John Winchester
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| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | John Winchester |
| Occupation: | Hunter |
| Relationships: | Father of Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester and Adam Milligan, Husband of Mary Winchester, Son of Henry Winchester |
| Fandom: | Supernatural |
| Other: | Portrayed by actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
John Winchester is a fictional character from the TV show Supernatural.
Canon
He was the father of main characters Sam and Dean Winchester, and the husband of Mary Winchester. Despite his death on the show, John is often referenced and reappears in canon. In season 5, Dean meets a younger version of his father when he time travels to 1978. In season 14, a wish gone wrong temporarily brought John Winchester from the past, to meet his sons in 2019.
Fandom
Common Tropes in Fanworks
- Parenting: There has been much discussion and debate in fandom about John Winchester's parenting skills. Those who think John's parenting skills were poor, or even abusive, will often tag there stories with Bad Parent John Winchester or John Winchester's A+ Parenting
- Pastfic: Many fanworks set pre-canon focus on his relationship with his sons, and their unconventional upbringing. These works are often tagged as Weechester fics, as they are set when John's sons are young boys or teenagers.
- Demon!John: John possessed by a demon
- John Lives: John doesn't die in season 2, or is resurrected
- Supporting Character: Often a featured secondary character in stories focused on Sam and Dean
Shipping
John is most commonly paired with his canonical wife, Mary Winchester in fanworks, although this is often a peripheral pairing. Works focused on John and Mary's relationship can be pre-canon, and often feature angst or foreshadowing of future canon events. Other works use time travel tropes to bring the family back together.
Daddycest works also appear; pairing John/Dean or John/Sam. Some fans dislike these pairings because they are intergenerational incest ships.
Challenges
Fanwork Examples
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanfiction
- A Life Less Ordinary by marinarusalka, Most of the time, John Winchester thinks he does pretty well, considering. (2006)
- The Long Narrow Rope by pdragon76, It’s been said that roots and wings are the only two lasting bequests you can give your kids, but sometimes all you’ve got is guns and how to use ‘em. (2009)
Fanvids
Zines
Meta
- John's Journey: John Meta for Season One by phantomas (October 2006); archive link
- The John Winchester Parenting Handbook by ellipsisblack (July 2006); archive link
- Papa!John: The Good Daddy by dodger-winslow (June 2006); archive link
- On the Dangers of Normal: John Winchester by deannie (May 2006); archive link
- 1x02: Wendigo--John by marinarusalka (May 2006); archive link
- Dead in the Water: John Meta by kronette (May 2006); archive link
- Reflections on John by deannie (June 2006); archive link
- John in "Bloody Mary" by aizjanika (September 2006); archive link
- Skin -- John Meta by phantomas (June 2006); archive link
- Building a Dream Team: John in "Hook Man" by an3ka (June 2006); archive link
- 01x08: John Meta by phantomas (July 2006); archive link
- John Winchester in 1x09: Home by dotfic (July 2006); archive link
- Cast a Giant Shadow: John in "Asylum" by astri13 (July 2006); archive link
- John Meta for "Scarecrow" by kronette (July 2006); archive link
- Not Waste Away: John in "Faith" by deannie (August 2006); archive link
- John Meta for "Route 666" by kronette (October 2006); archive link
- Dad's Not Here: John in "Nightmare" by embroiderama (August 2006); archive link
- on John & child abuse (untitled) by phantomas (July 2006); archive link
- Raising a Family of Hunters: John in "Benders" by an3ka (August 2006); archive link
- The Vanishing Act in Reverse: John in "Shadow" by phantomas (September 2006); archive link
- R&R: John in "Hell House" by astri13 (August 2006); archive link
- John in "Something Wicked": The making of a warrior or the breaking of a son? by phantomas (August 2006); archive link
- Family Portrait: John in "Provenance" by embroiderama (September 2006); archive link
- John: Here There'll Be Vampires by phantomas (October 2006); archive link
- Every Second Counts: John in "Salvation" by embroiderama (October 2006); archive link
- 1x22 John Meta: The Beginning of the End of John's Journey by phantomas (November 2006); archive link
- Papa now and then - John Winchester meta by astri13 (June 2006); archive link
- John mini meta for ImtoD by astri13 (October 2006); archive link
- There'll Be Peace When You Are Done: John in 2x01 by zortified (October 2006); archive link
- John: Fallen Warrior by briarwood (February 2007); archive link
- There, But for the Grace of My Sons, Go I by dodger_winslow (November 2006); archive link
- John: "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" by phantomas (October 2006); archive link
- A Man of Many Secrets: John in "Simon Says" by astri13 (November 2006); archive link
- Present When Absent: John in 2x07 - The Usual Suspects by briarwood (February 2007); archive link
- Present in Every Deal: John in "Crossroad Blues" by vaznetti (February 2007); archive link
- Supernatural University: Father (Doesn't Always) Know Best by bardicvoice (January 2007); archive link
- Supernatural University: Focus on the Mission -- Lessons from John Winchester by bardicvoice (July 2007); archive link
- John and great vs. good by impulsiveanswer (March 2009); archive link
- "Our Dad's a Hero" - John Winchester's Digression from the Champion to the Adversary by kinda_tempted (July 2009); archive link
- Changed Men: Nicholas, Bobby and John by hearseeno (September 2009); archive link
- “I didn’t deserve what he put on me” : the whitewashing of John Winchester and the celebration of family dysfunction as heroic in “In the Hunt” by amonitrate* (March 2010); archive link
- "A Powerful Need : heroism, Winchester style" by Sheryl A. Rakowski; "We've Got Work to Do : Sacrifice, heroism, and Sam and Dean Winchester” by Amy Garvey; We're Not Exactly the Bradys" by Tanya Huff
- S1 Demonic Timeline: Or, why John did not force Sam and Dean to learn exorcisms and devil’s traps growing up and what it says about his parenting by quarterclever (October 2012); archive link
- Character parallels between Linda Tran and John Winchester by lookatthesefreakinghipsters, subjecttochange8 (January 2013); archive link
- John Winchester, A Study in Character by castopsdeanbottoms (February 2013); archive link
- "A bum rap around every turn": Standing up for John Winchester by quarterclever, safiyabat (June 2013); archive link
- Sam did NOT have an awesome childhood by waterbird13 (September 2013); archive link
- Giving Up The Ghost: Sam and Dean’s Relationship in The Context of 9x07 “Bad Boys” by not-the-very-button (November 2013); archive link
- Burning John Winchester’s Bones by susurrantpetrichor (January 2014); archive link
- "The Story Became the Story": John’s Control & Dean’s Tragedy by lookatthesefreakinghipsters, subjecttochange8 (January 2014); archive link
- Dean’s Daddy Issues, Mirroring, Forgiveness and Growth by yaelstiel (March 2014); archive link
- Twice John Winchester knew he was leaving his boys for good (re Sam) by yaelstiel (June 2014); archive link
- “I thought you were Mr. Boy Scout” - How the real people behind Dean’s movie heroes fall short in comparison to fiction, and what that might imply in his relationship with John and maybe even himself. by larinah (July 2014); archive link
- Abusive Behaviors in S1E20 Dead Man’s Blood by apaladinagain (July 2014); archive link
- John Winchester, The Dursleys, and Abuse by ohgodnotthisperson (July 2014): archive link
- John was probably using them as bait by nekosmuse, twistedsardonic, deathbycoldopen (September 2014); archive link
- the effects of John's abuse on Dean actually being recognized and mentioned in canon [November 2014 by alovelikecas, crossroadscastiel (November 2014); archive link
- The Parents We (haven’t) Left Behind by deathbycoldopen (December 2014); archive link
- Dean Winchester and Parental Figures in 7x14, “Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie” by hekate1308 (January 2015); archive link
- Semper Fi….Dean’s conflicting feelings of loyalty and grief and resentment to John reflected in driving his car to honor his memory by larinah (February 2015); archive link
- John really didn't do the best he could by thevioletcaptain (March 2015); archive link
- 11x04 and John Winchester’s Ghost by drsilverfish (October 2015); archive link
- Henry commenting on Sam being like John by yourdarlinglittlesammy, landofexpectations, obsessionisaperfume (October 2015); archive link
Archives and Links
- PapaWinchester a Livejournal community
- John Winchester works on Ao3
- John Winchester works on ff.net
Resources
- John Winchester at the Supernatural Wiki
- John Winchester at Fandom.com Supernatural Wiki
- Wikipedia