| Leviathan | |
|---|---|
| Type | Leviathans |
| Lore Origin | Judeo-Christian Theology |
| Seasons | S7 |
| Kill Method | Borax (Sodium Borate), Bone of a Righteous Mortal |
The Leviathans are the oldest monsters in existence. Created by God before the angels, before the archangels, before everything else in creation, they were his first attempt at living beings. They were so powerful, so hungry, and so destructive that God created Purgatory specifically to contain them. They existed there for eons until they were accidentally released when Castiel absorbed all the souls of Purgatory in a misguided bid for power.
Appearance & Abilities
Leviathans are shapeshifters of extraordinary ability. They can replicate any human they touch, gaining not just physical appearance but also memories and personality. Their true form is a massive, toothy maw — when they drop their human guise, their heads split open into an enormous mouth filled with rows of teeth. This true form is rarely seen, as they prefer to operate through impersonation.
They are virtually indestructible. They cannot be killed by any conventional weapon, and most supernatural weapons (including angel blades, the Colt, and Ruby's knife) are equally useless. They regenerate from any physical damage. They can be temporarily incapacitated by decapitation (keeping the head separated from the body prevents reattachment) or exposure to sodium borate (borax), which acts as a chemical burn on their flesh.
Beyond physical resilience, Leviathans are highly intelligent and organized. Their leader, Dick Roman, orchestrated a plan to domesticate the entire human race — using food additives to make humans docile, complacent, and fattened for consumption. They operated through corporate infrastructure rather than overt supernatural means.
In Supernatural
Leviathans were the primary antagonists of Season 7. After Castiel absorbed them from Purgatory, they broke free of his vessel and dispersed into the water supply, possessing people across the country. Under Dick Roman's leadership, they infiltrated every level of American society — politics, media, food production, medicine. Their plan involved SucroCorp, a company that added an additive to corn syrup that made humans more compliant and more nutritious.
The season culminated with Dean and Castiel confronting Dick Roman with the one weapon capable of killing a Leviathan: a bone of a righteous mortal washed in the three bloods of the fallen. Dean stabbed Dick Roman, destroying him but also being pulled into Purgatory himself along with Castiel as a side effect.
Real-World Folklore
The Leviathan appears in the Hebrew Bible, most notably in Job, Psalms, and Isaiah. In these texts, the Leviathan is a massive sea creature — a chaos monster representing the primordial forces that God subdued during creation. The exact nature varies between interpretations: a literal sea monster, a metaphor for chaos, or a symbol of political enemies of Israel.
In some Jewish mystical traditions, the Leviathan is a creature that will be served as a feast to the righteous in the messianic age. In Christian theology, the Leviathan became associated with Satan and the sin of envy. The show draws on the chaos-monster interpretation, presenting them as beings so dangerous that God himself had to imprison them outside of creation.
Weaknesses
Sodium borate (borax) burns their flesh and temporarily incapacitates them. Decapitation does not kill them but keeps them down if the head and body are kept separate. The only known method of permanent destruction is the "bone of a righteous mortal washed in the three bloods of the fallen" — a complex weapon requiring the bone of a nun and blood from three specific sources representing different types of fallen beings. Cutting the head off their leader also seems to disrupt the organizational structure but does not kill the rank and file.