Dean Winchester

Dean Winchester was a fictional main character from the Supernatural television series, portrayed by Jensen Ackles.
==Canon==
Dean and his younger brother, Sam, hunt demons, werewolves, vampires, and other supernatural creatures across the United States. Their best friend Castiel also helps sometimes. They are frequently in conflict with the forces of Heaven and Hell, sometimes aided by their frenemy Crowley.
Dean drives a black four-door hardtop 1967 Chevy Impala, which fanon has dubbed the Metallicar. He calls her "baby" and is very committed to her.
Dean has been described as confident, brash, crude, protective, brave, emotional, sensitive, adventurous, obedient, loyal and witty.
===Canon Character Arc===
Eric Kripke has said that he modeled Dean off of Star Wars character Han Solo. In seasons one and two, Dean's character arc involved reuniting with his younger brother Sam, their search for their missing father, and their ongoing hunt for the demon that killed their mother and Sam's girlfriend. Dean's motivation in the first two seasons is to protect Sam and to make sure that he doesn't succumb to darkness and Azazel's plans. 
Dean's devotion to his family is showcased, including his guilt over his father, who sold his soul so Dean would live. At the end of season two, Sam dies unexpectedly, and Dean decides that he is unable to live without Sam and sells his own soul to a crossroads demon to bring Sam back to life. At the end of season three, Dean dies and goes to Hell as stipulated in the deal. The angel Castiel resurrects him in season four, and he angsts about having spent part of his time in Hell torturing other souls and enjoying it. 
Seasons four and five show the breakdown of and attempted repairs to Dean's relationship with Sam. Dean resents his role in the grand master plan for the world. It is discovered in season five that Dean is meant to be the vessel for archangel Michael in order to defeat (or kill) Sam, who is the destined vessel for Lucifer. Dean and Sam's relationship parallel's Michael and Lucifer; like Dean, Michael is the dutiful older brother. Because Dean refuses to be a vessel, Michael uses Dean's younger half-brother, Adam, instead. At the end of season five when Sam jumps into the pit dragging Michael/Adam in with him and sacrifices himself to save the world, Dean lives a normal life with Lisa and Ben for a year (until Sam returns in season six). 
In the subsequent seasons there is often a focus on Dean and Sam, often with the help of Castiel, trying to save each other and the world from various treats. Some of these threats include Leviathans, Purgatory, Abaddon, the Mark of Cain, the Darkness, the British Men of Letters, the return of Lucifer, alt!Micheal and God himself.
In the final episode, Dean is killed in a fight with a nest of vampires. He goes to Heaven where he waits for his brother to eventually join him.
==In Fanon and Fanworks==
Dean appears in slash, het, and gen fanfic.
===Common Tropes in Fanworks===
*Woobie: Dean is frequently noted for crying prettily, including often shedding a single perfect tearTV Trope A Single Tear, as evidenced in several picspams.Such as Dean crying Picspam! by moondropz 12 November 2009, (Accessed 25 April 2011) and 20 Favourite Dean Winchester Faces by bellanut, 12 December 2007, (Accessed 25 April 2011). He is often the ultimate woobie in the majority of Supernatural fanworks, and in reviews of especially woobie-riffic fic, he may be referred to as D:ean (sadface Dean).
*Sam: Many Supernatural fanfic writers write gen stories with a strong focus on the close, intense, emotional brotherly (but non-sexual/non-romantic) relationship between Sam and Dean.
*Hurt/Comfort: fics seem to be split pretty evenly between Dean providing comfort or Dean being hurt, when Dean is being hurt he is often comforted by either Castiel or Sam. 
*Protective Dean Winchester: featuring Dean being protective of others, usually Sam or Castiel, but also occasionally other friends, this might also be a way for writers to highlight that Dean is caring or worried without directly stating those emotions
*Bottom Dean: In regards to top/bottom dynamics (mainly regarding anal sex) within most Supernatural fanfic, Dean is generally portrayed as the bottom/uke, including in both slash and het fic. In Wincest fanfic, the majority of fics and fanfic writers frequently portray Dean as the bottom/submissive/gentle partner and Sam as the top/dominant/aggressive partner. There are many different reasons as to why Dean is frequently portrayed as the submissive/bottom in the overwhelming majority of Supernatural fanfic, but some of the reasons for this could include Dean being given the established role of nurturer, protector and caretaker of people (mostly of Sam since childhood), being the obedient, loyal son who followed his father's orders, Dean frequently shown to be emotionally sensitive, vulnerable and fragile and his submissive, gentle sexual style/canon sex scenes on the show with women, at least in the early seasons.
*Evil!Dean: fanworks focused on a dark version of Dean have him becoming evil in a variety of ways, he becomes back from his 4 months in Hell as evil, he is coerced by, or simply changed by his loyalty to, Evil!Sam, Dean is corrupted by the Mark of Cain, an alternative universe where Dean is evil, or Dean just gets worn down by his life and chooses a darker path. 
 
*Demon!Dean: early fanworks featuring Dean as a demon focused on him coming back from his season 3 stint in Hell as a demon, or him being coerced by or changed into a demon by Devil!Sam. Demon fics grew exponentially when Dean was actually turned into a demon for a short time at the end of season 9/beginning of season 10, also, because we only saw a small part of Dean's months as a demon, writers will explore what his time as a demon may have been like
*Purgatory: Dean spent a year in purgatory, but only a few snippets of that period were shown in canon, fans will delve into what his time there might have been like 
*Drinking: exploring Dean's excessive drinking, his drinking to cope with trauma, as well as what some fans think is his possible alcoholism
*Mundane AU: focusing on Dean's day to day when he is not hunting 
*No Supernatural: this may focus on Dean being retired and no longer a hunter, for personal reasons or because all supernatural elements, like monsters, are gone from the earth. Another possibility is fans exploring what Dean's life would have been like if the supernatural had never existed
*Wings: giving Dean wings, commonly found in fanart 
*Cooking: in the early seasons it was often fanon that Dean enjoyed cooking, probably because of his appreciation of food, this was later made canon when the boys got a homebase in the bunker and Dean was often seen cooking for Sam and himself 
*Crossovers: crossover fics are quite common, especially with other fantasy/sci-fi fandoms. Some of the more popular crossover fandoms include, Teen Wolf, where Dean usually takes the role of a hunter against the werewolves, and some combination of Doctor Who, Sherlock or Doctor Who/Sherlock, usually where Dean meets The Doctor or Sherlock and John Watson. Some of Dean's common crossover pairings are Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Elena Gilbert from The Vampire Diaries.
===Common Pairings===
Dean's most frequent and popular slash pairings in fanworks are Sam/Dean (Wincest) and Dean/Castiel (Destiel). Dean/Castiel first appeared in fanworks after the angel Castiel was introduced in season 4, and later became a series regular, and has gone on to become a fandom juggernaut. Other smaller, but common, slash pairings for Dean include, Dean/Benny, Dean/Crowley, and the poly pairing of Castiel/Dean/Sam.
Dean is also paired with the Impala (see the Dean Winchester/Impala pairing page), both in circumstances where Sam was possessing the Impala, and where the car was just the car.Works tagged Impala/Dean Winchester at AO3. Sometimes Dean is paired with both Sam and the Impala. Works tagged Impala/Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester at AO3.
Dean is featured in het fic, with the most frequent pairings consisting of Dean/Jo and Dean/Lisa, and some of his rarer pairings being Abaddon/Dean and Donna/Dean. Readerfic and the pairing of Dean with Original Female Characters is also fairly common.
===Bisexual Dean Winchester===
There are many fans who headcanon that Dean Winchester is bisexual, while others view him as a heterosexual character. Discussion about Dean's sexuality, and canon evidence for and against these headcanons (and others) have been around since the early seasons of the show. More recently the debate about Dean Winchester's sexuality has lead to accusations of queerbaiting, and questions about whether shipping fans have unrealistic expectations, or are unfairly denigrated for pointing out the queer subtext.
Further Reading: 
* Fans take Supernatural to task for 'Queer Baiting' article on advocate.com, detailing the #AskSupernatural fiasco, July 2014.
* ‘Supernatural’s Scariest Monster: Bisexual Erasure' by Hannah Johnson, article on Bitch Flicks, posted September 2016.
* Why Dean Winchester’s Bisexuality Matters by Marty Stu in Culture, TV & Movies, on fanslashfic.com, posted September 2016.
* Dean Winchester is the Bisexual Hero Supernatural Deserves by Mary Sue in Culture, TV & Movies, on fanslashfic.com, posted August 2018.
===Challenges===
*Dean-focused H/C Comment Fic & Art Meme
*Dean Winchester Big Bang
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
*And All the World Beneath by Seperis
*Don’t They Look in Peace (Sometimes I Wish That Was Me) by HunterPeverell 
*Lost & Found by LoveThemWinchesters 
*Not As We by tru_faith_lost
*If this is an emergency... by PlaidIsTheBestPattern 
*Highway Chile by art-savage
*The Good Fight by honeylocusttree
===Dean-centric Fanvids and Edits===
* Feeling Good by kunju
* Drive by ringwench
* Push by whereistheluv
* Breathe by mkitty3
*Broken (Dean) by Luminosity (streaming versions at Critical Commons)
*Dean & John - Because of You by MissStabler
*Dean Winchester: Ex's and Oh's by Roarkshop
*The one who always go out and blaze a glory style(Dean Winchester) by chaotic aRina
*Dean Winchester - Gettin Bi by AngelDove
*Dean Winchester - I'll be good by AngelDove
*Dean Winchester - My Demons (Video/Song request) by AngelDove
*I'm past saving/Dean Winchester by Amelia
*i bring the fire - dean winchester by sparksfly221
*dean winchester ; me too by salindore
*- Dean Winchester || one look & you're mine by surrealistic
*Demon Dean edit by patrickfilmss (TikTok)
*Edit by remusintheimpala (TikTok)
*Edit by destielfilms (TikTok)
===Meta===
*Dean Winchester's Arrested Development by noelq1 (May 2006); archive link
*More bark than bite - Dean and Attitude by astri13 (July 2006); archive link
*Good Dean Hunting: A Season One Overview by astri13 (September 2006); archive link
*Dean in the Woman in White by zortified (May 2006); archive link
*Dean in Wendigo: Who's in Charge Here? by dotfic (May 2006); archive link
*Stow the Touchy-Feely Crap: Dean in "Phantom Traveller" by astri13 (September 2006); archive link
*"Don't Look Back!": Dean in "Bloody Mary" by deannie (September 2006); archive link
*Legally Dead: Dean in "Skin" by celli (July 2006); archive link
*Dean in Hook Man by briarwood (June 2006); archive link
*Dean Meta: Bugs by kronette (June 2006); archive link
*Bugs Meta - Dean by zortified (September 2006); archive link
*Still a Long Way to Go: Dean in "Home" by karaadora (September 2006); archive link
*Dean Needs a Hug by noelql (July 2006); archive link
*Half Full of What?: Dean in "Scarecrow" by deannie (August 2006); archive link
*When Miracles Don't Happen: Dean in "Faith" by ciaan (September 2006); archive link
*Dean Meta for "Route 666" by ant3ka (August 2006); archive link
*As Long as I'm Around: Dean in "Nightmare" by astri13 (October 2006); archive link
*People Are Crazy: Dean in "Benders" by missyjack (October 2006); archive link
*If You Love Someone, Set Them Free: Dean in "Shadow" by marinarusalka (September 2006); archive link
*Bring It On, Baldy: Dean in "Hell House" by ant3ka (September 2006); archive link
*Dean Meta: "Something Wicked" by kronette (September 2006); archive link
*That's My Boy: Dean in "Provenance" by missyjack (October 2006); archive link
*If That's What It Takes: Dean in "Dead Man's Blood" by jeweleglantine (October 2006); archive link
*Barely Holding It Together: Dean in "Salvation" by astri13 (October 2006); archive link
*The Dark Corners of Dean's Psyche in "Devil's Trap" by noelql (September 2006); archive link
*Fear of Irrelevance by tiferet (February 2007); archive link
*Dean: The Testing of a Hero by dotfic (October 2006); archive link
*The Dark Corners of Dean's Psyche, Part 2 by noelql (November 2006); archive link
*Combat Commander by ladyraiden (January 2007); archive link
*Hell -- is other people: Dean in No Exit by missyjack (November 2006); archive link
*Croatoan: Dean Meta by blackcat333_99 (December 2006); archive link
*Dean in "Croatoan", redux by erinrua (March 2007); archive link
*Healing Process: Dean in "Playthings" by astri13 (February 2007); archive link
*Holding Out for a Hero: Dean in Nightshifter by slaysvamps (February 2007); archive link
*Supernatural meta -- Dean's Girls: demons, doubles, sisters, moms, and hot chicks in peril by dotfic (March 2007); archive link
*Dean's tear in 'Heart' by darkicedphoenix (March 2007); archive link
*Some Thoughts on Dean by hugemind (May 2007); archive link
*AHBL pt 1 ...to delve into DEAN's sad, fragile state. by noirbabalon (June 2007); archive link
*Dean meta (3.01, Untitled) by alphabet26 (October 2007); archive link
*M7, Dean, and the number 17 by meret (October 2007); archive link
*Meta: Dean in 3.4 by blackjedii (November 2007); archive link
*Freudian analysis of Dean by sarahwilder (November 2007); archive link
*Ignition Point: Dean in Dream a Little Dream of Me by dodger-winslow (April 2008); archive link
*Wright, Julia M. 2008. "Latchkey hero: Masculinity, class, and the Gothic in Eric Kripke's Supernatural." Genders 47.
*SPN Meta. Cope or Die: Dean, Hell and Damnation in Season 4 Thus Far by dodger-winslow (January 2009); archive link
*“Well, You Are Kind Of Butch”: The Bisexuality Of Dean Winchester by waterofthemoon (March 2010); archive link
* daddy's little blunt instrument (and other thoughts) by amonitrate (April 2010); archive link
*Mangelpain: a study on Dean Winchester by lizstiel (September 2011); archive link
*Pink and Satiny: An Exploration of Dean Winchester's Bisexuality by sobrans [lotstradamus] (April 2012); archive link
*"I'm not someone you want to aim to be": Dean in SPN season 6 by amonitrate (May 2012); archive link
*about Dean, caregiving and perception by sargraf (May 2012); archive link
*No One Cares That You’re Broken: Dean as an ACoA by lookatthesefreakinghipsters (October 2012); archive link 1, archive link 2
*Why Dean Winchester would make a great bisexual character: an essay by me by silvenhorror (January 2013); archive link
*The Subversion of Dean’s Masculinity by defilerwyrm (February 2013); archive link
*Shape-shifts Like a Duck: Supernatural 1x06 by runawaymarbles; (April 2013); archive link
*"Well, lucky for you, I'm a doctor" by defilerwyrm (April 2013); archive link
*Grotesque: Dean Winchester and Bahktin’s Theories on the Body, Degradation, and Rebirth by mithrilwren [fansofcollisions] (April 2013); archive link 1, archive link 2
*Asher-Perrin, Emily. 2013. Supernatural’s Dean Winchester Dismantled His Own Machismo -- and That’s Why We Love Him Tor, May 17; archive link
*Dean Winchester and Childhood PTSD: An Examination of Personality Traits Common to Adult Survivors of Untreated Childhood PTSD by nekosmuse (July 2013); archive link 1, archive link 2
*It is Easier to Build Strong Children than to Repair Broken Men: Dean Winchester and Early Years Education by lookatthesefreakinghipsters (July 2013); archive link 1; archive link 2
*Dean Winchester is a Lot of Things, but Stupid Isn't One of Them by texasbowlegs (August 2013); archive link
*The Art of Letting Go: A Take on Dean's Mental State in 9x01 "I think I'm going to like it here" by feandra (October 2013); archive link
*SPN's S Div9 So Far: Deconstructing Dean by twistedsardonic (December 2013); archive link
*The Problem with Divine!Dean: A Secular Humanist Perspective by i-speak-tongue (January 2014); archive link
*O’Malley, Sheila. 2013. Breaking Down the Schtick: Jensen Ackles, Physical Comedy, Objectification, Consent, and Other Supernatural Topics Inspired By Three Seconds of Footage. The Sheila Variations, December 22; archive link
*I'm Poison: Dean Winchester's Dark Side by jujubiest (March 2014); archive link
*Dean Winchester and Billy Pilgrim, brothers in arms unstuck in time and mind…or how Dean is a little like a Vonnegut character and that’s really not a good thing by larinah (April 2014); archive link
*OD (drug overdose) - Oh Dean… by dustydreamsanddirtyscars (April 2014); archive link
*Guilt and Shame, Dean Winchester Style by i-speak-tongue (April 2014); archive link
*This is What You're Gonna Become -- (masterpost) by amonitrate (June 2014); archive link
*Dean The Pinball Wizard: Supernatural and It’s Christ Figure by herrosesneverfall (August 2014); archive link
**Dean The Pinball Wizard. Redux. by herrosesneverfall (February 2015); archive link
*I'm Not a Hammer by defilerwyrm (October 2014); archive link
*Demon Dean as an addict by aphony-cree (October 2014); archive link
*"Reichenbach" by susurrantpetrichor (October 2014); archive link
*Demon Dean vs. Cole by lost-shoe (October 2014); archive link
*Psychological torture in OTHOTP and Reichenbach by savingsammyhuntingdestiel (October 2014); archive link
*My fair demon by androbeaurepaire (October 2014); archive link
*The (Partial) Fall of the House of Winchester: Deconstructing Ask Jeeves by twistedsardonic (November 2014); archive link 1, archive link 2
*The Wounds That Never Heal by veneredirimmel (November 2014); archive link
*Reply to ask: "How do you get Dean getting drunk with being roofied?" by dubiousculturalartifact (December 2014); archive link
*That rage has been there since long before the Mark by peter-pantomime (January 2015); archive link
*10.11: Dean vs. The MoC Alcoholism (aka The Most Obvious Mirror Ever) by messier51 (February 2015); archive link
*Masculinity and Queerness in the Media: A Meditation on Dean Winchester by peter-pantomime (April 2015); archive link
*Weapons and Dean Winchester - just some musings on how Dean is often compared to weapons throughout the series by larinah (October 2015); archive link
*Dean has a hard time separating different kinds of love by bythehighwayside (April 2016); archive link
*"Surface level Dean" is not the whole story of Dean by rosewhipped22, elizabethrobertajones (December 2016); archive link
*Fisher, Natalie. 2017. 'Supernatural': What episodes like 'Regarding Dean' teach us about the inner workings of the Winchesters. Hypable, February 16; archive link
*Dean’s Love Languages by starsinursa (June 2017); archive link
*the genuine dean by outpastthemoat (November 2013); archive link, update post s12 (September 2017); archive link
*"Do you think Sam really knows Dean?" by thejabberwock; studio82a (September 2017); archive link
*From a analysis standpoint, (Bugs is) a great episode by thejabberwock (March 2018); archive link
*Lost Childhood with Scoobynatural: Part 1 Dean by teamfreewillbettertogether (April 2018); archive link
*Dean Winchester and Selective Mutism in 13.21 by thejabberwock (May 2018); archive link
*Why do people say it's significant that Dean has never said I love you to anyone but Mary? by thejabberwock (January 2019), justanotheridijiton (February 2019); archive link
*Dean's Jungian Shadow Arc in S14 - Confronting the Internal Father (2x22 to 14x20) by drsilverfish (April 2019); archive link
*Thinking about how Dean Winchester's entire life was built on doing heroic, courageous things by carriganrose (May 2021); archive link
==Art Gallery==
File:Superdean.jpg|Dean Winchester by lupe lei (2007)
File:Win-Annkiri-debtsandpromises-coverart.jpg|alt=illustration of Dean holding a pencil at his mouth and reading a book, text on cover of book is Debts and Promises|Cover art, by sarahtoga, for the fic Debts and Promises, created for the 2008 Supernatural and J-Squared Big Bang Challenge!
File:Old Impala by ReitaWolf.jpg|alt=illustration of Dean leaning on the wrecked Impala|Old Impala by reitawolf (2009)
File:Moonstruck1-1.jpg|alt=illustration of Dean with a cigarette in his mouth and holding a handgun, text reads Moonstruck, Ancasta|Fan art cover by petite_madame created for the fic Moonstruck (2010)
File:Eatittwilight small.jpg|alt=Dean strangling a demon with a AC/DC cassette tape in a dark alley, there is a hotel lit up in the far background|Eat It Twilight!! a well known art piece by Petite madame (2010)
File:I Work for My Brother by LadyTiferetbig.jpg|alt=illustration of Dean with wings, text reads i work for my brother|a manip of Dean with wings, by Lady Tiferet, inspired by the fanfic Dealing with the Devil, a story featuring the Evil!Dean trope (2011)
File:Hush.png|alt=illustration of Dean with wings, behind him is a white painted brick wall with a bloddy handprint|Hush by tiny_antares (Elicia Donze), created as part of the SPN ReverseBang 2013, inspiring the fic Not To Conquer, this piece also featuring the trope of Dean with wings
File:But I Flew Too High.png|alt=Dean with wings flying naked through the sky and surrrounded by swirls of magic|But I Flew Too High by glassclosetcas created for the SPN ReverseBang 2015, once again showing Dean with wings 
==Archives and External Links==
* Dean Winchester works on AO3
* Dean Winchester works on ff.net
* DeanDamage an archive focused on Dean whump stories, (archive link) (defunct)
* Slashing Dean, Dean slashed with any male character (defunct)
* Supernatural Fic on Delicious tagged with Dean (defunct)
===LiveJournal Communities===
* bottom-dean
* Dean-fic (inactive)
* Dark!Dean (inactive)
* hoodie_time, a Dean Hurt/Comfort community 
* totaldeangirl (inactive)
==Resources==
*Dean Winchester page at the Supernatural Wiki
*Dean Winchester at Fandom.com Supernatural Wiki 
*Wikiepdia
*Best of Dean Winchester Quotes collection of certainly funny and amazingly inspiring quotes.
==References==
Category:Supernatural Characters Category:Characters