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Idjits...
Balls!
Come on, now. You tried to hang it up and be a person with Lisa and Ben. And now here you are with a mean old coot and a van full of guns. That ain't person behavior, son. You're a hunter, meaning you're whatever the job you're doing today. Now, you get a case of the Anne Sextons, something's gonna come up behind you and rip your fool head off. Now, you find your reasons to get back in the game. I don't care if it's love or spite or a ten-dollar bet. I've been to enough funerals. I mean it. You die before me, and I'll kill you.
Bobby lecturing Dean of what it means to be a hunter.
Bobby Singer is one of the two tritagonists (alongside Castiel) of the CW series Supernatural.
He was an old family friend to the Winchesters and a close ally and eventually father figure to Sam and Dean after John Winchester's death, hunting with them until his death at the hands of Dick Roman.
An alternate universe version of Bobby Singer also appears as a supporting protagonist in seasons 12 - 15.
He was played by Jim Beaver.
Powers and Abilities
- Master Hunting Skills: With years of experience as a veteran hunter, Bobby was one of the greatest hunters in his lifetime, well-known and respected to the point where his skills were acknowledged by the likes of the Winchesters, including John, Sam and Dean, though Sam commented that Dean was still a better hunter than Bobby. Indeed, Krissy Chambers called Bobby when her father went missing.
- Master Marksman: Bobby is an extremely capable marksman, able to shoot a moving _target with his eyes closed, made more notable by the fact that he was in the woods at night when he did it. Even as a child, he already had some decent skill with firearms, as he successfully used a riffle to kill his father with a shot to the head. He was also able to easily gun down multiple Croatoan Virus zombies during the Raid on Niveus Pharmaceuticals while holding the fort for Sam to rescue the trapped victims and even managed to hit a Leviathan in the head as well as shoot Dick Roman repeatedly with shots from a pistol, with neither of them able to react despite their superhuman reflexes and senses. His marksmanship also extended to being a skilled knife thrower, as he was able to accurately throw a bronze knife to hit the siren Nick Munroe's back, killing him.
- Master Combatant: Having decades of combat experience as a veteran hunter, despite his old age, Bobby proved himself to be still physically fit enough and considerably proficient in close-combat when needed to. He was able to hold his own against a reluctant Dean when believing he wasn't real with a knife, breaking out of Dean's hold the first time he tried to restrain him and punching him back before eventually getting restrained, and overtake Dean in order to save Sam when they were mind-controlled by the Siren Nick and Dean was off-guard from being in the middle of swinging an axe down, swiftly stabbing Dean in the shoulder with the Demon-Killing Knife before he could react. His skills were presumably much sharper in his youth, but even in his old age, he proved fit and skilled enough to fight and overpower supernatural creatures, as he easily killed two demons with the knife in a matter of moments, single-handedly overpowered and eventually forced an Okami through a wood chipper and even knocked down a Leviathan with a crowbar.
- Genius-level Intellect: Bobby has amassed an immense wealth of knowledge in his years as a hunter, frequently seen as an information broker to the supernatural hunting community, as shown in Weekend at Bobby's. Despite his appearance, he is extremely intuitive and cunning. He was able to tell that Sam was possessed by Meg almost at first glance and was able to spike her drink with holy water without her noticing. He was also able to stay one step ahead of "Soulless" Sam during his attempted patricide, even luring him to a trapdoor without him realizing it, despite Sam running on pure logic and even claiming he was smarter than he has ever been. Bobby was also the only person to see through Castiel's lies and deduce that he was working for Crowley from the way he acted when it was revealed Crowley was alive. Sam also explicitly contacted Bobby in Heaven in order to have him help Castiel break Metatron out of Heaven, expressing confidence he was smart enough to pull it off, which he did successfully, managing to swiftly cause chaos by opening the door to the other Bobby Singers and then causing an uproar by pitting them against the Angels to distract them so he can open the door that activates the Heavenly Portal and he also showed his intuition by easily deducing from Castiel's reluctance when talking about Dean that Dean doesn't actually know about their attempt to save him. Bobby has been shown to be fluent in several languages including Japanese and several dead languages.
- Indomitable Willpower: Bobby has proven himself to possess incredible willpower: Despite the many horrors he has seen through his years of hunting, unlike his friend Rufus Turner, Bobby remained fully active in hunting to protect innocents from the supernatural. He was able to overpower a demon that was possessing him and injure himself and kill the demon using the Demon-Killing Knife, a feat that very few was able to replicate when possessed by a supernatural creature. Despite being crippled and going through many depressive moods during the Apocalypse, Bobby did not give up, resisting the temptation of committing suicide by drawing strength from his love and loyalty to Sam and Dean. In his final moments, Bobby was able to overcome the pain of his shot wound at the head to say his last words and give Sam and Dean the clue he found from the Leviathans before finally dying.
- Magical Proficiency: Despite not being a witch or a regular with spells, Bobby proved to be very proficient at using magic. He was especially familiar and skilled with warding spells and magical means capable of countering violent supernatural creatures and objects, as he quickly recognized the mark Meg was using to render Dean's attempts to exorcise him ineffective and knew to burn it to erase the spell and was able to cast a charm on Sam and Dean to ward off possession, provide them with a Cleansing Ritual capable of breaking the curse on cursed objects, teach them a Witch-Killing Spell that would soon become their most preferred method of disposing a witch, and create Curse Boxes for John Winchester, boxes with warding work capable of containing hexed and cursed objects without letting their supernatural effects slip to the outside. He also cast the spell to put the Witnesses back to rest and successfully performed the Colt Bullet Creation Ritual. He is also accomplished in binding and summoning powerful beings, able to summon Gavin MacLeod, summon Crowley, bind Death and in his dream, bind a Reaper (which highly impressed said Reaper).
Personality
Hi, glad to meet you. Bobby Singer. Paranoid bastard.
A hunter like the Winchesters, Bobby seemed to stay fairly stationary. He wears a lot of flannel and is almost always seen in a trucker's hat. He runs an auto salvage yard as his day job, and is a go-to guy for supernatural research.
He seems to have amassed quite a bit of knowledge over the years (being the first to deduce on his own that Meg was in fact possessed), plus his house is full of bookcases and stacks of books about the supernatural world and the things hunters go after. He and John Winchester were old friends, though they had a falling out prior to the onset of the series.
After John's death, Bobby becomes like a father to Sam and Dean. He was very loyal to them and cared for them deeply like they were his own. It is also implied in You Can't Handle The Truth and Taxi Driver that Bobby enjoys reality shows and pedicures. This is a secret, however, but Sam and Dean both know.
In times of stress, Bobby often drinks and throws brutal, sarcastic remarks at people. He has often been described as a "barely functioning alcoholic." His brutal experiences during childhood have made him often belligerent and judging of others and is very prone to standing up to people and telling them like it is - or at least, how he sees it in his own cynical, maladjusted way - to get them to grow up, something he's often done with Sam and Dean and possibly other hunters, including John. He doesn't enjoy people being lazy and will often complain. Bobby is shown to be very dedicated to his work, willing to sacrifice a lot of his own time and energy to help Sam and Dean and anyone in need.
Unlike Dean or John, Bobby was willing to spare certain monsters if he could be assured they would not cause anybody harm. This was shown when he spared the shapeshifter Olivia, once her mother promised to lock her away. Also unlike Dean or John, but like Sam, Bobby wasn't the type to dive head-first into the unknown, preferring to do research or ask questions first; he would only resort to extreme measures like torture or causing disruptions in Heaven during life-and-death situations involving someone he cared about.
Quotes
Are you under the impression that family’s supposed to make you feel good? Bake you an apple pie, maybe? They’re supposed to make you miserable! That’s why they’re family!Bobby to Dean
Do I Look Like Doctor Phil To You?Bobby to Dean
You Guys Are Breaking My Heart. Could We Please Just Leave?
No One Kills Me In My House But Me.
You Die Before Me And I'll Kill You.To Dean Winchester
Videos
Trivia
- Eric Kripke revealed at Paley Fest that the character Missouri Moseley was intended to return in the Season 1 finale to help Sam and Dean, but because the actress Loretta Devine couldn't do it, the character of Bobby Singer was created instead.
- Bobby lived in South Dakota, prior to his house being burned down by the Leviathans.
- Bobby owned a blue Ford tow-truck with Lawrence County, South Dakota plates: 9NO3L1. This is probably a reference to Jim Beaver's role in the HBO Western drama Deadwood. Deadwood is the county seat of Lawrence County. In seasons 3, 4 and 6 he also drives a 1971 Chevelle. When he dies, the car ends up rusting in his salvage yard. In season 5, he drives a handicap-accessible van and in Sympathy for the Devil, the Impala. The van can later be seen when Dean is torturing demons for Lisa and Ben's location in season 6.
- His dog, who has only appeared in one episode, is called Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld was killed by Meg as she hunted down the Winchesters.
- At some point in his hunting career, Bobby was unable to save a pair of twin sisters from an unknown creature.
- In the episode Yellow Fever, it is revealed that Bobby is fluent in Japanese. In Weekend at Bobby's, it was revealed that Bobby has been to Japan.
- Bobby is named after the series' executive producer Robert Singer, which was done by Eric Kripke behind his back.
- Bobby was born at night.
- In The Anime Series, Bobby is re-imagined in appearance and personality, he is much more light-hearted than his live action counterpart and frequently jokes around with the Winchesters. He is also much shorter and dresses in suits.
- As a ghost, Bobby's downfall into a vengeful spirit happens faster than normal; Tessa states that it takes years to become vengeful, but he appeared to achieve that status in a matter of weeks.
- Bobby was said to be a fan of the reality show, Tori and Dean. Sam is able to use this along with the fact that he got a pedicure that "changed his life" at the Mall of America to convince him of his identity in Hell. Apparently Bobby made Dean promise never to tell anyone about that but he told Sam anyway.
- Bobby is the third spirit to be seen after their remains have been burned (first was Mary, then was John) and the first ghost whose final fate after the burning of their remains is revealed.
- Bobby, like all members of Team Free Will, has been to Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. Only Dean has been to Avalon in addition to the three previously mentioned.
- Bobby's last word was "Idjits".
- Along with John Winchester and Meg, Bobby is one of the few characters besides Sam and Dean to drive the Impala more than once. In his case he drives it while destroying the ghost of Luther Garland and when he goes to visit Sam and Dean after the Apocalypse starts.
- Bobby was the one who taught Sam and Dean the "non-agreement" that in the case of one of them dying, the other would not go looking for the other; however, it became an unspoken rule to do the exact opposite, as he was visibly angry that Sam didn't go looking for Dean while he was stuck in Purgatory.
- Bobby spent approximately 150 years in Hell, but like John Winchester, he persisted in keeping his humanity, and avoided becoming a demon.
- Therefore, Bobby is spiritually 212 years old.
- Prior to season 12 Bobby was the only character outside of Sam and Dean to have appeared in every season.
- There is a book called Bobby Singer's Guide to Hunting, written by David Reed from Bobby's point of view.
- When Bobby is killed by Lucifer and resurrected by Castiel, somehow this does not save his soul from his deal with Crowley, who has to be forced to return it under threat of death. This is in contrast to Dean, who is no longer bound by his deal after being resurrected from Hell by Castiel. This could be because, unlike Dean, Bobby was killed and resurrected before his time was up. Castiel was also able to resurrect Bobby with ease, indicating he had not gone to Hell yet as Castiel would've had to physically retrieve Bobby's soul from there.
- In the episode Frontierland, when Dean makes a reference to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Bobby failed to understand, admitting to having only watched Deep Space 9.
- Jim Beaver's character (Bobby) was only supposed to make a one-time appearance on the show.
- In Slash Fiction it is revealed that Bobby's favorite singer is Joni Mitchell.
External Links
- Bobby Singer on the Supernatural Wiki
- Bobby Singer on the Near Pure Good Wiki