Lucifer Morningstar's Powers Fully Explained

Netflix's Lucifer has had a number of ups and downs. In a way, it's symbolic of how the powers and abilities of the titular character have been handled on the show. Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) is sometimes all too human; he can be self-centered, clueless about the feelings of others, and even more clueless about his own. He uses therapy less as a method of getting at the heart of his inner demons (ha!) and more as an excuse to justify his often selfish actions to himself. Yet he's also fiercely loyal, protective, often compassionate, and eager to help his friends. Still, as the King of Hell and son of God, Lucifer comes with some pretty awe-inspiring powers to go with his all-too-human traits. 

Lucifer Morningstar's powers in the live-action adaptation differ somewhat from his comic book origins. Though his charming hedonist personality is taken from Lucifer's earlier solo comics, his powers are closer to Lucifer's currently downgraded state in the post-New 52 reboot of the DC Comics universe. For example, he doesn't have acidic blood or a sonic cry; nor does he have complete dominion over creation. Still, that doesn't mean the powers he does have aren't vast and formidable. He's also granted powers in the TV series that he never had in the comics, and though those new powers are somewhat more intimate, they're no less terrifying. So which powers and abilities does Lucifer have, exactly? 

As one might expect of an archangel, Lucifer has an impressive superhuman physiology. Those angelic gifts include traits you'd expect to find in a superhero, including superhuman speed, strength, dexterity, durability, stamina, endurance, and reflexes. However, Lucifer isn't just an archangel, but the archangel, formerly the most beloved of God, and therefore has powers that outmatch lesser angels and even other archangels. When we're first introduced to Lucifer, he's living on Earth having grown tired of ruling Hell, and working as the hedonistic owner of the nightclub Lux, living above his den of sin in a lavish penthouse. He's rich, and indulging all his desires — in other words, he's grown soft. Only a few glimpses of his powers are initially shown, and most of those are telekinetic or telepathic in nature.

However, Lucifer soon starts flexing his might again, revealing exactly why he's still the most powerful of the archangels when he actually tries. In fights, he can easily throw someone across a room with the flick of a wrist, rip doors off hinges, and hold back a 3-ton, fully accelerating SUV with one hand to protect Chloe Decker (Lauren German). His brother Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside) admits Lucifer is the most powerful of them, proven when Lucifer challenges and defeats his twin brother Michael, a.k.a. God's right hand. Lucifer may prefer a laugh, but it doesn't mean he's not terrifying when roused to anger. 

Lucifer is ancient — really ancient. It's honestly impossible to say how old he is. He is at least trillions of years old, existing even before the creation of the universe, and his lifespan is infinite — one of the many reasons he tried to fill the endless stretch and his loneliness by indulging in every pleasure he could think of before he met Chloe and forged real friends. This is thanks to the fact he's immune to everything that kills humans: aging, disease, illness, viruses and infections, disorders and disabilities, poisons and toxins, and any negative physical conditions. They simply don't affect him. 

Just as he has immunity, he also has invulnerability, being virtually indestructible in a fight and able to withstand virtually any amount of physical damage a human or other creature could inflict. Multiple times throughout the series, bad guys have tried to shoot or stab him in what would be a killing blow to anyone else. It only serves to enrage Lucifer, who is always more worried about his bespoke suit or his human friends than himself. "Don't waste your munitions," he casually tells a group of gunmen in the pilot episode. "I'm immortal." It should be noted that for a few seasons, Chloe was his weakness, and physical proximity to her could render him vulnerable. However, that was resolved; now, the only known things that can kill him are the divine Flaming Sword and Hell-forged Demon Daggers.

Lucifer's angel physiology and his immunity to poisons and toxins means it's almost impossible for him to get drunk or to be affected by mind-altering substances — though not for lack of trying. As the owner of Lux, Lucifer regularly drinks and mixes a mean cocktail whether behind the bar at Lux or upstairs in his penthouse. He drinks for the camaraderie and the taste, not for the effects, however. While he can be affected by mind-altering substances, it requires copious, superhuman amounts thanks to his angel physiology burning out the poison as quickly as he can drink (or snort) it down. Similar to his invulnerability, a proximity to Chloe Decker once appeared to render him more prone to being impaired, but even then, it took quite a bit to get him drunk. 

The few times he has managed to get drunk or high, it's worn off almost immediately and he never appears to suffer a hangover. While Amenadiel has been shown with a hangover after a rare night of indulgence, Lucifer always seems fit as a fiddle. What humans might see as a gift, however, Lucifer often mourns, as seen in the episode "Monster" when he's trying to drown his sorrows and laments, "[This] pesky supernatural metabolism keeps getting in the way."

While on Earth, Lucifer prefers to use his "human" (or, really, his angelic) face, for obvious reasons. One, he's vain, and who wouldn't want his beautiful face? Two, to pass as a human, he has to look human. It's easy to forget he's a fallen angel and the King of Hell, but Lucifer has the ability to shapeshift into multiple versions of his terrifying "demon form." This can range from simply turning his eyes into red, fiery orbs, to revealing his scarred demon face, all the way to his final form as the King of Hell, complete with leathery, clawed wings. He also has the ability to pop his wings out (usually angelic, but sometimes the bat wings) or hide them. He can also push a mental image of his demon form into a human's mind to terrify them without actually changing shape.

Interestingly, Lucifer's physical appearance is linked directly to his psychological state. His scarred and twisted visage is an outer reflection of his inner turmoil and reveals how he feels about himself. Despite his devil-may-care attitude (ha!), Lucifer actually suffers from an enormous amount of guilt over the things he's done and the torture he's forced to inflict as Hell's ruler. This self-loathing is what manifests whenever Lucifer shifts into his demon form, and his form changes depending on what he's grappling with internally.

Lucifer's love-hate relationship with his wings is complicated. He retained his angel wings when he fell from Heaven, but as the millennia passed, he grew more and more furious with his father. When he finally left for Earth, determined to live as a human, the first thing he did when he arrived was cut off his wings in an act of defiance and as a symbol of his hatred for God. He awakened one day to find his wings had returned — so he cut them off again, only for them to reappear. His wings are as tied to his self-perception as his demon face, and they return only after he's finally started to forgive himself for his sins. 

Lucifer begrudgingly learns to use his wings, as they give him immense powers. He can fly, as would be expected. The speed of his flight, however, is also superhuman — he can fly at least as fast, if not faster than, the speed of light. It appears as teleportation to the human eye, such as when he flies with Chloe in the episode "A Devil of My Word" to protect her from gunfire. His wings also enable him to travel interdimensionally from Earth to Hell and vice versa in the blink of an eye, as well as carrying demons back and forth with him instantaneously. 

It's a sign of how powerful Lucifer is that one of his seemingly minor powers is one that would be considered an absolutely superhuman ability to mere mortals. Throughout the series, Lucifer has used his powers of telekinesis more as a parlor trick than anything significant, often as a nervous tic or when he's thinking. This is shown earlier in the series when Lucifer regularly levitates his "Pentecostal coin" (basically a one-way ticket to Hell for mortals, like an infernal bus token) off his palm or walks it over his fingers when he's agitated or deep in thought. Lucifer can also levitate himself. 

He also uses his telekineses in another convenient way, which is turning things on. He's used his power to start a boat engine, start cars for a clean getaway, and turn on different types of machinery with the wave of a hand. One other thing he can turn on without even trying? People. Naturally, being Lucifer Morningstar, he's the most pleased with this last trick. 

Despite being a fallen angel and the King of Hell, Lucifer has quite a few beneficial powers, the most significant of which is healing. Though banished from Heaven, Lucifer still possesses the ability to channel divine (as opposed to infernal) energy to heal a person's wounds, injuries, or sickness. This is done mostly through his wings, which have immensely powerful healing properties — powerful enough to even heal other celestial beings, as shown when Maze (Lesley-Ann Brandt) uses just one tiny feather to heal Amenadiel when the powerful archangel is dying from a wound that was certain to be fatal. 

Lucifer's powers of mending and restoration go beyond healing from fatal wounds, however. He also has the power of resurrection — in other words, he's able to raise the dead. It should be noted that there are some limitations on these abilities — he can't just snap his fingers. Instead, he accomplishes it by flying to Hell and taking a soul, then transporting it back to Earth to re-home in a body. Even then, there are rules: Lucifer doesn't have control over which vessel the soul inhabits; if there isn't a body ready and waiting, the newly resurrected soul will just wind up in the closest newly deceased one. 

For someone who still has so many divine powers tied to his angelic nature, one would think Lucifer would have figured out by now that he's not a monster or beyond redemption. This is underscored by his relationships with the other archangels. Sure, he's the wayward son and he often clashes with his siblings, but their exasperation with him stems from the fact that when he plays hooky from Hell, the natural order of things is upended. It's not a problem with Lucifer himself — well, usually. In fact, Lucifer can still contact his angelic siblings whenever he wishes, opening up a channel of celestial communication by praying to a particular sibling. He's contacted various angels this way, but his closest connection is with Amenadiel, and he regularly uses this ability to contact him. This psychic telephone link extends great distances; Lucifer has been able to contact Amenadiel even when his big brother is patrolling Hell to cover for Lucifer. 

Lucifer can also modify this ability to communicate with the spirits of the dead, and he often uses it to conveniently discover details at crime scenes, particularly murder scenes. However, unlike his ability to tap into the celestial communication highway, his powers to communicate with human spirits are somewhat more limited. He can't communicate with a spirit anywhere, instead, he can only communicate with them as long as the person is recently deceased and spirit still hanging around, not yet having moved on to the afterlife.

It's good to be the king, baby. Sure, Lucifer may have some angelic powers and is actually a good guy, but make no mistake — he's still Lucifer, a.k.a. Satan, and his devilish powers are quite intact, thank you very much. He's not been the Great Tempter for millennia for nothing, and for Lucifer, his favorite form of temptation is carnal. It's hard to deny Lucifer oozes sex appeal, and he uses his heightened sexuality to tempt and arouse people — which, naturally, he often uses to his advantage when making a deal or trying to ferret information out of someone. He's an equal opportunity tempter, though — he mostly uses this power on women, but he's just as happy to seduce men when it suits his purposes. Or, let's be honest, simply when he feels like it... and he often feels like it. 

A few people seem to be immune to his sexual allure, however. It's an exceptionally small list, however — just Chloe Decker and her ex-husband Dan (Kevin Alejandro) — though it should be noted that Lucifer has never actually tried to seduce Dan thanks to their endless rivalry and love-hate relationship. The fact that Lucifer's closest friends aren't overwhelmed by this power seems to suggest that the closer Lucifer is with someone, the more his power lessens — or perhaps he subconsciously tamps it down as he doesn't want to manipulate those he genuinely respects and cares about. 

"Tell me... what is it you desire?" It's a line Lucifer fans have grown familiar with; it's one Lucifer says in virtually every episode. Of all his powers, it's desire exhibition he employs most frequently as the most useful tool in his arsenal when it comes to getting information out of a suspect or a witness. With this power, Lucifer is able to draw someone's deepest desires and wishes out of them and get them to verbalize them aloud. It's not quite mind control — Lucifer doesn't take over their mind and force it out of them — but it operates more like hypnosis, except a hypnosis no one is immune to (except Chloe, naturally). When Lucifer turns up the intensity, he can draw out shameful secrets, dark sins, or unpleasant truths, though it's rare he ever has to push this hard. 

"I am, and always will be, master of the mojo. King of desire. Sultan of humans' innermost wishes," as he says of himself in the episode "Our Mojo." And indeed, he is, though it was revealed at one point that in order for this power to work, Lucifer must maintain eye contact with a person; once it's broken, so is his spell. Interestingly, when Lucifer was slowly turning into his full demon form, this power grew stronger and he no longer needed eye contact to accomplish it, lending credence to the idea that when he's more human, he subconsciously holds himself back from prying into someone's innermost secrets.

Lucifer may spent 99% of his time on Earth, but despite the fact he's grown bored and miserable ruling over Hell, he's still lord of all demons, and that won't change. Even after months, if not years, away from Hell, Lucifer still maintains total control over the infernal realm. When lower to mid-level demons start breaking free of Hell and infesting Earth in an attempt to overthrow Lucifer in a coup in season 4, they see him with his handsome human face and perfectly tailored suit and assume his time on Earth has made him soft. That's their mistake: Lucifer lets go and morphs into his full King of Hell demon form in the season finale and forcefully commands over 100 demons to kneel to him with the sheer weight of his power, an alpha male wolf forcing the rest to bare their bellies, before immediately banishing them back to Hell. 

That's what he can do on Earth; shockingly, Lucifer is even more powerful when actually in Hell. He has total dominion over Hell and can literally shape its reality to his will. In Hell, Lucifer can control individual demons, freezing them or commanding any (or all) to do as he wishes. But he can also control Hell itself by creating illusions, creating or erasing "hell loops" (endless punishment cycles), and even altering reality by erasing certain loops or stopping time entirely. Whatever infernal powers he has on Earth are increased a hundredfold in Hell. 

As with a great number of things in life, Lucifer isn't prone to taking fighting seriously. He'd much rather talk, manipulate, or seduce his way out of a jam rather than get in a physical fight. Still, the times he actually has thrown down with someone, it's quickly become apparent that the reason he refrains from fighting isn't because he's an inept combatant, but rather that he's terrifying when his fury is finally roused. With humans, Lucifer fights like a cat playing with a mouse, barely putting in any effort outside of batting away punches and using their moves against them; it's always clear he could literally crush them with one hand any time he wants, he simply chooses not to. 

With celestials and other supernaturally powered beings, however, Lucifer is still dominant. At one point, he bested even his older brother, Amenadiel, who, at that time, was known as God's finest warrior and one of the most powerful angels to ever have existed. Still, Lucifer beat him. He's also beaten other angels, including his own twin brother, Michael, and the demon Maze, Hell's most skilled torturer and ruthlessly effective killer. Even with Maze, Lucifer overpowered her so easily that it was clear he defeated her the minute he actually decided to end the fight. 

In essence, no matter what Lucifer tries, he excels at with ease as both the King of Hell and God's former favorite son, the Light-Bringer.