#castiel is NOT a main character

[gabester-sketch]

The SPN wheel is complete!! Had a lot of fun with this :)

[samisadeangirl]

To reiterate what others have been trying to explain to OP in the comments and reblogs, a series regular is NOT the same thing as a lead (or main or protagonist). SPN had only 2 leads, which were Jared and Jensen, who were in 100% of the episodes and 75% and 78% of the screen time respectively. In addition to the leads, SPN also had 2 series regulars for most of its run, of which Misha was one for most of his tenure there, and there is a clear difference in his appearances--45% of overall episodes and 23% of overall screen time (55% and 28% respectively for S4 onwards), with over half of his appearances being <10 minutes per episode (a quarter of his appearances were <5 minutes per episode).

Misha was also NOT included in all of the SPN promotional material, whether we're talking about promo posters, magazine articles/photo shoots, interviews, industry event appearances, etc., and even for the ones that he was included in, he was never the focus. Whereas J2 did appear in all of those materials and were clearly the focus each time. Misha may have gotten more exposure than the other series regulars (Jim Beaver, Mark Sheppard, Alex Calvert, Mark Pellegrino, Rob Benedict), but that doesn't change the fact that he held the same status as they did and was not on the same level as J2.

In addition, Misha had no effect on anything that truly mattered in the entertainment industry. Castiel's appearances did not cause the ratings to go up in the episodes he was in or go down in those he wasn't--not even for S7, despite what the Hellers claim (in fact, 7.17 The Born-Again Identity had the lowest ratings of the season). The Misha-led Giving Back Tour conventions were a flop despite being significantly cheaper than the regular J2-led conventions, the Castiel calendars sold so poorly that they were given away to get rid of some of the excess stock (and were never produced again), and Misha's Q score, which measures an actor's popularity/name recognition, dropped so low that it wasn't even measured after 2013. Not to mention that TPTB weren't willing to consider a Castiel-based spin-off because they knew Cas/Misha didn't have the draw to support a show of his own.

Lastly, Castiel was never the protagonist for a single major story line--he was most often very clearly a supporting character and occasionally an antagonist in the main story lines and a couple of times was the protagonist in clearly secondary story lines. Not to mention that Cas regularly didn't appear for multiple episodes in a row (and for more than half the season in the case of S7 and S11) without any negative effect on the plot, which wouldn't be possible if he was the protagonist. Whereas Sam and Dean served as the protagonists for every major story line and were the main forces driving the plot forward.

Thus by any standard, Misha was NOT a lead actor, and Castiel was NOT a main character. Sorry not sorry, those are simple facts.

speaking my truth: when the actor is billed as main cast and used in every piece of promotional advertising for 10+ years they are a main character

[cowboylikeyouu]

real footage of me watching spn s4 for the first time and patiently waiting for castiel to show up again because somehow, in all the years i've spent on the internet, no one has ever considered telling me that castiel isn't like a fucking main character in every fucking episode

[strawlessandbraless]

POV: You’re on the set of Supernatural

[mixtpecas]

saileen/destiel - brandy (you're a fine girl)

brandy, you're a fine girl, what a good wife you would be! but my life, my love, and my lady, is the sea

four hunters with commitment issues walk into a bunker...

[thenameisgul]

In 15 seasons Supernatural we had only two female main cast members and that too for only one season. Homophobia may have been SPN’s biggest problem but misogyny was definitely a close second.

[reallyunluckyrunaway]

🐝✨An EleGanT CrEaTuRe✨🐝

[cas-poisoning]

There’s currently a poll going around where about 34% of people voted that Dean WOULN’T kill Cas to save Sam’s life (assuming it’s the only way)… I didn’t want to be mean in the notes but y’all voting no are delusional 😭 another 15% of people are voting other and saying stuff like “it depends on the season”

First of all, early seasons Dean would be 100% instantly on board no matter what. And honestly he wouldn’t even be that sad (maybe guilty, but not that sad). I’m talking like season 4, 5, maybe even 6. Late seasons Dean would be incredibly tortured and devastated but ultimately do it because above all else he NEEDS to protect Sam. That’s one of his defining character traits, and has consistently shown he’d do pretty much anything.

“Oh well Dean would only sacrifice himself he wouldn’t sacrifice anyone else” WRONG! Cas has a martyr complex and would love to die for the winchesters (more specifically, he’d love to die for Dean and he’d love to die for anything Dean needs (aka Sam)). “Always ready to bleed for the Winchesters” Cas would honestly kill himself to save Sam before late seasons Dean even gets the chance to feel conflicted about it. But to keep with the poll and making it about Dean’s choice, assuming Cas doesn’t just kill himself, I think late seasons Deans would be pretty easily convinced by Cas being so willing about it.

I just don’t see a single situation where this is ever a no and not an emphatic, yes Dean would kill Cas to save Sam if it was the only way.

[pollsnatural]

This poll is for people who sometimes want to be haters. If you feel that you won't be able to handle the results without getting upset, please consider not voting, commenting, or reblogging this poll.

[lovealwayssay]

I can't believe that in the year 2024, I spent 20 minutes of my therapy session trying to explain the Destiel confession followed by immediately getting sent to super gay Hell so I could tell my therapist that I received the news that Trump had been shot through that meme.

[inconsequentialliving]

Supernatural would be my comfort show if every episode was done like the first season before the finale. New monster, new characters, every episode. No overarching storyline. Just vibes.

[walk-to-gallows]

I do kinda agree they reduced Castiel characters to being all about Dean tho... That was true.

Castiel’s character has always been about Dean. He was created for Dean, his development was lead by his relationship with Dean, that has been true since his conception.

I don’t know how you could watch 12 seasons of Castiel betraying heaven for Dean, risking himself for Dean, dying for Dean, being fundamentally changed by Dean, and think that he was “reduced” to anything.

This isn’t some obscure subtext, the show is brazenly open about how Dean has affected Castiel. A couple episodes in and Dean is already his weakness, Heaven restricts and monitors him because of his fondness for Dean;

“Castiel…he’s not here, see he has this weakness; he likes you” - Uriel, season 4

“My superiors have begun to question my sympathies…I was getting too close to the humans in my charge. You.” - Castiel, season 4

“I’m hunted, I rebelled, and I did it—all of it—for you” - Castiel, season 5

“When Castiel first laid a hand on you in hell he was lost” - Hester, season 6

“You wrapped yourself in the flag of heaven, but ultimately it was all about saving one human” - Metatron, season 9

“I will cure you of your human weakness, the same way I did my own” -Ishim, season 12

This isn’t just about shipping, Castiel’s loyalty to Dean—and consequently the Winchester’s—is a vital part of his character. His love for others is a human trait he learnt from Dean, and it being highlighted in the later seasons doesn’t take away from his character; it is his character.

Then there's the matter of the underlying themes of S15, which is when Castiel and Dean's relationship is especially important, but that's another word-vomit post waiting to happen.

[samisadeangirl]

Agree with the points raised in the above comments. First and foremost, Castiel is NOT a main character, period. He appeared in <50% of the overall episodes and <25% of the screen time (55% and 28% respectively if counting from S4 onward), was never the protagonist in a main story line, and was regularly missing from multiple episodes at a time (including most of the season for S7 and S11) with no effect on the plot. Cas was at best a major secondary/recurring character and therefore doesn't count for this poll.

Second, even IF we dubiously included Castiel as a protagonist, it's highly debatable that he's queer. It can be argued that angels in general are asexual, non-binary, and/or genderfluid, but that's trying to apply human terms to completely alien beings, since angels are immense wavelengths of celestial intent that have neither gender nor sexuality. Castiel in particular never showed sexual attraction or romantic interest to anyone (except MEG) other than when he'd lost his grace or memories (i.e. wasn't an angel), and in those instances it was only to women or beings in female vessels. The so-called "confession" in 15.18 Despair should be considered platonic since not only did Cas NOT say "I'm in love with you," but also his speech only referenced familial and altruistic love, he'd previously said "I love you" in a clearly familial fashion to Dean (and Sam and Mary) back in S12, and none of his canon interactions with Dean in his entire 12 seasons had been romantic ("interpretation" of supposed "subtext" with shipping goggles on too tight doesn't count). Not to mention that this scene had been orchestrated to allow Misha to pander to and milk his gullible fans, given that Stands (which he owns) started offering "gay angel" merchandise within hours of the episode airing.

Last but certainly not least, neither Sam nor Dean--the actual main characters--are canonically queer. Both have only been shown having romantic or sexual interactions with women, and Dean explicitly stated multiple times that he's only into women/not interested in men. As above, "interpretation" of supposed "subtext" doesn't count, both because 1) that's not how subtext works in show business--subtext is meant to support the main narrative and is obvious enough for the general audience to figure out, NOT to try to tell a completely different story from the main narrative and be so "subtle" that only a small number of obsessed shippers can see it, and 2) SPN has always been blatantly obvious in revealing the sexuality of other queer characters, all of whom either outright stated it or did clearly romantic/sexual actions with someone of the appropriate gender, so it doesn't make sense that TPTB would rely solely on "subtext" to reveal that either Sam or Dean is queer.

Again, fans are welcome to have headcanons regarding characters' sexual orientation (or anything else), but in the actual canon, there is only one answer--SPN does not have any queer protagonists/main characters.

This year, I’m trying to keep track of how many shows I watch where one of the main characters is explicitly LGBT and I’m divided on whether Supernatural should count.

Question: Should Supernatural count as a show with at least one explicitly queer protagonist?

Possible poll options:

- No. I don’t think there’s anything LGBT about Supernatural. (Insane answer)

- No. Even though Cas admits he loves Dean, it’s only in his last episode, and therefore Cas doesn’t count as explicitly queer most of the show, so the show shouldn’t count.

- Yes. Because coming out of the closet doesn’t mean you were straight before, Cas has always been queer, and therefore Supernatural has always (since s4) had queer rep.

- Yes. Throughout the show I considered one or more of the main characters as explicitly queer.

hey anon! just ran a similar poll here that you might be interested in, but i will make this one as well. only including the options anon suggested, but as always feel free to add nuance in the tags :)

[scoobydoodean]

Me writing a post about Cas kind of being a fuck up is not an invitation to talk about him being a lame overused side character who exists to contrast the "insane love" between the brothers in the notes of my posts. Especially after I just slogged through the dumpster fire that is Sam in 4.14-5.05. I would trade Sam to Satan right now for one corn chip. Castiel 4ever.

[myguardianangel-ina-trenchcoat]

Fuck it, gonna say the same over here.

It genuinely baffles me that Supernatural is a comfort show to so many (myself included) when the characters themselves never knew a moment of comfort in their lives. Like? Where's the comfort?? Make it make sense??? How does endless trauma and heartbreak make us feel safe??

[iamthetruestrepairman]

I am a cheetah and Troy and abed are the dogs they put in my enclosure to keep me from going insane