For 15 years, the brothers Dean and Sam Winchester have been hunting creatures of supernatural origin, in the CW cult fantasy show Supernatural. For years now, they have also been locking horns with the Devil himself, and now, God.
From werewolves to djinns and chupacabras, the brothers have faced almost everything under the sun, to say nothing of celestial beings. Vampires have played a crucial role in the series, featuring a number of times throughout the seasons, with the brothers trying to find ways to kill, and even to cure them. Here are a few of the strongest and weakest vampires that Supernatural has featured yet.
Weakest: Kate
In season 1, the boys and John Winchester came across one of the series' earliest bunch of vampires, as they tried to investigate the death of an older hunter. John also had the ulterior motive of getting his hands of Samuel Colt's gun, which he hoped to would kill the demon Yellow Eyes, who had been responsible for his wife Mary's death.
As it happened, the boys were up against another nest of vampires, the same ones that had murdered the hunter Elkins. One of the leaders, Kate, was a bloodthirsty vamp who enjoyed killing and had no desire to control herself or others. Kate was weak when it came to giving in to her urges.
Strongest: Lerone
In season 2, Sam and Dean followed the trail of cattle mutilations to find a nest of vampires. While Dean found himself opening up to another hunter, Gordon, Sam was abducted by the vampires themselves.
However, the leader of the nest, Lerone, let him go unharmed, convincing him that she and her mates did not kill humans but survived off cow's blood, ergo, the cattle killings. Lerone had the strength to control her urges and even managed to make her entire nest tow the line.
Weakest: Andrea
When Dean's vamp blood brother Benny came to exact revenge on his maker, he found, to his pleasant surprise that Andrea, that the woman he loved years ago and thought had been killed, was still very much alive and a vampire herself.
However, when he finally asked her to leave with him, she refused, wanting to continue the life of murdering humans and plunder. She even attacked him when he told her that the person he had loved was gone. Andrea was lusting for power and blood and did not the strength to resist either. Dean had to kill her finally, to save Benny.
Strongest: Benny
Benny Laffite was the vampire who befriended Dean in purgatory and helped him escape that disgusting supernatural dimension where monsters ended up after death. When Dean got out, he also brought Benny back with him with the help of a spell. But Benny proved to be strong, he did not attack and kill or turn humans, even when he came back on earth.
Benny also had the maturity to see that getting back to earth after being away for all this time made little sense since he didn't belong anymore. He had the strength to stay back in purgatory once and for all when Sam had to ride shotgun with him at a later date.
Weakest: The Old Man
Benny's maker, the Old Man, although he looked remarkably young since vampires don't age, had had him killed when he left the nest for his lady love. When Benny came back from purgatory for revenge, he once again had his men attack him, having no remorse whatsoever.
The Old Man was pure evil, with no qualms about murdering humans or even vamps who he was apparently fond of, like Benny himself. He would definitely qualify as a weak entity, for strength doesn't really come from power, but how one uses or controls it.
Strongest: Alpha Vampire
One of the strongest vamps on the show was the Alpha vampire, the father of all the vampires who roamed the earth. The Alpha first appeared in season 6 when the series went through a number of convoluted storylines, what with bringing Eve, the Mother of all monsters, alive, and having Cas and Crowley plot to release all the souls from purgatory.
The Alpha also appeared later and even helped Sam and Dean in their fight against the Leviathans, undoubtedly making him one of the strongest, if not the strongest of his kind.
Weakest: Mama
Mama was the matron of the nest that had kidnapped young Alex, who was later saved by Sheriff Mills. Alex had developed a sense of deep loyalty towards the nest and was possibly also quite afraid of what would become of her if she got on the wrong side of Mama.
Mama was a domineering leader and believed in having her family of vamps survive on human blood, unlike some of the other vamps the boys had met. She also had Alex lure victims into their nest where they would be attacked by the rest of the vampires. Her cruelty makes her weak and despicable.
Strongest: Billy
In "Atomic Monsters" in season 15, the brothers chanced upon a case where one young girl had been killed and another had disappeared. They finally track it down to a family where they assume the father was a vamp and had abducted the girl as a personal blood bag.
However, it turns out that the son, Billy, and not the father was the vampire, and it was for his survival that the family had kidnapped the girl. Billy, though, is a strong young man, and surrenders at once, asking Dean to kill him and put an end to everybody's misery.
Weakest: Gordon
One of the most unpleasant hunters Sam and Dean crossed paths with over the years, was Gordon Walker, as early as season 2. To be fair to him, Gordon did have a traumatic past--his sister was taken by a vamp, almost in front of him when he was still young. But Gordon developed an unholy obsession with ridding the world of vamps ever since, which was a good idea except that he also killed his sister who was now a vamp.
When Gordon turned himself, he was unable to control his urges, unlike Lenore or Benny, and went for the kill at once. Yes, he did allow the Winchesters to decapacitate him afterwards but that was because he knew he wasn't strong enough to resist the urge to feed.
Strongest: Dean
Dean himself turned into a vampire once when he was force-fed vamp blood and Sam, who was soulless at the time, watched from a distance, smirking creepily.
It was hard to watch Dean struggle against his base instincts and keep those he loved, like Lisa and Ben, safe. In an episode that spoofed the Twilight series relentlessly, Dean discovered he was behaving like Pattinson's Edward Cullen when he fought not to feed on Lisa's blood. He was, luckily, able to turn back following as old family recipe shared by his grandfather. His resistance against the need to feed and kill innocent humans makes him the strongest vamp yet.