Backstory

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WARNING

Again, not all of this is fully canon, beware!

Once God left, Heaven was sent into conflict. The exact time of God’s disappearance is unknown, but for here we will assume it was around 1320, the time Dante’s Inferno was probably made.

This is because all of the characters we need from Dante's Inferno (Minos, Sisyphus, etc.) would already exist and be appointed in Hell. Even if Dante's Inferno doesn't exist in ULTRAKILL (nor is it wholly accurate and nor do all mentioned characters exist), it's a good marking point.

Not long after (perhaps a few years?), the Holy Council was formed, retaining power through the ability to rip GOD'S LIGHT (the life force of an Angel), Gabriel improved Heaven’s morale by following the Council, easing many of the worries of the people. (For more on why, view his personality.)

With Heaven’s confidence restored, Gabriel led his elite disciples, the POWERS (most likely some of the soldiers of Heaven), to squash the Greed Rebellion, and the Lust Revolution soon after. With Minos the Judge of Hell defeated, his title was then passed onto Gabriel.

Gabriel accepted this responsibility, but was also forced to spend the majority of his time either reporting to the Council or carrying out their will in Hell.

And supposedly just as he crushed the two rebellions, so too was he sent to cast the V1 model into oblivion. But, the machine bested him — and with it, the Council saw him as a traitorous heretic for daring to be bested. Stripped of his Holy Light, he was given 24 hours to unmake this mistake, or the embers of his very soul would die out.

Weakened twiceover by the loss of his light but strengthened tensfold by anger, Gabriel returned to Hell and confronted the machine once more. Throughout the battle, though, Gabriel grew strangely entranced by the art of violence — but more importantly, the art of the struggle. Gabriel had never before known the joy of a struggle, of coming face-to-face with an opponent of equal or greater measure. Though he had lost twice, each loss only further grew his desire to overcome. Up until now, he had only done what was expected of him, but now for the first time he had found something he himself wanted. Not even the fast encroaching End of Hell mattered to him anymore.

But once again, the battle came to an end, and Gabriel retreated again, this time not with anger but with clarity. On the Moon he pondered, considering all that he had known and all that he had learned. With it, he realized the horrors he had committed in the name of holiness. How many had he killed, and to what end? What sort of justice was this?

And with this Revelation, he acted on it. The end of his life did not matter. The end of Hell did not matter. In fact, it all only motivated him to do what was right while he still had time. And so he returned to Heaven, blade in hand, and drove that blade through the neck of every single Councilor, ultimately sealing his fate since no one else could reimburse his light. Let them die the deaths of the heretics they had sent him to kill. He would be the Weapon of Heaven no longer, but his own.

And with that he ventured out of Heaven, to leave for the very last time...

For the sake of Gabriel still living, he’s stuck in a time paradox. His light refuses to fade, and Heaven is stuck on the verge of a war (And since they are stuck, he will not return, though he considers it).