Fallen from grace: Serael

Serael is a character I created long ago, for a story that never went anywhere (but that kind of indirectly inspired some parts of my "Lost Angel" project). I am still very fond of him, however, thus he's on this page.

He is angel who was curious about the life of humans - and eventually turned against his Creator. He lives in a dystopian version of our real world - wars have vastly destroyed the planet and people desperately turned to the Church for aid. In the end, they began to rule and control the world's fate. Other religions were largely banned and governments now have to answer directly to the Church. Those speaking out against them - or against God - are marked as a heretic and are under the sentence of death.

Continue reading to find out more about him - or simply skip to the end to find artworks of him.

Age: A few hundred years or older - he can't tell.
Species: Angel
Gender: Appears male, but like most angels he's genderless.

Devoted to: Lucifer.
Appearance: Serael looks like a normal man with captivating green eyes and an outstandingly beautiful face. He is tall, but not overtly muscular and has long, straight hair which at first appeared to be completely white. What humans can't see however, is that he has four pristine white wings in his normal form and that his entire shape seems to glow.
The longer he stays in the mortal realm, however, the duller his hair becomes. It first began to fade to grey, only to take on a pitch black color in the end, as he completely lost fate in heaven. It was also then that he began to display a symbol across the left side of his face - but no one knows if this "stigma" was given to him by the Church to mark him a heretic, the other angels or if he branded himself...
Personality: At first, Serael didn't have much of a personality. He obeyed every order without doubt or question, but over time he developed a nearly insatiable sense of curiosity.
Later on, he becomes very sympathetic towards the humans - and at the same time, his anger towards his former master grows. This anger inspires him, to become all the more rebellious.

Angels are created to serve the heavens - they have neither an own will, nor feelings. Thus, Serael has always been different than his kindred beings - he often watched the humans and their lives... And began to wonder why God loved them more than his angels - why they could laugh and feel joy, when all he knew was how to fulfill a purpose he couldn't even name or understand.
His creator realized Serael was distraught and offered him a very rare chance - to wander the earth as a mortal, for seven days and seven nights, to see that the humans also served a purpose. The only condition Serael had to agree to was that once he returned, he'd never dare to lay an eye on the mortal realm again - and promising thus, he left.

It wasn't long until Serael - now a mortal for a limited time - realized that the humans weren't as happy as they seemed. He saw pain, tears, crime, betrayal and despair and once again, he began to wonder... If God loved the humans so - and if the humans prayed to him so much - why didn't he help them? Why did they suffer so much?
The seven days grew to a close and his wings appeared again - he was supposed to return to heaven now, but... He didn't. He refused.
Other angels were sent to get him back and to warn him - "if you stay longer, you will start to feel the same pain the humans do." But Serael didn't mind - he already had begun to develop feelings. He pitied the humans and wished to help them... But eventually he met someone who told him that the humans and their realm, are beyond saving. This man - his name was Lucifer.

• He can't stand white doves, for he thinks it's a delusive symbol for humans.
• Serael actually enjoys reading the bible. The stories amuse him - humans can be so imaginative.
• The mark he bears on his face is the same heretics are marked with.

• Don't laugh but... I watched Hellboy when I first invented Serael. I don't know why, but somehow it inspired me to create him and his whole setting.

• He never ate - or felt the need to eat - as an angel, but now he's curious to discover the tastes of the human realm.
• Serael is based on another design I made for another OC, many years ago. It was a white haired demon called Yandan, who symbolized light.
• If he could have one thing in the world, then it would be a soul. He knows if he dies, he will just disappear - and no one will remember him.
• As he is an angel, he has a natural talent to speak and understand every language ad every accent, which makes people easily believe he's one of them.