War in Heaven

"The original battle of Good against Evil, one that shaped the world's entire belief into what we're currently know it as. It resulted in many things, let me tell you, many of them are blessings to the world, though the number of curses it released had greatly dwarfed them."

- Brahma.

The War in Heaven was the grand conflict between the rebel angels under Lucifer, who was then known as Helel, and the loyal angels under Michael. It is widely regarded by many as the first war in creation.

Overview
It began after Lucifer was lead believe that, from being told by God of His plans for everything in the long run, everyone and everything would be under the power of predestination and would not have free will of their own by God's decree. This caused Lucifer to see God as a tyrant and that he should be the new leader of Heaven and rebel in the process.

Cause of the War
When God created man, he ordered all the angels to bow down before them. They did so, all except one, the True Archangel Helel, which would go on to become Lucifer. Since Lucifer is said to be the most majestic of all angelic beings, he was prideful. In all the universe there was not another like him in beauty and power.

Throughout the eons, Lucifer had come to see the corruption that lurks within the cogs of his father's grand plans for the universe and its inhabitants. Being close with God lead to being entrusted with the grand schemes of creation. Whenever these plans would be shared, Lucifer would always spot something that he would disagree with and argue with his father only to be silenced each time. The more Lucifer argued with God the further he began to stray from the light and grow rebellious.

Lucifer's Rebellion
After God told Lucifer of His plans for His latest creations, that being mankind, Lucifer's paranoia grew to where he believed that God allowing them equal share of the Heavens and the Earth, in the form of the Garden of Eden, with Him was nothing but a farce and they would be under his father's puppet strings like his own siblings. Moreover, it was not just Lucifer that rebelled but also Satanel who acted as God's Heavenly judge and chief of the Divine Council, and thus he saw how corrupt and easily frail the humans would be in the foreseeable future, judging them as unworthy of being the perfect creations, much less fashioned in the image of God. Satanel would soon be casted from the holy mountain in the process.

Lucifer, in the meantime, saw that there would be no freedom or true desire under God's rule and as a result proclaimed that God is now flawed himself, and does not deserve to be the rightful ruler of creation, thus declaring that he should take the throne for himself. Even before humanity, Lucifer had always harbored some desire of taking the Throne of Heaven for himself and becoming Lord of the Universe, but he had concealed his feelings like any good angel and continued to serve God's will, despite his thoughts.

He also managed to persuade one-third of all the other angels to swear allegiance to him and rebel against God and the Heavenly Host. At some point before this time, Lucifer also managed to persuade Lilith into siding with him as well. In fact, Lucifer is the reason why Lilith was so adamant in not being subservient to Adam in the first place as he convinced her that since Lilith had been created from clay the same as Adam she is equal to him and therefore should not be under him. This resulted in Lilith's expulsion from the Garden of Eden as a result. While this counted as the first strike against God, even indirectly, the latter's strike against Lucifer was more severe.

Right before the war, Lucifer discovered from Michael that his own brother was destined to kill him and the Morningstar was enraged by the fact that something like this was kept from him that he snapped and declared war against God and Heaven.

The War in Heaven
Lucifer, alongside Beelzebub acting as his second-in-command, lead his armies into Heaven to destroy the Heavenly Host whom would dare oppose them and to storm God's throne room. However, the Archangel Michael and his own army of Angels, made a counter attack and warred with Lucifer and his army. The war seemed endless, with Heaven being stained by the blood of angels, as the celestial beings fell from the sky with their wings torn, along others whom fell from Heaven after rebelling against their lord. While the other angels fought each other, Lucifer was able to enter Empyrean, the top of Heaven, as he was planning to face God on his own. It was there that Lucifer found himself in confrontation with Gabriel herself. Gabriel pleaded for Lucifer to stop this rebellion as billions of angels in both sides had perished but realized that it was futile as Lucifer was not going to stop his crusade. Gabriel charged Lucifer only for Beelzebub to quickly step in and engage the archangel in Lucifer's stead. Lucifer stated that his fight was not with Gabriel and instead with their Father and left his sister to fend off the Lord of the Flies.

While those two fight each other, Lucifer was able to enter Empyrean as he was planning to face God on his own. Instead, Michael was in front of him with Endufel and the entire Empyrean Guard around him. Michael had went into the final hallway while the entire guard had then rush to Lucifer who was able to defeat them all with only minor injuries which he healed.

Lucifer vs Michael
Lucifer then went after Michael and face each other face-to-face. Unlike Gabriel, Michael did not plead for Lucifer to stop to as realize that it was already futile as Lucifer was not going to stop in his path but instead both went at it. While Michael was a formidable warrior, even he could not compare to the morning star and so was swiftly defeated and throw back into the Chamber where God currently presides in.

As Lucifer, now fully filled with the demonic taint of Hell, had finally confronted God about his destined loss. God asked him what truly was the point in this war. Lucifer replied that God was going senile to believe that humanity deserved to be served by the perfect beings of Heaven, especially since the humans would be the cause of great evils in the future. God made the argument that the rise of sin would be Lucifer's doing only for his son to rebuke by saying that Lucifer simply introduced sin while mankind would use it for their own selfish benefits.

Moreover, Lucifer saw the evils that mankind would bring while God would simply sit back on his throne and not raise his hand and as a result, feels that his time of being ruler would only make creation fall into chaos. God tried to rebuke him but was answered with a blast from Lucifer which God reflected. God then asked why Lucifer seeks to defeat him which Lucifer answered that he truly loves his father and only wishes to save him by taking his place. In truth, his salvation was only getting distorted by another entity known as Ayin who believed that Lucifer was the perfect pawn for her.

However, Lucifer also rightfully said that with God preserving His seat of authority and power, He would subjugate all beings under fate as they would have no free will of their own. There will be no advancement if they were to have no control over their own lives. God made the argument that He would only guide them and that they were free to choose what paths they take of their own volition. Lucifer saw only the calamities that would be wrought under God's method of ruling, all while He simply sat back on His throne and not raise His hand. A capricious observer of His creations following His grand plan.

God, noticing the taint and sadly realizing that Lucifer had truly fell from grace, brought Michael to full power and gave him a piece of His power which allowed Michael to force Lucifer out of the Empyrean. The great angel began a long, arduous, and terrible battle against Lucifer which is said to have nearly ravaged all of Heaven from the sheer force of their power alone.

During the climax of the fight, Michael struck Lucifer with a savage blow that left a scar across his face and chest, making the Morning Star back down briefly. Michael, in a final attempt, pleaded for his brother to stop this madness. But Lucifer, in unyielding rage, only responded by assuming his corrupted Celestial Ascension and rush back towards Michael who responded in kind with his own Celestial Ascension. All the while, during the chaos that was ensuing within Paradise, Gabriel became triumphant in his battle against Beelzebub but looked in shock to see Michael and Lucifer's battle escalating to unbelievable levels.

At the end of the battle, Michael using the Lance of Michael struck Lucifer in the chest, flinging him to the depths of Hell where his wings turn as black as coal. Lucifer, in his unyielding rage, transformed into a great dragon and rushed into Heaven, crushing anything stood against him.

The Arbiter
Lucifer was not the only one to rebel as Satan, God's arbiter who was once known as Satanel, acted as Lucifer's trump card and last resort should things not turn to his favor. Satan with his armada fought a weaken and tired heavenly host which, even though they outnumbered him, they were easily able to defeat. However, more angels came to defend their home being led yb the Angel of Death Azrael who used his powers over death to blast away many of Satan's army from Heaven, causing all of them to fall into Hell.

Afterwards, the angels Jophiel and Barachiel started attacking the heavily infuriated Satan who easily swipe them away, blasting Barachiel and throwing Jophiel into Azrael, knocking them both out. To worsen the situation, Satan summoned a entity straight from the depths of Hell itself to assist him, the Great Red Dragon, who was released onto Heaven to cause anarchy. Then Michael was attacked by another dragon, this being Lucifer in his dragon form who was able to disarm Michael and attempt to eat him whole.

Saving Light
As the battle raged on and the Heavenly Host were slowly being overwhelmed, God took the essences of all the angels that fell in His name and molded them into one being to stop both Lucifer and Satan, and the result became the angelic weapon known as Merkabah who was sent to assist Michael with Lucifer while God would sent someone else to deal with the other two opponents.

Then a blinding light came from above as a holy slash hit the demonic red dragon into the ground. From the light came the Empyrean Guard being led by two figures, their leader Endufel, who was previous sent by God to deal with a small demonic infestation on Earth, and the Woman of the Apocalypse herself who was created to oppose the great red dragon. As the latter dealt with dragon, Endufel stood before Satan and attacked the traitorous arbiter in a battle close in scale to the one between Michael and Lucifer themselves.

At the same time, Merkabah was able to push Lucifer off Michael and helped the angel up before watching as Lucifer turned back into his humanoid form, now with black wings. Lucifer now fully taken by the energies of Hell immediately the two angels in another battle world-destroying battle.

While it was long and difficult fight, to the point where they were pushed to their absolute limit and threatened to ravage the very cosmos, the three angels were finally able to defeat Lucifer and Satan while the Woman of the Apocalypse was able to trap the demonic dragon, allowing Raziel to seal him away in Hell again.

Michael, at the behest of God, cast all the rebels angels, down to the depths of Hell, with many becoming fallen angels while the rest died of their wounds. However, the punishments of the two rebel leaders were far more grand. Michael sent Lucifer to be trapped into a Cage specifically created him so he couldn't escape while Satan himself was thrown with greater force than the others and the collision of his corrupted celestial form created a pit so deep that God's own light cannot reach it. Before that, Michael had also removed the El part of Satanel's name which became Satan in the process.

Lucifer down into Hell along with the other angels whom joined his rebellion, becoming fallen angels. Samael himself was thrown with greater force than the others and the collision of his corrupted celestial form created a pit so deep that God's own light cannot reach it.

Descent of the Fallen
Their descent to the underworld along with one third of the angelic army was likened unto those of an endless barrage of falling stars that affected the Earth's strata which shifted what was originally the waters of chaos under the pits to become as one with Hell. Lucifer himself was caged in the lowest pits of Hell, the furthest from God's light, and from creation itself, within a cage in the circle of traitors known as Treachery, where it is a vast, frozen barren wasteland.

While in the Cage, Lucifer was the first to awaken from his comatose state upon impact but was unable to move due to being stuck. He however was spiritually able to walk on the Earth when it was brimming with life. To add insult to injury, God commanded Lucifer to remain on Earth in order for him to watch over His creations as though he was still under His command. This act further enraged Lucifer and out of spite and in defiance, he began his crusade to not watch over the creations but destroy them even though he couldn't interfere as he was a spirit. Lucifer began to roam across the Earth and started utterly decimate it with his influence by sent comets and asteroids to it to reduce it to nothing but a chaotic and barren wasteland, which is hinted on how the dinosaurs were entirely wiped out.

For the rest of his army along with Satan's, instead fell into the Corrupted Inferno, a pit of molten demonic energy which is able to corrupt all who enter inside into becoming demons which the fallen angels all became. After leaving the pit, they were able to find where Lucifer's cage dwells thanks to the assistance of the now-demon Lilith who seek to repay what Lucifer did for her. While they were able to free Lucifer who rally his fallen brethren from their sullen and defeated predicaments, and call himself the Devil and the Supreme Emperor of the Inferno. He declares that this defeat would not spark the end, for it is only the beginning of a glorious crusade against the tyranny of Heaven and God. They would not make their place of banishment a prison, but a kingdom of which to rule and one that God's light cannot claim sovereignty over, phrasing his famous line; "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven".

Before they could establish a ruling kingdom in this Hell, Lucifer fought off and destroyed the original inhabitants of the infernal realm, driving some of them out and conquering the rest. Lucifer gained dominion over all of Hell, being its emperor, with Lilith as his empress. As centuries passed, hierarchies were formed in Hell most notably the Seven Princes among others such as Dukes, Kings, and Earls. They then created a colossal city known as Pandemonium, which became the capital of Hell, a seat of power for Lucifer and Satan and a place where they can discuss strategies, plans, and concerns. In Pandemonium, Satan employs his rhetorical skill to organize his followers; he is aided by Mammon and Beelzebub. Belial and Moloch are also present along with Belphegor and Asmodeus whom soon came together as the Seven Princes of Hell (Lucifer, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, Leviathan, Belphegor, Mammon and Satan), leading the completely conquered Hell.

Fall of Man
However, Lucifer was not done in both attacking his Father and humanity but also to prove a point. Lucifer then went to the demonic half of the Red Sea as to speak with Lilith who was accompanied by Tanin'iver, and Samael, Lucifer spoke to Lilith about striking back at God for what they did to her and her children and to fully pay back her debt to Lucifer for freeing her from Adam's presence.

As Lucifer, Samael and Lilith prepared to leave Hell, they came across Sin and Death who was born from Lucifer's head when his own thoughts went against the will of God and the Death from Sin from her union with Lucifer. Sin states that she cannot allow the demonic emperor to leave through the Gate by God's orders but Lucifer responds by informing her that she is not a creation of God and therefore should not be obedient to Him. Contemplating on this, Sin relents and allows them to leave. As they made their way back to Paradise,

The four saw the angel Gadreel guarding the gates of Eden. While the other two were thinking how to deal with him, Lucifer remember the last conversation he had with Gadreel and found something he could use. Samael thought about appealing to Gadreel but Lucifer refused as he had already done that before when he was still an angel. He informed the two that he once spoke to Ga Gadreel about seeking something better then a simple guard duty which ended with Gadreel aggressively refusing and telling Lucifer to leave. Instead, Lucifer conjured several stars, threw them across Gadreel's line of view and commanded them to dash around him like hyperactive fireflies, briefly disorienting the angel. Following this, Lilith commanded Tanin'iver to lunge towards Gadreel and subdue the angel by the throat.

This gave Samael and Lilith the opportunity to sneak into the Garden of Eden undetected prompting Lucifer to leave and return to Hell, though Tanin'iver was wounded from a brief scuffle between him and Gadreel who drove the beast away. Inside the Garden, Lilith, in the form of an owl, would whisper words of power, doubt, independence, and self-reflection into Eve's eat as an owl, coaxing her enough for Samael, who either assumed the form of a Serpent or ride upon the serpent Nachash (or just had Nachash do it instead), to deceive Eve into eating the Forbidden Fruit, promising her that if she and her consort devour the fruit they would rule with equal authority like God. Moreover, should they eat the fruit, they will rule without being under God's strings, becoming their own independent rulers. Adam and Eve's resultant of eating the fruit led to them being kicked out of the Garden and signaling Lucifer's victory.

Having succeeded their mission, they returned back to Hell to the other demons cheering for their success. They and the other demons were then to summoned by the Morning Star, and by forsaking his original name, Helel, he called himself Lucifer. Satan, however, remained chained in the depths of the Ninth Circle although he was still a governing body. Together, they took to creating the government of Hell known as the Stygian Council. Satan also ruled the circle of Wrath. As centuries passed, hierarchies were formed in Hell most notably the Seven Princes among others such as Dukes, Kings, and Earls.

Myths and Legends
It is said that in another account, that it was Lilith, who was later corrupted and later was replaced by Eve, was the first wife of Adam, however she was cast out of the garden of Eden for her sinful ways. In this tale, she was the first to eat of the fruit of knowledge and wanted to be either equal to or greater than Adam. After she left the garden of Eden, she attempted to create her own garden and became the mother of many different demons, and the consort of other powerful demons as well, most notably Samael, Asmodeus, and Lucifer.

God's Side

 * God - Sovereign of Heaven
 * Michael - Commander of Heaven's forces
 * Gabriel - Second-in-Command of Heaven's forces
 * Raphael
 * Uriel
 * Metatron
 * Sandalphon
 * Azrael
 * Camael
 * Merkabah
 * Jophiel
 * Raguel
 * Remiel
 * Anael
 * Ariel
 * Abdiel
 * Barachiel
 * Phanuel
 * Cassiel
 * Raziel
 * Hasmed
 * Zaphkiel
 * Zadkiel
 * Amenadiel
 * Ithuriel
 * Zephon
 * Zophiel
 * Abaddon
 * Endufel
 * Empyrean Guard
 * 2/3 of all angels

Lucifer's Side

 * Lucifer - Leader
 * Beelzebub - Second-in-Command
 * Satan
 * Asmodeus
 * Leviathan
 * Belphegor
 * Mammon
 * Lilith
 * Belial
 * Moloch
 * Astaroth
 * Gaap
 * Mulciber
 * Baalberith
 * Arioch
 * Legion
 * Verrine
 * Gressil
 * Carreau
 * Nisroch
 * Rimmon
 * Sargatanas
 * Samael
 * Purson (described by John Milton as "Horus")
 * Orias (described by John Milton as "Osiris")
 * Paimon (described by John Milton as "Isis")
 * Zagan
 * Demons who later named themselves after Pagan Deities.
 * Most of the Ars Goetia
 * 1/3 of all angels

Quotes

 * "I don't want to talk about it. No angels would want to talk about it... We-We lost so much in that stupid war. So many of our brothers and sisters killed. All for what? To satistfy Lucifer's low self-esteem and daddy issues?" - Metatron.


 * "And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled but it did not prevail, neither was a place found for them any longer in heaven. So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him." - Revelation 12:7-9, New King James Version.


 * "Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him." - Revelation 12:7-9, New International Version.


 * "Stop, in the name of our Father, I command you!" - Michael to Lucifer.


 * "Father was always fit to be God, Lucifer. Maybe it's you that's not fit to be an archangel anymore. You don't deserve that title." - Michael after being powered up by God.


 * "You just struck me, Helel." - God to Lucifer.
 * "I did, Father. And you know why? Because you are one deluded fool. You made us angels worship humanity, and for what? They are wretched creatures, not deserving of our respect." - Lucifer's reply.
 * "You did all of this? Why?" - God's reply.
 * "Because someone didn't want to talk to me. Because someone didn't want to hear what I had to say. Because SOMEONE didn't want to hear what his most TRUSTED son had to SAY!" - Lucifer's reply.
 * "Then you are no better than the humans you claim to hate." - God's reply.
 * "I am BETTER than them, Father! They are incompetent wretches, living in drudgery and fear, and they even worship those fakes!" - Lucifer's reply.
 * "They have the right to choose. Your brothers and sisters would not. Cannot. You have realized it, then. All of heaven cannot choose what to follow. They must be told. They must be forced. It is entirely arbitrary, and that was why you were my favorite son, you could enforce that. You were the greatest, most powerful, most beautiful, most intelligent. You were-" - God's reply.
 * "Were, Father? No! I AM! I AM THE GREATEST ANGEL!" - Lucifer's reply.

Trivia

 * The war caused Empra to abandon Heaven and start roaming space.

Image Sources

 * (War in heaven by dreadjim d7qcx98-fullview.jpg) War In Heaven by DreadJim
 * (Lucifer_Returns.jpg) Lucifer's return to Heaven by David Scott Hay
 * (War In Heaven.jpg) War In Heaven by WesTalbott
 * (The war in heaven by sw illustration dcr8izm-fullview.jpg) The War in Heaven by SW-Illustration
 * (The War in Heaven.jpg) The War in Heaven by Abi909
 * (War in Heaven Part II.jpg) War in Heaven by Flockhart
 * (Paradise-lost-the-battle-of-the-angels-gustave-dore.jpg) The Battle Of The Angels by Gustave Dore
 * (The Celestial War.jpg) War in Heaven by ???
 * (Lucifer says of God.jpg) Lucifer says of God by Ludwig Fahrenkrog
 * (Charles Le Brun - The Fall of the Rebel Angels - WGA12546.jpg) The Fall of the Rebel Angels by Charles Le Brun
 * (Gustave-doré-the-fall-of-the-rebel-angels.jpg) The Fall of the Rebel Angels by Gustave Doré
 * (Fall of the Angels.jpg) Fall of the Angels mural by Karl Georg Merville