Baraqiel

**Baraqiel** is one of the Cadre-Class Executives of the Fallen Angels and Grigori. He is the father of Akeno Himejima and the widower of Shuri Himejima. Baraqiel is also one of Azazel's closest friends, alongside Shemhazai.

## Appearance

Baraqiel has the appearance of a middle-aged, gruff-looking man with black hair, matching beard and a muscular body. Being the Vice Governor General of the Fallen Angels, Baraqiel possesses ten black wings.

## Personality

Baraqiel has a serious, rigid warrior-type personality. Baraqiel is very protective of his daughter, Akeno, and initially hated Jolo due to his misconception of him being "a Demon that devours breasts". This also suggests that he is naive to jokes, taking them in a literal sense. He also has a masochistic side to him, the inverse of which is inherited by his daughter.

## History

Originally, Baraqiel was one of the Angels from Fifth Heaven, where he became known as the **Lightning of God**. But, he soon became one of the first Angels that fell alongside Azazel and Shemhazai, eventually becoming one of the Leaders of Grigori, an organization that soon became one of the Three Factions. He and the others fought in the Great War against the angels and devils until the death of the God of the Bible and Four Great Satans in the aftermath.

In the past, Baraqiel was injured and found by Shuri Himejima who nursed him back to health leading to them falling in love with one another, leading to marriage. Their union also led to them giving birth to their only daughter, Akeno Himejima. However, the Himejima Clan couldn't accept her as a fallen angel-human hybrid. At some point, when Baraqiel was called back to Grigori by Azazel, the Himejima Clan members led by Suou Himejima took advantage of this to kill Shuri and Akeno, but managed to murder the former before Baraqiel arrived to save his daughter, but was rejected by her who developed a hatred for him and her fallen angel lineage, which led to her mother's death.

## Powers & Abilities

**Immense Light Power**: As a Fallen Angel, Baraqiel has the ability to use light power to create various effects.

* **Light-Based Weapons**: While not shown in the light novel, in the anime, Baraqiel has shown that he can create a light sword.
* **Holy Lightning** (雷光, *Raikō*): Baraqiel's signature ability as a former Angel who bears the Lightning of God, one that combines light and lightning together. It is reputed to be number one among Fallen Angels in damage output in a single strike, being able to kill High-Class Devils and wound Ultimate-Class Devils in one strike. Baraqiel's mastery is enough for him to create spears, creating thunder clouds to make Holy Lightning bolts rain down on his opponents, as well as infuse it into his punches and kicks, letting him fight Issei in his Crimson Armor on equal terms.

**Immense Strength**: Baraqiel possesses Satan-class powers as a former Cadre and the current Vice-Governor General of the Grigori. His power is comparable to the former Governor Azazel. By possessing God`s Holy Lightning, he can kill a High-Class Devil or injure an Ultimate-Class Devil in a single strike.

**Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant**: Baraqiel is shown to have great skills in hand-to-hand combat, being able to hold his own against Issei. He can also combine them with his holy lighting to further increase the power of his physical attacks.

**Master Tactician**: Baraqiel has shown to be able to implement a genius strategy, as shown in Volume 22 where he lured Issei into a corner by manipulation, completely tricking him into not noticing his plan. This is further proven when trapping Issei was all but a feint for him to use "Castling", swapping places with Rossweisse so that Baraqiel's Queen; Armaros, could ambush her.

**Flight**: Being a Fallen Angel, Baraqiel can fly using his wings.

## Trivia

* Baraqiel's name translates into Lightning of God, which is represented by his and Akeno's specialization in thunder and lightning magic.
* Baraqiel is the 9th leader of the 20 Watcher leaders of the 200 fallen angels in the Book of Enoch, who taught men astrology during the days of Jared or Yered.
* Baraqiel is considered to be the father of Hazael, mentioned in the 9th century BCE inscription from Tel Dan.