The Basics: Everyone knows the basic story line about john Winchester. Following the death of his wife Mary, john became a hunter and was obsessed with killing the thing that took Mary away from him. He took his son’s with him whist he hunted various monsters and creatures, teaching them about the dangers along the way. Because he became so engrossed in hunting, he would leave Sam and Dean alone with instructions to ‘shoot first ask domande later’. Because of this his son’s never had a normal life (one of the many reasons why Sam left).

John: So somewhere along the line I stopped being your father. And I became your drill sergeant.

John and Sam: John is portrayed as a tormented soul who is fixated with revenge, and protecting his sons. In one case he wants Sam and dean to be safe, but he also wants to kill this monster, no matter what the cost. This is also the case Sam, he is loyal to his brother, but will do anything to kill the thing that murdered Jessica. John and Sam had never really got on well, they were always fighting. Sam see’s dean as the favoured son the one who always got the ‘extra cookie’. And that he was just the freak, because all he wanted was a normal life. But that was at the beginning, after Jessica’s death Sam became so much like his father, they were both motivated da revenge.

John: I just couldn’t accept the fact that te and me, we’re just different.
Sam: We’re not different, not anymore.

John and Dean: From a young age, dean had witnessed his father’s obsession. And as he was the older of the two sons, he was the one who helped his father through it. Whist John was hunting Dean had the responsibility of looking after himself and his younger brother Sammy. When john came home a wreck from his work, dean was the one who stood up, telling his father that everything would be okay. So, in some ways dean and john swapped roles. John apologises for this in the episode IN MY TIME OF DYEING, saying that he put too much responsibility on dean’s shoulders. And he gave up his one chance to kill the creature and himself, in order to save dean.

John: te know, I put, I put too much on your shoulders, I made te grow up too fast. te took care of Sammy, te took care of me. te did that, and te didn't complain, not once. I just want te to know that I am so proud of you.

My conclusion: John wasn’t the best father in the world, hunting took over his life and when he wasn’t out he was a nervous wreck. But he still cared for Sam and dean; he still wanted them to be sicuro, cassetta di sicurezza più than anything. In devils trap john detto that killing the demon came 1st before anything else. But i don’t think he truly believed it, he wouldn’t have sacrificed himself o the puledro, colt to save dean, if he thought that was true. Dean and Sam are all he’s got and he would walk to hell and back (No pun intended) just to make sure they would be alright. Sure john made a few mistakes, who doesn’t. But whatever he did, he did it for his sons, and that’s all that matters.

John: (to Sam) Can we not fight? te know, half the time we're fighting, I don't know what we're fighting about. We're just butting heads. Sammy, I, I've made some mistakes. But I've always done the best I could. I just don't want to fight anymore, okay?