Angel

"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"

- Hebrews 1:14

Angels are the children, servants, and creations of God and the main inhabitants of the Abrahamic Heaven. They are guardians of the Abrahamic religions and of Creation as a whole. They, alongside the fallen angels and the devils (formerly the demons), formed the Three Factions of the Abrahamic pantheon.

Overview
"Origin: Israel. The lowest rank of the angelic hierarchy. Their name means 'messenger' and their appearance is close to that of humans. They carry out the heralds' orders, so they interact with humans often. They protect the righteous and are said to be responsible for each human life."

- The Infernal Compendium

Angels are divine celestial beings that have been recorded in various religious lore, mainly Abrahamic, who faithfully serve God. The term "angel" comes from the greek word "angelos" meaning "messenger," as a translation of their name in hebrew "Malach," this term is used both to refer to the lowest rank of angels and the heavenly host as a whole. Angel, however, is not their name as a species, but rather a description of their task, as angels are best described as "spirits."

The origin of angels is up to debate, but some suggest that they were created on the second day of creation by God from either fire or light as a manifestation of his boundless love.

In Christian angelology (the study of angels), they are said to inhabit the lowest sphere of Heaven, the sky of the Moon, while in the Quabbalah, they are said to inhabit the sephirah Malkuth and are led by the archangel Sandalphon. Their task is to protect humans as guardian angels and deliver messages and visions from God.

Being the closest to humans, they are often represented in art as beautiful winged humanoids with halos, however, it is understood that angels lack a defined physical form and in scripture they often disguise themselves as plain humans in order to carry out their duties undisturbed.

Summary
TBA

Human Form
Angels often appear as beings of unparalleled beauty and grace, described as "perfection incarnate". Their face and body is said to have set the foundations for the golden ratio, if not putting it to shame entirely, though many have considered their beauty as unreachable, akin to the beauty of nature or the beauty of a flawless art masterpiece - absolutely inhuman.

They possess multiple large and feathered wings, each with a wingspan of 4-meters in length, growing out from their lower back, with the number of wings an angel possesses denote their power and position within the angelic hierarchy, with two wings (one pair) beings the lowest-rankings while twelve wings (six pairs) being the highest-ranked. They are also capable of retracting their wings back into their back as if they have disappeared entirely. Despite popular belief, not all angels' wings are pure-white, as there are many pairs of angelic wings that have metallic or colorful gradients, as well as ones remiscient of birds' wings found in nature.

A golden halo is often positioned directly above their head whenever their wings appear, which is also used to denote an angel's importance, as the more intricate an angel's halo is, the higher their authority is in the eyes of their fellow angels. Higher-ranked angels also have additional halos other than the one above their hands, which often appear as rings of light floating above their hands.

In addition to their feathered wings and halo, one of the most notable - if not infamous - physical characteristics of an angel is their numerous eyes. which often covered their entire wings and scattered across their body in different places, such as the chest, the stomach, the arms and legs, etc. These eyes are always glowing and shifting, allowing their owner to have a near-360º field of vision around themselves and of the surrounding area, save for a small blindspot at the back of the neck above where the first thoracic vertebra should be. Because of how unnerving these eyes can appear at times, most angels tend to hide them away with magic when interacting with humans.

True Form
All pure angels possess an additional semi-corporeal form considered to be their true form, which many have jokingly referred to as their "eldritch form" due to its madness-inducing properties. It is the form typically associated with angels in ancient times and is the inhuman form recorded in the Bible and many other religious scriptures.

In this form, pure angels appear as colossal beings formed of holiness and pure light and shine a glorious golden aura, with numerous blazing eyes scattered all across their form. While the lower-ranked angels are somewhat humanoid, the higher an angel is on the heavenly hierarchy, the less human and more eldritch they appear. Depending on their power and position within the hierarchy, their size will also change, but in most cases, they are as high and large as a mountain, if not greater, with some high-ranked angels' true form rumored to be as big as a dwarf planet. They also radiate a potent holy aura in this form, which can leave behind extensive and devastating consequences wherever they go.

Characteristics
As one of God's first creations, angels are extremely powerful entities and are considered to be on the top of the supernatural hierarchy, among the numerous gods and immortals from mythology, as they are above the majority of all supernatural species in terms of power and intelligence.

In biblical records, the pure angels are described in their true eldritch form, which have proven to be overwhelming to the majority of mortal beings to witness, as their limited minds are incapable of comprehending what they've just seen and begin to spiral down into pure insanity. However, there are certain people and those with special lineage who are capable of viewing their true appearance without suffering from permanent damage such as death or insanity.

Despite the popular belief, angels don't instantly fall and become fallen angels when they engage in sexual acts, as becoming a fallen angel is considered the worst punishment that can be dealt to an angel, stripping them of their angelic ranks and banishing them from Heaven, their home-realm and source of power. Only criminal angels, those who have repeatedly broken the Enochian laws are deemed terrible enough to be turned into fallen angels by the will of the Heavenly Council.

As immortal beings formed out of pure light and holiness, they don't need to reproduce and see it as a physical process only needed by non-celestial beings, and thus, unnecessary for immortal beings like them. In addition, as a side effect of having a body formed of light, it is extremely difficult, almost to the point of impossibility, for an angel to impregnate/be impregnated. Because of this, genuine half-angel hybrids such as the Miracle Children are considered to be miracles, as by no means should their existence be possible.

They don't have any physical needs, such as breathing, resting, eating and drinking, shelter, etc. and possess an extreme amount of stamina, which allows them to stay active for weeks, if not months, without the need for rest. Often, when an angel is shown eating or sleeping, they are doing it purely for their own enjoyment, as there is nothing beneficial they can gain from such activities. This is often the case for most reincarnated angels, who have once been mortals before their rebirth, as they consider such actions are "nostalgic and relaxing" to do after a long day working their heavenly duties.

Most pure angels have shown to either don't understand or don't care about what humans would consider moral or immoral. They are also shown not to be distressed or horrified by scenes of extreme violence and gore, unlike humans who can be traumatized from witnessing such horrific scenes alone, less they have to endure it. And while most reincarnated angels still retain much of their human mindset, theirs will slowly transiftion into that of an angel's, cold and heartless, which has caused quite a dilemma among the exorcists' inner circles and created many discussions and controversies, as many willing exorcists are now ponder whether it is worth trading their humanity away for a chance to become of Angelization.

Aldous, a demon and former cherub, had once described his former brethren as emotionless, not being permitted to have feelings or free will, and even went on to compare them to statues in the sense that they are both cold, beautiful and have no choice of their own. He stated that the only emotion they possess is the intense, nearly obsessive, loyalty toward their Creator.

This statement, however, has been changeleled from time to time. It has been shown that all angels possess the same range of feelings and emotions as humans do, if not even greater than them due to their greater understanding of the world beyond ordinary mortal perception and comprehension. It is more accurate to say that angels are very much capable of developing both human emotions and character flaws, but the majority of pure angels choose not to show or admit to having emotions, as many of them consider emotions to be doorways to doubts, weaknesses and temptations for others to exploit.

Due to their age and power, many pure angels look down upon humans and see them as inferior, some even questioning why they can be considered God's greatest creation and were commanded to bow down and swear to protect them, though none would ever dare to admit it out loud because of their loyalty toward God. This disdain appears to have originated from Lucifer, who is still greatly admired and loved in Heaven millions of eons after his banishment and imprisonment, and only grew greater after the Great War had ended with the deaths of Azrael, Jesus Christ, the Biblical God and many other important figures in Heaven in their effort to protect humanity.

Luckily, this feeling of resentment isn't universal, as there are some angels who are much more civil to humans than their peer, almost to a point of genuine friendliness, while others even have the controversial belief that humans are inherently better than the angels themselves because, despite their inherent flaws, a lot of them still managed to strive to be good.

Abilities
TBA

Harming

 * Witchcraft: Due to its nature as a bastardization of the demons' infernal magic, witchcraft holds the power to oppose all those of heavenly origins, such as gods and angels. There are many witchery spells and rituals that can be used to trap and weaken angels, with some even capable of banishing them back to Heaven for an extended amount of time.
 * Enochian Magick: As the original and most powerful kind of all Ancient Magicks, Enochian Magick is capable of a variety of powerful and primordial phenomena and can affect all those of angelic nature, regardless of their alignments - angels, fallen angels, and demons alike. However, depending on the amount of angelic power an angel possesses, the effects of Enochian Magick has upon them may differ: The higher one's angelic power, the less effective Enochian Magick will be upon them, and vice versa.
 * Celestial Weapons: Weapons made out of sacred metals can be used against the majority of supernatural beings, the angels included. However, the amount that can be caused by regular celestial weapons on them are usually little to none.
 * Divine Weapons: The celestial weapons of the gods, imbued with their users' divine power and made out of the highest-quality sacred metals, can be used to cause semi-serious damage to angels, even possibly kill low-ranked or reincarnated angels.

Killing

 * Heavenly Weapons: Like nearly all beings in existence, angels can be killed with heavenly weapons made out of Enochian metals.
 * Angel Blade: All angels can be killed with an angel blade with their name engraved upon the blade in angelic hieroglyphs.
 * Original Longinus: As the original 13 Longinus are exceptionally powerful Sacred Gears created by the fifth heaven from the highest-ranking Enochian metals and are imbued with divine power by the Biblical God, those with enough skills and experience can use their Longinus to kill even immortal beings such as the angels.
 * Infernal Weapons: Like nearly all beings in existence, angels can be killed with infernal weapons made out of Faustian metals.
 * Primordial Regalia: Weapons and artifacts that belong to the primordial entities can be used to permanently and absolutely destroy every and any being in existence save for other primordial entities, erasing their existence completely so that they can never be reborn or resurrected without God's involvement.

Death
When an angel's physical form is destroyed and they are "killed", their soul will be instantaneously transferred to the Empty, where they will sleep for possibly millions of years until their body can be reformed, either on their own or by God's will. However, whenever an angel is resurrected, their entire memory, experience and personality will be wiped and they will return to "factory's settings", completely lacking any of their own free will.

In addition to that, whenever an angel is killed with a heavenly/infernal weapon, their physical body will instaneouly incinerate itself and leave behind a burnt imprint of their wings on the surface where their body lies. In some rare cases, the deceased angel's halo will solidify and stay behind, carrying within it a part of their consciousness.

Types of Angels

 * Celestial Princes ( 最年長の諸侯, Sainenchō no Shokō ): The original "angels" created by God whose power is nigh-omnipotent and near-absolute, ranking only seconded to their Creator in terms of absolute power and authority over all of Creation. After God went inactive, the remaining Celestial Princes - Four Great Seraphs - took over as the leaders of the angels and Heaven.
 * Pure Angels ( 純粋な天使, Junsuina Tenshi ): The angels created by God and the natural inhabitants of Heaven. The most powerful of the pure angels are the Elder Seraphim, who are the first ten angels and seraphim, and are thus, the oldest angels in existence, excluding the Celestial Princes.
 * Reincarnated Angels ( 転生天使, Tensei Tenshi ): The angels who are originally mortals. They are transformed into angels following the Great War in order to maintain order within Heaven and among the numerous heavenly realms. There are two types of reincarnated angels.
 * Lesser Angels ( 補助天使, Hojo Tenshi ): Reincarnated angels born through the Bene Elohim Project. They originally were the righteous souls who inhabit the third heaven.
 * Brave Saints : Reincarnated angels created by the Brave Saint cards. The majority of them were once exorcists that served in one of the Abrahamic religions, though there are some who are magicians and warriors of great renowned.
 * Natural-born Angels ( 生まれた天使, Umareta Tenshi ): The newest type of angels who are conceived within the Love Room by reincarnated angel parents. Not much is known about this type of angels as only seven of their type, all of them still within their mothers' wombs. However, Uriel, with his nigh-omniscience, has described them as "interesting".

Population
The population of the angels originally consisted of the Celestial Princes, the Elder Seraphim and the numerous pure angels created by God in the dawn of creation. However, after God had gone inactive and all of His incarnations either died or gone missing, in addition to the immense destruction and lost Heaven had to suffer in the Great War, no more pure angels could be created anymore.

To increase their population, Heaven have had countless projects and experiments to artificially create more angels without the need for the divine power of God. The most notable project out of all would be the Bene Elohim Project, operated by Israfil - Raphael's right-hand, to create the lesser angels from the souls of the righteous mortals within the third heaven, who willingly sacrificed their eternal happiness to help balancing the natural order of existence. However, due to the fact only 666 lesser angels survived out of all the thousands of billions of souls, the project was forced to end by Raphael himself.

After the Three Factions have signed the Kuoh Treaty, however, Heaven's engineers created the Brave Saint cards using the Grigori's research and technology, as well as the special Agreas crystals typically used by the devils to create Evil Pieces. Each of the Four Great Seraphs and the Elder Seraphim is given a deck of 13 cards to reincarnate mortals into angels, with believers of strong faith being the most notable and common ones. This isn't a foolproof method, however, as the Brave Saints are bound to a vow of chastity and can turn into fallen angels immediately if they ever give into temptation due to a "bug" planted in by an unknown Grigori scientist.

Later on, engineers from the fifth heaven were able to create an interdimensional pocket-room that allows a Brave Saint to become physically intimate and engage in sexual acts without becoming fallen angels, as well as temprarily transforming their biological characteristics so that the reincarnated angels - both lesser angels and Brave Saints - can procreate while inside the room, resulting in the conception of a new type of angels dubbed the "natural-born angels".

Ranking
The angels use a hierarchical system that is split into three different orders, with each order consisting of three ranks. Higher-ranking angels have greater power and/or authority over those of lower-ranks, and with different ranks having differences in appearance.

Heavenly Council
Heavenly Council ( 天国評議会, Tengoku Hyōgi-kai ) is the leaders of Heaven and the angels. They are led by the four remaining Celestial Princes, known as the Four Great Seraphs, consisting of Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. Despite this, they push most of their paperwork and responsibility onto their younger siblings, the Elder Seraphim, and pay their interest in playing around with the numerous multiverses and dimensions within their respective personal domains.

Council of Elohim
Council of Elohim ( エロヒム評議会, Erohimu Hyōgi-kai ) is a council consisting of the twenty-four most powerful and influential lesser angels and are created to ensure none of the lesser angels would break the Enochian laws and be banished and turned into fallen angels. Following the creation of the Brave Saint cards, they also took over the leaders of the Brave Saints, tasked with training them in their new powers and in the angels' rules, culture, and traditions.

Watchers' Guild
The Watchers' Guild ( 守護天使の塔, Shugo Tenshi no Tō ) is the council of guardian angels, whose duty is to protect followers of the Abrahamic religions from supernatural threats, such as monsters, daemon, or pagan deities. They are led by the Angiris Council, the remnant of the original watchers who remained loyal to God and Heaven unlike their fallen brothers and sisters who founded the Grigori under Samael's instructions.

Quotes
"Perfect. Like a marble statue. Cold... no choice... only obedience."

- Aldous

"In their pure existence, angels are of a divine essence of light and sound."

- Dickard Cain

"Like we're actually a family? When what we really are are a bunch of glowing lights filled with self-loathing or delusions of grandeur. Or both."

- Zaphkiel

"We are natural laws. We are waves and quanta. We dance, not on the heads of pins, but in the orbits of electrons. We aren't supposed to be pretty lil' guardians, ones with fluffy wings and flowing white robes. We are the Children of God, Their servants and warriors. Have you not read the Bible at least once in your life?"

- Sandalphon

Trivia

 * The Angels working on Earth usually wear business suits or dresses.
 * Most Pure Angels are shown to be ignorant of human pop culture (books, movies, TV shows, etc.), and even aspects of speech such as sarcasm and expressions.
 * There is a weekly magazine named "Weekly Brave Angel" that features lesser angels and Brave Saints in revealing outfits and semi-erotic positions.
 * Heaven is said to have also developed a masked hero show, Captain Angel, to rival the Oppai Dragon show in the Netherworld, with Uriel's Ace - Nero Raimondi in charge of the leading role. It seems that it is quite popular among believers despite how "graphic" the show can be at time.
 * According to Irina, despite the show is a combination of Throne of Roses, Northrealm, and Creekside, but with Christian imagery and "an unholy amount of sex and violence", it's considered a PG-13 show.
 * The angelic hierarchy is mainly based on the Christian angelology.
 * Seraphim are the highest angelic class and they serve as the caretakers of God's throne.
 * Cherubim guard the way to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden and the throne of God.
 * Thrones are living symbols of God's justice and authority.
 * Dominations regulate the duties of lower angels.
 * Virtues supervise the movements of the heavenly bodies in order to ensure that the cosmos remains in order.
 * Authorities are the bearers of conscience and the keepers of history. They are also the warrior angels created to be completely loyal to God.
 * Principalities preside over the bands of angels and charge them with fulfilling the divine ministry.
 * Archangels are the administrators of duties for the angels and they are also their commanders.
 * Angels are the lowest order of the angels. They are sent as messengers to mankind.