncovered, however, when Death realized that Abaddon had been wounded by a long thought lost Nephilim sword named Affliction he departed and refused to explain his suspicions.
Later, when Death and War came to the Argent Spire in search of information on Belisatra and her unidentified angel accomplice, Azrael met them and sent his scribes to search the archives. In the meantime, Death explained that Belisatra had sent her construct army to Eden in search of lost Nephilim weapons called the Grand Abominations, though omitting any specific details of the weapons or their origins. Eventually Azrael went to assist his scribes and returned with information on Belisatra's past. Belisatra had been an apprentice to a Maker of Legendary skill named Gulbannan. Gulbannan was murdered long ago, but before his death he had been ostracized by his own kind for taking Lilith as a lover. Seeing the demon as their only lead, the Horsemen departed.
The Charred Council called on the White City to reinforce the Horsemen on the Ravaiim homeworld so that they could hold Fury and Strife in reserve. In response, Azrael led a small army of angels to the Ravaiim world. When he met the Horsemen again and heard that the angel Belisatra had allied herself with was Hadrimon, he explained the rogue angel's troubled past and his reasons for hating the White City. The angels and the Horsmen proceeded to scour the plains of the Ravaiim world until they came across Belisatra's construct army. They dealt with the constructs easily, but were attacked by a demonic mercenary force. Even then, the combined power of the Horsemen, angelic soldiers, and Azrael's magic was more than a match for them. Disaster struck when Belisatra entered the battle wielding the Grand Abomination Earth Reaver, a weapon capable of causing a major volcanic eruption. Its first shot caused massive casualties for both sides of the battle and Death persuaded Azrael to retreat.
Once they had regrouped, Death hatched a plan to mislead Hadrimon. Azrael helped Death condense all the Ravaiim blood, the fuel needed to awaken the Abominations, soaked into the realm's soil into a cylinder. He explained that he and Azrael would take decoy cylinders while War exited the realm with the real Ravaiim blood. Unbeknownst to the Angel of Death, the Horseman's true plan was to leak the original plan to Hadrimon and take the real Ravaiim blood himself. As Hadrimon was distracted by War's party, Azrael escaped unmolested.
When the time came for War and Death to defend the Abomination Vault from Belisatra and Hadrimon, Death sent Dust to request Azrael's help. The Archangel disguised himself as a demon and leaked the location of the Abomination Vault to the demonic mercenaries that had attacked them on the Ravaiim homeworld, whom were lead by the Lost Angel Raciel, once Hadrimon's lover before her banishment to Hell. While the demons and constructs fought, Azrael entered the battle and attacked Raciel while she was unaware. She survived the attack, only to be killed upon entering Death's home, which housed the entrance to the Abomination Vault, by Hadrimon, who had lost all control to the psychic bloodlust of the Abominations. Azrael cast an illusion about himself of Raciel before her fall to distract the insane angel while Death ended his life.
In the battle's aftermath, both Azrael and War were displeased by the underhanded means they had used to achieve victory. Death considered their attitudes foolish and told them to be glad that they had succeeded at all regardless of the method. The Angel of Death told the Horseman that he was satisfied that the crisis was resolved, but warned him not to look to the White City for aid in the near future and departed.
Darksiders
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Premature Apocalypse
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Before the Apocalypse, Azrael reluctantly conspired with Abaddon to destroy six of the Seven Seals and draw out Hell's champions for a preemptive attack by Abaddon's Hellguard. Using the Armageddon Blade made by Ulthane, he destroyed six of the seven seals, the last guarded by Abbadon himself so the Four Horseman would not be called. Ulthane reforged the other six seals to hide the evidence of their crimes and shift the blame to Hell's forces. The plan failed as Hell was far more prepared than expected, thus starting the End War prematurely.
After his supposed demise, Abbadon came to Azrael and asked him to take him to the Tree of Knowledge. Desperate to believe that his friend was alive and all was well, Azrael brought him to the Tree. After he received his gift, Abbadon returned to the Earth as the Destroyer. He eventually sent his Chosen, Straga, after Azrael, imprisoning the angel within the Black Throne, and seizing control over the Well of Souls.
Aiding War
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One hundred years after the Apocalypse, War arrived to the black throne and was surprised to see Azrael imprisoned within. War was told that if he helped him, Azrael would help him get to the Destroyer. Azrael was soon freed from his prison once the Horseman defeated the three guardians and redirected the beams to the floating heads holding Azrael in place. After freeing Azrael, War fought and defeated Straga in their rematch. Azrael then opened the Well of Souls and sent War to Eden as the tower collapsed on itself.
Upon arriving to Eden, Azrael gave War the Mask of Shadows to fight Shadow War and gain access to the Tree of Knowledge. After defeating his dark self and seeing a vision from the Tree of Knowledge, the Horseman set out to reforge the Armageddon Blade. When War found the scattered pieces of the Blade and had Ulthane reforge it, he returned to Azrael who revealed to War the truth of why the Apocalypse started prematurely and assured him he would accept his punishment with open arms once it was time. The Nephilim then asked the Angel of Death for his service one more time, requesting that he send War to the Destroyer in order to begin the final battle. Azrael complied, and War went on to kill the Destroyer.
Trivia
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- In Christianity and Judaism, Azrael along with Samael are the two accepted angels of death. He has been symbolized as a hooded figure with a key and sometimes a scythe, like Death.
- Keith Szarabajka, Azrael's voice actor, also voiced the Crowfather in Darksiders II.