Summary

• Supernatural's Castiel managed to cheat death multiple times, with God himself behind most resurrections.
• The ongoing deaths added drama and misery to the show, with resurrections often coming at a heavy cost.
• Castiel's story ends tragically in the series finale, highlighting the "Bury Your Gays" trope and fans' mixed reactions.

Supernatural repeatedly proved that being killed is rarely final in its universe, and this is perhaps no better shown than with the numerous Castiel deaths. When a show lasts 15 seasons and features constant encounters with deadly situations, it becomes less and less believable how the main characters always seem to avoid the grave. In Supernatural's case though, the way around that proved to be their luck eventually running out. Sooner or later, an adversary would prove to be too much, and a major character would die.

It's a testament to the quality of Supernatural's writing and acting that they managed to keep these ongoing deaths dramatic and moving since it became clear most of them wouldn't stick. Being a show about extraordinary things routinely gave Supernatural characters a path backward from the other side. Granted, these resurrections often come at a heavy cost, and in some cases lead to further misery. While not human, the angel Castiel (Misha Collins), proved just as resilient against permanent death, at least until Supernatural ended.

Supernatural is available to stream on Netflix.

Castiel's First Death

Season 4, Episode 22

Castiel didn't even get to go a whole season before dying for the first time. After making his debut by rescuing Dean from Hell in Supernatural's season 4 premiere, Castiel ended up dead in the season 4 finale, "Lucifer Rising." The episode sees Sam manipulated into killing the demon Lilith, inadvertently breaking the final seal and freeing Lucifer from Hell. Meanwhile, Dean is manipulated by the angels into not stopping this event, as they want the apocalypse and ensuing war between Heaven and Hell to occur.

Castiel eventually turns against his fellow angels, but Raphael — who, along with Lucifer, Gabriel, and Michael, makes up Supernatural's archangels — effortlessly smites him for doing so. However, Castiel reappears in the next episode, and it's heavily implied that God himself is behind his resurrection. If only Castiel knew that God had been in the mix as Chuck the whole time, it might have answered several questions for the oft-distressed angel as he helped Sam and Dean with their Earthly goals.

Castiel's Second Death

Season 5, Episode 22

One year later, Castiel meets his second demise, in Supernatural's season 5 finale "Swan Song." Many fans still consider "Swan Song" to be the best finale Supernatural ever produced, and it saw Sam — possessed by Lucifer — head to an apocalyptic battle with his and Dean's half-brother Adam — possessed by Michael. It's well-known that Supernatural creator Eric Kripke originally meant "Swan Song" to be the series finale, but The CW disagreed and kept the show going for 10 more seasons.

For interfering in the fight, this time Lucifer is the archangel who smote Castiel.

In the middle, trying to stop the end of the world, is Dean and Castiel. While it was ultimately averted, that victory saw Castiel die along the way. For interfering in the fight, this time Lucifer is the archangel who smote Castiel, once again as punishment for Castiel helping to save humanity once again. However, God once again resurrects Castiel, as a reward for his efforts to stop the apocalypse, showing that the forces of Heaven and Hell couldn't even be on the same page with God himself.

Castiel's Third Death

Season 7, Episode 2

At the end of Supernatural season 6, Castiel has gone a bit mad as a result of a battle with Raphael for control of Heaven and teamed up with Crowley to open Purgatory and absorb the energy of the souls within. Though Crowley betrays him, Castiel still pulls it off, declares himself the new God, and smites Raphael. Unfortunately, Castiel proves unable to contain the much-maligned Leviathans, an ancient monstrous race that God, aka Chuck created long before he made men or angels.

The Leviathans escape, killing a surprised Castiel in the process. God once again resurrects Castiel for the third time, but this time, the angel returns with no memory of who he is, only for Dean to eventually find him, as he was always destined to end up with the Winchester Brothers in the battle against angels and demons, Heaven and Hell.

Castiel's Fourth Death

Season 9, Episode 3

The end of season 8 saw Metatron complete a devious plan to make every angel in Heaven fall to Earth. Along the way, he betrays Castiel, stealing his grace. Now without powers, Castiel is trying to live as a human in season 9's "I'm No Angel." Cas is taken in by a seemingly kind woman named April Kelly (Shannon Lucio). However, she turns out to be a Reaper in disguise. The angel Bartholomew sends April to find Castiel and torture him for information about Metatron and what he did.

Dean kills April in retaliation and demands that Ezekiel resurrect Castiel.

This all ends in tragedy when Sam and Dean attempt a rescue, so April stabs Cas to death. Dean kills April in retaliation and demands that Ezekiel resurrect Castiel. He then tells everyone that April resurrected Castiel before her death to cover for Ezekiel. However, it turns out that Ezekiel was a major Supernatural season 9 character named Gadreel, an angel who had taken up residence inside Sam to heal him — and pretended to be Ezekiel. The manipulative angel forced Dean to exile Castiel after the resurrection.

Castiel's Fifth Death

Season 12, Episode 23

During Supernatural season 12, Lucifer spent lots of time on the loose, hopping between a few different vessels. During this period, he possessed the U.S. president and impregnated his girlfriend Kelly Kline. Kelly became pregnant with a Nephilim, a half-angel/half-human being with powers beyond magnitude. This Nephilim would go on to become Sam and Dean's friend Jack. In the season finale, Castiel is trying to get Kelly through the birthing process and also keep Lucifer away from corrupting his new son.

The unborn Jack's power creates a rift between dimensions, leading to what would become known as Supernatural's "Apocalypse World." Lucifer eventually gets trapped there after a tussle with Mary Winchester, but not before stabbing Castiel to death with an angel blade. Castiel later awakens inside The Empty thanks to Jack's powers, then literally annoys a cosmic being called The Shadow until it resurrects him.

Castiel's Sixth Death

Season 15, Episode 18

At one point, Jack is close to death, and to save his life, Castiel has to make a deal with The Shadow. He offers the being his own life in exchange, with The Shadow saying he'll come to claim the debt right after Castiel experiences a moment of true happiness. A bit before Supernatural's series finale, that happened, after Castiel finally confesses feeling romantic love for Dean. Sadly, The Shadow dragging him to The Empty is the last fans get to see of Castiel.

Despite the seemingly happy ending, many fans felt this was an example of the "Bury Your Gays" trope.

However, Bobby reveals to Dean — who's in Heaven after his own death in the divisive series finale that many Supernatural fans hated — that Jack resurrected Castiel after he assumed the role of God by defeating Chuck. Despite the seemingly happy ending, many fans felt this was an example of the "Bury Your Gays" trope, with Castiel coming out to Dean and then dying. Castiel was originally planned to appear in the finale in person, but pandemic concerns and safety restrictions sadly prevented that from happening.

Castiel Doesn't Have The Most Deaths & Resurrections In Supernatural History

Dean Winchester Died More Than Anyone On Supernatural

There were six Castiel deaths during his time on Supernatural, and that is more resurrections than almost any character on this show or any other. However, they weren't the most deaths on Supernatural. Sam Winchester died eight times, so two more than Castiel. As a matter of fact, Sam had more meaningful deaths on the show than anyone else, including his brother Dean. He died in the season 2 finale and then died seven more times after that. This includes Anna Milton, Lucifer, and Zachariah killing him. He did die one last time in the finale — but as an older man.

While Sam had more actual deaths than anyone, Dean died more times than anyone thanks to one twist. Dean Winchester died 111 times. The only problem is that most of the deaths happened in the same episode. In the season 3 episode "Mystery Note," the boys meet Gabriel, who forces Sam to live the same day repeatedly, with Dean dying every single day by a different means. Other than that episode, Dean also died at the hands of Metatron, hunters, Azazel, Lucifer, and even death by suicide, before his final Supernatural death in the finale.