Where does the idea of building an army of Special Children come from?

Supernatural Season 2 built the Special Children storyline and brought it to a climax, but where does the idea of that particular storyline come from?

Supernatural Season 1 was full of lore from various cultures and religions. As the series has progressed, some of the lore has been lost. We rarely touch on urban legends now, with most of the stories and ideas being adapted from the Christian religion.

But is his where the idea of building a demonic army comes from? Supernatural Season 2 focused on the building of the Special Children army and the ending brought that storyline to a climax. Can this be found in lore or is it just all fiction?

The building of the human army in Supernatural

Azazel played the long game in Supernatural. He slowly built his army, taking 22 years for all to grow up and fully harness their powers. Once that happened, he pitted each of them against one another. The idea was that one of his Special Children would end up leading the demonic army.

This is slightly different to much of fiction. In most fictional tales, the idea is that the group of Special Children (or equivalent) become the army. A lot of fiction can use nanotechnology or biology to create a special breed of people to fight together. Azazel opted for just one to come out on top to lead the demons.

The 200 million men army in Revelations

Photo Credit: Supernatural/The CW by Michael Courtney Image Acquired from CW TV PR /

Building an army is nothing fictional. Countries around the world have their own armies. However, the idea of a demonic army does come from lore around the world. In Azazel’s case, there’s a possibility that it comes direct from the Bible, in the book of Revelations.

Revelations 9 brings up a 200 million men army. There are some who believe that the army is demonic in nature due to some descriptions later on in Revelations. Either one of these could certainly link to Azazel’s big plan. There was a mention of tens or hundreds of thousands of demons being released from Hell—and there were already plenty of demons on Earth by this point. These demons possessed people, creating the 200 million men army. Azazel’s Special Child winner would then lead that army as a general.

Despite what looked like a purely fictional element to Supernatural, there is a connection to Christian lore and stories. It’s there in Revelations, seasons before Revelations was fully used for the storyline.

Next: Croatoan lore: The demon behind the name

Did you notice the Biblical reference with the Special Children? Have you seen other lore and legend references within the demonic army Azazel wanted to build? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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