i think a reason why people find sam boring is because he’s not written with a lot of traits that make him seem more ‘quirky’ or personable, unlike dean. for example, dean likes cowboys and westerns, he’s into outdated pop culture, dean likes to play dress up, dean loves scooby-doo, dean likes to cook, deans really protective of his car, dean likes wearing women’s underwear. dean is given a lot more personal details and information that doesn’t contribute to the show or narrative, where as sam’s unrelated traits are reading, exercising, decently healthy, and researching.
i’m gonna need to think on this some more but i think you’re right. we don’t really know a lot about sam’s interests. and i think that it’s, at least partially, done on purpose. because one of sam’s characteristics is that he’s very closed off. there are details about him that no one but dean knows and even that is a lot of the time a result of them sharing space than sam actually telling him. for example we’ve heard him complaining about dean’s taste in music but we don’t know anything about his. we know he likes listening to podcasts but on what topics?
i also think it’s important to him to keep these things, these parts of him, just to himself. first, because of the utter lack of privacy that came from living in motel rooms he was almost never allowed to be alone in, and later from the repeated violations of his mind and body.
but i also think there are certain personality traits-and these aren’t quirky ones but still-that a large part of fandom chooses to ignore (for reasons i will never understand). he does have a lot of anger, and he can be stubborn, bullheaded even. he lets his emotions get the better of him and doesn’t always think things through. he is bitchy and sometimes judgemental. he also really likes to make fun of dean and annoy him for little brother reasons. and while dean does see him as endlessly kind and good-hearted (in s1-mid s3 at least) that’s not actually him. sam’s vengeful and he can be cruel when he wants to be. he’s single-minded and it helps him get shit done and see some things clearly but also tends to blind him to others.
he does look up to dean, still, in some ways even if he wishes he didn’t. he wants to be normal but there’s a part of him that absolutely loves hunting, loves the rush, the chase, the mystery, the lore. but he’s also so scared of being evil. and he’s scared of being a freak, cut-off from human society even though he’s very antisocial. he doesn’t really interact that much with other people but he wants the access (for lack of a better word) should he choose to.
and all these are characteristics that by themselves might seem very “negative” (which is why i think certain fans don’t want to acknowledge them) but combined with all of sam’s other “positive” character traits make him a very layered and interesting character. and also very human, which is something i always appreciate in any character but apparently the current trend is to not, unfortunately.
there’s so much to sam’s character but it all unfortunately gets buried under smoothie-drinking vegetable-eating lawboy (which, just to be clear, isn’t bad. but it’s far from all he is)
Alright, so.
Sam Winchester is incredibly private, but also? The show follows Dean's perspective to the extent we will watch him sneak behind a building to privately punch out a wall or collapse in tears. Even when it's implied well that he's hurting, we as an audience follow simply to witness how deep the wound goes. We see him dorky by himself for no reason. On Winchester downtime, we see him hang with Castiel, Krissy, Claire, Crowley, Charlie, Bobby, Jo, Ellen, much more than Sam. Dean can be funny, heartbreaking, enraged, cruel, and so very vulnerable on the regular as Mr. Tough Guy may recommend bottling emotions... but he sure keeps that bottle on his sleeve.
Unless plot-relevant, similar Sam moments are hidden from us and suggested through the times he ultimately shatters --or, delightfully, the rare instance an episode calls for a Moose detour. Just Your Imagination, anyone? Marshmallow nachos? I mean, what. And yeah, so very lonely, not only excluded from the world, but the third wheel in his very own family. If we take that a step further, ~lonely~ as an outlier of humanity, arguably a branch-off entirely into something not quite natural. The last of his ~species as a special child. To ignore Sam's soul or, uh, blood-deep difference is to miss something foundational about him as a character imo. There is a caged creature beneath his skin that he is constantly warring with himself to drown.
Sam bottles his emotions with remarkable success after their father's passing ( lbr, those two were PURE PASSION in scenes, amazing, beautiful ) and subsequent unsavory discoveries about his being. Where Dean lashes out, Mr. Totally Normal -concerned about his confirmed difference/evil/darkness- lashes inwards, and he becomes quite accustomed to taking the blame for things beyond his control. In him is a gentle brokenness. Notice how often he befriends the misunderstood or outcast, how much easier it is for him to comprehend doing wrong for a good reason and forgive even those that have done him wrong. None of this is particularly ~quirky~ ; it's actually heartbreaking and, er, a bummer? Tough for people to hop on the Sammy-train without sensing a deep ache.
I do wish we learned more of his quirks besides coulrophobia (does this count as a quirk?? poor guy) and his weirdo love for true crime. Also wanted more time with his faith. It was so pure and innocent, and the scene Sam meets Castiel? Phew. Again, more sadness drenches the fact his faith derived greatly from his need to belong to something greater and not be whatever he is. In the end, that, too, ends up tainted by his very existence. Everything about his life is just faintly tinged sad and suffocating. Everything, from his quirks to his joys to his self worth, is restrained by what he views as necessity.
Okay. I thought I was done, but apparently not. I DO want to point out the creature I mentioned, that he often drowns, is very much alive and electric. When someone(thing) threatens his family or has, in fact, harmed someone he cares for? Hoo'boy, there's a sure chance he may backslide into bloodthirst mode. He is easily the scarier Winchester when push comes to shove, mhmmm. If that's boring to someone, I dunno what to say.
