Supernatural: 15 best Sam Winchester moments, ranked

8. Sam Lets Lucifer Run his Head

Following half a season of Soulless Sam, the latter half of Season 6 of Supernatural saw Sam finally get his soul back from hell—with dreadful consequences.

Initially protected by a magical mental shield, Sam opts to go through a journey in his mind to restore his Soulless and hell-memories. Despite several obstacles in the way that signals to Sam and the audience, that the destination may not be to Sam’s liking, Sam perseveres.

Ever the sacrificial lamb, Sam takes on the burdens of having a complete soul—Lucifer’s torture and life in hell included. The decision was the right one to make—a world with a soulless Sam Winchester was poorly served.

But a year and a half of torture at Lucifer’s hands had taken a toll on Sam’s mind—as long as he didn’t push himself, he could keep the memories of hell at bay. But once the dam broke, that was the end of it.

Not only was Sam tormented by what he suffered in hell, but he began to hallucinate Lucifer during his every waking moment.

As awful as that sounds, Mark Pellegrino’s faux-Lucifer was nothing short of sassy and hilarious—leading to a major fan-following for his Lucifer. Only Supernatural could make legions of fans adore Lucifer—at least until The CW’s Lucifer came along.

Season 7 of the show was a testament to how much Sam was willing to endure to be a more complete—and safer—human to his loved ones. We wouldn’t expect anything less from him.

7. Sam Winchester Versus the Clowns

It was established early on in Supernatural that Sam Winchester suffered from a case of coulrophobia—a fear of clowns. And who can blame him—clowns are terrifying and not at all funny. The ones in Supernatural are the living embodiment of every person’s nightmare.

So, of course, poor Sam had to confront this fear during Season 7’s ‘Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie’.

Sam and Dean head to a town to investigate a series of magical deaths—unfortunately for Sam, the bulk of the investigations take place in the not-so-happy children’s restaurant Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie, which is infested with clowns.

Being the brave soul that he is, Sam tries to control his fear around the clowns—but then the very thing he fears become the creature he has to fight.

Sam manages to overcome the terrifying clowns and even declares himself phobia-free—or not so much. When Dean hands him a clown toy, Sam dumps it in the street and rides off in the Impala. We would have done the same, Sam.