Due to the character's demonic nature of taking different hosts, Azazel has been played by numerous actors but Fredric Lehne is the main default portrayer.

Azazel's popularity and importance towards the franchise even led him to be the main antagonist and the analogue to Lucifer in the anime adaptation, as the "Yellow-Eyed Demon," in reference to the nickname he had in the original first two seasons.

The tyrannical leader of an army of demons,[1][2] Azazel first appears in the pilot episode of the series, but plot devices such as flashbacks and time travel detail his background in later seasons.

The fallen angel tasked him with freeing the demon Lilith from Hell—she is needed to break the 66 seals holding Lucifer captive—and to find him a "special child".

Azazel makes his usual offer, giving her the chance to resurrect John, to produce a child he can use; now orphaned and alone, she reluctantly agrees without knowing his true intentions.

[7] As revealed in the fifth season finale, "Swan Song", Azazel sent demons to possess important people in Sam's life, secretly manipulating him as he grew up.

[6] As Dean sells his soul to another demon in exchange for Sam's resurrection, Azazel gives Jake the Colt and coerces him to travel to a cemetery in the middle of a giant devil's trap.

Deeming Azazel to be "an angry soul", actor Fredric Lehne believed that the character having been "denied Heaven and everything else that's good in the universe" has "[translated] into anger and vengeance".

Being the "most ripe for picking" because he had the "sweetest" heart, Sam was "most desirable for corrupting" of all the children; Lehne described Azazel's thought process as, "If I could turn him, then I had truly won.

However, actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan's busy schedule made them realize that having John kidnapped and possessed, and therefore absent from much of the episode, would be the only practical choice.

[18] Though the writers modeled Azazel's personality after Al Pacino's demonic sense of humor in the film The Devil's Advocate,[19] they gave Morgan free rein over the character's mannerisms.

[21] Though uncertain of why he was specifically sought out—Lehne chalks it up to his previous working experience with executive producers Kim Manners and Robert Singer—the role was offered to him without an audition.

[14] Since Azazel changes human hosts periodically, Lehne's initial appearance in the second season premiere, "In My Time of Dying", was intended to be a one-time deal.

[26] Azazel has been met with universal praise from critics and fans alike, with the latter voting him as the best villain of the series in a poll conducted by BuddyTV.

"[You] have to realize that without [Azazel] there would be no reason for the boys to hunt in the first place," viewers wrote, also calling him the "oldest arch nemesis" and a "classic supernatural badass".

[31] After viewing the episode, Brian Tallerico of UGO gave his opinion that the series should follow Buffy the Vampire Slayer's format of having a different recurring villain each season.

[32] Tina Charles of TV Guide was happy to see the "appropriately creepy" Lehne return to the role in "All Hell Breaks Loose".

[33] Likewise, Tom Burns of UGO deemed all of Lehne's scenes "damn near riveting",[34] while Brett Love of TV Squad described him as "a perfect evil menace".

[36] Despite this praise, she was happy to see the character die because "it frees the show from bogging down by having the Winchesters chasing after the same villain endlessly" and "opens up the opportunity to explore new plots".