View source for Celestial Paragons and Archangels

{{trope}}
[[File:ArchangelMichael3 8396.jpg|frame|[[Authority Equals Asskicking|Behold our might and despair,]] [[Our Demons Are Different|your]] [[Badass Boast|end has come]].]]


All coins have two sides. And for the rulers of [[Hell]]/[[The Underworld]]/a bad place who call themselves [[Demon Lords and Archdevils]], there are these guys.

They're the top [[Our Angels Are Different|angels]] (or angel-like beings) around and can usually be found as the heads of a [[Council of Angels]]. The one thing they have in common is that they can [[Authority Equals Asskicking|kick a whole lot of ass]] and are usually the [[Big Good]]s of the setting.

Although it's best to keep in mind, as with the case of an [[Ascended Demon]], you may have a few of the [[Fallen Angel]] version of these running around, which is bad news for the heroes. They might also suffer from [[The Gods Must Be Lazy]] as well, or be [[Jerkass Gods]] for the really unhelpful ones.

See the most famous examples in [[Archangel Michael]], [[Archangel Gabriel]], [[Archangel Raphael]], and (possibly) the [[Fallen Angel]] version in [[Satan|Archangel Lucifer]].

See also [[Our Angels Are Different]], [[Our Gods Are Greater]], [[Council of Angels]], [[Celestial Bureaucracy]], [[Divine Ranks]], [[Fantasy Pantheon]] and it's [[Inverted Trope]], [[Demon Lords and Archdevils]].

Also of note, this trope is to [[Big Good]]/[[God]] as [[Demon Lords and Archdevils]] is to [[Big Bad]]/[[Satan]].

{{examples}}

==  Comic Books  ==

* The angels in ''[[Shade the Changing Man]]'' are smug, brute-force manipulators who don't even bother attempting to appeal to morality or necessity. They brought Shade back to life but also made him crazier by taking a piece of his mind to control him with. They resurrected Kathy and withheld the [[Mind Rape]] memories so intense they ''killed'' her, then extorted her with them to make her keep Shade under control. They're such [[Jerkass Gods]] that they make [[Deal with the Devil|a bargain with an]] [[Faux Affably Evil]] Devil seem sane by comparison.
* The Black Hosts and the Archangels they work for are good guys in ''[[Ghost Rider]]'' comics. They rarely show up and even more rarely do they do anything, [[Deus Ex Machina|unless there is no other way to stop]] a [[Downer Ending]] or if they have [[Fallen Angel]], but those who fall are considered "former". Some of the arch angels get away with a lot of [[Jerkass]] activity without losing their rank but most of them seem to be pretty nice. Archangels are also responsible for appointing the angels of death.
** Angels are also affiliated with the Asuras([[Spell My Name with an "S"|probably meant ahura]]), embodiments of goodness which stand guard at the gates of heaven and the spirits of vengeance, the ones most likely to appear and act on panel.

==  Live Action TV  ==

* Archangels have showed up in ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', particularly in the last few seasons.
** It's implied that they have a full celestial hierarchy; Castiel works for Zachariah and Anna refers to having been his superior.
*** Not quite a [[Have You Seen My God?|''full'']] hierarchy.
* ''[[Series/Eternal Law|Eternal Law]] has angels in disguise - mostly - as lawyers.


==  Literature  ==

* Classic Judaic/Christianic lore found in [[The Bible|the old and new testaments]] [[Sarcasm Mode|obviously has nothing to do with this, at all]].
* The Archangels and the ever-elusive Almighty in ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', who prefer to work [[In Mysterious Ways]] so far. Non-religious Harry identifies them as "powerful beings of Nevernever", on par with the Faerie Queens and beyond.
** Stronger. Harry reckons that Uriel could wipe out all life one earth with very little effort. Justified as he is (sort of) the angel of death, being the angel who killed the firstborn of Egypt. And it is suggested by Mab, the Winter Queen, that he is the most dangerous of all the Archangels, and definitely the stealthiest.
* In the ''[[Young Wizards]]'' series there's the Winged Defender, a.k.a. the [[God|One's]] Champion ([[All Myths Are True|a.k.a. Thor, a.k.a. Athena, a.k.a. the archangel Michael]]). S/He only rarely intervenes directly, since fully manifesting strains the fabric of reality almost to the breaking point, but when s/he ''does'', s/he has no problem kicking the ass of the [[Satan|Lone Power]]. In addition to occasionally kicking the ass of the [[Big Bad]], his/her responsibilities include granting the titular wizards their power ([[All Myths Are True|which was the inspiration for the legend of Prometheus]]), and also keeping the [[True Name]] of [[God]] in several separate pieces, since the sheer power radiated by God's whole name would [[Apocalypse How|destroy entire universes]].
* Tolkien's ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' features the Valar, the most powerful beings in existence behind [[God|Eru]]. [[Fallen Angel|Morgoth]] ([[The Lord of the Rings|Sauron's]] boss), happened to be [[Satan|the most powerful of them, and rebelled against his maker]].
* Raphael, Gabriel, Michael, and Uriel are invoked by name during rituals in the [[Deryni]] novels. They variously manifest as pillars of light, or elements (earth, air, fire and water), or a luminous beings that seem to have wings.
* A rare subversion in ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' - the angels are actually the bad guys.
** The archangels, yes. There are "good" angels, though: Zaphania, Balthamos, and Baruch, for instance.
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[Prospero's Daughter]]'', Miranda is quite shocked to learn that one being Mephisto can summon is Uriel. {{spoiler|At the end, he gives instructions to Astreus, who had been rather high-ranking himself.}}
* In ''[[Good Omens]],'' these are Aziraphael's bosses.

==  Tabletop RPG  ==

* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', [[Trope Namer|obviously]]. Specifically, we have:
** The Celestial Hebdomad for the [[Lawful Good]] archons. These seven, one for each of the Seven Heavens of Celestia, most closely resemble the traditional Christian concept of archangels.
** Talisid and the Five Companions, paragons of the [[Neutral Good]] guardinals.
** The Court of Stars, leaders of the [[Chaotic Good]] eladrins. They're more like fairy lords than angels, but embody [[Chaotic Good]] all the same.
* The Archangels in ''[[In Nomine]]''. They are much more powerful than regular angels, but are Word-bound (forced to operate in accordance with their descriptive Word) and thus limited in thought and action.
* The Angels are the Imperators of Heaven in ''[[Nobilis]]''- though in a case of [[Light Is Not Good|Light Is Not (Exactly) Good]], they are ''just'' above all else. The schism that resulted in the [[Fallen Angels]] existing (at least in third edition) was that some of the angels loved everyone, even the corrupt... and for this, they were cast into Hell.
* Considering the [[Space Marines]] of ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' are often considered to be the [[God-Emperor]]'s [[Badass|Angels of Death]], it would logically dictate that his 20 [[Physical God]] sons that were the genetic templates for the [[Space Marine]] Legions would be his Archangels (and It's especially evident with Sanguinius, Primarch of the Blood Angels, who happens to be a [[Winged Humanoid]]). Of course, once [[Cosmic Horror|Chaos]] had come about in the [[Horus Heresy]], half of them went the other [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|route]]...
** If the [[Space Marine]]s are considered to be [[Our Angels Are Different|Angels]], then the Living Saints can be considered to be the Emperor's actual Archangels.
* ''[[Promethean: The Created]]'' features ''qashmallim'', who are [[Our Angels Are Different|not-quite-but-maybe angels]] serving [[In Mysterious Ways|a cosmic Principle]]. There are arch-''qashmal'' as well, and when they show up, something big happens... [[Subverted Trope|though not necessarily nice]]. The book lists an example of an entire city convening to build an edifice before leaping off of it, and one adventure features  {{spoiler|an arch-''qashmal'' about to irradiate all of Detroit unless the Prometheans make a sacrifice}}.

==  Video Games  ==

* ''[[Bayonetta]]'' has the angels acting as the antagonists. Each angel even has its own page to tell us where in the hierarchy it rests.
* A staple in ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' series. [[Our Angels Are Different|Whether they mean well for humans varies between games]].
** Most notably, the [[Archangel Gabriel]] and Remiel are often presented as the [[Only Sane Man|only sane guys]] in the Law faction. Most other angels are utterly subsumed to [[God]]'s will, and either are demented [[Knight Templar]]s of the worst kind, outright despise every living being with free will, or both.
* ''[[Touhou]]''. The [[Big Bad]] of Scarlet Weather Rhapsody is a Celestial Paragon who cause disasters [[For the Evulz]], out of boredom. But then Tenshi is [[Our Angels Are Different|kinda different]]...

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[[Category:Angelic Tropes]]
[[Category:Goodness Tropes]]
[[Category:Religion Tropes]]
[[Category:Tropes of the Divine]]
[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:Power]]
[[Category:Badass in Charge]]
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