Dean Winchester's 13 Best Supernatural One-Liners Ranked

Dean Winchester is a complete and utter dork wrapped in a stereotypical buff playboy package. Sure, he puts on the projected armor of not giving a flying Mr. Fizzle about anything or anyone. Yet anyone who spends more than five minutes with the guy can tell that Dean cares more than pretty much the entire universe (and even the multiverse). With more baggage than he can fit in the trunk of his '67 Chevy Impala, the demon hunter shields himself with sarcasm, humor, and quips to hide his pain at any given moment. And honestly, who can blame him? If your dad raised you to kill monsters as a child after watching your mom get burned alive, you might need an outlet, too.

As the episodes continue for 15 seasons until the ending of "Supernatural," Dean gets more in touch with his feelings and embraces his love of "chick flick moments" with less pushback. We love to see that kind of character growth. Yet through all of that development and newfound self-awareness, Dean never gets rid of his penchants for snappy one-liners — and fans wouldn't have it any other way. 

Beyond his classic "Son of a b****!" line and excluding problematic fan-favorite lines like "Pudding!" that poke fun at mental illness and sexual harassment, here are Dean Winchester's most iconic one-liners, ranked. 

If someone told fans back in Season 1 that Dean would one day quote an animated Disney princess film — and a contemporary one, not an oldie —they'd probably ask you how much you've had to drink out of Bobby's fun flask. And what's even more baffling? It happens during an animated "Scooby-Doo" crossover episode. Yet by Season 13, Dean stops trying to hide his corniness altogether. Between admitting his fondness for a good Taylor Swift bop and quoting Disney's ice queen Elsa, Dean just doesn't care anymore. There are only so many times you can come back from the dead before you stop giving a damn about what people think of your guilty pleasures. 

By this point in the show, "Supernatural" already had a meta episode where the characters were their real-life actor counterparts, a musical episode, and a time loop installment of the show — so why not "Scooby-Doo"? In the episode "ScoobyNatural," the Winchesters get animated and team up with the OG Scooby gang while solving a case.

Before they get sucked into the TV screen, when Sam questions the ease with which they tackled their last case, Dean says, "Be like Elsa, let it go." Not only does the older Winchester rattle off the Disney reference, but he's visibly proud of himself while he fends off a very confused and scandalized Sam. Well, Sammy, you know what to do: Let it go. Leave Dean to his newly embraced shameless fandom.

Dean Winchester has absolutely no patience for law enforcement, and he's not afraid to tell them, either. Dean's first brush with the law comes in the "Pilot" episode of the show. Naturally, he sasses the officers until he escapes custody with the help of a handy paper clip. The police are busy trying to scare Dean into talking when he goads them with the line, "Are we talkin' misdemeanor trouble or squeal like a pig trouble?" The subtle double entendre of the word pig probably isn't lost on the officers, but the moment also helps establish Dean's nonchalance in the face of authority figures, which continues throughout the series. 

Later in Season 2, FBI Agent Henriksen asks Dean if he thinks he's funny when the eldest Winchester asks for a cheeseburger in the interrogation room, to which Dean responds, "I think I'm adorable." Fans can't help but agree. And who can forget Dean's on-camera "confession" at the police station in that very same season when he says, "I'm Dean Winchester. I'm an Aquarius, I enjoy sunsets, long walks on the beach, and frisky women." Admitting that you believe in vengeful spirits to a bunch of FBI agents is a bold move, but you've gotta admire the gumption. So, what did we learn? Dean Winchester is never too busy to troll law enforcement. The only exception is Sheriff Jody Mills — because she's a certified badass.

According to Dead Winchester, "There's nothing more dangerous than some a-hole who thinks he's on a holy mission" — and that includes actual angels. Dean has had more than his fair share of run-ins with what he calls "dicks with wings," but the angel Zachariah takes the cake (or pie). If anyone needs an awkward 'consent in the workplace' video, it's the angels on "Supernatural." Sure, angels may need a "yes" to take over a human body, but they have zero morals as to how they go about getting that coveted confirmation.

Good ol' Zachariah isn't above physically assaulting Dean's loved ones or traveling back in time to get a Winchester to let the archangel Michael inhabit their body. So, when Zachariah kicks off armageddon by kidnapping Dean in Season 4, Dean says, "Angel or not, I will stab you in your face." But what makes this promise so delightful is that one season later, he follows through.

While Dean makes a barter with Zachariah in return for allowing Michael to use Dean as a vessel, he says, "Before Michael gets one piece of this sweet ass, he has to turn you into a piece of charcoal." But Dean isn't exactly known for his patience. Instead, he uses the false promise to distract Zachariah so he can stab him — in the face — during one of the most vindicating moments in the show. Ah, sweet vengeance and unexpected foreshadowing. 

The Season 6 episode "The French Mistake" is a fan favorite for a reason. It's arguably the most meta episode of the show, as Dean and Sam find themselves in an alternate universe where their actors are named, you guessed it, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. Cue Dean's horror at the alternate versions of themselves when he says, "Misha? Jensen? What's up with the names around here?"

That's nothing compared to the fate of the onscreen version of "Supernatural" creator Eric Kripke, who dies in a blaze of gunfire. "Supernatural" constantly mocks itself, whether it's poking fun at the convention circuit or having AU Misha Collins Tweeting about finally feeling like one of the guys. 

This Season 6 staple episode also features Genevieve Padalecki (fake Ruby) and Jared Padalecki (fake Sam) in a satirized version of their marriage. Almost every line from this episode is comedy gold, but there's just something delightful about Ackles mocking his own name.

Sci-fi fan Dean Winchester has now entered the chat. Though he takes more than a few seasons to fully let his geek flag fly, Dean shows plenty of glimpses of his nerdiness in the show's first few seasons. Take the Season 2 episode "Simon Said," for example. Dean and Sam are on the hunt for other "special children" like Sam — and they find one. Dean is mind whammied by Andy Gallagher, who's proficient in mind control.

To Dean's horror, Andy effortlessly gets Dean to hand over his beloved Impala, telling Sam, "He full-on Obi-Wan-ed me!" The "Star Wars" references don't end there, though. Andy is just as big of a nerd, parroting Obi-Wan Kenobi when he tells an unsuspecting guard, "These aren't the droids you're looking for." Dean immediately gets the reference, responding with, "Awesome." 

It's not the last time Dean would mention pop culture, either. Later in the show, he quips, "Eat it, Twilight," to a vampire and says, "You go, Dumbledork," to Sam after his younger brother coaches Charlie with a "Harry Potter" pep talk. But hey, Dean, you had to know the series well enough to make the joke — and Sam doesn't even mention Dumbledore.

We'll go ahead and give Dean a pass for referencing the Patrick Swayze movie "Ghost," given that it's basically supernatural porn. In the Season 2 opener "In My Time of Dying" (aptly named after a Zeppelin song), Dean is, you guessed it, dying. There's nothing quite like a demonic car crash to take out one of the universe's savviest hunters.

While Dean is in a ghost-like state between life and death, he's busy flirting with the reaper who's trying to convince him to accept his fate and come with her to the afterlife. Not even the threat of impending death can hamper Dean's game. Yet he isn't giving in that easily.

It only takes his brother and father arguing while Dean fights for his life for the eldest Winchester brother to find his footing as a pseudo spirit. After smacking a glass of water off the table to get their attention, he proudly says, "Dude, I full-on Swayze'd that mother!" Luckily for Dean, no one can hear the reference on his side of the veil, and Dean's ghostly pottery-making fetish remains a secret.

When you spend 90% of your time hunting ghosts and demons, human interactions aren't always a top priority. Yet humans are capable of much worse evil than the demons the Winchesters hunt — without the whole "I'm evil" excuse. It's only (super)natural that occasionally, the Winchesters run into human monsters in their pursuit to rid the world of less corporeal evil. In the Season 1 episode "The Benders" and the Season 4 installment "Family Matters," humans are responsible for the grisly murders that the Winchester brothers initially attribute to supernatural entities.

In "The Benders," a family of incestuous creeps has apparently read "The Most Dangerous Game" a few too many times. Their idea of fun is caging humans and hunting them like deer. When Dean figures out what's going on, he says, "Demons I get, people are crazy." And while using the word crazy as an insult is less than ideal, we'll give him a pass on this one. 

That being said, even when Dean's tied up, the one-liners don't stop. He quips, "Eat me," to the homicidal family before adding, "No, no, no, wait, wait, wait ... you actually might." Dean later parrots his disappointment in the human race during "Family Remains" with the line, "Humans, man." Humans indeed.

If Eric Kripke's "The Boys" taught us anything, it's that if "Supernatural" wasn't on a network TV station, Dean Winchester would drop the F-bomb every other sentence. Instead, he has to resort to network-approved language like his patented "Son of a b****," "hell," and worst of all, "friggin'." Yet sometimes, the show sidesteps this red tape. In the documentary-style episode "Ghostfacers," we realize just how much Dean drops curses more substantial than "damn" as he's significantly bleeped throughout the episode.

Similarly, in the Season 1 episode "Scarecrow," Dean is less than thrilled at the prospect of getting sacrificed to a Pagan god by a creepy picturesque town that seems too good to be true. What a diva. When Dean first sees the Scarecrow, he gets around the no-cursing mandate by saying, "Dude, you fugly." Anyone with an imagination can fill in the blanks at what the letter before ugly stands for. 

Yet there's nothing like a scarecrow scorned, because the Pagan god is ready to get its revenge when a once saccharine elderly couple ties up Dean and their own niece to give the god sacrifices in exchange for a year of good crops. Never one to die silently, Dean yells, "Hope your apple pie was friggin' worth it!" But the couple gets some just deserts — or should we say desserts? — when the god kills them instead.

If fans had a dollar every time Dean and Castiel flirted throughout "Supernatural," they might be able to pay for their own '67 Chevy Impala. The two frequently partake in thousand-mile stares and more than a few glances at each other's lips for a not-so-modest amount of time, after all. There's plenty of material to back up the argument that there's something going on between the hunter and the only angel he doesn't want to stab in the face. And if Castiel's love confession toward the end of the series is anything to go by, it's at least substantiated on one end.

So, with all of that subtext between the pair, Dean's line in the Season 5 episode "Point of No Return" packs quite a punch: "Cas, not for nothing, but last person who looked at me like that, I got laid." Of course, he tops off the come-on with a wink. Sure, Dean flirts with just about anything that moves, but how many times can you hit on someone before people take it seriously? But hey, they do share a more profound bond — and Dean has the handprint scar to prove it.

As far as Dean's already established dweebiness goes, he's a little less embarrassed about being a fan of the Dark Knight. After all, even before comic books went from being the top indicator of geek status to a pop culture staple, pretty much everyone lowkey thought Batman was a badass — despite the fact that his bestie is his butler.

In the Season 3 episode "Bad Day at Black Rock," "Supernatural" takes on the myth of the lucky rabbit's foot. Except, in this case, it's actually a cursed object that turns someone's luck very sour (until they die) after they lose the luck charm. (Raise your hand if you horrifyingly discovered that these things are actual rabbit's feet after cutting off the fur in seventh grade.)

When Dean gets his hands on the rabbit's foot, he does a ton of ass-kicking before effortlessly throwing a pen into the barrel of a gun. And how does he celebrate? By lowering his voice a few octaves and growling, "I'm Batman." However, if you listen to his voice in that moment and compare it to Season 15 Dean, 2020 Dean's voice is even lower. Why? Because Jensen Ackles somehow made his voice more gravelly with each passing season. Maybe he is Batman.

Dean spends plenty of time on "Supernatural" trying to convince himself (and everyone else) that he hates sentimental moments. It's pretty transparent for a guy who has all but perfected the art of the sappy goodbye speech. In the "Pilot" episode of the series, Dean and Sam have one of their patented mushy broments, and Dean says, "No chick flick moments." The quote comes up on more than one occasion, and each time, no one actually believes that Dean doesn't look forward to his many heart-to-hearts, even when they primarily happen in moments of impending doom. 

He and Sam also frequently cut sentimental moments when Dean teasingly calls Sam "b****" and Sam responds with "jerk." Hey, no one promised well-adjusted brothers in this show. Yet as the seasons pass by, Dean gets less and less self-conscious about his larger-than-life heart and how much he cares about those around him. Sure, he'll still throw in a quip now and again, but he barely even tries to be convincing. 

That's the case when he has another impending death moment in the Season 11 episode "Alpha and Omega." Dean puts his martyr cap on to take on the role of a human bomb, and after he jokes about wanting Gary Busey to read his eulogy, he tells a distraught Sam, "Come on. You know the drill. No chick flick moments." Finally, Sam calls him out on his love for a good sap fest, firing back, "Yeah, you love chick flicks." And in his time of dying (again), Dean finally admits, "Yeah, you're right," before capping off the moment with a hug. Aww.  

By Season 12 of "Supernatural," the show had already done just about everything. So why not put a supernatural spin on one of the most hated men in human history: Hitler? Cut to the past when, naturally, instead of allowing his heinous master to die, one of the dictator's henchmen preserved Hitler's soul in a pocket watch. As if these deplorable men needed a leg up for their genocidal tendencies, a branch of occult-practicing Nazis declared themselves the Thule Society, waiting for the day they could bring Hitler back from the dead. As far as secret societies go, this one royally sucks.

After the Thules use the blood of Hitler's unknowing ancestor Ellie to bring him back to life, his first charming order is to kill her and feed her to the dogs. Dean is having none of this nonsense on his watch (pun not intended). After Ellie escapes and does a little Nazi hunting of her own, Dean wants to do the honors for the head Nazi douche. Of course, Dean lets Hitler beg like the coward he is before turning the gun on him with a snappy, "Heil this," before it's lights out for Hitler.

A stunned Sam says, "You killed Hitler," and later on, Dean joyously tells a perplexed Jody, "I killed Hitler." The whole storyline was a bold move, but given how much history the series spins, it was only a matter of time. And let's not pretend that watching Dean Winchester take Hitler out with a headshot isn't at all cathartic.

If ever there was a show-defining quote, it would be, "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole." As fans know, this "Pilot" quote is one of the first significant interactions between Dean and Sam following Dean's plea for Sam to help him find their dad. Of course, the moment sets the entire tone of the show: two brothers hitting the road in the Metallicar listening to classic rock tunes. And though Sam expresses his irritation at Dean's cassette tapes, he secretly loves his brother's taste in music. 

From this moment to "Brothers in Arms" playing during Dean's Season 15 funeral and through the Winchesters' "Carry on Wayward Son" reunion in Heaven, classic rock is the heartbeat of the show — through their most joyous and saddest "Supernatural" moments. Beyond setting the musical score, however, the scene also introduces the brothers' bantering dynamic and proclivity toward pranking each other. The only thing that could have improved the quote is if Dean said piehole instead of cakehole.