Basic Trope: Angels depicted as a military force
- Straight: The Heavenly Host are angel-warriors clad in armor who fight off demons.
- Exaggerated: The Heavenly Host is organized exactly like real-world militaries, with Celestial Paragons and Archangels higher in the hierarchy.
- Downplayed : The angels do fight, but they rarely do so and primarily work as divine messengers and emissaries (as the word 'angel' implies).
- Justified: Satan (or the closest counterpart) regularly threatens heaven with force, so heaven ought to defend itself with an army.
- Inverted: The Legions of Hell
- Subverted: The Heavenly Host speaks as though they are preparing for a battle, but it turns out they were talking about a spiritual battle.
- Double Subverted: Angels a spiritual beings; therefore, a 'spiritual battle' is just an actual battle.
- Parodied: The Heavenly Host has the structure and technology of a modern, real-world human military. Hilarity Ensues as the difficulty of driving heavy tanks, digging trenches, etc. in Fluffy Cloud Heaven become apparent.
- Zig Zagged: Some angels are warriors, others are not.
- Averted: Angels never show up in the story.
- Enforced: The producer wants something special for the final battle.
- Lampshaded: "Thanks for helping us, you’re an angel", said the colonel. "Literally, in fact", the commander of the Sabaoth replied.
- Exploited: A Church Militant models itself after the Heavenly Host.
- Defied: God commands his angels to be peaceful beings.
- Invoked: Someone offers a Prayer of Malice, calling military Divine Intervention against their foes.
- Discussed: "Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; May God rebuke him, we humbly pray…"
- Conversed: "I’m surprised the whole 'angelic army' thing isn’t used more often in supernatural shows, nice to see it here."
- Implied: All of the angels seen are wearing uniform armor with insignia on it.
Back to The Armies of Heaven