William Kinley

“	When the Devil walks the Earth and finds his first love... evil shall be released.	„
	— Kinley to Chloe Decker in "Devil Is as Devil Does"

Father William Kinley was a priest and investigator for the Vatican and served as the primary antagonist of season four. Being obsessed with an ancient prophecy which stated that Lucifer Morningstar and his first love would unleash Hell on Earth, Kinley attempted to have Lucifer returned to Hell. He eventually met Chloe Decker, who had approached the priest after becoming distraught with learning the fact that Lucifer was the Devil. Kinley provided Chloe with a poison which would sedate Lucifer while he performed an exorcism.

Following Chloe's unwillingness to support his private crusade, Kinley attempted to murder Eve, who he mistakenly believed was the first love of Lucifer, but Eve manages to kill him instead. He later became the vessel of the demon, Dromos, who sought to make Charlie the new King of Hell before Lucifer, Amenadiel, Maze, Eve and Chloe foiled the plot. Lucifer forced the demons to return to Hell, leaving Kinley's dead body behind.

History[]

In "Everything's Okay" Kinley is revealed to have persuaded Chloe to join his cause of banishing Lucifer back to hell.

In "Somebody's Been Reading Dante's Inferno", flashbacks reveal that Kinley believes that Lucifer is responsible for all the horrible things that happened in history, just from him being on Earth. In the present, he tries to get Chloe to believe that Lucifer is evil, and to go through with the plan to drug him for an exorcism. After Chloe is told by Lucifer that she causes him to be vulnerable, however, and that he was still willing to take a fatal wound for her, even when he knew it could kill him, she abandons Kinley, telling him Lucifer is a good man. Undeterred, Kinley decides to take a new approach and talks to Lucifer directly, hoping to break Lucifer and Chloe's loyalty to one another.

In "O, Ye of Little Faith, Father", Kinley reveals his plan to send Lucifer back to hell, but twists the story so it sounds like Chloe was the one who wanted Lucifer banished. While Lucifer doubts him, as does the local priest, Kinley decides to create a scenario to force Lucifer to reveal his devil face to his doubting superior. He tricks a reform officer into thinking that two of his past clients have slipped back into their old habits, causing him to go on a murder spree in the belief he was ridding the world of evil. While watching from a hidden room, Kinley expected Lucifer to reveal his devil face in his rage, but Lucifer realizes something is off when the proxy actually wants to be punished. Lucifer, meanwhile, is deeply hurt to find the vial the priest described in Chloe's bag, knowing at least some of what the priest told him was apparently true.

Chloe later confronts Kinley, realizing that his vendetta against Lucifer is just his own private crusade. She arrests him for conspiracy to commit murder, and his superior assures her he will testify against the zealous priest. Kinley is sure he has prevented the prophecy of evil being unleashed by separating Lucifer from his first love. However, his superior said he's been excommunicated, which visibly shakes an undeterred Kinley.

In "Devil Is as Devil Does", Chloe finally visits Kinley after his constant badgering to see her. He recites the prophecy to Chloe, and it scared her, but it also made her think that Eve was Lucifer's first love and the key to the prophecy.

In "Save Lucifer", Kinley is kidnapped from a police transport by Maze and Eve. Eve hoped that Kinley would prove to Lucifer that the prophecy was 'nonsense', in her own futile crusade to restore their toxic relationship. When asked to help her, Kinley refuses, expressing nothing but contempt for Eve whom he calls the 'original sinner.' After Maze leaves to see Charlie's birth, Kinley attempts to kill Eve to prevent the prophecy. But when Eve kills him instead, sending him to Hell she tells him to deliver a message, for the demons to come and get their king. The demon Dromos takes possession of his body in "Who's da New King of Hell?".

Personality[]

Kinley represents an example of a "hero of his own story" villain: in his fanaticism he believes he is genuinely protecting the world from evil, and that everything he does is for the greater good. As a result, his arrogance has led him to engage in murder and manipulating those around him in the name of his 'greater good.' "O, Ye of Little Faith, Father" shows him lying to Oscar to get him to kill former Los Xs members; the first victim was a former drug addict, but was proven clean in a drug test from a week before her murder. Ultimately he gets a taste of humility after he is fatally wounded by Eve and she declares he can deliver a message to Hell: he asks why she thinks he will go to Hell, only for Eve to reply, "Just a hunch."

Trivia[]

He blames Lucifer for Nazis, the Chicago fire, Malcolm's murders; and he believes Lucifer's mere presence alone causes these. While the first two are likely coincidences, Amenadiel is to blame for Malcolm Graham's murder spree and Cain is to blame for the actions leading to his death.
The Prophecy that Kinley believed in reflects the ending of the series.
- "When the Devil walks the earth" - Lucifer abandons Hell in 2011.
- "And finds his first love" - Chloe Decker and Lucifer Morningstar find each other in 2016.
- "Evil shall be released" - Lucifer's Therapy Office in Hell to help redeem the lost souls (i.e "evil") and help them enter Heaven.
In an ironic twist of fate, Kinley's actions in preventing the prophecy ultimately led to it coming to pass, once Dromos entered his body and began leading a demon revolt against Lucifer with the goal of securing a new king of Hell and allowing demonkind to be set loose upon the world.
Kinley's Hell Loop, according to Dromos, involves him rambling about the prophecy in perpetuity, which Dromos sees as boring.
Kinley is the only main antagonist (besides Malcolm Graham) not to originate from the Lucifer or Sandman comics and biblical stories.
Kinley is the only main antagonist that isn't part of the main cast.

Appearances[]

Season Four
#1	"Everything's Okay"	Appears
#2	"Somebody's Been Reading Dante's Inferno"	Appears
#3	"O, Ye of Little Faith, Father"	Appears
#7	"Devil Is as Devil Does"	Appears
#8	"Super Bad Boyfriend"	Mentioned
#9	"Save Lucifer"	Appears
#10	"Who's da New King of Hell?"	Mentioned