Dean Winchester

"*That is exactly why our lives suck. I mean, come on, we hunt monsters! What the hell? I mean, normal people, they see a monster, and they run. But not us, no, no, no, we search out things that want to kill us. Or eat us! You know who does that? Crazy people! We are insane! You know, and then there's the bad diner food and then the skeevy motel rooms and then the truck-stop waitress with the bizarre rash. I mean, who wants this life, Sam? Seriously? Do you actually like being stuck in a car with me eight hours a day, every single day? I don't think so! I mean, I drive too fast. And I listen to the same five albums over and over and over again, and I sing along. I'm annoying, I know that. And you, you're gassy! You eat half a burrito, and you get toxic! I mean, you know what? You can forget it. Stay away from me Sam, OK? Because I am done with it. I'm done with the monsters and the hellhounds and the ghost sickness and the damn Apocalypse. I'm out. I'm done. Quit.*"
—**Dean Winchester**[src]

**Dean Winchester**, also known as Squirrel, was a character on The CW's *Supernatural*. He debuted in the first episode of the first season. He was portrayed by starring cast member Jensen Ackles.

## History

### Early Life

Mary and John Winchester put Dean and his younger brother, Sam, to bed. In the night, Mary, his mother, goes and investigates a noise coming from Sam's cot. After she sees a figure standing over it, she assumes its John and goes downstairs. Once she gets to the bottom of the stairs, she sees John watching TV and rushes back upstairs to Sam's cot. John, who was asleep in the living room, hears Mary's screams and rushes to the nursery, only to find her pinned to the ceiling with a deep wound across her belly. As he stares in shock, flames engulf Mary and the room. John hands the baby to Dean and tells him to run outside before trying in vain to save his wife. Outside, John and the boys sitting on the hood of their Impala as firemen tend to their burning house.

### Hunting

Dean breaks into Sam's house. Sam wrestles with the intruder, only to discover that it is his older brother, Dean. The brothers haven’t spoken for some time, and Dean is only turning up now because their father has gone missing on what Dean calls a "hunting trip." As Dean tries to convince Sam to accompany him to find their dad, it is obvious that what the Winchesters hunt are supernatural entities. Dean plays a recording of a voicemail from John Winchester, which contains EVP of a woman saying “I can never go home,” and Sam agrees to spend the weekend looking for their dad. He needs to be back at Stanford on Monday for a law school interview. Jess seems worried, but it is clear that she does not know the truth about what Sam's family "hunts." The boys travel to Jericho, where John has been investigating the disappearances of young men that go back ten years and all seem to occur on the same stretch of road. The latest victim was Troy Squire, and when Sam and Dean speak to his girlfriend, Amy Hein, they find out about a local legend of a murdered girl whose ghost hitchhikes and kills whoever picks her up. After some research, Sam and Dean discover the girl in the legend is Constance Welch, who killed herself by jumping from a bridge after her children drowned in the bathtub. That night, they travel to the bridge, and Sam makes it clear that he doesn’t want to return to hunting with Dean and John. He also questions the value of their quest to find whatever killed their mother. During the confrontation they see a woman jump into the water, and, when they go out on the bridge to investigate, the Impala mysteriously starts on its own and pursues them down the bridge, stopping once they've jumped to safety. Upon checking into a motel, the brothers find out their father had also been staying there and that his room is still being held. They break into his room and, though it is obvious he has not been there for a few days, the walls are covered in research; newspaper clippings, notes – that identifies Constance as a woman in white. Local law enforcement have been staking out the motel, and Dean is arrested when he leaves to get food. While Dean is being questioned, Sam tracks down Constance Welch’s widower, Joseph Welch, who tells Sam that Constance is buried in a plot behind their old house, the same house where their children drowned. He also reveals that he was unfaithful to her, which makes it more likely that she is a woman in white. Dean escapes from the sheriff's station using a paper clip and a distraction provided by Sam, but before Dean and Sam can meet up again, Sam has a personal encounter with Constance. She tries to seduce him, whilst begging him to take her home. Sam refuses, but she takes control of the Impala and forces him to drive her towards her old home. The car stops outside the deserted house, and Constance attacks him. Dean arrives and shoots at her, distracting her and allowing Sam to ram the car into the house. Inside the house, the ghosts of her children materialize, and as they embrace her, all three vanish. After the case, Dean is keen to pursue John –- he has worked out that the notation he left Dean in his journal are coordinates to a town in Colorado, but Sam declines and so he drives him back to Stanford. Returning to his apartment, Sam finds a plate of cookies with a note from Jess. He goes upstairs and, hearing the shower running in the bathroom, collapses onto their bed, exhausted. He seems happy, but then something red drips onto his forehead and he looks up to see Jess pinned to the ceiling and bleeding from her belly. He screams, and, as Jess bursts into flame, Dean rushes in and pulls Sam from the inferno of their apartment. Outside the house, as firemen battle the blaze, Sam tosses a shotgun into the trunk of the Impala. He is back in the hunt again.

After spending a week in Palo Alto looking for the thing that killed Jessica, Sam and Dean head to Blackwater Ridge and the coordinates their father left in his journal. At the Lost Creek Trail Ranger Station, Ranger Wilkinson mistakes the brothers for friends of Haley Collins, the sister of a boy, Tommy Collins, who went missing while on a camping trip. On a hunch, Sam and Dean visit Haley, and she shows them the last video Tommy sent her via cellphone before he disappeared. She also informs them that she and her younger brother, Ben Collins, have hired a guide and are heading into the hills to find Tommy the next morning. Sam does some research and finds that people go missing in Blackwater at regular intervals -- every 23 years. He also plays Tommy's last video in slow motion, and he and Dean spot an extremely fast moving shadow on a tent wall. They go to visit Shaw, a survivor of an alleged bear attack in 1959, and the old man tells them that it was not a grizzly that attacked his family, but a creature that was smart enough to unlock the cabin door, roared like no man or animal, and moved like lightning. They go back to Blackwater the next morning and arrive just as Haley, Ben, and their guide, Roy, are setting out for Tommy’s campsite. When the group reaches the campsite, they find ripped tents and damaged equipment. Screams for help sound in the distance so they all run to check, but no one is there and when they return to the campsite their packs have been taken. With the help of their father's journal, Sam and Dean realize that they’re facing a Wendigo. They inform the disbelieving group, and Dean draws Anasazi symbols for protection as they make camp for the night. Sam tells Dean he wants to abandon this hunt and search for their father. Dean replies that they have to help others; it is “the family business.” Once again, cries for help can be heard, and Roy ignores Dean’s warnings and runs into the dark with his gun. He doesn't return. The next day Sam and Dean explain that wendigo means ‘evil that devours.’ They were once human but became something else when forced to eat human flesh to survive. Tommy may still be alive, as wendigo hibernate and like to store live food, so they follow the wendigo's bloody trail. Eventually, Roy’s dead body falls from a tree and the wendigo appears, causing everyone to scatter. Haley and Dean are taken by the wendigo, but Sam and Ben follow a trail of peanut M&M’s that Dean leaves behind. They eventually find Dean, Haley, and Tommy hanging from the ceiling of an abandoned mine, and they cut them loose. Dean finds two flare guns along with the rest of their stolen supplies, and while Sam leaves with the Collins siblings, Dean tries to draw the wendigo away. The wendigo follows Sam instead, cornering their group; however, Dean appears from behind it and shoots his flare gun into its chest. The wendigo bursts into flame and dies, and they're able to escape and get help. The group fabricates a story to tell the police - they were attacked by a bear. Haley thanks Dean and then leaves with Tommy and Ben in the ambulance. Dean states that he hates camping and informs Sam that they will find their dad. Sam agrees but in the meantime -- he’s driving.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Fairy Perception/Sense:** Having been abducted to Avalon, Dean can since perceive Fairies that may appear invisible or just like normal humans on Earth.
* **Darkness Sense:** On several occasions Dean is able to sense the Darkness presence she tells Dean this is because they are bound to each other.

### Former Powers

* **Demonic Powers:** Dean was transformed into a Knight of Hell by the Mark of Cain after he died and possessed powers that far surpass that of low and mid-tier demons. Since then he has been cured of both being a demon and the Mark.
	+ **Immunity:** Dean, as a Knight of Hell and the bearer of the Mark of Cain is much more resilient than most demons. While vulnerable to Holy Water, he was shown to recover quickly from it. He also retains his demon mannerisms for a longer period of time while being cured than other demons. He also became immune to a Devil's Trap briefly due to his humanity being restored.
	+ **Super Strength:** As a Knight of Hell, Dean is significantly stronger than common demons: he was able to easily shove Crowley, the King of Hell, to the ground and toy with before quickly overpowering Cole during their fight. He was also easily able to overpower lower demons. However, Castiel was able to restrain him, albeit while Dean was being cured and was in the process of having his humanity restored.
	+ **Regeneration:** After being reborn, Dean's wounds, including the stab wound from an Angel Blade, were completely healed. Dean also healed near-instantly from a knife cut to the face, and a cut from the First Blade that he made in his hand healed within seconds.
	+ **Invulnerability:** Knights of Hell are little affected by damage dealt to their hosts, even injuries as severe as being stabbed, gunshot wounds, decapitation, and dismemberment.
	+ **Immortality:** Unless he transfers the mark to someone else, and is killed by the First Blade, Dean will never die. It is highly implied that he cannot kill himself with the blade, as it had no effect on him when he slit open his hand.
	+ **Super Stamina:** Demons do not require food, water, or sleep to maintain themselves. Dean, as a demon, can consume vast amounts of alcohol without dying and very little effect. He was also unaffected by tear gas.
* **Death's Powers:** After making a deal with Death, Dean had to wear Death's ring for a time and take over his responsibilities. While wearing Death's ring, Dean gained abilities that he had to use to do his job.
	+ **Super Strength** - While wearing Death's ring, his strength was increased to that of the level of Death. He was able to knockout soulless Sam with one punch.
	+ **Intangibility** - While wearing Death's ring, Dean could phase and walk through physical barriers.
	+ **Invisibility** - While wearing Death's ring, Dean could turn himself invisible.
	+ **Teleportation** - While wearing Death's ring, Dean could teleport from once place to another in the blink of an eye. He teleported from the street the man crashed his car to Bobby's bunker.
	+ **Death Touch** - While wearing Death's ring, Dean could kill anything he touched.
* **Dream Walking:** Dean temporarily gained the ability of Dream Walking through African Dream Root. This allowed him to enter Bobby Singer's nightmare and help wake him up. He later used this ability in conjunction with dream root again to enter Charlie Bradbury's Djinn-induced nightmare and wake her up.
* **Ghostly Powers:** Dean temporarily becomes a ghost through astral projection and displays all the normal ghostly powers such as intangibility, invisibility and telekinesis, though it took the help of the ghost of Cole Griffith for him to master it and a lot of concentration compared to more experienced ghosts like Cole who could easily do it. However, combined with Sam, he had enough strength to drop a chandelier on a wooden floor from the ceiling with telekinesis.
* **Vampire Powers:** Dean was turned into a vampire and possessed all their basic abilities, notably enhanced hearing, sensitivity to light, and increased strength, as well as the ability to smell vampires from miles away. He also displayed the ability to jump from a balcony to a lower floor and land on his feet. Using his abilities, Dean was able to take out an entire nest of vampires, including his boss, Boris who was stronger than an ordinary vampire due to his 600 years of age. However, when Dean took the cure that reversed the transformation, his enhanced abilities and vulnerabilities were lost and back to normal human status.
* **Animal Telepathy/Animal Sense:** As the result of a spell, Dean takes on the personality traits of a dog and the ability to communicate with all animals telepathically. Among the traits he takes on is an ability to sense when people are sick such as with cancer. These abilities disappeared when the spell wore off.
* **Mark of Cain:** Dean received the Mark of Cain, something that will allow him to wield the First Blade once it is found and kill the Knight of Hell, Abaddon. There is also some sort of terrible price, but Dean didn't care and took the Mark without learning what it is. Later, when he used the First Blade for the first time, the murderous rage that he felt did not dissipate after killing. Death informs Dean that the Mark makes him virtually immortal. Even Death himself cannot permanently kill Dean because of the Mark's power and Death is stated to be able to kill God himself. He also states that by possessing the Mark, Dean's been allowing it to hold back the Darkness. The Mark is removed by Rowena and Dean loses all the powers it has granted him.
	+ **Enhanced Strength:** He also displayed a greater strength, able to overpower a vampire who had super strength with ease. Dean later displayed enough strength to beat Castiel, a Seraphim effortlessly, nearly killing him when before, when Castiel was just a regular angel, his punches had no affect but to hurt Dean himself.
	+ **Immunity:** In the presence of the First Blade, the Mark grants Dean immunity to Abaddon's powers at first with great concentration and then no effort. Dean proves immune to a spell Rowena uses to try to kill him. According to Crowley, this is because the Mark refuses to let its wielder die and thus protected him.
	+ **Telekinesis:** He also displays telekinesis and strength great enough to lift Abadddon off her feet effortlessly. However, the Mark and Blade's effects cause him to go overboard and repeatedly stab the dead Abaddon after he kills her. Dean once again briefly displays telekinesis to pull the First Blade to him, but its not enough to defeat Metatron who was powered by the angel tablet.
	+ **Precognition:** Dean, under the Mark's power, has a precognitive nightmare about a group of murders he commits under its influence.

### Abilities

* **Hunter Training:** Dean, trained by his father from early childhood as a hunter of the supernatural, possesses excellent combat and hunting abilities; he was established throughout the series as an extremely dangerous individual, and he was more than capable of taking a stand against even the most formidable of opponents, such as Demons and Vampires. Dean was adept with martial arts and knife fighting as well; he had subdued several human assailants with ease in multiple episodes and bested physically more powerful creatures, often unarmed or equipped with only a blade. Dean had also beaten his younger brother Sam in a fight a few times. Due to his year-long stay in Purgatory and the realm's animal-like survival of the fittest environment, Dean greatly honed his hunting skills and instincts. This was shown on a few occasions such when Dean managed to get the jump on a Leviathan and behead him before the latter could even react and effortlessly killed five vampires single-handedly when helping Benny track down and kill the nest he lived in. When confronted with three demons, despite a hard fight and all three being more powerful than him, Dean was able to take them down single-handedly using only his hand-to-hand experience and the demon killing knife, something which impressed the powerful demon, and his ancestor, Cain greatly. Dean was also a proficient tracker and possesses prudent tactical skills. Highly resourceful, he frequently utilized improvised weapons and explosive devices; in Croatoan, he demonstrated in constructing Molotov cocktails and improvised explosive devices. Dean believed himself to be only a "grunt," but according to Sam, Dean was actually the best at lore (Sam refers to him as a "genius") and was a better hunter than anyone Sam has ever encountered including Sam himself and John Winchester.
* **Expert Combatant:** Dean was a skilled combatant as shown on multiple occasions. Dean bested many demons at once in hand-to-hand combat and won, impressing Cain himself. Dean was able to squash a Khan Worm twice. Dean was able to take on three guys under the Attack Dog Spell all at once with relative ease. Dean was able to take on six vampires and win. After seeing Dean fight three demons single-handedly, Cain commented on his reputation and stated that Dean truly lived up to it, indicating that Dean had a powerful reputation for his fighting skills. Even Crowley commented on his skills, stating that he knew Cain would be impressed by them and give Dean the Mark of Cain when Crowley himself wouldn't be able to get it from him.
* **Skilled marksman/Firearms:** Dean was well-versed with multiple types of firearms and was an expert marksman, he seldom missed his intended target and can efficiently put down anything vulnerable to bullets. During an old-fashioned duel with Elias Finch, Dean won, killing Finch without being harmed in the process despite Finch getting a shot off. The same also happened in an impromptu duel with Werewolf Joy.
* **Occult knowledge:** Dean also possessed extensive knowledge of supernatural mythology.
* **Free running/Acrobatics/Stealth:** Dean was virtuoso of escape, evasion, silent movement, and when the situation requires, subtlety and stealth. Lastly, he was also alarmingly skillful in many areas frowned upon by the law: lock picking, breaking into security systems (not so much computers, which often falls on Sam), car jacking and gaining an 'advantageous purchase' came naturally to him.
* **Knowledge of the Law:** He was well-versed in how police, fire departments and various government agencies (FBI, CDC) typically operate and conduct investigations. He also knew how to both impersonate and evade them effectively.
* **Master detective/Tactician/Leader:** Dean had shown on several occasions to be a natural leader, when operating in groups, he would commonly take command, unless the group includes someone who he saw as a leader, such as his father or Bobby. Between him and Sam (and Castiel), he nearly always called the shots, and acted as de facto leader. Dean also had a skill for motivation, and was a capable orator, being able to motivate others to remain strong and carry on, even in darkest moments, with mere words. This skill also allowed him to inspire trust in others, something which comes in handy, when he had to explain the existence of the supernatural to non-believers. Dean was also shown to be quite a capable strategist, able to come up with many quite clever, and unorthodox methods of defeating his more powerful opponents, for example he defeated the mother of all, by swallowing Phoenix Ashes (her only weakness) and tricking her in to biting him, causing her to swallow the ashes. He also devised a way to trick Dick Roman so he, Sam and Castiel could not only sneak in, but so that he could catch Dick off-guard and kill him. This was quite a feat as Dick was a master strategist capable of developing very complex and long-term plans. Another show of his strategic abilities was when he managed to capture Crowley by luring him in with a deal and then slapping handcuffs on him when he least expected it painted with a Devil's Trap. Crowley, who is shown to be a cunning strategist himself, is caught completely off-guard by this and doesn't even realize what Dean has fully done until he tells him. However he will also rush into situations, particularly if he doesn't believe there's time to stop and plan. Dean was also a capable survivalist, as he was able to survive a year in Purgatory with limited resources.
* **Skilled Mechanic:** An accomplished mechanic, he maintained his Impala in tip-top condition (and once rebuilt the vehicle entirely from being severely disfigured) and had maintained an intimate knowledge of automobiles and engines since childhood.
* **Electronic Skills:** He was very talented at making electronic devices, most notably his EMF meter which he made using an old Walkman and an electromagnet powerful to wipe out an entire room full of computers.
* **Torture:** Due to his time spent in Hell as Alistair's "student", Dean has an in-depth knowledge of torture, able to inflict the maximum amount of pain and agony on a victim while keeping them alive as long as possible. In the season 5 premiere, Dean revealed he had learned the banishing spell from Castiel that sends angels back to heaven.
* **Expert Cook:** Dean was an adept cook. He makes burgers and they are apparently (according to Sam) delicious.

## References

1. ↑ "Death's Door", *Supernatural*, The CW
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Pilot", *Supernatural*, The CW
3. ↑ "Wendigo (Episode)", *Supernatural*, The CW
4. ↑ "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", *Supernatural*, The CW
5. ↑ "Do You Believe in Miracles?", *Supernatural*, The CW
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Brother's Keeper", *Supernatural*, The CW
7. ↑ "Soul Survivor", *Supernatural*, The CW
8. ↑ "Appointment In Samarra", *Supernatural*, The CW
9. ↑ "Dream A Little Dream Of Me", *Supernatural*, The CW
10. ↑ "Pac-Man Fever", *Supernatural*, The CW
11. ↑ "Death Takes A Holiday", *Supernatural*, The CW
12. ↑ "Live Free or Twihard", *Supernatural*, The CW
13. ↑ "Dog Dean Afternoon", *Supernatural*, The CW
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "First Born", *Supernatural*, The CW
15. ↑ "Alex Annie Alexis Ann", *Supernatural*, The CW
16. ↑ "The Prisoner", *Supernatural*, The CW
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Inside Man", *Supernatural*, The CW
18. ↑ "King of the Damned]", *Supernatural*, The CW
19. ↑ "Do You Believe In Miracles?", *Supernatural*, The CW
20. ↑ "The Things We Left Behind", *Supernatural*, The CW
21. ↑ "The Things They Carried", *Supernatural*, The CW
22. ↑ "The Werther Project", *Supernatural*, The CW
23. ↑ "Ghostfacers (Episode)", *Supernatural*, The CW
24. ↑ "Trial and Error", *Supernatural*, The CW