Zauriel's History
Zauriel is an angel of the Eagle Host of angels, one of the four hosts of Heaven (alongside Human, Bull and Lion).
Since the dawn of creation, Zauriel served The Presence as a guardian angel, protecting the souls of countless women, including Cleopatra, Mona Lisa, and Joan of Arc.
Finally (a few years ago, by mortal reckoning), he fell in love with his then-current assignment, a woman with a boyfriend from San Francisco. At about the same time, Zauriel accidentally learned of the secret plans Asmodel (King-Angel of the Bull Host, the most war-loving and vicious of the hosts, and one of the generals of Heaven's armies) and a legion of Bull angels to attempt to succeed where Lucifer failed and overthrow the Presence.
In an attempt to kill two birds with one stone (finally being with his true love and escaping the wrath of Asmodel), Zauriel pleaded his case before the four King-Angels (one of which was Asmodel), telling them of his desire to abandon his position in Heaven as a guardian angel and seek his love on Earth. The King-Angels told Zauriel the story of Michael, a guardian angel from long ago who found himself in a similar situation. After leaving Heaven to meet his love, disaster struck, preventing Michael from attaining the life he sought, and he found himself alone and broken-hearted, unable to return to Heaven. Zauriel refused to listen to their reason and was granted mortality.
Upon reaching Earth, Zauriel immediately finds that a group of Bull angels followed him down, adopting temporary mortal flesh themselves granted by Asmodel himself, in an attempt to hunt him down and kill him before he could inform Heaven of their plot. Zauriel meets up with the Justice League of America and they fight back. Zauriel's sonic scream proved especially helpful.
As Asmodel finally arrived and Superman faced him one-on-one, and Wonder Woman lead a charge towards Asmodel's Chariot (a massive starship-looking vehicle descending over the city), the League formed a plan to exploit the fact that the Bull angels had a different vibrational frequency, since they were only crossing dimensions from Heaven to Earth temporarily. Mimicking Zauriel's sonic scream, Flash and Green Lantern created a sonic attack that disrupted their frequencies, destroying their mortal bodies and putting a halt to their attack.
Victorious, the JLA invited Zauriel to join them, but Zauriel still wanted to meet up with his former charge. Tracking her down, he introduced himself and professed his love for her. However, before she could respond, Zauriel realized that Asmodel had returned, seeking revenge for his defeat. Sentenced to Hell for his transgression, Asmodel met up with the demon-king Neron and joined forces with him, doubling the size of Asmodel's army by adding Neron's demons to his original army of angels. Zauriel sought aid from Michael. Meanwhile, Asmodel adopted the form of a child and mounted an attack on the JLA's Watchtower, resulting in the actual death of the Martian Manhunter, who was later brought back by Flash, who excited the unusual shape-shifting cells of the Martian Manhunter's body.
From there, Asmodel and Neron led their forces to Heaven, and actually beat back the armies of Paradise. Slaughtering his way towards the throne-room of The Presence Himself, Asmodel finds it abandoned�??empty except for Zauriel. Confused, Asmodel demanded to know where God is, and is informed by Zauriel that The Presence is, in fact, everywhere and in everything. Finally realizing that there is no true way he could ever defeat God, Asmodel turned to Neron for help, but the demon had abandoned the former King-Angel. Sentenced to Hell yet again, Asmodel became a prisoner of Neron.
After the object of Zauriel's affection decided to stick with her boyfriend, Zauriel was assigned by Heaven to be their ambassador to Earth, as a beacon of hope and reassurance. He was granted a suit of Heavenly armor and a new headquarters, the Aerie, a structure floating over Los Angeles. Accepting the JLA's offer for membership, Zauriel joined them on various missions and adventures.
Asmodel didn't stay beaten for long, and soon bonded himself with the host-less Spectre during the Day of Judgment. Gaining sudden, immeasurable power, Asmodel froze Hell and returned to Earth, leading to immense destruction. The heroes of Earth united, the bulk of which went to fight Spectre directly, while a smaller detachment left for Purgatory to find a soul eligible to replace Asmodel's inside the Spectre, led by Zauriel. They found Hal Jordan. Returning to Earth with Jordan's soul in tow, the group met up with the others and Jordan entered the Spectre, leading to an internal conflict that ultimately forced Asmodel out, establishing Jordan as the Spectre.
Zauriel's career with the JLA continued until the galactic threat known as Mageddon arrived, whose hate-mongering effect motivated Lex Luthor to join up with Prometheus, Queen Bee and Shaggy Man. As the Earth faced immediate destruction, both from itself and Mageddon, Luthor planted bombs on the Watchtower. As the heroes evacuated, Zauriel stayed behind to try to dismantle them. He was caught in an explosion and died.
Arriving in Heaven, Zauriel discovered that Paradise had abandoned all hope for Earth's survival and were already designing a replacement world. Zauriel begged for aid from Heaven, but is turned down. They do, however, grant him the option to return to Earth himself and stand by the mortals he loves so much. Zauriel accepts and is about to leave when countless numbers of angels volunteer to accompany him back to Earth and aid them in their struggle. Leading his army of angels, Zauriel returns and prevents the nations of the world from blowing each other to oblivion, while the JLA stops Mageddon.
With the Mageddon situation resolved, a number of Leaguers part ways with the JLA, Zauriel included. He later appears for a memorial, commemorating the end of the modern JLA.
Zauriel acted as a spiritual counselor or guide to other heroes. He gave advice to Hawkgirl about the future and the current status of the souls in her body and explained the angelic nature of Supergirl (Matrix). He also assisted Hal Jordan during his time as the Spectre.
Infinite Crisis
Zauriel led a group of heroes in a Catholic mass during the Infinite Crisis. In the climactic final battle in Metropolis, he was shot through the chest by Superboy Prime's heat vision.
However, Zauriel has subsequently reappeared. It is unknown if he recovered on his own or was resurrected.
52
Zauriel was recruited by Ralph Dibny, along with Hal Jordan, Metamorpho and Green Arrow, to infiltrate the Cult of Conner. Ralph hoped that these four, because of their significant experience with the afterlife, would be able to judge whether the cult's goal of bodily resurrecting his dead wife was viable. The heroes found that the cult was a fraud, and broke it up; Ralph, however, disappeared in the confusion, resurfacing later.
One Year Later
Zauriel was dragged away from an awkward Sunday school 'Question and Answer' session in order to retrieve the Helmet of Nabu from the planet of Alstair, populated by plant�??animal hybrids. Okeontis, a vampire-like fungus creature, plans to use its power to overthrow tyrant queen Hyathis. Zauriel ambiguously destroys Okeontis and her controlling intelligence, and sends the Helmet of Fate back on its quest for a new keeper.
Zauriel has recently been given the mission to destroy the Shadowpact member Blue Devil, who has been demoted to the rank of a Rhyming Demon in Hell's hierarchy. The angel Abariel told Zauriel that Blue Devil is leading humans to admire and even want to emulate his demonic path, and must be eliminated despite the fact that, as Zauriel said, "This world owes its existence to him more than once." Zauriel has accepted the assignment, although he does not relish the task of killing someone he considers a proven hero. After getting into a small fight with Blue Devil he is then convinced to join the Shadowpact in the place of Blue Devil. He is given Michael's Battle Spear which is more powerful than his sword as he takes Blue Devil's place on the team.
