When discussing the most powerful characters in the history of the hit CW series Supernatural, the talk normally centers on angels, demons, and monsters, with many fans bringing up Dean and Sam Winchester as the two strongest humans on the series. While that might be true, the fact remains that the Winchester brothers are not the only hunters in the Supernatural universe, nor are they even the first of the defenders of Earth. They are part of a long-lineage of hunters that even includes some major real-life names from history.
A hunter is normally a regular human, although there are some supernatural characters who have also taken on the role of hunters over time. Their job is a simple one with a very difficult learning curve. They hunt down supernatural creatures and save people from these creatures. Whether angels, demons, ghosts, monsters, or anything in between, it is a hunter's job to seek out these creatures and eliminate them to help preserve human life.
Most of the time, they do it in the shadows and no one ever knows that they exist. Most of the hunters have experienced a tragic event in their life and set out to make sure that other innocent people never have to experience the losses they suffered. This makes them strong. However, some much more powerful than others.
Here is a look at The 30 Most Powerful Hunters In Supernatural, Officially Ranked.
GWEN CAMPBELL
Gwen Campbell made her first appearance in season 6 when Sam returned from Lucifer's Cage and began hunting with his extended family. This included Gwen, Christian, Johnny, Mark, and his grandfather, Samuel Campbell.
Gwen was a strong hunter. In" Family Matters", it is even said that she reminded Samuel of Mary Winchester, which is a high compliment indeed.
However, she seemed oblivious to Samuel's connection to Crowley and that led to her eventual fall at the hands of an infected Dean, who was later horrified by what he had done. She can't rank higher, as most of her accomplishments were overshadowed by her family.
ASH
Ash showed up for the first time in season 2 and it was easy to dismiss him as a hunter. Even Dean mocked him, saying he was no genius and was just a "Lynyrd Skynyrd roadie." However, Ash proved his genius by creating a demon alert system using John Winchester's research, which won over everyone's trust.
Ash is not a powerful or strong hunter when it comes to physical prowess. However, he is extremely smart. Ash passed away near the end of the season when the Roadhouse burned down. He ended up in Heaven, where he helped the brothers once again in season 5.
EILEEN LEAHY
Eileen Leahy was a legacy-hunter, the granddaughter to a Man of Letters. She lost her parents and her hearing to a Banshee as a child and therefore decided to become a hunter to seek vengeance. Eileen was hunting the Banshee at a retirement village in season 11 when she met the Winchesters.
Even after taking out the Banshee that started her on the road to being a hunter, she told the Winchesters that she was a hunter and would not stop. She was strong, but she fell when she crossed the British Men of Letters in season 12.
DONNA HANSCUM
Donna Hanscum made her first appearance in season 9. However, things really got rolling in season 10 in "Hibbing 911" when she became a sheriff. She learned that monsters were real while working with Jody Mills and then asked Jody to teach her how to become a hunter.
Between then and season 13, Donna became a powerful hunter and eliminated a lot of vampires during her time of fighting monsters. Donna and Jody were going to be the two of the leads on a female-based Supernatural spin-off called Wayward Sisters before it was canceled.
TAMARA
Tamara became a hunter with her husband Isaac after monsters arrived at their house and they lost their daughter. She appeared in season 3 premiere "The Magnificent Seven", as she and Isaac teamed with the Winchester boys to battle demons which were released when Sam and Dean opening the Devil's Gate.
While Isaac didn't want to work with the Winchesters for this reason, the couple was also friends with Bobby Singer, so they ended up teaming up with him.
Tamara proved to be stronger than Isaac, who perished at the hands of Gluttony of the Seven Deadly Sins. She gained vengeance by exorcizing Envy back to Hell.
GARTH FITZGERALD IV
Garth Fitzgerald IV is a hunter who became a close ally and partner to the Winchester brothers. However, his strength as a hunter was always in question. Garth first popped up in season 6 when he called Bobby Singer for help. He then officially made his big debut in season 7 when he helped Dean with a case.
Garth then took a much bigger role in season 8, but by the time things were said and done, he had become a werewolf. The good news is that Garth's pack could control themselves and actually blend in with society. Garth is currently MIA after going into hiding when the British Men of Letters started hunting everyone.
KAIA NIEVES
Kaia Nieves is someone who decided to become a hunter after losing her family as a child. She never knew her father, her mother passed when she was 12, and then her aunt developed cancer, leaving her alone. She also learned that she had powers -- of a Dreamwalker -- which wasn't great, since these abilities sent her to a terrible world whenever she slept.
Despite passing away in season 13, Kaia was one of the hunters who was earmarked for the Supernatural spin-off series Wayward Sisters, although that never came to pass. This was only revealed by a tweet after the episode by writer Bob Berens that read "Kaia lives."
PATIENCE TURNER
Patience Turner is the granddaughter of psychic Missouri Moseley. She thought her grandmother was a fraud until she developed her own psychic abilities as a teenager. After Dean and Jody Mills saved her, she decided that she couldn't handle her visions anymore and ended up going to Jody for help.
Patience was one of the characters who was supposed to star on the Wayward Sisters spin-off series that never ended up taking place. Thanks to her powers as a psychic, Patience was very helpful, as she could foresee dangers and was also strong in a fight.
JODY MILLS
Jody Mills has been one of the Winchester brothers' closest allies for a long time. She is the sheriff of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and she knew Bobby Singer before she ever worked with Dean and Sam. She first appeared in season 5 when a zombie uprising took place in her town.
After losing her husband during an attack by her son, who rose from the grave, she became a hunter. In season 7, Jody started to work more closely with Bobby as he battled the Leviathans. She later helped Sam rescue Dean from the Time God Chronos.
GORDON WALKER
Gordon Walker decided to become a hunter at the age of 18 when he and his sister were attacked by a vampire. He was knocked out and when he came to, both his sister and the vampire were gone, which set him off on a quest for revenege.
After finishing that vampire and putting his sister down since she had turned, he became a cold-blooded hunter who took out all monsters -- both the good and the bad.
Gordon was never allied with Dean and Sam and actually hunted Sam when he learned that he had psychic abilities and thought that he was the Antichrist. Gordon ironically ended up as a vampire, which meant that he needed to eliminate himself. However, he wanted to take Sam out with him.
KRISSY CHAMBERS
Krissy watched a monster tear her mother to pieces when she was a child. After that, she went to live with her father and became a hunter. The problem is that when she met Sam and Dean in season 7, she had never really hunted before, as her father had always protected her.
After her father fell at the hands of a vampire, Krissy returned in season 8 and was much more mature, growing up faster than she needed to. She then helped Dean and Sam with a case before saying that she wanted to try to live a normal life but said that she would never back down from a fight.
MARTIN CREASER
Martin Creaser was a renowned hunter who played an important role in the lives of the Winchester family. He saved John Winchester on many occasions and was a valued ally. However, he quit hunting after an incident in Albuquerque and checked himself into a psychiatric hospital.
He first showed up in season 5 when he called Sam and Dean for help. After they helped each other with a wrath case, Martin didn't show up again until season 8, when he was released from the hospital. However, his mind was beyond repair, which meant that the once-great hunter was now unreliable.
CLAIRE NOVAK
Claire's father was Castiel's vessel Jimmy, a hunter, who first appearred in season 4. After her mother left her and her grandmother passed on, Claire was alone and went through a number of group homes. When she reunited with Castiel in season 10 and watched her mother fall, Claire claimed that she wanted to become a hunter as well.
Claire went to stay with Jody Mills and then secretly became a hunter behind Jody's back. Claire was supposed to be part of the Wayward Sisters spin-off that never ended up materializing.
CHARLIE BRADBURY
Charlie Bradbury quickly became a fan-favorite since she was portrayed by Felicia Day, who has a huge following in the geek world. She first appeared in season 7 as a hacker-turned-hunter when she learned about the Leviathans that ran the corporation that she worked for.
Charlie was also involved in the battle against the Wicked Witch of the West in season 9. While she ended up perishing in season 10, it was not in vain, as she was able to help decipher the Book of the Damned and helped cure Dean of the Mark of Cain.
ELLEN HARVELLE
Ellen Harvelle was a retired hunter when she first appeared in season 2 of Supernatural. She ran Harvelle's Roadhouse, which was a gathering spot for many hunters. In fact, it was the destruction of her Roadhouse that brought her out of retirement and convinced her to start hunting again.
Ellen worked with John in the past and considered him as family. Her husband fell while hunting with John, which made her very protective of her daughter Jo. She eventually sacrificed herself in season 5 while trying to take out Lucifer.
ELIOT NESS
Supernatural has never shied away from bringing in real-life historical figures and turning them into characters on the show. One example was Eliot Ness, who was the Prohibition agent who was famous for his battles with mobster Al Capone.
In Supernatural, he became a hunter after encountering vampires.
Eliot appeared in season 7 when Dean went back in time to 1944 and met Ness. The law enforcement officer became a hunter because he was of the red tape and knew that he could do something right by fighting monsters as a hunter. Ness helped Dean battle Chronos.
ASA FOX
At one time, Asa Fox was considered to be one of the best hunters in existence. He was best known for taking down five wendigos in one night. He also was able to take out Jael in 1997, and therefore had a hugely positive reputation among hunters.
He made his first appearance in season 12 when fans learned that it was Mary Winchester who set Asa on the road to becoming a hunter. Sadly, Asa would fall not to a demon or monster, but during an incident with another hunter named Bucky Sims. Asa's lineage would live on with his twin children, who were also hunters, Alicia and Max Banes.
SAMUEL CAMPBELL
Samuel Campbell is the grandfather of Dean and Sam Winchester and was the hunter who started their lineage. He was Mary Winchester's dad and he fell to Azazel in 1973. He was introduced on Supernatural in season 6, when Dean learned that Sam had been hunting with their family, including Samuel, who had been resurrected by Crowley.
The problem with Samuel is that despite the fact that he was a great hunter and a great leader as well, he was on the side of evil when he was working alongside Sam and Dean at this time.
DANIEL ELKINS
Daniel Elkins is a hunter from Colorado who had been hunting since the '60s. He actually taught John Winchester a lot about hunting monsters, although the two of them went their separate ways on bad terms. He appeared in the first season and was in possession of The Colt at that time.
Sadly, fans on Supernatural didn't get a chance to see much of Elkins because he fell in the episode that he was introduced in. Elkins did return in a time travel episode, and a possible ancestor to Elkins appeared in season 6.
JOHN WINCHESTER
While Supernatural was all about Dean and Sam Winchester, the two brothers owe their entire careers as hunters to their father. John Winchester trained both boys to fight and protect themselves after they lost their mother. They started their mission in the first episode when their dad disappeared.
John's dad Henry was a Men of Letters, while his wife Mary was the daughter of Samuel Campbell, which gave him a lot of experience since childhood as a hunter. John was a great hunter and did what the best hunters do at the end: he sacrificed himself to save others -- in this case, Dean.