User Profile

Character Name: Aziraphale
Series: Good Omens (book)
Timeline: After the book ends.


Character History: Aziraphale is an angel. In this case, the word 'angel' is not used metaphorically to mean nice-person, nor is it used to imply any romantic relationship's pet name. In this case, angel is literal; wings, flaming weaponry, and a certain vaguely holy glow are all part of Aziraphale's MO. As he's been around since shortly after He started speaking The Word, a focus on a few select bits of history will be necessary. In the beginning of.....The Beginning, Aziraphale spent a bit of time hanging around heaven, belting out the hosannas, and generally flying around in His grace. Then, Aziraphale was sent to Earth to guard one of the gates to Eden. Things got interesting shortly thereafter when Adam and Eve decided it'd be a grand old time to know things, and had to scootch themselves out of the place that very night. During an unforeseen reallocation of angelic resources at this time, Aziraphale lost his sword*. A brief conversation with a demon named Crawley, likewise assigned to Earth, would mark the beginning of an agreement between the two beings concerning mutual non-interference. Eventually, this became known as the Arrangement**, and evolved into making sure eachother's quotas of miracles and temptations were nicely kept. Enter a few thousand years of reading books, discovering tartan, collecting regency silver snuffboxes, eating sushi, and learning the gavotte.

By the time the literary camera zoomed back to the present after the tremendous fast forward through time, Aziraphale had pandered to his boundless enthusiasm for books and become a seller of used books on London's East side. As with most proprietors specializing in the vending of prized collections, the actual sale of merchandise was of far less importance than the use of the storefront as a glorified storage cabinet. Unfortunately for Aziraphale, and his demonic cohort, Word came from Up Above (and Down Below) that the birth of the Antichrist was imminent, and cosmically speaking, that the apocalypse was officially Under Way.

After a clandestine meeting observed only by a few errant ducks, Aziraphale and Crowley decided to attempt to derail the train of apocalypse-y doom currently headed for Earth and all the inhabitants thereof. Their great plan was to influence the child themselves, and thereby convince the little tyke that the world was worth saving. Due to a spot of tampering by the other side***, however, the wrong tot was pegged as the Antichrist, and as a result, the Ender Of All Things turned out.........relatively normal. Go figure.

In order to help keep the Earth in existence, Aziraphale and Crowley began to search for the Antichrist. Neither truly knew what to do once they found the aforementioned Son of Satan to help terra firma stick around, but surely finding the boy was a good start, right? Without hesitation, Aziraphale and Crowley commenced the great Antichrist search of the Final Days. Unfortunately, angelic stock does not guarantee either acute powers of observation or deduction that might otherwise be useful in the metaphysical equivalent of finding a needle in a large pile of other, similar needles. Which is to say that, other than getting to ground zero just in time to see the Final Days turn into the Almost Final Days, Aziraphale and Crowley were about as effective as goats sent to conquer Haiti with hummus; well meaning and certainly unique, but generally unsuited to the task at hand.

Despite the ineptitude of both angel and demon the Antichrist chose to leave everything mostly as it was, and the end of the world never actually happened, happily for Earth and all the inhabitants thereof.

*which is to say, he gave it away

**read: friendship

***e.g. evil

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