John's Relationships

This page is comprised of John Winchester's minor relationships.

Lovers

Kate Milligan

John and Kate

Kate is one of two known lovers John had, and the only one to birth him a child: Adam.

The two met in January 1990. John was hunting a ghoul in Windom, Minnesota. He arrived at the hospital Kate worked after he sustained injuries. Their son was born in September. Kate kept John's phone number but refused to contact him until Adam, aged twelve, begged her to.

From then on, John had sporadic contact with the Milligans. John tried to be a father to Adam, though Adam only came to love Kate as a parent. John and Kate appeared to have a stable relationship judging by photos throughout the Milligan house.

Unfortunately for the Milligans, their fates were sealed from the moment Kate met John, since the ghoul John had killed when he met Kate had two children, and these children sought vengeance by killing Kate and Adam years later.

By then, John was already dead. The ghouls instead sought to obtain vengeance against John's other sons, Sam and Dean, only to die by their hands. Unlike Adam or John's other lover Tara, Kate never met neither Sam nor Dean, and it is unknown if John ever mentioned them to her but unlikely as they didn't seem familiar with her.

Tara

John and Tara worked together on a case that involved the capture of a demon loyal to Abaddon (coincidentally the very demon who would kill John's father). Through interrogation, the demon revealed facts about the Knights of Hell and the First Blade, neither of which John believed in. After Tara took notes, the two hunters exorcised the demon.

As with Kate, John spent a romantic weekend with Tara, and promised to call her, but never did. John was close enough to confide in her the names of his sons, as when Dean told her he was the son of John, she asked which one he was.

While John continued his hunt for Azazel, Tara focused her efforts on finding the Blade, and while she never managed to locate it due to a lack of ingredients, her knowledge became useful to Dean years later.

It was also her knowledge that led a demon to track her down and kill her.

Estranged Family

Besides Dean and Sam, John had other family members who he was estranged from and on bad terms with.

Adam Milligan

John and his son Adam

Adam was John's third son.

Adam was conceived as a result of John ending up in hospital where Adam's mother Kate Milligan worked. For the next twelve years, John would be unaware of Adam until Adam himself begged his mother to call John. At this time, Sam had left John for Stanford University and may have been the reason why John "dropped everything" and went to visit Adam.

It was suggested by his oldest son Dean that John spent time with Adam as he saw the latter as a second chance to be a father again and raised one child in a normal manner.

Despite John's attempts to act fatherly around Adam even trying to raise him normally, by teaching him pool and poker, taking him to ball games on his birthday, buying him his first beer at age 15, and teaching him how to drive The Impala, Adam never regarded John as his father and saw only his mother as family. In a talk with Sam Adam would voice his resentment of his father but did say ,he would’ve settled for anything because unlike Sam Adams was not raised by their father. Also, John never told Adam about his other children who likewise were unaware that John fathered another son.

Two years after John's death, the children of the ghoul John killed when he first met Kate, came back for revenge and proceeded to kill and devour Adam and Kate Milligan. Their plan was to lure John back and kill him in revenge, instead they contacted Sam and Dean, who they intended to punish instead since John was dead but the brothers successfully killed both ghouls.

Needless to say, Adam was cursed by being John's son. This was further proven when Zachariah resurrected him and used him as bait in order to get Dean to say "Yes" to Michael. When the plan failed, Michael got a "Yes" out of Adam instead. Possession by Michael led Adam to become trapped in Lucifer's Cage for many years, with no hope of escaping.

Henry Winchester

Young John Winchester and his father Henry.

John's father who disappeared on him when he was a child. John assumed that Henry had abandoned him and his mother, and Henry was eventually replaced by an unknown father-figure. In truth, Henry was part of a secret society called the Men of Letters, a society John's grandfather and great-grandfather had been members of prior. Henry's disappearance prevented John from finding out about the society, much less joining it.

The American branch, which Henry was a part of, was wiped out by the demon Abaddon. Henry attempted to flee by going into the future, where he hoped to meet John only to discover that John was dead by 2013. Henry was devastated to learn his son's fate and learned of him being a hunter. Henry himself later died at Abaddon's hands, and passed on membership of the Men of Letters to John's sons, Sam and Dean.

During their time together, Henry once bought John a little music box which played "As Time Goes By" from the film "Casablanca" to help him sleep. John had become scared after watching the "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy" when Henry took him to watch it a drive-in.

Dean believed that John's life was made unnecessarily hard by Henry's absence, and came to despise Henry in John's stead. Later on, Dean forgave Henry as he realized it was not his fault he wasn't there for John and even prevented him from returning to the past since it would cause problems. The two managed to reconcile and Henry stated he would have been proud of John for raising Sam and Dean before he died.

During Lebanon, John himself is pulled into the future and is finally told the truth of Henry's disappearance and his legacy. John seemed pleased to know that his father did not truly leave him and amused to hear Dean state he'd be proud he made it to the bunker. Though John was sent back to the past seemingly with no memory of the event.

Friends

Caleb

Caleb was an old friend of the Winchester Family as well as the Harvelle Family. Caleb was the one to discover Jim's corpse and warn John about demonic presence. Meg successfully captured Caleb and tried to coerce John into surrendering The Colt.

Before Meg slit his throat, Caleb begged John not to give in. John appeared to do just that immediately after, but his plan was to hand the demons a fake Colt. The plan was unsuccessful.

Daniel Elkins

John and Daniel had known each other for sometime. They stopped speaking after they suffered a falling out. Daniel, much to John's chagrin, was in possession of The Colt and it was only after vampires came and killed Daniel for it that John found out.

Whatever led to their falling out and caused Daniel to keep the Colt a secret from John, was not enough to prevent John from referring to Daniel as "a good man". Daniel was also responsible for teaching John many things about the supernatural.

For reasons unknown, John never told Sam and Dean about Daniel.

Mike Guenther

John and Mike co-owned a garage in Lawrence, Kansas. Following the death of Mary and the destruction of their home, John and his sons lived with Mike and his wife for a short while. John stopped being a part of the garage after leaving Lawrence.

Twenty years later, Mike continued to remember John fondly as someone who hated to lose, who loved his wife and doted on his kids. Mike admitted that this was before the fire, and that afterwards, John was in shock and could not think straight. He found John's increasing obsession with the occult disturbing.

Presumably, the two never spoke again after the fire.

Jim Murphy

Jim was the pastor of a church in Blue Earth, Minnesota and long time friend of John. They were so close that Jim even took care of Sam and Dean on occasion. They stopped talking a year before Jim met Meg.

Meg, being a demon, intended to find out John's location from Jim. Jim refused, and tried to attack the demon with a knife. Meg responded by slashing his throat with his very own knife.

Jim's death nearly brought John to tears when he found out.

Martin Creaser

Martin was a hunter and old friend of John who had saved John's life many times. He stopped hunting after an incident in Albuquerque, which Sam and Dean know about. The details of what happened are not revealed, but they were bad enough that he left hunting and voluntarily checked himself into a psychiatric hospital.

Martin briefly worked with Sam and Dean on a case involving a wraith at the hospital. He kept in touch with Sam and shortly after he was discharged in 2012, he helped Sam check out Dean's new friend, Benny Lafitte. His obsession with this vampire led to his untimely death.

Missouri Moseley

Missouri is a psychic who meets John a few days after Mary's death. He comes to her for a reading. It is Missouri who helps John discover 'what was in the dark'. John wanted Missouri to help tell him what killed his wife and took her to his old house, but Missouri could not find out, only that it was "real evil".

Twenty years later, Sam and Dean come to investigate their old home, now in the possession of a new family. Missouri helps the brothers deal with a violent poltergeist there, while keeping John hidden in her house the entire time. Missouri urged John to meet his sons, but John refused, telling her that he needed to know the truth first.

William Anthony Harvelle

William, aka Bill was a solitary hunter. After John met Bill's family, he was allowed to join Bill on a hunt involving "a hellspawn" that had escaped through a Devil's Gate. The hunt was a failure when said creature severely wounded Bill, leaving him with his guts spilling onto his hands.

Bill begged John to put him out of his misery. John did, and shot him in the head. The traumatic experience drove John to cut contact with the Harvelles, but not before Bill's wife Ellen learned of the truth. Bill's death would haunt John for many years. Since Bill's daughter Jo was unaware of the truth, the demon Meg attempted to use this as a means to turn her against John's sons.

Fortunately for the Winchesters, Jo was able to forgive them.

Others

Mr. Woodson

This man was John's employer when John first became a mechanic. It is unknown how long John worked under him, but Woodson was eventually killed by Anna Milton in 1978. Anna mimics Mr. Woodson's voice in order to lure John back to his workplace and kill him.

Anna's plan is foiled by the arrival of Michael, who wipes John's memories of the entire incident. Presumably, Michael did not resurrect Mr. Woodson as John later co-owns a garage and works as a mechanic alongside Mike Guenther.

Azazel

John's most hated enemy Azazel.

Azazel was responsible for Mary's death, driving John to become a Hunter and spend more than twenty years trying to hunt him down. Azazel first met John while pursuing Mary Campbell in hopes of making a deal with her. After murdering Mary's parents, Azazel also murdered John but promised to resurrect John in exchange for permission to enter Mary's home in 10 years. It is unknown if John ever recalled this event.

After Azazel killed Mary, John went on a hunt and trained in sons in hopes of avenging his wife. His hunt led him to discover and eventually get a hold on The Colt, a weapon that could kill demons. This prompt Azazel to fight back by possessing John himself and luring Sam and Dean into a trap. When John took back control of his body, he ordered Sam to shoot him, but Sam was reluctant to sacrifice his own father, allowing Azazel to escape.

To make matters worse, Azazel used this opportunity to have The Impala struck by a demon-driven truck, putting Dean in a coma and badly injuring John. Initially wanting to complete the mission regardless of Dean's condition, John gave in and chose to summon Azazel. It is hinted at by the sigils drawn that John knew Azazel's real name all along.

Azazel tried to trick John by posing as a janitor, leading John to aim The Colt at him and ask if Azazel thought he was stupid. John proceeded to offer up The Colt in exchange for Dean's life, but was forced to give up his own life as well or Azazel wouldn't agree. During their conversation, John confessed to knowing a bit about Azazel's secret plan which involved Sam and numerous other children.

After offering up his soul and The Colt, John made a request to go see Dean recover with his own eyes before he went with the demon. In actuality, John passed on a final command in hopes of preventing Azazel's plan from coming to fruition; he told Dean to kill Sam should Sam ever go to the dark side.

John's death was in itself, part of Azazel's ultimate plan to free Lucifer from his prison, as John was a righteous man and if he could be convinced to torture souls in Hell, the first seal binding Lucifer would be broken. However John resisted for a century, and when the Devil's Gate in Wyoming were opened as part of Azazel's plan to free Lilith, the final seal, John himself escaped and pulled Azazel out of his vessel, giving Dean a chance to retrieve The Colt and shoot Azazel with it. Father-and-son's combined efforts led to Azazel's death, though his plans continued to flourish.

With his mission complete, John went to Heaven.

Alastair

After he was sent to Hell, Alastair took to torturing John in an attempt to break him enough to torture souls himself. This was done in an attempt to break the first seal and release Lucifer to start The Apocalypse. However, John refused to give in and for half a century never broke, to Alastair's shock. John somehow managed to escape the demon's grasps and aided his sons in killing Azazel before ascending to Heaven.

In On The Head Of A Pin, Alastair mentioned this to Dean and spoke highly of John for his strong will, despite the torture he suffered. He stated that he expected the same from his son but voiced his disappointment that Dean wasn't nearly half the man that his father was. Alastair was killed by Sam after he failed to kill Dean.

Michael

John says "Yes" to Michael.

In 1978, Anna attempts to prevent The Apocalypse by killing John and Mary before their sons are born. With the help of past-Uriel, Anna manages to gain the upper hand despite present-Sam and Dean trying to stop her.

In a desperate attempt to save his wife, the injured John meets the Archangel Michael and assents to possession by Michael, who uses him as a vessel to kill Anna and speak to Dean. Much to Dean's horror, Michael promises to wipe John and Mary's memories of this entire incident, as well as their encounters with Sam and Dean. Although Michael considers this an act of kindness which will allow John and Mary to live normally again, Mary will not be able to escape her imminent fate.

Michael's possession of John is said to be possible due to John's bloodline, being a descendant of Cain. It is also because of John that Michael is able to possess his third son, Adam. Michael is also chronologically the first known being to possess John's body, the second is Azazel but John's memories of this were erased. John was the first Winchester that Michael possessed and the second would be John's youngest son and it would have consequences.

Also Checkout

• John and Dean
• John and Sam
• John and Mary
• John and Bobby