“Dad’s on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days.” Those are the words that started it all for all Supernatural fans. That was the moment viewers were introduced to Dean Winchester. However, that’s not where his story actually begins. He was twenty-six during the pilot, after all.

Fans spent fifteen years getting to know the elder Winchester brother throughout the course of the show. While the events of the show certainly did their part towards Dean’s character development, it is essential to remember that the events before the show are the things that Dean Winchester the man he is.

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Life Before the Fire

The fire that inevitably changed the course of the Winchester men's lives happened on November 2, 1983. Unbeknownst to them, the chain of events that led to that night was set for them ten years before. Mary Campbell-Winchester grew up a hunter, but wanted a different life for her children. She became engaged to a marine, John Winchester. However, before they could even celebrate the engagement properly, a demon killed Mary’s parents and threatened the life of John. To protect him, she made a deal that in 10 years, she would let the demon come into her house and take something without interruption.

After that, Mary and John did live their happy, picket-fence life. They had a son, Dean, named after Mary’s mother. She would bake him apple pies that he would remember fondly throughout the remainder of his life. When Dean was four, he had a little brother named Sam, again, after Mary’s father. Dean loved being a big brother to “Sammy.” For six months, they were the perfect little family of four. Then, on the night Sam turned six months old, the demon that killed Mary’s parents returned. In the middle of the night, the demon crept over Sam’s crib and fed him demon’s blood. Mary, forgetting about the deal, scared of a stranger in Sam’s room, did interrupt. The demon then killed Mary and set the house on fire. John grabbed baby Sam, placed him in Dean’s arms, and told him to run and protect Sam.

Growing Up Hunting

After the fire, John Winchester became obsessed with finding the one responsible for killing his wife. Despite being ignorant of the supernatural, he discovered that Mary was indeed killed by a demon. John Winchester then became one of the best hunters in the business, until his sons were grown that is. Unfortunately, this new obsession took its toll on the family that he had left. Though John was primarily concerned with finding the demon that killed Mary, the marine in him could not stand by and let other people be hurt the same way that he was. While John was out hunting, Dean was charged with watching over Sam.

Viewers are given a few glimpses into the childhood that Dean endured by having to grow up so fast. There were several occasions where a prepubescent Dean went without food so that Sam could eat instead. He did all that he could to shield Sam from the life that they lived for as long as he could, even though it meant learning how to shoot a rifle as a means of protecting them both at a very young age.

Diary of a Teenage Monster Hunter

The older Dean got, the longer John could stay gone at a time for hunts. While Sam would relish in opportunities such as going to school, Dean would dread it. Dean knew that there was no point getting attached to people during their stints at any given pace, considering that they would not be there long. The few times that Dean forgot this rule and allowed himself to get close to people, something would inevitably happen reminding him who he was and that his dad would be back soon to collect them and move on to the next place.

There was one specific instance where John allowed Dean to “get caught” by social services and be taken to a home for troubled boys. While there, Dean began to believe that his dad was not coming back for him this time. He became close with the home’s owner, Sonny, got a job, and even had a girlfriend. However, on the night that Dean would have had a significant date with this girl, John showed back up to collect Dean. Dean considered refusing his father’s orders to come with him, but one glance at Sam made him stop in his tracks. He left the home and the girl without proper goodbyes all in order to be able to take care of his little brother.

After Sam Left for College

Dean spent his entire childhood protecting Sam from everything, including their father. John and Sam both had volatile tempers that would often get pointed at each other. This was mostly due to the fact that Sam did not want to live the life of a hunter, and this baffled John who insisted that they at least had to find the demon that killed Mary. Dean would try his best to diffuse these arguments when they would happen. However, once Sam was old enough to graduate high school, there was one more fight that ended them all. Sam told John that he was going to college at Stanford University and would no longer be a hunter. And just like that, Dean and John were on their own. John got to the point where he would trust Dean to take on certain monsters on his own. They took turns either hunting together or separately. That is until the hunt that John went on that led to the events of Season 1.

Dean Winchester spent every single episode of Supernatural focused on only one thing, protecting his brother Sam. This was also the focus of his life before the events of the pilot episode. It was even his final act before he died for the final time in the show, saving Sam. He is the definition of a selfless character, with his only moments of selfishness being grabbing at slivers of momentary happiness.

Supernatural is available to stream on Netflix.

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