History Characters / StrangerThingsHawkins

[[Characters/StrangerThingsMainCast Main Cast]] ([[Characters/StrangerThingsSteveHarrington Steve Harrington]] | [[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]]-]]]]]

!!!'''Played By:''' Grace Van Dien

!!!'''Played By:''' Mason Dye

* LezBro: He is friendly with [[LipstickLesbian Robin]], having been on the fringes of Hawkins High School society together.

** By the end of Season 4, Jason has deep eye bags, showing that he has been unable to sleep in the prior few days, furthering the idea that he is truly motivated in a misguided drive to avenge [[spoiler:Chrissy and Patrick]] rather than pure malice.

* FatalFlaw: 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.

* {{Irony}}: 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.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Somehow manages to make the multiple horrific deaths in Hawkins about...how important it is for the Tigers to win a basketball game. He also quickly makes Chrissy's death all about how ''he'' needs to hunt down Eddie--ostensibly to "help" the cops, but it's clear that Jason actually just wants to get there first so he can get what he believes is revenge. This is to the point he refuses to believe Chrissy was actually buying drugs from Eddie because he refuses to believe she was suffering and needed help, believing with 100% certainty that she would have turned to him if she was.

* 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.]]

* {{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 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.

[[Characters/StrangerThingsMainCast Main Cast]] ([[Characters/StrangerThingsSteveHarrington Steve Harrington]]) | [[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]]-]]]]]

* SempaiKohai: 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).

[[Characters/StrangerThingsMainCast Main Cast]] | [[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]]-]]]]]

->'''Played By:''' Rob Morgan

->'''Played By:''' John Reynolds

->'''Played By:''' Susan Shalhoub Larkin

->'''Played By:''' Chester Rushing

->'''Played By:''' Chelsea Talmadge

->'''Played By:''' Grace Van Dien

->'''Played By:''' Mason Dye

->'''Jeff Played By:''' Trey Best
->'''Gareth Played By:''' Gwydion Lashlee-Walton
->'''Freak #1 Played By:''' Grant Goodman

%% [[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
->'''Played By:''' Logan Riley Bruner

->'''Played By:''' Miles Truitt

->'''Played By:''' Amybeth [=McNulty=]

->'''Played By:''' Randall P. Havens

->'''Played By:''' Peyton Wich

->'''Played By:''' Cade Jones

%%[[caption-width-right:250:some caption text]]

->'''Played By:''' Sydney Bullock

->'''Played By:''' Creator/CaryElwes

%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]

->'''Played By:''' Caroline Arapoglou

->'''Played By:''' Michael Park

%%[[caption-width-right:250:some caption text]]

->'''Played By:''' Holly Morris

->'''Played By:''' Francesca Reale

->'''Played By:''' Creator/JakeBusey

* JerkAss: Every scene of his is spent bullying/demeaning Nancy with childish pranks and misogynistic comments.

->'''Played By:''' Creator/RobertEnglund, Creator/KevinLJohnson (young)

%%[[caption-width-right:250:some caption text]]

-> '''Played By:''' Creator/TynerRushing

-> '''Played By:''' Creator/LiviBurch

->'''Played By:''' Chris Sullivan

->'''Played By:''' Creator/MattyCardarople

->'''Played By:''' Peggy Miley

->'''Played By:''' Dan Triandiflou

* OneMarioLimit: Downplayed; his name is similar to that character Freddie Benson from Series/{{iCarly}}.

* NamesTheSame: As Freddie Benson from Series/{{iCarly}}.

* 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]].

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: His entire quest 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.]]

* JerkAss: An arrogant, sleazy asshole who is willing to stoop as low as insulting Hopper over his dead daughter.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: To the public, he's the beloved mayor of Hawkins who will happily take pictures and play carnival games with his fellow citizens. Behind the curtain, he's a sleazy, corrupt JerkAss who snorts coke, commits adultery with his secretary, and has secret connections with [[spoiler:the Russians]].

* PoisonousFriend: It doesn't take him long to try spiking Steve's relationship with Nancy. For what looks suspiciously like the giggles. Begs the question of just how much of their relationship is for the lulz on his end.

* PoisonousFriend: If Nancy thought she could eventually be, if not fast friends, than at least friendly with this little viper, she was horribly mistaken. But, Steve was the most mistaken of all.

[[folder: Corroded Coffin]]

* RealMenWearPink: A WWII Veteran and StandardFiftiesFather who not only wasn't affected by the toxic masculine standards of his generation but his favorite song is the romantic "Dream A Little Dream of Me".

* 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. Cue Upside Down portal and all the monstrusities that hail from there. Yes, this lady may singlehandedly [[SmallRoleBigImpact be the cause for the entire plot of the series]], {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and all]].

* {{Nerd}}: They're as passionate about [=DnD=] as Eddie is.

* {{Nerd}}: He's rather slovenly, suffers from eczema, is seen munching on junk food constantly and his two jobs are both considered nerdy.

** 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 Eddie and the Hellfire Club are vessels for this evil.

* 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.)

* AntiVillain: While he leads the basketball team in a man hunt for Eddie so they can kill him, he's got an understandable motive in that his girlfriend was murdered and Eddie is the prime suspect. Chrissy did die horribly in Eddie's trailer, and Jason doesn't know about any of the evidence that shows it wasn't possible for Eddie to have done it. Although his pre-existing dislike and prejudice is clearly a factor in why he latches onto Eddie so strongly, and he ignores any evidence he's presented with that doesn't line up with his beliefs. In his mind, though, he is genuinely TheHero trying to rid their town of a violent and unstable cult-leading lunatic, [[WrongGenreSavvy unaware that he's just a minor antagonist]] or that [[{{Hypocrite}} he's the violent and unstable one]].

* SmallRoleBigImpact / PlotTriggeringDeath: Her death sets off the events of Season 4.