It is Dean’s turn in the second of four individual character
polls for Supernatural. Thank you all
for participating so far. All of the terms
in these polls have been nominated by fans and selected based on the number of nominations
and their standing in a qualifying poll.
You get three choices in today’s poll. Voting will be open for a week. The topic of discussion is Dean’s character,
characterization, and why you chose what you chose. Cas will be up next weekend, followed by Bobby. You can find Sam’s poll here.
The answers listed in the poll scored top in the number
nominations and in the qualifying polls, but there were many great submissions
that unfortunately I could not include. Here
is the full list of submissions for Dean:
Adorable
Adventurous
Angry
Arrogant
Badass
Bossy
Brash
Brave
Caring
Charming
Condemning
Confident
Defensive
Dependable
Dependent
Disrespectful
Dutiful
Emotional
Enjoys life
Extroverted
Faith
Family-oriented
Friendship
Funny
Goofy
Guilt complex
Guilt-ridden
Handsome
Handy
Hedonistic
Heroic
Honor
Humble
Humorous
Hypocritical
Immature
Insecure
Insensitive
Loving
Loyal
Loyalty
Martyr
Moral
Needy
Nurturing
Overprotective
Parental
Passion
Perseverance
Pessimistic
Playful
Protective
Reckless
Reliable
Resourceful
Responsible
Sacrificing
Sad
Self-incriminating
Self-pitying
Self-doubting
Selfless
Self-loathing
Self-sacrificing
Self-worth issues
Sensitive
Smart
Snarky
Street smart
Strength
Stubborn
Stuck
Unforgiving
Unpredictable
Willingness
Dean, Dean, Dean …
ReplyDeleteWe got quite a diverse list of characteristics for the elder Winchester.
My favorite characteristic of Dean is the way he seems to really enjoy the small pleasures of life. I’m a bit of a foodie. I love to cook and try new dishes at restaurants. A number of years back I was eating out with a friend, and she said to me that it’s so much nicer eating with someone who really enjoys the meal. I feel like that watching Dean – not just the cheeseburgers, or the pie, but the small things like the vibrating beds, the women at bars, and so on. Dean can be really fun to watch in that way.
My least favorite characteristic is the way he seems to be stuck year after year in the same behavior patterns. He’s big on pushing his issues down rather than examining them, and I think his growth sometimes suffers from that. I’ll admit though that I’m starting to feel that this trait has been exaggerated beyond credibility. I understand that Dean was hurt by Sam’s actions in season 4, but season 4 must seem like so many lifetimes ago by now for both Sam and Dean – and Dean understood that Sam was trying to kill a demon right off. The Dean of season 1 didn’t seem to hold grudges. Do you think it’s realistic that Dean is still harboring resentment over Ruby, or has this just become a writing crutch to drum up instant conflict?
Anyway, neither of my two nominations for these characteristics made it into the poll: “loves life” and “stuck.” So moving on… What did you choose?
To me, Dean has always been the definition of a hero. He's protective and self sacrificing, never really expecting reward. He's also flawed. He's insecure -- not wanting to be alone -- and he hides his fears behind a persona of snark and projection. He's pragmatic, deciding to deal with what is in front of him instead of looking at the big picture. He doesn't deal with his issues, because he doesn't look to the future and the past is gone. He can hold a grudge -- but I think that's more of a 'forgive but never forget' behavior that seems pretty sensible for a person in his position. But, to me, the one word that truly describes him is loyal. If you are fortunate enough to find a place under his umbrella, he will do anything and everything to protect you. He will forgive your transgressions and continue to put your needs ahead of his own. Unfortunately, that kind of blind loyalty makes him easy to betray, so he has learned not to trust as easily. But when he does -- as in the case with Benny right now -- he's not going to turn away until there is ample proof that his trust is not deserved.
ReplyDeleteWhile several of the top ranked ones right now are accurate, I think "Needy" really stands out to me.
ReplyDeleteHere is a guy who constantly wants Sam by his side, Cas by his side, Benny by his side, anyone and everyone by his side...and while it is all for a noble cause, the fact is, others from that list dont pine for Dean to be at their side with the same neediness that he does for them.
Loyal was the most nominated characteristic for Dean, so it will be interesting to see if it rises to the top when up against the other characteristics. Personally, I'm not sure I agree with it. To me loyalty implies still continuing to support the person after the person has been shown to be flawed, but with Dean his support feels more personal. His support quickly waivers when he feels let down. I agree with everything else you said though.
ReplyDeleteI wavered between needy and insecure in my votes. I think I went with insecure, as well as caring and playful, but the neediness seems to have become a dominant personality trait in the past few seasons. This gets back to my question whether this characteristic, as well as the others related to it, is being exaggerated as a writers' crutch to easily drum up conflict, or whether it is realistic for the character to still be at this place.
ReplyDeleteBossy, stubborn, unforgiving - my 3 votes as I see him as an anti-heroic character.
ReplyDelete..the first 10 fill the description narrow to may be final 3 thats tough
ReplyDeleteThese polls are tough because so many terms fit the characters. I went with restricting this to three votes because I wanted people to be forced to go with their gut reaction on the dominant characteristics. I thought one vote would be cruel because these characters are too complex for that.
ReplyDeleteIt's a writing issue to me. They constantly throw that in there just to generate conflict & this is what I will never get. They talk about character development all the time, how is that neediness still there after being betrayed and given crap no matter what he does, esp from Sam. It's unrealistic for a person to beaten up by everyone yet he crawls back to them the minute they decide 'oh now I'm ok with you, now I can tolerate riding in the car with you'. That's really stupid & annoying.. AND has lack of character development written all over it!
ReplyDelete..agree dean character is very complex..dean for me is like a HURRICANE develop in peace full waters and when he moves capture everything in his path in my opinion the most strongest ,.top 3 are self-less,/ self-sacrificing .heroic and stubborn the other are the sugar-mix complements.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the second part. For him to grow as a character, the writers need to drop that 'holding grudge' thing and make him able to let go of the past. He'd already dealt with it, over 3 seasons, that time period is WAY more than needed for him to move on. But the writers are lacking creativity so they just dwell on past issues not realizing that they're damaging the character while doing so. They are the ones who need to move on. Dean is a lead character, yet people are loosing interest in him so much because of these unattractive traits, neediness and inability to forget & forgive.
ReplyDeleteLoyal, protective, self-sacrificing. Also insecure (he doesn't have a lot of family or friends and is afraid of being alone). He's snarky and tends to hide his emotions behind it. He puts on a confident front when he's not really.
ReplyDeleteThis is all true.
ReplyDeleteYes, Dean from early years definitely didn't hold a grudge. In fact he used to do the opposite in my opinion, bending over backward to keep John and Sam together as family - hoping for a scenario that was impossible. Dean was the peacemaker, and the glue that held the family together until the split, and after too. That characteristic is impossible if you hold grudges.
ReplyDeleteThe grudge thing can be understandable, after s4 with the long road of Sam pulling away and the Ruby betrayal. But the writers pull it out of the hat for cheap drama, even after the many many times the show wrote resolutions to the confict. After Swan Song any s4 era grudge should be gone, and this season's revert to it is sucky writing of weak writers.
For me Dean is the most fascinating, lovable TV character I've ever watched. Much of it is due to Jensen Ackles' acting choices.
ReplyDeleteI admit for me, the s1-2 character traits of both brothers are the ones I rely on and use to measure the quality of the writing of later episodes. If character development is believable when matched with that S1-2 era, then I'm happy.
ReplyDeleteI went with the top 3 traits of Dean (to me):
ReplyDelete1. Stubborn - not many TV characters rival him on stubbornness
2. Family-Oriented - obviously, Sam, Bobby, John, his mom, all important to him and often make him think poorly (as do important people to all of us)
3. Loyal - his undying loyalty is where I think his stubbornness comes from because he expect people to be as loyal to him but he just ends up disappointed
I chose stubborn, selfless, and loyal. Honestly though, the adjectives I would choose to describe Dean aren't up there.
ReplyDeleteLoyal, Family-Oriented, Self-Sacrificing. If I said nothing else about Dean he is LOYAL.
ReplyDeleteWhat would you use?
ReplyDeletePerfect picture of Dean.
ReplyDeleteLoyal to me is never betraying someone close to them. Doesn't mean the loyal person won't get fed up with the person they're loyal to. (Future Dean is in a different ballpark than our Dean when it comes to loyalty).
ReplyDeleteI think the stubborn trait runs in the family. Sam and John I also find stubborn.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I'm on the fence about this one. I agree that Dean puts a very value on loyalty. Buy on the other hand, how a person reacts when the relationship is strained is a test of loyalty. I would never say Dean is disloyal, but I wouldn't say loyalty is the best term to define his character either.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Dean is very complex since he has 2 versions of himself. The show he puts on: Confident/cocky, snarky, and flirty. And the "real" Dean: guilt-ridden, insecure, family-orientated, others I mentioned above on my voting post.
ReplyDeleteDriven, self-assured, and emotionally stunted.
ReplyDeleteLOL, well like Meat Loaf says, Two out of Three ain't bad. I agree with the first 2.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many that fit him to a T. It's difficult. We know he's stubborn, guilt ridden, insecure and handsome. But for me, he's heroic, loyal, and incredibly family-oriented.
ReplyDeleteSo many that are perfect, it was hard to choose. And u really wanted to pick snarky because he often has the best lines.
ReplyDeleteI went with loyal, guilt ridden and selfless /self sacrificing. Although I found it hard to choose between that last one and family oriented, I went with selfless
I'm surprised snarky isn't doing better since his attitude is so much of what we see each week.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny because self-assured is just about opposite of one of my picks - insecure. But I guess there's public or hunting-related (self-assured) and private or emotional (insecure).
ReplyDeleteThe funny part about the stubborn one is that John and Sam were labeled as the stubborn ones in season 1. Dean was the mediator. Maybe Dean is stepping more into John's personality.
ReplyDeleteDean is snarky for sure(and I love that), but he is so much more and his better qualities are what makes Dean, for me.
ReplyDelete..all votes near 90 points very accurate lower we call side-kick characteristic
ReplyDeleteBrave, heroic, loyal. That's Dean.
ReplyDeleteReally? That surprises me. I started watching Supernatural when Season 4 was first airing and I would not have pegged Dean as the mediator. He's always been the stubborn one of the family to me.
ReplyDeleteEh, Dean still has a number of fans (he's probably one of the most popular characters on the show, if not the most popular) who love him no matter what and are just as interested in him today as they were in season one. No matter how needy or unappealing he may be to some.
ReplyDeleteWell I am for sure forever interested in him and he IS my all time fave character no matter what. That's exactly why I don't like the way he's been written since season 7. But I found so many comments online from fans saying that they're bored with the character and moving on to another. Their loss! I just think he deserves better writing especially for Jensen as an actor he's brilliant so he needs brilliant material to work with.
ReplyDeleteIf that's your test then neither brother is loyal.
ReplyDeleteWhen the people that he forgives continue to keep betraying him, I think it make sense that it becomes harder for him to keep turning the other cheek. And I don't think he should any more. It's time for him to move on from the people who keep letting him down, if they have no interest in giving him the same level of love and love and respect that they demand from him.
ReplyDeleteI've seen far more people defending him than the few haters who have a very clear agenda in bashing him.
ReplyDeleteHeroic, Loyal and Family-Orientated. :)
ReplyDeleteLoyal and Heroic [ . ] :D
ReplyDeleteYou never watched seasons 1-3? Season 1 starts with Sam estranged from the family because he and his father had a big blowup and hadn't talked in a few years. In season 1, Sam and John are driven mostly by revenge against the demon whereas Dean doesn't want another family member to die.
ReplyDeleteYou are missing some of the best eps of the series and losing a lot of what makes Sam and Dean who they are. Even though my favorite season so far is 4, I still watch the first seasons often and the end of season 1 is still shocking to me and I jump every time. Best Buy had all the seasons on for 9.99 each, do yourself a favor and pick them up. lol
ReplyDeleteI didn't say Dean wasn't loyal. I just don't think loyalty is his top defining characteristic - at least in the later seasons. But with that said, I didn't pick loyal as a top 3 term for either brother, and I'm ok with that. Loyalty in moderation is admirable. Loyalty above all else can become scary. I picked "questioning" as one of my terms for Sam, and that seems to me to be at odds with blind loyalty.
ReplyDeleteYeah blind loyalty is not good. Most of the angels had that to their superiors. Castiel had that for a while until Dean started making him think about what his superiors are asking him to do and question if it was right.
ReplyDeleteYeah, my favorite Seasons are 4 and 5, but some of my favorite episodes lie in all the seasons, and there are some really great Season 1-3 episodes. Lots of family stuff, and Bobby comes into the picture.
ReplyDeleteI started with the Season 1 finale and Season 2 but went back and bought Season 1 to see the 21 episodes I missed, and I was so happy to see the plots I'd missed, the music, the emotional scenes.
My favorite ep is Swan Song from season 5, but in my top 15 are eps from every season, in fact there are not many eps that I don't enjoy watching over.
ReplyDeletethat's precisely what I wanna see.
ReplyDeleteWell he can move on nobody is forcing him to stay. And as far as I can see nobody is demanding anything of him nobody is throwing demands at Dean . I have and never will consider Dean as some innocent far from it..
ReplyDeleteOh sorry, I meant while Season 4 was on, I started watching Supernatural from the beginning. So I have seen all the episodes. Even still, I've always viewed Dean as the stubborn one of the family because every little thing that someone does that he doesn't agree with he takes way too personally.
ReplyDeleteOh sorry, I meant while Season 4 was on, I started watching Supernatural from the beginning. So I have seen all the episodes. Right now my favorite season is Season 5 and I still have yet to be convinced that the show should've continued past that.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on Swan Song being my favorite episode, and that there are other great ones from different seasons.
ReplyDeleteWithout season 6 & 7, I would have missed my favorite fun ep, The French Mistake and such fantastic ones like The Man Who Would Be King, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Reading is Fundamental, Death's Door, Meet The New Boss, Weekend at Bobby's and Dean as a Vamp and the making fun of Twilight. Lots of good eps in those seasons. I don't like the Ghostfacers, but never gave an ep a bad rating until this seasons Bitten. If the rest of the season is as good as the rest of it, this may be one of my favorites, love Feral Dean. lol
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. Loyalty to me means sticking by a person whether you're happy with them or not. No, Dean isn't always thrilled with Sam's behavior, or Bobby's or Cas'... but he's not going to walk away from them simply because to him you stick by your family -- whether they're blood or not -- and no matter how much they hurt you or piss you off, it's simply what you're supposed to do.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't as enamored with The French Mistake as everyone else, it was way too much for me. Honestly the only episodes I have enjoyed post Season 5 are: Weekend at Bobby's (best character besides Sam/Dean), Appointment at Samara (Death makes everything cooler), Meet the New Boss, Hello Cruel World, and Death's Door. Everything else ranged from horrible to alright. But hey, that is just my opinion and in no way means its bad for anyone else.
ReplyDeleteI discussed with someone, perhaps Dahne, about how poorly perceived the Ghostfacers are because they were a disruption in the 3rd Season with 5 episodes in the 2nd half because of the writer's stirke. Where I differ in that since I just plowed through Seasons 1-4, the episode wasn't a disruption and was fun and I enjoyed the Ghostfacers (honestly wished they showed up more). But I do agree with Bitten, it was awful.
As for this season, it hasn't been unbelievably great (the flashbacks are a major blight on the season) nor has it been uncharacteristically bad (with exception to Bitten). It's found a medium that's kept me interested enough to watch. But I'm really tired of the brother's angst towards one another, they've been through enough and gone through this routine too many times that its become an annoyance now. And even though Sam seemed to become a bit more selfish this season, I still like him better than Dean.
missing gorgeous! lol Dean has always been my favorite
ReplyDelete..I.think is about time to choose the top 8 of the list make another poll and NARROW.more
ReplyDelete..10 description are stand i think is time to close the poll and reduce more the circle in the next one follow the same instruction of the first
ReplyDeleteThe plan is seven days to vote and then to move on to Cas, and then Bobby. I'm keeping the size of the poll and rules consistent throughout this process.
ReplyDelete