Henry Eric Winchester was a member of the Men of Letters. He was the father of John Winchester and the husband of Millie Winchester.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Henry came from a long line of Men of Letters as his father and grandfather were both members that taught him in their way.
When Ada Monroe first opened her shop, Henry visited in search of a book about Wraiths.
At some point, he married a woman named Millie and they had a son named John Winchester. Henry spent much time with his son taking him to a drive-in movie and buying him a music box. He intended to pass down his way of life to him. When John was a kid, he thought that there was a monster under his bed and Henry would tell John not to worry as he knew how to trap it.
In 1957, following the latest defeat of the Akrida by the Men of Letters, the Akrida Queen Joan Hopkins mustered every ounce of power that she had left and killed Henry and all of the Men of Letters.
John later joined the Marines while he's underage by forging Henry's signature. John would travel halfway across the world, trying to figure his father out, why Henry left and what he did.
The Winchesters[]
In Pilot, John has received a letter from Henry written before his disappearance. The letter, along with a key to the Men of Letters Clubhouse, were delivered to John by a man who then vanished. Investigating the address in the letter, John has a brief encounter with a demon that is then exorcised by Mary Campbell. Inside, Mary finds a file on the Ostium while John finds and clears out Henry's locker.
John later confronts his mother with Henry's belongings and she admits that she knew about Henry's activities with the Men of Letters, but she had kept it from John in order to protect him. Recognizing that Henry was trying to keep them safe too, John shows Millie Henry's letter in which Henry apologizes for keeping the truth from his son, warning John that there is a dangerous world out there and telling him that their family has been fighting that danger for centuries. John reveals that he intends to follow in Henry's footsteps, feeling that "saving people, hunting things" is what he was born to do. Millie comments that John sounds like Henry and asks him to just come home.
Ada Monroe later tells John that he looks like Henry who came into her store when it first opened looking for a book about Wraiths. Ada describes Henry as kind and with a great smile. However, Ada doesn't know what happened to Henry as all of the Men of Letters that she knew disappeared fifteen years ago.
In Reflections, John discovers that the notes on the Ostium were written by his father in shorthand. Ada explains that part of Henry's duties as an initiate was taking notes in meetings. John enlists Millie's help to read Henry's writing and she jokes that Henry had never met a consonant or vowel that he couldn't butcher. Millie can always read it because she knows the context such as shopping lists, paid bills and love letters. While taking a break, Millie talks to Ada who tells her that Henry always worried about what his work was doing to his marriage and had only wanted to separate from Millie in order to protect his family.
In an attempt to learn more, the Monster Club and Millie attempt to summon Henry's ghost using the music box that Henry had given to John as a child which John eventually broke in the years since his father's disappearance. When the spell appears not to work, John opens up to Mary about how, as a kid, he'd hear his parents fighting about him and how he would use the music box to drown it out. John blames himself for Henry leaving, but Mary reassures him that it wasn't his fault.
Suddenly, Henry's ghost appears, flickering in and out, and tells his son that it wasn't John's fault that he left, it was his own. John is hardly able to believe that he can talk to Henry while Mary realizes that it must've finally worked because John was honest about his feelings. John introduces Mary to Henry and Mary leaves to go get Millie. Henry wants to explain why left, but John tells him that they don't have time for that and that they need Henry's help as the Akrida are back. John tells Henry that they already have the Ostium and know that it's some kind of a magical portal, but it's broken. Henry calls the unlikely and suggests that the Ostium may need to be recharged instead. The energy source doesn't just give the Ostium its power, it determines where the portal opens so the Akrida will be sent back to their world where the only ones that they can hurt are themselves. Each of the Men of Letters was given a piece in case of an emergency and Henry hid his as the jasmine vines he planted outside of the garage.
The two briefly discuss Millie and John hunting before Henry warns his son that he's stepped into a dangerous world and needs to watch out for himself and his mother. Henry tells John that he's proud of him and begins to fade away as Millie enters the room. Henry tells his family that he loves them before vanishing for good.
In Hang on to Your Life, Samuel is shown to have a low opinion of Henry and the other Men of Letters. While looking at one of Samuel's photographs, John recognizes the man who gave him Henry's letter in the background, revealing it to have been Dean Winchester.
In Cast Your Fate to the Wind, John and Mary discuss the man who had given John his father's letter. Later, Henry's name is on a list of Men of Letters that is examined by Lata.
In Suspicious Minds, after meeting Jack Wilcox who is pretending to be Porter Hobbes, John asks if Jack knew his father, but he claims not to know Henry. John and Mary later discover that Jack was kicked out of the Men of Letters after Henry had exposed him for illegally experimenting upon humans. Jack tells John that he'd told Henry that they're in a war, time is short and they need to exploit every option available, but Henry hadn't listened to him.
In Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye, in a flashback, Dean delivers Henry's letter to John, telling Bobby Singer that the letter is meant for John and he is just giving things a nudge.
While fighting John, Joan Hopkins reveals that she had killed Henry and all of the Men of Letters following their defeat of her previous invasion. Henry's death is avenged when Mary runs Joan down with the Impala which, being not of this Earth, finally kills Joan and all of the Akrida with her.
Appearances[]
- Season 1
- Pilot (mentioned, photo and voice only)
- Teach Your Children Well (photo and mentioned only)
- Reflections (Ghost)
- Hang on to Your Life (mentioned only)
- Cast Your Fate to the Wind (mentioned only)
- Suspicious Minds (mentioned only)
- Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye (mentioned only)