Robert Steven Singer is a fictional character in The CW Television Network's horror-drama television series Supernatural portrayed by Jim Beaver. Named after the show's executive producer, Bobby first appears in the first season finale "Devil's Trap." Although Beaver believed his role would merely be a "one-shot deal," Bobby has become a recurring character on the series, and is one of three characters who has appeared in every season of the show. The character, a "rough but warmhearted" working-class man who hunts supernatural creatures, has evolved over time into a father figure for series protagonists Sam and Dean Winchester. Critics have responded favorably to the character.
Starting in the season 12 finale "All Along the Watchtower" and carrying over into season 13, an alternate reality version of Bobby is introduced. This Bobby is portrayed as the leader of some of the surviving human population in a post-Apocalyptic world though sharing many of the same traits as his counterpart. This Bobby continues to appear throughout seasons 14 and 15.
In the series finale, the original Bobby returns for a brief cameo appearance after having been missing from the show since the eleventh season.
In The Winchesters, Bobby makes a cameo appearance in the first season finale alongside Dean and Jack.
Fictional biography Salvager and proprietor of Singer Salvage Yard, Bobby Singer was first introduced to the supernatural world when his wife, Karen, became possessed by a demon. As detailed in the third-season episode "Dream a Little Dream of Me", he was uncertain of how to save her, and instead ended up being forced to kill her. Her death prompted him to dedicate his life to hunting supernatural creatures. The later episode "Death's Door" expanded on this by revealing that Bobby's last conversation with his wife was an argument about his reluctance to have children, also revealing that his father was an abusive man whom Bobby shot when he was a child (his mother subsequently telling him that God would punish him for this). Bobby reflected that his father's example left him afraid of becoming an abusive man himself in case he became a parent as bad as his father.
After the death of Mary Winchester, her husband John became a hunter, eventually allying and learning from Bobby. Mistrustful of most hunters, Bobby is one of the few with whom he allows the boys regular contact, allowing Bobby to teach them how to shoot and track while he is off on 'hunting trips'. At times, Bobby defied John's wishes to teach the boys more mundane, normal activities, such as playing catch, so that they could have a break from the intensive training regimen. While John eventually distanced himself from other hunters or fell out of contact with them, notably Ellen Harvelle and Daniel Elkins, he maintained a professional relationship with Bobby.
Bobby makes his debut in the first season finale "Devil's Trap", and is revealed to be an old friend of the Winchester family. Sam and Dean seek his help when John is kidnapped by demons. From his extensive collection of supernatural-related literature and resources, Bobby shows the brothers how to create a devil's trap—mystical symbols capable of rendering a demon powerless—and later assists in the exorcism of the demon possessed Meg Masters. After John's death in the second-season premiere, Bobby allows the brothers to stay at his home to rest up and rebuild the recently crippled Impala. He continues to assist them when they require additional expertise in their hunts, rescuing a demonically-possessed Sam and dealing with a Trickster. In the second-season finale, Bobby helps Dean to locate a missing Sam, but they both watch in horror as he is fatally stabbed in the back. Bobby begs Dean to bury Sam, and is distraught when he learns that Dean has sold his soul to a demon for Sam's resurrection. When the hunters learn of the demon Azazel's plan to open a Devil's Gate—a gateway to Hell—they rush to stop him. The gateway is temporarily opened, releasing hundreds of other demons into the world, before Bobby and Ellen Harvelle close it again.
Bobby assists the Winchesters throughout the third season in their war against the recently escaped demons, starting with helping them defeat the Seven Deadly Sins in the premiere, as well as repairing The Colt so they can make new bullets for it with the help of the demon Ruby in the episode "Sin City". The Winchesters save Bobby's life when he is put into a coma by a teenager using dreamroot to enter the minds of others, but this results in Bela Talbot—a thief who takes supernatural artifacts that the brothers called for help finding the dreamroot—stealing the Colt while they are unconscious. Bobby helps them track down Lilith—a powerful demon who holds the contract to Dean's deal—the night before his contract runs out. However, they are unable to stop her, and Dean is sent to Hell.
When Dean mysteriously returns to life four months later in the fourth season premiere "Lazarus Rising", Bobby at first believes him to be a demon or some other type of supernatural creature. After first attempting to kill Dean and then putting him through numerous tests, Bobby helps him to reunite with his brother. While Sam later sneaks away to secretly hone his new-found demonic abilities, Bobby and Dean perform a ritual to summon whatever creature resurrected him. The being, revealed to be the angel Castiel, incapacitates Bobby before informing Dean that he was saved from Hell because Heaven has work for him to do. The subsequent episode, "Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester", reveals that Dean must stop Lilith from breaking the 66 mystical seals keeping Lucifer imprisoned.
In "The Rapture", Dean discovers that Sam's abilities have been amplified due to a recent addiction to demon blood; he has Bobby lock Sam inside his ghost- and demon-proof panic room—located in Bobby's basement—to recover from his dependence on demon blood. Sam escapes in the subsequent episode, and, faced with the choice of either shooting him or letting him go, Bobby chooses the latter. In the fourth season finale, "Lucifer Rising", Dean is furious that Sam has chosen to side with Ruby—who has been feeding Sam her blood to make him strong enough to kill Lilith—over him. Despite Dean's declaration that if Sam should leave, he should never come back, Sam chooses to go with Ruby. When Bobby learns of the ultimatum, he compares Dean's actions to those of John Winchester—years prior, John made a similar statement to Sam, which prompted him to abandon hunting and alienated him from his family. Although Bobby's words eventually convince Dean to try to reach out to Sam, he is prevented by the angels; they want to start the Apocalypse to bring paradise to the world when Lucifer is defeated, and the death of Lilith is the final seal holding the fallen angel in place. Not knowing this, Sam kills her, thus unleashing Lucifer. Bobby meets up with the brothers in the fifth season premiere "Sympathy for the Devil", to help them research ways to defeat Lucifer. When Sam confesses that he broke the final seal, an angry Bobby tells him to "lose [his] number" when the Apocalypse is over. After Dean comes across a lead on the sword's location, Bobby attacks him and is revealed to be demonically possessed. However, Bobby temporarily retakes control, and stabs himself with Ruby's demon-killing knife. Although the demon dies, Bobby survives, but is left paraplegic by his injury. At the end of the episode, he tells Sam that his earlier comments were made by the demon, and that he could never cut Sam out of his life.
With Castiel's now-weakened powers leaving him unable to heal injuries, being in a wheelchair begins to take its toll on Bobby. When the brothers come across a poker-playing witch in "The Curious Case of Dean Winchester", he sees it as a chance to regain his mobility and wagers 25 years of his lifespan. Although he loses and begins to age rapidly, Sam and Dean manage to restore his lost years. In "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", Bobby's wife suddenly rises from her grave and appears to be completely normal, along with numerous other people buried at the local cemetery, all to their respective houses. Sam and Dean try to convince him to kill her because she is a zombie, but he refuses and orders them to leave. Over time, the other zombies begin to turn evil, and Bobby is forced to kill his wife again to prevent her from changing, too. After all the zombies are dealt with, Bobby reveals that Death orchestrated the situation; because he is one of the reasons why Sam has not yet agreed to be Lucifer's vessel, the Horseman attempted to break Bobby's spirit. Although Dean tries to comfort him by pointing out that he got to see his wife again, Bobby notes that it only made her death a thousand times worse.
The brothers eventually learn that the rings of the Four Horsemen can be used to re imprison Lucifer, and they manage to collect three by the episode "Two Minutes To Midnight". Still in need of Death's ring, Bobby sells his soul to Crowley—a powerful demon who also wants to stop Lucifer—in exchange for the knowledge of the final Horseman's location. Crowley promises to return his soul When the Apocalypse has been prevented, keeping it in the meantime to guarantee his safety from the Winchesters. When the deal has been made, the demon reveals that he added in a secret clause to restore Bobby's mobility. An ecstatic Bobby then joins Sam and Castiel on a mission to stop nation-wide distribution of the Croatoan virus. In the fifth season finale, Sam decides to consent to Lucifer, hoping that he can maintain control long enough to throw himself into Lucifer's prison. However, the fallen angel instantly overwhelms his new vessel, and teleports away with the rings. Bobby and Castiel lose faith in their goal, but Dean convinces them to keep fighting. They learn the location of the destined battleground from the prophet Chuck, and arrive just as Lucifer and Michael prepare to fight. An angry Lucifer kills Bobby and Castiel when they interfere, and then sets his sight onto Dean. Sam is able to reassert control over his body, and uses the rings to imprison himself and Michael. With the Apocalypse over, God resurrects Castiel, who in turn brings Bobby back to life.
The sixth season episode "Weekend At Bobby's" is centered on Bobby; Sam and Dean are largely relegated to a side-plot while the episode focuses on Bobby's constant working to cover other hunters while also trying to reclaim his soul from Crowley. After a year's research into Crowley's human life—including summoning the ghost of Crowley's mortal son for intel—Bobby locates Crowley's physical remains. Bobby is the first human to reverse a demon-deal by threatening to destroy Crowley's remains which would 'kill' Crowley in the same manner as exorcising a ghost; he also presses his advantage to force Crowley into leaving him the use of his legs and the removal of any loopholes from the original contract.
Sam, concerned by reports that the psychological damage his soul will have sustained while being tortured by Lucifer will destroy him if it is restored to his body, attempts to kill Bobby in "Appointment in Samarra" as part of a ritual to prevent his soul returning to him. After Sam's soul is restored, Bobby easily forgives Sam as he recognizes that Sam was not responsible; though, he is awkward around him at first due to his actions. Bobby then collaborates with the Winchesters in tracking down Eve, the mother of all monsters, when she is released from Purgatory by a ritual performed by dragons, even after their first attempt results in Bobby being possessed by a brain-controlling slug Eve has created, as well as in the death of his old friend and mentor, Rufus, in "And Then There Were None".