D&D: Five Evil Angels For Your Perfect Fall From Grace
Have you got fallen angels on the brain? Whether it’s from Good Omens Season 2 or some other genre hurt/no comfort, here you go.
When you think of angels, you might typically think of big feathers and celestial expanses. A lot of shining light and heavenly music accompanies these beings of ultimate good. But, as you might learn from various stories about the end of the world, not all angels are good.
And in fact, if you were to line up the angels and devils you might be surprised at how similar some of them seem. Especially since, in D&D at least, there are plenty of evil angels/celestials.
Deathpact Angel
First introduced in Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica, Deathpact Angels are angels who love wealth and power and use both to keep “wretched vassals” utterly in their thralls. These angels are attracted to petitioners who beg them for blessings: wealth, prestige, health, revenge, and so on.
Posing as generous beings, these angels will use their considerable power to grant these requests, but often at a hefty price. A Deathpact Angel binds creatures it helps in Chains of Obligation. Owing a debt to one of these often persists beyond death. And they can cash in that debt for a number of effects.
Ashen Rider
Ashen Riders come to D&D via Mythic Odysseys of Theros. These ancient archons survived the fall of their empire and were left bitter and resentful in the wake of that great collapse. These are survivors who made their way to the Underworld, where the horrors that awaited them “broke their minds, bodies, and spirits,” twisting them into the deadly beings they are known as today.
And with multiple attacks, including a combat-capable mount, a bolt of deadly ash, and an aura of silence, these fallen angels make for horrific foes!
Radiant Idol
Eberron is full of angels and devils taking up different roles than you might expect. One need only look at the Lords of Dust or the Church of the Silver Flame to see how they differ. Or check out the Radiant Idols.
These are angels who were banished from the celestial realm of Syrania, cast down to the Material Plane for their desire to be worshiped by mortals. Bound by their sin, these angels have an insatiable hunger to be adored, leading them to gather cults of devoted followers. However, the more followers they have, the more silvered words and acts of divine power they wield, and the more their facade begins to crack, revealing the twisted evil being that hides behind the Radiant Idol’s angelic features.
Empyrean
Empyreans are some of the most powerful beings in the multiverse. These are the celestial children of the gods of the Upper Planes. Universally beautiful, statuesque, and self-assured, hey are mostly bastions of good. However, a few Empyreans have seen the darker side of humanity and the multiverse for themselves and have become corrupted by evil.
These dark Empyreans bring destructive power to bear as long as they’re able to survive and impact the Material Plane.
Zariel
Finally, there’s Zariel. An angel who fell so hard she became an archdevil. Zariel fell from grace to pursue the seemingly endless war between good and evil. As she fought her way to the heart of Avernus, the archangel succumbed to the corrupting influence of the Nine Hells, who was transformed into an archdevil by none other than Asmodeus himself.
Now she rules over the topmost of the Nine Hells.
What are your favorite evil celestials?
