While his most common vessel is played by Mark Pellegrino, Supernatural‘s Lucifer has gotten around over the years, inhabiting multiple people. Supernatural was a show that had Sam and Dean Winchester dealing with demons from the beginning, but in season 4, a game changer occurred with the introduction of angels into the mix. Castiel was the first angel to involve himself in the Winchesters’ lives, but he would be far from the last. And to think, Sam and Dean didn’t even believe angels were real.
The introduction of angels sent Supernatural off in the direction of a biblical apocalypse, pitting the arch-angel Michael against his brother, the fallen arch-angel Lucifer. The big catch in that story was of course the two angels’ desired human vessels, Dean for Michael and Sam for Lucifer. While the apocalypse ended up being one of many the Winchesters averted, it wasn’t without consequences, including poor Adam Winchester being stuck in Lucifer’s cage after becoming Michael’s vessel.
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Outside of visions had by a mentally broken Sam in season 7, Lucifer would remain dormant for many years, finally getting back into the swing of things in season 11. Over time, Lucifer has become one of the most memorable antagonists on Supernatural, and also worn many vessels. Here’s the full list.
Nick Vaught (Mark Pellegrino)
Nick is convinced by Lucifer to consent to being his vessel following the murder of Nick’s family. He serves as Lucifer’s backup host until Sam finally gives in late in season 5. It’s revealed in later seasons that Lucifer had orchestrated Nick’s family’s deaths, to make him easier to manipulate. Of course, this came after an unhinged Nick went on a murder spree, seemingly forever tainted by having been under Lucifer’s influence. Nick is eventually killed by Jack, after going insane without Lucifer to control him. Mary Winchester wasn’t pleased by this move, yelling at Jack, leading him to accidentally kill her in a moment of rage.
Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki)
Sam was always meant to be Lucifer’s true vessel in his apocalyptic fight with Michael, but Sam steadfastly refused. After finally giving in, he was able to turn on Lucifer and force them both into the cage at the end of season 5. Sam gets plucked out of the cage by Castiel, albeit without his soul, leading to nasty complications. Sam would later be tormented by visions of Lucifer in season 7 after his soul had been retrieved, then be lured in again by him in season 11, as Lucifer tried to use Sam to escape the cage under the pretext that only he could defeat Amara. Sam was smart enough not to believe him, but a close friend of his sadly took the bait.
Castiel (Misha Collins)
During that same season 11 episode with Lucifer trying to force Sam to become his vessel while inside the cage, Castiel ultimately agrees to let Lucifer take over after the latter promises he can defeat Amara. Of course, being Lucifer, it turned out he was lying. and would have said basically anything to be released from his long-term prison. Amara ended up using her powers to remove Lucifer from Castiel’s body later in season 11. Surprisingly enough, Castiel remains in good shape following his possession, one presumes due to Amara’s immense power being able to protect him from the usual harmful effects of being used and tossed aside by Lucifer.
Vince Vincente (Rick Springfield)
After burning through a few unnamed hosts following his purge from Castiel, Lucifer ended up inhabiting aging rock star Vince Vincente, after using his typical emotional manipulation tactics. Lucifer quite liked being a rock star, feeling waves of adulation that he’d never gotten to feel before, likening it to being a kind of god. Vince’s body was strong, and lasted a while, even after Rowena turned on him and sent him to the bottom of the ocean when he recruited her to help make his latest vessel a more long-term home. As much as he liked being a rock god, eventually Lucifer was forced to vacate, after which Vince quickly decomposed.
Wallace Parker
After leaving Vince Vincente, Lucifer began possessing a string of powerful people. The first was Wallace Parker (uncredited, since he only appeared as a corpse), a major corporate CEO of, as Castiel puts it, almost everything. It’s unseen what Lucifer offers Wallace to agree to his possession, but it seems likely even more power and fortune was part of it. As seen above, he quickly burned out and Lucifer jumped to a new host, a friend of Wallace’s actually.
The Archbishop of St. Louis (Michael Querin)
Easily Lucifer’s most blasphemous disguise to date, after leaving Wallace Parker, Lucifer hopped into the Archbishop of St. Louis. One wonders how exactly Lucifer convinced him to allow his entry, but even Archbishops have devilish weaknesses it seems. The priests around the Archbishop noticed the change and attempted an exorcism, only for Lucifer to massacre them all and then leave the Archbishop’s body willingly.
President Jefferson Rooney (David Chisum)
After exiting the Archibishop, Lucifer hooked an extremely big fish, Jefferson Rooney, the President of the United States. Lucifer was able to manipulate the politician’s hyper-religious outlook to convince him why saying yes would be a good thing for the world. Of course, Lucifer had no benevolent aspirations for the office, even having sex with the president’s mistress, Kelly Kline, and eventually getting her pregnant. Kelly is horrified when she learns the truth, but comes to believe her son will ultimately benefit humanity and decides to have the baby.
This resulted in the birth of Kelly and Lucifer’s son Jack, a nephilim (half-angel/half-human), and the possible Antichrist. Thankfully, Jack pushed back against his father’s influence. Following Lucifer’s exit from Rooney, Crowley would use a spell to lock him back into his original vessel, Nick, permanently. While Nick tried to resurrect Lucifer from The Empty after his death and their separation, Jack put to a stop to that. It’s unclear if Lucifer will reemerge before the end of Supernatural‘s fifteenth and final season.