Angel Culture/Abilities

General

History

Culture

**Abilities**

Original

## Biology

### Wings

In Inky Extra's Chapter 75 we get a lot of information about Angel's wings from Isaac Angel. Isaac explains that an Angel's wings not only allow them to fly but also act as a storage space of sorts for the Angel's magic. This means that the more sets of wings an Angel has, the more powerful they are. Isaac notes that the most pairs of wings he has ever seen on one Angel is ten pairs and that the Angel was able to pull off large feats of magic that rivalled those produced by a miracle. However, not all Angel's can grow more than one pair of wings. For example, the reason Isaac himself was able to obtain two pairs is because he is an archangel which is a higher tier than common Angels who are only able to obtain one pair.

Wings are not something an Angel is born with but instead something that is earned through the Angel's own actions. While the first pair of wings is earned through an Angel completing their Act of Charity there is not one clear way for a Angel to obtain any additional pairs of wings. Additional wings can be obtained from something as simple as writing a letter or something as extreme as saving another's life. It seems that the important thing is not how extravagant the action is, but instead how much that action means to the person on the receiving end of it.

When an Angel earns their first pair of wings it seems that they just appear attached to the Angel's back without any sort of warning to the Angel. Once they appear the Angel immediately feels more magically powerful than they did previously, as well as having full physical sensation from the wings. Angel's are also physically able to fly the moment they obtain their wings and seem to have no need to strengthen their new wing muscles after receiving them (Ch 193)

Removing an Angel's wings is considered a very serious and evil action. Once removed a Angel's wings can not simply grow back and the Angel will forever carry the scars of the removal. Because of this many dark creatures and Demons will specifically try to remove an Angel's wings in order to leave this scar on them.

### Halos

Halo's are tools used by Angels. When a young Angel first shows signs of magic, usually when they are toddlers, their parents give them their halo (Ch 284). The halo will then absorb some of the Angel's magic and bonds with that one Angel only. Both Angels and Demon's are able to recognize who owns any given halo due to the magic it has absorbed, as evidenced by Bendy innately knowing that the halo they found in Black Hat's Casino belonged to Alice (Ch 85) The Halo helps control the Angel's magic as well as acting like a magical battery that can then draw out energy when the Angel needs to perform bigger spells (Inky Extra's Ch 60) While a Halo can be separated from an Angel without killing them it does severely weaken them. For instance, when separated from her halo, Alice was unable to use much of her magic without writing out a string of Angel runes first (Ch 54) Angels also become physically weaker without their halos. But it is important to note that, even after being separated from her halo for an extended period of time, Alice was still able to make a twelve foot jump to a window and leave finger marks in its wooden frame so even weakened the Angel should still be stronger than an average toon (Ch 58)

Halo's are made of blessed metal (Ch 167) that is cool and smooth to the touch (Ch 85). As it is made of metal the halo can make magical sparks if it strikes another piece of metal hard enough. However, even after being struck, a halo will return to the Angel to whom it belongs unless something specifically stops it from doing so (Ch 256). In order to reattach a halo after a separation the Angel to which it belongs need only to lift it to their head and it's will drift into place over top of their head and remain there. Angel's are also able to hide their halo's from view so that they can wander the Surface without being recognized (Ch 85).

While Third Tier Angels halo's are usually circular it has been shown that Angels from different tiers can have different shaped halo's. For example, Dominions halo's are usually X shaped instead of circular (Ch 250)

### Aging

Angel's age different than normal toons do. The average lifespan of an Angel is about two hundred years, although Alice's own grandmother has lived almost six hundred years now and is considered the oldest living Angel besides the cosmics (Inky Extra's Ch 75) As Angels age their bodies don't begin to fail them as they become older in the same way that an average toon's body does, although they do also have greying hair and some wrinkles in their old age it does not reach the level that a normal older toon would. Instead of diminishing physically Angels begin to lose magic as they grow older. Their wings get duller, and spells become harder for them to cast. Alice mentions that by the time an Angel can no longer hold up their own halo they have almost reached the end of their lifespan (Ch 236)

## Powers and Abilities

It is difficult to say just how much power an Angel has. To begin with, their magical capabilities are directly tied to where they place on the three-tier system. A second-tier will always have more magical power than a first-tier Angel. But within each tier there is also a magical hierarchy. For example, despite both being first-tier Angel an Archangel will have much more magical power than a Common Angel. There's also the matter of how many pairs of wings an Angel has, as each pair of wings increases the Angel's magic capacity by an unknown amount as well as affording them more space to store up their magic. The ability to store their magic further complicates the matter as Angels store up magic in their halo for the majority of their lives, which means that an Angel's magic ability is also directly related to how much energy they happen to have stored in their halo at the time. All of these factors combined can make it near impossible for an outsider to tell how much magical power any one Angel has at any given time (Ch 284).

Angels are cosmically aligned with Order and Creation. Angels are naturally gifted with the ability to use various forms of light magic. According to a conversation between Cuphead and Black Hat Angel magic works within the "laws of sacrifice". Angel magic likes to make a "fair trade" and thus in order to obtain something, something else must sacrificed (Ch 150) A good example of this is Mama Odies's magical abilities, which were gifted to her by an Angel. As Mama Odie uses her magical abilities, she sacrifices more of her sight in return. It is implied that if she continues to use these abilities she will one day go completely blind (Ch 41) While an Angel's magical power is not unlimited like Demons or Dishes they do have the ability to "store up" their magical power (Inky Extra's Ch 98)

Angels are especially well known for their healing abilities and are even able to fully regrow organs, although this process takes a few weeks (Ch 203)

As explained by Holly while Angels do use runes in their magic they are far more complicated than the Micco runes she studies and only an Angel is able to use them (Ch 61). Alice has stated that Angels are even able to use runes even when separated from their halos (Ch 54) Angel runes, like any race's runes, have specific physical characteristics that set them apart from other races' runes. Specifically, Angel runes tend to have curling, spiraling shapes and long tails (Ch 284). For an example of Angel runes, please see the runes section of the magic page

Angelo also reveals that Angel's can walk on water, even those that have Fallen although they have to focus much harder then an average Angel would need to in order to do it (Inky Extra's Ch 107)

### Empathic/Mental Abilities

Angels are also able to sense the emotions of others at all times, although it is considered rude to comment/ask about another person's emotions when they haven't actually told the Angel about them. If Angels concentrate they even have the potential to read the minds of others. However, this is very difficult to do and it can be difficult to interpret thoughts since it isn't the same as reading a book and there are different levels of thoughts in an individual's head. Reading minds is also considered incredibly rude in Angel culture and is usually only done when it is necessary for an Angel to complete their job (Ch 160).

The only exception to this ability seems to be Demons, whom Angels can only read an unchanging cold aura from. However, Alice does mention that this cold aura can feel different between different Demons. For example, she describes Black Hat's aura as a biting cold tidal wave trying to push her away while Bendy's was a cool shroud surrounding him (Ch 31). It is currently unknown whether this ability to block an Angel's empathic abilities extends to their mind-reading abilities at this time.

Angelo also notes in Inky Extra's Chapter 107 that Angels are also able to sense ghosts because ghosts are usually just strong emotional residual from the dead.

### Miracles

Miracles are incredibly strong condensed Angel magic. They are so strong that they are even able to change reality itself, albeit only in small ways (Ch 128) Alice claims that miracles work by "providing a way" to navigate a given problem. If something was created or summoned by a miracle then that means it must be part of a solution to the issue at hand (Ch 54) While miracles usually create something to solve a problem unless specifically asked to summon something already in existence sometimes the miracle will summon something anyways if there is an item already created to accomplish the needed task. For instance, Alice used a miracle to give the B-Bros a way to cure Ink Illness and find the parts so the miracle summoned The Map since it's purpose is to find the Parts. Since they are condensed magic miracles are physical things that can be grabbed and stored as needed by Angels. For example, Angels on their Act of Charity get to bring seven miracles with them to the Surface. Many Angels will hide them or carry them in pouches like Alice did in order to keep them safe. When a miracle is used the Angel feels a surge of warm energy flow through them and they light up brightly with magic. While it is the Angel who decides how to direct the miracle the magic also seems to be able to somewhat guide the Angel, as Alice felt instinctively while using one that trying to get it to cure Bendy's Ink Illness directly would be a bad idea. Even after using the miracle the Angel also continues to feel more energetic then they had prior to using it (Ch 31) Outside of their Act of Charity an Angel needs to get proper clearance to use a miracle, although it's mentioned that obtaining this clearance usually only takes a day or so (Ch 203) It is currently unknown what the exact limits of a miracle are, if they're even any.

## Weaknesses

### Obsidian

In Inky Extra's Chapter 75 Isaac Angel states that obsidian can be dangerous to Angels. More specifically, it must be obsidian aged a thousand years in the darkest corners of a volcano. This type of obsidian is capable of corrupting light magic and seriously weakening a creature of light. When an Angel's magic get's corrupted in this way they feel incredibly sick, drained and nauseous. If the corruption is not healed in time the Angel could die. In order to be healed the Angel would have to find a way to get to the Stream of Healing in the Upper.

### Ghosts

Angels, unlike other races, almost never leave behind a ghost after they die. Isaac explains that this is because Angels understand that their duty to the world ends at the time of the death, trusting the rest of their duty to the living and the gods. In fact, an Angel ghost lingering in the realm of the living is considered against the natural order of thee world. This is a very serious offense that the Angels themselves would seek to rectify (Ch 270). That being said, it is possible for Angels to have a ghost in extenuating circumstances as seen with Angelo (Ch 98) and Abaddon's mother. These circumstances includes things such as, for example, a living person summoning their spirit back to the land of the living (Ch 270).