List of Stranger Things characters

The Duffer Brothers and the cast of season 2 of Stranger Things at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con International

Stranger Things is an American science fiction horror television series created for Netflix by the Duffer Brothers, set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s. The first season, set in November 1983, focuses on the investigation into the disappearance of a young boy named Will Byers amid supernatural events occurring around the town, including the appearance of a girl with telekinetic abilities who helps Will's friends in their search. The second season (Stranger Things 2) is set a year after the last, and deals with the characters' attempts to return to normal and deal with the consequences of the first season's events. The second season adds new characters Max Mayfield, her violent stepbrother Billy Hargrove, and Joyce's new love interest Bob Newby. The third season (Stranger Things 3) is set in the summer of 1985 and shows the young friends maturing into teenagers and navigating new life challenges, all while a new threat looms over the town. The fourth season (Stranger Things 4) is set in the spring of 1986 and follows the characters after they have been separated at the end of Stranger Things 3. Season 4 adds new characters like Eddie Munson, Argyle, and Vecna. The first season was released on Netflix on July 15, 2016; the second season of nine episodes was released on October 27, 2017; and the third season of eight episodes was released on July 4, 2019. the fourth season was split into two volumes, with volume one with seven episodes released on May 27, 2022, and volume two with two episodes released on July 1, 2022.

The series features an ensemble cast including Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono and Matthew Modine. Noah Schnapp and Joe Keery had recurring roles in the first season before being promoted to the main cast for the second, with Sadie Sink, Dacre Montgomery, Sean Astin, and Paul Reiser also joining. Maya Hawke joined the cast in the third season, and Priah Ferguson was promoted to the main cast. Brett Gelman had recurring roles in the second and third seasons, before being promoted to the main cast in the fourth. Joseph Quinn, Eduardo Franco and Jamie Campbell Bower joined the main cast for the fourth season.

This list includes the series' main cast, all guest stars deemed to have had recurring roles throughout the series, and any other guest who is otherwise notable.

Overview

Main cast

Character	Portrayed by	Seasons
		1	2	3	4
Joyce Byers	Winona Ryder	Main
Jim Hopper	David Harbour	Main
Mike Wheeler	Finn Wolfhard	Main
Eleven / Jane Hopper	Millie Bobby Brown	Main
Dustin Henderson	Gaten Matarazzo	Main
Lucas Sinclair	Caleb McLaughlin	Main
Nancy Wheeler	Natalia Dyer	Main
Jonathan Byers	Charlie Heaton	Main
Karen Wheeler	Cara Buono	Main			Also starring
Martin Brenner	Matthew Modine	Main	Recurring	Does not appear	Main
Will Byers	Noah Schnapp	Recurring	Main
Max Mayfield	Sadie Sink	Does not appear	Main
Steve Harrington	Joe Keery	Recurring	Main
Billy Hargrove	Dacre Montgomery	Does not appear	Main		Guest
Bob Newby	Sean Astin	Does not appear	Main	Guest	Does not appear
Sam Owens	Paul Reiser	Does not appear	Main	Guest	Main
Robin Buckley	Maya Hawke	Does not appear		Main
Erica Sinclair	Priah Ferguson	Does not appear	Recurring	Main
Murray Bauman	Brett Gelman	Does not appear	Recurring		Main
Vecna / One / Henry Creel	Jamie Campbell Bower	Does not appear			Also starring
Argyle	Eduardo Franco	Does not appear			Also starring
Eddie Munson	Joseph Quinn	Does not appear			Also starring

Recurring cast

Character	Portrayed by	Seasons
		1	2	3	4
Ted Wheeler	Joe Chrest	Recurring
Calvin Powell	Rob Morgan	Recurring		Guest	Recurring
Lonnie Byers	Ross Partridge	Recurring	Does not appear
Barbara "Barb" Holland	Shannon Purser	Recurring	Guest	Does not appear
Phil Callahan	John Paul Reynolds	Recurring		Guest	Recurring
Demogorgon	Mark Steger	Recurring	Does not appear
Connie Frazier	Catherine Dyer	Recurring	Does not appear
Scott Clarke	Randy Havens	Recurring		Guest	Does not appear
Lead Agent	Tobias Jelinek	Recurring	Does not appear
James Dante	Cade Jones	Recurring	Does not appear
Holly Wheeler	Anniston Price & Tinsley Price	Recurring
Florence	Susan Shalhoub Larkin	Recurring		Guest	Does not appear
Troy Walsh	Peyton Wich	Recurring	Does not appear
Tommy Hagan	Chester Rushing	Recurring		Does not appear
Carol Perkins	Chelsea Talmadge	Recurring		Does not appear
Kali / Eight	Linnea Berthelsen	Does not appear	Recurring	Does not appear
Claudia Henderson	Catherine Curtin	Guest	Recurring	Guest	Recurring
Terry Ives	Aimee Mullins	Guest	Recurring	Does not appear	Guest
Bruce	Jake Busey	Does not appear		Recurring	Does not appear
Grigori	Andrey Ivchenko	Does not appear		Recurring	Does not appear
Tom Holloway	Michael Park	Does not appear		Recurring	Does not appear
Heather Holloway	Francesca Reale	Does not appear		Recurring	Does not appear
Alexei	Alec Utgoff	Does not appear		Recurring	Does not appear
Mayor Larry Kline	Cary Elwes	Does not appear		Recurring	Does not appear
Doris Driscoll	Peggy Miley	Does not appear		Recurring	Does not appear
Jason Carver	Mason Dye	Does not appear			Recurring
Vickie	Amybeth McNulty	Does not appear			Recurring
Angela	Elodie Grace Orkin	Does not appear			Recurring
Ten	Christian Ganiere	Does not appear			Recurring
Two	Tristan Spohn	Does not appear			Recurring
Patrick McKinney	Myles Truitt	Does not appear			Recurring
Dmitri "Enzo" Antonov	Tom Wlaschiha	Does not appear			Recurring
Andy	Clayton Johnson	Does not appear			Recurring
Susan Hargrove	Jennifer Marshall	Does not appear	Guest	Does not appear	Recurring
Lt. Colonel Sullivan	Sherman Augustus	Does not appear			Recurring
Melnikov	Vaidotas Martinaitis	Does not appear			Recurring
Wayne Munson	Joel Stoffer	Does not appear			Recurring
Agent Stinson	Paris Benjamin	Does not appear			Recurring
Yuri Ismaylov	Nikola Đuričko	Does not appear			Recurring
Oleg	Pasha Lychnikoff	Does not appear			Recurring
Ivan	Nikolai Nikolaeff	Does not appear			Recurring

Main characters

Joyce Byers

Main article: Joyce Byers

Joyce Byers (portrayed by Winona Ryder) is the mother of Jonathan and Will and is divorced from their father Lonnie Byers. Joyce is a very caring and strong-willed woman who works as a retail clerk at Melvald's General Store in downtown Hawkins. She was born and raised in Hawkins and she attended Hawkins High School with Hopper and Bob.

In season three, she is planning to sell her house and move out of Hawkins, much to Hopper’s dismay who tries to convince her to go on a date with him. Even though she does have feelings for him, Joyce tries to avoid getting into another relationship. She is mainly more interested in figuring out why the magnets in her house keep falling off her fridge and while investigating the reason behind this, she and Hopper uncover a Russian conspiracy. After infiltrating a Russian lab beneath the new Starcourt Mall, where the Russians have opened another portal into the Upside Down, Joyce is forced to close the portal by turning off the Russian machine used to open it with Hopper in the room, and Hopper ends up being presumably dead. Joyce becomes a mother figure to Eleven after taking her in when Hopper supposedly died. The Byers family and Eleven move to California three months after Hopper's supposed death.

Joyce has a stay-at-home job and receives a package from Russia carrying a doll, which has a note inside that reveals Hopper is alive. She and Murray call the number on the note and contact "Enzo", a prison guard that Hopper has bribed, who demands $40,000 in exchange for Hopper's freedom. Joyce obtains the money and flies to Alaska with Murray, where they meet Yuri Ismaylov, a Russian smuggler and pilot that smuggles American goods into the Russian prison camp. Realizing the profit that can be made, Yuri Ismaylov drugs Joyce and Murray and flies them to Russia. En route, Joyce and Murray knock out Yuri and crash in the wilderness. They force Yuri to take them to the prison camp, where Murray impersonates Yuri, while Joyce and Yuri act as hostages. The two witness Hopper fight the Demogorgon, but Joyce manages to rescue him and reunites with him.

Jim Hopper

Main article: Jim Hopper (Stranger Things)

James "Jim" Hopper (portrayed by David Harbour), nicknamed "Hop", is the Hawkins chief of police. Hopper has lived in Hawkins nearly all his life, having attended high school with Joyce and Bob. Hopper divorced after his young daughter Sarah died of cancer, which caused him to lapse into alcoholism. Eventually, he grows to be more responsible, saving Will from the Demogorgon as well as taking Eleven in as his adopted daughter.

In season three, he tries to break up Mike and Eleven since their relationship is moving too fast for him while trying to win over Joyce romantically. Through Joyce, he gets involved in an investigation regarding the supernatural, and they uncover a Russian conspiracy. He is seemingly killed in an explosion under the mall caused by a Russian machine used to open a portal to the Upside Down. In a teaser trailer for season four ("From Russia, with love..." - released on February 14th, 2020), he is shown alive in Russia.

Having survived the mall explosion, Hopper is captured by Russians and is taken to a prison camp in Kamchatka, where he and other prisoners work on constructing a railroad track. While there, Hopper bribes a prison guard named Dmitri Antonov and works with him to escape the prison camp. Hopper manages to escape to a nearby town, but he is recaptured. After Antonov is revealed to be a corrupt guard, both he and Hopper are imprisoned together. During a feast, Hopper realizes he and the other prisoners are being plumped to be easy prey for an upcoming battle with the Demogorgon. He lights his weapon on fire, holding the Demogorgon away long enough for Joyce to lead Hopper to safety. Hopper and Joyce reunite and finally profess their romantic feelings for one another. Hopper, Joyce, Murray, Antonov and Yuri discover a number of creatures from the Upside Down being studied in the prison. Realizing their children are in danger, they work together to kill the creatures, weakening the Upside Down's power and giving the kids an advantage in their fight against Vecna. Hopper and Joyce then return to Hawkins, and Hopper reunites with Eleven. However, the Upside Down begins to engulf Hawkins.

Mike Wheeler

Main article: Mike Wheeler (Stranger Things)

Michael "Mike" Wheeler (portrayed by Finn Wolfhard) is the son of Karen and Ted Wheeler, younger brother of Nancy and older brother of Holly, and is friends with Lucas, Dustin and Will. Mike is an intelligent and conscientious student who is committed to Lucas, Dustin and Will. In their Dungeons and Dragons party, Mike is their Paladin and usually plays the role of Dungeon Master. He develops feelings for Eleven after taking her in and helping her escape the bad men. Eleven also helps him and his friends find Will. At the end of season one, Mike asks Eleven to the snow ball and they share a kiss. However, the demogorgan appears and Eleven says her goodbyes to Mike as she seemingly dies killing the demogorgon.

In season two, he feels upset at the fact that Eleven is gone. He calls her every night hoping she will one day return. He grows irritated with the party and has a rocky relationship with Max at first. Will reveals his apparent flashbacks to the Upside Down to Mike and he accompanies Joyce, Bob and Will to the lab when Will's health deteriorates. When Eleven reappears, he is grateful that they do not have to fight the battle without her but angry at Hopper for keeping her hidden for the past year. Mike is key on getting Will’s memory back to tell the group to close the gate. Before Eleven leaves to close the gate, Mike tells her he can’t lose her again and she promises him that he won’t. A month after Eleven closes the gate, the two attend the Snow Ball together and share a kiss.

The next summer, the two are dating, but Hopper manages to separate them because they are spending too much time together. When Eleven and Max realize Mike has been lying about his grandmother being sick she eventually breaks up with Mike. However, the two reconcile at the hospital waiting for Nancy. While Eleven tries to find Billy, Mike expresses concern that everyone is careless with Eleven‘s powers and confesses that he loves Eleven. He tries to project his feelings to her after she gets bitten but struggles to find the right words. On the day that Eleven and the Byers family move away, Mike promises Eleven that he will keep in contact and schedules visits at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Eleven then tells Mike that she loves him and kisses him before she leaves Hawkins with the Byers family.

During spring break, Mike travels to California to visit Eleven and witnesses her being bullied by a girl named Angela. Mike has a conversation with Eleven, wondering why she never told him. He tells her she is a superhero and that the bullies are nobodies. However, she fears mike doesn’t love her anymore. Mike tells her that is not true. After Eleven is taken by Owens to a facility that will help her regain her powers, Mike, Will, and Jonathan are placed under house arrest under the supervision of Owens' agents to prevent Eleven's location from being leaked. Armed soldiers attack the house, so the three flee with the help of Jonathan's stoner friend, Argyle. Using a pen provided by Owens' injured agent, they discover the telephone number of the NINA Project and enlist the help of Dustin's girlfriend Suzie in Salt Lake City. They begin their search for El, once they find her they begin to look for a place where they can help people in Hawkins from where they were at the moment. Argyle has the idea to go to a local Surfer Boys Pizza and they begin. While they are at Surfer Boys Pizza, Mike begins to tell Eleven his true feelings after she says she misses him, until Argyle interrupts and has them try pineapple pizza. After they get the tub ready for Eleven to get in with enough water and salt, they begin. Eleven gets into the water and starts her journey on saving her friends in Hawkins who are currently trying to take Vecna down. While Eleven struggles against Vecna during the battle to save Max, Mike professes his love for her, stating that he has loved her since the day he saw her proving once and for all she will always be his superhero and he will always love her. She uses Mike’s love as a way to gain the upper hand on Vecna.

Eleven

Main article: Eleven (Stranger Things)

Eleven (portrayed by Millie Bobby Brown), is a telekinetic girl who is the sole match for the creatures of the Upside Down and Hopper's adoptive daughter. She was raised, as well as experimented on, inside the Hawkins Lab due to her abilities. After her escape at the beginning of season one, Eleven is befriended by Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, who believe she can help them in finding Will. In the kids' Dungeons and Dragons party, she is the Mage. She spends the majority of the first season hiding and running from the "bad men", meaning the lab workers. In the season one finale, she presumably dies after fighting the Demogorgon, in which she actually survived and got stuck in the Upside Down.

In season two, following the events of the season one finale, Eleven is shown to escape the Upside Down through a gate in a hallway in Hawkins High School. Hopper then became a father figure to Eleven, though he hides her from Mike, Lucas and Dustin for her safety. Feeling isolated, she temporarily flees Hawkins in search of her biological mother, Terry Ives and also ends up in Chicago where she meets a girl named Kali (subject 008) and her group. Despite going through a journey of self-discovery, Eleven ultimately returns to Hawkins and closes the gate to the Upside Down under the lab. Hopper legally adopts her as his daughter.

In season three, she is dating Mike, much to Hopper's chagrin, while being pursued by the newly freed Mind Flayer. She loses her powers as well as Hopper at the end of the season and moves with the Byers family to Lenora Hills, California.

Eleven begins going to school and struggles with the loss of her powers, as well as being bullied by a girl named Angela alongside all her friends. When Mike comes to visit, Eleven pretends she has many friends to please Mike, but she is humiliated at a roller rink and strikes Angela in the face with a roller skate in retaliation. She is taken into police custody, but Dr. Owens intercepts her arrest and takes her with him. He explains that Hawkins is in danger and has been working in a program that may be able to bring back Eleven's powers. Eleven agrees to participate, risking that she may never see her friends ever again. Eleven is taken to a facility in Nevada and discovers that Dr. Brenner is still alive.

Eleven is placed into a sensory deprivation tank (dubbed NINA) and relives her repressed memories of her time at Hawkins lab. Eleven attempts to escape the facility but discovers her powers are slowly returning, convincing her to stay. She discovers she was often ostracized by the other children in the lab, but a kindly orderly watched over and gave her advice on how to control her powers. The orderly, who is in fact subject 001 in Brenner's experiments, manipulated Eleven into removing an implant in his neck that suppressed his powers, then went on to massacre the rest of the children and staff in the lab. 001 revealed himself to be Henry Creel, who killed his mother and sister in the 1950s and got his father arrested for it. Henry attempted to kill Eleven after she refused to help him eradicate humanity, but Eleven overpowered Henry and sent him into the Upside Down (where he became Vecna). The exertion of fighting Henry put Eleven in a coma that erased most of her memories and sullied her powers, which Brenner spent the subsequent years trying to restore (while using Eleven to search for Henry).

Eleven learns that Henry has resurfaced in Hawkins as Vecna - endangering her friends - and resolves to return there with Owens' help, but Brenner prevents her from leaving. The compound is soon stormed by U.S. Army forces led by Lt. Col. Jack Sullivan, who believes Eleven responsible for Vecna's murders, but Eleven eliminates them while Brenner is shot. Eleven refuses to forgive Brenner for his actions as he dies. Mike, Will, Jonathan and Argyle locate the NINA project and recover Eleven, then build a makeshift isolation tank (at the pizzeria where Argyle works) that will allow her to telepathically fight Vecna. Eleven enters Max's mind as Vecna is possessing her and manages to overpower him (while his physical form is apparently killed by Steve, Nancy and Robin), but Vecna manages to kill Max. Eleven is able to revive her, but she is left comatose and severely injured. Two days later, Eleven reunites with Hopper (who has returned from captivity in Russia), but she and the others notice the Upside Down beginning to infiltrate Hawkins.

Dustin Henderson

Dustin Henderson (portrayed by Gaten Matarazzo), only child of Claudia Henderson, is a friend of Mike, Will, and Lucas, is a goofy and quick-witted boy whose cleidocranial dysplasia causes him to lisp. In the Dungeons and Dragons party, Dustin is the Bard and has arguably the most extensive knowledge of the game, particularly the monsters. He has a crush on Nancy, and while both he and Lucas have feelings for Max in season two, Lucas and Max ultimately end up together. He also befriends Steve, who gives him advice on how to make girls like him.

Prior to season three, Dustin spends a month at a science camp and, thanks to Steve's advice, is able to get a girlfriend, Suzie, whom he claims is a genius and is "hotter than Phoebe Cates." His friends are skeptical as to whether or not she actually exists as he is unable to get in contact with her over his makeshift radio tower, "Cerebro". Dustin instead discovers the coded Russian transmission and, along with Steve, Robin, and Erica, ventures into the Russian's underground lair. He later proves Suzie's existence when he contacts her for Planck's constant in the season finale.

Now in high school, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas join a Dungeons & Dragon's club named "The Hellfire Club", led by the eccentric Eddie Munson. After Chrissy Cunningham is killed by an unknown entity, Dustin dubs the entity as "Vecna". Dustin and his group meet at the Creel House and discover flickering lights, which they use to trace Vecna's movements in the Upside Down. After discovering a gate to the Upside Down in Lovers' Lake, Steve, Eddie, Nancy, and Robin go through it while Dustin, Lucas, and Max return to the Wheeler's home, where they are questioned by police. Using a Lite-Brite, Dustin and his group contact the group in the Upside Down and inform them that Vecna has created a gate at each scene where he has murdered. The Upside Down group goes to Chrissy's death site and crosses over to the earthy plane with Dustin's help.

After coming up with a plan and making weapons, Dustin, Steve, Nancy, Robin and Eddie go back to the Upside Down to kill Vecna. Dustin and Eddie successfully distract the demo-bats away from Steve, Nancy and Robin, but become trapped in Eddie’s trailer. Protecting Dustin, Eddie exits the trailer and lures the bats away from the trailer. While fighting them, Eddie is mortally wounded. Dustin comforts Eddie as he dies. 2 days later, upon seeing Eddie’s uncle Wayne putting up a missing poster for Eddie, Dustin informs him of Eddie’s death, calling him a hero.

Lucas Sinclair

Lucas Charles Sinclair (portrayed by Caleb McLaughlin), oldest child of Sue and Charles Sinclair, older brother to Erica, and is a friend of Mike, Will and Dustin. Lucas is wary of Eleven at first, but befriends her later.

In season two, he becomes a love interest for Max. In their Dungeons and Dragons party, Lucas is the ranger. He is very skilled with the use of a slingshot, which the party calls "The Wrist Rocket"; in the first two seasons, the slingshot is used for comedic effect as a hopeless last-minute defense, but in the third season, is used to save the team from danger.

In high school, Lucas joins the Hellfire Club and the basketball team but struggles to make time for both clubs. He chooses to attend the basketball team's championship game instead of the end of Eddie's campaign, and he scores the winning buzzer-beater, which Dustin and Mike fail to witness. The team has an after-party at Benny's Burgers, where they are informed of Chrissy's death by the police. The team's captain, Jason, believes Eddie killed Chrissy and leads the team on a hunt for him. When Dustin's name is mentioned, Lucas realizes he is in danger and abandons the team to inform him. At the cemetery, He, along with Dustin and Steve help Max escape Vecna and comforts her after she escapes. While the rest venture into the Upside Down, Lucas, Dustin, and Max return to the Wheeler home and use a Lite-Brite to communicate with the group in the Upside Down. He helps Dustin rescue them at Chrissy's murder site at Eddie's trailer.

Nancy Wheeler

Main article: Nancy Wheeler

Nancy Wheeler (portrayed by Natalia Dyer) is the oldest daughter of Karen and Ted Wheeler and the older sister of Mike and Holly. Nancy is something of an outcast at school until Steve Harrington takes an interest in her.

Their relationship lasts until the ending of season two when she starts dating Jonathan after a little help from Murray. She is very proficient with firearms, despite a noticeable lack of training or practice. She has been seen using pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns.

In the third season, Nancy and Jonathan work as interns at the Hawkins Post, where Nancy is subject to sexist harassment from her male superiors. She and Jonathan are eventually fired for pursuing a story against their editor's wishes, but Nancy continues to investigate the case, which leads her to multiple encounters with the Flayed being controlled by the Mind Flayer from the Upside Down through Billy.

In season four, Nancy begins working as an editor at her school paper alongside her coworker Fred Benson. When Chrissy is murdered by Vecna, Nancy and Fred investigate her crime scene, where Nancy questions Max's neighbor and learns of Victor Creel, a man who murdered his family and was incarcerated at Pennhurst Asylum. When Fred is killed by Vecna, Nancy reunites with the gang and is informed of Vecna. Nancy and Robin go to the library to look up information on Creel, where they learn he blamed his family's murders on a demon, which they believe to be Vecna. The two visit Creel at Pennhurst, where he relives his memories of his family's murders. Nancy, Steve, Robin, and Eddie dive into the Upside Down and go to Chrissy's murder site, where they return to the Earthly Realm by going through a gate. However, Nancy is put into a trance by Vecna and learns he is actually Henry Creel, Victor Creel's son who actually killed his family and framed their deaths on his father.

Nancy is tormented by Vecna, who tells her to warn Eleven of his plan to destroy Hawkins and take over the world. She is freed from Vecna’s spell and tells the group at Hawkins of what Vecna showed her. Nancy then plans to use Max as bait in order to kill Vecna, who would be distracted and left vulnerable using his powers to go after Max. Nancy takes the group to buy weapons, where she comes across Jason. He tries to intimidate her to no avail. Then, Nancy, along with Steve, Robin, Eddie and Dustin, reenter the Upside Down. As Nancy, Steve and Robin enter the Upside Down version of the old Creel house where Vecna is, they are incapacitated by the Upside Down’s vines that Vecna controls, learning from Max’s memories of their plan. Eventually, the trio are freed and set Vecna on fire before shooting him several times. He falls out of a window, but they discover that Vecna is nowhere to be found. Two days later, Nancy is reunited with Jonathan and assists in repairing Hopper’s old cabin, before discovering, along with Mike, El, Will, Jonathan, Joyce and Hopper, a large gate releasing the Upside Down’s smoke and dust into the atmosphere in Hawkins.

Jonathan Byers

Jonathan Byers (portrayed by Charlie Heaton) is the older brother of Will and the oldest son of Joyce. He is shy and reserved, and is considered an outsider at Hawkins High. He is an aspiring photographer, and very close with his mother and brother.

Jonathan starts dating Nancy at the end of season two. They both become interns at the Hawkins Post in season three, but are eventually fired by their editor for pursuing a story. He helps his friends defeat the Mind Flayer before he and his family decide to move to Lenora Hills, California.

In the fourth season, Jonathan makes a new friend named Argyle, with whom he smokes marijuana and hides it from Joyce. After he, Will, and Mike are placed under house arrest, Jonathan asks Argyle to rescue them from Owens' agents, who were assigned to watch them. When armed soldiers attack them, Argyle leads them to safety. Jonathan, who planned to attend college with Nancy, reveals to Argyle that he was accepted to a community college in Lenora Hills. After gaining the number of NINA, they seek the help of Suzie who resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. Suzie locates NINA's coordinates, and the group arrives there while Eleven is facing off against the U.S. Army's troops. Jonathan helps the group build an isolation tank for Eleven to fight Vecna, and later returns to Hawkins only to find it being infiltrated by the Upside Down.

Karen Wheeler

Karen Wheeler (portrayed by Cara Buono) is the mother of Nancy, Mike and Holly and wife of Ted. She is a loving mother who remains largely clueless about her children's activities.

At the end of the second season and the beginning of the third, she develops a sexual attraction towards Billy Hargrove, partly out of boredom with her family, but ultimately decides against acting on these feelings. She encourages her daughter, Nancy to continue pursuing the story she was fired for working on against her editor's orders.

Martin Brenner

Dr. Martin Brenner (portrayed by Matthew Modine), referred to as "Papa" by Eleven and the other children he experimented on, is the head scientist of Hawkins Laboratory and the experiments performed there. He is a callous and manipulative scientist, having abducted Eleven from her mother, Terry Ives, whom he later subjected to electroshock therapy to destroy the woman's mind and thoughts. Brenner then put Eleven through numerous experiments, one of which saw her use her abilities to accidentally establish a link to the Upside Down. After Eleven escapes the lab, Brenner and his team hunt for her throughout Hawkins while covering up the actions of the Demogorgon they unknowingly let loose. Brenner is apparently killed by the Demogorgon in the first-season finale, though a former worker named Ray claimed Brenner was still alive during his attempt to plea for his life to Eleven and Kali.

In season four, Brenner is revealed to still be alive and working with Dr. Owens on a project called "NINA", which they hope can restore Eleven's powers. NINA is a specialized sensory deprivation tank that allows Eleven to vividly recall memories of her time in Hawkins Lab. Flashbacks to 1979 show that Brenner was experimenting on at least thirteen children alongside Eleven until all of them except for her were murdered by subject 001 (Henry Creel), whom Eleven overpowered and banished to the Upside Down. The exertion put Eleven in a coma that erased most of her memories and weakened her powers, which Brenner began attempting to restore. Brenner's experiments on Eleven throughout the first season are revealed to have been attempts to locate Henry, whose powers he sought to replicate in the other children.

The NINA project ultimately succeeds in restoring Eleven's powers, but U.S. Army troops led by Lt. Col. Jack Sullivan storm the facility and kill the staff, believing Eleven to be responsible for a string of murders in Hawkins (which were in fact committed by Henry). Brenner is shot by a sniper while attempting to escape with Eleven, who overpowers the Army. As Brenner dies, Eleven refuses his pleas to forgive him for the way he treated her.

Will Byers

Main article: Will Byers

William "Will" Byers (portrayed by Noah Schnapp), the younger brother of Jonathan and the youngest son of Joyce, is a shy, kind, and often timid boy. In the group's Dungeons and Dragons party, Will is the Cleric, but later occasionally plays the role of Dungeon Master; he is referred to as "Will the Wise". In season one, he vanishes somewhere near "Mirkwood" after encountering the monster that escaped through a rift to the "Upside Down", an alternate dimension discovered by the Hawkins Laboratory scientists. Schnapp was promoted to series regular for the second season, after recurring in the first.

In season two, he began to experience flashbacks to his time in the Upisde-Down, with visions of a large shadow monster trying to attack him. The monster eventually possessed Will, and was later dubbed by Dustin as "The Mind Flayer". Joyce, Mike, Jonathon, and Nancy were able to drive the Mind Flayer out of Will, returning him to normal.

In season three, his friends' preoccupations with their girlfriends lead to Will feeling like the odd-man-out. His link to the Mind Flayer helps the group know when it is active. At the end of the season, he moves out of Hawkins with Joyce, Jonathan and Eleven.

In season four, Will begins painting for an unknown person, while witnessing Eleven being bullied by Angela. After confronting Mike over their relationship, the two witness Eleven strike Angela in the face in retaliation. After they are placed under house arrest by Owens' agents, they are rescued by Argyle. After finding the number to NINA, they seek the help of Dustin's girlfriend Suzie in Salt Lake City, who helps them track down its coordinates in Nevada. The group recovers Eleven and help her build an isolation tank through which she can fight Vecna. Along the way, Will shows Mike his painting - depicting the Dungeons & Dragons party together - and falsely claims Eleven had him create it in order to mask his own unrequited feelings for Mike. Jonathan later comforts Will. Upon returning to Hawkins, which has been ravaged by a series of faults opened by Vecna from the Upside Down, Will begins feeling the Upside Down's influence again - recognizing Vecna as the presence he felt all along.

Max Mayfield

Maxine "Max" Mayfield (portrayed by Sadie Sink) is Susan Hargrove's biological daughter, Billy's younger stepsister, an avid skateboarder, and the tomboy of the group who catches the attention of Lucas when it becomes known that she has the highest score in Dig Dug. While she never played Dungeons and Dragons, she calls herself the "zoomer" of the party, despite Mike's insistence that the term is made-up. She claims that the role of the "zoomer" is to transport the group from place to place. In the second season, while she is driving a car very proficiently, she says to Mike, "See? Zoomer." Max is often shown at odds with Billy.

In season three, she and Lucas are dating after supposed multiple breakups. Eleven approaches her to seek advice when she suspects that Mike is lying to her and Max convinces her that Mike might have done that to play along with his friends. Max helps Eleven in exploring the outside world, making them close friends. She is also shown to be a fan of Wonder Woman.

In season four, Max struggles with the death of Billy and frequently attends the counselor's office due to her PTSD symptoms. She witnesses Eddie and Chrissy go into his trailer together, and later sees him flee. After learning of Chrissy's death, she tells this information to Dustin, so they track down one of Eddie's friends to learn Eddie's location. After recalling Chrissy attended the counselor's office before her death, she breaks into the school and finds her file, as well as Fred Benson’s. She learns that both Chrissy and Fred suffered PTSD symptoms similar to hers, realizing that she is next on Vecna's hit list. She writes letters to her family and reads Billy's at his grave. She is put into a trance by Vecna, but Lucas, Steve, and Dustin learn from Nancy and Robin that music can help her escape Vecna, and play her favorite song, saving her from Vecna. After Eddie, Nancy, Steve, and Robin dive into the Upside Down, Max and the rest return to the Wheeler residence and communicate with the Upside Down gang using a Lite-Brite. They go to Eddie's trailer and rescue them from the Upside Down. Vecna nearly kills Max again, but Eleven saves her at the last second. However, she succumbs to her injuries and dies briefly, though Eleven resurrects her, though Max remains comatose.

Steve Harrington

Main article: Steve Harrington

Steve Harrington or Steve "The Hair" Harrington (portrayed by Joe Keery) is a popular student at school. He tries to develop a relationship with Nancy and bullies Jonathan, though he comes to regret this.

Keery was promoted to series regular from the second season onwards, after recurring in the first. Steve then played a more prominent role, developing a brotherly relationship with Dustin, and becoming a caretaker figure for the main group of kids. Steve is the owner of what the friends call "the bat", a baseball bat with multiple large nails driven into the head of it, made by Jonathan to fight the Demogorgon. Steve uses the bat to fight off a pack of adolescent Demogorgons that attack Hawkins in the second season.

In season three, Steve works at Starcourt Mall at Scoops Ahoy with Robin Buckley, with whom he becomes infatuated, only to learn that she is a lesbian. He, Robin, Dustin and Erica discover a secret Russian base under Starcourt Mall, where he is later imprisoned by the Russians alongside Robin. He later takes Robin, Dustin and Erica up to where Dustin assembled a radio tower to contact his girlfriend Suzie. After hearing that another party is stuck at Starcourt, he and Robin go there and save the Party from a Flayed Billy Hargrove. Three months later, he and Robin get jobs at the local video store.

In season four, Steve continues working with Robin at the local video store and grows jealous of Dustin's relationship with Eddie. He is also shown to have lingering feelings for Nancy. The team locates a gate to the Upside Down beneath Lover's Lake, and Steve dives down to inspect it, only to be dragged through the gate and swarmed by bat-like creatures. Nancy, Robin, and Eddie rescue him. Although injured, Steve follows them to Nancy's house, where they figure out a way to use an old Lite-Brite to communicate with the group in Hawkins. They go to Eddie's trailer where they find another gate, but Steve witnesses Nancy go into a trance induced by Vecna. Nancy is released from her possession after being shown a vision of interdimensional rifts tearing through Hawkins. Steve returns to the Upside Down with Nancy and Robin to kill Vecna, and the three succeed in severely maiming him with Molotov cocktails before he escapes. Vecna's plan nonetheless succeeds, and Steve, Robin and Dustin help volunteer to help townsfolk affected by the "earthquake".

Billy Hargrove

William "Billy" Hargrove (portrayed by Dacre Montgomery) is the careless, rash, and verbally abusive stepbrother of Max. His own behavior is revealed to be a consequence of the physical abuse he himself suffers from his father. He often sleeps with bored housewives.

In season three, he becomes the main host for the Mind Flayer. Nearing the season three finale, Eleven tries to understand Billy, but Billy senses Eleven and gets transported to Billy's memories in California, where Billy and Max originally lived before moving to Hawkins. Flashbacks reveal that Billy had a close and loving relationship with his mother, but she left when he was young due to his father's abuse, explaining his comfort around older women. Eleven reminds Billy of his mother, allowing him to break free from the possession and sacrifice himself to save Eleven from the Mind Flayer. After the Mind Flayer is defeated, Billy apologizes to Max for all his wrongdoings as he dies in Max's arms.

In season four, Billy appears as a hallucination when Max is put into a trance by Vecna, where Billy blames her for his death.

Bob Newby

Bob Newby (portrayed by Sean Astin) is a former classmate of Joyce and Hopper, who runs the Hawkins Radio Shack, and becomes Joyce's boyfriend in season two, putting him at odds with Hopper. While he, Hopper, an unconscious Will, Mike, Joyce, and Owens were trapped in Hawkins Lab with the power out, he volunteered to reset the breakers and unlock the doors. After succeeding, he was attacked, killed, and eaten by Demo-Dogs in front of Joyce. His legacy lived on after Season Three, with Joyce still mourning his loss.

Sam Owens

Dr. Sam Owens (portrayed by Paul Reiser) is a United States Department of Energy executive who replaces Brenner at Hawkins Laboratory. Owens is as committed to science research and stubborn as his predecessor, but much more empathetic to the residents of Hawkins Lab. Owens is in charge of studying and treating Will's lingering traumatic episodes from the Upside Down. He is fired from the lab at the end of season two after it is attacked by monsters at the Upside Down, and provides Hopper with a birth certificate for Eleven naming her Hopper's adopted daughter.

In season three, Hopper tries to contact him to send backup and he briefly appears in the season finale where he discovers the Russian lab used to open the gate to the Upside Down and tries to help them.

In season four, Owens has secretly begun working with Brenner on a program called "NINA" that may be able to bring back Eleven's powers. Owens recruits Eleven to participate in the program after a string of murders in Hawkins; she is initially revolted after learning of Brenner's involvement, but the brief resurgence of her powers during an escape attempt convinces her to stay. The project ultimately succeeds in restoring Eleven's powers, but U.S. Army forces led by Lt. Col. Jack Sullivan storm the facility, believing Eleven to be responsible for the Hawkins murders. Sullivan attempts to force Eleven's whereabouts out of Owens, but Eleven destroys the Army's vehicles.

Robin Buckley

Robin Buckley (portrayed by Maya Hawke) is an "alternative" girl, introduced in the third season, who works alongside Steve at the Starcourt Mall's ice cream parlor, "Scoops Ahoy!". She is sarcastic and bored with her job, fluent in English, Spanish, French and Italian, and teases Steve about his inability to flirt with girls. Robin decodes a Russian radio message and finds the base along with Steve, Dustin, and Erica. While stating she was obsessed with Steve in high school, the influence of truth serum reveals that she actually pined for the attention of one of Steve's many admirers, Tammy Thompson, revealing she is a lesbian.

In season four, Robin continues working with Steve at the local video store, while developing a crush on a fellow school band member named Vickie. After locating Eddie, Nancy and Robin go to the library and look up information on Creel, learning that Creel blamed his family's murders on a demon, which they believe to be Vecna. The two visit Creel at Pennhurst Asylum, where he recounts his family's murders. After Steve is dragged into the Upside Down, Robin, Nancy, and Eddie follow. After communicating with Dustin's group across dimensions, they are saved from the Upside Down in Eddie's trailer. Nancy is possessed by Vecna, who shows her a vision of his plans to destroy Hawkins before releasing her. Robin accompanies Steve and Nancy back into the Upside Down to kill Vecna; they succeed in severely maiming him with Molotov cocktails, but he manages to escape, while a series of rifts tear through Hawkins and claim many lives. Two days later, Robin, Steve and Dustin volunteer to help affected townsfolk, and Robin grows close to Vickie.

Erica Sinclair

Erica Sinclair (portrayed by Priah Ferguson) is Sue and Charles Sinclair's youngest child and is Lucas' younger sister. Introduced in the second season as a recurring character, she was promoted to series regular in the third season. She aids Dustin, Steve, and Robin in infiltrating the Russian base beneath Starcourt Mall. During these events, Dustin convinces Erica that, like himself and his friends, she is a nerd and that she should embrace that. At the end of the third season, she is given Will's Dungeons & Dragons manuals. She is very snarky, foul-mouthed, sassy and often thinks of Lucas and his friends as nerds, though she can also be nice at times. In season four, she has embraced her nerdy side and joins the Hawkins High School's Hellfire Club after demonstrating proficient knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons.

Murray Bauman

Murray Bauman (portrayed by Brett Gelman) is a private investigator and conspiracy theorist hired to investigate Barbara Holland's disappearance. First introduced in season two, he assists Nancy and Jonathan in their mission to shut down Hawkins National Laboratory. In season three, he helps Joyce and Hopper infiltrate the secret underground base in Starcourt Mall, where the Soviets had been building a machine capable of opening a gate to the Upside Down. He is also shown to be fluent in Russian. In season 4, he and Joyce travel to Kamchatka to rescue Hopper from imprisonment.

Vecna

Vecna (portrayed by Jamie Campbell Bower as an adult and Raphael Luce as a child) is a murderous being from the Upside Down, who first appears in season four. He preys on individuals reeling from past traumas, and his method of killing involves inducing nightmarish visions in his victims before telekinetically breaking their bones and imploding their eyeballs. He operates out of the Creel House in the Upside Down. He is also the main antagonist of the series, being responsible for the events that terrorized Hawkins in the previous seasons.

Vecna is revealed to be Henry Creel, Victor Creel's son who was born with telepathic abilities. Henry grew up with a deeply misanthropic view of humanity after being ostracized throughout his childhood. He came to resent his family for their perceived hypocrisy, having learned that his father mistakenly bombed the home of an innocent family during World War II. In the 1950s, he terrorized and murdered his mother and sister in his family's house using his powers, but the exertion put him in a coma while his father was arrested for the murders and placed in a psychiatric institution. Henry was placed in the care of Dr. Brenner, who made him test subject One in his attempts to replicate his powers in other children. As an adult, Henry was made an orderly at Hawkins Lab to help oversee Brenner's experiments on a number of superpowered children including Eleven. Brenner placed an implant (dubbed "Soteria") in Henry's neck that suppressed his powers. In 1979, Henry befriended Eleven amidst her ostracism by the other children, and pointed out to her that she and the rest of the lab's occupants were prisoners. Sympathizing with Henry's plight after witnessing him being punished by Brenner, Eleven destroyed the Soteria implant, restoring his powers. Henry massacred all the other children and most of the lab's staff and attempted to kill Eleven after she refused to help him eradicate the rest of humanity. Eleven overpowered Henry and sent him into the Upside Down, where he became disfigured by lightning injuries and prolonged exposure to its toxic environment. Henry discovered various creatures residing in the realm, and used his powers to puppeteer them, the Mind Flayer being one of his creations.

In 1986, after spending several years remaining dormant and growing stronger while controlling the Upside Down, Henry begins terrorizing Hawkins himself, murdering several Hawkins High School students including Chrissy Cunningham, Fred Benson and Patrick McKinney. Dustin and Eddie dub him "Vecna" based on his similarities to the Dungeons & Dragons character of the same name. Vecna nearly kills Max until her friends find a way to break his influence using music. He later possesses Nancy, reveals to her his past, and then shows her a vision of the future where Hawkins is torn apart by rifts before releasing her. Nancy and her friends deduce that Vecna needs to open four gates to the Upside Down to enact his plan, three of which have been spawned at the site of each of his murders. Max attempts to bait Vecna while her friends travel to the Upside Down to kill him. Eleven enters Max's mind and confronts Vecna, who reveals himself as the mastermind behind the Upside Down's past attacks on Hawkins. Vecna possesses and kills Max before Eleven overpowers him, while Steve, Nancy and Robin severely injure his physical form before he escapes. Though Eleven revives Max, her brief death opens a fourth gate to the Upside Down, releasing rifts that tear through Hawkins, allowing the Upside Down to begin infiltrating the town.

Argyle

Argyle (portrayed by Eduardo Franco) is Jonathan's stoner friend in California who works as a pizza delivery driver. Argyle drives Jonathan, Will, and Mike away from U.S. Army soldiers who attack their home in search of Eleven, and goes on to join the boys in their own attempt to find her. During their travels, they seek help from Dustin's long-distance girlfriend Suzie in Salt Lake City, and Argyle falls in love with the hacker's older sister, Eden.

Eddie Munson

Edward "Eddie" Munson (portrayed by Joseph Quinn) is an eccentric Hawkins High School student and president of Hawkins High's Dungeons & Dragons-themed "Hellfire Club", where he befriends Mike and Dustin. Eddie is older than most of his fellow students, as he was forced to remain in high school for several additional years after failing to pass the classes necessary to graduate. He lives in a trailer with his uncle, and is a fan of medieval fantasy and heavy metal music.

While selling drugs to Chrissy Cunningham, Eddie watches as Vecna telepathically kills Chrissy. Realizing that the authorities will not believe his story, Eddie goes on the run and is later located by Dustin, Steve, Max, and Robin, who explain to him the existence of the Upside Down. The local police name Eddie as their chief suspect in Vecna's murders. The school basketball team, led by Chrissy's boyfriend Jason Carver, attempts to hunt him down, with Jason believing Eddie to be the leader of a Satanic cult. Eddie eventually travels into the Upside Down with Steve, Nancy, and Robin after they find a gate beneath Lovers' Lake. The group locates another gate between dimensions inside Eddie's trailer - where Chrissy died - and use it to escape the Upside Down.

After Nancy is possessed by Vecna and is shown a vision of Hawkins being destroyed by the Upside Down, the group resolves to kill Vecna that night. Eddie and Dustin distract the bat-like creatures protecting Vecna's lair, with Eddie plugging his guitar into an amplifier and playing Metallica's "Master of Puppets". Dustin escapes the Upside Down via the gate inside Eddie's trailer, while Eddie stays behind and sacrifices himself to fend off the bats further. After Vecna's gates create large rifts that tear through Hawkins, the town still believes Eddie responsible for the murders. Dustin meets Eddie's uncle and assures him that Eddie was a hero who died protecting the town.

Creatures of the Upside down

Mind Flayer

Introduced in the second season as a malevolent non-corporeal entity that resides in the parallel dimension known as the Upside Down, where every living thing in that reality serves as an extension of the Mind Flayer's hive mind and acts on the entity's desire to spread itself to Earth. The events of the first season allowed the Mind Flayer to terraform Hawkins secretly through Will Byers, who was infected during his time in the Upside Down and had unknowingly brought incubated Demogorgons with him.

In the second season, the Mind Flayer's existence was revealed as it implanted a piece of itself into Will through visions, while using adolescent Demogorgons to eliminate anyone who interfered in the terraforming. While the others managed to close the gate to sever the Mind Flayer's foothold, its ethereal fragment took refuge at Brimborn Steel Works after being "exorcised" from Will. During the events of season three, a new Gate opened by Russians allowed the Mind Flayer to have its isolated fragment create an organic vessel by infecting and possessing living beings and absorbing their entire biomass. The Mind Flayer nearly succeeded in killing Eleven, only to lose its foothold when Joyce and Hopper infiltrated the secret Russian laboratory and closed the new gate.

In the fourth season, the Mind Flayer is revealed to have been shaped and controlled by Henry Creel (Vecna), who discovered the entity as a formless mass in the Upside Down (after being sent there by Eleven) and morphed it into its spider-like appearance, owing to his childhood fascination with black widows. Hopper, Joyce, and Murray discover another fragment of the Mind Flayer inside a Russian research facility in Kamchatka, where it eventually breaks free and animates the other Demogorgons inside the facility. Hopper and Murray manage to kill the remaining creatures.

Demogorgons

Predatory creatures from the Upside Down that serve as the Mind Flayer's initial invasion force, are murderous and violent with limited intelligence. Demogorgons start off as slug-like creatures that are incubated in a victim's body, growing into a tadpole-like creature and gradually molting into an adolescent form called a "Demodog" before fully maturing. An adult Demogorgon, played by Mark Steger, appears after a gateway to the Upside Down was accidentally opened in Hawkins, and demonstrated an apparent ability to create random rifts between the Upside Down and the normal world. Though that Demogorgon was eventually destroyed, its abduction of Will Byers allowed the Mind Flayer to unleash a swarm of adolescent Demogorgons upon Hawkins before they were all killed when their connection to the Mind Flayer was severed.

The end of the third season reveals another adult Demogorgon being held captive by the Russians at a prison camp in Kamchatka, where prisoners are sometimes executed by being fed to the creature. In the fourth season, Hopper and his fellow prisoners are forced to fight the Demogorgon. Hopper uses a flaming spear to hold back the creature while it ravages most of the other prisoners, while Joyce and Murray help him escape alongside Dmitri Antonov, a guard he bribed and befriended. The group discovers a number of Demogorgons (as well as a fragment of the Mind Flayer) under study inside the prison. The creatures are accidentally let loose during a firefight between the prison guards and the Demogorgon that Hopper fought, but Hopper and Murray kill the remaining creatures and escape Russia.

The Flayed

A term for Earth-based beings that are possessed by the Mind Flayer, Will Byers being the first case during the second season until an ethereal fragment of the Mind Flayer was purged from his body. The isolated fragment later began possessing rats and eventually humans during the events of season three, having most of its hosts ingest toxic chemicals so they could gradually be melted down into materials for the Mind Flayer to create a proxy body to act through in its attempt to kill Eleven.

Recurring characters

The following is a list of guest characters that have recurring roles throughout the series. The characters are listed by the order in which they first appeared.

Introduced in season one

• Joe Chrest as Ted Wheeler, husband of Karen, father of teenager Nancy, middle-schooler Mike, and toddler Holly. He is often out of sync with his children and the emotional needs of his wife and frequently found asleep in a recliner chair.
• Twins Anniston and Tinsley Price as Holly Wheeler, daughter of Karen and Ted, younger sister of Nancy and Mike. Although Holly is quite young, she is far more aware of what happens in the town than her parents. In the fourth season, she is shown to be much more independent.
• Randy Havens as Scott Clarke, the boys' teacher. He encourages their interest in science and technology and helps them whenever asked.
• Rob Morgan as Calvin Powell, one of Hopper's officers. He later becomes the Hawkins chief of police following Hopper's disappearance.
• John Paul Reynolds as Phil Callahan, another of Hopper's officers. Not nearly as serious as his partner, he still works hard in the search for Will Byers.
• Susan Shalhoub Larkin as Florence ("Flo"), the secretary at the Hawkins Police Station. She shows concern about Hopper's health.
• Shannon Purser as Barbara "Barb" Holland, an introvert and best friend of Nancy Wheeler. She is concerned that her friendship with Nancy may be threatened by Nancy's relationship with Steve. Barb is one of the first victims of the Demogorgon.
• Ross Partridge as Lonnie Byers, the ex-husband of Joyce Byers and biological father of Jonathan and Will. He has a much younger girlfriend named Cynthia.
• Catherine Dyer as Connie Frazier, Brenner's DOE enforcer who unquestioningly obeys orders, even if those orders have to do with killing those who have come into contact with Eleven. She is eventually killed by Eleven at the end of Season 1.
• Tobias Jelinek as the lead agent at Hawkins National Laboratory, who assists Brenner.
• Peyton Wich as Troy Walsh, a boy who antagonizes Mike, Lucas and Dustin. After being publicly humiliated by Eleven and an attempted retaliation on Mike, Troy is not seen again after Season 1. The comic book tie-in, "The Bully", reveals that he and his family moved away and that his bad behaviour was the result of his father, who encouraged him to be mean and remorseless. In the comic, Troy does seem to change for the better and feels remorseful for his actions for once, upon learning that his father was fired from his job for his poor attitude and refusal to apologize.
• Cade Jones as James Dante, a boy who hangs around with Troy. The comic book tie-in, "The Bully," does reveal that James grew tired of being bossed around and of Troy's behaviour. Eventually, before Troy and his family moved away, Troy finally apologized to James and waved farewell, which James returns. James is revealed to be currently residing in Hawkins.
• Chester Rushing as Tommy Hagan, a former friend of Steve, and boyfriend of Carol. Tommy is a bully who revels in his popularity. He returns in Season 2 as a lackey for the new top dog in school, Billy Hargrove. Although unseen in Season 3, he is briefly mentioned by Steve.
• Chelsea Talmadge as Carol Perkins, a former friend of Steve, and girlfriend of Tommy. Like her boyfriend, Carol will do anything to ensure her popularity.
• Aimee Mullins as Terry Ives, a woman whose daughter, Jane (Eleven), was stolen from her shortly after she gave birth. She has since gone into a mental state where she is unaware of her surroundings, as the men who stole Jane gave her electroshock therapy to try and cover up her existence.

Introduced in season two

• Linnea Berthelsen as Kali / 008, a young woman with illusion manipulation abilities, who, along with Eleven, was experimented on at the Hawkins Laboratory, but later managed to escape. She does have a caring side, though it is often covered by her vindictive personality.
  • Vanathi Kalai Parthiban as younger Kali in the Rainbow Room at Hawkins Laboratory
• Catherine Curtin as Claudia Henderson, Dustin's sweet and caring yet often clueless mother.
• Jennifer Marshall as Susan Hargrove, Max's mother, Billy's stepmother, and Neil's wife. Whereas her husband is abusive and selfish, she continues to be kind to Billy and seems to somewhat love her stepson.

Introduced in season three

• Jake Busey as Bruce Lowe, a journalist for the Hawkins Post who routinely harasses and mocks Nancy because of her gender. He becomes possessed by the Mind Flayer. Bruce is beaten to death by Nancy with a fire extinguisher after he attacks her, and his corpse merges with Tom to become a gruesome arthropod-like monster.
• Andrey Ivchenko as Grigori, a Russian hitman and enforcer for the scientists working under Hawkins. He is killed by Hopper at the end of season 3.
• Michael Park as Tom Holloway, the editor of the Hawkins Post and Heather Holloway's father. He becomes possessed by the Mind Flayer. He is killed in self-defense by Jonathan, and his corpse merges with Bruce to become a gruesome arthropod-like monster.
• Francesca Reale as Heather Holloway, a popular lifeguard at the Hawkins Community Pool who becomes possessed by the Mind Flayer.
• Alec Utgoff as Dr. Alexei, a Russian scientist who was working with the regiment to open a portal to the Upside Down. He is later abducted by Hopper and Joyce Byers for information on his fellow Russians. Whilst with them, he develops an affinity for American products like cherry Slurpees, Burger King, Woody Woodpecker and Looney Tunes. He was developing a friendship with Murray before he was killed by Grigori at the fairgrounds.
• Cary Elwes as Mayor Larry Kline, a corrupt politician being blackmailed into working for the Russians.
• Peggy Miley as Doris Driscoll, an elderly resident of Hawkins who is visited by Jonathan and Nancy while investigating a story. She becomes possessed by the Mind Flayer.

Introduced in season four

• Mason Dye as Jason Carver, the captain of the Hawkins High School basketball team and Chrissy Cunningham's boyfriend. After Chrissy's death, he leads his team on a hunt for Eddie, whom he believes to be the perpetrator and the leader of a Satanic cult. He confronts Lucas at the Creel House and Lucas manages to beat him in a fight. Jason is killed when Vecna opens the fourth gate.
• Amybeth McNulty as Vickie, a student on the Hawkins High School marching band and Robin's love interest.
• Tristan Spohn as Two / 002, a lab subject at Hawkins Lab who bullies Eleven.
• Christian Ganiere as Ten / 010, Eleven’s predecessor.
• Myles Truitt as Patrick McKinney, a player on the basketball team. He is Vecna's third victim.
• Tom Wlaschiha as Dmitri Antonov / "Enzo", a prison guard in Kamchatka that Hopper bribes to help secure his freedom.
• Vaidotas Martinaitis as Melnikov, the prison warden at Kamchatka.
• Nikola Đuričko as Yuri Ismaylov, a smuggler of American goods to Russia and Antonov's contact whom he instructs Joyce and Murray to meet with in Alaska. He betrays Antonov to the Russians and decides to hand Joyce and Murray over as prisoners in hopes of higher profits. However, Joyce and Murray hold him captive and use him to break into the prison to rescue Hopper. Antonov convinces Yuri to help them escape Russia.
• Sherman Augustus as Lt. Colonel Jack Sullivan, a U.S. Army official leading a manhunt for Eleven, believing her to be responsible for the latest string of murders in Hawkins.
• Joel Stoffer as Wayne Munson, Eddie’s uncle. Despite the town's beliefs about Eddie, Wayne cares deeply for his nephew and knows that he is innocent.
• Pasha D. Lychnikoff as Oleg, an inmate at Kamchatka imprisoned alongside Hopper.
• Nikolai Nikolaeff as Ivan, a guard at Kamchatka.

Guest characters

The following is a supplementary list of guest stars that appear in lesser roles, make significant cameo appearances or who receive co-starring credit over multiple appearances. The characters are listed in the order in which they first appeared.

Introduced in season one

• Chris Sullivan as Benny Hammond, owner and chef of Benny's Burgers, and friend of Hopper. He takes care of Eleven shortly after her escape but is killed by Hawkins Lab personnel shortly afterwards.
• Tony Vaughn as Russell Coleman, the principal at Hawkins Middle School.
• Charles Lawlor as Donald Melvald, the owner of Melvald's General Store where Joyce Byers works.
• Hugh Holub as the lead scientist at Hawkins Laboratory.
• Andrew Benator as a scientist at Hawkins Laboratory.
• Pete Burris as the head of security at Hawkins Laboratory.
• Robert Walker-Branchaud as an agent of Hawkins Laboratory who disguises himself as a repairman.
• Glennellen Anderson as Nicole, a classmate of Nancy, Steve and Jonathan.
• Cynthia Barrett as Marsha Holland, Barbara's mother.
• Jerri Tubbs as Diane Hopper, Jim's ex-wife.
• Elle Graham as Sara Hopper, Jim and Diane's daughter, who died of cancer.
• Shawn Levy, the show's executive producer, makes a cameo appearance as a morgue worker.
• Amy Seimetz as Becky Ives, Terry's sister who takes care of her.

Introduced in season two

• Kai L. Green as Funshine, a member of Kali's crew. Kali considers him to be a teddy bear, despite his size and strength. He is the oldest of the crew.
• James Landry Hébert as Axel, an aggressive member of Kali's crew.
• Anna Jacoby-Heron as Dottie, the sarcastic newest member of Kali's crew.
• Gabrielle Maiden as Mick, a member of Kali's crew. She is the least aggressive of the crew and is their driver.
• Matty Cardarople as Keith, previously an employee at The Palace Arcade in 1984 but now works at Family Video nearly a year later.
• Madelyn Cline as Tina, a student in Hawkins High School and friend of Carol and Vicki.
• Abigail Cowen as Vicki, a student in Hawkins High School and friend of Carol and Tina.
• Karen Ceesay as Sue Sinclair, Lucas and Erica's mother.
• Arnell Powell as Charles Sinclair, Lucas and Erica's father.
• Aaron Muñoz as Mr. Holland, Barbara's father.
• Joe Davison as a technician at Hawkins Laboratory.
• Pruitt Taylor Vince as Ray, a technician at Hawkins Laboratory who electrocuted Terry Ives, contributing to her deteriorated mental state.
• Will Chase as Neil Hargrove, Billy's biological father, Max's stepfather, and Susan's husband. He is very abusive to his son, both verbally and physically.

Introduced in season three

• John Vodka as General Stepanov, a KGB General
• Yasen Peyankov as a Russian Scientist who works along with Alexei.
• Georgui Kasaev as a Russian comm officer
• Caroline Arapoglou as Winnie Kline, Mayor Larry Kline's wife.
• Allyssa Brooke as Candice, Mayor Larry Kline's secretary.
• Holly Morris as Janet Holloway, wife of Tom Holloway and mother of Heather Holloway.
• Chantell D. Christopher as a receptionist at Hawkins Memorial Hospital.
• Misha Kuznetsov as Colonel Ozerov, an authoritative and brutal Soviet military officer.
• Arthur Darbinyan as Zharkov, a Russian scientist working for Commander Ozerov, who specializes in torturing hostages.
• Beth Riesgraf as Billy Hargrove's mother.
• Gabriella Pizzolo as Suzie Bingham; Dustin's girlfriend, whom he met at summer camp. Suzie lives with her large Mormon family at a house in Salt Lake City.

Introduced in season four

• Grace Van Dien as Chrissy Cunningham, a Hawkins High School cheerleader who is killed by Vecna.
• Regina Ting Chen as Ms. Kelly, the counselor at Hawkins High School.
• Logan Riley Bruner as Fred Benson, Nancy's colleague at the Hawkins High School newspaper. He is haunted by his role in a fatal car accident. He is eventually killed by Vecna.
• Elodie Grace Orkin as Angela, a popular student at Lenora High School in California who bullies Eleven.
• Robert Englund as Victor Creel, a man arrested for supossedly murdering his wife and daughter in the 1950s and has since spent his life at a psychiatric institution. Creel maintains that his family was killed by a demon, and is left permanently disfigured after attempting to kill himself in prison by cutting out his eyes.
  • Kevin L. Johnson as young Victor Creel
• Tyner Rushing as Virginia Creel, Victor Creel's wife who mysteriously died along with her daughter in the 1950s.
• Livi Burch as Alice Creel, the Creels' only daughter who mysteriously died along with her mother in the 1950s.
• Ira Amyx as Agent Harmon, bodyguard working for Sam Owens. Harmon alongside his partner Agent Wallace, were assigned to protect Jonathan Byers, Will Byers, and Mike Wheeler from the military. Died defending children during the attack on the Byers' home.
• Kendrick Cross as Agent Wallace, bodyguard working for Sam Owens. Wallace alongside his partner Agent Harmon, were assigned to protect Jonathan Byers, Will Byers, and Mike Wheeler from the military. Wounded and taken prisoner by Sullivan in order to find Eleven's whereabouts.
• Audrey Holcomb as Eden Bingham, Suzie's goth eldest sister who babysits her and the rest of their siblings. Argyle becomes infatuated with her upon first meeting her, and the two of them are later caught smoking marijuana together in Argyle's pizza van by Suzie, Mike, Will, and Jonathan.
• Ed Amatrudo as Director Hatch, the director of the psychiatric institution where Victor Creel was put after his arrest.
• Gwydion Lashlee-Walton as Gareth, is a member of the Hellfire Club at Hawkins High School and a member of Eddie Munson's band, Corroded Coffin. He plays the drums.
• Trey Best as Jeff, is a member of the Hellfire Club at Hawkins High School and a member of Eddie Munson's band, Corroded Coffin. He plays an electric guitar.
• Grant Goodman as Freak 1, is a member of the Hellfire Club and a member of Eddie Munson's band Corroded Coffin. He plays an electric guitar.

External links

• Full cast and crew of Stranger Things at IMDb