Dean Winchester
From Fan History Wiki
Dean Winchester is a character on The CW show Supernatural. Dean is the older of the two brothers on the show. When Dean was approximately four years old, his mother, Mary Winchester was killed in his younger brother's nursery by a demon. His father, John Winchester handed the infant Sam to Dean with the command to "Take your brother outside as fast as you can and don’t look back. Now, Dean, go!"
Obviously a pivotal moment in young Dean's life, in many ways taking care of Sam, watching out for him, protecting him, is the single most consistent thing in Dean's life. This has occasionally put Dean at odds with the other absolute in his life, his obedience to his father, in some cases, regardless of personal cost.
Dean is sometimes referred to as the Good Son and he is indeed, by most standards, both an excellent son, awesome big brother, and quite competent surrogate parent for Sam, through most of their lives. However, his equal devotion to both father and brother who were often at odds with one another as Sam got older, have left Dean with some weak spots in his own psyche. His own selflessness is almost pathological and not necessarily health (physically, mentally or emotionally), to the extent that he has little patience or empathy for anyone who doesn't promote the needs of others above themselves, including Sam at times. By Season 2, some of the deeply hidden resentment for being put in positions to nearly always sacrifice his own needs and wants comes bubbling to the surface.
Canon establishes that at an early age, Dean was at least some part of the time, responsible for Sam in the most basic ways of making sure he was fed and taken care of, went to bed. The earliest definitive example of Dean being left alone with Sam for more than a few hours was in the episode Something Wicked. Dean is approximately nine in this episode and Sam five. Dean is comfortable handling a shotgun, and from his bored and impatient tone with John Winchester while going over last-minute instructions, the indication is that this is not the first time John has left the boys alone for extended periods that go beyond a few hours or a regular work day.
There is little doubt that Dean will go to extraordinary lengths to protect his family, including murder, if necessary. What is less clear to him is that his father and brother are equally as prepared to sacrifice their lives (or more) for his. Dean's sense of self-worth seems to be largely based on how useful he feels in any given situation as opposed to the value other people place on his life and presence. He seems to be finally recognizing that disagreement doesn't mean disapproval. He disavows any desire to talk about his "feelings" and yet constantly urges Sam to open up (as long as Sam doesn't want to discuss how he feels about Dean.
In some areas, despite being the older of the two, Dean shows a great deal less emotional maturity than Sam. He functions better as part of a unit than alone, and is far more confident in his abilities as a hunter than he is in any other area. His ability to see himself outside of the terms of what he does is very limited, although by mid-season two, thee are some indications that he might at least be thinking outside of the box he's lived in for so long.
Despite clashes with Sam over fine details of their life, the mutual devotion of the brothers is fairly obvious and main drive behind the adorations of fans regarding the show. The demands put upon Dean by his father and brother often seem extreme or unreasonable, but they have and do , in large part, shape who Dean is, and are not necessarily any less extreme or unreasonable than the demands that Dean places on others to conform to his own standards.
Sam's presence in his life at this point, may be the most balancing influence Dean has ever been exposed to or experienced in his life. Despite their grief at the loss of their father at the beginning of Season 2, and their mutual fears over Sam's ultimate fate, Dean finds in his brother someone who is not completely afraid to be a little selfish and who repeatedly voices and shows that he wants more for Dean' than Dean wants for himself.
[edit] Relationship notes
- Dean's most important relationships are, without a doubt, those he has with his father and brother. He as a very competent second-in-command and some say, surrogate partner, to John Winchester. That he was also a son seeking his father's approval is also obvious. His relationships with Sam is both more contentious but also far more openly affectionate. While there are ups and downs and Dean will always be a "big brother", the boys function more as equal partners and even friends. Dean is cautiously proud of who Sam is and has become, and admires Sam's ability to stand on his own, in defiance of their father. But he also feels profoundly responsible for Sam's well-being.
- There is no doubt at all that Dean loves the ladies, and that they are equally fond of him. He is a notorious flirt, extremely confident (and not without reason) of his ability to get laid regularly and with minimal drama after the fun is over. He is as charming as he is crude, and comfortable with being on the prowl almost constantly. While part of his personality, it seems he often goes overboard on the prowl part just to make Sam squirm. It's entirely possible that the only thing he likes as much as sex, is riling Sam up over sex. (Although his preoccupation with food may come in as a close third.)
- Canonically, while Dean apparently doesn't have any difficult getting laid when he wants, there's only been one serious relationship in his life -- that with former girlfriend Cassie Robinson. The relationship was apparently serious enough for Dean to be completely honest about what he and his family did for a "living". This was a claim Cassie was unwilling to take at face value, accusing Dean of making up the story in order to break up. Later the truth of his admission was made very obvious to her, but again, the reality of Dean's life on the road was more than she was willing to take on, despite her obvious affection for him.
- Dean evinces many examples of an extraordinary empathy with children.
[edit] Physical Notes
Dean Winchester is a large young man. Actor Jensen Ackles is reported to be 6'1".
