History Characters / SupernaturalDeanWinchester

* ScrewDestiny: This is Dean's motto in regards to everything in life. His ''mission'' too in the fifth season, leading him, Sam, and Cas to nickname themselves "Team Free Will." [[spoiler: After he learns that his entire life has been one big cosmic joke, Dean starts embodying this even more, setting out to defy any and all pre-ordained plans for him and his brother, and starts doing his best to fight back against his supposed destiny, to the point that he outright [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu rejects being the vessel of one of the most powerful angels in existence.]]]]

* AnAxeToGrind: His weapon during his stint in Purgatory, which he continues using for some time afterwards.

* AnAxeToGrind: His WeaponOfChoice during his stint in Purgatory, which he continues using for some time afterwards.

* AwesomeMcCoolname:
** Dean's last name, Winchester. [[CoolGuns/{{Rifles}} "Like the rifle".]]
** In an alternate universe episode, Dean's last name is Smith and Sam's last name is Wesson. [[CoolGuns/{{Revolvers}} As in Smith&Wesson.]]

* BeingGoodSucks: Dean's job as a hunter is dangerous, completely remunerative and, aside from individual thanks from the people he saves, the good he does is largely overlooked. The law is after him and Sam for a good portion of the series, both their parents and the great majority of their friends and allies have died in the fight, and Dean's been sent to Hell and back for his efforts.

** [[KnightTemplarBigBrother Don't ever try to harm or endanger his younger brother Sam or else there will be absolute hell to pay if one does just that.]]

** Demons are one of his biggest {{Berserk Button}}s. He quite literally wants to kill every last one of them, is disgusted by the way they operate, and hates working with them but he's grown to make an exception with Crowley and Meg somehow.

** After [[spoiler: getting possessed by Michael at last in Season 14,]] Dean, in addition to gaining a NiceHat, starts slicking his hair back. One of the indications that [[spoiler:Michael has stopped possessing him]] is Dean going back to his scruffy, MessyHair look.

* BreakTheCutie: Repeatedly. UpToEleven. Every single time things start to work out for him, he gets broken. And [[DysfunctionJunction this has been going on for a loooooong time]]. In fact, an alternate title for this show could be "How to Break Dean Winchester" and you couldn't fault it, particularly from Season 2 onwards. It has now become a TraumaCongaLine.

* BromanticFoil: To Sam, of course. In the beginning, Sam was more idealistic and naive while Dean was more realistic and cynical in the way he thought. This eventually started to change though, as Sam became darker and more cynical with time due to everything that he has been exposed to. In Season 5, it was taken UpToEleven when it was discovered that [[spoiler:Dean and Sam were the destined vessels for ArchangelMichael and ArchangelLucifer (Satan) respectively.]]

** [[spoiler:In 10x22, Dean takes revenge against the Styne family after they murdered his good friend Charlie. UpToEleven when you remember that he's also bearing the Mark of Cain, turning him into a [[PayEvilUntoEvil ruthless killing machine]].]]

** The [[spoiler: Mark of Cain]] takes this UpToEleven in Season 10. Even though [[FightingFromTheInside he tries his hardest]] to keep from killing people under [[spoiler: the Mark's influence,]] he ends up getting swayed anyway and becomes so AxCrazy that the smallest slight against Dean sends him into an UnstoppableRage at the drop of a hat. In fact, it hurts his sanity so bad that he starts dreaming about killing people, namely who his next victims will be.

* AxCrazy: [[spoiler:After getting the Mark of Cain, Dean has become unstable and ''enjoys'' killing, and feels absolutely no regret about it as he claims it gives him a really strong high that he needs to brutally murder anyone or anything.]] [[TookALevelInJerkass He even tells Sam that they do things his way and it's not a team anymore but a dictatorship]]. Culminates in him [[spoiler:attacking Gadreel while ''growling'' at the end of "Stairway to Heaven."]]

* FutureBadass: The Dean we know and love may be already quite badass, but his future self in 5x03 in the year 2014 takes it to a whole new level. He's also a total [[{{Jerkass}} douchebag]].

* {{Jerkass}}: Dean can be a jerk to others from time to time, especially towards those whom he's skeptical or suspicious of. But this mostly has to do with Dean's serious trust issues. However, Dean's future self in 2014 is a certified [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk douchebag]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite the fact that Dean has a lot of dick-ish ways, he still has good intentions and has strong compassion for others.

** [[spoiler:In 10x22, Dean takes revenge against the Styne family after they murdered his good friend Charlie. UpToEleven when you remember that he's also bearing the Mark of Cain, turning him into a [[PayEvilUntoEvil ruthless]] [[AxCrazy killing machine]].]]

* TykeBomb: Dean was trained to be a hunter since his childhood by his father. While this ParentalNeglect and [[TheSpartanWay training]] was part of [[spoiler:demonic plans to [[CorruptTheCutie groom]] [[TheHeart generally nice]] [[BlackSheep Sam]] into becoming a powerful AntiChrist]], Daddy Winchester seems to have worked [[WellDoneSonGuy Dean]] harder, having him shooting at the age of 6.

** He finally gets one in the form of Miracle in the penultimate episode of Season 19, and is visibly enamored with him [[spoiler: until Dean's death.]]

* HandsomeLech: Dean is a very handsome man and he flirts with anything in a skirt. The man's first thought upon returning from the dead? He had to re-lose his virginity. Anytime he's shown on a computer or with a magazine, it's invariably open to [[RaceFetish Busty Asian Beauties.]]

** Virtually every single episode of Supernatural features some little scene or line of dialogue for Dean to assert his heterosexuality/masculinity. Dean gets more than all other male characters on the show combined, often at the expense of his brother, who despite being shipped around in fandom is still by far the less slashable of the two. Funny, that.
** In "Sex and Violence" Dean declares his glee over the fact they're working a case involving strippers. However, the Siren who's the MonsterOfTheWeek chooses to take on a male form to get close to him.
** In "Let It Bleed" we also get "I was too busy having sex with women." (Naturally, fans have often interpreted this as SuspiciouslySpecificDenial for Dean.)

* OlderThanTheyLook: DownplayedTrope. [[spoiler:Thanks to the YearInsideHourOutside going on, Dean spent forty years in {{Hell}} during the four months that he was dead on Earth, making him (mentally) well over 70]]. Played amusingly straight by Season 13 where, just like his actor, he's around 40 but doesn't look (nor act) his age.

* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Dean has repeatedly made it clear and obvious that Sam is and always will be his #1 priority, no matter what. The world could end and numerous people could die, and yet, saving/protecting Sam would STILL be the most important thing to Dean. This is something of a {{Flanderization}}, as in earlier seasons Dean would do everything he could to protect Sam, but not to the extent of putting others in danger (for example, in Jus In Bello, when he refuses to sacrifice Nancy to get rid of a bunch of demons who are there to kill him and Sam, even though Nancy is okay with it). Over the years, his mindset has been shifted from "Nobody's expendable except me" to "Everyone's expendable except Sam". This causes significant problems in his relationship with Sam, as Sam, now a full-grown adult in his 30s, of the mindset that his life is worth no more than anyone else's, and well aware of the risks of hunting, doesn't ''want'' this level of protection and intervention from Dean, and always ends up roped into whatever fallout arises from whatever Dean has pulled to save Sam this time (on the other hand, Sam is barely any better when it's Dean's life on the line, and in some cases has actually done even more morally dubious things to get his brother back or save his life).

* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Dean often struggles with his own identity and what he wants in life, mostly because from a very young age, Dean's entire life has revolved around Sam.

* LittleBigBrother: Although Dean is the older brother, his younger brother Sam is much bigger and taller than he is. Dean frequently makes comments about the differences in height between himself and Sam, and Sam has called him "short" although Dean is actually slightly above average height, Sam is just ''that'' tall.

** LittleBigBrother: Although Dean is the older brother, his younger brother Sam is much bigger and taller than he is. Dean frequently makes comments about the differences in height between himself and Sam, and Sam has called him "short" although Dean is actually slightly above average height, Sam is just ''that'' tall.

** LittleBigBrother: Although Dean is the older brother, his younger brother Sam is much bigger and taller than he is. Dean frequently makes comments about the differences in height between himself and Sam, and Sam has called him "short" although Dean is actually slightly above average height, Sam is just ''that'' tall.

* LineageComesFromTheFather: The Men Of Letters legacy comes from the paternal Winchester lineage, meaning that it is a legacy that Dean can follow. His paternal grandfather, Henry, was a Man of Letters, which means that John was also a part of the Man of Letters legacy as well.

* LongLostSibling: To Adam. Dean is the older paternal half brother to Adam since he and Adam share the same father (John).

** LittleBigBrother: Although Dean is the older brother, his younger brother Sam is much bigger and taller then him. Dean frequently makes comments about the differences in height between himself and Sam.

* AggressiveCategorism: Dean can be highly judgmental and bigoted from time to time about the monsters they hunt, sometimes to the point where he can look rather hypocritical. For most of the series he has a hard time accepting that there are some monsters out there who aren't interested in hurting humans. Dean has even admitted to being freaked out by Sam, who happens to be part supernatural and was freaked out by his demonic abilities. At the end of Season 4, [[spoiler:Dean went as far as to call Sam a monster after they had a huge fallout (in all fairness Sam was high on demon blood, and was actually less human)]]. Dean also hates all demons and thinks they are absolute abominations (though he is pretty much right). He's often seen insulting angels as a whole, even right in front of Castiel, though he himself is an angel and they're his family. It's a marker of how much he's grown in Season 8 when he starts to move away from this trope.

** Although Dean has stated on occasion that he is straight and is only into women, a RunningGag in the show are scenes that imply that he finds men attractive as well, albeit usually in a [[QueerPeopleAreFunny comedic]] fashion. Some examples include him {{Squee}}ing over meeting [[MrFanservice Dr. Sexy]] and peeking under the covers to check out a naked man's genitals.

* AmbiguousSituation: The final two episodes raise a lot of unanswered questions about what's going on in Dean's head. [[spoiler: He alternates between being desperate to get Cas back and seemingly ignoring Cas' death altogether; he talks about the need to keep living but then refuses to let Sam call for help when he's impaled; he has a filled-out job application in his room and tells Chuck that he's more than just a killer, but then continues to hunt like nothing's changed. How does Dean feel about Cas' DyingDeclarationOfLove? Was he planning to retire from hunting? Did he bother to reunite with Cas or his parents in Heaven, or did he really just drive around until Sam died--and if so, how long was that from Dean's perspective? The show doesn't offer a clear answer to any of these questions.]]

!Dean Winchester

* HumanMomNonHumanDad: Dean is part of an inverted example in "The Slice Girls".[[spoiler: Dean sleeps with an Amazon, she has his daughter in a few days, and the daughter grows into a teenager quite quickly. She then tries to kill Dean, who hesitates to fight back, but Sam shoots her dead and saves Dean.]]

* {{Narrator}}[=/=]FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: ''Supernatural'' is primarily told from Dean's [[PointOfView P.O.V.]] The story is seen through Dean's eyes, therefore, the audience tends to sympathize with Dean the most.

* BadassLongcoat: Dean gets one in the episode ''Frontierland'' and in ''Out With The Old''.

** In regards to Sam to the most extreme levels, meaning KnightTemplar or KnightTemplarBigBrother levels, although this isn't always a good thing and not only hurts other people but also harms Sam in different ways - most clearly shown when he tricks Sam into getting possessed by an angel so that he survives, despite Sam's willingness to die and his long history with posessions and losing his bodily autonomy, and then proceeds to gaslight Sam when he notices something is up, resulting in Kevin getting killed by a possessed Sam.

* TheCasanova: Dean is a classic ladies' man and very flirtatious. He's not much of a long-term relationship type of guy (apart from Lisa), being more of a one-night-stand.

* DeathIsTheOnlyOption: Dean [[spoiler:chooses to die in Season 9, purposely going up against the Metatron with no backup because the Mark of Cain that he took on to defeat Abbadon is turning him into a monster and he's almost hurt Sam and Castiel multiple times because he can't control it. Unfortunately for Dean this is the same choice Cain made, which is what activated his immortality and unstoppable rage...]]

* EvenTheGuysWantHim: In addition to hitting on and being appreciated by all females in the area, he's had several... suspect interactions with men that generally end with him having to tell them something along the lines of [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday "I don't swing that way"]]. Also, in "My Heart Will Go On" Balthazar states, "Sorry, you have me confused with the other angel. You know, the one in the dirty trenchcoat who's in love with you." [[spoiler: The latter is confirmed to be true in Season 15 when Castiel admits to having long been in love with him.]]"

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Dean became this after [[spoiler:John died and he had that big-secret-that-totally-wasn't weighing on his shoulders]], and has had such moments of ruthlessness every time his family leaves him or lets him down or he's really freaking out about his brother. Examples include when he encounters Gordon in Season 2 after [[spoiler:his father dies]]; when he so loses faith in his brother that he [[spoiler:agrees to the angels' plan in Season 5 even though it will destroy most of the world]]; and in Season 7 when he [[spoiler:kills Amy Pond (not that one) because he can't trust a monster not to kill again]], complete with a [[Film/KillBill Beatrix Kiddo]] moment with the woman's son afterward.

* IconicItem: The Samulet AKA Dean's iconic necklace. He even wore it [[spoiler:while he was in Hell.]] As of Season 10, it has returned, in wooden form, as a gift from a fan of the Supernatural books. Dean hangs it from the Impala's rear-view mirror.

** He's also this for Cas and Jack, in regards to acquainting them with the ups and downs of being human.

* QuickDraw: Dean is very familar with guns and trains constantly to keep his edge. He's also very fast on the draw. He carries his .45 in the small of his back, and when he and Sam were being held at gunpoint by the Men of Letters, he was fast enough to draw his gun, aim behind his back, and score a BoomHeadshot on a man already holding a gun on him from ten feet away. Then he got down to business with the rest of them...

* ScrewDestiny: This is Dean's motto in regards to everything in life. His ''mission'' too in the fifth season, leading him, Sam, and Cas to nickname themselves "Team Free Will." [[spoiler: After he learns that his entire life has been one big cosmic joke, Dean starts embodying this even more, setting out to defy any and all pre-ordained plans for him and his brother, and starts doing his damndest to fight back against his supposed destiny, to the point that he outright [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu rejects being the vessel of one of the most powerful angels in existence.]]]]

* TheStrategist: Though he does just charge into situations when he feels there isn't time to plan, Dean comes up with the majority of their plans to defeat the enemy or gain some advantage. Dean has also proven on multiple occasions to be a practically genius level strategist, and is very good at assessing his opponents' weaknesses and exploiting them to his advantage. He's also very good at [[OutGambitted out gambitting]] and quite often, if it looks like whatever he's facing is winning, he's actually only moments away from snapping his trap.

* StrongAndSkilled: By human standards he is this, but most especially when he receives [[zpoiler: the Mark of Cain.]] He fits this to a tee due to all the training he's had since he was a child, and he was already strong enough as a regular human, but with [[spoiler: the Mark]] he becomes even stronger to fight and kill even angels. But when [[spoiler: he is killed and becomes a demon Knight of Hell,]] he becomes downright ruthless and takes advantage of his strength and skill to do a lot of killing for Crowley.

** With Sam. Even through all the cluster-fucks they face together, at the end of the day, the two still have each others' backs.

* WeakButSkilled: As a human, Dean has great skills when fighting. However, he just doesn't have the SuperStrength supernatural beings seem to have; thankfully, he just uses his CombatPragmatist skills to make up for it. Subverted during Season 9 when he obtains [[spoiler: the Mark of Cain]] amd becomes StrongAndSkilled. The same goes for Season 10 when he becomes [[spoiler: a Knight of Hell.]]

** Season 10 pretty much sums this up when he uses all of his past tragedies as a hunter who lost almost everything he's ever cared about and becomes [[spoiler: an AxCrazy demon with a ruthless and sadistic attitude.]] Similar to Sam when he [[spoiler: literally had no soul,]] instead of becoming emotionless, Dean actually loves killing people and making them suffer as he gleefully stabbed a man who was in a depressed state just for kicks.

** This isn't his first rodeo with sadism either, as he has shown shades of this in the earlier seasons. He has been shown to brutally torture people, demons, and even gruesomely kill innocent creatures that don't partake in any malicious behavior. This is explicitly shown when he coldly kills Sam's old friend, Amy, for being a kitsune, albeit a kitsune who only wanted to keep her son alive and healthy. However, Dean's KnightTemplar ways prevented her from living and he murders her in front of her young son with no remorse. Thankfully, he has come a long way and has now gotten better, thanks to realizing the error of his old ways.