With fifteen seasons, it’s not surprising thatSupernaturalhad some inconsistencies in its own lore and sometimes broke its own timeline.Supernaturalbegan in 2005 as a story following two brothers, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) Winchester, as they traveled across the country hunting monsters. Initially, the series mostly consisted ofstandalone monster-of-the-week Supernatural episodes, butSupernaturaleventually developed a complex mythology of monsters, angels, and demons.
As themythology and lore ofSupernaturalgot more complicated and its universe got bigger, there were bound to be some inconsistencies and minor plot holes. For the most part,Supernaturalkept major contradictions to a minimum, and the show had enough going for it that minor discrepancies could ultimately be overlooked. Still,Supernaturalreinvented itself more than once throughout its fifteen seasons,and things like time travel, alternate universes, and heavenly interference made things complicated.
8Demon Lore Changed Throughout Supernatural’s Run
Saying “Christo” To Identify Demons Only Lasted One Episode
InSupernatural’sfourth episode, “Phantom Traveler,” Sam and Dean encounter a demon for the first time. As Sam and Dean research lore which investigating a series of recent plane crashes, Dean remarks thatdemonic possession is much bigger than their"normal gig.“Dean’s comment is somewhat ironic, considering how many demons the brothers would face off against over the next fourteen seasons.
According to “Phantom Traveler,“saying"Christo"in the presence of a demon will make them flinch,but this piece of lore is mostly dropped after this episode. Sam and Dean eventually perform an exorcism, something they will do many times throughoutSupernatural’sfirst five seasons. However, they perform fewer exorcisms as the show progresses,resorting to killing the demons directly instead.
7Vampires Were Extinct & Werewolf Bites Have A Cure?
Monster Lore Shifted & Changed Throughout The Show’s Run
Just as demon and angel lore changed throughoutSupernatural’srun,some of the show’s monster lore changed as well.When shapeshifters were first introduced, for example, they had to gruesomely shed their skin to shift into a new form, but later shapeshifters could transform seamlessly. In the season 1 episode, “Dead Man’s Blood,“John Winchester (Jeffrey Dean Morgan)mentions that he believed vampires had been driven to extinction by hunters.
Despite John’s claim, vampires would pop up regularly throughout the show, and the Winchesters encounter hunters who specialize in vampires. Early inSupernatural’srun,werewolf bites were said to be irreversible.However, whenClaire Novak (Kathryn Newton)is bitten in season 12, it’s revealed that the Men of Letters have an experimental cure that has never been mentioned before.
6Sam And Dean Are Wanted Men
Sam and Dean find themselves in trouble with law enforcement, from local cops to the FBI, several times throughoutSupernatural’sfifteen-season run.Sam and Dean were taken into custody on more than one occasion,meaning their fingerprints and real identities are presumably on file. This raises the question of how the Winchester brothers continue to do what they do, which often includes impersonating police officers and FBI agents, without attracting attention.
Sam and Dean were on the FBI’s most wanted list in 2011, but this was due to a killing spree committed by Leviathan clones. After the Winchesters took out the clones, a local sheriff convinced the FBI that the brothers had been killed in a shootout.
After a few minor run-ins with law enforcement over the years,the season 12 episode, “First Blood,” finally referenced the Winchesters' criminal past,when they were taken into custody for attempting to assassinate the President of the United States (who was being possessed by Lucifer at the time). They escaped (again), butSupernaturalnever fully explains why more law enforcement officers don’t recognize them.
5The Trickster Is The Archangel Gabriel & Chuck Is God
Both Of These Reveals Worked Well Even In Hindsight
The Trickster (Richard Speight Jr.) made his debut inSupernaturalseason 2’s “Tall Tales,” as what Bobby (Jim Beaver) theorized to be a Trickster demigod. Although Dean appears to kill the Trickster, he returns the following season in the iconic “Mystery Spot,” which remains one ofSupernatural’sfunniest episodes. After angels become part ofSupernatural’smythology at the start of the fourth season,the Trickster is eventually revealed to be the archangel Gabriel.
One characterSupernaturalnever followed up on is Jesse Turner (Gattlin Griffith), a young boy who appeared in season 5 and was supposedly destined to become the antichrist. Jesse vanishes at the end of “I Believe the Children Are Our Future” and is never seen again.
Chuck Shurley (Rob Benedict) first appeared inSupernatural’sfourth season as the author of a series ofbooks following the adventures of Sam and Dean Winchester. Chuck claims the stories of Sam and Dean came to him in dreams, making him a profit. However, the season 11 episode,“Don’t Call Me Shurley,” reveals that Chuck Shurley is actually God himself,something many fans had speculated since the end of season 5.
4Supernatural Shattered The Fourth Wall In “The French Mistake”
Supernatural Went Meta With The Genre-Bending Season 6 Episode
Throughout its fifteen-season run,Supernaturalplayed with its own formulain fascinating (and often hilarious) ways.Sometimes, the show went fully meta,bringing the viewers in on the joke. In season 4, for example, Sam and Dean discovered that a series of novels existed that depicted their lives as if they were fiction. These books developed a cult following, eventually leading to a convention and even a school play.
Supernaturaldid not truly break the fourth wall until the season 6 episode, “The French Mistake.” In this episode,Sam and Dean find themselves in a reality where they are actors named Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackleswho star in a television show calledSupernatural. Watching the real Jared and Jensen portray fictionalized versions of themselves is truly hilarious, and “The French Mistake” contains numerous references to people who actually work on the show.
3Supernatural Unsank The Titanic & Killed Hitler
Also, Samuel Colt & Eliot Ness Were Monster Hunters
In the season 6 episode, “My Heart Will Go On,“Castiel (Misha Collins)sends an angel back in time to unsink the Titanicto create more souls to fuel his side in the angelic civil war (although he later reverses this). In a later season 6 episode,“Frontierland,” the Winchesters encounter Samuel Colt (Sam Hennings),who turns out to be a monster hunter who crafted a gun that could kill almost any supernatural being.
Season 7’s “Time After Time” revealed that Prohibition agent Eliot Ness (Nicholas Lea) was also a hunter. Several seasons later, in the season 12 episode “The One You’ve Been Waiting For,” the Winchesters encounter a group of necromancers who resurrect Hitler in the body of their leader, before Dean gets to kill him.Supernaturalhad a lot of fun reimagining real historical figures and eventsin the context of a world filled with supernatural beings.
2Supernatural Brought Mary Winchester Back From The Dead
Mary Winchester’s Death Set-Off The Entire Series
As seen inSupernatural’spilot episode,the death of Mary Winchester (Samantha Smith) was the catalystfor nearly everything that happened to the Winchesters. It was her death that prompted John Winchester to begin his search for the yellow-eyed demon, Azazel (Fredric Lehne), who had killed her. John’s quest consumed him, and he introduced both Sam and Dean to the world of monster hunting at a very young age.
Mary was a complex character who made some questionable decisions after her resurrection, but she clearly loved her sons dearly.
So when Amara (Emily Swallow) resurrected Mary Winchester at the end ofSupernaturalseason11, it shook up the dynamic of the show. As Sam was a baby when Mary was killed, he had no memory of his mother, but Dean had to confront the fact that the woman who returned was not exactly the mother he remembered. Upon her resurrection,Mary was shocked that her sons had been raised as hunters,and she struggled to adapt to her new life.
1The Winchesters Rewrote John & Mary Winchester’s Story (Or Did It?)
The Winchesters Actually Took Place In An Alternate Reality
Although the minds behindSupernaturalattempted multiple spin-offsthroughout the show’s run, none of them were ordered to series. About a year afterSupernaturalcame to an end, news ofThe Winchestersbroke, andit was described as a prequel series telling the story of how John (Drake Rodger) and Mary (Meg Donnelly) Winchester metand fell in love.Supernaturalhad already explored some of this story, but whenThe Winchesters’first trailer dropped, it seemed to contradict much of what had already been established.
InThe Winchesters,Mary introduced John to the world of hunting, whereas inSupernatural,he did not start hunting until after her death. The finale ofThe Winchesters,however, revealed that the versions of John and Mary depicted in the show were actually from an alternate universe. After his death in theSupernaturalseries finale, Dean searched the multiverse for a world in which his family lived a happy life. This storyline not only allowed Dean to continue saving the world(s) but also added another layer toSupernatural’scomplex mythology.
