Supernatural is no stranger to alternate universes. However, its previous ones had nothing on the apocalypse world introduced in the season 12 finale. The previous alternate universes were only in an episode each and weren't really mentioned again. The apocalypse world was very different.
Not only was it part of both seasons 12 and 13, but the effects of it are a lasting plot point in season 14. The Michael of the apocalypse world crossed over into the Winchesters' world, as did members of the resistance. They are now part of Supernatural and are living in the bunker. While some familiar faces did pop up in the other world, there were several notable differences between the Winchesters. The big one was, of course, that Sam and Dean Winchester didn't exist there. They were never born.
In the apocalypse world, Michael won the showdown against Lucifer and ruled the realm. However, the real losers were the humans, who had to deal with angels and monsters alike hunting them. Apocalypse world was easily one of the darkest places the series has introduced yet. It offered a look at the worst case scenario that the Winchesters prevented when they saved the world.
With the multiverse and doppëlgangers being popular themes on television now, casual fans might think that there would be many similarities between the two worlds. However, avid fans know that while familiar faces pop up, they're not just exact copies of beloved characters. Also, the ripple effects of one decision can drastically change everything about a world, and that's what this one represents.
With that said, here are the 25 Things Only True Supernatural Fans Know About The Apocalypse World.
The Vampires Are More Creature-Like
Upon returning to the apocalypse world to find Mary and Jack, Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Gabriel encountered a vampire. They took care of it before it could take down two hunters, Maggie and Floyd.
However, the vampire was not like the ones they deal with back in their world.
This one was more savage and creature-like, which was due to starvation. Michael's armies were taking the lives of humans. That meant a decrease in the food supply for monsters in the apocalypse world. According to Floyd, the lack of food made the vampires "wild, nothing but pure stupid appetite."
Lucifer Was The Reason Why Sam Made It Home Alive
Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Gabriel returned to the apocalypse world in "Beat the Devil" to find Mary and Jack. Two hunters, Maggie and Floyd, told them about a tunnel on the route to the resistance's camp. However, the tunnel was dangerous, and inside it, they ran into vampires.
When the monsters attacked, they took Sam's life and dragged him off. Dean thought he'd lost his brother (again). That was where Lucifer came in. He brought Sam back to life. In exchange for that, though, Lucifer wanted him to bring him to Jack and acknowledge that he saved him.
The Silo Was a POW Camp
When Dean and Ketch went to the apocalypse world in "Bring 'Em Back Alive", they saw that world's Charlie. The angels had her, and because she was part of the resistance's inner circle, Michael wanted to interrogate her.
Dean and Ketch then ran into a hunter, who attacked them. He told them about the Silo, a prisoner of war camp. It was where the angels took Charlie. The angels wanted to wipe out the resistance. Before they could take Charlie's life, though, Dean and Ketch intervened and saved her and the other resistance fighters there.
The Hunters Had Impressive Weaponry
While the apocalypse world may have been a wasteland, the hunters there had impressive weaponry. After Dean and Ketch encountered a hunter, Ketch called his weapons "cutting edge" in "Bring 'Em Back Alive". He had been a member of the British chapter of the Men of Letters, and they had some impressive tech. However, even he didn't recognize the ammunition made out of angel blades, which could take down an angel.
Dean learned about those bullets from apocalypse world's when he first encountered him in season 12. The hunter also shot Dean with a poisoned bullet. Ketch recognized the toxin as one the Men of Letters used to disable monsters in their world.
There Weren't Many Female Hunters
After getting stuck in the apocalypse world with Lucifer, Mary got away from him and encountered a hunter. However, the hunter didn’t believe she was a hunter, too. He deduced she wasn't an angel because of the way she walked and he confirmed she wasn't a demon. However, he said he'd never met a female hunter.
There weren't many women in general after the wars began, he explained.
The hunter then offered to "help" her and didn't want to take no for an answer. She fought back, but he got the upper hand. However, before he could take her life, Lucifer intervened.
Castiel Was the First to Enter the Apocalypse World
Castiel noticed the rift in the backyard of the house in which Kelly Kline was to give birth. He approached it, and when he touched it, he ended up on the other side. He was the first to step foot in the apocalypse world and was immediately confused.
A demon attacked him, but a familiar face saved him — apocalypse world's Bobby Singer. Castiel then returned to his world through the rift. When Sam and Dean showed up, he brought them through the rift and introduced them to the apocalypse world.
Gabriel Was the Second Ally to Sacrifice Himself
While Sam and Dean were guiding the people from the apocalypse world through the rift, Michael showed up. Lucifer and Michael briefly fought, but when Lucifer couldn't beat him, Gabriel stepped up.
He told Sam and Dean to go while he bought them time. He ran in their world, but he wasn't going to do that again. Gabriel tried, though he clearly wasn't really a match for Michael. Michael got the upper hand quickly enough. He took Gabriel's life by putting an angel blade through him. This time, there was no trick to the end of Gabriel.
The Rift Opened When Kelly Was Giving Birth to Jack
Kelly Kline released an energy into the world as she was going into labor with Jack. That energy opened the rift to the apocalypse world. Castiel was with her and found the rift in the backyard of the house. When Sam and Dean showed up, they found it. Castiel explained that it was a tear in space and time. It was a doorway to another world — specifically, a world in the middle of an apocalypse.
When the brothers asked for more information, the angel said Jack's power punctured the fabric of their universe.
Humans Were in the Middle of the Eternal War Between Heaven and Hell
After Castiel discovered the rift, he brought Sam and Dean through it. That world was locked in eternal war between heaven and hell, he explained.
Armies of angels and demons fought one another, and humanity was caught in the middle.
This was all of information he learned from apocalypse world's Bobby Singer. The hunter and doppëlganger of their friend saved Castiel from a demon when he first stumbled through the rift. Humans were the ones who suffered in this world. Angels hunted any who were part of the resistance against Michael, who ruled over that world. The monsters hunted humans as well, especially since there were so few to feed their appetites.
The Winchesters (As Fans Know Them) Don't Exist
When Sam and Dean encountered Bobby in the apocalypse world, they expected him to know who they were. He didn't, though, because the only Winchester he'd ever heard of was John. It had been over 40 years since he'd lost his life.
Bobby only knew about John Winchester from that world's Mary, who never became Mary Winchester. She was Mary Campbell, and she told him about the man she loved. Azazel took her life 10 years prior. Because of this, Sam and Dean were never born in this world. They never saved it.
Its Demons Have Horns
When Castiel first stumbled through the rift into the apocalypse world, a demon attacked him. Bobby saved him and caught him up on the basics of the world. After Castiel brought Sam and Dean through, Bobby told them about it and called the demon a "tempter demon." It had the usual black eyes of demons, but it also had pointed teeth and horns.
Demons and monsters were different in the apocalypse world. They were more savage and creature-like than the ones Sam and Dean were used to fighting in their world.
Bobby Named His Weapon Rufus
As Bobby, Sam, Dean and Castiel, discussed the two worlds, Bobby said that taking out angels was his hobby. He figured that the other angels would learn about their visit to the apocalypse world. When they showed up, he and Rufus (his gun) could then go to work.
In their world, Rufus was a fellow hunter and old friend of Bobby's. This Bobby had bullets that could take out angels, which were made out of angel blades. He was going to use Rufus on Castiel when he first showed up, but he decided not to because he looked different.
Crowley Sacrificed Himself There
Sam, Dean, and Castiel lured Lucifer into the apocalypse world in the season 12 finale. Dean then kept Lucifer distracted with Bobby's gun and bullets, which were made out of angel blades.
Meanwhile, Crowley worked on a spell to seal the rift and keep Lucifer trapped there.
The final ingredient was a life — and Crowley gave his to complete it. After Lucifer humiliated him, Crowley wanted revenge, and he got it. Lucifer might have been right that Crowley would lose fighting him. However, he didn't expect Crowley to take his own life.
Michael Ruled the Apocalypse World
As Lucifer and Mary learned early on in their time in the apocalypse world, the Lucifer there was gone. They ran into angels who didn't believe he was Lucifer. Michael took out Lucifer there. After Lucifer took out those angels, the apocalypse world's Michael showed up and took Lucifer and Mary captive.
Since there was no God, as the apocalypse world's Kevin told Lucifer, Michael was the ranking deity. He had ordered his angels to take out any humans who were against him. That included those from the inner circle of the resistance, like Charlie. The angels brought her to the prisoner of war camp, the Silo.
It Wasn't the First Alternate Universe Featured on Supernatural
The apocalypse world wasn't the first alternate universe that the Winchesters visited on the show. However, it is the only one they returned to multiple times and over two seasons.
Season 5's "The End" featured an alternate future after Sam said "yes" to Lucifer, while "The French Mistake" featured a world where Supernatural was just a television show starring Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. In "My Heart Will Go Over," the Titanic never sunk and thus the world was vastly different. Sam and Dean visited the "Bad Place" while trying to get to Mary and Jack in the apocalypse world.
Castiel Was Evil
When the angels caught Ketch and Charlie, they wanted to know all about the resistance. Ketch refused to talk (except to give names of places in Monopoly), so they called in an expert to try to get them to talk.
That expert was Castiel, and he knew everyone had a breaking point. He was determined to find Charlie and learn all of her secrets. In fact, as he told her, he would do something to her that meant that her mind would no longer exist. Sam, Dean, Castiel, Mary, and Jack interrupted his inflictions of pain. Apocalypse world's Castiel told his counterpart that they were the same, and the main world's Castiel agreed before taking him out.
Both Michael and the Winchesters Used Lucifer to Open a Rift Between Worlds
Michael refused to donate archangel grace for the spell, explaining that he didn't need to waste his grace. Instead, he used Lucifer as his source for the spell. However, when he tried to open the rift, it was only open long enough for Lucifer to go through. Then it closed.
When Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Gabriel returned to the apocalypse world, they also used Lucifer as their archangel source.
They had a lot of work to do, so they decided to use him to keep the door open so that they would have enough time over there.
Nothing Grows in Apocalypse World
Those designing the world wanted it to look like war zones and battlefields on an apocalyptic, heaven vs. hell scale. The cast and crew spoke about this in detail in a season 13 Blu-ray special feature "It's arid. It's not fertile," executive producer Eugenie Ross-Leming explained. "Nothing grow there."
Mark Pellegrino described it as "sort of what Pompeii looked like after Vesuvius covered it in hot ash." There were likely layers of fossils and remnants of civilizations buried under the sand that encompassed the world. There was even a church buried in the sand.
God Left That World
Evil controlled the apocalypse world. Sam and Dean weren't born there and were therefore unable to save it, and there was a different outcome when Michael and Lucifer fought. This time, Michael won.
As Kevin explained to Lucifer, he didn't have a choice but to work for the other archangel. He was a prophet, and prophets served God. In this world, there was no God to serve, since God had left that world to its own devices. With no God to serve, Kevin had to work for the ranking deity. In his case, it meant doing what Michael wanted.
The Spikes Sticking out of the Ground Look Like Angel Blades
When Castiel first stumbled into the apocalypse world in the season 12 finale, the land itself stood out. It was a place covered in sand and it appeared to be a battlefield. The cast and crew spent a lot of time creating the apocalypse world, which they mentioned in a special feature on the season 13 Blu-ray set.
They found sand pits in Vancouver and put pillars in them. When the pillars stuck out of the sand, they looked like giant angel blades. This fit the world they'd created, one in which angels ruled over humans and an archangel ruled over everything.