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Special Children
- I have plans Sammy, plans for you and all the children like you...-Azazel (The Yellow-Eyed Demon), "Devil's Trap" (S01, Ep22)
Even before their births these children were chosen by Azazel (The Yellow-Eyed Demon) to serve as his soldiers during the Apocalypse. Special Children refers to chosen individuals to whom Azazel fed his blood on their 6 month birthdays, having snuck into their homes after making a deal with their parents. The result was that the blood awoke/created psychic abilities in them so they could (apparently) lead an army of demons in a war against humanity and God. In "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One" (S02, Ep21), Azazel tests these children to find who will be the strongest by putting them in an abandoned town called Cold Oak, South Dakota, and manipulating them to fight each other. Azazel led everyone to believe that he wanted a leader for his demon army. However, as it was later revealed, the endgame was bigger, and Azazel chose the children because they were all potential vessels for Lucifer. The strongest one would be chosen to contain Lucifer throughout the apocalypse.
Tropes related to the Special Children:
- Aborted Arc: Azazel briefly mentions other generations of Special Children that exist but only one ever comes up again and nothing really comes of it. Possibly they became useless to the demon cause once Azazel was killed.
- Adaptation Expansion: Lily and Jake get an episode of their own each ("Darkness Calling" and "Loser", respectively) in Supernatural: The Animation.
- Anti Anti Christ: While they are all potential vessels for Lucifer who have been fed demon blood, most of the Special Children are just young adults trying to fit in and deal with their powers.
- Badass Army: Their powers, the pattern of nursery fires, and the manipulation by Azazel (The Yellow-Eyed Demon), lead the Special Children to find each other, even before they start arriving in Cold Oak. A demon told Gordon Walker that they were intended to fight on Hell's side in the upcoming war.
- Bad Powers, Bad People: Ansem and Max quickly start using their powers to murder people.
- Bad Powers, Good People: Sam, who tries to use his powers to help people when he uses them at all (though even that ends up being dangerous), and Andy, who is just an ordinary guy with no interest in hurting anyone.
- Blessed with Suck: The psychic visions are accompanied by headaches, and it takes Ava and Sam some time to understand what their visions of death really are. Lily accidentally kills her girlfriend by touching her. Scott started to develop migraines, depression, paranoia, and nightmares, as his power manifested. Also, most of their powers don't work on other Special Children, so plenty of them don't get any benefits. (Lily in particular gets it bad—the one time she's in a situation where instakilling people via touch would actually do her some good, it doesn't work.)
- Bio-Augmentation: All of the Special Children possess demon blood within their blood, courtesy of Azazel bleeding in their mouths at 6 months of age.
- Bizarre Baby Boom: While there are hints there may be multiple generations including Rosie's generation born in 2006, the story focuses on children born in 1983.
- The Chosen Many: They were chosen by Azazel (The Yellow-Eyed Demon) based on their pedigree, and he then has them battle to find the one true vessel for Lucifer.
- Co-Dragons: To Azazel in Season 2. The Winchesters encounter several Special Children that have been corrupted into working for Azazel.
- Combo Platter Powers: While most of the Special Children have Psychic Powers, some also have Super Strength or Touch of Death. Scott uses electrocution to kill with his touch.
- The Corruptible: Azazel (The Yellow-Eyed Demon) plays The Corrupter by manipulating the Special Children by killing or threatening family and loved ones, promising power and glory, or exploiting feelings of loneliness or a desire for revenge.
- Creator Provincialism: Unless Azazel is performing separate trials in other nations, it seems that all of Lucifer's potential vessels are Americans.
- Cursed with Awesome: Andy seems to enjoy his telepathy, despite the fact that it was given to him by the King of Hell.
- The Dark Side: Unfortunately, most of the Special Children succumb to evil.
- The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: Once Ava, Jake, and eventually Sam, give into their dark side, they find it easier to continue on this path.
- Deal with the Devil: The parents of the children made this 9.5 years prior to their birth.
- Demoted to Extra: In focusing more on Lily and Jake, Supernatural: The Animation dropped early episodes featuring Andy and Ava. It also didn't feature Rosie, Ansem, or Scott.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Ava and Sam.
- Drunk on the Dark Side: Max and Ansem revel in their new powers and use them to exact revenge.
- Ghost Town: Cold Oak, where Azazel gathers the children.
- Involuntary Battle to the Death: Azazel gathers all the surviving children in Cold Oak once their powers have manifested, and they fight to the death as There Can Be Only One, who will be the leader of his army.
- It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: The children are manipulated by Azazel, who eventually forces them to fight to the death.
- I Am a Monster: Sam and the other Special Children are worried about what they may become as their powers manifest and they start to understand Azazel's plan.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Azazel does not have to push all of the Special Children very hard to get them to become murderers.
- Killed Off for Real: All except Sam, who came back from the dead thanks to Dean's deal with the crossroads demon.
- Missing Mom: Most of the kids' moms were telekinetically pinned to the ceiling, gutted, and burned alive by Azazel when they were babies because they interrupted him as he was feeding the babies his blood. This includes Sam, Max, Andy, Lily, Jake, and Scott.
- Mind Control: Andy, Ansem, and later on Jake can utilize Compelling Voice.
- Mind Manipulation: Andy gains the ability to implant images in another person's mind.
- Mind over Matter: Max and Sam can move objects with telekinesis.
- Must Be Invited: Azazel needed this to enter the homes of the children.
- Psycho Serum: The demon blood of Azazel, which he fed all of the Special Children at 6 months of age.
- Puberty Superpower: These children develop their powers as young adults at 22 years of age.
- Summon Magic: Ava learns a very specific form of mind control which she uses on an Acheri demon to help her kill the others at Cold Oak.
- Superhuman Transfusion: They received Azazel's blood to prepare them as infants. Drinking demon blood, as Sam does, also has the ability to increase their powers and is required for Lucifer's vessel.
- Tyke Bomb: Engineered by Azazel to serve in the Apocalypse.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Max, Ansem, Ava, Jake, and eventually Sam get Drunk with Power sooner or later. The only exception seems to be Andy, who got stronger (on his own) but not crazier.
Max Miller (Brendan Fletcher)
- "When I first found out I could move things it was a gift. My whole life I was helpless but now I had this."
He lives in Saginaw, Michigan, and was trying to save up money to go to school. Max's mother died pinned to the ceiling above his crib when he was 6 months of age. Max was abused by his father, Jim Miller, and his uncle, Roger Miller, as he grew up, while his stepmother, Alice, did nothing to help him. After he gains telekinetic abilities, he takes revenge on those who abused him. Sam and Dean meet him while investigating the death of Jim Miller from carbon monoxide poisoning, which Sam had seen in a vision before it happened. Appears in "Nightmare" (S01, Ep14).
- Alliterative Name: The only one of the Special Children with this trait.
- Abusive Parents: Max's father and uncle.
- Asshole Victim: Killed his own aforementioned Abusive Parents, and then himself.
- Basement-Dweller: He is still living at home to save up for school.
- Driven to Suicide: Max takes his own life.
- Eye Scream: Attempts this on his stepmother.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: He was a slacker until his powers manifested.
- Killed Off for Real: Kills himself at the end of his debut episode.
- Maternal Death? Blame the Child!: While it's never stated, it's likely Max's father and uncle blame him for his mother's death.
- Mind over Matter: He has telekinesis.
- Red-Headed Stepchild: At least to his Wicked Stepmother.
- Revenge Before Reason: Despite Sam telling him that they're both given their powers (and had their mothers killed) by some unknown party, Max still wants to kill his stepmother.
- Self-Made Orphan: Max killed his father.
Rose "Rosie" Holt
Born in 2006 in Salvation, Iowa, to Monica and Charlie Holt. The Yellow-Eyed Demon enters her nursery on her 6 month birthday, but Sam and Dean save Rosie and Rosie's mother, who like so many Supernatural mothers wears a long white nightgown, from the house fire that erupts. It is unknown whether the Yellow-Eyed Demon had time to feed her his blood and whether she has any special abilities. Appears in "Salvation" (S01, Ep21).
- Apocalypse Maiden: She has the potential to be Lucifer's vessel in another 23 years.
- Babies Make Everything Better
- Outrun the Fireball: Dean pulls her from her crib just as it erupts in fire.
- Pink Means Feminine: She wears a pink coat with a hood.
- Portent of Doom: John Winchester follows a pattern of demon signs that help them find Rosie. Sam's visions also help identify the Holt family.
- Spinoff Babies: Part of the next generation of special children.
- Tyke-Bomb: The Yellow-Eyed Demon has plans for her.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The Winchesters are never shown checking back in with the Holts to see how Rosie is doing, and they never make an effort to track down the other Special Children who may be part of Rosie's generation. These children should start manifesting psychic powers around 2028, though given that Azazel is dead they may never find out.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Her mother recognizes something special in her daughter.Monica Holt: She never cries. She just stares at everybody. Sometimes she looks at you and I swear it’s – it’s like she’s reading your mind.
Andrew "Andy" Gallagher (Gabriel Tigerman)
- "I mean, you, you learn you've got a twin, you call him up, you go out for a drink, you don't start killing people!"
He was born to 18 year old Holly Beckett on June 30, 1983, in Guthrie, Oklahoma, along with his twin brother. Each of the brothers were adopted by different families, and they did not meet until they were adults. Andy's adoptive mother was killed by the Yellow-Eyed Demon on December 30, 1983. He was able to manipulate people using his power of mind control while living out of his blue van with a barbarian queen painted on the side. Appears in "Simon Said" (S02, Ep05) and "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One" (S02, Ep21).
- Adaptation Distillation: Andy has a reduced role in Supernatural: The Animation. He does not appear until "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 1" and his powers are limited to Telepathy.
- Cain and Abel: Andy kills Ansem to stop him from killing Dean and Tracey shortly after he finds out he and Ansem are twins.
- Charm Person: Everyone likes him and he can convince them to do what he wants using mind control.
- Compelling Voice: He convinces Dean to let him take the Impala.
- Genius Book Club: The books in Andy's van include: Hegel, Kant, and Wittgenstein.
- Happily Adopted: Despite the death of his adopted mother.
- Jedi Mind Trick: The license plate of Andy's van is "RU-OBI-1".
- Killed Off for Real: He is killed by an Acheri demon that was summoned by Ava Wilson in "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 1".
- Mind Rape: Andy admits to beaming sexually explicit images into another guy's brain at all hours of the day because he thought the guy was a dick. This is played for comedy as the images consist of gay porn.
- Nice Guy: A little mischievous but a genuinely good person.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Cannot be killed by fire, decapitation, or holy water.
- Old Flame: Tracy and he used to date, and have remained friends. He still cares enough about Tracy that he never uses his mind control on her, and Ansem targets Tracy because he thinks there is still a spark between Andy and Tracy.
- Pimped-Out Car: Andy drives a van with a barbarian queen riding a polar bear on the side and a disco ball, beaded curtain, and tiger painted on velvet in the back.
- Plucky Comic Relief: His reaction to developing the ability to project images into people's heads is to torment a Jerkass by making him think about gay porn.
- Polar Opposite Twins: The good twin.
- Power Perversion Potential: Andy uses his mind control ability to avoid creditors and get people to give him things. But, more disturbingly, we first see Andy leaving an apartment in a robe as a woman on the second story blows a kiss at him, with the implication that he used his ability to convince the woman to engage in sex with him.
- Separated at Birth: From his brother Ansem.
- Service Sector Stereotypes: The last job for which he received a W2 was working in a coffee house.
- The Slacker: He uses his mind control to convince people to give him what he needs to get by.
- The Stoner: Andy has a large bong in his van, and was doing his 4th bong load when he was abducted by the Yellow-Eyed Demon and brought to Cold Oak.
- Token Good Teammate: Andy is the only one out of the Special Children not to succumb to With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
Ansem Weems aka Weber (Elias Toufexis)
- "He came to me. In my dream. He said I was special. He told me he's got big plans for me. Wait 'till you see what's in store, Andy, for both of us!"
He is Andy Gallagher's twin and was born to 18 year old Holly Beckett on June 30, 1983, in Guthrie, Oklahoma, but was adopted by the Weems family from upstate while Andy was adopted by a family in Guthrie. There was no house fire when he was 6 months alone as the Yellow-Eyed Demon was not interrupted, which leads the Winchesters to realize that they could not find all the Special Children by tracking this pattern of house fires. The Yellow-Eyed Demon tells him he has plans for him and also tells him that he has a brother. This leads Ansem to use the fake last name of Weber and take a job in the coffee house where Andy used to work. Appears in "Simon Said" (S02, Ep05).
- Asshole Victim: Pushed off a bridge by his brother Andy.
- Cain and Abel: Andy kills Ansem to stop him from killing Dean and Tracey.
- Compelling Voice: Like his brother, he can control other people with the sound of his voice.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Ansem tries to kill Tracey because he is concerned about his brother developing other relationships.
- Duct Tape for Everything: Ansem manages to continue to use his mind control despite a duct tape gag.
- Evil Evolves: He has developed his mind control ability beyond what his brother can do, and he is able to control people without a verbal command.
- Evil Twin: To Andy.
- Killed Off for Real: Pushed off a bridge in "Simon Said".
- Motive Rant: Once Andy confronts Ansem, he admits that he killed Dr. Jennings and their mother because they split up the brothers. Ansem also plans to kill Tracy because he thinks she is trying to come between Andy and him.
- Near-Rape Experience: Tracey was being asked to strip by Ansem, when Andy and Sam interrupted them.
- Polar Opposite Twins: The Evil one.
- Psychic-Assisted Suicide: How he kills his victims.
- Separated at Birth
Scott Carey (Richard de Klerk)
- "I have this ability. When I touch something, I can electrocute it if I want."
Scott's mother died in a nursery fire when he was 6 months old like Sam, Andy, and Max. This pattern allows Ash to identify Scott as one of the Special Children. Scott, who lives in Lafayette, Indiana, starts to get migraines, and the Yellow-Eyed Demon appears to him in his dreams. He finds he has the ability to kill with electricity through touch. He confesses all of this and the plans the Yellow-Eyed Demon told him about to his psychiatrist, Dr. George Waxler, who does not believe him. Later Ava helps Sam steal Scott's confidential psychiatric medical records. Appears in "Hunted" (S02, Ep10).
- Blood from the Mouth: After being stabbed in the stomach.
- Kick the Dog: Scott fried the neighbor's cat to test his power and because the Yellow-Eyed Demon told him to.
- Only Sane Man: Explaining his powers and the Yellow-Eyed Demon to his therapist.
- Room Full of Crazy: The wall full of yellow eyes in his closet.
- Shock and Awe: Able to electrocute things and people.
- Touch of Death: Like Lily, Scott can kill with his touch.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Killed 4 minutes into the episode he is introduced in.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Stabbed and killed by the hunter Gordon Walker because he sees him as a monster and threat to humanity.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Started to develop depression, paranoia, and nightmares, as his power manifested.
Ava Wilson (Katharine Isabelle)
- "Screw you, buddy. Okay? Because I'm a secretary from Peoria and I'm not part of anything! Okay?"
Ava is a secretary in Peoria, Illinois, who is engaged to marry Brady. She tracks Sam down in Lafayette, Indiana, after she has a vision of Sam dying in an explosion. She disappears after her fiancé is murdered, and Sam and Dean spend a month looking for her without success. Sam finds her 5 months later in Cold Oak, South Dakota. Appears in "Hunted" (S02, Ep10) and "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One" (S02, Ep21).
- Arbitrary Skepticism: In "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One" she refuses to believe that demons exist, despite knowing she is a psychic. Subverted, as she actually knew about the demon the whole time and was just playing a trick to hide her real intentions.
- Asshole Victim: Jake Talley snaps her neck in "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One" after she gives in to the dark side.
- The Cutie: And, per Supernatural's usual fare, she gets broken, corrupted, and killed in short order.
- Distaff Counterpart: To Sam, sharing his visions and dead fiancé. Even when they go off the deep end, how their powers develop mirror each other's — Ava controls demons to kill others, Sam exorcises and kills demons with his brain.
- Evil Feels Good: She is forced to start killing to survive Azazel's twisted contest. Eventually, Ava starts to enjoy it.
- Face–Heel Turn: She is recruited to the dark side by the Yellow-Eyed Demon.
- Face on a Milk Carton: In "Playthings" (S02, Ep11) we see a missing person poster which describes her as 5'5" and 108 lbs. with blue eyes and brown hair.
- Killed Off for Real: Jake snaps her neck in "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One".
- The Lost Lenore: Brady is killed 8 weeks before they were supposed to be married.
- Neck Snap: Killed this way by Jake to save Sam.
- Plucky Office Girl: Supernatural's secretary from Peoria.
- Seers: Has visions of the future. Many of the visions involved death and the other special children like Scott and Sam.
- Summon Magic: Able to control an Acheri Demon.
Jake Talley (Aldis Hodge)
- "I’ve heard enough. I’m better off on my own. FYI, so are you."
Jake lost his mother in a fire when he was six months old. Jake is raised by his grandmother, Debra, in East St. Louis, Illinois, with his sister, Lynn, and younger brother, Danny. He joins the US Army to stay out of trouble and serves as a private in Afghanistan. Jake finds he has super strength when he lifts a tank off Tyrone, a Sergeant who had bullied him. Appears in "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One" (S02, Ep21) and "Part Two".
- Adaptational Heroism: In the anime, he doesn't grow to accept Azazel's influence and instead continues to only reluctantly follow him. He also doesn't realize that Sam was brought back to life thanks to a Crossroads Demon and instead believes that the wound wasn't fatal, genuinely relieved to see he's alive.
- Anti-Villain: By the end of "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 1", he regretfully kills Sam so that he knows at least one of them will survive to kill Azazel, but Azazel then strong-arms Jake into working for him.
- Asshole Victim: Like Ava, he is killed after giving in to Azazel's influence.
- Compelling Voice: After giving into Azazel's influence and embracing his psychic powers Jake is able to mind control Ellen and force her to put her own gun to her head.
- Good-Looking Privates: He is wearing an Army Combat Uniform (ACU) with the rank insignia of a private. Dialogue reveals that he disappeared from Afghanistan.
- Killed Off for Real: Shot three times in the back by Sam in "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part Two".
- Knight Templar Big Brother: To his unnamed, unseen little sister.
- The Lancer: To Sam in Cold Oak.
- Laser-Guided Karma: While Sam's distracted, a seemingly unconscious Jake takes the opportunity to sneak up behind him with a knife and stab him In the Back. Later on, Sam comes back to life and repeatedly shoots Jake in the back.
- Love Makes You Evil: Azazel manipulates Jake's love for his family to get him to cooperate: first, he threatens to force-feed Jake's mom and little sister their own intestines if Jake doesn't do as he's told. After that, he tempts Jake into opening the devil's gate by promising that his family will be rich and safe forever in return.
- Meaningful Name: "Jake" comes from "Jacob", which means "supplanter", He unexpectedly wins the competition by killing "heavyweight champ" Ava and Sam, the last remaining psychics.
- Super Strength: Azazel gave him this. When he first demonstrated his superhuman strength, people assumed it was a one-time adrenaline rush, but it ended up happening again.
- Teach Him Anger: "Loser" revolved around Azazel's attempts to make Jake crack under pressure and turn evil. He originally intended to slaughter Jake's family like he promised to do in the original series, so that Jake would come home from leave to find them Stuffed in the Fridge a la Jessica, but then the Winchesters intervened. Instead, Jake's little brother gets shot and killed in front of him by the fellow soldier whose respect he finally earned. It still doesn't work, as Jake remains a decent human being.
- Token Minority: The only non-white Special Child.
- "Uh-Oh" Eyes: Blink it and you miss, but Jake's eyes briefly flash pale yellow in the graveyard scene.
- The Unchosen One: The Yellow-Eyed Demon makes it clear he favored Sam.
- Villains Want Mercy: But Sam does not give it.
Lily Baker (Jessica Harmon)
- "I touch people? Their hearts stop. I can barely leave my house. My life’s not exactly improved. So, screw you, I just wanna go home."
Lily was abandoned by her father, Gray Baker, after he witnessed the Yellow-Eyed Demon feeding his blood to 6 month old Lily and killing Lily's mother. She lives in San Diego, California, and finds out about her powers when she accidentally kills her girlfriend by stopping her heart when she touches her. Appears in "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One" (S02, Ep21).
- Accidental Murder: She inadvertently killed her girlfriend by touching her. Naturally, Lily feels guilty as hell over this.
- Adaptational Badass: In the anime, her touch based ability includes the power to exorcise demons with a touch. She's demonstrated this ability on Azazel, and its effectiveness may extend to demons like Samhain and Lilith.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: In the anime, she's a brunette with Boyish Short Hair rather than a long-haired blonde.
- Broken Bird: Very much so due to accidentally killing her girlfriend.
- Disappeared Dad: In the anime, her father, Gray, abandons her after witnessing Azazel feeding her his blood when she was an infant and killing her mother. Gray later teams up with John to save Lily and kill Azazel in "Darkness Calling". Although Lily exorcises the demon and father and daughter reunite, Azazel later returns, possesses Gray, and forces Lily to exorcise him by touch again... this time, killing her father.
- Expy: Lily, with her black leather jacket, long hair, and brooding attitude, has many similarities with Rogue, which go beyond their power to kill with a touch.
- Gay Gal Dies First: The first on-screen causality of Azazel's contest. To add insult to injury, Lily is offed so quickly that she never gets any real characterisation outside being lesbian and she never gets a chance to demonstrate her powers on-screen, and she is even Killed Offscreen.
- Genre Blindness: Ignores the other children's warning to stay in the town and stick together, by sneaking away to try to escape through the woods. She is caught by one of Ava's Acheri demons, and hung from a windmill. In Lily's case, it might not be Genre Blindness so much as her desperation leading her to make rash decisions.
- Killed Offscreen: She is killed during the first night, presumably in an ambush as she was trying to get away.
- Hide Your Lesbians: The anime adaption turned Lily's girlfriend into her "friend who is a girl".
- Maternal Death? Blame the Child!: Her father abandons her after her mother's death.
- Only One Name: In the main show. The anime gives her the surname "Baker".
- Self-Made Orphan: Anime-only.
- Touch of Death: Can give people heart attacks by touching them.
