History Main / OurAngelsAreDifferent

* The word ''tenshi'' (lit. ''servants of [[CelestialBureaucracy heaven]]'') is currently the Japanese word for angel. Originally, it referred to a kind of ''kami'' whose actual role and form were lost to time. This may have to do with the influence of Buddhism that gave rise to the concept of ''tennin'', Heavenly People, that serve a similar purpose which may explain why they were used as a loan word for Abrahamic angesl.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Pictured]]Clockwise from top left: [[Webcomic/{{Housepets}} Spring]], [[Series/GoodOmens Aziraphale]], [[Franchise/{{Digimon}} Angewomon]], [[WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel Adam and Lute]]; center: [[Literature/TheBible Ophanim]][[/labelnote]]]]

* The angels from Creator/RaphaelSanzio's ''Disputation of the Holy Sacrament'' are blonde infants with tiny white/gold wings. Their role appears to be holding up the clouds of the FluffyCloudHeaven to keep the saints afloat and hoisting Literature/TheFourGospels above the Eucharist at all times.

* ''Art/CupidAndPsycheBouguereau'': "The Rapture of Psyche" is an uncommon depiction of Cupid as a winged young man rather than a boy or child.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1582077697037503400

[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/TheBible https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ophanim.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel ... Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.'' -- [[Literature/BookOfEzekiel Ezekiel 1:15]]]]

** [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-469 SCP-469]] is a large humanoid figure with countless white-feathered wings sprouting from its back which spends its time curled up in a fetal position on the floor, resembling a huge pile of feathers. Any form of sound causes it to grow more wings and feathers and it agonizingly kills any living creature that touches it to feed off their screaming. Oh, and in a macabre ShoutOut to ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'', ringing a bell within earshot of it will cause it to wake up and do something unspecified but presumably horrific.

** Cherubim, seen in the ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'' episode "C.H.E.R.U.B.," look like putto or cute anthropomorphic animals with wings and halos. They seem to act as guardian angels to living humans.

* [[ArchangelGabriel Gabby]] and Zag from "WebAnimation/AngelHare" are angelic beings who communicate with people through TV broadcasts (specifically cartoons) in an effort to help and guide them through hardship.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonUranium'': Dunseraph, a fan evolution of Dunsparce, is a reptilian being with white feathered wings, winglike "eyebrows", and "Seraph" as a part of its name, referencing the occasional interpretation of the Seraphim as serpentine or draconic beings.

* Several possible angels of varying stripes are cataloged by the ''Website/SCPFoundation''.
** [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/dr-clef-s-proposal Dr. Clef's proposal for SCP-001]] is a titanic glowing figure with a variable number of wings (ranging from 2 to 108) apparently guarding a gate and will destroy anything that approaches with his sword, including an ICBM; it is clearly meant to be a bona fide Judeo-Christian Angel as they were ORIGINALLY conceptualized. It's somewhat implied that it's specifically the angel which guards the gate back into Eden. According to what might have been a message from the future, it will eventually destroy the world. It actually has a name, too. Courtesy of [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki,]] meet [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jophiel Archangel Jophiel.]] That also makes him one of the Cherubim chiefs.

** Finally [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-861 SCP-861]] is a large, elastic ball of "pseudorganic matter" capable of manifesting numerous different organs and appendages, ranging from feathered wings to shark fins. Oh, and anyone who comes near it has a chant foretelling the end of the world projected into their head in Biblical Hebrew, driving anyone who understands it insane.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfTheHunchback'', a surprisingly not-bad mockbuster of Disney's Hunchback, we find out [[spoiler:angels resemble disfigured humans, and the young ones, yet to become full-on angels, have large blood-filled sacks on their back where their wings are growing. Yeah. Quasimodo was a teenage angel. Apparently abandoned by his angel parents? Also, healing powers]]. "Fear Not" indeed.

* The angels in ''Film/TheAdjustmentBureau'' are ''"more like case officers who live a lot longer than humans."''
* The angels of ''Film/AngelsInTheOutfield'' and related films fit the standard good-guys-with-wings image, as befits a feel-good kids' movie. They are repelled by foul language, being pure and ethical in all respects except, it seems, for cheating at sports, which is perfectly okay if ''they're'' the ones doing it.
* In ''Film/{{Barbarella}}'', a WingedHumanoid character claims to be an angel and is apparently innocence embodied, yet displays no supernatural powers and doesn't appear to be associated with any religion.
* In ''Film/{{Casper}},'' [[spoiler:Amelia Harvey became an angel after death, as opposed to having UnfinishedBusiness that would make her a ghost]]. Interestingly, said example is dressed in [[LadyInRed red]] rather than the traditional [[GoldAndWhiteAreDivine white]]. Also, no wings.
* In ''Film/CityOfAngels'', the angel protagonist falls in love with a human woman and decides to become human to be with her after hearing the story of a former angel who's now a happily married mortal. [[spoiler:Then she dies, and he either commits suicide or becomes an angel again, depending on your interpretation of the ending.]] Both in this and the original ''Der Himmel uber Berlin'' (''Film/WingsOfDesire'') angels are trenchcoat-wearing, normal-looking humans with the twist that the protagonists usually can't see them. They are implied to have worn armour in the past though (the main character pawns his to buy warmer clothes when he becomes human).

* The urSkeks in ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' were luminous beings of light that got cast out of their home and ended up on Thra, where they taught the local races many sciences (much like the Grigori in Apocrypha). In a hasty attempt to get back home by purifying themselves, they instead divided themselves into two types of FallenAngel: the light Mystics and the dark Skeksis, both mortal and aging. If one of either dies, so does its light/dark counterpart. [[spoiler:They are refused into urSkeks at the end and go back to Heaven]].
* In ''Film/{{Dogma}}'', If they have their wings cut off, it transforms them into humans (which apparently doesn't work for demons or fallen angels), and they can't drink alcohol (although that was mainly a restriction put on them after one angel had a few too many and insulted The Big Man). Metatron is said to have 36 wings with eyes and mouths all over his body, each mouth said to speak a different language, but in the movie, he only had 2 wings, even though he did first manifest as a torrent of flame. The other two angels of the film, although disgraced, seem to have powers retaining to their old posts, with Bartleby, a Grigori, knowing everyone's personal history by looking at them, and Loki, the angel of death, mentioned to be able to "rain sulfur" (although he doesn't seem to enjoy doing so). When in battle, both are (nearly) invulnerable to our mortal protagonists.
** Also, angels are as anatomically impaired as a Ken doll, which appears to be a mistake at first, as according to Genesis angels are very capable of doing the deed and making {{Half Human Hybrid}}s, but It makes sense in the context of the movie. After all, much of the plot is based on how God can {{Retcon}} new rules for angels whenever S/He likes, as with the ban on alcohol after Loki's little tantrum. It would make perfect sense that God would castrate the angels to stop more {{Nephilim}} from being born.

* In ''Film/{{Knowing}}'', it's not clear whether the [[spoiler:"whisperer people"]]are angels, aliens or both. [[spoiler:They have spaceships like aliens, and in one scene the wispy light around their bodies looks like wings, like angels. (Also the movie hints the final event is the second coming of Christ.) Whatever they are, they act creepy, mysterious, and threatening. They speak in whispers as their name implies, shoot light out of their mouths and tell of future events.]]

* One of the protagonists' original complaints about the [[ArchangelMichael title character]] in ''Film/{{Michael}}'' is that they "thought they were cleaner." Michael, being an archangel (and one of God's Storm Troopers), cheerfully indicates that he's "not that kind of angel." He also smoked heavily and used his angelic powers to seduce women, but did have big fluffy wings (although the feathers [[PerpetualMolt fell out as he neared the end of his time on Earth]]). As the {{Tagline}} said, "He's an Angel, not a Saint."

* On ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime,'' [[KidHero Finn]] is once rescued from danger by a guardian angel...[[spoiler:who then tries to eat him]]. Whether this means she was lying about being an angel is unknown.
* The Creator/{{CBeebies}} series ''WesternAnimation/{{Angelmouse}}'' is about an angel, who is also a mouse. He has wings and a halo, which he calls his "thingimagig", and is given missions to do good deeds by "[[{{God}} You Know Who]]". If he neglects these missions, his halo wobbles and shrinks.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AngelsOfJarm'', the eponymous angels wear normal human clothing as opposed to the usual white robes; the fact that they look exactly like humans is pointed out in the end credits song. They also wear mechanical packs on their backs with retractable wings instead of having wings as part of their bodies.
* Played rather bizarrely in the second ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' movie "Beast With A Billion Backs," where [[spoiler:what appear to be Angels turn out to be mindless birds. That look exactly like Winged Humanoids wearing robes. And live on the back of a [[GeniusLoci sentient planet]] that inspired FluffyCloudHeaven, and pick parasites off its skin]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Best Friends Forever" several angels appear, with some of them having a high resemblance to the characters from ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' movies.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ToddMcFarlanesSpawn,'' Angels generally appear as badass Amazon-style bounty hunters who come to earth to kick demon ass. While God and Heaven are necessarily remote elements in the story, it seems that LightIsNotGood is the rule in this show since, as one character puts it, Heaven is more interested in winning the war than in playing nice while doing it.

* ''WebOriginal/CodexInversus'': The Angels are the inhabitants of the Angelic Unison and one of the dominant species in the setting. In ancient times, they were appointed by the Demiurge to be arbiters of cosmic order; the wake of the Collapse and the end of immortality, they formed into a theocratic nation and remained at odds with the Infernal Empire of the Devils.

* ''Animation/TimeMasters'' has angels created by an [[GodIsEvil evil]] [[EldritchAbomination god]]. The ones seen on screen are formerly human (being astronauts [[{{Pun}} converted]] and [[MindRape purified]] by said deity), so they resemble stereotypical humanoid angels with feathered wings, though their faces are blank. Due to the nature of their creation, they can probably also be considered both aliens and zombies, albeit with divine magic.

* The Myth/PersianMythology has the Peris, whom similar to the usual depiction of angels, are beautiful human-like spirits with bird-like wings. However, unlike angels, Peris are initially describe as mischievous beings (not unlike TheFairFolk or [[Djinns OurGeniesAreDifferent]]) that were denied entry to paradise until they could complete their penance for atonement. Under Islamic influence, the Peris started being depicted as more benevolent spirits.

* ''Fanfic/NobodyDies'':
** The fic takes Eva's Angels up to eleven. In this story, the Angels appear to be more or less immortal (though not invincible), can spawn life in their own image (though they need to combine with Adam to do this across the whole Earth), and their physical bodies appear to be only ''part'' of the creature, with their minds a separate and eternal form on another plane of reality. In addition, several "orders" of Angels have been identified: the canon Angels appear to be the Archangels, other than them, we also have the Cherubim, Dominions (only one has appeared), Thrones (only one has appeared), Grigori, and Seraphim (Leliel, the Dirac Sea). Each order is equally as alien as the main set but differ in their goals and power levels to some extent. Angel/human hybrids are termed Nephilem.
** There's also the bizarre hybrid of Lilim, Grigori, and Archangel known as 02EfA9iel, created by one of Kei's mindbabies taking a prototype Grigori-based Eva way beyond its operational limits in [[FanFic/NobodyDiesSixAIsOneContinent Six AI's, One Continent]]. Finally, Rei appears to be something like the Lilith-based version of an Angel.

* ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6697660/16/The-Discworld-Tarot The Discworld Tarot]]'' portrays the angel Sandalfoot, Guardian Of The High And Most Mystic Arcanum of the Caroc Cards, as a harassed junior bureaucrat tasked with keeping the costs down -- especially the wages bill -- by issuing redundancy notices to six out of the eight Virtues. Who, being strong-minded attitudinal ladies, give him a really hard time.
* ''Fanfic/SonicXDarkChaos'': Angels are HumanAliens who were originally slaves to the [[TheEmpire Demon Empire]] before they launched a massive rebellion and gained their independence. Humans themselves are descended from them. Their close ethnic counterparts, the Jews and the Muslims, are also HumanAliens.
* ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'': Angels are described as being mortals who earned their wings with good works, mortals who took a burden after their death, or spirits made to serve as messengers between [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Concepts]] and mortals. Only one angel has been seen so far in the series, and that's [[spoiler:Starlight]], an Angel of Death, which seems to be of the second type. Considering Saint is shown to be a title given to mortals who did great things in life, it's possible that [[spoiler:Sweet Heart]] and [[BadFuture Dark World]]!Applebloom may qualify as well. Given [[spoiler:Half-Light Noon's]] statement, they're apparently respected quite a bit. We also later see [[spoiler: the Scootaloo Army of Awesome, Scootaloos from hundreds of thousands of timelines where their reality was destroyed... who become the personal army of Alicorn Rainbow Dash.]] While the ones who were once mortals look like ponies, the ones made by the deities can be much more abstract in nature. [[spoiler:It turns out the [[ClockRoaches Blank Wolf]] is one.]]
* ''Fanfic/AngelOfTheBat'': The EliteMooks and the leader of [[ReligionOfEvil the Church of the Voice of God]] dress like angels based on a combination of Old Testament writings, the apocryphal book of Enoch and the writings of Robert Kelley. Their features include multiple sets of wings, animal masks and their leader the Seraphim has a strong association with fire. Cassandra Cain, who operates as the Angel of the Bat, also doesn't have a whole lot angelic to her costume, mostly just its use of white and a cross through the middle of her Bat symbol.
* ''Fanfic/HogwartsSchoolOfPrayerAndMiracles'': Angels are [[BeautyEqualsGoodness "beautiful people"]] with wings, yellow halos and white robes. [[MundaneUtility And they deliver mail to Hogwarts.]]
* ''Fanfic/AHistoryOfMagic'': Two types of angels appear:
** The "A" class of [[Franchise/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Incubators]] had appeared of these in ancient times to manipulate men and tempt young girls into becoming Puella Magi (namely, they contracted Eve, whose wish [[spoiler:doomed mankind to be targeted by the Incubators in the first place]], and Hagar). Eventually, when a line about Satan appearing as an angel of light made it into the Bible, the A class were phased out and replaced by the "B" class that Kyubey comes from.
** Witches that somehow retained memories of their humanity were also called angels. The witch Gabriel ([[spoiler:the witch form of [[UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} Aisha]]]]) was one of these, as was Pandora of Greek mythology. [[spoiler:Homura somehow becomes one of these as well, despite Madoka's wish to erase witches before they were born.]]
* ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World'': One of the Power Groups is the Angels. Some are [[WingedHumanoid winged humanoids]], but most are people who have one or another way to fly. They are [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]], notoriously LawfulStupid, and thoroughly unpleasant to be around. While much of their time is spent healing people during battles and rescuing civilians, they are quite ready to mix it up with evil, particularly the Animals (another PG). They are led by Trelayna of the Rock, a woman merged with a rock who has enormous telepathic powers. She also is batshit insane and demands incredibly strict behavior from her followers, staying in their minds to ensure that they meet her standards—which is why nearly all of them are [[spoiler:artificial intelligences]]. Trelayna badly wants the winged John, the very visual epitome of an angel, to join—but there's about as much a chance of that happening as there is that the ActualPacifist four will suddenly start killing things.
* ''Fanfic/TheShapeOfTheNightmareToCome'': While the Gods of Chaos are served by Daemons, the Star Father, a God of Order, is served by the Angyls, androgynous, faceless, glowing humanoids with dozens of razor-feathered wings who seek to create a universe of perfect, self-defeating order.

--> [The Monster] took precious moments to turn its enormous body. Using that time to create angelic wings I took off, trying to stay ahead of the creature that clawed through the nothingness.

* DevaCurl, a line of hair products ''specifically'' for curly hair, has a lightweight styling gel called Arc-Angell, as well as a deep-conditioner called Heaven in Hair.

Angelic names, by the way, traditionally end in "-el" (meaning "of God"), such as in the [[CelestialParagonsAndArchangels Archangels]] [[ArchangelMichael Michael]], [[ArchangelGabriel Gabriel]], [[ArchangelRaphael Raphael]], and [[ArchangelUriel Uriel]], though this is by no means guaranteed (Lailah, Sandalphon, Metatron).