| Rawhead | |
|---|---|
| Type | Monsters |
| Lore Origin | English Folklore |
| Seasons | S1 |
| Kill Method | Electricity |
Rawheads are lurking predators that specifically target children, hiding in basements, closets, and other dark, enclosed spaces within homes. They are ambush hunters — they wait in the dark for a child to come within grabbing distance, then snatch them. Relatively little is known about their biology or life cycle compared to more commonly encountered creatures.
In Supernatural
The rawhead appeared in Season 1, Episode 12, "Faith." Sam and Dean tracked a rawhead that had been abducting children from a home. They found it hiding in the basement. Dean killed the creature by electrocuting it with a taser while standing in water, but the electrical discharge also stopped his own heart. Dean was revived but suffered severe heart damage, which drove the episode's main plot — Sam seeking a faith healer to save Dean's life, which led to the discovery of the bound reaper.
Real-World Folklore
The rawhead (also Rawhead and Bloody Bones, or Tommy Rawhead) is a bogeyman figure from English and Appalachian folklore. In British tradition, Rawhead and Bloody Bones was invoked by parents to frighten children into good behavior — "behave or Rawhead will get you." The creature was said to live in dark cupboards under stairs or in ponds, and would drag away naughty children.
The tradition is particularly strong in Yorkshire and Lancashire, with regional variants across England. In some versions, Rawhead is specifically described as a creature with a bare, skinless skull (hence "raw head") and a body of bloody, exposed bones. Supernatural's interpretation is minimal — the creature appears briefly and is dispatched quickly — but the child-snatching behavior and basement-dwelling habitat are faithful to the source material.
Weaknesses
Electricity appears to be the primary weakness. Dean's improvised electrocution method (taser in a flooded basement) was effective but nearly fatal to the hunter as well. Standard firearms are implied to be less effective. Given how briefly the creature appeared in the show, comprehensive weakness data is limited.