full name: william anthony harvelle.
nickname/s: bill, billy by john winchester.
alias: none.
name meaning: a timeless classic with english roots that date back almost a thousand years. it means resolute protector or strong-willed warrior and comes from wilhelm.
date of birth: december 22, 1963.
age: presently 61, but age is dependent on verse/season/etc.
place of birth: somewhere around central, ne, united states.
gender: cismale.
pronouns: he & his.
sexual orientation: pansexual.
occupation: hunter.
former occupation/s: former owner of harvelle’s roadhouse before he was possessed. it had burnt down by time he managed to escape. former farmer throughout his younger years. it wasn’t necessarily an official title, but bill grew up on the harvelle family farm and everybody played their role. no slacking.
education: highschool, barely graduated given that his family was murdered a year prior, but he knew they wouldn’t want him to drop out on a revenge mission.
living arrangements: once upon a time, bill lived happily ever after with his beautiful wife and daughter, feet firmly under the table. he would only ever leave to go on a hunt and as jo got older, that got less frequent, not wanting to miss everything. unfortunately, in more recent days, he doesn’t settle much anywhere, having come home to a burnt down roadhouse and all his family dead. mostly lives on the road, sleeping in his car or motels.
face claim: andrew lincoln.
hair: a little wild, a little overgrown. it’s dark with untameable waves, though more salt than pepper these days, grey showing through.
eye colour: a brilliant blue, permanently tinged with sadness or trauma. sometimes both.
height: six foot.
tattoos: his most recent is an anti-possession tattoo on his upper right arm, which definitely came years too late. it’s fresh and does nothing to change what’s already happened, but hopefully it’ll prevent history repeating itself. older tattoos prior to his possession include a skull that stretches out over left hand, his wedding anniversary in wedding numerals on the right side of his neck and, believe it or not, a funny little cartoon-style skeleton that john winchester himself doodled on bill’s right inner arm. it became a permanent tattoo after he lost a bet to his friend. thanks, johnny.
scars: several that come from hunting and some that came from being fucking possessed for what felt like several lifetimes. his most prominent are; a bullet wound in his skull from beloved john winchester (upon bill’s request) that’s hidden by hair, scratch marks on his chest where he used to attempt to fight against the possession and physically claw the hellspawn out of him with no success, and a stab wound in his neck (around his tattoo) from where he finally gained enough control to lodge a knife coated in demon blood there.
piercings: none.
signature scent: tree bark, wood pine, scotch, sea salt, smoke from a fire pit, old leather, dusty clothing.
species: human again after being possessed by hellspawn for a long ass time. i don’t think the show ever really confirmed what hellspawn is, so thankfully that means i can make this up as i go. to me, they are some kind of creature bred specifically in hell. seen as lower beings, filth, the runts of the litter, because what can they actually do? but once they escape and sink their claws into someone, they’re a goddamn pest to cast out because that’s what they are; pests. pests created by in the worst corner of hell, specifically spawned from the evil acts committed by damned souls. without a body, they’re nothing, but once attached? they’re pure evil incarnate.
main weapon: bill carries a particular smith & wesson gun that he has used ever since he first started hunting in his early years. this was given to him by his father, who was also a retired hunter. when he died, john winchester buried it with bill’s body. it stayed here until bill went back.
secondary weapon: a knife he once borrowed ( stole ) from john winchester. it isn’t his favourite because it means he has to get closer than he likes, but bill is what some call an old-fashioned hunter, which means a lot of his weapons are also old-fashioned. he tends to reach for a classic rather than any kind of modernised weapon.
combat skills: here’s the thing about bill! i cast andrew lincoln for a reason and that reason is that one scene where king rick grimes rips a dude’s throat fully out with just his teeth. that right there is how bill fights. he might not necessarily be the strongest or the most skilled fighter. he certainly hasn’t had any combat training, but he will do anything he needs to do to survive, including going for the jugular. there’s a reason john referred to him as a "damn good hunter".
mother: theodora harvelle nee port, deceased.
father: abraham "abe" harvelle, deceased.
siblings: beth harvelle, deceased. edward harvelle, deceased.
kids: joanna beth harvelle, deceased (dependent on verse).
significant other: ellen harvelle, wife, deceased (dependent on verse).
extended family: john winchester, best friend and hunting partner on occasion.
bill was raised on a family-run farm after his father retired from hunting to settle down. bill doesn’t know the full reason why his father got into hunting. that part of his story was never shared with him, but he does know why he got out … he met a girl. when abe and theodora decided they wanted children, they knew they didn’t want to raise them in a dark world. they turned their backs on the supernatural, buying a farm to raise their children on. the eldest of three, bill was their first bundle of joy. from a very young age, he remembers waking up before sunrise to help his parents with the chores, not only learning the importance of hard work from them, but also the strong family values that he instilled into his own life when he became a father him.
abraham still taught bill about hunting and the supernatural. it was too dangerous not to. just because he left hunting, that didn’t mean there stopped being things to hunt. abe could never forget about the world he was once embroiled in and it felt important to ensure his children didn’t remain oblivious, needing them to be prepared and ready to defend themselves should they ever need to. upon theodora’s request, he waited until bill was eleven before starting to share stories, tips, knowledge. whatever he felt was necessary. though he didn’t want to actively encourage bill to follow in his footsteps, he did want him to be able to fight back should he ever have to.
bill lost his family and the farm when his father burnt it down while possessed by a demon … with them inside. a hunter can leave the game, but does the game ever really leave them? past grudges don’t dissipate, especially not when demons are involved. after recognising the elder man as a hunter who once took something from them, a demon chose to commit an act of revenge. catching abe off guard, they possessed him. and then they set fire to everything he owned, with everyone he loved inside. the only survivor was a seventeen year old bill, who had snuck out the window to go to a party that evening. with the world unaware of the truth, abraham harvelle was branded a mass murderer, the world believing he had committed this awful act. bill spent several weeks hospitalized in a psychiatric unit after trying to tell everybody the truth. no one believed him. why would they? they just thought the grief had driven him mad.
bill went straight into hunting after graduation. it wasn’t necessarily an obsession to find the demon who possessed his father. he just didn’t know where else to go. no home, no family. no reputation. people turned their backs, wanting little to do with the son of a murderer. hunting became a coping mechanism. a way to keep a part of abe harvelle alive. he might never be able to clear the harvelle name, but he could put some respect back on it. after graduating highschool, he slipped easily into the role, using everything abe taught him growing up and setting out on a journey to learn more. eventually, he did find the son of a bitch responsible with john winchester’s help and together, they righted a wrong by sending them back to hell. from that point, bill swore anything johnny needed, he’d be there. night or day, call. he’ll answer.
the truth behind bill’s presumed death and subsequent possession. it happened so fast. hunt gone wrong and suddenly, there’s hellspawn biting at his skin, forcing its way in. all bill could think about in that moment was ellen & jo, and what this monster might do to them, just like his father all those years ago. he pleaded with john to end it. "don’t let that happen to them, please," and john respected those pleas, shooting his friend dead. he even buried him. a proper hunter’s funeral. ― but the hellspawn was already rooted too deep. unbeknown to everyone, it healed bill’s body. brought him back to life. from that point, he was no longer william anthony harvelle. the hellspawn was in charge. all bill could do was watch helplessly from the inside as the pest took control. they did terrible things and yet, no matter how hard bill tried, he couldn’t overpower them. it’s hard to put a number on how long they were in control, but bill knows it was a long time. weeks turned to months, months to a year. nobody searched for them. why would they? they all thought he was dead. the things he witnessed went beyond any horrors he’d ever seen as a hunter and what was worse, was it was his own hands committing such sin.
bill escaped by finally fighting back against the hellspawn. it wasn’t easy, but overtime, bit by bit, he began to find the stretch to regain control. to fight back against his possession. it took a long time. longer than he cares to admit, but after clawing ( sometimes literally ) and tearing at his own flesh, he finally managed to open the door long enough to stab himself in the neck with a demon-blood coated blade. he thought that would be the end. game over. bill didn’t care if he didn’t survive, as long as he took the hellspawn down with him. however, with the demon gone, his body passed out from the wound and a passerby found him. bill remained in a comatose state for seven weeks; a john doe to every doctor and nurse who treated him, until one day.. he woke up. after finding out everything he’d missed, he sometimes wishes he hadn’t.
