Sam Winchester

Samuel "Sam" Winchester is one of the two protagonists of the show Supernatural. He is a hunter partnered his older brother Dean. In addition to being Dean's brother, Sam is the youngest son of John and Mary Winchester, the older paternal half-brother of Adam Milligan, the grandson of Samuel and Deanna Campbell, and the third cousin of Gwen and Christian Campbell. Early in Season 5, Sam is revealed to be the true vessel of the Archangel Lucifer.

Early Life
Sam was born on May 2, 1983 to John and Mary Winchester in Lawrence, Kansas. He is the couple's second child, four years younger than his older brother Dean. When Sam was only six months old on November 2, 1983, his mother, Mary, was killed in his nursery by the demon yellow eyes, whom his mother walked in on while he was standing by Sam's crib, feeding him demon blood. Infant Sam is saved from the ensuing fire when his father takes him out of his crib and gives him to a four year old Dean, who then carries him outside while their father unsuccessfully tries to rescue their mother. Sam and Dean spent their childhood moving from town to town while their father hunted supernatural beings and their mother's killer. Until he turned 8 years old, Sam believed his mother had died in a car accident and his father was a traveling salesman until he found his father's journal and demanded Dean explain. Dean revealed to him the existence of the paranormal. Sam started hunting alongside his brother and father around the age of twelve. However, he began to crave a normal life without monsters when a teacher of his, unaware of the whole story, encouraged him to seek alternatives to "the family business." Dean frequently left Sam at Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie before going to hang out with girls which is possibly a cause for Sam's fear of clowns. When Sam was about 15, John and Dean left Sam alone to hunt a kitsune while Sam compiled the research for them so they could kill it properly. This is where he met Amy, who, unbeknownst to Sam, was the daughter of the kitsune John and Dean were hunting. Sam eventually learned his friend was a kitsune but decided to let her go when she had killed her own mother to save his life. Time passed and after a heated argument with his father, Sam eventually went to Stanford University thus leaving his family  and their hunting crusade behind him.

Season 1
In much of Season 1, the Winchester brothers hunt down mystical creatures and urban legends like the wendigo, folklore's Bloody Mary, and shape-shifters. Although Sam's brother, Dean, has been mainly responsible for gathering hunting leads at this point, Sam's episodes of precognition and telekinesis soon direct where several of their hunts take place. At the start of the series, Sam is seen a senior at Stanford College who is applying for law school. Sam also has a girlfriend, Jessica Moore, whom he lives with and is secretly planning to marry. One night, Dean comes to Sam's apartment to seek his help after their father goes missing; although reluctant at first, Sam eventually accompanies his brother. After defeating the Woman in White and discovering a trail to find their father, Sam returns to Stanford. Upon his return, Sam witnesses Jessica's murder in the same style of his mother's, prompting him to embark on a journey with his brother to find their father and kill the demon responsible. One of the first instances when Sam experiences precognition is in "Home" when he awakens from a vision of a woman screaming from the second story window of the Winchesters' old house. Afterwards, Sam insists they find out what's going on when Dean refuses until Sam gives him good reason. Reluctant at first, Sam eventually confesses that he "has these nightmares" during which he can foresee terrible events. This is also when Sam tells Dean that he had nightmares about Jessica's death days before it occurred. Dean initially dismisses his brother's abilities as coincidence and is overwhelmed with the idea of going home. In contrast, this is one of the many moments when Sam's desire to know the truth outweighs his emotions.

In "Scarecrow", the tension between Sam and his father becomes clear when John calls Sam to tell him important information regarding a separate hunt. When Sam asks to know where John is, John insists that Sam "just does his job" and takes down some information, also saying that Sam and Dean are not allowed to help him in the fight against Azazel. Sam also displays increasing resentment towards Dean for unquestioningly playing the role of dutiful son to their father's requests. Once on the road, they begin discussing the hunt their father has asked them to go on when Sam confronts Dean about his loyalty to John. While Dean is persistent in learning more about the new hunt, Sam decides to go look for their father in Sacramento, California. During his journey, Sam runs into another lone traveler by the name of Meg Masters, a spunky blonde who takes an immediate interest in Sam. Although acquaintances, the two soon begin to develop a kinship due to their similar feelings of resentment towards their families. Later in the episode, it is revealed that Meg is in fact, a demon. Later, Sam and Dean reconcile when, to Sam's surprise, Dean praises his brother's ability to stand up to their father. When Sam tries to call Dean the next day, he tries for three hours unsuccessfully until he decides to go looking for him. Throughout this episode and especially during this moment, Sam displays a loyalty to his family unlike what is seen in Dean; While Dean is keen on following orders from John regardless of where he lands, Sam is more likely to go wherever he believes his family needs him, despite what anyone (family included) has to say.

Sam has another premonition in "Nightmare" when a man's murder is staged to look like a suicide. Dean is still reluctant to believe Sam's ability though this becomes another hunt that is determined by yet another one of Sam's visions. When the brothers arrive at the scene of the man's murder in Michigan, Sam becomes more perplexed with his ability and Dean begins to place more trust in Sam's premonitions. Throughout the rest of the episode, Sam continues to successfully predict the murders of innocent people. Later, the brothers learn that the murders have been at the hands of a troubled young man by the name of Max Miller. Here, Sam has a waking vision, a first at this point, of Max confronting his stepmother with a kitchen knife that will undoubtedly end in her murder. After learning of the man's troubled past, Sam's first impulse is to try and talk Max out of murdering his stepmother, insisting that they both share similar qualities. During their conversation, Sam learns that Max's real mother was killed years ago in his nursery while he was sleeping, which becomes the first time Sam has heard of another sharing his experience. Sam begins to wonder if there is a connection between his abilities and his own mother's death for the first time. This is also the first episode when Sam's ability to move objects is revealed when Max almost kills Dean.

In "Shadow" the brothers learn the real identity of Sam's old acquaintance friend, Meg Masters, when she plots to use the boys as bait for their father, John. This episode is also a good example of the contrast between Dean's "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality and Sam's more methodical approach to think things through; Upon learning the true identity of Meg, Dean insists they interrogate her right away when Sam suggests they learn who she's been having private meetings with first. Sam also expresses his desire to live a normal life "when this is all over", much to Dean's disappointment. "Dean, when this is all over you're going to have to let me go my own way." (Sam to Dean in "Shadow" 1.14)

Sam and Dean bust out with a bit of comic relief as they pull pranks on each other throughout "Hell House". Otherwise methodical and often serious, Sam unleashes his more humorous side with antics like leaving Dean to start his Impala with the radio set to what sounds like Latin music on full blast and putting super-glue on Dean's beer. He also enjoys mocking the Ghostfacers (who make their first appearance in this episode) during their random encounters.

In "Something Wicked", the audience sees their first peek into Sam's childhood, before he knew anything about "the family business". The viewer also begins to see a glimpse of the bond that exists between Sam and Dean as brothers. It becomes clear that Sam is the more pure and innocent of the two when he refuses Dean's suggestion to "dangle a kid like meat on a hook" in order to kill a witch. In the end, they decide to go through with the plan. It is learned during this episode that Sam was once almost killed by the very same witch they are hunting.

For the first time since Jessica's death, Sam finds romance with Sarah Blake, an art dealer's daughter, in "Provenance". The brothers come across a murder in which a mysterious painting is the culprit and they must find out how to stop it from happening. Unwilling at first, Sam decides to take Sarah out for dinner as a means of gaining information about the painting. During their conversations, Sam takes a liking to Sarah despite his conflicting feelings of guilt. Later, Sarah becomes one of the first few women in Sam's life who learns about Sam and Dean's real line of work.

The brothers are reunited with their father in episode 20, "Dead Man's Blood". John claims that a man named Samuel Elkins taught him everything he knows about hunting and that he needs his gun, the Colt, for some unknown purpose. The tension between Sam and John becomes increasingly clear when John insists they go after a nest of vampires in search of the Colt. En route to the vampires nest, Sam pulls to the side of the road and initiates and altercation with John, demanding to know where they're headed and why. An enraged argument ensues until Dean is able to separate the two. Later, Sam and John reconcile and resume their search for the Colt. After Sam and Dean prove their strength as hunters, John agrees to let the brothers help him in his fight against Azazel.

With every reason to believe they have a lead on Azazel and now armed with the legendary Colt, the three Winchesters head out to Salvation, Iowa in "Salvation". When he learns more about his past and Azazel's habits from John, Sam begins to feel overwhelming guilt for the murder of his mother, Jessica, and the seemingly random families that Azazel is targeting. Sam has another waking vision of a family being attacked in the same fashion Mary and Jessica were killed, presumably because he was within walking distance of the home in which it is set to take place. Around the same time, Sam also tells John for the first time about his visions and nightmares.

Shortly thereafter, Sam receives a call from Meg asking to speak to John. They discover that she is the one responsible for killing John's friends and says she won't stop until she gets the Colt. From there, John leaves the brothers once again to pass off a fake Colt to Meg in hopes that she will cease the murders.

As Sam and Dean wait outside the home of the family who is about to be attacked, Sam makes sure to tell Dean "thank you for always being there. . . just in case." This shows that Sam truly values his relationship with his brother and the realness of their mortality when up against Azazel. This is also the first moment Sam outwardly expresses his appreciation for Dean as his older brother.

They end up saving the family, although they fail to confront Azazel as they watch his silhouette in the second story window of the burning home. Afterwards, Sam expresses immense guilt for not stopping the demon and anger towards Dean for not allowing him to run inside the house. At this point in the series, Sam has become more invested in the hunt for Azazel, showing more conviction than even John or Dean at times. When Dean tries to convince Sam there was nothing they could do to stop the Yellow-Eyed Demon, Sam goes into a rage and throws Dean against the wall. Dean pleads with Sam, saying that the three of them is all he has and that he refuses to let Sam die. Sam immediately realizes that John hasn't responded to their calls and demands they go looking for him again.

"Devil's Trap" begins where the last episode left off when Dean calls John only to hear Meg's voice on the other end. At this point in the season, Sam's regard for logic and reason seems to have gone out the window as he's become more careless in his thoughts and actions, and more obsessed with avenging the deaths of his mother, Jessica, and possibly his father's. However, Sam still struggles noticeably with the idea of exorcising Meg knowing that once he does, she will die from her wounds. Once she is exorcised and passes away, Sam once again assumes the role of astute researcher, looking for ways to outsmart their enemies on their trek to rescue their father.

When they meet up with John, Dean realizes that John is possessed by Azazel and is ready to fire the Colt when he and Sam are thrown against the wall. When Azazel challenges Sam to make the gun float to him, Sam is unable to use his ability unlike previously seen in "Nightmare". However, it is during this episode when Sam begins to learn more about Azazel's plans for him "and all the other children" like him.

Once John is able to regain control of his body for a fleeting moment, the hold on the brothers is released. Dean is in bad shape when Sam grabs the Colt and shoots Azazel's vessel in the leg. Sam is soon thrown into a terrible dilemma when John yells for him to shoot while Azazel is still occupying his body. In the end, Sam is unable to follow through and Azazel escapes once more. The conflict that takes place in Sam's mind is evidence that despite his and John's past misunderstandings, his loyalty and love for his family is a bond not about to break, even if it means ending the hunt for the Yellow-Eyed Demon. On the contrary, John expresses his frustration with Sam for not shooting him when he had the chance.

The season finale concludes with Sam, Dean, and John leaving Salvation, Iowa when they become the victims of a horrific crash; While a very injured Sam is driving the Winchesters to the hospital, a semi-truck crashes into them, causing massive damage to Dean's Impala with the Winchesters inside. At this point in time, their fate is uncertain at best.

Season 2
In the first episode of this season, "In My Time of Dying", Sam confronts the demon-possessed man who is responsible for the collision that occurred at the end of Season 1. The demon backs down and exits the man's body before the Winchesters are airlifted to a hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In desperation, Sam unsuccessfully checks to see if John or Dean are even alive. Later, John wakes and despite his wounds, Sam is able to move about the hospital. He is in pieces when he learns that Dean's injuries are life-threatening.

When Sam visits his father, John sends him off with a list of items he needs from Bobby. Although he is unsure of what John is planning to do, he soon finds out from Bobby that John is planning to summon a demon. Outraged, Sam once again jumping to errorous conclusions confronts John about his seemingly lack of concern for the welfare of his family. During the altercation, a glass of water crashes to the floor which causes them to believe it could be Dean in an attempt to contact them from 'the other side'. Afterwards, Sam promptly falls into research mode and acquires a Ouija board in an attempt to confirm their suspicions.

Here, a part of Sam's personality is revealed to have more faith in peculiar methods of communicating with the dead and therefore appears to be more open-minded to certain devices that Dean might consider cliche. In addition, once Sam learns that a reaper is after his brother.

In the end, it is John's sacrifice that saves Dean rather than Sam's ingenuity. During the conversation between John and the Yellow-Eyed Demon, it is revealed that John knows "about Sam and the other children" like him.

Sam demands to know where John has been when Dean wakes up from his coma, to which John replies he was "out taking care of some things." Sam is ready to argue when John calmly insists he doesn't want to fight anymore. Puzzled at his father's sudden agreeableness, Sam leaves to get John a cup of coffee only to return to his father's body lying on the floor of John's hospital room. The final scene cements the looming and painful guilt Sam experiences for reacting defensively during his last moments with John.

"Everybody Loves a Clown" (2.2) takes place roughly a week after their father's death. Sam shows his expertise with cracking codes for the first time in the series by gaining access to John's voicemail and tracing a message from a woman named Ellen. The brothers soon learn that Ellen Harvelle and husband William were once friends of John. They soon embark on a hunt involving murderous clowns who are possessed by demons. Sam's intense fear of clowns is first revealed in this episode.

Tensions between Sam and Dean beginning with this case when Dean questions Sam's quickness to jump on the case. Dean experiences resentment towards Sam, who now seems more willing to do what he thinks their father would have wanted him to do. At the end, Sam admits that what he is doing is too little too late.

"I miss him, man. And I feel guilty as hell. And I'm not alright, not at all. . . But neither are you." (Sam speaks about their father to Dean in "Everybody Loves a Clown")

In "Bloodlust", Sam is put off when they meet a hunter by the name of Gordon Walker. Said hunter is Sam's diametrical opposite, seeing no shades of gray when it comes to hunting. This contrast is illustrated when Sam is kidnapped and then set free by a vampire named Lenore. When Gordon finds the vampires, he is ready to kill when Sam insists they are harmless to humans.

Sam delves deeper into the role of researcher and finds many of the brothers' leads. Sam begins to search for psychic children like him to find out Azazel's plan of which they are a part. Eventually Sam learns from Dean that before their father's death, John told Dean that Azazel is planning to turn Sam evil and that Dean must save him but if he cannot Dean must kill him. Although angered at his father and brother upon learning this revelation, Sam concludes to save as many people as possible so that he can change his destiny.

Since "Hunted", Sam has learned what his father told Dean moments before his death: that if he (Dean) could not save Sam, he would have to kill him. Sam is convinced that he must save as many people as he can in order to change his destiny, as he drunkenly states in "Playthings".

In the episode "Born Under a Bad Sign", Sam is possessed by the same demon responsible for Meg's possession in Season 1 (see Meg Masters). It is also hinted at that this is also the same demon that lead to the death Ellen's husband. It becomes clear that if the time comes for Dean to shoot his brother, Dean would not be able to do so. In this episode Sam (while still possessed) also kills another hunter.

In the episode "What Is and What Should Never Be", Sam and Dean are not close in the alternate reality created by a djinn. Neither Sam nor Dean had ever hunted, and Jessica is Sam's fiancee. As in reverse to reality, their mother is alive, but their father is dead.

In the season finale, Sam is transported to an abandoned town along with Azazel's other chosen children. There he learns Azazel's plans: he and the other children will kill one another and the last one surviving will lead a demon army. Sam also discovers the reasons behind both Jessica and his mother's deaths; Jessica was killed because her death would lead Sam back into hunting. As for Sam's mother, it is revealed Mary interrupted Azazel during the process of feeding Sam demon blood, and thus was killed. It is also revealed that Mary knew Azazel prior to the attack in Sam's nursery. Although Sam tries to protect the other children, various fights ensue, and the children are killed off one by one. Eventually, only Jake and Sam are left, at which point Sam is stabbed by Jake Talley and dies in Dean's arms.

A desperate and depressed Dean sells his soul to the Crossroads Demon for Sam's resurrection. With the help of fellow hunters Bobby Singer and Ellen Harvelle, Sam and Dean track down Jake, but are unable to stop him from opening a gateway to Hell on Azazel's orders. However, Sam shoots Jake and kills him in cold blood. After the gateway is closed and Azazel is finally killed by Dean, with assistance from John who escaped from Hell, when Sam learns that he was dead and Dean sold his soul to bring him back, Sam promises Dean that he will save him no matter what it takes.

Season 3
As Sam continues to do whatever he can to save Dean from going to Hell, he begins to become more ruthless and is willing to kill anything demonic even if his prey is part human, human witches. Sam later reveals that he is trying to become more like Dean who is more willing to kill human enemies. This reasoning is Sam's view that if he fails to save Dean's soul he must be ready to face a world full of demons on his own.

Sam also meets a female demon called Ruby who has been trying to gain Sam's trust by helping the brothers through various methods such as fixing the The Colt, saving them numerous times, and lastly telling Sam she can save Dean from Hell even though in reality she can not. Ruby also reveals that because Sam refuses to lead the demon army, another demon, named Lilith, has fixed the power vacuum and is leading the army while carrying intentions to kill Sam; she is also revealed to hold Dean's contract to his soul. Season 3 focuses on Sam taking a much darker tone than he had had previously, while he desperately tries to find a loophole in Dean's deal. He picks up the broken Colt and with help from Bobby and the mysterious Ruby, fixes it.

Dean is trapped with a lustful demon, causing Sam to come to his rescue. As a race unfolds, the demon calls forth help. Sam is well aware of this too. As the seductive demon breaks free due to help, Sam is forced to kill one of them with the refurbished Colt. As Sam is about to pull the trigger on the Casey, Dean pleads for him to stop. Too late, Sam fires, killing her. Now, more determined to free Dean, Sam summons the Crossroad Demon and forces it to let Dean out of his deal. The Demon tells Sam that shes just a "sales woman" and that she has a boss. At point-blank range, he kills the demon with the Colt.

Deeper into the season, Sam is pitted against Gordon Walker. A rapid confrontation turns into the death of Gordan after he's turned into a vampire. Cutting his head off, Sam feels no remorse for killing him. Again he shows his dark side in the episode "Jus In Bello" when Ruby said she needed a heart of a virgin to kill the demons and banish them from the building and Dean did not want to do that, Sam actually wanted to help Ruby. In this episode, we also discover that Sam, as well as Dean, has a pentagram tattoo on the left side of his chest to prevent being possessed. He must have had this tattoo done between Season 2's "Born Under a Bad Sign" and "Jus In Bello."

In the Season Finale, Dean is down to 30 hours and Sam suggests they summon Ruby. Not trusting her, they take her knife and head for Indiana where they find out Lilith is located. After many attempts to try to kill Lilith, the brothers fail. Dean discovers Lilith is possessing Ruby's previous body and sends Hell Hounds after him. A crying Sam pleads Lilith to stop. After Dean is dead, Lilith shoots a "burning white light" at Sam but he is left unharmed as he is immune. After that, Lilith is scared that her powers do not work on him and leaves after Sam attempts to stab her with Ruby's knife. He picks up the body of his mauled brother and cries out to him.

Season 4
After Dean's death, Sam has lost all contact with Bobby. Even still, he tries several methods on trying to bring Dean back including making a deal with the cross-road demon. Still wanting to never give up hope, he lodges in Illinois, close to where his brother is buried. After a resurrected Dean reunites with Bobby, the two go to visit Sam. They find him enjoying his "wild side." A confused Sam tries to attack Dean, but Bobby stops him and tells him that it's the real Dean. Now trying to find information on who saved Dean, their search leads them to a diner where they meet demons who claim they know who broke Dean out. Dean, obviously knowing it's a bluff, slaps a demon twice in the face, gets up and nonchalantly leaves. Sam, however, tells Dean that they are demons and they need to die or other people will. Dean protests against this. Later, Sam returns to the diner to confront the demons. As he enters, he is attacked but realizes that the demons have had their eyes burned out. He calls forth Ruby to see if she has found anything. As the two discuss, Sam shows that his powers have developed and he is able to exorcise demons using his powers. Sam helps Dean defeat the spirits of Agent Henricksen and Meg Masters in "Are You There God? It's Me, Dean Winchester". Sam's powers rapidly develop, with guidance from Ruby in "Metamorphosis", but Dean finds out Sam is using them. At the end of the episode, Sam decides to stop using his powers.

In "It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester", Sam is able to exorcise Samhain. He also finally meets the angel Castiel. In "I Know What You Did Last Summer", Dean finally gets an explanation of what happened to Sam and Ruby in the four months he was gone. Shortly after Dean's death, Sam has summoned the Crossroads Demon, hoping to switch places with Dean, but was promptly rebuffed. Ruby returned shortly after and, betraying Lilith, saved Sam. The pair made love at least once, and Ruby began helping Sam develop his powers. Sam, along with Dean and Ruby protected Anna Milton, when Castiel and Uriel arrived and demanded the girl be turned over to them to be killed. It is revealed in "On the Head of a Pin" that Sam drinks demon blood to fuel his powers. He eventually kills Alastair after Dean fails to interrogate him. It is revealed in "The Rapture" that he is now addicted to demon blood. During "Lucifer Rising" it was revealed that Sam had been used by Ruby the entire time. In a plot to kill Lilith, thus breaking the final seal releasing Lucifer. Sam succeeded in destroying Lililth, but as a result, Lucifer was released from his prison.

Season 5
In the direct aftermath of Sam breaking the final seal and freeing Lucifer, Sam tries desperately to redeem himself by trying to stop the devil’s plans. However, realizing that he is a liability in battle, Sam and Dean separate temporarily after and Sam has another attempt at a normal life until he is approached by Lucifer, in the form of the deceased Jess. Lucifer tells Sam that he is his true vessel, in conjunction with Dean being the archangel Michael's true vessel. Dean and Sam reunite shortly after this and Sam does his best to rebuild his relationship with his brother although the brothers are no longer as close as they once were and find it hard to reconnect. That fact alone was emphasised in "Dark Side of the Moon", when Sam’s version of Heaven was completely devoid of his family and involved incidents that happened while he was away from the Winchesters, which causes Dean to discard the amulet Sam gave to him years prior, who is discouraged by Sam's different views of what Heaven is. In "Point of No Return", Sam takes the information he learned from his experience in Heaven and puts all his trust and faith in Dean, who admits he doesn’t believe in Sam and is convinced Sam will say “yes” to Lucifer at some point. However, Sam is shown to still have faith and belief in Dean and it is this faith that stops Dean from saying “yes” to Michael.

Sam still lives with the temptation for demon blood. In "Good God, Y'all", when Sam kills two humans who he thought were demons, he looks at the bloodied knife with slight wonderment. In "My Bloody Valentine", Sam is affected by Famine's ability and he attacks and drinks from Famine’s henchmen, becoming strong enough to exorcise five demons at once and eventually defeats Famine. However, he gets the blood out of his system as soon as possible, and is returned to Bobby's panic room. Sam also admits that he is angry all the time although he is unsure as to why, a trait that Lucifer tells him he will need when Sam finally agrees to be his vessel. It is revealed in "The Devil You Know" that Sam's good friend from Stanford, Brady, was possessed all that time and Sam has been manipulated by demons even back then. Brady taunts Sam that perhaps the reason he is so angry and so easily manipulated by demons is because of all the demon blood inside of him and because he is just like them. Sam does not deny this, but acknowledges this as an 'interesting theory'. After discovering that Lucifer can be locked back into Hell using the rings of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Sam considers the enormous task of allowing the Devil to possess him in order for Sam to push him back into Hell. He discusses it with Bobby, who is at first very irritated by the sudden plan, but comes around to his way of thinking by "Two Minutes To Midnight". When Dean finds out, he argues with Sam that he cannot do it, but later gives in to his plan, as it seems to be the only option left. Sam makes Dean promise not to try and bring him back from the cage, as that is too risky.

In "Swan Song", Sam finally says yes to Lucifer, prior to which he consumes gallons of demon blood to strengthen his body. Lucifer appears to take full control of Sam and starts a number of natural disasters around the globe. He also gathers all the remaining minions of Azazel who have been keeping watch over Sam his entire life. Lucifer informs Sam that they were always meant to be this way, two parts of the same whole and that Lucifer is Sam's true family. Sam strongly protests, and insists that he's going to "rip him apart from the inside out".

Lucifer meets Michael in the chosen area for the final battle, during which he kills both Castiel and Bobby and severely injures Dean. However, Dean tells Sam that he's there for him and after glancing into the Impala, Sam's memories return enough for him to take control of his body again. Sam opens the gate to Lucifer's cage, and despite showing apprehension at jumping, he prepares to jump in, but is interrupted by Michael, who asks for Sam to stand back and let him fight Lucifer. Sam refuses and falls into the cage, pulling Michael in with him, effectively stopping the Apocalypse. Sometime later, Dean accepts Sam's final request, to find Lisa Braeden and live a normal life, and sits down with them in their home. However, just outside the window, unseen by Dean or Lisa, Sam stands watching them.

Season 6
Sam wakes up mysteriously out of the cage and tries to get answers from Castiel with no results and searches for weeks, even going to Bobby for help. He eventually goes back to hunting, he chooses not to contact Dean. Sometime along the way, he encounters a group of hunters from his mother's side of the family, including Samuel Campbell, who was thought to have been killed in 1973 by Azazel. Soon, Sam goes hunting for djinns and discovers that they're going after Dean next. Sam gets involved when the djinns nearly kill Dean. This allows him to reunite him with his brother, and he's forced to tell Dean that he's been back nearly the entire time since he jumped in the cage and that he chose not to tell Dean because Dean would leave his "normal" life behind if he did. Dean gets angry at Sam (and later at Bobby, as he knew of Sam's return as well). Then Sam introduces Dean to their third cousins and grandfather from their mom's side, after whom Sam was named. Sam and Dean take Lisa and Ben to safety at Bobby's until they take care of the djinns. The djinns attacked the brothers, and they're nearly killed but are saved by Samuel and the others. Later, Dean decides not to return with Sam and to stay with Lisa and Ben. He offers Sam the Impala, but Sam declines, saying, "I already got my car set up how I like it."

Things get stranger between Sam and Dean, as Dean starts to notice that Sam has been acting differently ever since he came back into his life. Sam uses a baby shapeshifter as bait to draw in the Alpha, stands aside when Castiel tortures a kid for intel on the angel buying souls (Balthazar), he even lets Dean be turned by a vampire to get more information on the Alpha Vampire. When Dean confronts Sam about it, Sam, however, lies and says he just froze. When the brothers are held captive by the Goddess of Truth, Veritas, the goddess reveals that there is something wrong with Sam. Sam tells Dean that he's still Sam, but he knows something's wrong with him, and he admits he needs help. Dean responds by beating Sam unconscious and calling on Castiel for assistance. Upon inpection, Castiel determines Sam is physically healthy but his soul is missing. Dean plans to keep Sam tied up, but Sam sets himself free and tells Dean to work with him. Later, Sam and Dean meet up with Samuel, who informs them that he's got a lead on the Alpha vampire. Sam and Dean join in on the hunt, with Sam following Samuel's group and Dean standing guard with Gwen. When Dean sees Sam walking the vampire into a van, Dean confronts Sam, and Sam states that it was his idea because they needed to ask questions, whereas Dean is a 'shoot first, ask questions later' kind of hunter.

Sam helps Dean find out where Samuel is taking the creatures for interrogation by activating a GPS tracker in one of the his cell phones. They find the Alpha vampire and take the opportunity to question him when Samuel leaves the room. The Alpha expresses an interest in Sam because of his soullessness, and he later attacks Sam and attempts to turn him. Christian, revealed as a demon, prevents this and teleports the Alpha away. Crowley then appears on the scene, and through Samuel, is revealed to be the one who raised Sam from Lucifer's cage, and is in possession of his soul. He tells them that if Sam ever wants the return of his soul, he and Dean need to help Samuel capture creatures for him. Currently, Sam does not see any other option than to 'play ball' with Crowley until the brothers find another way to get his soul back, and then they will get him back.

Sam's behavior, however, shows that he is definitely in conflict on whether he should get his soul back or not, or even want to get his soul back. He tries to convince Dean that he is still the same Sam. He works Crowley's cases without question, and also claims that his brain works better than ever. His actions contradict this, as when dealing with a skinwalker case, Sam jumps to the conlusion that a women is the skinwalker they're looking for, and is ready to bag her up as soon as possible. When the brothers face the pack of skinwalkers, Sam orders Dean to take a shot at the pack leader, even when there is an innocent in the way. Sam later comes clean to Dean about himself. He admits he is not his brother, that he's not the old Sam. He states he could not care less about Lisa and Ben, and does not even care that much about Dean, besides the fact that he needs his help. He also says he's done a lot worse than Dean's aware of, including killing innocent people in the line of duty. He says that despite how maybe he should feel guilty, he doesn't. He only looks at the positives of being soulless: getting the job done and not being emotionally effected by the job, which, to Sam, is "not the worst thing." After some thought, Sam decides he should probably go back to being the old Sam and get his soul back. Dean acknowledges this.

However, Sam already shows signs of having second thoughts about wanting to change. When investigating the case of UFO abductions, Sam checks only one lead when Dean's abducted, and is side-tracked and picked up by a hippie chick and has sex with her, much to Dean's dismay. When the abductions are revealed to be the cause of fairies, Sam takes matters into his own hands when Dean is sent to jail. He confronts the leprechaun Wayne, who strikes a deal to lift Sam's soul from the cage. Sam expresses interest, but banishes him and the other fairies. When asked by Dean why he refused, Sam suggests that deals have never lead them anywhere good. Dean then questions whether Sam is having second thoughts, which Sam denies with a simple "No."

Sam, while still unsure whether he wants his soul back, goes along with working for Crowley, despite Dean's remarks about them not getting anywhere. Later, Sam walks away from a small argument with Dean, only to be knocked out by demons, led by none other than Meg. Sam detects her fear and suggests that she's running from Crowley, which to him makes sense, as Crowley is now the "big man on campus," and he dubs Meg a "Lucifer loyalist." When Meg asks how he knows, he simply replies it's what he'd do. He then makes a deal with her: the brothers give her Crowley ("with a bow"), but only on one condition: she must torture Crowley to get him to give Sam back his soul.

When Dean expresses unease about working with a demon again, Sam retorts that they are working with demons now and that this is their shot to stop. He also assures Dean that they will kill Meg the second they are done with them, and that they would not kill them first. He calls on Castiel to make sure of this. Sam tricks Castiel into thinking that they have found the Ark of the Covenant, to which the angel responds. When Castiel tells Sam that he is too busy with the war over Heaven to help, Sam reminds Castiel that he owes him and tells him that if he does not help, he will hunt Castiel down and kill him. Castiel joins the group for searching for Crowley. When Samuel gives the party the location, Sam, Dean, and Castiel meet up with Meg and her demons. Sam asks for the knife, which Meg reluctantly hands to him. Sam uses the knife to kill one of the demons, saying he did the group a favor. A few moments later, Sam overhears Dean and Castiel talking about what damage could be done to Sam with the return of his soul. Once inside Crowley's prison, Sam and Dean are captured by Crowley's demons, as the two have been sold out by Samuel. The two are put in separate cells, and while the demons take Dean away to have him killed by ghouls, Sam bites his wrist hard enough to bleed. He uses his own blood to mark the ceiling with a devil's trap. He escapes his cell and saves Dean from the demons.

A moment later, the brothers (along with Meg) confront Crowley. Sam demands his soul, and Crowley replies he simply cannot. He states that he was lucky enough to retrieve Sam's body, as Michael and Lucifer are very violent when Crowley comes in contact. He then asks Sam why he even wants it back, as he too thinks that Sam will be broken once his soul is returned (Meg agrees to this). Disgusted, Sam tells Meg to kill Crowley, in which she fails. Crowley knocks Meg over, steals the knife, disarms the devil's trap keeping him immobile, and flings Sam and Dean into the wall. Castiel intervenes, asking once again if he has the power to restore Sam's soul. Crowley says no, and Castiel burns the bones of the demon.

Outside the prison, Castiel tells Sam that they will find another way to get his soul back before leaving to take care of the monsters still in the prison. Dean tries to reassure Sam, too, but Sam tells him that he does not think he wants his soul back after all. When Dean states that Sam is not better the way he is, Sam disagrees and walks away without a word, despite his brother's calling after him.

Sometime later, when Dean informs Sam and Bobby that he has made a deal with Death that could result in Sam getting his soul back, with a "wall," Sam is still unwilling and is sure his head will explode when Dean's scheme "goes sideways." He even sneaks out of the house to try and steal the Pale Horseman's ring before Dean, but is foiled when Dean catches him and holds the ring in his hand. Sam falsely states he trusts Dean with his deal and gives him false hope not to mess it up. With Bobby given the job to watch Sam, the latter asks if he'll lock him in the panic room. Bobby asks if he has to, but Sam replies he does not, and that "Dean's gotta do what he's gotta do."

He slips Bobby's watch to summon Balthazar. He asks Balthazar for a way to keep his soul out of his body, and Balthazar, who wants to screw Dean over and have Sam in his debt, gives Sam the spell "for free." He also tells Sam that he has to make his body uninhabitable for his soul by committing patricide. He "needs the blood of his father, but his father needn't be blood," so Sam resolves that Bobby is the next best thing, as John Winchester has been long dead.

Bobby realizes what Sam is up to, however, and hits him over the head. Unfortunately, Sam vanishes before Bobby can tie him up. Bobby locks the door to the basement and then locks himself in the closet, where Sam quickly finds him. Sam breaks through the door with an ax, but Bobby has set a trap door outside the closet that drops Sam into the basement. Bobby asks Sam what he's doing through the basement door, to which Sam replies he's trying to survive, as Dean does not really care about him without a soul, and rather about his brother Sam burning in Hell (speaking as if they are two different people). Sam later finds a way to escape after he gets Bobby monologuing. When Bobby goes outside to look for him, Sam knocks him out from behind. He ties Bobby to a chair and prepares to kill him, despite how he does not want to (he only looks at the bigger picture: he will remain soulless). However, Dean shows up in the nick of time and knocks Sam out.

Sam wakes up chained to the bed in the panic room and catches a glimpse of Dean through the small window of the panic room's door. He remains still and silent until Death shows up by his bed with a doctor's bag containing his soul. Death explains to Sam that he will put up a wall inside his mind that will hold back the memories of the cage. He explains it may be "a little itchy," but advises not to "scratch the wall" as he will not like what happens. Sam fights while chained, shouting for Death to stay away from him and begging Dean for him not to let it happen. Death, however, proceeds to restore Sam's soul to his body, with the latter screaming in pain.

Sam wakes up about a week later, with no apparent memory of Hell or even his year without a soul. He is emotional, sensitive, and full of life, much unlike "RoboSam." He questions Dean on a number of occasions, as to how he got back, and if he even tried to live a normal life. After a while, Sam starts to have feelings of deja vu, such as when looking through John's Journal, he asks Dean if they had hunted a Skinwalker recently. When Dean and Bobby both remain tight-lipped, Sam goes with the next best bet: he tricks Castiel, who fills in the blanks of his year being soulless.

After getting rid of a couple of Dragons, Sam apologizes to Dean about all he's done to him, feels guilty and expresses a will to set things right. He is apparently not angry, but grateful about Dean trying to protect him. However, he wants to know what he did while he was soulless. Dean does not divulge any details, knowing the risk of the "Great Wall of Sam" crumbling. Sometime later, Sam tries to catch up on the year he was "gone." He then receives a mysterious text from an unknown number, giving coordinates to a small town. Sam tracks the number to Bristol, Rhode Island. He finds out that three women disappeared there in the last week, vanishing out of thin air. Sam suggests they check out what's going on over there, and Dean reluctantly agrees.

Upon arriving in Bristol, Sam already begins to have flashbacks of his time there a year ago. He recognizes the sign of Bristol when they arrive in town, and he then meets up with someone who knows him from his previous trip. When Sam starts to have suspicions of the place, Dean confirms them with a photograph he finds with Sam in the background. Dean plans to leave the town as soon as possible, but Sam insists on staying to figure out what happened, and what is going on now. He takes responsibility for the missing people in the town and wants to finish what he started. Dean agrees to continue, following up with affiliates of the missing women for any clues to what might be going on. He finds out from one missing woman's room mate that she had some "loud and athletic" interactions with Sam a year ago. Meanwhile, Sam arrives at the police station only to be abruptly arrested by the same cop he knocked out a year ago.

Sam tries to convince the cop that he does not remember anything, but the cop refuses to believe him and locks him up in jail. Sometime later, the sheriff, named Brenna Dobbs, walks in, apparently knowing his true identity as Sam, and questions him on what happened to her husband, Roy. Sam cannot remember her at first, but has another flashback of Samuel and himself talking with the two about hunting. He tells her he does not know what happened, but he will find answers because that is his job. After some convincing, she lets him out of his cell. Dean returns home to Sam, now a fugitive, and tells him that he actually got around being soulless, and that he knew one of the missing girls. Suddenly, on a police scanner, the two overhear of another disappearance. Dean orders Sam to stay put while he checks out the scene. As Dean walks out the door, Sam makes his way to Sheriff Brenna's house.

Sam asks Brenna for the files on the missing men from a year ago. He has a few flashbacks, including one of him and Samuel talking with Roy and Debra about family and being on the road. Samuel expresses a sentimental sense of joy and blessing when reminiscing about Mary, but Sam looks at his relationship with Samuel as nothing more than a business relationship, and that "family slows you down". Another flashback confirms that the cause of the disappearances of the men were from a creature called an Arachne. He borrows the evidence to put the pieces all together, and runs into Dean, who suggests once again to leave this for another hunter. Sam is still persistent on finishing what he's started.

As the pieces come together, Sam experiences a full flashback that fills in the blanks on what happened: the abductions the Arachne made were all of men fitting a certain profile, and used Roy as live bait to track down the Arachne. Upon finding the Arachne's lair, Sam and Samuel face off with the creature, and Sam decapitates it. Samuel suggests calling an ambulance for Roy and the others, but Sam suggests it can't be helped. He believes that all the men are poisoned, that they are dead men walking, and he suggests putting them out of their misery by killing them. He shoots all of the men, and tells Samuel to get the gasoline to burn the house down. Upon this realization, Sam calls Brenna to check if she is okay. She asks for him to stop by, and Sam senses that she is in trouble. The brothers arrive and upon entering the shed, they find Brenna. She asks Sam if it was true that he killed Roy. Before he can answer, Dean is attacked and Sam is pinned to the wall by Roy, now an Arachne.

Roy, suddenly angry, tells Sam he got a lot of his assumptions wrong. He explained the Arachne wasn't there to feed, but rather to breed. She bit him and all the others to turn them into Arachne. By the time Sam shot him, he was already turned. He was resistant to both bullets and fire. After the fire, all the Arachne ran. Ever since then, Roy kept himself hidden for months, waiting for Sam to return to exact revenge on him. He tells Sam that all of the missing women are now Arachne as well. However, he questions whether to kill Sam or turn him. In this moment of hesitation, Dean breaks out his cobweb to attack as Brenna cuts the cobwebs off of Sam. Sam then strikes and decapitates Roy. He tries to apologize to Brenna, but she shuts the door on him.

Sam and Dean pack up to leave, with Dean wondering if Sam's okay. Sam, now feeling guilty, agrees that they should not have come back to Bristol. Dean tries to console him by telling him it was not really him, but Sam disagrees and states that in his flashbacks, he saw it clearly was him. As he wonders about what else he could've done, he collapses on the floor. Dean rushes to Sam, who receives a flashback of himself burning in Lucifer's Cage. He is out for a whole minute before waking up. Sam tells Dean it felt like a week had passed by and hit by a planet. He and Dean have a heart to heart about what has happened. So they head out on the next job where people are being killed by mannequins. They work together until Ben calls Dean home for an emergency. So Sam works this job by himself and figures out it was a woman's spirit these men bullied doing the killing. Dean later returns, but the case is completed by now.

Balthazar randomly shows up later at Bobby's house, searching for the ingredients to paint a Enochian sigil on the window. He cryptically states that Raphael is on their tail, and that he is trying to protect the brothers. He gives them a key, only instructing them to run with it. When Balthazar sends them through the window, Sam and Dean crash into an alternate universe where they are known as Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, actors playing the roles of Sam and Dean Winchester on a show called Supernatural. Sam and Dean find it difficult to grasp their lives as a TV show, the two not being brothers or even friends, Castiel being a normal actor named Misha Collins, or even Jared's wealthy mansion and wife named Genevieve, who they mistake for Ruby. Despite this, Sam would rather live back in their own reality, where Dean is his big brother. The brothers return back to their world, only to be confronted by Raphael, in a new meatsuit. He takes the key, only for Balthazar to intervene, saying the key will not do him any good. He used Sam and Dean as a diversion to find his weapons and hand them over to Castiel, who gave the ultimatum to Raphael, to back off or die. Castiel brings the boys back to Bobby's place saying it was Balthazar's plan, and apologizing for it. Afterwards, Sam, Dean, and Bobby all track leads for the Mother of All, Eve. The latest monster attack leads the trio to a cannary in Ohio. While there, they team up with an old friend, Rufus Turner, and run into the remaining Campbells: Gwen and Samuel. Samuel notices the difference in Sam, who he only knew when he was soulless.

The team of hunters realize that what they are hunting is a Khan Worm of some sort, who takes possession of their body and kills anyone that is around them. It first possesses Dean, who shoots Gwen. It later possesses Samuel, who is shot by Sam because he was threatening the wall in his head, and was getting ready to tell him about his soulless year. Sam is cuffed for safety measures, but when Samuel attacks, still possessed by the Khan Worm, he uses a short circuit to check to see if anyone else is possessed by the worm. Sam, Dean, and Rufus aren't possessed, and Samuel is dead. A possessed Bobby kills Rufus, and is later knocked out by Dean only to be interrogated and almost killed, which Sam could not bear to watch. Sam and Dean wake up from what they call the weirdest dream, in which they rode in a Mustang, where Bobby was married to Ellen Harvelle, even where Dean wins at rock-paper-scissors. Castiel appears and tells them that it wasn't a dream, but it was all an alternate reality, in which Balthazar unsunk the Titanic, setting up a butterfly effect. However, Castiel changed the reality back when Fate threatened to kill Sam and Dean.

Sometime later, Sam remembers the Campbell Compound had a hidden library, where they might be able to find something about killing Eve. Dean finds Samuel Colt's journal, where he reads the Colt killed a Phoenix. He suggests a plan to head back to 1861 to hunt the Phoenix and bring back the ashes. Sam is a bit uncomfortable with the plan, but goes through with it anyway. He sets out to find Colt, who he finds is now retired, and doesn't care about the Phoenix. However, after proving himself a resourceful hunter, Sam returns to Sunrise with the Colt, which Dean uses to kill the Phoenix. They return without the ashes, but a delivery was made to Sam from Colt himself, sending his broken cell phone and the ashes of a Phoenix. With these ashes, Sam, Dean, Bobby, and Castiel all load up and head to Oregon, where they find out that Eve is currently populating the small town with new monsters, which Dean dubs as "Jefferson Starships". Sam and Dean, however, find two young orphans locked up in a police station, and feel the need to take them to safety, much to Castiel's irritation.

However, once the boys confront Eve (who has taken their mother's form), she slipped that they were infected by the perfect beast, who went right past them undetected. She proposes an offer: to bring her Crowley, who is apparently alive, and she will let the group live. Dean protests that they don't work for demons or monsters, and persuades Eve to bite him. A restrained Sam tries to attack, but Eve is killed after biting Dean and discovering Phoenix ashes in Dean's bloodstream. Sam, Dean, Bobby, and Castiel all check out the home of the two orphans, only to find their dead bodies trailed with sulfur. This confirms to them that Crowley is alive, to which Castiel leaves immediately to check up on. Sam and Bobby suspect that Crowley faked his death, and that Castiel purposely meant to burn the wrong bones.

Dean tries to remain loyal, but Sam and Bobby remain suspicious, despite their hopes of being wrong. Castiel gives himself away, however, after using Bobby's exact pop culture reference ("Superman going to the dark side"). The three decide to trap Castiel in Holy Fire to interrogate him. Not only does he confirm his alliance with Crowley, but he reveals to Sam that he was the one who freed Sam from Lucifer's Cage, not Crowley. Instead of thanking him, Sam jumps to the conclusion that he might have brought him back soulless on purpose. However, when Crowley seizes the building, Castiel orders them to leave. After Castiel arrives at Bobby's place to make them understand one more time, Bobby noticed he stole a journal that suggested that horror writer H.P. Lovecraft had attempted to open a door to Purgatory, as he has made several mentions of opening a door to another dimension. Sam immediately recognizes him by name, but Dean does not catch on. Their discussion is interrupted by a phonecall from Ben, who tells Dean that men are coming for him and have his mom after killing her boyfriend. Crowley then takes the phone and gives him the warning to back off in order for Lisa and Ben to keep breathing.

Sam and Dean summon Balthazar for help on finding Lisa and Ben, while Bobby tries to get one step ahead of Castiel. Balthazar refuses to help at first, but later relents by revealing Castiels location. The brothers split up to find the two, with Dean eventually finding them, and Sam is locked up after being knocked unconscious by demons. He is later freed by Dean, and drives a dying Lisa, Ben, and Dean to the hospital. Once Sam finds out that Dean wiped their memories of him, he starts to voice his disapproval, but Dean threatens to break his nose if he mentions them again. Sometime later, Sam is seen running from the police, and takes refuge in a bar, meeting the bartender Robin. She first asks him to leave, but Sam pleads to stay for only a few minutes. She asks for his name, for which he tells her he does not know, and that he cannot remember anything. However, he starts to remember bits and pieces. Starting with finding an H.P. Lovecraft book, he searches for the Nite Hotel after having a vision of living there. Robin tags along out of curiosity.

He finds what he assumes to be his room, jams the door open out of instinct, and after examining the place, has another vision which reveals him with Dean and Bobby looking for Eleanor Visyak, who called and told them to meet her in an alley. They find her dying, telling them that Castiel and Crowley tortured her and now have enough to crack Purgatory wide open. As she dies, Castiel appears and apologizes. When Dean throws an arguement, Castiel simply states he doesn't care what they think. He pleads for them to go home and let him stop Raphael. When they stay where they are, Castiel gives them a reason to go home, saying he will save Sam once it is over only if they stand down. He teleports behind Sam, touches his head, and tears down the wall in his head. From this, all he uses for granted is his name and Bobby's, which he finds in a directory with an address.

Sam takes the keys to the Impala, and is about to leave before Robin warns that he might not like what he finds. Before she can continue, Sam shoves her out of the way of a gunshot. He then spots the shooter: "soulless" Sam. He then takes Robin and drives off. She asks who the shooter was, but Sam lies and says he didn't get a good look. Robin suggests they turn around and talk to the police, but Sam refuses and would rather find his friends. Except, he comes to a stop once a bright light (Dean turning on a flashlight and hovering it over an unconscious Sam's eye) shines.

He notices that it's now daytime, much to Robin's irritation. She is about to leave, but Sam tells her to get in the car, as he heard the snap of a twig in the forest. He finds the arsenal of weapons in the trunk, takes a handgun and shotgun and searches the forest, only to run into "soulless" Sam once again. He tells him that this is all in his head, and that he and Sam are both pieces that he shattered into once the wall came down. He tries to take control of his body by attempting to kill him once again, but "soulful" Sam emerges as the victor. "Soulless" Sam warns him that he has yet to face "the other one". He then integrates with "soulful" Sam, giving him the memories of his soulless year. Sam returns to the car, now remembering Robin as a victim to a Crossroads demon. Sam, soulless, shot Robin first before killing the demon holding her as leverage. He apologizes to her, but she says he'll be even more sorry soon.

Sam arrives at a grim version of Bobby's house, and finds the other Sam sitting in the kitchen. He asks which one he is, and he reveals himself, tortured and scarred, as the one who remembers Hell. He pleads for Sam to turn around, but Sam insists on putting himself back together. He has to know what happened in the cage to wake up. "Tortured" Sam asks why it's so important to him, to which Sam replies he is not leaving his brother out there alone. "Tortured" Sam refuses to put up a fight, wishes him luck, and gives him a knife for Sam to stab him with. He kills "tortured" Sam, and integrates with him, now remembering Hell.

He wakes up and takes the gun Dean left for him, and later arrives at the address Dean said they were going to be. He is damaged from the memories of Hell, but continues on to Crowley's headquarters. He walks in when Castiel returns and destroys Raphael. As Castiel claims he has no family, Sam picks up an angelic blade and stabs him in the back. Castiel simply pulls the blade out of his back, greeting Sam, and says the blade won't work because he is not an angel anymore. He proclaims himself their new God, and gives them the choice to either venerate him or be killed. Sam, Dean, and Bobby look on in horror.

Season 7
Soon after Castiel leaves, Sam begins to suffer from his memories of Hell, and passes out. He later awakens in Bobby's house and helps Dean fix the Impala. Although Sam is still plagued by the memories of Hell, he does not share this with Dean. They come up with a plan to bind Death to stop Castiel, but it fails when Castiel stymies them and unbinds Death. While helping Castiel get the souls back to purgatory Sam begins having hallucinations of Lucifer telling him that Sam had never left the cage and his excursion into the real world was merely a form of torture created by Lucifer. Dean snaps Sam out of his hallucinations long enough for them to find the Leviathans which had guided Castiels' vessel to water allowing the Leviathans to escape and contaminate the water supply. Soon after Sam tells Dean and Bobby about his flashbacks and hallucinations. Knowing he has a problems Sam decides to stay behind on hunts. He is soon tricked by Lucifer, and brought to a warehouse by him. Dean manages to snap Sam out it using the pain from his scar, and they return to Bobby's. There they find it in ruins and Edgar waiting for them. Sam is knocked out, but Bobby manages to save him at the hospital. In The Girl Next Door, he notices a case that he did when he was a teenager. So he leaves Dean and takes the Impala to track down the clues. He eventually finds Amy again, and asks her why shes killing again. She tells Sam she has a son, and he needed the live meat. So he lets her go again. Returning to the motel room, he meets with Dean again. He tells Dean about Amy, and asks Dean to trust him.

In Defending Your Life, Sam and Dean are hunting Osiris who is putting the guilty on trial. Sam puts his old pre-law skills to use in attempt to save Dean's life. In order to help deal with hell, Sam begins to take up a healthier lifestyle and begins jogging. However, in Slash Fiction, it is revealed to Sam that Dean had killed Amy behind Sam's back, and Sam is furious. This causes him to separate from Dean for a week before they are reunited in Lily Dale. Sam is still angry with Dean, but works on the case with him. They figure out that Jimmy Tomorrow has Marget Fox's Bones. Sam tries to reason with Jimmy without any luck and is forced to shoot Jimmy. Sam burns the bones and later makes up with Dean and they hunt together again. In Season 7, Time For A Wedding, Sam is drugged with a love potion and marries Becky. When he comes back to his senses, Becky knocks him out and ties him to a bed. Sam convinces Becky to let him go and help them trap Guy. In How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters, Sam notices that the burgers are changing people and turning Dean into an "idoit". He, Dean and Bobby find out that its a Leviathan plot. In Death's Door, Sam is holding memories of hell at bay using the scar. Sam is worried for Bobby, but readies himself for the worst. As they say goodbye, Bobby wakes up and writes numbers on Sam's hand before dying. He and Dean mourn the loss of Bobby in their own way. In Repo Man, Sam allows Lucifer's hallucination to help him find Jeffrey who had taken Dean hostage. After helping him however, Lucifer reappears. Sam tries to make him go away by causing pain to himself through his scar but to no avail. Lucifer tells him that by allowing Lucifer to help him, he had in turn given Lucifer a firmer grip on his mind. In The Born-Again Identity, Sam is admitted into a psychiatric ward after he had a full blown psychotic episode with Lucifer. Sam is unable to sleep and is on the verge of death before Dean brings Castiel who is reincarnated as Emanuel. Castiel is unable to cure Sam but is able to transfer his hallucinations to his own mind. Sam gets back his sanity at the cost of Castiel's. In Party On, Garth, it is revealed that Sam tried to use the board game without Dean to check whether Bobby's ghost still haunts the brother to no result. In the final moments of Survival of the Fittest, after Dean kills Dick and disappears, Crowley explains to Sam that he is "well and truly on his own". Crowley then leaves with Kevin Tran and Sam is left alone in the building looking lost and confused and completely in the dark about where Dean is.

Season 8
In season 8 Dean returns from Purgatory with the help of a vampire named Benny, Sam meets Dean unexepectedly and two of them share a hug when Sam asks about Castiel dean replies saying he had seen enough when Sam aske how he got out of purgutory Dean tries to talk him out of it. Sam himself had his own problems, when Dean asks Sam what been happening around sam tells him truthfully that he has not hunted for a year. He even tells him that he did not try to find Dean when he was in purgatory, this puts a strain in their relationship. Later on in the season, after Sam and Dean meet Henry Winchester, The key of letters leads them to the MOL headquarters where after further research and working a case with the Juda Society, Sam takes up the throne as the next "Legacy" and becomes a Man of Letters. Using Kevin Tran's translation of the word of god for hell's gate, Sam kills a hellhound and (coincidentally) covers himself in its blood, thus fulfilling one of the requirements of the tablet.At the end of  Mans Best Friend With Beniftis an effect resulting from the trial is revealed as sam begins to cough up blood, hiding it from his brother though visibly shaken by this.In Remember The Titans we see sam coughing up more blood, still hiding it from a suspicious Dean. A scared Sam opnes up to Dean, saying he was naive to think he could face these trials but is somewhat reasurred by his brother's words.Later in Goodbye Stranger sam, still coughing up blood continues to try and hide his coughing up blood from dean, however dean finds his bloody tissues in the trash.

While working on a case they run into Castiel and discover that Crowely has been sending his demons in search of Lucifer's crypt seeing as it contains the angel tablet.They also discover that Crowely has been using Meg seeing as she knows the true whereabouts of the crypt's location, but she has been lying to them.After rescuing Meg, they team up and she guides them to the cypt's real location. However Sam is told by Dean to stay with Meg because he knows that Sam has been coughing up blood.Sam insists that he is fine but Castiel tells them he is not and that the effects of the trial has damaged Sam in ways that not even he can heal.Castiel says that the first trial alone has damaged Sam on a "Subatomic level"  and does not know how leathal it is. At the end of this episode Sam and Dean have a heart to heart with him telling dean he will not lie to dean again and promising to let dean 'carry' him.

Physical Appearance
Sam is handsome and physically attractive. He has shaggy brown hair that grows longer and smoother in later seasons; he had a fringe as a child as well as in the first two seasons, but now parts it to show his forehead. He has hazel eyes that appear to be a mix of blue, green, and brown. He is noted by other characters to be handsome. Sam is very tall, 6'4" and has muscular build with broad shoulders and chest. This is especially ironic considering that he used to be teased for being short and wiry as a teenager. Like Dean, Sam often wears multiple layers of clothing (such as jackets, hoodies, and plaid shirts) as well as jeans and boots. Recently in Season 8 of the series, Sam who is known for always having a clean shaved face, has been sporting some facial stubble similar to Dean.

Personality
Sam is kind, caring, empathetic, good-hearted, heroic, intelligent, strong, sensitive, rational, free-spirited and independent; he can also be rather arrogant and stubborn. He is often the exasperated voice of reason in his relationship with Dean, who in turn sees him as exaggeratedly prissy and effeminate. Sam shows some obsessive-compulsive tendencies, such as the desire to be in control of his situation and being fastidious about cleanliness and order. He does not seem to drink alcohol as much as Dean does and has a much healthier diet than his brother (Dean himself scoffs at Sam's diet and calls it "rabbit food").

Because of his intelligence, Sam is usually assigned the role of researching information for hunts. He normally remembers details that Dean overlooks and is prone to make connections quicker than his brother. He also knows a great deal of information that causes Dean to label him a "walking encyclopedia of weirdness". In college, Sam scored a 174 on his LSAT, which Jessica noted was "scary good" in the series pilot. In spite of their bickering, Sam has looked up to Dean since they were children and knows him better than anyone else. He tries to get Dean to open up about his emotions and problems, and encourages him to take care of himself; on several occasions, he has even been frustrated by his brother's fixation on placing Sam's well-being over his own. However, Sam shows similar protective tendencies towards Dean, particularly after Dean makes his deal and returns from Hell as a shadow of who he used to be, to the point that Sam's memories of Dean allowed him to regain control of his body while possessed by Lucifer. He was also determined to risk his sanity and potentially his life in "The Man Who Knew Too Much" simply because he didn't want Dean to be alone. Sam tends to be driven by feelings of anger and vengeance.

As a teenager and even as a young man, he argued with his father constantly whenever they were together. Early in Season 1, Sam concentrated more on finding and killing Jessica's killer than he did on following John's instructions and saving people's lives on other hunts. He was even willing to sacrifice his life to kill Azazel although ultimately he proved that he valued Dean's life over the demon's death in "Devil's Trap". Following Dean's death and condemnation to Hell at the end of Season 3, Sam became so obsessed with avenging his brother by killing Lilith that he started the Apocalypse and almost turned himself into a monster. In "Sam, Interrupted", Sam confessed that he always feels angry and he doesn't know why. Initially, Sam wanted to live a "normal 'apple pie' life", which led to his arguing with John and his estrangement with the rest of his family before Season 1 began. Even after Jessica's death, Sam held out hope for eventually returning to Stanford. However, over the years, he has resigned himself to the idea that he is "a freak". In "Swap Meat", when he temporarily switched bodies with a teenaged boy and was forced to lead said teenager's life, he told Dean point-blank that the boy's ordinary life "sucked". However, after having a year off and enjoying a normal life, Sam has reverted back to his orginal opinion, and longs for his life as a hunter to end. Sam developed a crippling fear of clowns during his childhood when Dean left him at Plucky Pennywhistle's Magic Menagerie. Sam has been shown to have a dark side although outside influences are often implied to be the cause. In the third and fourth seasons, Sam becomes more cold-blooded and even cruel, losing his previously strong-held adherence to morality. Azazel suggests that this the result of Sam's resurrection in Season 3, though Sam himself argues that he is merely trying to act more like Dean to prepare for life without his brother. In Season 4, Sam's arrogance and viciousness appears to be linked to his drinking demon blood, as he acts differently under its influence; Castiel tells Dean that drinking more demon blood will transform Sam into a monster and tries to comfort Dean during one of Sam's detoxes by saying, "That's not your brother in there. Not really," and Sam exhibits a noticeably-altered attitude in a short span of time when he drinks demon blood in "Swan Song". During the time when Sam is soulless in Season 6, he lacks empathy and behaves like a sociopath. He has a ruthless side that only appears in times of great stress, like when Dean is in danger of going to Hell as part of a deal. This ruthlessness is very apparent when Sam is without his soul, but this may have only been due to him lacking the morality of his soul. Sam begins to lose his sanity in Season 7 because of damage done to his soul in Hell. As his hallucinations get worse, Sam seems to become more amenable to Lucifer's suggestions, as demonstrated in "Repo Man"; however, this case may have been unique, as Dean's life was in danger at that point and Sam was desperate to save him. Sam's mental stability returns when Castiel absorps his insanity into himself in "The Born-Again Identity".

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 since changed models and is currently using the Blackberry Bold 9000, as first seen in the season 4 finale, "Lucifer Rising".

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). It is a standard 9mm with a 10-round magazine. 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 him and Dean start to employ angel blades, taken from dead angels when they turn against the Host of Heaven.

Abilities
Due to his training as a hunter by his father, Sam is skilled with firearms and melee weapons. Like Dean, he is skilled in criminal acts, such as lock picking, computer hacking, 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 over time. On two separate occasions, Dean has warned the powerful vampire Benny not to underestimate Sam, as he could and would kill him given the chance. He is proficient in hand-to-hand combat and possess remarkable physical strength for a human, being to hold his own and even overpower certain supernatural creatures such as certain types of monsters and lower-level demons. He is also well-versed in weapons use, from blades to firearms and kill any creature that is affected by this type of weapons.

He has vast knowledge of the supernatural and is considered an "encyclopedia of weirdness" by Dean. He is proficient in reading and remembering spells written in foreign languages such as Latin and is often stuck with doing the research for their latest hunt. Having learned how to make hex bags from Ruby, Sam also possesses the ability to hide from demons. Sam is also a quick thinker and improviser as he managed to prevent 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 other's body language and can easily pick up on unconscious gestures to read their "poker face". He is an expert tactician, able to fight or diplomatically steer his way out of many complicated situations. 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.

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.

Special 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 hesitation of using said powers and to drink the demon blood necessary to fuel them. At the start of the fourth season, Sam has learned to use his powers to exorcise demons with the help of Ruby. 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. After Lucifer's release, it was finally revealed that the reason Sam was fed and compeled to feed on demon blood, was to strengthen and prepare him as the perfect vessel for the Archangel on Earth. 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 occassions: 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 ressurected and released from Lucifer's Cage. He has not exibited any powers or craving for demon blood since. Sam's powers included:


 * Clairvoyance/Clairsentience - Initially, Sam's powers manifested solely as a form of heightened senses and occasionally as confusing premontions of the future.


 * 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 could throw around and restrain top-level demons such as Alastair and Lilith by using his mind with minimal focus.


 * Enhanced Strength - The demon blood also increased Sam's physical strength, allowing him to overpower low-level demons and even his older brother Dean with relative ease.


 * Immunity to Demon Powers - 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 Andrew and Ansem's mind control powers, he was immune to the Croatoan virus, and was even unharmed from Samhain and Lilith's blast of demonic light. As he continued to drink demon blood he even became immune to other powers such as Alastair's telekinesis.


 * Demon Exorcism - Under Ruby's tutelage, Sam learned how to use his powers to exorcise demons with his mind. Initially he had extreme difficulty with controling and maintaining this power due to his inital hesitation of drinking demon blood. Though he was able to exorcise Samhain with a minimal consuption of demon blood, he was unable to do more than make Alastair choke and later on had no effect on Lilith. However once he commited himself to drink the blood and destroy Lilith, his powers grew to the point where could exorcise virtually any demon. After drinking two demons dry he could exorcise five demons at once. As he continued, his powers evolved to the point of being able to kill demons and not just exorcise them.
 * 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 after Sam interrogated her.
 *   Demon Destruction - After considerable training and consuming enough blood Sam became strong enough 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 drained of his abilities. 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.

Deaths
Throughout the course of the series, Sam has died multiple times in this show. He has died more often than any person in the show. His resurrection seems to have been the catalyst for Sam's increasingly cold nature and it has been insinuated by Azazel that when he was resurrected, he did not come back "100% pure Sam".


 * The very first time Sam died was in All Hell Breaks Loose - Part 1, where he was stabbed in the back by Jake Talley, where there was only one survivor. He was resurrected by the Crossroads Demon in All Hell Breaks Loose - Part 2, but Dean paid the ultimate price with his soul, only to be brought back from hell by self-proclaimed Angel, Castiel.


 * Sam, struck by lightning and briefly died in "Wishful Thinking" when Hope wished him dead. However, this was quickly reversed.


 * Zachariah takes Sam's lungs in "Sympathy for the Devil" long enough for Sam to die briefly. Castiel orders him to return the boys back.


 * During the episode "The Song Remains the Same", Sam was killed by Anna to prevent him saying yes to Lucifer. Michael brought him back however.
 * Both Sam and Dean were killed in the episode, "Dark Side of the Moon" by two angry hunters, for starting the apocalypse, but were resurrected by Joshua.


 * During the Season 5 finale, "Swan Song", Sam sacrificed himself by leaping into Lucifer's Cage, dragging Michael, Adam, and Lucifer down with him. He went briefly to Hell but appeared at the end of the episode, staring at Dean's new family having dinner. Its later revealed that Castiel brought him back but without a soul. When Death finally brought back his soul, Sam was fully revived.

Relationships

 * Sam and Dean: Sam and Dean's relationship to date.
 * Sam and Bobby: Sam and Bobby's relationship.
 * Sam and Castiel: Sam and Castiel's relationship.
 * Minor Relationships: Other relationships Sam has had.