Vengeful Spirits
A vengeful spirit is one that acts violently to avenge something a wrong done to them. While they are generally Ghosts, the spirit may belong to someone still alive but close to death, such as Callie in 3.05 Bedtime Stories. This group does not include the spirits of people continuing acts of evil that they perpetrated while alive, like the Hookman Jacob Karns or serial killer Dr. H.H. Holmes, or those acting for their own ends like Maggie Thompson in 2.11 Playthings.
In episode 2.01 In My Time Of Dying, as Dean is unable to return to his comatose body, the reaper Tessa describes how vengeful spirits are created:
Tessa: "Dean. How do you think angry spirits are born? They can't let go and they can't move on. And you're about to become one. The same thing you hunt."2.01
Vengeful Spirits in Supernatural
- Peter Sweeney, in 1.03 Dead in the Water takes revenge on those who drowned him, and their families.
- Mary Worthington, aka Bloody Mary, kills people who have been, or feel, responsible for someone else's death, after her own murderer was never caught.
- Cyrus Dorian's spirit possesses his truck in 1.13 Route 666 and attacks those responsible for his death, and their families.
- Jonah Greely in 2.16 Roadkill takes revenge on drivers.
- Callie in 3.05 Bedtime Stories causes deaths because her father won't accept that she was killed by her step-mother.
- Dirk McGregor in 4.13 After School Special possesses social outcasts and harms popular kids at an Indiana high school. His remains are tied to a school bus, but he is able to move freely by bodily possession.
Dispatching vengeful spirits
- The boys commonly dispatch a spirit by salting and burning its corpse. In the episode Roadkill Sam admits "My dad always said it's like death for spirits. But the truth is, we never know."
- Vengeful spirits may be at rest once they are avenged or heard (i.e. Peter Sweeney and Callie).
- Sam appears to push the spirit of Dirk McGregor out of a high school student by pouring salt into his hand and filling or covering her mouth with it in 4.13 After School Special.
