Personality

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Character Breakdown

The first look we get at Gabriel is a very harsh one, which has most likely led to most misconceptions about his character. People focus too much on both fights and too little on what else the game offers on him, so we will get into the specifics in chronological order. Let’s see how the game introduces him to us and why they do it in this order.

But what if the first look we get at Gabriel isn’t a harsh one at all? No, Gluttony is definitely not the first mention of Gabriel. It is only his first appearance. But if we go back to 1-4 CLAIRE DE LUNE, a different picture of Gabriel is painted.

Gabriel is not depicted as strict or ignorant, but instead as a merciful figure. It is him who the sinner in Limbo prays to for comfort and mercy. It is he whom they ask for forgiveness from. And not even just in the sense of praying to God, they call Gabriel friend, a very personal title. For those whom Gabriel loves, he is seen as a kind and personal figure who they can run to for comfort.

This is then directly contrasted in 2-2 by the entry regarding Minos’s fall:

So why do they have such different reactions?

It is simple, really: Who are they to Gabriel?

While sinners in Limbo have no canon background, they are people who trusted in God before Christ came in Dante’s Inferno. And while Christ is nonexistent in ULTRAKILL, there is no actual punishment for the sinners there, much like what Dante sees in the Inferno.

These people are not sinners. They have not done anything wrong in Gabriel’s eyes because Gabriel loves the holy and hates sin. The sinners in Lust, however, are actual punished denizens of Hell. Gabriel’s merciless striking down Minos without a word of compromise shows him to also be a force to be reckoned with and an enforcer of what he sees as good.

And that is later reinforced by how he treats V1 in Gluttony: Again, Heaven views machines as lesser beings created by lesser beings (man) and therefore classifies them as annoyances at best. And we can see Gabriel clearly reflects this ideology by how he reminds V1 time and time again of their worthlessness. And not just that, but of his own status. He shows that same merciless nature that he had to Minos, but to a much pettier degree because V1 is, in his eyes, lesser than even Minos.

And so when this mindset is broken- a black and white understanding of good and bad, weak and strong, holy and unholy, et cetera- his facade also breaks. Hakita states that that is why him saying “insignificant fuck” is important. It’s childish, crude, and a plain emotional outburst. But this isn’t just him being mad that he lost, and that is where you lose people.

This is Gabriel realizing that the Holy Council can be wrong, something that they would rather cast Gabriel out rather than admit. They value their pride over him, best seen by how quick they are to label him a heretic. And not only can they be wrong, but they can be cruel to people that Gabriel himself could never imagine being cruel to.

But Gabriel cannot simply deny everything he has been taught for millenia. So rather than confronting this, he instead directs all of his confusion towards the machine and calls it righteous fury. After all, even if he does end it this second time, it is a permanent scar on his perfect record thus far. All ruined by something that everyone said would be an easy win, just like the others.

After that, we do not see Gabriel for a while.

But again we see Gabriel’s merciless nature, pointed at more rebellious sinners. In the Sisyphus Prime terminal entry, it was he who beheaded Sisyphus when he unsheathed his blades for the first time since time immemorial (remember that, it will be important). Hell, they even have a crossed out portrait of him with the word “traitor” on it.

But we are, again, whisked back to a more compassionate side of Gabriel in Wrath.

Gabriel is shown to, again, be merciful. According to the Ferryman terminal entry, he is in fact the only angel who cares for their efforts at all. So not only is he compassionate to those he cares about, but exclusively so. Every now and then Gabriel breaks from what the rest of Heaven thinks, if even slightly. Perhaps even as a sign that he was capable of change.

And that brings us to Heresy. We don’t have any sources but our eyes, which show his blatant rage that suddenly transformed into freeborn passion. But also, we see his weapons.

Gabriel had not used Justice nor Splendor since Sisyphus, and before then, it had been time immemorial. And so they are obviously sacred weapons that should only be used for specific circumstances and only to be used against worthy opponents.

Gabriel could have used his lack of effort in the last battle as an excuse before. He wasn’t at his full potential, and so his failure could be written off by that. But in Heresy, he is forced to pull his trump card: his actual, legitimate weapons that had slaughtered King Sisyphus.

And yet giving his all made space for him to struggle, and from that struggle came genuine enjoyment.

But why? Shouldn’t further effort make him angrier? Should it not frustrate him more? Why the sudden change?

Well what if it wasn’t ever anger at all?

Gabriel had never truly hated V1. He had thrown a label on it and called it bad, and that was it. But now, forced to confront his own blatant enjoyment and the relief thereafter, Gabriel had much to think about.

The Council was wrong. They had followed the word of the almighty and perfect Father, but here sat a mistake. Defeat was an option, and not one to be terrified of. From his exertion, from something not coming easily to him, from that human struggle, came ecstasy and relief. A challenge to overcome, and not one with immediate success; and from that failure came a truer purpose, one to best and to conquer that was not something he had been ordered to do but something that he wanted to do. Nobody else’s will but his.

God truly was dead, wasn’t he? Here Gabriel was, bleeding red blood just like every single sinner down there suffering. He had felt their struggle and fallen into their sin- Did he belong down there with them? Or did they not belong down there at all? Why did it matter if the sinful were punished? Who did their suffering benefit?

The Council was not evil at all. They were desperate. Desperate for control, and desperate for power. And their positions were not in jeopardy; after all, they controlled the lives of the people, therefore they controlled Heaven itself.

But Gabriel did not possess the Holy Light anymore. His death was imminent, and approaching quickly. Little time remained.

And so he did what only he could do, and ended the Council.

Gabriel has too little life left to spend it being shameful, so he decided to instead… Live. And as his final gift to the people that he loved- that he had trained, saved, and sacrificed for- he ended the tyranny of Heaven, and Heaven itself, for the very last time. A final act not out of bitterness nor vengeance, but clarity and compassion.

So why did he do the events that he did do?

Arc Summary; Personality Adaptations

And finally we have reached his general personality, which I will further explain why he is the way he is.

At first, he started off as kind to many and merciless to all else. He had a strict, black and white view of the world that is best seen by him striking down Minos without so much as considering the peace he tried to offer.

But then we see the shift in Act 2- as the acts follow each pivotal point in his arc- that, after his defeat, he is forced to see his own imperfection and the imperfection of the Council. But he turns away, instead projecting his mixed emotions onto V1, and convincing himself that killing it will solve things somehow, even just a little.

But soon, after exerting every bit of power that he had, Gabriel was forced to not only grasp his own failures, but accept them- and from accepting imperfection as a part of life, and his own failures, there is relief to be had. And then he was forced to also see himself on the same level as everything else, and see the atrocities he had committed to his equals.

He couldn’t right every wrong in the amount of time that he had, but he could right his biggest wrong: Supporting the Council. Heaven would have a chance to build anew; the very chance that he could not have. His mistakes would catch him, but theirs didn’t have to.

Side Note - What the terminals say

The terminals also state that Gabriel is less strict in comparison to the Council and generally beloved. He is highly efficient, decisive, and respected.