Raphael Briathos

Raphael Briathos is an Archangel, and he is the current Leader of Heaven and the angels. Over the millennia, he became cruel and tyrannical, but was saved by Baron Delaroche and Vincenzo DeLuco.

History
Raphael was born as one of the fourteen Deities. He was one of the seven Archangels, and he became good friends with one of th Along with six other Archangels and the Leader of Hell, Raphael was created at the dawn of time. He and the other Archangels formed Heaven and Limbo, and later Purgatory. When Skeletals began to arrive in Limbo, Raphael realised that they, too, had great powers. Worried that they were planning a rebellion, Raphael persuaded the Leader of Heaven, Michael Charmeine, to seal away their powers.

The Skeletals did not like this at all, and fought back, desperate to keep their powers. The Archangels overpowered them, and either destroyed them or sent them to Hell, where they were destroyed by the demons instead. They allowed one Skeletal to live - a young Baron Delaroche. Believing his powers were still locked, Raphael and others left Limbo. Little did they know that Baron's powers had been awakened just before the battle, and they it was impossible for them to seal them due to the fact that he was now the default Leader of Limbo. In fact, the Archangels didn't even know that Limbo had a Leader.

During these events, Raphael grew close to Seraphina Viscen, and began to develop feelings for her.

War of Spirits
Almost three centuries after the sealing of the Skeletals' powers, Raphael became the fourth Leader of Heaven. He immediately attacked the demons, and this was the beginning of the War of Spirits. The battle between the angels and demons was long and gruelling, but the Archangels overpowered the demons and, eventually, only the Devil remained. It is impossible for a Leader to destroy another Leader, so Raphael left the Devil in Hell by himself.

The angels won the war, and now had control over both Limbo and Hell (but not the Devil himself). Due to the absence of the demons, Reaping was passed on to the angels. Seraphina Viscen volunteered to be the first Reaper, and Raphael reluctantly allowed her to do so. Unfortunately, the horrors of Reaping souls was too much for Seraphina, and her soul was completely shattered. Raphael immediately sent her to Purgatory, but her soul was beyond repair, and she was close to being destroyed. To save her, Raphael was forced to send her to Hell, and prayed that the Devil would not destroy her. Raphael never saw Seraphina again.

The Accident
In the present time, Raphael is the Leader of Heaven again. Losing Seraphina had been hard on him, and he rarely left the Palace. Because of his isolation, he did not take notice of whatever was going on outside Heaven, but he believed everything was running smoothly. When one of his angels, Vincenzo, sent a Skeletal to Earth by mistake, Raphael completely lost his temper. He banished Vincenzo to Limbo, and refused to retrieve the Skeletal girl, believing that a Skeletal cannot survive on Earth due to their impurities. When Raphael banished Vincenzo, the Archangels finally started to notice their Leader's mental unstability.

The Invasion
Raphael was not aware of Sergei's rebellion until Vincenzo and Baron Delaroche crashed into the Palace and told him everything. The thought of failure on his behalf was too much Raphael, and his soul finally started to fully break down. Just before his soul could die, Baron used his powers to keep it alive until he could be sent to Purgatory.

After being purged, Raphael was finally able to see clearly. Too weak to move yet, he sent the other Archangels down to London to do whatever they could to stop Sergei. The Archangels immediately started reviving the dead. Meanwhile, Raphael promoted Vincenzo to Archangel, and they decided that Limbo was too cruel for the Skeletals, and that it was time for the Skeletals to be allowed into Heaven.

The Aftermath
On Earth, Elliot's death had finally brought Sergei back to his senses. The Skeletals returned to Limbo, and Raphael apologised for being so cruel to them, and started to destroy Limbo whilst the Skeletals entered Heaven. Unfortunately, he overused his powers, and Limbo started to break up far quicker than anticipated. Vincenzo sacrificed his position in Heaven to save the last Skeletal - Eve. Raphael could not stop the Gates of Heaven from closing, leaving Vincenzo, Baron and Sergei in Limbo.

Raphael, who knew about Baron's feelings towards Vincenzo, used all of his powers to keep the portal Vincenzo had created earlier open for as long as possible. He kept it open until Baron and Vincenzo were safely on Earth, and Limbo finally disappeared.

In Heaven, Raphael realised that one of the newer angels, Elliot, wasn't supposed to be there. He had been killed before his time, and needed to be sent back to Earth. However, Elliot refused to leave Eve, so Raphael allowed him to stay and become a fully-fledged angel along with everyone else.

Appearance
Raphael is one of the most beautiful angels around. Unlike the other Archangels, he has recently adopted a more rugged appearance. He has choppy black hair and a small goatee and moustache. During the War of Spirits, his hair was long and wavy, and he had the appearance of a young man in his early twenties. He's allowed himself to age a bit since then, so he now appears to be in his late thirties. His eyes are almond-shaped and unnaturally blue. They are heavy-lidded, and give him a darker appearance.

Raphael likes to wear casual-formal clothes. He tends to follow human trends, so he currently wears tailored dark grey trousers, a matching waistcoat, a white shirt and a light blue tie. He coordinates his outfits with his wings. His wings are wide and silver, with a black border around the edges and soft blue streaks running along the feathers. This is an unusual choice for an Archangel; they usually prefer warm or bright colours.

Personality
Once friendly and curious, Raphael became cold and power-hungry. He never left the Palace, and avoided communication with any angel except for the Archangels. He was determined to have complete control over the Four Worlds, and believed that he knew everything and refused to listen to anything anyone else had to say. He didn't know that he was, in fact, on the brink of losing his soul and being sent to Hell.

Raphael despised anything that was considered impure, and kept his angels away from Skeletals and demons.

Interesting facts

 * Raphael despises anything that isn't pure, yet he loves Seraphina, a demon.
 * His specialty is controlling water, which is why Heaven and Limbo have oceans.
 * Raphael was the first Archangel to cut his hair and stop wearing robes.
 * Raphael did not name himself; all Archangels were named by the humans.
 * In the past, Raphael loved to Guard the humans in Britain, because he found their culture very interesting. This inspired his dress sense, and it also made him develop a peculiar English accent with hints of Irish and Scottish.
 * All Archangels have a continent to Guard. Raphael's continent is Europe.