| “ | 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.
Biography[]
The Abomination Vault[]
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 local garrison.
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 necromancy abilities to interrogate the deceased, an act the Angels found blasphemous. Several Angels broke cover and attacked him only to be defeated handily.
Realising the illusion, Death called for angels to reveal themselves and Azrael allowed the illusion to fade. After explaining that the Angels guarded Eden because the Council did not bother, the Archangel brought Death to 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 realised that Abaddon had been wounded by a long thought lost Nephilim sword named Affliction he departed and refused to explain his suspicions but promised to tell to his new Angelic allies everything if something important would be revealed by him.
Later, when Death and War came to the Library of 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 home world 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 Horsemen 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 roughly 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. Unbeknown 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 home world, 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[]
Premature Apocalypse[]
| “ | Azrael: An open attack on the Dark Kingdom would violate the treaty! What you are proposing is madness! Abaddon: Azrael, evil darkens every corner of creation... and Heaven waits?! The Council ties our hands!! — Azrael and Abaddon on the latter's plan to ignite the Endwar |
” |
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[]
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, in the process Azrael 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.
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. 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.
Personality and Traits[]
Azrael is an ancient Angel full of wisdom and knowledge. He is very proud of his mission as a scholar and even stated that he would be offended if War thought that he is a warrior as most of the Angels.
He is tasked with some of the most important places in creation, from guarding the Well of Souls to the ruins of Eden. While Azrael has shown to greatly care about Creation and knows that the Universe is falling to darkness, he only wanted to make it a better place but wasn't willing to challenge the Charred Council, unlike Abaddon; this is because he is not as passionate for Hell's defeat and Heaven's victory as Abaddon was. Azrael preferred diplomacy over fighting as he was willing to forgive War for slaughtering Angels in the White City during the Great Abomination crisis and helping him afterwards during the End War. Also, he has a cordial, if not friendly relationship with Death, as both he and the elder Nephilim have dominion over this concept.
He is also rather benevolent and merciful. Moments before Hadrimon's death, he disguised himself as Raciel from before her fall and said that "[she] forgave him" for indirectly exiling her to Hell, stating that it was a kindness in the end. Azrael also genuinely apologized to Death for not being able to let him visit Eden to make sure that his brethren's remains were undisturbed.
Since the failed premature End War and Abaddon's transformation into the Destroyer, the Archangel has been guilt-ridden and full of remorse, to the point of even admitting he was a fool. Now he desires to undo his mistake by aiding War. Though he knows that War would undoubtedly kill all who schemed with Abaddon- including himself- to see justice done, Azrael would embrace his fate and accept judgement, as he states that we all must answer for our sins.
Unlike others in the cosmic struggle, Azrael has a great level of concern and care for the Earth and Mankind's existence compared to characters more hostile towards them, so much so that he was horrified by Abaddon's plan to break the seven Seals early, as it would ultimately destroy the earth. Mankind's destruction only deepened his guilt and shame for the part he played in the premature End War.
Powers and Abilities[]
Despite not being a warrior but a scholar, Azrael is an extremely powerful Angel, with many abilities at his disposal. As a sort of Angelic sorcerer, his combat abilities appear to be centered around utilizing holy magics rather than martial skill. He was able to hold his own against a horde of demons during the Great Abomination crisis and, during the End War, not only managing to stay alive after having his powers drained for an extensive amount of time but helping War as well, after his release. Azrael displayed the following abilities:
- Energy Control - Azrael is able to control and redirect beams of light or powerful forms of energy as he sees fit.
- Control of the Well of Souls - Azrael is the overseer of the Well of Souls, through which pass all of the Souls of beings who are to be reborn; none shall leave without his knowledge of it. However, he does not possess the Angel Key to the Well.
- Teleportation - Azrael possesses the ability to teleport. He is also, unlike Abaddon, capable of teleporting both himself and others anywhere (and he did with War by bringing him to Eden).
- Serpent Hole Creation - Azrael can create a Serpent Hole in the same manner as Vulgrim and Samael as a means to move between worlds and beyond. The color of his Serpent Hole is orange, whilst Vulgrim's is blue, and Samael's is red respectively.
- Immense Endurance - Azrael is able to endure much, being able to both survive in his prison while having his power drained from him for a prolonged period of time and not show any signs of fatigue.
- Illusionary Magics - Azrael has demonstrated the ability to cast powerful illusions on many occasions.
- Magic - His main method of attack. Azrael has mastered many magics in his lifetime, from illusions to holy spells that only he knows.
- Wisdom - Azrael is well known for his wisdom, discernment and understanding of various things. He was the principal adviser to the former leader of the Hellguard and his old friend, Abaddon, and he was greatly valued for his advice.
- Flight - Azrael, like all Angels in Heaven, is capable of flight through the use of his wings.
- Super Strength - Though he has not performed any terribly arduous feats of strength compared to many other Darksiders characters, he was able to wield the impossibly large Armageddon blade while destroying the seals.
Trivia[]
- Azrael (or mālik al-maut) is the Angel of Death in Islam and Judaism.
- In Judaism, the angel Samael is also an angel of death.
- Keith Szarabajka, Azrael's voice actor, also voiced the Crowfather in Darksiders II.
- The feathers on the very ends of Azrael's wings are the longest of any Angel's.
- Azrael is the only Angel not to be seen wielding a weapon (though he is seen briefly using a sword to shatter the first seal in a flashback. He also used a sword during the Grand Abomination Crisis when he attempted to kill Raciel).
- With Abbadon's death, Azrael is apparently the only known remaining Archangel in Heaven. This may also imply that he is now one of if not the most powerful of the Angels currently, as there are no hints to there being any other Archangels present in Heaven throughout the series. Due to the Archangels being considered in-universe as the "highest ranking position" in the "Heaven government", and Azrael is, perhaps, the last remaining Archangel alive, as that wasn't any mention of any other Archangel, Azrael, by default, can be considered the leader of the entire Angel race, and de facto ruler of the White City, and any other Angel settlement.
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