Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural
I’m sure I’ll get mocked for liking this show, but it has two things I really like. Supernatural lore from various cultures (they had a fucking Wendigo and a Rugaru) and great characters. I got into the series by accident when a friend bought the first few boxsets and lent them to me because I was looking for something to watch. I returned them soon after because I ordered my own. One of the big reasons is because of the dynamic of Sam and Dean.
The story is basic. Sam and Dean Winchester are brothers who grew up with a monster hunting father. He took them into this lifestyle after their mother was killed by a demon and he learned what was really out there. Season 1 is them looking for their missing father after Sam tried to leave that life behind by going to college. Blah blah blah, read wikipedia or just buy the first season and thank me. The big point is how these brothers get along in terms of writing and personality. Sam is more empathic and kind (usually) while Dean is more hard-edged and sarcastic. The banter between them is great.
Even better is that you can actually believe that they’re brothers. They fight, disagree, and act like siblings while never going too the point of ridiculousness. There is a sense of caring between the characters even when they are at odds. I find this rather refreshing because a lot of writers do one of two things with siblings:
- Bond is so close that they never fight and one will crumble without the other. Sam and Dean split up many times, but eventually reunite when the other is in trouble. They fight on. I will admit here that there is a tradition of ‘back from the dead’ in this series, which gets mocked a few times.
- The siblings never get along and are fighting to the point where you know they’re going to turn into enemies. This one is very popular because readers and writers love the warring sibling storyline. I think even I have a story that has this in there because it is ripe with drama. Now, Sam and Dean fight, but never to the point where they’re going to try to kill each other. Unless one is possessed or something supernatural is about to happen.
I always wonder why siblings can’t be normal siblings in stories that have action, horror, or anything beyond sitcoms. I think it’s a breath of fresh air when I see a movie or read a book where the siblings are close, but not sharing the same brainwave. Siblings bicker and argue and get into fistfights. Yet, it’s more common that they stay friendly and make up after such incidents. It’s less common that they declare war or swear to never hear from them again when fighting over something simple.
So, what do you think of the use of siblings in stories and do you have a preference? Do you prefer your siblings feuding or never fighting?
Legends of Windemere 
I love that show!
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Watching it now. Sort of.
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Very interesting post Charles. In horror, action, or other such fiction, I think the siblings make an easy target for the writer. They are close enough to know the main character’s innermost secrets and behaviors/personalities without much further explanation. I have a weird personal history where siblings are concerned because of estranged siblings, half siblings, step siblings, and foster siblings. I do enjoy shows like Wonder Years, and others that showed siblings getting into heated arguments and then getting over it. It is more realistic. My older sister blames me for my mother’s death. I was 8 when she died. Yet, my older sister won’t speak to me. She says that my failure to turn in my homework pushed my mother over the edge. I know better, but it was a hard thing to live with. She insists that she was supposed to be an only child. (Yet, I also have a younger sister). She is also very angry that I reconciled with my father…whom she also blames for Mama’s death. Weird family dynamics.
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Sorry that you have to deal with that. Sounds like a lot of displaced rage and hurt, which I’ve been on the receiving end at times.
I agree that writers find siblings as an easy piece of a story. You get a lot of drama and emotion from such a connection. I enjoy the sibling storylines whether blood relations or not. Even the search for family or creating a new family makes for emotional storytelling. I do wish the ‘siblings turn on each other’ storyline takes a slight break because I feel like I find that it nearly every book I read. Though, I can see how that connects to the whole Cain and Abel thing.
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I am eager to see Marie Bailey’s book. I know they are cousins, but the widowed PIs seem very interesting to me and I would like to see the family dynamics. I do tire of repetitive storylines about siblings. It does seem odd that the estranged sibling often comes back and somehow reappears with a vengeance.
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Or a sibling turns evil and the other tries to save them. Then that evil sibling sacrifices themself to save the world. Seems rather standard these days and I know people that love the storyline. They never tire of it, which is interesting to hear.
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LOL…maybe we all have some repressed feelings that get released in such showings and telling.
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Maybe. I also think each person has that set of stories that they never tire of. Kind of like how you have fantasy fans that love quest-based adventures and others that think the entire quest idea is cliche. Siblings definitely have a big history of cliche and fun, but they’re always being used.
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Do you remember the movie “The Good Son”? That was a freaky one. It was a 1993 psycho thriller with Macaulay Culkin. I really did enjoy that one though.
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I vaguely remember it. Evil kids are classic thriller/horror.
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I’ve never watched this show but I have heard good things. I prefer sibling characters as you have described these– my own family is a big mix of wit and sarcasm and bickering and competition. I have four older brothers and every time we all get together it’s just a big messy mash up of ridiculousness. I love it but I don’t ever see anything like it depicted in movies or TV.
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I have a younger sister and it’s a lot of teasing and arguing, but never anything malicious. It’s strange how so many writers don’t bother with that kind of relationship.
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First off, I’d like to say that I love this show, I watched a couple of episodes Saturday with my youngest daughter who got me watching it. I believe NetFlix has 6 or 7 seasons on it. I guess I would have to say the I would prefer to see siblings that generally get along as this is a more rare and less dramatic thing to see in movies or books. The feuding sibling thing has been done so many times that it holds few surprises, it isn’t that I don’t enjoy the drama of it, but you see it all of the time.
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I’m watching season 8 when I can. I agree that the feuding siblings has been done far too often. I think it can still be done in a long series, but it doesn’t have to result in one going evil or having a fight to the death. It could always been the siblings go on separate paths for a bit of time.
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I LOVE SPN!!!!! Cas is just presh :3
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I’m more of a Bobby fan. 🙂
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OOOOHHHHH POOOOOOORRR BOBBY!!! *sniff*
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And I like siblings that have the natural rivalry, but can get past that when the chips are down and really be there for each other.
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Feels more natural that way.
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For fictional brothers, I look first for hotness, because of my utter shallowness. Second, I like some bickering, but not the J.R. and Bobby Ewing level of bickering. I like the banter-bickering where brothers know which buttons to push. I also like some quieter moments where I can sense the bond between them.
My brothers couldn’t be more different personality wise. One probably says 400 words to the other’s 1. But I can see how a TV show would avoice such a disparity, because an actor would complain that he barely gets lines while the other waxes on and on.
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Depends on the show and the actor, I guess. The banter in Supernatural is very well written with them being on equal footing even though they differ in personality.
I never saw the Dallas bickering, but I’ve heard stories about it. Banter version is more interesting because it’s not as vicious and malicious. At least to me.
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The sibling bond is a fun one to play with. I know that 2 of the siblings I have, Travis and Gemmy, don’t tend to fight very often. Because Gemmy is very non-confrontational, and Travis has always been something of a protector to her. That being said, Trav will bicker a bit with his brother-in-law Spencer. They’re probably a bit closer to one another than Trav with his sister. And then there are the 2 sets of twin sisters… One of those sets, Serena and Beast, do tend to argue fairly often. But it’s usually for a good reason: Beast is an assassin and has needed all of her arms and legs replaced with machines. And Serena’s just worried that she’ll eventually become 100% machine. Not only that, but that she knows that she would be the one to get her to that level. I still need to figure things out for the 2nd set of twins, though.
I tend to think a lot about familial relationships in my work. Just because things have a tendency to go to Hell for the characters, and it helps to have some kind of support system.
Also, Supernatural is awesome. I think I’m probably a Dean fan.
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Gotta love Dean’s attitude and sense of humor.
I like the different relations that you have between all the siblings. Bickering seems to be an avoided action in books. I was once told that bickering characters are always seen as hating each other and will inevitably become enemies. As if there’s no middle ground between never fighting and at war.
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I LOVE Supernatural, and you are right, the Sam/Dean dynamic is its solid centre, though I love Castiel too…the other way of doing a triangle I suppose!! 🙂 🙂
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The three brothers in a way. Going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.
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I am deliberately turning the long-lost siblings trope on its head in my books–James finds out he has a sister, and really doesn’t care one way or another. I figured it would be a nice spin on the family relationship, plus it fits his character–he’s a loner by nature.
Oh, and am I the only Crowley fan here? (Of course, I loved him as Badger on Firefly.)
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*raises hand* I was kind of hiding that. He’s my guilty pleasure character. Sterling from Leverage too. I should probably fess up to liking most of the long-running characters on the show. Castiel tends to irk me at times.
I think the long-lost sibling apathy is a great twist.
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Reblogged this on TamBorgia's NaNoWriMo.
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Sam and Dean. I find myself always thinking, man. I wish my siblings were like this. I don’t think my brother or sister would do even 20% of what the Winchesters do for each other. Anyways, good article. Also, I sensed a bit of Bobby in your tone, sir.
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Probably a bit. I had a Bobby-oriented episode on when I wrote it. I don’t think my sibling would go to their extremes either. I’m guessing it’s that ‘us against the world’ mentality.
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