Sam is different from his older brother in that he is sensitive, rational, more innocent, and seemingly more concerned with living a "normal life" than his brother; in spite of this, it is obvious that he would do anything for Dean. He rebelled against his father's attempts to raise him as a demon hunter and enrolled in Stanford University after having a harsh fight with his father.

When Dean came to ask Sam for his help in the first episode, the viewers are introduced to Jessica, Sam's girlfriend. It is apparent that Sam was somewhat popular, despite no one knowing what it is his family really does. His brother Dean is the only one allowed to call him by his nickname, "Sammy" and sometimes Sam doesn't even allow that. Sam has had more love interests than Dean, despite how often Dean flirts and Dean's occasional flings on the show.

Sam likes to talk things out when there is trouble. He attempts to find out both sides of the story and then decide what could be done to prevent as much collateral damage, like human lives, as possible. Sam often asks others to share what they think and feel and it is seen that he has a knack for getting people to trust him.

Although this is the Sam the viewers have come to love in Seasons 1 & 2, Sam has undergone many changes as the seasons progress. Sam looks up to Dean in many ways and sometimes adopts some of Dean's mannerisms.

. TIMELINE LEADING UP TO THE SERIES

• Age 6 months - Mary was killed
• Age 6 - Attacked by a Shtriga
• Age 8 - Gives Dean the amulet originally meant for John as a Christmas gift
• Age 12 - Wins a Division Championship Soccer trophy
• Age 18 or 19 - Leaves his family to study at Stanford to which he earns a full ride.
• Age 20 - Starts dating Jessica Moore
• Age 22 - Dean turns up and begs him to help find John.

. SAM'S CONNECTIONS

RELATIONSHIPS Name: Jessica Moore Status: Deceased Relationship: Sam's original girlfriend and almost fiancee. They had been together for over a year when Dean suddenly arrived in their apartment and dragged Sam off to hunt a woman in white. When Sam got back, he discovered Jess on the ceiling in flames - exactly the same way his mother had died 22 years earlier. Even after her death, Sam still loves her, although he is finally realizing that he needs to move on. Name: Madison Owens Status: Deceased Relationship: As soon as Madison and Sam meet, there is a clear attraction between them, but it isn't until they believe her clear of the werewolf curse that she and Sam finally get together. However, the devastating truth is that she is still cursed and in their final, tragic moments together, Madison begs Sam to kill her in order to prevent her from killing anyone else - something he ends up doing, no matter how much it hurts him. Name: Bela (Abby) Talbot Status: Deceased Relationship: Episodes: Bad day at black rock, Red sky at morning, Dream a little dream of me, Jus in Bello, Time is on my side. Whether it was just a one-off dream or not, Sam seems to have a purely sexual interest in Bela Talbot. We see Sam dreaming of an erotic dream with her in it, but otherwise Sam disagrees and detests many of her actions. Name: Sarah Blake Status: Alive Relationship: The daughter of an auction house owner, Sarah got involved with Sam when he tried to use her to get information about a haunted painting. Before he knew it, he realized he was attracted to her but didn't want to get close in case she got hurt. She reminded him that it was her choice and she helped out on a ghost hunting mission and was almost killed during the mission. When Sam and Dean had to leave, Sam finally made his move and kissed her. Name: Lori Sorensen Status: Alive Relationship: The daughter of a local reverend, Lori was having problems reconciling her faith with her desire to be a normal teenage girl. She was attracted to Sam and the feelings were mutual, even resulting in a kiss between them. However, Sam hadn't gotten over Jessica yet and pulled away from her. Name: Meg Masters Status: Girl - Deceased / Demon - Alive Relationship: The first time Sam and Meg met, they were both trying to make their way to California. They spent some time waiting at the bus station and got to know each other pretty well. However, the second time they met, Sam realized that something was unusual about her - just before she tried to have him and Dean killed by demons that she was controlling.

Name: Ruby Status: Deceased Relationship: Ruby was first introduced as a mysterious stranger who saved the boys on a few occasions and seemed to be following Sam around. She eventually revealed herself to be a demon, but earned both Dean and Sam's trust in a couple tight situations. She is credited with getting the Colt to work again and she mentored Sam in the use and expansion of his powers. Ruby wasn't a love interest until after Dean was killed by hell hounds, after which she became Sam's companion, confidant, mentor, and lover. When Dean returned, there was obvious tension between Ruby and Dean, which left Sam torn between two people he reliedon heavily. At the end of season 4, Ruby's true goal was unveiled after Sam killed Lillith and Ruby told him that killing Lillith was the final seal to release Lucifer from his cage. She seemed hopeful that together they could work under Lucifer and that things would be alright between them. However, Dean entered the room intent on killing Ruby, since he knew what she had done, and before Ruby could defend herself Sam restrained her as Dean stabbed her with Ruby's Knife.

. WEAPONRY

Sam uses a chromed Beretta 92fs loaded with silver rounds and uses a pistol grip 4-shelled 12 gauge shotgun loaded with rock salt. Is also very talented at hand to hand combat shown in season 1 episode 1 when he fights Dean in his dorm room. The two seem to be equally talented in close range combat, but Sam has been seen more often using close range weapons while Dean seems to prefer the longer range weapons.

Though Sam is usually more concerned about not hurting the hosts and others possesed by deamons, he has actually used The Colt on more occasions than any other known person, including the original hunter. However, as of the end of the third season he has only killed three demons with the weapon, the same number as Dean.

At the end of the third season Sam loses possession of The Colt, but he now has possession of Ruby's Knife, upon the death of Dean and Ruby's absence.

Sam also owns or has owned a knife that is dramatically curved from the handle, almost to scythe-like proportions, that is seen in the Pilot when he is packing his bag to go with Dean. It has not shown up again and some wonder if he still has it and, if he does, what it would be useful against.

. EQUIPMENT

In Season One, he owns what appears to be a Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop, which he uses to gather information for hunts. The first time Sam uses the laptop is in the second episode "Wendigo", where he plays a video message. His possession of the laptop is ambiguous at this point because it is unsure what he did and did not salvage from the fire at Stanford in the pilot episode. In that same episode, his brother Dean makes references using computer software which leads viewers to believe that Dean may, in fact, be the owner of the laptop. In "Tall Tales," Sam claims ownership of the laptop, accusing Dean of misplacing it. In the beginning of Season Two, when Sam and Bobby Singer are surveying the wreckage of the totaled Impala, Sam pulls the broken PC from the passenger seat. Then, in "Crossroad Blues," Sam is seen using an Apple 15" PowerBook or MacBook Pro, though interestingly, its display shows a Windows OS. Sam also appears to own a Verizon-branded Motorola Q which has on at least one occasion (in "Hollywood Babylon") been used to visually track unseen ghosts. This phone however was destroyed in the third season episode "Fresh Blood."

. POWERS, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Sam exhibits telekinetic, precognitive abilities at various times throughout the show as well as the ability to exorcise or kill demons with his mind. His telekinesis onscreen is limited to a single incident wherein he was under extreme stress and pressure, while his precognitive abilities, manifesting as dreams and visions of others' deaths, started prior to the first episode with dreams of Jessica's death, and continued throughout the first two seasons. Sam stated that visions stopped with the death of Azazel at the end of Season Two; Azazel is assumed to have given Sam and the other psychic children their gifts. However, according to Ruby, his powers are simply dormant. Ruby also states that if he was in full control of his power, he could blow away demons as powerful as Lilith with no effort. At the end of "No Rest For the Wicked", Sam demonstrates an ability to stop Lilith's attack, proving Ruby's theory correct. He uses his ability to exorcise demons frequently while under Ruby's training and kills a few demons with his mind, two of which were quite powerful.

Thanks to his training as a hunter by his father he is a skilled fighter, expert with firearms, shotguns, and melee weapons. Like his brother Dean he is skilled in many areas frowned upon by law, such as lock picking, computer hacking, car jacking and the list goes on. In the first two seasons he is often hesitant about using these skills because of his desire to be a 'normal' citizen, however this lessens over time. He has vast knowledge of the supernatural and is considered an "encyclopedia of weirdness." He is proficient in reading spells written in foreign languages such as Latin and more often than not is the brother stuck with doing the research for their latest hunt.