A Hunter's Journal

Castiel

This angel is mostly recognized as the best friend of Sam and Dean Winchester. He was sent by Heaven to help them stop the release of Lucifer from Hell and died in his attempt to hold Sam back from killing Lilith (see entry on her for more info). God resurrected him in order to help the brothers in their fight against both Luci and Michael, wishing to claim them as their vessels. Seemingly, the interest He has in keeping Castiel around didn't end there. When the angel once again became a fatal victim amidst the Winchester plans, God revived Castiel a second time.

After this second resurrection, Castiel tried to prevent the Apocalypse being set off by Raphael. To achieve this goal, he made terrible allies (it's said even Crowley himself) and as a result consumed all the souls in Purgatory - subsequently becoming intoxicated with evil powers. He attempted to put them all back in Purgatory, prompted by Dean, but was unable to expell the dark Leviathans. These monsters clung to Castiel before escaping to new bodies, which tore apart the already weakened angel, causing him to die once more. And guess who brought him back to live yet again? Yup, Chuck did.

All this dying and reviving brings Castiel on par with his newfound Winchester family, who seem to have the same knack (don't go get disctracted singing "My Sharona" now!). But his chosen family grew even bigger. When Arch-Nephilim Jack Kline is born, Castiel looks out for him like a loving - and incredibly concerned - father.

As a result, Lilith adopted Azazel's position in the demon world (or "Hell's Army" and continued his work to free her maker. This process existed of breaking the so-called 66 seals. Though there were 600 in total keeping him locked in Hell, he was strong enough to break out with 66 of them broken - though the last one had to be the death of Lilith herself. She managed to trick the Winchesters into doing this, making them think they would win in doing so and end the process of freeing Lucifer.

Castiel the Gullible

In modern slang, Castiel could be referred to as a so-called 'cinnamon roll'. He's extrmely gullible and as such has been taken advantage of more than once. Crowley, Metatron, Naomi and even Lucifer all dangled the carrot of peace and the common good in front of him - only to be exposed as liars with hidden interests. Repeatedly, the Winchesters needed to rescue his butt and God needed to bring him back to life. His belief in goodness and a happy ending keeps prevailing and could potentially be his biggest weakness.

Some basic Castiel facts

Recognizing Castiel the Much Resurrected is simple. He keeps returning to his vessel Jimmy Novak and continues to wear the same beide trenchcoat with a signature blue tie. Like all angels he seems devoid of emotions, making it easier to pick him out of a crowd of humans.
Originally Castiel was a "common" angel, but after one of his revivals gained the higher status of seraphim, giving him more powers. There has been a lot of mixing and matching with his own grace and that of others, causing these powers to decline. Last known, he was somewhere between a seraphim and common angel, and his wings were broken. His current known status is dead, but with his long resurrection streak we can never know if it stays that way. Seemingly his affilitiations are with the hunters though, and his intentions are good, so a possible return would mos likely not be a bad thing for the world.