When John Winchester first became a hunter he never imagined what his sons would go on to accomplish. These two young boys were trained from childhood to be warriors, to fight ghosts and monsters. Their destiny was so much bigger: taking on archangels, the Apocalypse, ancient monsters, demons, and even God’s sister, The Darkness.

Although these two appear to be the non-powered humans going up against powerful, unstoppable beings that couldn’t be destroyed, the series slowly reveals that Sam and Dean are hardly normal. To fight these creatures the boys have done unspeakable things that have marked them forever, they’ve sacrificed themselves on a biblical level and have been chosen by God and The Darkness.

Ironically Sam was treated as the ‘special’ Winchester for the first few seasons and, whilst his differences may have been more obvious than Dean’s, it is revealed that Dean is supernaturally special all on his own. Over the years these paranormal differences have only increased.

Sam has been possessed more than any other character on the show, having been possessed by Meg, Gadreel, Lucifer, and Crowley. Whereas Dean has been turned into a variety of different beings including a vampire, ‘Jefferson Starship,’ a Horseman of the Apocalypse, and a Knight of the Underworld.

The Winchesters have inherited many unique traits that separate them from other hunters, let alone other humans. Many of these are shared, but some things are individual and unique to each Winchester.

Let’s take a look at Supernatural: 25 Weird Details About Sam and Dean Winchester’s Anatomy.

BECAUSE IT HAD TO BE YOU

In season five the grand reveal after the long Apocalypse arc is that both the Winchesters are vessels capable of containing archangels. Sam is destined as Lucifer’s vessel and due to Lucifer’s tainted form needs to consume demon blood to him. Dean, however, is the “perfect vessel,” “the Michael Sword.” He is the single most powerful of Heaven’s weapons. Since Dean is the ultimate vessel whatever possesses him will be more powerful in him than in any other body. Three angels have collectively possessed the two men: Lucifer, Gadreel, and Michael (version two).

BETTER THAN MOTHER’S MILK

When Mary signed her agreement with Azazel (the first Prince and current King of Haedes) she gave him license to waltz into Sam’s room and infect him with demon blood when he was six months old. As a result, he has powers associated with the demon, becoming one of many “psychic kids.” He had visions and showed signs of telekinetic abilities. Thanks to Ruby, he discovers he can keep some of those powers (forcefully exorcizing demons) active by consuming demon blood after Azazel perished.

EVEN A HUNTER CAN BE A TWIHARD

Dean is often deeply uncomfortable with monsters, raised his whole life to blindly despise them. He steadily learns the world is considerably more grey than he had believed. Ironically, he is the last person one would expect to be a vampire, but for a single day, Dean was a child of the night. With his skills, he managed to wipe out an entire nest single-handedly, a feat he doesn’t . Using his sire he was able to synthesize a cure and undergo the unpleasant transformation back to humanity. Since then one of Dean’s best friends has been a vampire from Purgatory.

WARDING WORKS

As the series goes on it becomes painfully clear that the two boys were wildly under-prepared for what was to come. After handling a demonic possession at the hands of Meg, Sam and Dean get magical “no demons allowed” tattoos on their chests. They have used hexbags made by Ruby to hide from angels and demons before. It isn’t until Castiel unceremoniously carves Enochian warding into their ribcages that the Winchesters have real protection. The wardings have limitations and there are certain loopholes, but they are an extra layer of defense for mortals fighting gods.

MARKS AND BRANDS

Supernatural is a show that loves to come full circle and embraces parallels. After Sam had his short stint as a demon Dean sees a version of the Apocalypse-ridden future where he is a far darker version of himself in 2014. With the unjust end of Kevin, Dean hits his lowest point and, in an act of desperation and self-destructing guilt, he takes on the Mark of Cain. Now, in the true 2014, Dean is a dark, struggling man driven by a curse that needs to be fed. The Mark is revealed to actually be the “lock and key” for God’s sister, the Darkness, making its potency and power more frightening. Although the Mark has been removed God says it has “tainted” Dean, permanently changing him.

JEFFERSON STARSHIPS

In season six “The Mother of All: Eve” is introduced. She arrived from Purgatory to protect her children, almost every monster walking the face of the earth, and take vengeance on those systematically destroying her family. She begins building the perfect beast, and after some unfortunate “beta testing” she gets the recipe right, creating a creature Dean coins “Jefferson Starships.” Provoked by Dean she bites and infects him too. He had ingested phoenix ash, the only known way to vanquish her. Once she was destroyed Cas cleared up Dean’s transformation before it could take hold.

BRING ON THE PAIN

Both the boys have an extremely high pain tolerance. Aside from their father’s training Dean was on Alistair’s rack for decades, subjected to “Picasso with a razor” who was determined to break him. Sam’s soul was in the Cage with Michael, Lucifer, and Adam for over a year (the time difference in the Cage is never confirmed) being used as entertainment. Both have suffered unimaginable pain in the Pit and thus are unbreakable under regular harm. “I’ve been tortured by the devil himself. You’re just an accent in a pantsuit. What could you do to me?”

QUITE THE TOURIST

Although Sam, Bobby, and Cas have done a fair amount of supernatural dimensional travel into the afterlife, no one has done as much as Dean. He’s been in the Veil multiple times, often to negotiate with Demise. He’s been in the Pit a couple of times, Heaven multiple times, and survived as a human in Purgatory for a year. What really separates Dean from the rest is his visit to Reaper HQ, the “Reading Room.” No one but reapers can ever go there, and from what Tessa mentioned previously, it seems like the ission of reapers to the room, instead of just the Horseman, might be a recent affair.

ONE DOWN

Although the junk food loving, King of Sass Demise himself is missed, it is an undeniable accomplishment that Dean managed to vanquish Demise itself. Although the reaper Billie replaced Demise after she perished, Dean remains the only person to have ever killed a Horseman. He and Sam took the ring of War, Sam used his demon ability to cripple Famine, and Cas defeated Pestilence. The three remaining original Horseman remain incapacitated, although the demon Brady confirms they’re still alive. “They’re withered husks right now… Fetal position on the floor.”

HUNTER AND A HORSEMAN

The man who perishes that much deserves a chance to be Demise for day, as a trial from Death Dean had to act in his place for twenty-four hours. Dean worked in the Veil and reaped four people as Demise, with the assistance of the reaper Tessa. The experience earned Sam back his soul, also giving Dean a “look behind the curtain” and a deeper understanding of the workings of the universe he so constantly disregarded. Both Sam and Dean’s existence disrupts the natural order; therefore “chaos and sadness will follow [them] for the rest of [their lives].”