Bobby Singer

The gruff, warmhearted hunter who became a father figure to Sam and Dean Winchester.

Robert Steven Singer is a fictional character in The CW Television Network's horror-drama television series Supernatural portrayed by Jim Beaver. Named after the show's executive producer, Bobby first appears in Season 1, Episode 21 'Salvation,' not the season finale. Although Beaver believed his role would merely be a "one-shot deal," Bobby became a recurring character on the series, though he does not appear in every season—he is absent from Season 8 (except for a brief hallucination) and Season 9 (except for a ghost appearance in one episode), and does not appear as a living or recurring character from Season 10 onward. The character, a "rough but warmhearted" working-class man who hunts supernatural creatures, has evolved over time into a father figure for series protagonists Sam and Dean Winchester.

Quick Facts

Series: Supernatural; The Winchesters
First major: Supernatural
First minor: Devil's Trap
First date: May 4, 2006
Last major: The Winchesters
Last minor: Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye
Last date: March 7, 2023
Portrayed by: Jim Beaver

Lore & Background

Bobby Singer is introduced as an old friend of the Winchester family, first appearing in Season 1, Episode 21 'Salvation' when Sam and Dean seek his help after John is kidnapped by demons. From his extensive collection of supernatural literature, Bobby shows the brothers how to create a devil's trap and assists in their hunt. In the season finale 'Devil's Trap,' the demon possessing Meg Masters is not exorcised; Meg is killed by John Winchester with the Colt.

After John's death, Bobby allows the brothers to stay at his home. In the second-season finale, Bobby helps Dean locate a missing Sam but watches in horror as Sam is fatally stabbed. Bobby tells Dean that Sam is gone and that they need to let him go, but does not specifically beg for burial. He is distraught when Dean sells his soul for Sam's resurrection.

Bobby assists throughout the third season, helping defeat the Seven Deadly Sins and repairing The Colt. In the fourth season, Bobby locks Sam in his panic room to recover from demon blood addiction, but later lets him escape. In the sixth season, Bobby is demonically possessed but temporarily retakes control and stabs himself with Ruby's demon-killing knife, surviving. His paralysis is caused by a gunshot wound in a later episode, not from the stabbing.

He sells his soul to Crowley in exchange for information on how to kill Eve (specifically, the location of the bone of a righteous mortal washed in the blood of a fallen angel), not the Leviathans. Bobby remains paraplegic after the possession and stabbing, but in Season 6, Episode 22, Crowley resurrects him, fully restoring his mobility and allowing him to walk again.

Reader's Guide

Bobby Singer is a salvager and proprietor of Singer Salvage Yard. He was first introduced to the supernatural world when his wife, Karen, became possessed by a demon. As detailed in the third-season episode "Dream a Little Dream of Me," he was uncertain of how to save her and instead ended up being forced to kill her. Her death prompted him to dedicate his life to hunting supernatural creatures.

The later episode "Death's Door" expanded on this by revealing that Bobby's last conversation with his wife was an argument about his reluctance to have children, also revealing that his father was an abusive man whom Bobby shot when he was a child (his mother subsequently telling him that God would punish him for this). Bobby reflected that his father's example left him afraid of becoming an abusive man himself in case he became a parent as bad as his father.

After the death of Mary Winchester, her husband John became a hunter, eventually allying and learning from Bobby. Mistrustful of most hunters, Bobby is one of the few with whom John allows the boys regular contact, allowing Bobby to teach them how to shoot and track while he is off on hunting trips. At times, Bobby defied John's wishes to teach the boys more mundane, normal activities, such as playing catch, so that they could have a break from the intensive training regimen.