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| Sam Winchester | |
|---|---|
| Supernatural character | |
 Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester |
|
| First appearance | Pilot |
| Created by | Eric Kripke |
| Portrayed by | Jared Padalecki Colin Ford (young) Alex Ferris (young) |
| Episode count | 92 |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Sam, Sammy |
| Species | Human/Part Demon |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 26 |
| Date of birth | May 2, 1983 |
| Specialty | Research Hunting Exorcisms Combat |
| Occupation | Hunter Pre-Law Student (Formerly) |
| Family | Dean Winchester (Brother) Adam Milligan (Paternal Half-Brother; Deceased) John Winchester (Father; Deceased) Mary Winchester (Mother; Deceased) |
| Significant other(s) | Jessica Lee "Jess" Moore (Girlfriend; Deceased) Ruby (Lover; Deceased) |
| Relatives | Deanna Campbell (Maternal Grandmother; Deceased) Samuel Campbell (Maternal Grandfather; Deceased) Un-named Great Uncle; Deceased |
| Address | Lawrence, Kansas (formerly) |
| Nationality | American |
| Psychic abilities | Telekinesis, Precognition, Immunity to demonic powers, Exorcism, Killing demons. |
Samuel "Sam" Winchester (often addressed as "Sammy" by his brother) is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of The CW Television Network's Supernatural, and is portrayed by Jared Padalecki.
Contents |
Background
Sam was born on May 2, 1983 to John and Mary Winchester in Lawrence, Kansas. He was the couple's second child, four years younger than his older brother, Dean. Sam is 6' 4" tall. He is named after his maternal grandfather, Samuel Campbell.[1]
In the first episode, the viewers are introduced to Sam, a senior at Stanford who is applying to law school. He rebelled against the family business of hunting supernatural evil and hasn't spoken to his father, John, in years. Dean goes to see him to ask for his help in finding their father, who went missing while on a hunting trip. Sam lived with his girlfriend, Jessica, whom he had plans to marry before her demise.
Sam (and Dean) spent their childhood moving from town to town every few weeks as their father "hunted". In 1997 they had been enrolled in four different high schools by the end of November. Sam was a quite capable fighter, easily dispatching a bully, and carried a butterfly knife in his book bag. Sam also caught the attention of a writing instructor for his "fictional" story of how they had killed a werewolf the previous year - the teacher encouraged Sam to consider carving out his own life instead of getting into the "family business". Sam has a love for technology, which Dean does not share. This is revealed in season 1 when he comments on Deans use of cassette tapes. Sam does not share Deans love of rock music and instead prefers bands such as Bon Jovi, as shown when he signs into a hotel under the alias "Richie Sambora" (the lead guitarist of Bon Jovi).
Season 1
When Sam was only six months old (November 2, 1983), his mother, Mary, was killed in his nursery by the demon Azazel, whom his mother walked in on while he was standing by Sam's crib, doing something mysterious. Infant Sam is saved from the fire when Dean carries him outside while their father unsuccessfully tries to rescue their mother.
Twenty-two years later to the day, Azazel kills Sam's girlfriend Jessica in front of Sam in the same manner in which he killed his mother, spurring him to embark on a journey with his brother to find their father and kill the demon. While their father is off on his own mission, he occasionally contacts the boys to give them hunting assignments. The boys deal with dangerous mythical creatures and urban legends such as the Woman in White, the wendigo, folklore's Bloody Mary, and shapeshifters. During this time, Sam begins experiencing episodes of precognitive dreams and once displays telekinesis. Eventually, Sam starts to move beyond Jessica's death, and falls for Sarah, a woman who helps the Winchesters in "Provenance".
In "Scarecrow", Sam argues with Dean—Dean obeys his father's orders without question, while Sam questions them and resents his father's treatment of them as loyal little soldiers. The brothers split up, with Dean going to investigate a mystery his father has assigned him, while Sam decides to search for their father elsewhere, though eventually reunites with his brother.
Their father is later captured by demons, and the brothers manage to rescue him. However, they soon learn that Azazel is in possession of their father's body. They manage to subdue him, but killing Azazel would also mean the death of their father. Though John begs Sam to kill the demon, he can't bring himself to do it, and the demon escapes. As Sam drives his father and a badly wounded Dean to a hospital, a truck piloted by a demonically-possessed man crashes into them, totaling Dean's Impala and gravely injuring the Winchesters.
Season 2
At the beginning of the second season, the Winchesters are at the Nashville hospital, with Dean on the brink of death. In a deal with Azazel, John sacrifices his own immortal soul in exchange for Dean's life. The boys mourn their father and start to take a more active role in hunting. In the finale, Sam is transported to an abandoned town along with Azazel's other chosen children, and they must fight to the death in order to find the best one. Though Sam tries to protect them, they are killed off one by one. Sam himself is eventually killed by Jake, but a distraught Dean sells his soul to a Crossroads Demon in exchange for Sam's resurrection. With the help of fellow hunters Bobby Singer and Ellen Harvelle, they track down Jake, but are unable to stop him from opening a gateway to Hell on the orders of Azazel. However, Sam then subdues Jake and kills him in cold blood. After the gateway is closed and Azazel is finally killed by Dean, with assistance from the soul of John, Sam promises to Dean that he will find a way to get him out of his deal.
Season 3
The character of Sam has been growing colder and grimmer throughout the series, which is especially notable after he is brought back from the dead/Dean sells his soul, and continuing throughout the third season. Of particular note is his coldblooded killing of a Crossroads Demon and its human host when the demon refuses to release Dean from his contract—the demon explains that another demon holds the contract, so it has no authority to end it. In "Mystery Spot," he is forced, by a Trickster, to relive the same day over and over again, with each day seeing the death of Dean despite all of Sam's attempts to save him. The Trickster eventually explains to Sam that he did this so that Sam will learn that no matter what he does, he can't save Dean, and that the Winchesters must stop sacrificing for each other. Sam does not learn the lesson and the Trickster disgustedly restores the status quo.
Sam continues to do whatever he can to save Dean from going to Hell. In the episode "Fresh Blood", Gordon Walker, a hunter who was turned into a vampire, tries to kill Sam (as he had already tried to do in "Hunted"). But Sam gruesomely decapitates Gordon using only a long piece of barbed wire, while staring him straight in the eyes. During the season, Sam has shown no remorse for killing people possessed by demons or other "human" enemies, unlike in seasons past. In "Jus in Bello," he is willing to have an innocent young woman be killed in order to save a group of people from an army of demons.
Beginning in the first episode of the season, Sam encounters a sexy young demon named Ruby, who claims to want to help him. She had been a follower of Azazel, and when Dean killed Azazel, she was, according to plan, willing to follow Sam. But with Sam not wanting that position, another demon, named Lilith, has filled the power vacuum and is gathering an army of demons. Ruby is afraid of Lilith and says that she believes that victory by her will be horrific for humanity. Ruby fixes the Colt for the boys so it can again kill anything, as well as adding a demon-killing knife to their arsenal. Sam confronts Dean over John's "mystery" phone calls in "Long-Distance Call."
In the season finale, Dean and Sam, armed with Ruby's demon-killing knife, confront Lilith in a last ditch effort to protect Sam and save Dean's soul. Lilith, having stolen Ruby's host body, ultimately incapacitates Sam and has her hellhounds attack Dean, forcing Sam to watch. She then tries to kill Sam. However, her power has no effect on Sam and she flees, leaving Sam with Dean's mutilated corpse and we see Dean in Hell calling out Sam's name and for his help.
Season 4
Season 4 begins with Dean waking up back in his own body, in his coffin, alive. Four months have passed, and he does not know why he is alive again. He first experiences suspicion and then joy at reuiniting with Bobby Singer and Sam (and the Impala). He and Bobby try to summon the force that brought him back from Hell, and discover that it was the angel, Castiel, on orders from higher up. Throughout the course of Season 4, Sam's activities while Dean was in Hell are slowly revealed. Sam is in despair after Dean's death, and tries to make a deal with a crossroads demon to switch places with Dean, but they all refuse to deal with him. He drinks to excess and acts recklessly as though he has a death wish, until Ruby makes contact with him. She begins to teach him how to use his powers. Upon Sam's objections to possessing a human being, Ruby possesses the body of a comatose woman whose soul has already fled. In a short time, Sam and Ruby become lovers, and Ruby is able to shake Sam out of his depression to some extent. Together, they hunt demons and Sam exorcises them and sends them back to Hell using his powers. Sam is overwhelmed when Dean returns from Hell, but the two quickly begin fighting. Castiel informs Dean of Sam's use of his powers, leading up to a minor fallout between the brothers, as Dean tries to get him to stop using them and stop hanging out with Ruby. Sam, who is religious, is delighted to find that angels are helping Dean and himself, but is severely disillusioned in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester", when he finally meets Castiel and another angel, Uriel, and the angels attempt to destroy an entire town. Also a shock is that Uriel treats Sam with complete disgust, threatening to kill him as soon as Sam is no longer useful. Sam promises Dean to stop using his abilities, but quickly breaks the promise.
Meanwhile, Dean lies to Sam, claiming he remembers nothing of Hell. But in "Wishful Thinking," he reveals that he does remember, but does not want to tell Sam. Finally, in "Heaven and Hell," Dean reveals the awful truth about Hell to Sam—the four months he was there were like forty years, and Dean was tortured for three-quarters of that time under the ministrations of the demon, Alastair, until he finally agreed to himself become a torturer. He confesses he wished he couldn't feel at all, because thinking of his past actions in Hell is tormenting him.
In "Criss Angel's a Douche Bag," Sam had a short-lived fight with Ruby about his powers. She argued that he shouldn't be going on these meaningless hunts and go "cut the head off the snake." He says "It's not the psychic stuff I have a problem with." which may mean he hasn't revealed everything to Dean about what is going on and why the angels want him to stop. Eventually he relents and is seen leaving with Ruby, saying when she asks him what made him change his mind, that he didn't want to be hunting when he was old.
Season 4 shows a Sam much changed. He's a colder, less emotional person. He blatantly lies to Dean and to the spirit of a young boy, promising him that he can be saved from the Reaper who is there to take him. Whether it's living without Dean for 4 months or his demonic powers that have caused the change is uncertain.
In "On the Head of a Pin," the secret to Sam's increase in power is finally revealed; he is drinking Ruby's blood. After their latest session, Sam can now restrain demons with his mind, as well as outright kill them rather than just send them back to hell as other spells and weapons do. Sam recognizes that developing his powers as such is wrong, yet wants it anyway. After using his powers to torture Alistair into revealing who is killing the angels (or, who isn't), he kills him.
In "The Rapture" It is discovered Sam is addicted to the demon blood, and that without it his powers are not as strong. During the episode, he is shown drinking from a stashed flask full of the demon blood, and then trying to contact Ruby numerous times when he runs out. As he gets more desperate, and hears no word from Ruby, he drinks the blood of another demon he is about to kill as Dean is watching. At the end of the episode, Bobby and Dean trick Sam and lock him inside the panic room at Bobby's house.
Sam goes through painful withdrawal symptoms and begins experiencing hallucinations. After Sam is telekinetically thrown around the room, Bobby and Dean restrain him to the bed to stop him from hurting himself. Castiel releases the restraints and breaks the seals, allowing Sam to escape. He finds Ruby and drinks her blood again. Ruby explains that if he kills Lilith, that that will stop the apocalypse, but he must consume more blood to be powerful enough to do so. Dean has tracked Sam down despite Sam's efforts to trick him, enters the room and attempts to attack Ruby, although Sam stops him. Sam and Dean argue about how to stop the apocalypse, whereupon Dean tells Sam that he is changing into a monster, leading to a vicious fight. After Sam defeats Dean, leaving despite Dean's warning him that if he leaves now, "don't you ever come back."
In the season 4 finale "Lucifer Rising," Sam begins to feel the hurt of having abandoned his brother, much to Ruby's annoyance. He captures a demon that is tasked with stealing babies for Lillith and tortures her for Lilith's location and the place of the final seal. After the torture, Sam has every intention of killing the demon with his powers, but Ruby reminds him that he will need more blood to defeat Lilith than she can give and persuades him to take the demon along for her blood. At this point, the demon "goes to sleep" and leaves behind a scared human who fearfully pleads to be let go, inciting immense guilt in Sam. A message from Dean, altered by Zachariah manipulates Sam. Pushing him to continue his original mission to kill Lillith and thus he drains the woman for her blood. Based on the demon's information, Ruby and Sam go to St. Mary's Convent and find Lilith. As Sam attempts to kill Lilith, Ruby holds the doors shut to keep Dean, who has just arrived, from interfering. Sam hesitates when he hears his brother yelling for him, but when Lilith mocks him for his inability to do the job after becoming a monster to get to this point, he finishes her off (fulfilling his true destiny as the special child). Her death breaks the final seal and begins forming a portal for Lucifer. At this point, Ruby reveals that she was leading Sam along the entire time so he'd break the seal. Dean finally enters the room and kills Ruby with her own demon-killing knife, while Sam holds her in place. Sam apologizes to his brother as a white light shows a portal beginning to open.
Season 5
As the portal opens the brothers are teleported onto an airplane by an unknown force. Sam loses his demon powers claiming that the force that transported him onto the plane cleaned him up. Later, when he is attacked by Meg she makes fun of him for having to fight her without them. Sam feels tremendous guilt for starting Armageddon and is told by Dean that he can no longer have the relationship and unconditional trust because he chose a demon over his brother and no amount of apologies could make things okay between them.
After the brothers fight War, one of the four Horseman of the Apocalypse Sam and Dean decide to go their separate ways, Sam worried that he is still a dangerous liability. While apart, Sam has a dream of Jessica asking what he is planning to do with the rest of his life. Jessica then morphs into Lucifer. Lucifer tells Sam that his current vessel is temporary and that Sam is his true vessel. Lucifer then tells Sam that in due time, without trickery or lies, he will agree to be his vessel. In the episode 'The End' which takes place in an alternate future five years later, Sam has said yes to Lucifer, implied throughout the episode because Dean was not in his life. Future Dean, becoming a highly vicious and utilitarian hunter without Sam, goes hunting for Lucifer with The Colt, but ultimately dies. Present Dean, watching all these events transpire, goes back to his own time and tells Sam to come back and hunt again, as they "keep each other human". In the episode Changing Channels, it is revealed to Dean and Sam by The Trickster, that Dean and Sam's relationship (Dean the obedient older brother to a distant father, and Sam the younger brother who betrays his brother and father) mirrors the relationship between Lucifer and Michael, and has been foretold to the angels to bring about Judgment Day.
Equipment
Laptops
In Season 1, he owns what appears to be a Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop, which he uses to gather information for hunts. The first time Sam uses the laptop is in the second episode "Wendigo", where he plays a video message.
Cellphones
In Season 1, Sam uses a Palm Treo cellphone. By season 2, Sam appears to own a Verizon-branded Motorola Q which has on at least one occasion (in "Hollywood Babylon") been used to visually track unseen ghosts. This phone however was destroyed in the third season episode "Fresh Blood." In the fourth season, namely "Sex and Violence", Sam is seen using the BlackBerry 8800. Sam has since changed models and is currently using the Blackberry Bold 9000, as first seen in the season 4 finale, "Lucifer Rising"
Powers, skills, and abilities
Sam exhibits both telekinetic and precognitive abilities at various times throughout the series. His telekinesis first manifested when he was locked in a closet by another "special child" and had a vision that he would kill Dean, the stress of which allowed him to escape. His precognitive abilities, manifesting first as dreams and visions of others' deaths, started prior to the first episode with dreams of Jessica's death, and continued throughout the first two seasons. In the first season episode "Home", Sam demonstrated the ability to sense the presence of the poltergeist even after Missouri couldn't. Also, in "In My Time of Dying", Sam was able to sense Dean's spirit during a time of great stress. He is immune to a demon-spawned virus, called Croatoan, which turns humans violent and drives them to infect others. Sam stated that visions stopped with the death of Azazel at the end of Season 2; however, according to Ruby, his powers were simply dormant.
Sam's powers are implied to be a result of being fed demon blood by Azazel, which he did to a number of children before his death. Ruby states that if he was in full control of his power, he could blow away demons as powerful as Lilith with no effort. At the start of the fourth season, Sam learns to hone and develop these powers. In "No Rest For the Wicked", Sam demonstrates an immunity to Lilith's attack, and later confidently strides through Samhein's similar-looking attack. At the start of the fourth season, Sam has developed more abilities with the help from Ruby, who is occupying a new host. First he learned to use his power to exorcise demons, in "Death Takes a Holiday", Sam is shown to have grown more powerful, being immune to Alastair's attempt to telekinetically fling him when he had previously been unable to. He then uses his power of telekinesis to pin Alastair to a tree, another feat he had been unable to accomplish before. In "On the Head of a Pin", it is believed that these boosts in his abilities are a result of drinking Ruby's demon blood. After the latest drink, Sam's powers have increased to the point where he can kill demons outright, as opposed to simply exorcising them. The same light flickers under their skin as if killed with the Colt or the knife. He is also able to grip demons with his powers, causing them pain which can be used as a method of torture. Also now when he uses his powers his eyes turn pitch black just like the color of a demons eyes while possessing a human (though Sam did not learn this until Chuck revealed it to him and Dean in "Sympathy for the Devil"). In "Lucifer Rising," it is revealed that his powers are not actually given to him through the drinking of demon blood, rather they were always fully his and that his own dark choices were their source. This fits with what other psychics have said about how giving into the demonic side enhances their powers. According to Ruby it seems he burned out a lot of his power killing Lilith. In the season 5 premiere, Sam states that his addiction to demon blood vanished, but later episodes suggest he still craves it.
In addition, with the training given to him by his father, Sam is a skilled fighter, proficient with firearms, shotguns, and melee weapons. Like his brother Dean, Sam possesses many abilities that are frowned upon by law, including, but not limited to: lock picking, computer hacking, disguised conning, and car jacking. In the first two seasons, he is often hesitant about using these skills because of his desire to be a 'normal' citizen. However, this lessens as the series progresses. Sam commands vast knowledge of the supernatural and is considered an "encyclopedia of weirdness". He is proficient in reading and recalling spells written in Latin, which can be used to exorcise, summon or vanquish demons. He also learned from Ruby how to make hex bags to cloak themselves from demons and angels. More often than Dean, Sam is stuck with the job of researching the supernatural for their hunts. He has a great sense of direction and time, at one point being able to find a vampire's nest while blindfolded by keeping track of the time and the turns of the car.
Weaponry
Sam uses a chromed Beretta 92FS loaded with silver rounds and uses a sawed off Ithaca model 37 shotgun loaded with rock salt.[2]
Though Sam is usually more concerned about not hurting the hosts and others possessed by demons, he has actually used The Colt on more occasions than any other known person, including the original hunter. However, as of the end of the third season he has only killed three demons with the weapon, and Dean has killed two demons and a vampire.
At the end of the third season Sam loses possession of The Colt, but he gains possession of Ruby's Dagger upon Dean's death and Ruby's absence.
In his youth, it is revealed that Sam carried a Jaguar Classic balisong knife in the episode "After School Special".
References
External links
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