Sam and Dean Winchester are the main characters of Supernatural, but it was Castiel who first nabbed the People’s Choice Award for Best Sci-Fi character from the show due to his immense popularity. Castiel was originally only supposed to be a recurring character but has now been a staple for the show for over a decade.
There are definite Castiel moments and attributes that make him the best character on Supernatural, and it’s always nice to have a reminder as to why. However, there are also moments he could’ve been counted as a weak character too, and this list will tell you that as well.
Best: Saving Dean From The Future
Castiel’s turn toward the heroes’ side was solidified in this episode, where he first truly displayed his penchant for loyalty by saving Dean from a potential loop into the future. Dean had earlier been forced to visit an alternate future by Zachariah, at the end of which the latter once again planned to send Dean on another adventure, only for Castiel to do the rescue job.
We were led to believe Castiel’s role was minimal, with him being cast as comic relief earlier on as he was made to wait for hours by the side of the road when Dean told him to wait for the right time to pick him up. However, staying true to his word, Castiel rescued Dean by teleporting him out of Zachariah’s clutches.
Best: Being The Only One To Unconditionally Love Jack
Castiel had made a promise to Kelly Kline that he would look out for her son, and he’s so far kept that promise two years on. In fact, Jack is now a son to Castiel, who has always loved the boy unconditionally.
And by unconditionally, we really do mean that, because Castiel has overlooked any act of maliciousness Jack might have done due to his love for him. Even after Jack accidentally killed Mary, Castiel was the only one of the main characters to see Jack for the inherent goodness that was within him. It was this act that confirmed to us that Castiel was so much purer than Sam or Dean in personality.
Worst: Trying To Kill Jesse
Having good intentions doesn’t really justify wanting to kill a child, and Castiel would’ve done just that had he had his way. In Season 5, Castiel arrived to take the life of Jesse, who was supposed to turn into the Anti-Christ.
Sensing that killing a child would mean saving thousands of others, Castiel prepared himself to kill the boy; he was unsuccessful, as Jesse was too powerful. It was just luck that allowed Jesse to walk free because Castiel was adamant in taking the life of a child. Now that’s not something you want from a good guy character, is it?
Best: Retrieving Claire
Even though the main guys are the protagonists of the series, they’ve developed a high sense of apathy when it comes to the vessels of the angels and demons. Castiel totally ignored Claire’s prayers for him to bring her father back, but at least he tried to make amends.
In Season 10, Castiel tracked Claire down in a child services institute after years of suffering the consequences to Castiel possessing Claire’s father. He didn’t need to do it, but Castiel tried his best to be like a father to Claire anyway, resulting in her eventually being placed with Jody Mills, where Claire now has a surrogate family that loves her very much.
Best: Watching The Pizza Man
The source of awkward comedy on Supernatural are Sam and Castiel, with the latter being the unquestioned master of this. He’s easily confused by every human societal custom, and his lack of awareness leads to him being adorably ignorant.
In this instance, Castiel came across some adult-oriented video on TV, while Dean and Sam were sitting right behind him. The only question Castiel had, though, was why the Pizza man kept “punishing” the customer. After Samuel Campbell inquired why he was watching the video, Castiel refused to talk about it because Dean told him dudes don’t do that. Now that’s the kind of innocence we so love and adore about Castiel.
Worst: Helping In Removing The Mark Of Cain
The entirety of Season 10 seemed to be built around making us see the main characters as antagonists. In order to remove the Mark of Cain from Dean, these guys would do rather horrendous things, rather than sacrifice Dean for the greater good.
The worst moment was when Castiel assisted in kidnapping Oskar, the only boy Rowena had genuine love for, and then watched as they made Rowena kill Oskar in order to make the spell to remove the Mark of Cain work. This was probably the lowest the main characters could sink to, and Castiel was a willing party to it. He has Oskar’s blood on his hands.
Best: Turning On The Angels
In the majority of Season 4, Castiel worked for the other angels and it was a slow turn for him to start to sympathize with Dean. We saw glimpses of Castiel wanting to walk away from the angels’ plans, but he remained loyal until the last episode.
It was here that Castiel won everyone’s hearts, as he quietly helped Dean by creating an angel banishing sigil and cast Zachariah out long enough to inform Dean that Lilith was the last seal. His epic moment arrived when he told Dean “I’ll hold them off. I’ll hold them all off!” when Raphael was arriving to kill them. It was at this point we knew Castiel would be becoming our favorite angel.
Best: Being Loyal To Both Sam And Dean
Even Sam and Dean haven’t been as loyal to one another as Castiel has been to them. We’ve seen the brothers fight and separate several times, but Castiel has never done that. No matter how they treat him, Castiel is always willing to accept them.
And it’s not just loyalty to solely Dean or just to Sam, as we’ve seen Castiel stick around with the Winchester who is right in that particular situation. In Season 9, Castiel stayed with Sam when the latter was hurt Dean had used him with Gadreel; in Season 5, Castiel was with Dean when Dean was hurting over Sam’s actions in Season 4. This kind of loyalty is what we’d all love to have in our lives.
Worst: Being Nerfed
Since Season 7, Castiel has been on the show mainly because the fans love him; other than that, he’s been weakened so hard that his role has been reduced to being a punching bag for new antagonists.
It’s gotten to the point that it’s infuriating to see Castiel being beaten down so easily, and him matching up against anyone is a cause of exasperation than excitement because we know he’s just going to lose. The showrunners need to make him strong as he used to be, otherwise Castiel’s quality will be even further reduced than it has been.
Best: His Introduction
There’s never been a more epic introduction for a character on Supernatural than the one Castiel got. It was built up first, with Castiel’s true visage destroying the station Dean was in, before Pamela had her eyes burned out when she tried to perceive Castiel in his angel form.
His first appearance in the flesh was awesome, too, as Castiel strutted in to greet Bobby and Dean, both of whom were easily incapacitated. Castiel’s monotone style of talking made him a mysterious stranger we wanted to know about and Supernatural was shot up in scale when Castiel proclaimed he was sent to Earth by God.