Sam Winchester/Abilities and Weaknesses

Powers and Abilities

 * Master Hunter: Having been trained by John Winchester, one of the best Hunters in history, Sam is an excellent hunter, one of the best in history, although he has admitted that his skills are not on par with Dean and his father. Sam has proven capable of handling his own against highly formidable supernatural threats and with aid from his brother, stop world-ending threats. While inferior to Dean, Dean has been seen to hold his brother's hunting skills at a high regard, being confident that Sam is capable of killing the powerful Vampire Benny, which he used to warn him.
 * Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Sam is a highly capable martial artist. From a young age, he was trained as a child, as Sam, at 14 years old, manages to beat a boy twice his size to the ground without much effort and quickly best Amy Pond's bullies by himself. Even while rusty, Sam was still fairly proficient in hand-to-hand combat and he quickly got back in shape and continued to improve his abilities in fighting, being able to hold his own and even overpower certain supernatural creatures such as certain types of monsters and lower-level demons with his remarkable strength as well as easily defeat many armed humans. While inferior to Dean in terms of skill, Sam is by no means not capable of standing up to him and with his superior strength backing him up, he can even overpower Dean while Dean was clouded by his emotions, making him one of the very few humans to have ever defeated Dean. Even while Dean was powered by the Mark and had easily surpassed Sam's strength, Sam was still able to make Dean fight with reasonable effort, able to deflect some of Dean's blows and land his own, but was ultimately trounced soundly. He has also proven to be able to frequently outfight or challenge incredibly trained and skilled fighters, as shown by how he effortlessly beat Deputy Sheriff Atkins to a pulp, came out victorious over Gordon Walker despite having been disarmed and briefly overwhelmed, overpowered fellow Hunters Tim Janklow and Reggie Hull, disarmed and stood up to a S.W.A.T officer before getting arrested, proved to be more than a match for Lady Toni Bevell, who had earlier matched his mother Mary, and took on 2 secret agents simultaneously without getting a single blow before ultimately being held in gunpoint. Sam also managed to trade more blows with the Alternate Michael than Castiel did while in Dean's mind but was soon knocked down and when Michael was off-guard, he was able to punch him into the bar cooler, stunning him long enough for Castiel to lock the door and leaving Michael effectively imprisoned. He has even been seen to be capable of standing his ground against particularly powerful supernatural creatures, as shown by how he was able to retain the upper hand over Jake despite his superior strength, only being killed upon being caught off-guard, briefly get a grip on the Grigori Tarmiel and held him off for a time, landing a punch, before being tossed aside, briefly held his own against Lucifer alongside his brother and Castiel despite being weakened from the severe beating the Devil put him through, managing to land a hit on him despite being weakened from a brutal beating from the Archangel, albeit he caught him off-guard and was soon knocked down, stopped Ramiel's attempt to stab Dean with the Lance of Michael and managed to hold him off in a struggle over the Lance of Michael as well as punch him once, holding him off long enough for Mary to stab him from the back and allow him to gain control over the Lance and kill him with it, and stood his ground against Kipling for a time, ultimately holding him off long enough to surprise and kill him.
 * Master Swordsman: Although he uses blades less often than Dean and does not seem to be as skilled as his brother, Sam is nevertheless considerably capable in swordplay and has displayed the ability to wield bladed weapons skillfully to kill supernatural creatures.
 * Master Marksman: Sam is an excellent marksman, having been trained by John how to use firearms since his childhood. Just like Dean, he is capable of outshooting most humans he met and can put down most supernatural creatures vulnerable to this type of weaponry.
 * High-level Intellect: Arguably the smarter one of the brothers, Sam has vast knowledge of the supernatural and is considered an "encyclopedia of weirdness" by Dean. Both of them have some knowledge of pop culture, as they frequently make references - such as Dean calling Sam "Dumbledork". He is skilled in reading, speaking and memorizes text and spells in foreign languages (usually Latin) and is often stuck with doing the research for their latest hunt. Sam is also quick to think on his feet; succeeding in preventing a demon from escaping his vessel by reciting an exorcism chant backwards. He is also shown to have an adequate knowledge of Spanish. Sam is perceptive to body language and can easily pick up on unconscious gestures to read their "poker face" - he is very good at poker. He is an expert tactician, able to fight or diplomatically steer his way out of many complicated situations, and generally prefers to use words instead of brute strength. He also 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, the number of turns the car took and the sounds he heard during the journey. He is very proficient in criminal acts such as lock picking, computer hacking, and car jacking. Sam has an in-depth knowledge on the workings of various law organizations (FBI, CDC, Police, etc.) enough to pose as one if the situation requires it. Sam is also the technology expert of the duo, as he's the one doing research and technology-based jobs. Sam was able to outwit a nine-hundred year old witch in poker in "The Curious Case of Dean Winchester," when Dean and even Bobby couldn't. In "...And Then There Were None", Sam spotted a tripwire when Rufus, Bobby and Dean didn't see it. He was also smart enough to exploit the demon, Kipling's mistake of being distracted by admiring the demon killing knife (instead of immediately killing him with it) in order to stab him with it when he was caught off guard.
 * Indomitable Will: Sam has also demonstrated that he possesses great willpower. Upon seeing something from his past in the Impala, he was able to use his memories to briefly overpower Lucifer's possession of him and regain control of his body. Even Death himself believed Sam was the only one who could overcome Lucifer, and even thought of it as an honor when he was going to reap him, and all this is saying something. He later replicated this feat with the less powerful Gadreel, though in that scenario he seemed to use his anger as well as his will. His mental endurance is shown by how after his revival and having his soul restored, Sam managed to cope with the mental hallucinations caused by being tortured by Lucifer for several months - at one point staying awake for about four days straight - while remaining a functional hunter, before ultimately starting to cave in.
 * Top Physical Conditioning: Known for being the stronger one between him and Dean, Sam possesses remarkable physical strength and durability to the point of being capable of overpowering lesser supernatural creatures with his strength and withstanding powerful blows from superhuman foes without much trouble. When the shapeshifter was fighting Sam in "Skin," it was luminously obvious that he was trying when fighting him, even though he had super strength. After taking a semi rough beating from Jake in "All Hell Breaks Loose - Part 1," Sam was able to kick him around with just one foot, and also later into the fight, with just one arm. When two ghouls tore into him in "Jump the Shark," Sam lost a ton of blood but he was able to retain consciousness and it didn't do any permanent damage. When undertaking the trials to close the gates of Hell, despite the extreme physical damage and resulting weakness it caused him, Sam still managed to perform some respectable feats, such as knocking Dean unconscious with two punches. While being tortured by Ms. Watt, an expert torturer, Sam didn't break, stating that after being tortured by Lucifer, there's nothing they can do to break him. Ms. Watt was impressed and shocked by this, stating that no one could take the amount of pain Sam did and not break. He was also tortured mentally by Lady Toni Bevell and was not only able to see through it, but fake his reaction to it to trick her and attempt an escape. He has displayed the ability to quickly recover from particularly severe beatings from beings of superhuman force, as he could remain conscious after a severe beating from Lucifer and remain quite able when fighting him alongside Dean and Castiel and in addition to briefly able to struggle for control of the demon knife with the demon Kipling, he was only briefly distorted and quickly regained full consciousness after being beaten by him and managed to kill off the demon when he was distracted.
 * Intimidation: Due to his legendary reputation, Sam is extremely intimidating to various monsters and demons. The best example of this is how Kipling acknowledged that his henchmen feared Sam and after killing Kipling, Sam was able to abolish the position of Ruler of Hell by threatening that any contenders for the position would have to go through him.
 * Leadership Qualities: Though Sam, for the most part follows Dean's leadership, he has shown to be a capable leader himself. This is best shown by how he led the assault on the British Men of Letters stronghold and won, despite the casualties suffered by his side, and how he is currently leading his own network of Hunters.
 * Multi-language: Sam is fluent in Latin and written Enochian, knows enough Spanish to have a conversation, and knows a few gestures in the American Sign Language.

Abilities granted by Gadreel
During the first half of Season 9, he had Superhuman Strength, Angelic Photokinesis and Accelerated Healing Abilities, due to the presence of Gadreel inside his body. However, Gadreel had to take control in order to use his Angelic powers. This was seen when the Shaman cut Sam's throat, Gadreel instantly took control & regenerated the damaged tissue within a few seconds, before handing Sam back his bodily control. Even without Gadreel in control, Sam's extensively damaged physiology was able to operate at peak efficiency. Vesta managed to scan Sam's body and pointed out that his body cannot possibly be alive, as it is nothing but "ducktape and safety pins inside". This was due to Gadreel's presence inside him, slowly healing the damage done to his body as well as healing himself.

Abilities granted by spells
Sam has displayed himself to be capable of using magic spells to gain powerful abilities such as:
 * Mediumship - Through séances, Sam has been able to contact ghosts such as Thomas Gregory and the Sailor's Ghost's brother.
 * Dream Walking - Through the use of African Dream Root, Sam gains the ability to enter the dreams of others. He is able to manipulate the dreamscape he is within which Bobby Singer suggests may be due to his own psychic abilities, but not necessarily as Jeremy Frost showed an even greater level of control without being psychic.
 * Astral Projection - With the help of a spell cast by psychic Pamela Barnes, Sam was able to astral project. He later astral projected with the help of witch James Frampton.
 * Invisibility - While astral projecting, Sam was invisible to those around him though high-level demons such as Alastair could see him.
 * Super Strength - While astral projecting for the first time and having been turned into a ghost as a result, Sam had greater than normal strength after learning how to use his ghostly powers.
 * Telekinesis - As a ghost through astral projection, Sam was telekinetic but required Dean's aid to muster the strength to drop a chandelier from the celling.
 * Teleportation - While a ghost through astral projection, Sam could teleport.
 * Summoning and Banishing - Through various rituals, Sam has been able to summon demons, angels and pagan gods. He is also moderately proficient at banishing, occasionally banishing angels and once banishing malevolent fairies. He is not as proficient as Dean at banishing however.
 * Hex Bag Creation - Sam is able to create hex bags after learning the skill from the demon Ruby.
 * Supernatural Concealment - Sam is able to conceal himself and his brother from demonic detection through hex bags he creates.
 * Warding - Over time, Sam has become proficient at warding locations from threats such as demons and angels.
 * Molecular Combustion - Through the witch-killing spell, Sam can cause witches to combust as Spencer Wallis did when Sam and Dean used the spell upon him.
 * Soul Absorption - Using a ritual, Sam has been able to store a soul in his arm.
 * Soul Deliverance - Using a spell, Sam was able to send a soul he rescued from Hell to Heaven.
 * Resurrection - Sam intended to use a ritual to resurrect Benny Lafitte but was prevented when Benny stayed behind in Purgatory.
 * Hell Gates Closing - By completing the Trials of God, Sam would've been able to close the Gates of Hell had he not stopped at the last minute.
 * Demon Curing - Using the Demon Curing Ritual, Sam has been able to cure one demon and nearly another one before he stopped.
 * Portal Creation - Using a spell from the Men of Letters files, Sam was able to open a portal into Cuthbert Sinclair's magically hidden mansion. Sam was later able to use a ritual from the Demon Tablet to open a rift to Apocalypse World.
 * Ground Consecration - Sam is able to use a ritual to consecrate ground.
 * Ward Breaking (attempted) - Using the Cabirian Invocation, Sam attempted to break the deadly wards protecting the Werther Box. However, due to Suzie's interruption, the spell fizzled out and Sam's attempt failed.
 * Demon Killing - Using a spell provided to him by Rowena, Sam was capable of killing lower-level demons, but couldn't kill Crowley who was the spell's intended target and was able to overcome it.
 * Sigil Magic - Sam has proven proficient at using sigil magic to his advantage, such as killing a Soul Eater and severely weakening Lucifer.
 * Spell Adaptation - Sam has shown the ability to adapt spells to his benefit such as when he adapted the witch-killing spell into bullets which are also highly effective on witches.
 * Monster Curing - Sam has shown slight talent in curing monsters that can be reverted to humans. Using the cure developed by the Campbell Family, Sam has been able to cure vampires who have not yet fully turned. He was also able to create a cure for the Rabid infection.
 * Chronokinesis - Using the Blood Sigil as modified by Rowena MacLeod, Sam was able to return Gavin MacLeod to 1723.
 * Colt Bullet Creation - Using a ritual taught to him by Bobby Singer, Sam can create bullets for the legendary Colt which is capable of killing all but five beings in existence.
 * Blood Purification - Using a ritual, Sam was able to purify his, Dean and Lady Toni Bevell's blood to the point that it was essentially "revirginized."
 * Rift Sealing - Working with Crowley, Sam was able to perform a ritual that sealed a rift in space and time leading to an alternate reality.

Special Child Abilities
As a result of being fed demon blood as a baby by Azazel and thus being branded as one of the Special Children, Sam has exhibited over the course of the series various supernatural powers and an immunity to demon powers and diseases. Initially his powers were weak and fluctuating due his inexperience and later hesitation of using said powers. At the start of the fourth season, Sam has begun drinking demon blood under Ruby's tutelage in order to become stronger, eventually manifesting the ability to exorcise demons with his mind. By consuming ever greater amounts of demon blood (which became an addiction to him), his powers continued to grow to the point where he could exorcise and destroy white-eyed demons such as Alastair and ultimately Lilith. In Lucifer Rising, it is revealed that Sam only needed to drink Demon Blood as a child, therefore his body naturally has these abilities. The reason Sam was fed and compelled to feed on demon blood, was to strengthen his physiology and prepare him as the perfect vessel for Lucifer. However, even though he naturally has supernatural powers, the demon blood does give them a temporary increase in his power's potency. When having consumed several gallons of demon blood, Sam destroyed Lucifer's demon bodyguards with a minor thought. Sam would lose his powers and craving for the blood on two occasions: first when Lucifer was released and God took him and Dean away from Lucifer and cleared Sam from the blood, the second, when he was resurrected and released from Lucifer's Cage. Sam's powers included:
 * Precognition - Sam possessed the power to see into the future and even have visions of people in danger.
 * Clairsentience - Initially, Sam's powers manifested solely as a form of heightened senses allowing him to sense the presence of supernatural. Sam is able to sense supernatural presences in the old Winchester family home and was able to sense Dean's spirit during a time of great stress.
 * Demon Detection - Under severe craving for demon blood due to Famine's power, Sam could detect demons within a short proximity.
 * Telekinesis - When under extreme situations, Sam displayed minor feats of telekinesis. His power grew considerably the more demon blood he consumed to the point where he could throw around and restrain top-level demons such as Alastair and Lilith by using his mind with the wave of a hand.
 * Super strength - The demon blood also increased Sam's physical strength, allowing him to overpower low-level demons and humans, including his brother Dean.
 * Immunity - Sam was completely immune to a variety of demonic powers and of those of other Special Children. Even before he started to consume demon blood, he was unaffected by Andrew Gallagher and Ansem Weems' Mind Control powers, the Croatoan Virus, and Lilith and Samhain's White Light. Although Lilith was initially able to use telekinesis to incapacitate Sam, he became immune to her powers (including her telekinesis) after she tried to kill him with White Light. As he continued to drink demon blood, he even became immune to other demons' powers, such as Alastair's telekinesis. However, after he stopped drinking demon blood, he lost his immunity to other demons' powers.
 * Exorcism - Under Ruby's tutelage, Sam learned how to use his powers to exorcise demons with his mind. Initially he had extreme difficulty with controlling and maintaining this power due to his initial hesitation of drinking demon blood. Though he was able to exorcise Samhain with a minimal consumption of demon blood, he was unable to do more than make Alastair choke and later on had no effect whatsoever on Lilith. However once he committed himself to drink the blood and destroy Lilith, his powers grew to the point where he could exorcise virtually any demon.
 * Demon Smiting - After drinking more blood than usual from Ruby and having been honing his powers for months, Sam was able to kill a demon as powerful as Alastair. By drinking an even larger amount of blood from both Ruby and another demon, Sam managed to kill the firstborn demon, Lilith, though it still required extreme concentration and difficulty and left him greatly drained of his stamina. When preparing to say "yes" to Lucifer, Sam drank several gallons of demon blood, which allowed him to kill Lucifer's demon bodyguards with minimal mental effort and without moving.
 * Demon Torture - Sam also was able to cause demons extreme levels of pain which he used to torture them for information. He was so skilled at this ability that Alastair (who had a very strong will and withstood hours of torture from Dean and the angels) broke within seconds and another demon begged for death. As they were tortured, their bodies glowed from the inside out as their incorporeal form was being damaged inside their vessels.

Equipment
In Season 1, Sam owns a laptop, which he uses to gather information for hunts. In Season 2, he finds it in the wrecked Impala, busted. Sam soon replaces it but in Season 7 this other laptop is smashed by Frank Deveraux on the basis that it is not safe and the Leviathans may be tracking it, forcing Sam to once more replace it. For the first three episodes of Season 6 Sam owns a black Dodge Charger with the license plates I4Z 0892 which Sam has customized for hunting. It is destroyed in Castiel's fight with another angel in "The Third Man", something that Dean was pleased to see. In terms of 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. In terms of 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 used the Blackberry Bold 9000, as first seen in the season 4 finale, "Lucifer Rising". Sam is seen using the HTC One in season 10.

Weaponry
It is a common misconception that Sam uses a chromed Beretta 92FS loaded with silver rounds. However, it has been officially stated by Christopher Cooper that it is a Taurus Model 99 (though it appears in most shots to be a Model 92, which is a bit thicker around the trigger guard than the Beretta) with mother-of-pearl grips. It is a standard 9mm with a 10-round magazine. When he was soulless, Sam utilized a Heckler & Koch Mark 23 Model 0. After his regular gun was stolen by Arthur Ketch, Sam briefly wields this gun again in Who We Are. The boys do own a blue steel Beretta 92, but it is predominantly used by Dean in the series. Sam also uses a pistol grip 4-shelled 12 gauge shotgun loaded with rock salt. Sam often uses close range weapons while Dean seems to prefer the longer range weapons. Sam also uses Ruby's demon-killing knife, after taking it from her. During the latter seasons, both he and Dean start to employ angel blades, taken from dead angels when they turn against the Host of Heaven. After creating witch-killing spell, Sam prefers using a small revolver for the bullets rather than loading his usual gun with them as Dean does.