Supernatural: John Winchester

A man looking for revenge, killing everything in his path leading to the yellow eyed demon that killed the woman he loves. His revenge is the reason why the boys do what they do. He was so caught up in finding Azazel for killing his wife that he frequently neglected being their father. It forced Sam and Dean to take care of themselves, which they did, but it divided them slightly. Dean stayed loyal while Sam fought with him left and right. Jeffrey Dean Morgan played the character for the most part and in the flashbacks Matthew Cohen played John. Before Azazel broke into the Winchester household to bleed into Sam's mouth, John was a Vietnam War vet from Lawrence, Kansas. He met Mary Winchester in the early 70's and despite their rocky relationship, it was a thing of destiny. More than anyone could have truly expected.

John was a mechanic in his early years following the time he spent in the war and eventually he met Mary Campbell. John and Mary loved each other, no one would have disputed that. Mary's family background was somewhat of a hindrance on their relationship as her father, Samuel, didn't think he was good enough for her. He thought that John was a simple kind of man and he made sure that Mary knew of his feelings. John was also unaware of the fact that the Campbell family was a family of hunters. He was unaware of what a hunter was up until that one tragic day on the second of November in 1983. In a flashback episode, it was revealed that John and Mary did not get a long when they first met but then Heaven intervened. Heaven ordered Cupid to work his magic on the couple and thus they fall in love. John was about to propose to Mary in 1973 in the episode "In the Beginning", but Azazel took the body of Samuel and interrupted the couples moment. He killed John and made a deal with Mary that brought John back to life and in return he would be allowed to visit their home in ten years, uninterrupted.

On that fateful day of the second of November in 1983, Azazel came into the Winchester household to collect his part of the deal. He warned her to not interrupt him, but her motherly instincts kicked in and it was too late. After bleeding into Sam's mouth, Azazel turned his attention to Mary Winchester by pinning her to the ceiling cutting her open at the stomach and burning her down with the house. John saw all of the brutality first hand while getting Sam and Dean out of the house but he swore to get revenge after that night. He knew whatever killed his wife was not human and began to become a cold shell of his former self hellbent on killing everything in his path. He began to obsess over the supernatural and took his sons with him on his travels around the states as he hunted the demons and spirits. Dean was his loyal son that followed every order without question, while Sam had nothing but questions. As John became more and more proficient as a hunter he developed a name for himself among the community of hunters. He even trained his sons to become hunters. Sam and John had a fallout after Sam left for college. Sam wanted a normal life and not one that would just include traveling with his family.

Twenty two years after Mary's death, John went missing after going out on a hunt. Dean then went to Harvard to explain the situation to his brother and ask for his help searching for their father. After some unfortunate events involving Sam's personal life, Sam followed Dean in his pursuit for their father. John tracks them down when the begin a job in Lawrence, Kansas that just so happens to be inside their childhood house. He remains hidden from them, just overlooking them as he would much rather know the truth about what happened that night before he reunites with them. He finally reveals himself to his sons when they are brought to a job in Chicago, Illinois. Meg Masters, a woman that Sam had crossed paths with a couple of times in the first season, is revealed to be possessed by a demon tells them that Azazel is on John's trail. The Winchesters get away from Meg's trap and split up to get the demons off of John while Sam thinks that they are better off together. Dean and John disagree as they feel that they are weaker and that the demons will exploit it. The Winchesters meet back up however when a friend of John's is murdered. Daniel Elkins was in possession of a gun that is said to be able to kill anything. A group of vampires had stolen the Colt that was created by Samuel Colt himself. The Winchesters end up working together and take down the nest of vampires and in the process get the Colt. With the Colt in their possession, they intend to use it on Azazel, but Azazel and Meg beat them to the punch. Meg begins to slowly kill off every friend of John's until he agrees to give them the Colt. The Winchesters also pick up a trail as to where Azazel will be so John meets Meg with a fake Colt, while Sam and Dean go after Azazel with the real Colt. Of course it doesn't end ideally for the Winchesters as John ends up getting possessed by Azazel himself. The Winchesters hide out in an abandoned cabin as Sam and Dean are unaware that their father is possessed. Dean picks up on it after he realizes his father was not upset by the fact that he used a bullet from the Colt on a lower level demon. He knows that if it really were his father, that he would be furious. Azazel then reveals himself and Sam breaks free from his grasp to make a move for the Colt. Sam shoots his possessed father in the leg allowing John to regain control for a short period of time. John instructs his son to end it, but Sam refuses to kill his father in the process. Azazel leaves John's body and Sam drives his family to the hospital for immediate medical attention. On the way, the Winchesters are hit by a massive truck that was driven by a demon.

John awakens in a hospital bed with a few injuries while Sam is okay but Dean is in bad shape. The doctors are unsure if he will be able to make it after he had sustained a good deal of blood loss on top of several injuries. As Dean begins to fade away, John seems uninterested but instructs Sam to retrieve a few things from Bobby to perform a protection spell from the demons on their pursuit. Sam follows in line, but Bobby tells him the items John asked for were actually for summoning a demon. Sam and John begin to fight once again. Sam is upset over John's need to fight Azazel, even in the midst of Dean fighting for his life. John explains to his son that he has a plan expecting him to follow in line with it. John uses the equipment that Sam got from Bobby and goes into the basement of the hospital to summon Azazel where he makes a deal with him. He offers up his own soul for Dean's life. Azazel explains that he still needs to sweeten the pot with the Colt, which he obliges. John is allowed one final moment with his son's and his final words to Dean are, "you are going to have save your brother, if you can't you'll have to kill him." In a form of poetic justice however, the three things involved in the deal led to Azazel's death. When the Devil's Gate is opened at the end of season two, John comes out to grab Azazel allowing Dean to shoot him with the Colt.