Supernatural: 15 best Sam Winchester moments, ranked

12. Samifer! Aka, Sam as Lucifer

This isn’t a ‘great’ Sam Winchester moment, because technically, Sam being possessed by Lucifer—the amalgamation is affectionately known as Samifer—is all kinds of bad and terrible.

Having said that, one of the most enduring scenes in Supernatural history belongs to Samifer in Season 5’s incredibly entertaining—and prescient—‘The End’.

In the episode, Dean is sent into the future to learn what will happen if he doesn’t become the vessel of Archangel Michael. Dean meets his future self—who is very jaded and disgruntled—a hippie version of Castiel, and Chuck Shurley (Rob Benedict), who correctly predicts 2020’s run on toilet paper.

But the most eerie—and aesthetically stunning—moment comes when Dean finds his older self murdered at the hands of Samifer. Forget the devil horns and tail—Samifer is outfitted in a dazzlingly bright white suit, speaks in a clipped, elegant tone, and is surprisingly reasonable.

One could argue that ‘The End’ is a shining example of Padalecki’s chameleon-like acting as Sam Winchester—but there’s definitely a bit of Sam in this version of Lucifer.

When Lucifer possessed Nick, he didn’t embody this suave, James Bond-esque creature—that’s all Sam.

And the Supernatural team clearly know how much fans love Samifer. There’s a brilliant throwback to this scene in Season 15—complete with Samifer in the white suit—that has us on tenterhooks about how the show will end.

11. Lucifer is No Match for Sam Winchester

The Season 5 finale, ‘Swan Song’, was set up as a possible series finale—but 10 years on, we know that the episode ushered in so many plot elements that have become synonymous with Supernatural, and Sam Winchester’s destiny.

For the five-season run-up to this episode, Sam Winchester had been through numerous losses—he’d watched his girlfriend die at the hands of a demon, he’d seen his father sacrifice himself for Dean, he’d seen Dean make a deal with a demon to save Sam. The demon Ruby (Genevieve Padalecki) had convinced Sam to drink demon blood to get stronger—and then proceeded to betray him.

But worst of all was Sam finding out that he was destined to be the human vessel for Lucifer, while Dean was meant to be the Archangel Michael’s vessel. As fates go, this was a rough one—having to embody the very evil that one’s family has been fighting their entire lives isn’t an ideal destiny for anyone.

For Sam, the situation was made worse by the fact that he had little choice in the matter—to ensure the future was set right, he had to sacrifice himself to Lucifer’s mercies. And no human, once possessed by a demon, could possibly get back control, could they?

Sam Winchester is no ordinary human. He fought back against Lucifer long enough to save the day—even though it meant leaping into the Cage that had locked Lucifer in for eons. A fate worse than death but Sam Winchester was ready to make the sacrifice play to save the world.