Zadkiel

**Zadkiel** is a major antagonist in the *Divine Comedy*.

He serves as an unseen antagonist in volume one, a pivotal antagonist in volume three, and later a major antagonist in volume four.

He is the archangel of mercy and the deputy of Hell's police department, working close with Raguel. Zadkiel is also the twin brother of Azazel and contrary to what humans believe is not as merciful and forgiving as he lets on as he simply decides who deserves mercy and who does not.

## History

### Background

Like the rest of his fellow angels, Zadkiel was present during the Genesis Jam and took part in molding the universe with song. He was best friends with Azazel and was the more responsible of the two compared to the then timid Watcher but is more bold, impulsive, and snarky. He was one of the Dominions that would later be elevated to the status of archangel.

Zadkiel took part in the war in Heaven when Lucifer rebelled against God alongside his army of angels. Zadkiel noticed Mammon trying to escape with Heaven's most prized belongings and quickly intercepted him, knocking the bag of jewels out of his hand as they fell towards the Earth. Enraged, Mammon fought against Zadkiel which then became a two-on-two as they were caught in the fight between Gabriel and Beelzebub. Mammon and Beelzebub fought the two archangels with Zadkiel and Mammon's battle taking them to one of Heaven's forges. In the end, Zadkiel defeated Mammon during a brutal battle, but Zadkiel wasn't finished. He had two of his Dominion angels restrain Mammon while they then poured molten gold over Mammon's face to forever remind him of his insatiable greed.

### Watcher Incident

During the reign of Noah, Zadkiel encouraged Azazel to join the Watchers and put in a good word for him to Samyaza. Zadkiel watched Azazel be guided by Samyaza on how to help humans without interfering too much. It was not until Zadkiel was alarmed by Heaven's code red which involved the Watchers breaking their oath by mating with human women and producing the monstrous Nephilim. Seeing the devastation the Nephilim wrought was one thing but the fact that it all stemmed from Azazel was another beast. Zadkiel would join the Heavenly Host in finding and killing any surviving Nephilim even if they were mere children at the time, showing no mercy to the half-breeds.

The most monumental moment that occurred was when Zadkiel was the one who ordered the Dominions to kill Azazel's child. The fallen Watcher would be led towards where the archangels were gathering by Raphael to surrender himself but upon discovering their betrayal, Raphael subdued Azazel with Zadkiel standing above the already dying Nephilim then proceeded to kill her right in front of Azazel shocking Raphael. Raphael angrily confronted Zadkiel over this only for Zadkiel to harshly shut him down and exclaim that abominations like Azazel's spawn do not deserve mercy when they have not shown mercy themselves to the humans they enslaved.

After the Flood and the reset of the world, Zadkiel would join Raguel as his partner in Heaven's own police department with Zadkiel being a chief deputy of sorts. They would keep demons that overstep their boundaries in check which of course leads him to various encounters with I.M.P. who not only overstep their bounds but break a sequence of laws that threaten to breach the "treaty" between Heaven and Hell simply for the sake of soul profit.

## Trivia

* He is based on the archangel of the same found in Christian and Jewish teachings.
* His name means "Righteousness of God".