Summary

• Fans of Supernatural know that death doesn't always mean the end for their favorite characters, as many have returned from the dead.
• Characters can come back in various forms, such as ghosts, alternate versions, or resurrected through spells or mystical powers.
• Despite the emotional impact of their deaths, characters like Kevin, Charlie, and Jo find peace and resolution in their returns, helping the Winchesters along the way.

Fans know seeing their favorite character die on screen in Supernatural doesn't mean they are gone forever; there are a number of characters who have impossibly returned from the dead. Through the show's 15 seasons, some of its best-loved characters meet their end, but that doesn't mean the end is permanent. Some die at the hands of supernatural beings, losing their lives to save Sam and Dean Winchester. Others are the bad guys killed by the Winchesters, only to come back with a vengeance.

Coming back from the dead doesn't always look the same for a character in the Supernatural universe. Some characters are resurrected from the afterlife immediately after their death or via mystical powers. Other characters come back as ghosts, spirits, or visions returning to Dean and Sam's life in their corporeal form. However it happens, audiences know that a character's death on Supernatural doesn't necessarily preclude them from ever returning.

12 Kevin Tran Returns As A Ghost

The death of prophet Kevin Tran, played by Osric Chau, is one of Supernatural's most poignant. His fate is sealed when he gives Dean a spell that allows him to speak with a human whom an angel has possessed. Kevin tries to talk to Gadreel, the angel possessing Sam Winchester, but is killed doing so. An alternate version of his character appears in Supernatural season 13 when the brothers visit The Apocalypse World. Although the original Kevin would never come back to life, he does appear to Sam and Dean. Kevin's ghost appears to the brothers, helping make amends with them and his mother. Kevin can finally find peace in the afterlife and move on, knowing he has resolved all his issues on Earth.

11 Charlie Bradbury Returns As An Alternate Version Of Herself

Felicia Day's character was a fan favorite, which is why Charlie's death was one of Supernatural's most upsetting for fans. Her first death was thankfully a short one, as she was quickly brought back to life by Gadreel after being killed by the Wicked Witch of the West. But her second death angered viewers, as she was one of the few openly LBGTQ+ characters on television, and certainly on the show.

Unwilling to give the Styne family the Book of the Damned, she meets her demise at the hands of Eldon Styne. Charlie's death happens off-screen, but her bloodied body is discovered later in the bathtub by Sam and Dean, which devastated the brothers. In an alternate reality, Charlie returns to Supernatural in season 13 and s the exodus through the rift. She appears throughout the rest of the show, helping the Winchesters with cases.

10 Jo Harvelle Returns As A Ghost For Dean's Trial

Jo was the inexperienced hunter working with the Roadhouse crew alongside her mother, Ellen. She wanted to prove herself as a hunter and impress Dean, on whom she had a crush. Jo is killed by a hellhound in Supernatural season 5, helping to save Dean in the process. Jo would return as a ghost two seasons later. She appears as a witness to Dean's trial, but Osiris fails to convince her to testify against him. She is compelled against her will to try to kill Dean, but luckily snaps out of it before she can cause any injury.

9 John Winchester Time Travels

Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who sacrifices himself in the first episode of season 2 to save Dean, reprises his role as Sam and Dean's father in Supernatural season 14, but as a past version who has jumped forward in time. For the 300th episode, a 2003 John ends up traveling to 2019 and meeting his sons. In the emotional episode "Lebanon," the brothers find a treasure in a pawn shop that grants its owners their wishes. Although they try to use the pearl to banish Michael, they ultimately summon John to the bunker, upsetting events that have already happened. After the bunker is attacked by a version of the angel Zachariah who never died, and a version of Castiel who never got to meet the Winchesters, they realize their father can not stay. They are forced to send their much-missed patriarch back to his time, fearing his presence could destroy the world.

8 Eileen Leahry Comes Back As Ghost And Is Resurrected Via A Spell

Eileen is introduced as a legacy hunter in Supernatural's eleventh season. In season 12, she returns for a t mission with the Winchesters and soon becomes Sam's love interest. However, she is killed by a hellhound being controlled by the British Men of Letters' Arthur Ketch. She later reappears as one of the many ghosts let loose after God opens the gates of Hell.

Eileen returns to the 15th and final season of Supernatural after Sam discovers Rowena's resurrection spell and uses it to bring her back to life. Sam tragically loses her again when God wipes the planet of humans. When Jack becomes the new God, he brings Eileen back from the dead once again, thereby granting Sam one last gift.

7 Rowena MacLeod Resurrects Herself Before Becoming Queen Of Hell

As a quasi-immortal witch, Rowena MacLeod is one of the most powerful characters in the Supernatural universe, as well as one of the trickiest. As it's revealed in the show, Rowena has a magic seal, meaning she can resurrect herself when she dies. This is especially useful when Lucifer kills her multiple times. Her final death comes in the show's last season. Rowena, who went from a villain to a redeemed antihero in the end, uses her body to absorb the souls escaping from Hell and seal herself in the underworld in order to save the world. Her death helps to avert the apocalypse, but this is not the last time audiences see her. She returns as the Queen Of Hell in later episodes because death would never be the end for a character as powerful as Rowena.

6 Mary Winchester Is Resurrected By The Darkness

Mary Winchester's death plays a huge role in the early seasons of Supernatural. Mary struck a deal with the demon Azazel in her youth, which he came to collect when Dean and Sam were young children. She tried to protect her infant son, Sam, which resulted in being burned to death by Hellfire. Her death is the reason her husband and sons became hunters (though that was later retconned by prequel series The Winchesters).

Amara, the sister of God, repays Dean and Sam after they help the Darkness reunite with God by bringing Mary back from the dead. Her resurrection happens because The Darkness wants Dean to realize that in real life, Mary was different from the one from his idealized dreams. Her return helps Dean cope with his anger issues and accept his past. However, Mary Winchester was killed again by Jack, never returning to her sons' lives.

5 Bobby Singer Helps The Winchesters From Heaven

After seven years of being Sam and Dean's friend and father figure, Bobby Singer's death comes in Supernatural after he's shot by the Leviathan in season 7. Luckily, the beloved character appears multiple times on the show after his death. Unlike other characters in Supernatural, Bobby never returns as the original version of himself.

In season 8, as part of the second trial to close the Gates of Hell, Sam must rescue an innocent soul from Hell and release it into Heaven. He chooses Bobby, and the pair travel through Purgatory and fight vampires together. In season 9, his ghost appears to a dying Sam, and in Supernatural season 10 is ed by Sam, asking for his help. His last appearance comes in the final moments of the show, reunited with Dean in Heaven.

4 Jack Is Saved By Billie To Defeat Chuck

Jack Kliine is the Nephilim son of a human woman, Kelly Kline, and Lucifer. As a being with potentially incredible power, and one who has the potential to choose a path of darkness or of light, angels and demons all fight for access to him. Jack is overcome by his power in Supernatural season 14 and starts to use it in the wrong ways. Jack kills Mary Winchester and forces the whole world to only tell the truth. This is later revealed as part of God's larger plan to defeat Sam and Dean.

God/Chuck, sensing Jack's growing power, smites Jack with just a click of his fingers. The young Nephilim ends up in the Big Empty with Billie, who brings him back from the dead. Billie saves Jack because she believes he is the only way to defeat Chuck once and for all. Sam, Dean, and Cas find Jack in an empty church, acting like a vigilante.

3 Castiel Is Resurrected By God And Jack

Despite being an angel, Castiel dies and is resurrected multiple times over Supernatural's run. His first death comes at the end of season 4, when he is smote by his fellow angels. Although it is never specified, it is implied that God resurrected him. A season later, he dies again in "Swan Song" when Lucifer smites Cas for getting involved in the battle. God brings him back to life once more as a thank-you for stopping the apocalypse.

Cas soaks up the power of the Leviathan in Supernatural season 6 but can't control it forever, causing his third death. When God brings him back, he has no recollection of his previous memories. When Cas is stabbed to death by April, Gadreel, the angel in Sam's body, brings him back to life. Castiel dies once again in season 12 when Lucifer stabs him using the angel blade. He's later awakened inside The Empty by Jack's powers before he annoys a cosmic being into resurrecting him simply to be rid of him.