When the angels were introduced in The CW’s Supernatural back in season 4, they seemed so powerful that it appeared only someone like Superman would’ve been able to beat them. Since then, though, these beings have been weakened considerably, and various demons have turned out to be stronger than them.
In this list, we’ve considered regular angels and Seraphs as the baseline to consider the power of a demon, as Archangels are a cut above any other being. We’ve also taken into account powers that these demons have acquired from sources other than their inherent abilities. With that in mind, here are 10 demons that proved to be stronger than angels on Supernatural.
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Crowley
You’ll be inclined to point out that Crowley always used to flee from angels in fear, but we’re not saying that he’s powerful enough to beat them in strength, as we’re talking about his brains. After all, Crowley might be the demon that’s taken out the most angels.
His tactical mastery meant he could bring resources to himself that allowed him to overpower angels, such as when we saw him make use of angel blades; he even managed to turn angel blades into bullets. Crowley also “perfected” the double cross, to the point where he managed to make Lucifer his prisoner.
Cain
Having been one of the first few humans in existence, Cain’s powers came from Lucifer as the Devil transferred the mark that contained the Darkness on to him, eventually turning Cain into a Knight of Hell.
This made him superior to angels, as was seen when Cain claimed he could swat Castiel like a fly if he wanted to. This threat was made at a time when Cain didn’t even have an angel blade on him, but he did display his powers by easily beating Castiel. Cain also possessed an advanced form of smiting that allowed him to kill by simply touching his victims.
Alastair
A strange thing about this demon, who was the Grand Torturer of Hell, was that he had no idea how to kill angels, despite the fact that angel blades were common knowledge. And yet, Alastair was powerful to the degree that he had zero fear of angels.
In each instance he went toe-to-toe with them, Alastair came on top. Castiel, in particular, was beaten down on more than one occasion by Alastair, who was completely immune to being smote by angel powers. He also had knowledge of a unique spell that was capable of sending angels back to Heaven, and only Sam’s distinct powers were able to beat him where no other angel could.
Dean Winchester
Make no mistake, even though we saw Castiel overpower Dean while he was a demon, the latter was still more powerful than him. This was due to Dean possessing the Mark of Cain, which housed the Darkness and made Dean the strongest demon at the time.
It was only due to him being almost cured by Sam that Castiel managed to restrain him, otherwise, we saw how Dean was able to beat down his frenemy when he wasn’t even in demon form. With the powers of the Knights of Hell, only archangels would’ve been able to contend with Dean.
Samhain
We saw in Season 15 how the Seraph Castiel couldn’t defeat ghosts, while the demon Samhain was the opposite case in that he could summon ghosts. In fact, Samhain has been the only demon shown with the power of necromancy.
He was also significant enough to be tied to Lucifer, as summoning Samhain out of Hell meant one of the 66 seals to Lucifer’s cage would be broken. The angels seemed to be wary of Samhain enough to avoid facing off against him, and even Sam’s powers almost failed him against Samhain.
Ramiel
As perhaps the second-most powerful Prince of Hell after Azazel (considering Crowley offered him the throne of Hell after Azazel’s death), Ramiel found it laughable that an angel would dare attempt to fight him.
Not only was the idea that the heroes wanted to kill him amusing to Ramiel, he even enjoyed watching them try to bring them down. After being stabbed by an angel blade, all Ramiel did was shrug it off and proceeded to mortally wound Castiel. In the end, it appears as if Ramiel’s own arrogance caused his death, as nothing worked on him, least of all any angel powers.
Azazel
It’s been a point of contention over what the status of Reapers is in Supernatural, as they were revealed at a time to be angels as well, although this hasn’t been expanded upon. Regardless, we’ll be considering the Reaper Tessa as an angel here, which means good ol’ Yellow-Eyes treated her like a joke.
After John Winchester made a deal with Azazel to resurrect Dean, the latter went ahead and possessed Tessa to stop her from reaping him. This has so far been the sole instance where we’ve seen a demon takeover an angel. Apart from that, being a Prince of Hell means that Azazel was naturally stronger than angels anyway.
Dagon
Dagon became the stuff of nightmares for angels, with the demon killing these beings left and right like they were common fodder for her. Fans were delighted to see Joshua the angel return after years, only for Dagon to combust him as if he were a cheap joke.
She considered angels so beneath her that Lucifer’s orders for her to take out Castiel and bring Kelly Kline was already an assured victory. And she did win, as it was the unborn Nephilim Jack who empowered Castiel to kill her. Out of all the demons we’ve seen so far, Dagon would be worthy of the title of “Angel Killer.”
Lilith
Although she’s ranked at the top, we didn’t actually see Lilith go up against any angels. However, she’s guaranteed to be more powerful than them seeing as Lilith was the first demon and is considered to be superior to Knights of Hell, meaning she surpasses Cain.
The white light ability is something that is considered to mainly belong to angels, yet Lilith used this on multiple occasions despite being a demon. She was easily the scariest villain we’ve had on Supernatural, with her four appearances feeling like a horror movie told in episodic format. Had she not been the last seal for the cage, then perhaps Lilith might have brought all of the angels down herself.
Asmodeus
Called the “runt of the litter” by Lucifer, you might be surprised to see Asmodeus in first place, but we’re considering the supreme version of the demon here. After he managed to apprehend Gabriel, Asmodeus became the most powerful demon by injecting himself with Archangel grace.
This made him powerful to the degree that even Gabriel cowered in fear of Asmodeus, which is saying something considering Gabriel was in the top-10 most powerful beings of all time. With these new set of abilities, Asmodeus was like a whole new Archangel, meaning no angel could take him in this form.