Supernatural’s Multiverse Fully Explained

While there have been many worlds featured in the fantasy show, Supernatural first confirmed the existence of its multiverse in its later seasons. Since season 1, there have been some big changes in Supernatural to keep the show fresh and entertaining, with villains scaling up each season to deliver a bigger finale, and storylines expanding into unknown territories and organizations like the British Men of Letters. Additionally, there have also been many proposed Supernatural spinoff shows, some of which have been rejected, like the much-anticipated Wayward Sisters, and others that have succeeded in their conception, such as The Winchesters.

Yet, the most major change to Supernatural is the creation of its multiverse, as numerous worlds have been explored and brought together, especially in the later seasons. Supernatural’s multiverse offers different parallel timelines from the show’s and strange worlds of mythical creatures throughout its 15-season run, and The Winchesters continues this tradition as it is also an alternate reality from Supernatural’s. These alternate worlds offer interesting “what if?” concepts to demonstrate the importance of certain plot elements, although sometimes they might simply be gags. Therefore, with multiple universes interacting with each other, the multiverse in Supernatural can get rather confusing.

How Supernatural’s Multiverse Was Created & Is It Still There?

Supernatural First Became A Multiverse In Season 6

Supernatural’s multiverse was created by Chuck over time, so there is no specific known date when it came into fruition. However, the first alternate universe seen in the show is Supernatural’s season 6, episode 15, “The French Mistake,” in which Sam and Dean are transported to a world where their lives are the plot of a TV show, played by actors Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins, and Jensen Ackles. This episode is one of the most memorable and defining moments in Supernatural, not only because of its humor, but because it marks the first time the Winchesters encounter an alternate world.

The War for Creation is the name of the conflict between God and Team Free Will involving God’s destruction of the multiverse in season 15. Many Archangels took part on different sides, and God destroyed billions of worlds, yet ultimately, Team Free Will won when Jack absorbed God’s powers.

Chuck acknowledges the multiverse in the War for Creation, specifically in “Galaxy Brain,” as he talks to a Radio Shed employee on Earth-2 about the different worlds he has created, showcasing them on TV screens. Chuck decides that he needs to destroy “All the other worlds, alternate realities, the subplots… the failed spin-offs…” to focus on his favorite universe – the Main Universe of Supernatural. However, in The Winchesters, it is revealed via cameos that the Supernatural multiverse has been restored by Jack, following his succession as God, meaning that by the end of both shows, the multiverse is alive again.

How Supernatural Characters Can Travel From One Universe To Another

There Are A Few Ways To Travel Between Worlds

There are a few ways that characters have traveled between Supernatural’s universes, as sometimes they have crossed over by accident. In “The French Mistake,” the Winchesters were sent to the Alternate Earth by Balthazar’s ritual and became trapped due to that universe’s lack of magic, although the Archangel Raphael was somehow able to retrieve them from the Main Universe. Other than Balthazar’s ritual, the main method of transporting between universes tends to be via portals or rifts. The second alternate reality, Apocalypse World, was accessed this way and was introduced with Crowley’s death and Mark Sheppard’s departure from Supernatural.

Other portals in
Supernatural
lead to realms as opposed to other universes – there are portals to Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory.

Multiple rifts have featured in Supernatural, and they have been shown to vary in appearance; most rifts seen are singular gold strands that hover slightly off the ground, but there was one that looked like a larger pinkish-purple crack on the ceiling, and Dean was thrown into one in The Winchesters that was a stereotypical-looking blue circular portal. Rifts are often created via rituals, like from the Angel and Demon Tablets, or via innate power – Jack Kline’s birth created the Apocalypse World rift due to his Nephilim powers. However, God (Jack and Chuck) can travel to different universes at will.

Some rifts can even draw people, or whole objects (such as Alternate Sam and Dean’s Fiat 500), into them.

Although rifts can be crossed both ways, Supernatural characters can become trapped in another universe due to a displaced or closed rift, such as when Sam and Dean were stuck in The Bad Place, or Jack and Mary in Apocalypse World. Furthermore, rift locations can change each time they open, as the Apocalypse World rift moved from a desert to a snowy forest, and The Bad Place moved its exit from a cargo ship to a park in Sioux Falls. Alternatively, some rifts can even draw people, or whole objects (such as Alternate Sam and Dean’s Fiat 500), into them.

Which Universes Have Appeared In Supernatural & The Winchesters

Supernatural Has Countless Universes But Some Aren’t Seen

Supernatural has had many encounters with alternate universes and The Winchesters continued the multiverse tradition, yet some have only been mentioned in the shows. There are 11 total universes that have appeared in Supernatural and The Winchesters, although two of them are not technically seen. The universes range from the amusing cartoon crossover episode in the Scoobynatural universe to the terrifying unknown supernatural monster universe of The Bad Place, providing new characters and situations for Supernatural’s Team Free Will to interact with. The Winchesters itself is even an alternate universe to Supernatural, as John hunts monsters sooner than originally presented.

*Universes that are not technically seen, but the rift is and characters still appear in the show from that universe.

Out of the 11 universes, 2 of them are not actually seen: Yokoth and Glythur’s World and HunterCorp World. However, Yokoth was summoned to the Main Universe by a rogue Man of Letters and the rift can be seen with Glythur’s tentacles protruding from it, therefore, it does technically make an appearance. HunterCorp World has a similar situation as Alternate Sam and Dean Winchester appear in Supernatural season 15 and describe their world, but the world itself is not seen. Due to their prominence in the plot, they are a part of the list of universes that appear in Supernatural.

Conversely, there is a Supernatural theory that claims that The Winchesters is the HunterCorp Universe. There is potential for John and Mary to create a new hunting company following the events of The Winchesters finale, as Dean gives them John’s journal and they have more knowledge at a younger age than in Supernatural. If they did, Sam and Dean would be born into a life of luxury and develop into the Alternate Sam and Dean seen in Supernatural’s “Destiny’s Child.” Therefore, the Monster Club Universe and the HunterCorp Universe could be the same universe, but this is just a theory.

Which Supernatural Characters Exist Outside Of The Multiverse?

Only The Most Powerful Characters Are Capable

There are only a few characters who exist outside of the Supernatural multiverse. Before creation, there was the Empty, ruled by a mysterious being called the Shadow. When God and the Darkness came into being, Chuck created multiple worlds and universes which Amara tried to destroy until Chuck locked her away. Therefore, the Empty predates the existence of both God and the Darkness, as well as the multiverse, making the Shadow one of the most powerful beings in Supernatural. The Shadow, God, and the Darkness are all able to exist outside of the multiverse as they all predate its creation.

The Empty only became the afterlife for Angels and Demons as God had not provided a place, meaning beings from other universes may rest there, as they also don’t have an afterlife.

As only one version of the Empty appears in Supernatural, it was presumed to be like Heaven and Hell – a separate realm within the Main Universe. However, other universes were confirmed to have their own realms too, due to the existence of Alternate Michael and other Archangels. Furthermore, the Empty only became the afterlife for Angels and Demons as God had not provided a place, meaning beings from other universes may rest there, as they also don’t have an afterlife. Therefore, it can be assumed that the Empty (and the Shadow) exists in a place outside of the multiverse.

Arguably, the Akrida may also exist outside the Supernatural multiverse. The Winchesters revealed that God created the Akrida to wipe everything out should he fail, which is why Dean caught onto their existence. The Akrida cannot be killed by anything from The Winchesters’ universe, hence why Dean Winchester’s Impala from Supernatural’s universe kills them, most likely because God made them impervious to anything in the universe the Akrida were attacking. The Akrida’s homeworld is never shown, however, it would make sense to locate the Akrida outside the multiverse so that they can destroy the Supernatural universes without affecting their own.