Archangel Uriel

The Marvel Comics version gets the Flaming Sword...

One of the lesser known Archangels, Uriel, Uri'el (Hebrew) is primarily an angel in rabbinical angelology mentioned in Enoch 1 and Ezra IV. He is one of seven who stand at the throne of God, one of four who serve humanity and is also one of the archangels who presides over the four quarters of the earth along with Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Uriel is often referred to as prince of the angels and of Tartarus.

He's one of the angels in non-canon lore and is alternately described as either Kerubim or Seraphim and is often referred to as the Angel of the Presence. Legend says that he stands at the gate of the Lost Eden with a fiery sword and he was attributed as being the angel who warned Noah of the impending flood; he is also sometimes claimed to be the angel who took the lives of the firstborn of Egypt during the Plagues. He is sometimes shown as the angel of either death or the sun in fiction, and is thus a total badass. In liturgy, he is also associated with wisdom, knowledge, the arts, and man-made beauty; artwork consequently often shows him holding a book, a scroll, or a Greek Ionic column; the association with the sun and stars is often folded into this theme as representing light and natural beauty.

Although Uriel was accepted as an archangel by the Catholic Church for centuries he was finally removed in AD 745, along with a host of other angels, because the Church was growing concerned about a growing fixation and importance placed by the public on angels. However, he is still recognized as an archangel by the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox churches.

His name means "God is my Light". Given the similarities with "Lucifer" (which means "light bringer" in Latin), and the fact that several early theology texts actually stated Uriel was "condemned to Hell", some works equate the two, although the book of Enoch lists him among the angels who requested permission from God to intervene on humanity's behalf against the fallen angels (Michael gets to do it) suggesting he was a positive force for awhile even if he did go astray.^note The Catholic Church decided he is still a good guy.

Subtrope of Celestial Paragons and Archangels. See his brethren in Archangel Azrael, Archangel Michael, Archangel Gabriel, Archangel Raphael, and (possibly) the Fallen Angel version in Archangel Lucifer, aka Satan. Also take a look at Our Angels Are Different.

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Examples:

Anime and Manga

• Angel Sanctuary: Uriel is heroic and somewhat emo. He is a fairly important character.
• A Certain Magical Index: Uriel is the patron of Vento of the Front and the source of her powers.
• Devils and Realist: Uriel is one of the main characters and spends most of the time disguised as Kevin, the main character's butler and caretaker, while actually being on a mission to secure him for Heaven. In the series, Uriel is depicted as Angel of Repentance and Cruelty, which perhaps inspired by his ambiguous position mentioned above. Despite being an angel, it's universally known by both demon and human that he is a sadist.
• Seven Heavenly Virtues: Uriel is an Archangel, and one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues. She represents Patience, and serves as an intelligence operative for Heaven. In spite of her Virtue, she is said to have a serious personality and a short temper.

Comic Books

• Marvel Universe: Uri-El is a hairless, yellow-skinned humanoid with solid gray eyes, who wears long, bronze robes and is surrounded by an orange aura underneath them. He wields a red sword that seems to be made of some sort of energy and is known as the angel of redemption.
• Lucifer: Uriel is a minor character, taking over the role of the representative of the Host after Amenadiel. Like all the other angels not named "Michael" or "Lucifer" he's little more than a mook in terms of power and story importance. He's also, for some reason, the only black angel where all the others are caucasian.

Fan Works

• Child of the Storm: Uriel, specifically The Dresden Files version, is alluded to as a major offscreen figure, both in terms of raw power and and manipulative tendencies.
• Codex Equus: The alicorn Midnight Majesty, one of the Thirteen Empyreans, is the setting's counterpart of the Archangel Uriel in his role as the angel with the flaming sword. She is the gatekeeper of the Sanctuary Realms populated by the ancient alicorns, and her role is to defend their homes from outsiders and prevent banished alicorns from coming back.
• Earth-27: Uriel is one of the archangels who rule Heaven, and the eldest of their number. She created the Garden of Eden, taught agriculture to Adam and Eve, and protected the Garden with her flaming sword. In the modern day, when she is not on assignment fulfilling the duties of Heaven, she still spends most her time within Eden.
• Manchester Lost: Uriel appears along with the other archangels. He's a happy Cloudcuckoolander most of the time, but takes smiting evil very seriously.

Literature

• In the Deryni universe, Uriel is one of the Four Archangels who are invoked at the beginning of any major magical work. Uriel is associated with the North, the element of Earth, Winter, death, and dying; with that kind of association, it's easy to see why the Deryni sometimes (with all respect) ask Uriel not to attend their work. When Cinhil Haldane dies in a ritual circle after setting his sons' Haldane potential, Uriel stays behind after the other angels leave and guides Cinhil's soul from the circle to join those of his deceased wife and son.
• The Dresden Files: Uriel is an important recurring character from Small Favor onwards as the primary immortal representative of the "White God". He acts as an ally, mentor and sort-of-almost-employer to Dresden himself, as well as the Knights of the Cross. He is the guardian of free will and Heaven's "Wetworks" guy, meaning their assassin, spook, spymaster and doer of the gritty jobs, such as the historical slaying of the Firstborn of Egypt. Mab likes his style, which says a lot for someone who is unambiguously a Good Guy. Dresden once calls him "Uri", which he was not a fan of^note The "-el" is the part of his name that refers to God, so he's naturally a bit touchy about having it left off. I mean, look what happened to Luciferiel when he dropped his "el", although he has no complaints about "Mr. Sunshine". He also casually mentions being able to make and unmake galaxies, putting him at (or very near) the top of the list of strongest beings encountered the series, although in general beings with more power typically are quite restricted in their ability to directly apply it. Plus, in Skin Game, he's no slouch when temporarily rendered human by his own actions.
  • He is a master of the Xanatos Gambit, typically hitting several targets with a single strike, with allies and enemies alike usually not being aware of this until it happens (explaining why Mab likes his style). He demonstrates the ability to (if somewhat imperfectly), predict the future, explaining to Harry how the little good things he did on one case ripple into far greater things; like making a mother realize her husband is abusing their kid and stopping a construction worker who is drunk on duty from working - he would have died shortly after and in a few months, his child would need bone marrow, for which he would have been the only viable donor. And then, finally, he elaborates on how Harry saved Michael during that mission from the man's own darker impulses.
    "The real war happened when you weren't looking."
  • It should also be noted that Uriel is also a fan of Star Wars, mentioning that he enjoys the music and the simplicity of the Black-and-White Morality, which makes him feel "young."
• Dora Wilk Series: Uriel is an archangel and as such, member of the Council (heavenly government). He's their chief investigator thanks to his mind-reading powers.
• Paradise Lost: Uriel guards the Sun and gate to Earth and is unwittingly tricked by Satan into letting him enter Earth.
• Ro.Te.O: Uriel has made a few appearances, not as a Grim Reaper (which is Azrael's job) but rather as the angel of knowledge. He's the only character to not have spoken in a story full of characters capable of speech, and is not seen without his Flaming Sword or Michael.
• The Salvation War: Uriel appears as the Angel of Death, and kills thousands of people in the second book, before being finally killed by the machinations of Michael who puts him at the lack of mercy of a large amount of fighter jets and several battleships, as well as a YAL-1 laser. This version is most definitely Made of Iron, surviving numerous missiles, being microwaved by an exceptionally powerful radar and generally being shot.
• Sandman Slim: Uriel turns up under another name. And he turns out to be Stark's father.
• Sovereign: Uriel, the Warden, is in charge of Heaven's "prison" on the rare occasion that someone is placed there (which has happened before). He guarded Eden along with Gabriel before humans lost access to it, and replaced the former archangel Sataniel after the latter fell. He's a bit of a Pyromaniac and presides over summer.
• Unsong: Uriel is constantly trying to repair the various bugs and errors that crop up in the code of reality itself, and seems to be a little off, mentally speaking for an angel.
• Wars of the Realm: Uriel is briefly mentioned as one of the One Hundred (the 100 first and mightiest angels that Elohim created).
• Weaveworld: The nigh-omnipotent entity Uriel claims to be an angel. It's probably wrong.

Live-Action TV

• Dominion: Uriel is a) a woman and b) playing Michael and Gabriel against each other, with the intention to destroy both in order to end all the fighting.
• Good Omens (2019): A Gender Flipped Uriel is one of Archangel Gabriel's underlings. They're portrayed as The Stoic of the archangels, and their role is mostly to intimidate Aziraphale into following orders and sticking to the plan to start the Apocalypse. They're also something a Decomposite Character, since Aziraphale himself was the angel with the flaming sword.
• Lucifer: Uriel is referenced by the titular character. One of his jobs is to give the big "welcome to Heaven" speech to new arrivals, which Lucifer thinks is worse than Hell. He appears in Season 2, having come to Earth to convince Lucifer to return their mother to Hell at the threat of Detective Chloe's life. He also brought with him Azrael's Blade ready to kill his mother if she won't come back, damning her to neither Heaven to Hell, but non-existence. Lucifer eventually ran him through with the blade, killing him for good. He later shows up in Lucifer's personal Ironic Hell, with Luci repeatedly stabbing him with the blade.
• Supernatural: Uriel appears as a Scary Black Man antagonist. Here he is portrayed as not being an archangel, as only Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel hold this rank. He's also incredibly racist towards humans, calling them "mud monkeys".

Tabletop Games

• Anima: Beyond Fantasy: Uriel is one of the seven beryls (god-like spirits of light). He's the only male of them and has associated freedom, independence, and free will.
• Engel: Uriel is one of the eight Archangels, and his angels are referred to as "Waywatchers". They're mostly armed with the Urielsbogen (Uriel Bows) and are supposed to spy for the Angelitische Kirche (Angelic Church) and their own Schar (band) of angels.
• In Nomine: Uriel was the Archangel of Purity until he got a little too zealous in trying to stamp out non-Abrahamic mythical creatures. He was "called upstairs" for an audience with God and hasn't been heard from since.

Video Games

• Darksiders: Uriel appears and, notably, is portrayed as a woman. She is the current leader of the angelic armies stuck on Earth following the death of their previous general.
• Dragalia Lost has Uriel in both Our Angels Are Different and Our Dragons Are Different, counting as both a dragon and angel. He's one of the Five Archangels who, every generation, takes a new Sigil pact with an Apostle where if one dies they both die, and in his case, his Sigil partner is Faris, who he's raised to be an utter perfectionist. He and his fellow Archangels also have to face off against the Sinister Dominion, demons who they kept trapped inside their own evil twins, which is now coming undone. In Uriel's case, his Dominion opposite is Iblis.
• El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron: Uriel appears as one of the four archangels, aiding Enoch via Limit Break.
• Granblue Fantasy has Uriel as an extremely muscular earth primarch serving under the supreme primarch Lucifer, the games Big God and the Benevolent Boss of the angels. Along with being associated with earth, he is a Cosmic Keystone for the element, regulating the element so that the floating islands will remain in place in the skies. He is the youngest of the tetra-element primarchs (Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael) and as such is babied by them. Despite this, he is smarter than he is usually pegged to be and was able to quickly deduce that the Big Bad was a threat, only being taken by surprise while he was distracted and having his wings snatched as a result of his mistake. He also devised a plan to distract the villain in "What Makes the Sky Blue" using the earth element primal Yggdrasil and the remnants of his power without his wings so that they could retrieve Lyria, who was being held hostage by him. In terms of personality, he is hot-blooded and quite abrasive, but he's kind at heart and loyal to the supreme primarch. He also loves to fight, but for fun rather than valor like Michael.
• Puzzle & Dragons has Uriel as part of the Archangel group, with the Fire Attribute.
• Shin Megami Tensei: Uriel appears in a lot of games, sometimes as a boss. He's usually associated with the fire element and is commonly the lowest-levelled of the archangels (below Raphael, Gabriel, Michael, and the Metatron).
• Spellstone: Yuriel the Owl Mystic is one of the playable characters. While not depicted as an angel, Yuriel is still a high-ranking practitioner of the Aether faction of magic, and is often shown rubbing shoulders with several of the game's other angels, such as Queen Leyla of Skyhaven and his boss, Samael, whom he turns out to be helping in a genocidal scheme to weaponize the Heart of Blue Fire against the Chaos.
• Trillion: God of Destruction: This version of Uriel proves to be a rash young man, and given the sour relations between Heaven and the Underworld, his attitude doesn't win him any favors with the other Fallen Ones, save for the generally sweet Elma whom tended to his wounds. His arrival in the Underworld heralds more news of Trillion's threat: prior to arriving at the Gates of Hell, Trillion casually walked into Heaven, curb-stomped every angel, and then tore God into pieces before devouring Heaven's Core, and then going on to erase the Human World. Uriel is the Sole Survivor of Trillion's Onslaught, which is part of why he stays to help train the other Overlords.

Webcomics

• Beyond the End: Uriel isn't an archangel, but only due to his lack of interest in being one. He's Michael's partner that is known for his foul mouth and tendency to do whatever he pleases with no care for what is proper. He's known for being a powerful wildcard that seems like he can get away with murder.
• Holy Bibble: Uriel is a fire-wielding sociopath.
• Lessa: Although playing a more minor role compared to some of his other brethren, Uriel is one of Ra's seven Apostles and acts as the group's Seer.
• My Best Friend Marneao: Uriel is the best engineer in Heaven. He also dies in the same chapter he appears, much to his boss Baraquiel's annoyance.

Web Original

• SCP Foundation:
  • SCP-001 is a fiery angel with a flaming sword that stands at the gate of Eden and destroys all that comes near. It is speculated to be either Uriel or another angel, Jophiel.
  • SCP-7964" is a woman with six wings, birdlike bones, and a broken halo. She claims to be Uriel, cut off from God and forced into a body of flesh by unknown causes, and that the entity at Eden is a fake and a deception.

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