History Characters / StrangerThingsHawkins

* TheSociopath: Even for a bully, Troy is shown to be downright evil, shoving Mike face-first into a rock, hurling racist, homophobic and abliest insults at Lucas, Will and Dustin, respectively, and mocking Wills (supposed) death to Mike's face. [[spoiler: Mike and Eleven humiliating him in front of the school auditorium , he goes full mask-off and reveals himself to be a vicious psychopath who wants Mike '''dead''' after the incident, consequences be damned.]]

* {{Foil}}:
** To Eddie Munson. The pair are subtly set up as rivals in the first episode of Season 4, at different ends of the social spectrum. Both are leaders of their respective cliques, and are prone to grandiose speeches. But while Eddie gives off the perception of being a harsh, unreasonable taskmaster, he's actually friendly, considerate, and cares a great deal about those who he takes under his wing. Jason, on the other hand, expresses a friendly demeanor but masks his darker impulses. Eddie may indulge in things like D&D and Heavy Metal, but he clearly doesn't see them as anything more than fun things that bring them together, whereas Jason legitimately buys into the SatanicPanic lines about them. What's more, people follow Eddie because they want to, whereas they follow Jason because of his position on the basketball team and due to his bullying. Note how in the climax Eddie's main weapons are a guitar and a shield, while Jason uses a gun.
** To Steve Harrington. Both are [[JerkJock jerk jocks]] who run with an unsavory crew that undermine the efforts of the heroes. But Steve grows to be the better man, realizing when he was in the wrong and distancing himself from the toxic influences in his life. Jason on the other hand gives into his darker impulses [[spoiler: his recklessness eventually leading to his death.]]

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Getting bisected by '''lava-like radiation''' is not an ideal way to go, to say the least]].

* CoolTeacher: He's a smart, compassionate man who loves his job and acts as a mentor to the AV Club. He even purchases a ham radio for our kid heroes to play around with during lunch. Mr. Clarke is also familiar with ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', which serves as a plot point, explains parallel dimensions to the boys, and tries to console them [[spoiler:at Will's funeral]]. [[spoiler:He even tells them how to build a sensory deprivation tank at night while on a date!]] Season 3 reveals that he has an absolutely ''massive'' custom built and painted D&D board in his basement.

!Hawkins Police Department

!Hawkins High School

!Hawkins Middle School

!The Kline Family

!The Holloway Family

!Hawkins Post

!The Creel Family

!Other Residents

* ChivalrousPervert: He gave food, shelter, and one of his shirts to Eleven, and he also saw enough of Eleven while she changed into that shirt to know that she was a girl.

[[folder:Carol Perkins]]
!!Carol Perkins
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carol_8.png]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Chelsea Talmadge

Tommy's girlfriend. An equally caustic girl with a chip on her shoulder.

* SeventiesHair: Her hairstyle retains the face-framing, blown out curls of the prior decade in the first season.
* EightiesHair: She updates her hairstyle with more bouffant waves and heavy bangs in Season Two.
* AlphaBitch: Played with. She's a clear-cut example of trope of a catty popular girl who torments those she sees as inferior, but normally seems to hang out in a group of friends entirely consisting of guys (aside from herself).
* BirdsOfAFeather: She's basically a gender-flipped version of her boyfriend Tommy. It's a horrible thing to see in action.
* BitchAlert: She doesn't even try to pretend to be nice. Just about every word out of her mouth is abuse and condescension.
* TheBully: Just like her boyfriend, Carol enjoys taunting people.
* DemotedToExtra: Appears in the first episode of Season 2 admiring Billy with two other girls and in the background of the second episode. By Season 3, she is completely absent from the main storyline (not that anyone seems to care).
* EvenEvilHasStandards: She actually seems distressed when Steve and Jonathan are fist-fighting and tries to get Tommy to break it up.
* HateSink: Like Tommy, Troy, and James, she is a bratty ass bully who treats Nancy and Jonathan (two major characters) like dirt. With little to no redeeming qualities whatsoever, she is probably one of the one-dimensional characters in the show.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Slut-shames Nancy after having previously made fun of a teacher for (allegedly) being a virgin. In addition, it's hinted that she and Tommy have played the full baseball game, themselves.
* {{Jerkass}}: Every bit as much of an unpleasant, braying jackass as Tommy.
* SlutShaming: On the giving end of it towards Nancy, going as far to help spray paint "Nancy the slut Wheeler" on a movie theater marquee. This also drives home what a hypocrite she is, as it's well known that she and Tommy have slept together plenty of times.
* ToxicFriendInfluence: Guess who supplies some of the slut-shaming ideas to both Tommy and Steve?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Chrissy Cunningham]]
!!Chrissy Cunningham
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ftykgghwiaib3nfjpeg.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[BlatantLies "I'm fine."]]'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/GraceVanDien

A cheerleader at Hawkins High.
----
* AbusiveParents: Her mother is implied to be verbally, emotionally and physically abusive to Chrissy, body-shaming her daughter to the point she develops an eating disorder. When under Vecna's spell, Chrissy is seen to be trapped inside a nightmare version of her family home, with her mother upstairs at a sewing machine, frantically letting out Chrissy's cheerleader uniform and ranting about her being "fat". It's implied that her father was much kinder, though.
* AllGuysWantCheerleaders: Is known as "The Queen of Hawkins High" according to Eddie, who seems to be interested in her. Additionally, she already had a boyfriend, Jason, who was crazy about her.
* AlliterativeName: '''C'''hrissy '''C'''unningham.
* BodyHorror: How she is tragically killed; Vecna telekinetically snaps each of her limbs at right angles, her jaw is snapped sideways, and her eye-sockets are crushed inwards -- which is all presented in unflinching detail.
* BrokenAce: On the outside, she appears to have the perfect life. She's a pretty, popular teenager from a wealthy home, she has a boyfriend who cares for her, and she's on the cheerleading squad. However, her home life is less than perfect and she seems to be struggling with anxiety and PTSD on top of her eating disorder.
* BrokenBird: Is a good-natured girl who's been traumatized by the tragedies happening around town all while dealing with her mother's abuse and struggling with an eating disorder. Then she starts having terrifying hallucinations and flashbacks, and ends up getting possessed and being the SacrificialLamb to the eldritch horror at the start of Season 4.
* CigaretteOfAnxiety: Because of the various mental issues she's having, she seeks to score a drug deal with Eddie, hoping that he can prescribe her something strong to calm her frayed nerves.
* ClassPrincess: She's a rich, popular, good-looking cheerleader who's dating the captain of the basketball team, but that doesn't keep her from being kind to those below her on the social ladder, namely Eddie.
* DecoyProtagonist: Gets a good amount of screentime and characterization in Season 4's premiere, making it look like she might be a new addition to the main cast. Then the episode ends with her horrific death.
* {{Expy}}:
** Chrissy's a high school student that appears perfect on the outside but is carrying all sorts of repressed issues and is killed by a supernatural entity which triggers the season's overarching plot, making her akin to [[Series/TwinPeaks Laura Palmer]].
** Her name can be a shortened version of Christina, the full name of Tina, the first victim of Freddie Krueger in ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet'', who dies in a comparable manner.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Chrissy has strawberry-blonde hair and is a sweet NiceGirl.
* TheLostLenore: For Jason and Eddie, as her death was a major catalyst for their main motivations. While Jason becomes aggressive and obsessed with avenging her murder that he blames on Eddie out of prejudice and petty jealousy. Eddie simply feels extreme trauma and guilt over not being able to save Chrissy from Vecna and begins to view himself as a coward who runs away the first sign of danger. In the end, Eddie is the one who does right by Chrissy when he dedicates his performance of Master of Puppets to her and honors her memory by not running away again then heroically sacrificing himself for the greater good.
* MoralityPet: For Jason. Even as he falls into villainy, his motive never changes from avenging her death.
* NiceGirl: In spite of her psychological issues stemming from her abusive mom (and Vecna), she's an overall pleasant girl, and even bonds with an outsider like Eddie when she's trying to buy drugs from him.
* OddFriendship: Chrissy -- a popular cheerleader -- forms one with Eddie, a nerdy garage guitarist and stoner.
* PomPomGirl: Chrissy's a member of the cheering squad who happens to also be a total sweetheart.
* SacrificialLamb: Dies during the first episode of Season 4, being the first to present the season's new threat.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Deconstructed. As Jason mentioned, Chrissy never told him that she was suffering, so he doesn't take it well when Lucas says she was willingly buying drugs from Eddie. From there it can be assumed that Chrissy felt pressured to be the perfect girlfriend for Jason.
* SheepInSheepsClothing: Eddie said he expected her to be more intimidating given her popularity, and she said she [[LonersAreFreaks thought the]] [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer same about him.]] The fact she is so quickly at ease with someone like Eddie proves she's more open-minded than Jason, who exhibits classic high school hierarchical prejudice.
* ShipTease: Gets a bit of this with Eddie, but she's unfortunately killed before anything can come of it.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Despite only appearing in the season premiere, her PlotTriggeringDeath sets off the events of Season 4 and as such Chrissy ended up a highly popular cosplay choice.
* StepfordSmiler: Is very kind but clearly suffers from trauma. The only person she confides in is Eddie and that's purely because he supplies her with drugs to take the edge off. Chrissy never tells Jason about her issues, which given his HairTriggerTemper opens up the possibility she is somewhat afraid of him.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Is a kind and caring sweetheart of a girl who also suffers from trauma and dies an absolutely brutal death at the hands of Vecna that she absolutely did not deserve.
* WeightWoe: To the point of having an eating disorder, most likely bulimia based on her purging behavior in the bathroom.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Dies in her introductory episode.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jason Carver]]
!!Jason Carver
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fty7bcwx0aa4mipjpeg.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Then I remembered Romans 12:21: [[KnightTemplar 'Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.'"]]'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/MasonDye

The captain of the Hawkins High basketball team and Chrissy's boyfriend.
----

[[folder:Corroded Coffin]]
!!Corroded Coffin
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4416_6.jpg]]
!!!'''Jeff Played By:''' Trey Best
!!!'''Gareth Played By:''' Gwydion Lashlee-Walton
!!!'''Freak #1 Played By:''' Grant Goodman

The other members of the Hellfire Club, as well as Eddie's bandmates.

* BerserkButton: Canceling/postponing [=DnD=] (at least on short notice).
* BlackAndNerdy: Jeff is a [=DnD=]-playing metalhead and the only black Hellfire-member apart from Lucas.
* CurbStompBattle: They're on the receiving end of one when Jason comes to ask for Eddie's whereabouts and they won't tell him anything. Though they try to put up a fight they're quickly overpowered.
* GeekPhysique: The unnamed member, "Freak #1" is of the obese variety.
* HotBlooded: Gareth has shades of it. While all of Hellfire become upset when asked to postpone the campaign, Gareth's reaction is the strongest, looking ready to cause Mike and Dustin bodily harm for suggesting it. Later, when threatened and beaten by Jason, Gareth's response is to scream in Jason's face rather than cower or attempt to calmly talk him down.
* TheLancer: Gareth appears to fill the role, being the one to speak for the group whenever Eddie isn't there to do it.
* {{Metalhead}}: They're Eddie's bandmates and are shown wearing metal band-merch while jamming together.
* NoNameGiven: The third member is never given a name; the end credits only refer to him as "Freak #1".
* PubescentBraces: Jeff has them. They're likely meant to signify both youth and nerdiness.
* RedOniBlueOni: Jeff is the blue to Gareth's red. For example, while [[HuddlePower discussing]] their [=DnD=] strategy Jeff rationally points out they're unlikely to win with only two remaining players. When Dustin calls them pussies for wanting to flee Gareth reacts by impulsively calling Dustin delusional. Fittingly, Gareth sports red flannel while Jeff wears a blue baseball tee.

[[folder:Fred Benson]]
!!Fred Benson
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ftyfpmjwiamsvxmjpeg.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:350:]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Logan Riley Bruner

A member of Hawkins High newspaper.
----
* BodyHorror: Fred's death is shown in even greater detail than Crissy's. His limbs break and twist in unnatural ways, his face is disfigured into a horrific gape and his eyes are crushed in their sockets before he drops to the ground in a mangled mess.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: He was involved in a car crash at some point, one that left him with a nasty facial scar and took the lives of several members of his family. Vecna uses this incident to torment him before brutally murdering him.
* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: Starts out as a one-dimensional bit character, but before his death we get to know him as a sassy fellow with his own thoughts, as well as having a tragic background.
* DyingAlone: Is the only one of Vecna's victims whose death has no witnesses.
* GeekPhysiques: An archetypal short, scrawny, near-sighted nerd.
* HopelessSuitor: Clearly has a thing for Nancy, but she's just as clearly uninterested.
* NiceGuy: He's a nice guy who Nancy trusts enough to talk to him about her personal issues regarding her boyfriend Jonathan. This only serves to make his gruesome death all the more tragic.

[[folder:Patrick [=McKinney=]]]
!!Patrick [=McKinney=]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/patrickst4.jpeg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Miles Truitt

A member of the Hawkins High basketball team and part of Jason's violent witch hunt gang for Eddie. He's also [[spoiler:the third of Vecna's teenage victims, after Vecna fails to kill Max.]]

* AbusiveParents: Hinted at, as Lucas feels guilty for not asking where Patrick's black eye came from. Domestic violence is a likely cause.
* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:Dies]] in a similar manner as Chrissy and Fred.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: While his past isn't as elaborated on as Chrissy and Fred's, Lucas's story about his black eye and the fact that Vecna targeted him hints at this.
* MoralityPet: After Chrissy dies, he's this for Jason. [[spoiler: Jason's reaction to his death is one of his few moments of humanity after Chrissy's death.]]
* MysteriousPast: [[spoiler:Vecna's torment of Patrick is offscreen, unlike Chrissy and Fred]], so while hinted at, we don't as clearly know what trauma lies in his past.
* TokenGoodTeammate: He's a part of Jason's WitchHunt for Eddie, but at the same time, he shows a friendlier and more amicable side towards Lucas during their brief time together. He also calls out one of Jason's friends [[DudeNotFunny for making a joke about how Chrissy died]] when it's reported on the news, even though none of them even knew yet that it was Chrissy; Patrick objected to both making light of the murder and the casual joking about Chrissy's safety. He's similarly unimpressed when Andy tries to defend himself by joking that the victim may have been a drug addict. Considering this is in the 80's, it displays notable sympathy for victims of substance abuse.

[[folder:Andy]]
A douchebag jock who follows Jason during the manhunt against Eddie Munson.
----
* {{Jerkass}}: The worst out of the group, due to his violent tendencies.
* WouldHurtAChild: He not only attacks the 11 year old Erica, he also threatens to ''break her arms''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Vickie]]
!!Vickie
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vickiest4.jpeg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Amybeth [=McNulty=]

Robin's bandmate who she has a crush on.

* AmbiguouslyBi: She has a boyfriend, but is also heavily implied to return Robin's feelings. Steve also brings up the fact that she returned ''Film/FastTimesAtRidgemontHigh'' at "that scene" (Creator/PhoebeCates's character removes her bikini top to show off her boobs in a sexual fantasy), which leads him to believe she likes ladies.
* BirdsOfAFeather: Vickie is pretty much a clone of Robin, though with an apparent interest in boys and lacking some of her more cool girl traits.
* HormoneAddledTeenager: If Steve was right about why she returned ''Film/FastTimesAtRidgemontHigh'' at "53 minutes and 5 seconds".
* MotorMouth: Like Robin, she talks a mile a minute.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Little is known about her outside of her relationship with Robin.

!Hawkins Middle School

[[folder:Scott Clarke]]
!!Prof. Scott Clarke; Mr. Clarke
[[quoteright:279:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mrclarkest_7.png]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Randall P. Havens

->''"Science is neat, but I'm afraid it's not very forgiving."''

The boys' science teacher. A friendly, knowledgeable man and enthusiastic teacher.

* CoolTeacher: He's a smart, compassionate man who loves his job and acts as a mentor to the AV Club. He even purchases a ham radio for our kid heroes to play around with during lunch. Mr. Clarke is also familiar with ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', which serves as a plot point, explains parallel dimensions to the boys, and tries to console them [[spoiler:at Will's funeral]]. [[spoiler:He even tells them how to build a sensory deprivation tank at night while on a date!]] Season 3 reveals that he has an absolutely ''massive'' custom built and painted D&D board in his basement.
* DemotedToExtra: Has a significantly smaller role in Season 2, only a single scene in Season 3, and doesn't appear at all in Season 4. {{Justified|Trope}} in Season 3 since it takes place during summer vacation and away from school, making his presence harder to explain, and by Season 4 the kids are no longer in middle school at all.
* IHaveThisFriend: His students milk him for advice by claiming that all of its applications exist in the realm of the hypothetical.
* InterruptedIntimacy: Dustin easily guilts him into telling him how to create a sensory deprivation tank "for fun"... with the aid of the fact that he's in such a rush to get back to his date, that he gives the boy potentially dangerous scientific information despite trepidations.
* KavorkaMan: He's just as geeky as the main characters, but he's got an attractive girlfriend at home.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: The boys actively try to keep him out of what is happening quite deliberately by framing everything in hypotheticals and throwing smokescreens up. They do both like and, to a great extent, trust him. But, they also know exactly how crazy everything sounds. And, that it would be his job to report them.
* MeaningfulName: Given that he explains the some of the more fantastic aspects of Upside-Down in scientific terms that the boys can understand, he may have been named for [[ClarkesThirdLaw Arthur C. Clarke]].
* MrExposition: Despite having a fairly small role, every single scene with him in it is vital because he explains everything the main characters need to know, especially regarding science and specifically electricity, although he seems to genuinely have no idea why they want to know any of it.
* NiceGuy: He's in the running for the most kind-hearted citizen in Hawkins, and is one of the first volunteers to go out searching for Will.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He is shown to be remarkably caring and nurturing of the kids' pursuits regardless of the weirdness of their requests and the appropriateness of the situation.
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:In Season 3, following the revelation that Billy was Flayed there is an extended shot of Scott doing ''something'' shifty while Joyce is ringing his house bell. It powerfully indicates that poor Mr. Clark has also been Flayed...then it's revealed he was just ''really'' focused on [[CoolTeacher painting his D&D miniatures]].]]
* ScienceIsBad: And very, very cool, but it's mostly unforgiving on the careless, therefore he advises that his students treat it safe. Which is this trope played for the better: safety goggles are needed for ''a reason''.
* SenpaiKohai: He was Bob Newby's underclassman and friend, this being the reason why he mentors the AV club at school (Bob being Clarke's mentor himself).
* SmallRoleBigImpact: His scenes are few and far between, yet his explanations on electromagnetism gave Joyce the knowledge to investigate the latest town conspiracy that would lead to her helping to thwart the Soviets.
* SuperGullible: The various lies that [[BadLiar the boys]] have fed to him (Eleven is from Sweden, the boys are "in mourning" immediately before Dustin [[MoodKiller complains about the lack of Nilla Wafers]], and they're building a sensory deprivation tank "for fun") really, ''really'' have no business working on him. His excuse could be that he's aware they're lying, but assumes mostly benign or childish reasons lie behind the awkward. It's not like "interdimensional shenanigans and governmental conspiracies" would be your first guess, either, in his shoes. It could also overlap with PlausibleDeniability, the less he knows, the less he'd have to tell anyone else.
* UnwittingPawn: He's fooled by Brenner's men into revealing the names of the children in his AV club, under the pretense of enrolling them in a state-wide AV project. Brenner's men knew that Eleven was in the AV room and therefore any kid who used it could have seen her.

[[folder:Troy Walsh]]
!!Troy Walsh
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/troyst.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Peyton Wich

The boys' classmate and school bully. A cruel, mocking kid.

* HateSink: He's an even more obnoxious of a bully towards Nancy than Tom ,and doesn't even have his love for his family to redeem him.

* DemotedToExtra: Has a significantly smaller role in Season 2, only a single scene in Season 3, and doesn't appear at all in Season 4. {{Justified}} in Season 3 since it takes place during summer vacation and away from school, making his presence harder to explain, and by Season 4 the kids are no longer in middle school at all.

* DaEditor: Of the ''Hawkins Post.''
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: When his wife fainted on the floor, he was concerned and yelled to Billy and Heather that they should call 911. When Heather and Billy take him and his wife to the Mind Flayer's building, he tells Heather that she does not have to go along with what Billy is doing.
* HappyMarriageCharade: With his wife Janet, obviously being married to a misogynist who mistreats his teenage interns is not pleasant at all.

* EightiesHair: Sports a full "she-mullet", a style which actually emerged a little later in the decade. Likely the bouffant style could have been an [[SixtiesHair earlier influence]].

* HappyMarriageCharade: Implied at the one dinner we see between her and her husband, where he seemed very critical of her drinking and even voiced stern disapproval (like it wasn't uncommon). Yet they look fantastic in photos....

* StepfordSmiler: She's relentlessly upbeat even when there are many red flags about Billy's, and even El and Max's, behaviour, and her husband is noticeably dismissive to her.

* BoundAndGagged: How Billy transported her to the abandoned steel mill to "join" the Mind Flayer's flesh proxy army.

* DoubleStandard: Not as vivid as the one Nancy has to contend with but Billy can get away with humiliating kids at the pool (even fat-shaming them) and still be found popular while she merely scolds a boy for dunking and Karen's pool friends (who are ogling Billy), dismiss her as an annoying girl with a voice similar to "nails on a chalkboard".

* GirlNextDoor: Especially under the Flayer's influence during dinner with her parents and Billy (until they drug and knock her parents out) she looks very chipper and perky, in pastels and serving cookies, she is particularly cosplaying a SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl, 1980s style.
* InformedFlaw: According to Francesca Reale, Heather is suppose to be "snooty, popular, and entitled." However, during her brief appearance [[spoiler: prior to being possessed by the Mind Flayer]] she doesn't really demonstrate these qualities and seems like a NiceGirl. She's genuinely concerned for Billy's well-being when he looks sick, and while she does scold a kid for breaking pool rules (which is her job as a life-guard), her methods were far kinder compared to Billy who went out of his way to fat-shame a kid who was running on the deck.
* LovableAlphaBitch: Her actress Francesca Reale describes her as being "snooty, popular, and entitled". We really don't see a lot of those traits during her time on the show but she is certainly used to courting attention judging by how she reacts to Billy and she does come from a family that is rather well off.
* MsFanservice: Along with Billy, she seems to service this role as the lifeguard.
* NiceGirl: Aside from her obvious crush on Billy, she seems to be a very sweet girl who checks on Billy when it appears he isn't feeling well.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:Billy takes her to join the Mind Flayer's army for checking up on him when he gets ill from being possessed.]]

* RedShirt: [[spoiler:She doesn't appear for very long in the two episodes before being assimilated by the Mind Flayer.]]
* StepfordSmiler: [[spoiler:Goes from a bright, chipper young woman to a complete hollow shell under the Mind Flayer's control.]]
* ValleyGirl: She has a rising inflection that is evident when she is yelling and stretches out the vowels. This comes up in her scene where she scolds a boy, she is also very feminine with very up to the minute fashions of 1985 (side ponytail, pastels and bright colors, hoop earrings, and teased bangs). Justified as the archetype became both popular and reviled around the country where girls in even small-town Indiana would try to imitate the inflection.

* HateSink: He's an even more obnoxious of a bully towards Nancy than Tom and doesn't even have his love for his family to redeem him.
* HeManWomanHater: His behavior towards Nancy gives off this vibe, the worst sexist men in [[Series/MadMen Sterling Cooper]] would find him horrid.

* MoreThanMindControl: [[spoiler:When he gets flayed and attacks Nancy, his taunting use of her nickname implies that he's not truly a puppet of the Mind Flayer. A more accurate descrption would be that his nastier tendencies have been enhanced.]]

* DarkAndTroubledPast: And ''how.'' On top of mistakenly shelling a group of civilians during the war (including an infant), his entire family were later killed by Vecna and he was framed for their murder. He then tried to commit suicide by cutting his own eyes out, but he survived, and has spent the past several years locked up in Pennhurst, blind and half-mad.

* HappilyMarried: He was close and in love with his late wife Virgina and seeing her die still breaks his heart in his old age.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: He not only saw his wife die horrifically, but also his daughter and was told his son died in a coma. [[spoiler: All reports were half right]].
* PapaWolf: As soon as dead animals start appearing around the house Victor starts trying to guard his family by sitting on the porch with a shotgun.

* SoleSurvivor: Of the massacre at the house. [[spoiler:Or so he thinks]]. His SurvivorGuilt makes him cut out his eyes.
* StandardFiftiesFather: He was the perfect post-war Patriarch and breadwinner, in addition, loving to his wife and children before the events of 1959.
* StepfordSmiler: Exuded an aura of the ideal father for the time, secretly harbored immense guilt for accidentally getting innocent French civilians, including a baby, incinerated, [[spoiler:which his son used against him.]]

* FiftiesHair: Had a perky and stylish flip in life.

* {{Housewife}}: Was the classic post war image of the Housewife, albeit in sensible (but stylish) slacks watering her plants and cooking for her family.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Virginia has brief appearances in ''Stranger Things 4'', but [[spoiler:her being suspicious of her psychic son and contacting Martin Brenner to diagnose him gives Henry an excuse to snap, leading him to kill her and her daughter and frame her husband for it, and her association with Brenner also leads to Henry killing most of the Hawkins Laboratory children and scientists, and his eventual transformation into Vecna, leading to the entire series.]]
* TrueBlueFemininity: She wore a blue dress with pink collar and trim when she arrives at her house in Hawkins.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: And ''how''. Immediately, [[spoiler:planning to commit her son Henry to a psychiatric facility causes him to [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jump off the slippery slope]] by killing her, her daughter and [[DrivenToMadness driving her husband insane]]]]. Long term, [[spoiler:allowing Dr. Brenner to study him leads [[MadScientist the good doctor]] to try and find other children with latent PsychicPowers, like Eleven, and experiment on them, leading to Henry eventually creating the Mind Flayer. Cue Upside Down portal and all the monstrosities that hail from there. Yes, this lady is singlehandedly [[SmallRoleBigImpact the cause for the entire plot of the series]], {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and all]].

* ChildrenAreInnocent: A carefree little girl who was excited to move into a new house in Hawkins.
* DeathOfAChild: Her age was no deterrent for the "demon" [[spoiler:actually her own brother.]]
* OlderThanTheyLook: She looked and acted like a young preteen girl rather than a teen girl of the era but the newspapers covering her family tragedy said she was 15 when she died.
* TrueBlueFemininity: Wears a blue plaid two piece suit and hat when her family moves into Hawkins.

* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:His unfortunate fate at the hands of Connie Frazier.]]

* NiceGuy: He initially runs after Eleven because she's stealing from him, but the second he realizes she's in some kind of trouble and is not mentally well, he becomes a very benevolent presence.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Implied to be this for Nancy, telling the boys he will give them the information they need about Max in the first episode of Season 2 if they can set up a date with him and Nancy, Mike sounds horrified at the prospect.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: After the Mind Flayer possessed her, she was found having eaten her fertilizer.

* CoolOldLady: During her brief time before she was brainwashed, she seemed to be a very good humored woman.

* ScatterbrainedSenior: PlayedWith. When she talks to Nancy and Jonathan she seems perfectly lucid, and she is aware that her claims of diseased rats eating fertilizer can be easily dismissed as the ramblings of a senile old lady, so she makes sure to have the evidence to back it up. Tom does say that she is a paranoid schizophrenic, but since he is [[spoiler: already Flayed at this point and she becomes Flayed soon after]], whether this is the truth or an attempt at a cover up is unclear.

* {{Metalhead}}: When Hop steals his car and turns on the radio, heavy metal starts playing, implying Todd listens to or is curious about the genre.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: "The Toddfather". It's based on his first name, but after that one scene we never learn his last name.

* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: Starts out as a one-dimensional bit character, but before his death we get to know him as a sassy fellow with his own thoughts and a background.

* ButtMonkey: Guy can't catch a break receiving beatdowns from the likes of Hopper, Joyce and Grigori. It's actually very tricky to find one of his scenes that ''doesn't'' involve him getting his ass handed to him.
* CigarChomper: As shown in the picture, he smokes a cigar while supervising the carnival setup.

* LaserGuidedKarma: After aiding the Russians to construct a secret facility under the Starcourt Mall, and ratting out Hopper and Joyce, [[spoiler: which led to Alexei's death]]. Mayor Kline was caught, impeached, and taken to the authorities for his actions.
* PatrioticFervor: Subverted. Despite his attempts to invoke PatrioticFervor throughout Hawkins as the town's mayor, Kline clearly doesn't care that much about America's legacy if he's willing to conspire with the Russians for personal profit.

* SleazyPolitician: Tries to blackmail Hopper and it turns out he's made some [[spoiler:seriously shady deals with a group of Russians.]] Crosses over somewhat with CorruptPolitician.

Mayor Kline's wife and one of Karen's friends at the pool who is unaware of her husband's affair and shady dealings.

* AgeGapRomance: Larry Kline is a middle-aged mayor while Winnie is young (her actress is a bit older than Dacre Montgomery who plays Billy).
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: She is shocked and horrified when she finds Larry tied up to their bed and looking bloody and bruised.
* EatingTheEyeCandy: She shows up to the community pool to check out Billy with several other mothers (including Karen) and even serves as the lookout for when it's time to pose for when Billy walks on by. She also serves as this for Steve during the Jazzercise scene.
* MsFanservice: A very attractive, leggy, and toned blonde who is seen in [[WorkoutFanservice era-appropriate lycra]] and in a swimsuit and she attends the Jazzercise class that Steve is ogling (with her butt being the primary focus).
* NotSoAboveItAll: While her husband is cheating on her with his [[SexySecretary secretary]] (amongst traitorous things), she is checking out Billy at the pool with the intentions of catching his notice.
* PinkIsFeminine: Her leotard (upon discovering her husband tied to their bed) is a hot pink and [[GracefulLadiesLikePurple bright purple]] ensemble with a bag to match.
* TrophyWife: She is the young and beautiful wife of the wealthy and established Mayor Kline, devoting her energies to checking out lifeguards at the pool and taking jazzercise lessons, but she is clearly a means of decoration for him as he doesn't seem to care for her.
* TrueBlueFemininity: For the MaleGaze close up, she is wearing bright blue tights with a black leotard dotted by matching polka dots.

* ShoutOut: Calvin and Phil bear a more-than-passing resemblance to Lou and Eddie, the SaltAndPepper cops that support Chief Wiggum on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. Calvin is even the more intelligent and competent of the two, like Lou.

* FiftiesHair: Wears a fuzzy and soft version of a style worn by HM Queen Elizabeth II.

* GeekPhysique: Played straight and averted. The unnamed member is fat, but Jeff and Gareth are neither very fat nor very skinny.
* HotBlooded: Gareth has shades of it. While all of Hellfire become upset when asked to postpone the campaign Gareth's reaction is the strongest, looking ready to cause Mike and Dustin bodily harm for suggesting it. Later, when threatened and beaten by Jason, Gareth's response is to scream in Jason's face rather than cower or attempt to calmly talk him down.

* GeekPhysiques: Just see the picture: short, scrawny, wears glasses.

* NiceGuy: Downplayed. He's a part of Jason's hunt for Eddie, but at the same time, he shows a friendlier and more amicable side towards Lucas during their brief time together. He also calls out one of Jason's friends [[DudeNotFunny for making a joke about how Chrissy died]] when it's reported on the news.
** Specifically, none of them even knew yet that it was Chrissy; Patrick objected to both making light of the murder and the casual joking about Chrissy's safety. He's similarly unimpressed when Andy tries to defend himself by joking that the victim may have been a drug addict. Considering this is in the 80's, it displays notable sympathy for victims of substance abuse.

* {{Jerkass}}: The worst out of the group.

* AmbiguouslyBi: She has a boyfriend, but is also heavily implied to return Robin's feelings. Steve also brings up the fact that she returned ''Film/FastTimesAtRidgemontHigh'' at "that scene",[[note]]Creator/PhoebeCates's character removes her bikini top to show off her boobs in a sexual fantasy.[[/note]] which leads him to believe she likes ladies.
* BirdsOfAFeather: Vickie is pretty much a clone of Robin, though with an interest in boys and lacking some of her more cool girl traits.

* InterruptedIntimacy: Dustin easily guilts him into [[spoiler:telling him how to create a sensory deprivation tank "for fun"... with the aid of the fact that he's in such a rush to get back to his date, that he gives the boy potentially dangerous scientific information despite trepidations.]]

* RedHerring: [[spoiler:In Season 3, following the revelation that Billy was flayed there is an extended shot of Scott doing ''something'' shifty while Joyce is ringing his house bell. It powerfully indicates that poor Mr. Clark has also been Flayed...then it's revealed he was just ''really'' focused on [[CoolTeacher painting his D&D miniatures]].]]

* AxCrazy: [[spoiler:Not at first, but when El humiliates him in front of the whole school, he becomes ''murderously'' angry.]]
* BarbaricBully: [[spoiler:He tries to outright kill Mike by threatening to cut Dustin's teeth out of his mouth! That's some [[Literature/{{IT}} Henry Bowers]]-level shit.]]
* BullyBrutality: [[spoiler:He threatens Dustin at knifepoint so that Mike jumps into the gorge. Even his best friend James is apprehensive about him taking it too far.]]

* DisproportionateRetribution: Eleven made him pee himself in front of the whole school. His response is to [[spoiler:try to kill Mike]] in retribution. The kid's messed up, alright.

* FreudianExcuse: His mother is very easily played, and it's strongly implied that she never holds him accountable for any of the things she ''does'' find out about. In the comic ''The Bully'', his father yells at him for his recuring nightmares about Eleven and even encourages him to dump his "lose" James.

* HeroOfAnotherStory / ADayInTheLimelight: Troy is the protagonist of the tie-in comic ''The Bully'', which expands on his character, actually creating [[FreudianExcuse legitimate motivations]] for his actions and a reason why he is what he is: his parents are rather [[AbusiveParents impatient]] to say the least.

* PlayingTheVictimCard: After [[spoiler:Eleven breaks his arm with her powers]], he goes with his mother to the police to try to have her arrested, claiming she attacked him for no good reason, conveniently leaving out the fact that he was [[spoiler:trying to ''murder'' Mike]] at the time.

* SadisticChoice: [[spoiler:He bullies Mike into jumping into a gorge by threatening to cut out Dustin's teeth. Considering what Hopper said in an earlier episode, the drop would have been fatal.]]

An Alpha Bitch who has a couple of encounters with Dustin, Eleven, and Max.

* EightiesHair: Has very crimped and frizzled red hair that she teases to high heaven, often not as aesthetically pleasing to the taste of contemporary audiences.

* BullyingTheDragon: She makes the mistake at openly sneering at Eleven, who happens to possess psychic powers that can explode an Orange Julius in her face. Did we mentioned that she also happen to make a dear friend of the psychic girl cry?
* HateSink: She made Dustin feel bad after rejecting his offer of dancing with her and sneers at Eleven.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Literally. Jason views himself as the hero of his story, believing he's saving Max when he finds her in a trance but if he hadn't [[spoiler: attacked Lucas and broken Max's cassette player]], Lucas might have been able to [[spoiler: "call in Kate Bush" and save Max from her trance before Vecna could kill her and open the fourth gate. However, Lucas and Max's plan was to play the music once Max started levitating. Vecna had learned that Max knew how to escape, and so the only time she levitated in the real world, Vecna made sure that Max was completely immobilized and would be unable to escape]].
* NoHeroToHisValet: Lucas immediately picks up that Jason is not the maverick hero he believes himself to be regardless how nice Jason is to him. It's implied Chrissy felt the same, as she never told Jason she was mentally unwell, which given he's a hothead and an overperfectionist demonstrates exactly why she might be keeping secrets from him.

** Let's reiterate. He's convinced himself there's a murderous Satanic cult in town and that it's up to him to take action. He honestly sees himself as a hero.
** Notably, after Lucas abandons him and his posse, he concludes that Lucas and the rest of the Hellfire Club are protecting Eddie. It never occurs to him that Lucas actually left after being disturbed by their unnecessary, violent assault of Eddie’s band, which is more accurate because at that point Lucas was unaware Eddie was indeed innocent.

** He was nice to Lucas at first, showing no resentment for him making the game winning shot, inviting him to the party, checking to make sure he's okay and even going as far as to say that Lucas doesn't have to participate in their Eddie Hunt after Chrissy's death. This gets subverted later when he discovers Lucas is a part of the Hellfire Club and organizes a WitchHunt against him and the other members.
** Is genuinely worried upon finding Max in Vecna's trance and tries to get Lucas to wake her up in an attempt to save her.
* PoliticallyCorrectVillain: Treats Patrick and Lucas just as well as his other friends. His conflict with Lucas is for helping Eddie rather than his race and [[spoiler:is absolutely heartbroken by Patrick's death.]] [[https://www.indiewire.com/2022/07/caleb-mclaughlin-stranger-things-4-spoilers-1234739587/ Caled McLaughlin himself actually came in and denied Jason being racist when comparing him to Lucas' previous antagonist Billy.]]
-->'''Caleb:''' Jason took Lucas in, was trying to show him the ropes - maybe he was arrogant, a little obnoxious but he wasn't racist. Lucas' girlfriend's brother hated him because he was black and threw him up against a wall in Season 2 and like, Stay away from her!

* RousingSpeech: He's ''really'' good with them. He delivers one at the pep rally to psych up the whole school for a prospective championship win, gives one to his basketball team (and coach) to score the winning points, and more disturbingly, gives several to encourage first the basketball team and then ''most of the town'' to follow him in basically a WitchHunt.

** In the penultimate episode, he has started to develop irritated eyes with bags underneath, indicating a lack of sleep due to his increasing obsession with [[KnightTemplar "justice"]]. This is further corroborated when he threatens Nancy who, as far as he knows, is perfectly innocent, ''[[LethallyStupid in the middle of a gun store]]'', showing that he's losing his grip on sanity.

** To Steve: Both of them were the BigManOnCampus in high school who were popular and good at basketball. Both of them dated a girl (Nancy/Chrissy) that they genuinely fell in love with. Both of them were antagonistic towards the "freaks" of the school (Jonathan/Eddie), and went after said freaks when they thought they'd done something wrong: Jason attempts to track Eddie down when he thinks Eddie killed Chrissy, and Steve breaks Jonathan's camera when he finds out that Jonathan secretly took pictures of him and Nancy at the pool party without their consent. Both of them lashed out when they got hurt on an emotional level: Jason organized a vigilante group with his basketball team to hunt Eddie down after Chrissy was killed whereas Steve participated with Tommy and Carol in spray painting slut-shaming graffiti after witnessing Nancy with Jonathan and mistakenly believing Nancy was cheating on him. The difference is that Steve underwent massive CharacterDevelopment after having a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment when he realized how despicable his actions were and making a genuine attempt to atone to Jonathan and Nancy for his behavior whereas Jason has continued to slip further into KnightTemplar territory. Steve had his flaws, but he never went to the extreme of ''wanting to kill someone,'' or creating a lynch mob like Jason did. Unlike Jason, who has deluded himself into thinking he's the hero of the town even as his actions are about to hurt innocent people, Steve actually is heroic and has repeatedly put his life on the line for others. And while Jason has continued to hold on to his prejudices against outcasts (to the point of organizing a WitchHunt against the Hellfire Club), Steve has let go of his old prejudices after [[TookALevelInKindness taking a level in kindness]] and becoming friends with "outcasts" like Robin and Dustin.
** His group is one to the main party, trying to solve a mystery they don't quite understand. The differences are the Party are a group of of TrueCompanions who, while they might bicker and have difficulties communicating their troubles, clearly know when one of their friends is bothered, especially Mike who is TheHeart. Jason on the other hand was completely oblivious to how stressed Chrissy was to the point where she was self-medicating with drugs and that Patrick had issues at home, which shows Jason's behavior as either ignorant or self-absorbed depending on how someone looks at it. The Party also manages to work things out through covert legwork, figuring out seemingly innocuous threads, and deductive reasoning and when they are forced to confrontation they usually resort to trickery to keep from drawing too much attention, whereas Jason just barges in, punches first and asks questions later, usually ending up with sloppy details that are unhelpful and tends to create a massive mess that's impossible to keep quiet.

* TheSociopath: Played with. Jason does briefly show grief over Chrissy and Patrick's deaths, and his reaction upon finding Max hints he's capable of genuine concern for others. From Lucas's perspective however, Jason's behavior comes off as sociopathic, and it's not hard to understand why: Remember, Jason turned the entire town into a lynch mob to hunt down members of the Hellfire Club (which included Lucas, his sister Erica, and his friends who are all teenagers), tortured people, bought guns with the intention of ''killing'' Hellfire members without considering the possiblity he might be wrong about them being guilty, implicitly threatened Nancy and made it clear to her that he was looking for Mike, followed an anonymous tip to chase down an ''11 year old girl'' (Erica) just for being loosely associated with Hellfire, and refused to listen to Lucas's attempts to explain what was going on because it didn't match up with his preconceived notions.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Surprisingly ends up being this to the Party's plan to stop Vecna. [[spoiler: Jason suddenly showing up, attacking Lucas, and accidentally smashing Max's Walkman while having his friend subdue Erica almost completely derails the entire mission, resulting in Max dying for a minute and Vecna's gate being opened up. Even when Max is revived by El, she's still horribly injured and stuck in a coma.]]
* TautologicalTemplar: In Jason's mind, everything he does is inherently good. Anyone he doesn't like is an acceptable target for his puritanical impluses and he'll use any excuse to mete out whatever cruel deeds festering in his mind.
* ThousandYardStare: While he holds Patrick's body, which he must have dragged out of the water in the first place, he seems completely at a loss and barely reacts to the cops.
* TragicVillain: First, he tragically loses his beloved girlfriend in a violent murder and then [[spoiler: has to witness his best friend get killed in similar brutal fashion, right as they corner Eddie whom promptly escapes.]] Jason's actions go way too far in the end but it's hard not to feel some sympathy and see why he flew over the edge in the end in believing Eddie and Hellfire was responsible for the murders.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:Jason attacks Lucas and accidentally breaks Max's Walkman in a misguided attempt to save Max from her trance. As a result of his interference, Max has all of her limbs broken, permanently loses her sight and is left comatose in a body cast because Lucas had no way to save her from Vecna. Even worse, he ends up allowing Vecna to open the fourth gate to the Upside Down, allowing it to spill into the real world and kill over 20 Hawkins residents (including himself), with even more being left homeless.]]
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: A clean-cut, god-fearing young man who leads his school's basketball team and knows how to rouse up a crowd. He's also a violent vigilante that refuses to admit to his own imperfections. [[spoiler:The tragic irony is that he will be remembered positively in the town, as people at the church are seen spray painting the Bible quotes he gave, whereas the innocent target of his vengeance, Eddie Munson, is to be remembered as a satanic cultist and SerialKiller despite his efforts to save people, thanks to Jason's rhetoric.]]

* WitchHunt: What his desire to see justice served ultimately devolves into. He basically turns the entire town of Hawkins against the Hellfire Club by convincing the townsfolk that they're a Satanic Cult responsible for the recent murders and all the horrible things that have happened in the previous years.

* WouldHurtAChild: As his manhunt continues he makes the rest of the Hellfire Club (which include younger teenagers and an unambiguous child) potential targets for violent death, even subtly warning Nancy that [[ImpliedDeathThreat he has no issue with harming her brother Mike due to his affiliation with the club]]. One of his cronies also physically assaults Erica, and Jason himself also tries to kill Lucas at the end in a misguided attempt to save Max.
* WrongGenreSavvy: He is correct in that something supernatural and evil is behind the latest string of killings in Hawkins, but he winds up believing that someone completely innocent is the one behind it all after falling for Satanic Panic fear mongering and a predisposition against outcasts cloud his judgement. Even more egregiously, he seems utterly convinced that ''he's'' the lead of this story, rallying the town around him and trusting his own judgement entirely, and very much acting in a manner that TheHero would, unaware that he's completely ignorant of everything that's really going on and how his interference is only making things harder.
** To put it shortly, he thinks he's a determined protagonist in a religious horror story about a Satanic cult, but really is a side character in a horror-adventure about a very different kind of supernatural.

** One thing he is surely right about is that there's something evil in the town doing the killings and the police don't want to believe it. He's just wrong that Eddie and the Hellfire Club are vessels for this evil.
* JerkJock: Downplayed. Even as he grows more violent and zealous, that's exactly what he becomes: violent and zealous in his revenge and WitchHunt; he never actually engages in the usual behaviors of a JerkJock of lording his position over others or bullying for the sake of bullying. Even when he gets physical, he clearly takes no pleasure in it. In fact, outside his speeches when he turns up the charisma, he seems to only display two emotions after Chrissy's death: anger and sadness. This gets pronounced after [[TraumaCongaLine Patrick's death]].

* KnightTemplar: With a heavy dose of BlackAndWhiteInsanity. After finding out Eddie was the prime suspect of Chrissy's murder, anyone remotely ''close'' to him is a valid target to be tortured.

** Much of his assumption that the Hellfire club are a cult is based entirely on him recalling vague claims that ''Dungeons and Dragons'' preaches Satanism and making sweeping assumptions. He doesn't know anything about their club or the game they play, nor does he appear to know much about cults or how they work, either, despite his WitchHunt against them. TruthInTelevision as SatanicPanic-style witch hunts are rarely carried out with a full understanding of the target, and mostly just fuelled by baseless assumptions from their imagery.
** This is pretty much how his crusade works in a nutshell. He is pretty convinced he knows exactly what's going on: Eddie is a Satanist who has gained demonic power thanks to playing ''Dungeons and Dragons'' and now him and his club are sacrificing teens around town as part of a ritual. He comes to this conclusion largely because Chrissy was killed at Eddie's trailer, unaware that no evidence actually proved Eddie did anything to her there (note, the police label him a person of interest, because for all they know he's a witness, not a killer); because Eddie is a "freak", unaware that Eddie is a NiceGuy without a violent bone in his body; because D&D has a reputation for Satanism, unaware that its misplaced hysteria; and because he witnessed clearly supernatural forces [[spoiler:kill his friend Patrick]] near Eddie, unaware that this is actually the work of a psychic killer in the Upside-Down. When he confronts Lucas, Lucas actually tries to explain TheMasquerade to him, but he ignores the parts that don't fit with what he's already decided is happening. He doesn't even appear to have known Chrissy particularly well, despite his claim, given he was oblivious to her depression and refused to believe anything was going on with her.

** His actions just end up causing more danger, which culminates in both [[spoiler:Max nearly dying and becoming comatose and his own death, as well as allowing Vecna to open his fourth portal and release the Upside-Down into the real world]].

* LoveMakesYouEvil: He organizes a WitchHunt against the innocent Eddie, believing that he is a Satanist who murdered his girlfriend Chrissy and then mutilated her corpse. Eventually he and his posse start buying guns, showing their lust for vengenace has taken them too far.
* LovingAShadow: While there's no doubt that Jason truly loved Chrissy with all of his heart (to the point of organizing a WitchHunt against a guy who's only crime was being a nonconformist), it's pretty clear he put Chrissy on a ''very'' high pedestal. He absolutely refuses to accept that Chrissy would "ever buy drugs", never once taking into consideration that there's a ''small possibility'' she would have. It can even be pointed out that Chrissy didn't tell him about what she was (unknowingly) cursed by Vecna ''and'' dealing with her trauma at home ''because'' of this trope.
* TheMillstone: He interrupts Lucas and Max when they're trying to lure out Vecna, starts fighting Lucas while Max is ensnared and destroys her cassette player in the scuffle, leaving Lucas with no way to save Max on his own.

* {{Expy}}: Chrissy's a high school student that appears perfect on the outside but is carrying all sorts of repressed issues and is killed by a supernatural entity which triggers the season's overarching plot, making her akin to [[Series/TwinPeaks Laura Palmer]].
** Her name can be a shortened version of Christina, the full name of Tina, the first victim of Freddie Kreuger in ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet'', who dies in a comparable manner.

* NiceGirl: In spite of her psychological issues stemming from her abusive mom (and Vecna), she seems like an overall pleasant girl, and even befriends Eddie when she's trying to buy drugs from him.
* OddFriendship: Chrissy - a popular cheerleader - forms one with Eddie, a nerdy garage guitarist and stoner.

* SheepInSheepsClothing: Eddie said he expected her to be more intimidating given her popularity, she said she [[LonersAreFreaks thought the]] [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer same about him.]] The fact she was so quickly at ease with him proved she was more open-minded than Jason.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Her PlotTriggeringDeath sets off the events of Season 4. Chrissy ended up a highly popular cosplay choice.
* StepfordSmiler: Is very kind but clearly suffers from trauma. The only person she confided in was Eddie and that's purely because he supplied her with drugs to take the edge off. Chrissy never told Jason about her issues, which given his HairTriggerTemper opens up the possibility she was somewhat afraid of him.

* AffablyEvil: A perfect mix of this and FauxAffablyEvil depending on when the mood calls for it. Jason stands up for his teammates to rough play at the basketball games, shows genuine concern for Lucas at his hangover when the latter is sick and does truly care for others. However, he has just enough charisma to manipulate people and act kind to bring them to his side. Good examples are with him "not pressuring Lucas" to join their search, his speech at town hall or his scene with Nancy in the gun store.
* AlasPoorVillain: With everything the guy suffered, [[spoiler:including losing ''two'' people close to him to Vecna, having to witness the second one be murdered right in front of him and his genuine misguided beliefs (although with inexcusable actions), it's difficult not to feel some pity at his death. To say nothing of the utterly horrifying manner of his death.]] [[https://www.indiewire.com/2022/07/caleb-mclaughlin-stranger-things-4-spoilers-1234739587/ Even Caleb McLaughlin feels sorry for him.]]

* ArchEnemy: Jason already has it out for Eddie at the start of the season. This only gets kicked into overdrive when it looks as if Eddie murdered his beloved Chrissy.
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:While one can pity the trauma that led to his actions, he was still a violent VigilanteMan who tried to kill teenagers due to SatanicPanic fuelled violent prejudice. Not to mention his grisly death came down to his own fault.]]

* BigManOnCampus: He's the most popular guy in school, dating the most popular girl in school, and captain of a basketball team on a winning streak. It shows the esteem he holds throughout Hawkins that he's allowed to deliver lengthy speeches at school rallies and town meeting while even the adults listen astutely to what he has to say.

* BrokenPedestal: He was this to Lucas, who longed to be normal. He later calls normal “crazy”.

* ChurchgoingVillain: Jason represents the "wholesome", "Christian values" side of America, ready to support himself with Biblical quotes and to interpret the events in Hawkins through a religious right lens (slightly downplayed, as he's not explicitly ''shown'' as a church frequenter, but that still stands out in comparison to overally secular cast of the series).

* CrazyJealousGuy: Implied, A big reason he refuses to accept that Chrissy was at Eddie's trailer for a drug deal is because he can't deal with the fact that she would go to Eddie instead of him if she was having troubles.

* CrusadingWidow: Is motivated for revenge from the minute he finds out his girlfriend was murdered, and the police lets out who the primary suspect is. [[spoiler: After Patrick dies, it only furthers his quest for revenge.]]

** Of TheHero, and of AmateurSleuth characters like Archie from ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' and several characters from ''Series/ThirteenReasonsWhy''. He certainly seems to ''think'' he is this, and so do many others, but the only things he appears to be good at are basketball and self-indulgent speeches, none of which makes him a good detective, yet he still believes he has the right to lead his friends on a manhunt. That, and his "investigation" basically amounts to vigilante justice, torturing Eddie's friends for information, and presumably planning to ''murder'' Eddie. Even after witnessing some of the supernatural events firsthand he still winds up being completely ''wrong'' about what's going on, demonstrating how easy it actually is for youths with no proper investigation training to come to wrongful conclusions based on the "evidence" they obtain. Jason is basically what these types of characters would be like in real life: biased, irrational, entitled, manipulative, vindictive, and completely out of their depth.
** He also makes an excellent deconstruction of the Paladin opposed to Eddie's Bard. He's charismatic, able to lead his friends to victory through inspiration and obviously cares deeply about his town. He's also completely fearless, which includes the fear of being wrong, and his ''quest to avenge his murdered lover'' overrules his sense of reason [[spoiler: and ultimately gets him killed.]]
** He also serves a a thorough deconstruction of the VigilanteMan, as he's portrayed not as a noble crusader doing what's necessary for the safety for the common good, but as a stark-raving lunatic whose single-minded obsession with {{revenge}} is getting a lot of innocent people caught in the crossfire.
* DrivenToVillainy: The thing about Jason is that he's presented as a mostly decent fellow, kind to friends and a pillar of society, with perhaps a smattering of rather low-level flaws such as perhaps a distrust of socially deviant types and not enough empathy to clue in on dark secrets of those close to him. Then, of course, Chrissy's murder occurs and these flaws form a really nasty synergy with his anger and sorrow; and ''then'', he witnesses [[spoiler:Patrick's death in a genuinely supernatural manner]] and buys completely into SatanicPanic in an attempt to make sense of everything he's seen (albeit in a way that will still let ''him'' be TheHero).

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first episode hints at his later villainous traits multiple times. He shows himself as a loving boyfriend to Chrissy, but doesn't actually spend any time with her, [[LovingAShadow or at least not enough to know about her struggles]]. He gives a moving speech to students of Hawkins High School, establishing himself as a pretty friendly individual with excellent public speaking skills... who has zero qualms using the deaths of the first three seasons in an attempt to motivate his team. While Jason's speech is meant to honor them, it's still rather insensitive, especially when he brings up Billy's name, much to Max's discomfort. And lastly, he shows poor leadership skills and planning during the basketball game, and [[WrongGenreSavvy acts more like a quarterback than a team captain.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Genuinely loved Chrissy and was devastated by her death. His entire goal through the season is to avenge her murder. He also genuinely cares for his basketball friends, especially Patrick, as shown by [[spoiler:his reaction to his death.]]

* {{Expy}}: He appears to be a parody of Archie from ''Series/{{Riverdale}}''. He's the captain of his sport's team, is dating the head cheerleader, gives multiple grandiose speeches, and engages in vigilante justice with his friends.

** Pride. So much pride. Jason’s [[spoiler: brutal undoing]] would likely not have happened if he had learned to swallow his pride and stopped playing hero and just listened to those around him.

** To Eddie Munson. The pair are subtly set up as rivals in the first episode of Season 4, at different ends of the social spectrum. Both are leaders of their respective cliques, and are prone to grandious speeches. But while Eddie gives off the perception of being a harsh, unreasonable taskmaster, he's actually friendly, considerate, and cares a great deal about those who he takes under his wing. Jason, on the other hand, expresses a friendly demeanor but masks his darker impulses. Eddie may indulge in things like D&D and Heavy Metal, but he clearly doesn't see them as anything more than fun things that bring them together, whereas Jason legitimately buys into the SatanicPanic lines about them. What's more, people follow Eddie because they want to, whereas they follow Jason because of his position on the basketball team and due to his bullying. Note how in the climax Eddie's main weapons are a guitar and a shield, while Jason uses a gun.
** He's also one to Steve Harrington. Both were [[JerkJock jerk jocks]] who ran with an unsavory crew that undermined the efforts of the heroes. But Steve grew to be the better man, realizing when he was in the wrong and distanced himself from the toxic influences in his life. Jason on the other hand gives into his darker impulses [[spoiler: his recklessness eventually leading to his death.]]

* IRejectYourReality: He simply won't accept the fact that Chrissy was indeed trying to buy drugs from Eddie; he considers the mere idea as an attempt by the cops at smearing Chrissy's character, and finds it easier to believe that she was with Eddie because she was kidnapped to be sacrificed in some "satanic" ritual. This is in-part rooted in his ItsAllAboutMe mentality, as he refuses to believe that Chrissy was suffering because if she was, she'd have gone to ''him'', and thus she couldn't possibly have had any problems. When it’s clear he won’t listen to reason during the climax, Lucas fights him.

** As noted under WrongGenreSavvy, he clearly believes himself to be the hero of the piece, which makes it rather ironic how [[spoiler:sudden and unceremonious his death is.]] Despite thinking he was the savior Hawkins needed, he ended up a mere footnote in the grand scheme of things.
** He manages to get what he wanted [[spoiler:when Eddie dies in the final episode of Season 4. And then Jason himself dies almost immediately after.]]

** While he's completely wrong in his assumptions, the evidence he witnesses does corroborate with what he believes, such as when his friend is killed by Vecna before his eyes right as they have Eddie cornered (and thus, makes it appear Eddie has supernatural powers and killed him) or when he corners Lucas while Max is in a trance, the two apparently performing a ritual. Downplayed, as Lucas later tries to explain that Vecna is the one doing the killing, which he seems to believe, but because he's already convinced Lucas, Eddie, and Hellfire are cultists, he assumes Vecna is the being they worship and doesn't let Lucas explain that they're trying to ''stop'' him.

* ToxicFriendInfluence: Most of Steve's poor behavior is due to Tommy's hateful influence. He eventually comes to realize that Tommy and Carol only serve to bring out the worst in him. Steven undergoes a lot of character development as Tommy and Carol's influence on him fades.

** He does more to further Vecna's plans than Eddie ever did, due to [[spoiler:breaking Max's walkman and briefly causing her death, which is enough to count as a fourth sacrifice that allows the Upside Down to begin spilling into Hawkins.]]

* LethallyStupid: His actions just end up causing more danger, which culminates in both [[spoiler:Max nearly dying and becoming comatose and his own death, as well as allowing Vecna to open his fourth portal and release the Upside-Down into the real world]].

* ObliviouslyEvil: Let's reiterate. He's convinced himself there's a murderous Satanic cult in town and that it's up to him to take action. He honestly sees himself as a hero.

* AlphaBitch: Subverted, Eddie said he expected her to be more intimidating given her popularity, she said she [[LonersAreFreaks thought the]] [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer same about him.]] The fact she was so quickly at ease with him proved she was more open-minded than Jason.

* SmallRoleBigImpact / PlotTriggeringDeath: Her death sets off the events of Season 4. Chrissy ended up a highly popular cosplay choice.

A douchebag
* Jerkass: The worst out of the group.

* DrivenToVillainy: The thing about Jason is that he's presented as a mostly decent fellow, kind to friends and a pillar of society, with perhaps a smattering of rather low-level flaws such as perhaps a distrust of socially deviant types and not enough empathy to clue in on dark secrets of those close to him. Then, of course, Chrissy's murder occurs and these flaws form a really nasty synergy with his anger and sorrow.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of TheHero, and of AmateurSleuth characters like Archie from ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' and several characters from ''Series/ThirteenReasonsWhy''. He certainly seems to ''think'' he is this, and so do many others, but the only things he appears to be good at are basketball and self-indulgent speeches, none of which makes him a good detective, yet he still believes he has the right to lead his friends on a manhunt. That, and his "investigation" basically amounts to vigilante justice, torturing Eddie's friends for information, and presumably planning to ''murder'' Eddie. Even after witnessing some of the supernatural events firsthand he still winds up being completely ''wrong'' about what's going on, demonstrating how easy it actually is for youths with no proper investigation training to come to wrongful conclusions based on the "evidence" they obtain. Jason is basically what these types of characters would be like in real life: biased, irrational, entitled, manipulative, vindictive, and completely out of their depth.

* {{Hypocrite}}: In Season 3, Kline is constantly trying to promote American patriotism within Hawkins as part of the general Fourth of July celebrations. Considering he's actually conspiring with agents of the Soviet Union, Kline is the absolute ''last'' person to celebrating and encouraging it.

* CorruptPolitician: He's a seemingly folksy and unpretentious politician whose friendly demeanor and warm smile are just cover for his rapacious {{greed}}; he knows full well that his approval of [[PredatoryBusinesses that new mall]] is crushing the townsfolk by driving small companies out of business, but instead of doing anything to address the protestors' concerns, he just calls the cops on them. [[spoiler: And that's BEFORE we find out he's colluding with the Soviet government.]]

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:A dismissive misogynist who gets brutally knocked out and taken to the Mind Flayer by ''[[AndIMustScream his own daughter]]''.]]

[[Characters/StrangerThingsMainCast Main Cast]] ([[Characters/StrangerThingsSteveHarrington Steve Harrington]] | [[Characters/StrangerThingsBillyHargrove Billy Hargrove]] | [[Characters/StrangerThingsRobinBuckley Robin Buckley]]) | [[Characters/StrangerThingsTheParty The Party]] ([[Characters/StrangerThingsEleven Eleven]]) | [[Characters/StrangerThingsSupportingCast Supporting Cast]] | '''Hawkins''' | [[Characters/StrangerThingsHawkinsNationalLaboratory Hawkins National Laboratory]] | [[Characters/StrangerThingsTheUpsideDown The Upside Down]] ([[Characters/StrangerThingsTheMindFlayer The Mind Flayer]] | [[Characters/StrangerThingsVecna Vecna]]) | [[Characters/StrangerThingsOutsiders Outsiders]]-]]]]]