: Re: Subverting the essence of fictional and/or religious entities; is it acceptable? I talked to a critique partner not too long ago about an angel in my book. I said, he was a subversive character,

@Bethany377

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Angels have had a whole bunch of different portrayals in fiction, many of them not entirely pure and good. Often, they tend towards "well-intentioned extremist" or "lawful stupid paladin" types, because it lets them be used as foils for protagonists without being completely evil.

Even if you limit yourself to the Biblical canon, however, there's a reason why angels often introduce themselves by saying "Don't be afraid." The last of the twelve plagues of Egypt, where the firstborn son would die? Done by an angel. During the prophesied Apocalypse, when Jesus opens the final seal, seven angels are given seven trumpets, and they cause massive destruction to the Earth by blowing them.

Even when they're intending to be friendly, though, they're still often scary to look at - the only physical descriptions we get of angels in the Bible are very physically freaky, with lots of eyes, wings, and/or heads. It sort of makes sense when you think about it, though - they're beings of pure spirit, not biological tissue, so petty things like the laws of biology or physics don't apply to them.

Moreover, you have to consider that there's no fundamental difference in nature between angels and demons, in Christian cosmology - they're the same kind of creature, with similar capabilities. For instance, demons often lie, and angels don't, but that's not because angels can't lie, but because they always choose not to, in pursuance towards the will of God. The difference between them is purely political/ethical, in that angels follow God's will and demons rebel against it, to the point where the only real way to tell the difference between an angel and a demon when they show up is to pay attention to what they're saying to you, and comparing it to what the Bible says.

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