Entranceway Application

[lowkeyangel]

Name: Crow
DW username: crowskyler
E-Mail: dagny kitty [at] gmail [dot] com
IM: Neon Skeleton

Other Characters:
Toothless | no_eels
The Scarecrow | onlythingtofear

Character Name: Gabriel ("The Trickster," "Loki.")
Series: Supernatural
Timeline: 5x19, Hammer of the Gods, directly after being stabbed by Lucifer.
Canon Resource Link: The series. Gabriel.
Character Background:

Gabriel is one of the five archangels of the Supernatural canon (the others being Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Metatron). In the beginning, he lived with his brothers in Heaven — his big brother Lucifer serving as a guide and a teacher. Things were at least relatively harmonious until the creation of humanity, which served as a turning point. God asked the angels to love humanity more than himself. Small issues became large ones, with Lucifer and Michael fighting near-constantly. Michael was the "good son," whereas Lucifer could only see humanity's flaws and refused to love them. (As Gabriel described it, the later drama of "the apocalypse" had once been "Sunday dinner" for him.) Gabriel couldn't stand to see his brothers tearing at each others' throats, and decided to flee Heaven and go to Earth.

He took a Vessel, as was necessary to safely interact with humanity, and decided to hide in plain sight by pretending to be a trickster — a powerful demi-god, dealing out just-desserts to those he felt deserved it. But Gabriel wasn't just any trickster. He became known as Loki, one of the most famous of their number. (And either picked up a sweet tooth, or had had one before.) And still, his brothers had no idea it was him. None of the pagan gods realized what he was, either. At some point during this time, he had a romantic "thing" (in his own words) with the goddess Kali. And this was how his life was for quite a long time.

Gabriel is first seen in 2x15, Tall Tales, as a night janitor at a college. Sam and Dean Winchester arrive to investigate a series of deaths and incidents themed after urban legends — Gabriel's handiwork. First, an adulterous professor "commits suicide" after seeing a local girl's ghost in his office. Then a frat boy is abducted by aliens (and made to slow dance with one of them). A scientist who uses animals as experimental subjects is killed by an alligator in a sewer. Gabriel is well aware of Sam and Dean being hunters — in fact, he knows that both of them are the eventual Vessels of his older brothers, Michael and Lucifer. He plays a game with them, pitching them against each other by making them think that the other one is losing or damaging their things (popping the tires of the Impala, losing Sam's laptop). In the end, the boys are convinced by father-figure Bobby Singer's (very logical) evidence that the source of their troubles is a Trickster. Gabriel (henceforth known as "The Trickster" to the boys) tries to reason them away from killing him, before Sam and Dean put a stake through his chest. This is all a ruse of Gabriel's reality-warping powers, of course. As the boys drive off, it's revealed that they staked a(n extremely convincing) body double.

He next appears in 3x11, Mystery Spot, when Sam Winchester is caught in a time loop akin to the movie Groundhog Day. Dean dies over and over, first in gruesome ways and then in strange ways, and every time he does the day resets itself — and only Sam remembers the previous loops. Eventually, Sam realizes that a Trickster must be responsible and threatens Gabriel with another stake. Gabriel agrees to call the loop off. But then Dean dies, and remains dead. Several months pass. Sam becomes a stone-cold hunter, trying to track down the Trickster and killing other monsters along the way. In the guise of Bobby Singer, Gabriel finally approaches Sam himself. Sam guesses through his disguise, and Gabriel offers an explanation: the whole thing is an Aesop to convince Sam that he and his brother dying for each other, over and over, isn't healthy and will be used against them by their enemies. But Sam refuses to see it that way and Gabriel, weary, agrees to call off the whole thing. He returns Sam to the start of the day at the beginning. The whole scene, he sighs, has just become dull for him anyway.

Gabriel, or the Trickster, isn't seen again until 5x08, Changing Channels. Sam and Dean catch word of a Trickster (deliberately, on Gabriel's part), and Sam wants to track him down and potentially gain an ally in their fight against the Apocalypse. They go to an abandoned warehouse, and find themselves in "TV Land" — a series of shows that Sam and Dean can't escape. Yet another example of the archangel's ability to warp reality. Dean sees through Gabriel's disguise as Doctor Sexy (he, perhaps deliberately, forgets those trademark cowboy boots), but the 'Trickster' informs them that they'll have to play his little game if they want to get out. Telling them to "play their roles," he vanishes. He puts them through a medical show (where Sam has to perform surgery), a Japanese game show, a medical commercial, and a sitcom.

Castiel manages to infiltrate the reality Gabriel's set up, telling them that they've been missing for days, but Gabriel is easily able to silence him and prevent him from helping the Winchesters, roughing up his little brother some in the process. He informs the boys that this is another Aesop: he wants them to "play their roles," as Michael and Lucifer's Vessels, in the real world. Dean accuses him of being on the side of Heaven or Hell (more specifically, as someone's bitch) and Gabriel loses his temper with the eldest Winchester, slamming him against a wall. If they don't play his game and suck up to destiny, he threatens, they'll stay in TV Land forever.

The next show is a procedural cop show, where Sam and Dean attempt to stake their Trickster for the last time by distraction. They appear, at least to the boys, to succeed, but then appear in another show (Knight Rider). Gabriel's anger at the way the Winchesters talk about angels, and his power over Castiel, finally clues the boys that their Trickster isn't a trickster at all. Sam and Dean trap him in a circle of lit holy oil, which he can't cross (or he dies), and force a confession out of him. The reality bubble collapses. Gabriel admits to being an archangel, and to hiding as a trickster for a long time. He admits that his family's fighting tore at him so badly that he felt he had to leave Heaven, and that if his brothers have to kill each other in the Apocalypse he just wants it to be over. He informs the boys that they were chosen because of their similarity to his oldest brothers, and that it was always meant to be so. He laments that they can't have a happy ending, just like his own family can't have a happy ending. Dean, however, calls him out on his cowardice — not being able to stand up to his family — and uses the warehouse's fire sprinklers to release the archangel from his circle as they leave, Castiel in tow.

Gabriel next shows up in 5x19, Hammer of the Gods. Sam and Dean find themselves as hostages — bargaining chips — for a group of pagan gods who are nervous of the impending Apocalypse and want to prevent it, Gabriel's old flame Kali included. Many other people are also trapped in the hotel that was renovated for that specific purpose, and some find themselves as dinner for the pagans. Gabriel shows up to whisk Sam, Dean, and Kali off, as he considers their mission to be suicidal. As the archangel arrives, he removes Sam and Dean's voices so that they can't out him as an angel; the pagans greet him by the name they know him as, Loki. Gabriel explains to the boys, once they're alone, that he and Kali were a thing and that the pagans have no hope of taking on Lucifer. Kali has the two Winchesters under a blood spell, however, tethering them to the premises, and Gabriel attempts to steal the blood back. The attempt outs him to the pagans — and Kali reveals that she knows what he is, at least for a short time. She apologizes before she drives his Archangel blade through him, apparently killing him.

However, Gabriel isn't so easily killed. Sam and Dean reason with the pagans to release the human hostages they have in the hotel's walk-in freezer. As Dean's ushering them out, Gabriel is revealed to be hiding in the Impala. He informs the oldest Winchester that it wasn't his true blade Kali got a hold of — "that thing can kill me!" — and that the Winchesters should get the blood and split. Dean asks him to kill Lucifer, but Gabriel retorts that he can't (won't). While he does care about the pagans, as they were a kind of second family to him, he refuses to consider killing his brother.

Lucifer arrives on the scene, called by a traitorous Mercury; he kills most of the gods, turning them "into finger paint" as predicted by Gabriel. He's about to kill Kali when Gabriel shows up again, giving Sam and Dean a Casa Erotica DVD that he tells them to guard with their lives. Then he makes a stand, as the boys and Kali make their get-away. Gabriel calls out his older brother on his petty, jealous reasoning for past actions. He refuses to join Michael or Lucifer's side. When Lucifer accuses him of being disloyal, he informs his brother that he's on the side of humanity. Even though they're flawed, he admires them for trying to do better — unlike the angels. This speech is at least in some part a distraction, as the talking Gabriel is a copy and the real archangel tries to sneak up behind Lucifer. However, Lucifer had taught him those particular abilities and is able to see through it. He turns Gabriel's blade on the other angel, regretfully, and kills his little brother.

As the episode ends, Sam and Dean turn on the DVD that he'd left to them. While the pornography starts off as normal, it's revealed that Gabriel is the star. He informs the boys that if they're watching this, he's dead; he tells them how to re-open Lucifer's Cage to re-trap his brother, using the combined rings of the Four Horsemen. This becomes the Winchesters' only hope of stopping the Apocalypse and, ultimately, their winning strategy.

Abilities/Special Powers: As an archangel, Gabriel wields some pretty incredible powers. He's the weakest of the shown archangels, but that's nothing to sniff at. Simply as an angel, he has the following abilities:

→ Immortality: Gabriel does not require food, sleep, water, or oxygen, and cannot die of old age. This passes onto his vessel, who does not age so long as Gabriel inhabits him.
→ Vessel: In order to safely interact with humans (so as not to kill them or burn out their eyes), angels — even and especially archangels — must take Vessels while on Earth, special bloodlines of humans who are carefully selected. Unlike demons, who can forcibly take a body from its occupant, angels must have the consent of their vessel; the vessel must say 'yes' to them, and allow them in. Gabriel has had this particular vessel for a very long time, as evidenced by the pagan gods recognizing it.
→ Teleportation/Flight: Like all other angels, Gabriel can instantly travel anywhere on Earth in the blink of an eye.
→ Limited Invulnerability: Angels are immune to most things and can only be killed with an Angel Blade, or by creatures much more powerful than them. Gabriel, on the other hand, can only be killed with an Archangel Blade, a much more powerful version, or by his older brothers (and also God and Death, naturally). He can also heal his Vessel using his essence (his Grace), and other beings as well. Angels can be trapped by a special holy oil that, when lit in a circle, prevents them from passing through it (or the angel dies). They can also be warded away with special sigils.
→ Telekinesis: Any angel is capable of moving objects, and other beings, with their minds. Gabriel's ability is even more pronounced, as he was able to throw his brother Castiel around without issue.
→ Strength: Angels have a much higher strength threshold than humans. The same is true for Gabriel, who easily held Dean Winchester against the wall like a rag doll when he wanted to, and earlier was able to one-handedly pry him off of the angel.
→ Resurrection: As an archangel, Gabriel can easily resurrect those who have died — and heal the injured back to full health.

The following are abilities granted by being an archangel:

→ Reality Warping: Gabriel's favorite trick. He can manipulate space, time, and his surroundings to whatever he wants them to be. In canon, this meant body doubles, TV shows as reality, time loops, reshaping objects into completely different objects, etc. He was so good at it that he fooled the most powerful of the pagan gods into believing that they'd killed him. Though he couldn't fool his brother Lucifer, who had taught him everything he knew about that particular ability. Using his reality warping powers, Gabriel can also forcibly uproot other creatures and teleport them away (as when he whisked Castiel away during Changing Channels).
→ Shapeshifting: Gabriel can change the appearance of his vessel at will.
→ Knowledge: As old and powerful as he is, Gabriel has some in-depth knowledge of the workings of the universe at large. He knew how to re-open his older brother's Cage, and that the Horseman's rings were necessary for the task. Presumably, like his siblings, Gabriel also has advanced knowledge of magic and sigils.

Third-Person Sample:

It was, Gabriel mused, a sign of the end times that he was in his current position. He found himself standing on a rooftop of a truly awful hotel — it had some sort of ocean motif, miles and miles away from the ocean, for no discernible reason — without a sweet in sight. He hadn't done this kind of thing since he'd been Dad's messenger, sending along visions and prophecies to the right people. It had, maybe, been that fateful trip to Mary's bedroom (a very awkward visit) to tell her about little Jesus. He'd skipped the part about there being a musical later, of course. It hadn't seemed prudent at the time, and Mary had been a looker. No need to make her faint at the thought of her future son being the center of a rock opera.

He was there because of the Winchesters. Naturally. It was those muttonheads all the time, lately. Gabriel was still under the radar, but he could hear the chatter from the celestial police scanner. The only time they shut up about the Winchesters was to talk about things that Gabriel wanted to hear of less. But he wasn't just sitting at the radio eating donuts, lately. (The donuts were there, but they were secondary.) Gabriel was tracking things, keeping an eye on the pricks who had called him a coward in the middle of a burning circle. It didn't escape him that there was a storm on the horizon that would drive Sam and Dean Winchester into the path of some old friends of his. He wasn't sure what Kali and Baldur were thinking, going after the freaking Vessels, but Gabriel was shadowing them all the same. He wanted to know.

Sam and Dean didn't deserve to be eaten, or used as bait. And Kali didn't deserve to be turned extra crispy. But still, Gabriel kept back. He would simply watch, for now, because too much rearing his head just wasn't a good idea at the moment. Heaven was a little touchy. One too many glances out the door and he might have Michael on his tail, too. Although at least it would be Michael and not Zachariah. In the past, all he'd wanted to do was pull that massive stick out of his brother's ass. Dean had, regretfully, dealt with him. Gabriel didn't know how to feel about that, yet. This whole thing had him numb. While he and Zachariah had never been close (Zachariah had spent all his time kissing Michael's metaphorical backside), and had been kind of a jackass if he was to be honest, Gabriel had once felt closer to his younger brothers than his older brothers. Once upon a time, he'd lobbied and fought for them.

Lucifer had been his closest brother, of course. Lucifer. Now there was a whole 'nother subject. There were rumors circulating that he was close, but of course that nice touch of little Castiel's kept the brothers off of his radar. Gabriel could only track them by the thing they took with them everywhere: the Impala. He'd put a nice little sigil on it, underneath, where Dean wouldn't easily see during maintenance. Eventually, he would.

But Gabriel hoped that, by the time he did, this nonsense would be over.

One way or another.

First-Person Sample:

[The feed flickers onto a room that's as luxurious as it is potentially offensive. There's a heart-shaped bed and everything, because that's how the room's occupant rolls. Gabriel himself is flopped in a plush armchair.]

Greetings, mon amigos. How are we all feeling today? Anyone wake up with more limbs than when they started? Or a zombie? Or... [A shrug.] With different plumbing?

I like mirrors as much as the next guy, especially on the ceiling, but the whole mirror world thing is strictly over-played. Anyone here met one, yet? They wanna start a poker tournament? ...it's worth a shot. [Gabriel grins.] Some of you yahoos would be great at it if, you know, everything about you was reversed.