Supernatural: Lucifer

The big bad of big bads. In fact, he is so bad that he has multiple names. Not one, not two, not three, a lot of names. Lucifer, Satan, Devil, Lightbringer, and so on. He was expertly portrayed by Mark Pellegrino who was the runner up for the role of Castiel. In the writing of the character, Kripke and company decided to take the "Paradise Lost" route on him making him into a sympathetic character. Within the mythology of the show, God had created four archangels who were his sons. Their names were Michael, Lucifer, Raphael and Gabriel. After God had created humans he told his devout children to love them more than he. Lucifer couldn't bear it and fought with his loyal brothers. The arguments became so vicious that Gabriel high tailed it out of Heaven as opposed to staying and partaking in the eventually fight. According to Lucifer, God commanded his Angels to admire Man, and when he refused to bow before mankind he was cast out. As an act of defiance he twisted a human soul to create the first demon who would then be known as Lilith. For his defiance, God had him confined against his will in a cage at the bottom of Hell. The cage would only be opened if the sixty-six seals were destroyed and during his confinement some demons even began to worship him as their creator. Azazel became one of his most devout of followers who led the charge to break him out of hell.

Lucifer was first mentioned by a low level demon in the third season in an episode titled, "Sin City". It seemed harmless enough of a mention that wouldn't amount to anything but boy were we off. The following season we find out that the new bad in town, Lilith, is breaking all of the seals to break him out of his cage. By the end of the season she accomplishes her task but is killed in the process. Upon his rising, he automatically has to search for a vessel and finds a man named Nick to be just that. Lucifer appealed to Nick in the sense that Nick had gotten the short end of the stick in his life, and Lucifer thought that he'd want to get a little pay back for that. To which of course, Nick did want to get some pay back. Lucifer, in the body of Nick, then took to Sam as told him that the vessel he took now is just temporary as his true vessel is indeed Sam.

While on Earth and denied his true vessel for now, Lucifer took to causing destruction with the help of a few friends. Those friends would be the Horsemen of Apocalypse. With them in tow, he was able to cause apocalyptic storms and disasters throughout the fifth season. His plans included destroying humanity and ultimately killing his brother Michael in a fight that would determine the final fate of Earth. In order to defeat his brother, he needed to be in control of his destined vessel which he believed would come in time. In the episode "Abandon All Hope", he appeared in Carthage, Missouri to summon Death but the Winchesters appeared to foil his plans. Lucifer first separated them from their Angel companion, Castiel, as he and Meg caught him in an angelic trap of holy oil. While trapped, Castiel noticed how Lucifer's vessel is breaking down slowly. Lucifer asks him the whereabouts of the Winchesters, to which he says he came alone. Lucifer admires his loyalty but also explains that they are both one and the same as they both rebelled against Heaven's order. His demons end up trapping Sam, Dean, Jo and Ellen while fatally injuring Jo which led to her death. Ellen decided to give Sam and Dean a shot at the devil with the Colt and stayed with Jo to set off a bomb to kill the demons on their trail. Lucifer begins the ritual to summon Death, but is briefly interrupted by the Winchesters equipped with the Colt. Dean comes up behind Lucifer and shoots him in the head with the Colt. However, the Colt has no effect on Lucifer and a few other things in the universe. Lucifer continues with the ritual and welcomes Death.

The boys get themselves in a pickle when they are being held hostage by pagan Gods and other varying Gods in the episode "Hammer of the Gods". Lucifer eventually arrives after receiving a call from Mercury, due to his betrayal of his people, Lucifer killed him and other pagan Gods throughout the hotel. With his vessel further degraded, his tolerance for everything he hated was much lower. He is about to kill the God, Kali, but before he does Gabriel intervenes. He tells Lucifer that he fights for humans because of how much better they are while he and Michael have a royal pissing fest lasting for all of eternity. In that regard, he had finally come to agree with his father. Gabriel then tries to use his tricks to kill his brother by stabbing him in the back, but Lucifer knows his tricks very well and sees it coming and uses Gabriel's sword to kill him. Lucifer then stands over his dead brother, crying. Gabriel sent the Winchesters a DVD explaining that the horsemen's rings up the cage back up. This sets them on a mission to retrieve Pestilence and Death's rings.

The Winchesters are successful in their collection of the rings, and Sam gets the idea of saying yes to Lucifer and having a tug of war in his head so that he can throw him back in the pit. The boys head to Detroit, where Lucifer for Sam to allow Lucifer to make him his vessel. Sam begins bargaining with Lucifer but he tells him to stop lying as he had never lied to Sam. Lucifer explains that he knows they have the rings. Even though their plan is known, Sam goes through with saying yes as he is convinced that he will win in a battle of his brain. As Lucifer enters Sam's body, it knocks him out briefly, in that time Dean uses the rings to open the portal up. Sam explains that he is in control and steps in front of the portal but reveals a creepy smirk. He then turns around and smiles revealing that Sam is long gone, and that Lucifer is in control now. He also reminds Dean that he told him it would happen in Detroit. He closes the gate, takes the rings and teleports away. Sam and Lucifer throughout the episode have occasional bouts but it mostly shows Lucifer revealing more and more of Sam's back story and allowing him to get revenge on Azazel's pawns for leading him to where he is now. Lucifer meets his brother Michael at Stull Cemetery for their final battle. Michael's destined true vessel was that of Dean, but he settled for their step brother Adam. Lucifer tells his brother that they can simply walk of the chess board as he doesn't want to kill him, but will if need be. Michael refuses as he is the "good son" of their father. Before the two battle, Dean interrupts and asks to speak with Sam but Lucifer refuses. In that moment, Castiel appears behind Michael with Bobby and Castiel throws a holy oil cocktail at Michael sending him back to Heaven. This sends Lucifer into a fury and kills Castiel with a snap of his fingers, he then turns his attention to Bobby and snaps his neck. Lucifer then begins to lay into Dean beating him within an inch of his life next to the Impala. A childhood item then glistens in the sunlight catching Lucifer's eye which then opens a floodgate of memories between Sam and Dean. Due to this, Sam is able to regain control of his body and reassures Dean. Sam takes the rings out of his jacket and opens the portal to Lucifer's cage. He is about to jump but Michael returns saying it is his destiny to fight his brother. Michael tries to pull him back from jumping into the pit but Sam takes him with him into the pit.