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| 3 | %%No putting tropes in spoiler titles per Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers. If a trope name is too spoilerific, pothole it in another trope or don't list it at all. |
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| 6 | %%Zero-context examples are not allowed on wiki pages. All such examples have been commented out. Please add proper context before uncommenting them. Examples must explain *how* they are examples. |
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| 9 | %%Articles like "a", "an" and "the" aren't counted for alphabetization. |
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| 12 | |
| 13 | |
| 14 | [[WMG:[[center:[-''Series/StrangerThings'' '''[[Characters/StrangerThings Main Character Index]]'''\ |
| 15 | Main Cast ([[Characters/StrangerThingsTheParty The Party]] | [[Characters/StrangerThingsAdults Adults]] | [[Characters/StrangerThingsTeens Teens]]) | '''Supporting Cast''' | [[Characters/StrangerThingsHawkins Hawkins]] | [[Characters/StrangerThingsHawkinsNationalLaboratory Hawkins National Laboratory]] | [[Characters/StrangerThingsTheUpsideDown The Upside Down]] | [[Characters/StrangerThingsOutsiders Outsiders]]-]]]]] |
| 16 | |
| 17 | The supporting characters of ''Series/StrangerThings''. Beware of spoilers. |
| 18 | ---- |
| 19 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | !!Wheeler Family |
| 22 | |
| 23 | [[folder:General]] |
| 24 | |
| 25 | * ABoyAGirlAndABabyFamily: The Wheeler kids consist of Mike, Nancy, and their baby sister Holly. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[/folder]] |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[folder:Karen Wheeler]] |
| 30 | !!Karen Wheeler |
| 31 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/karensf.png]] |
| 32 | !!!'''Played By:''' Creator/CaraBuono |
| 33 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E1ChapterOneTheVanishingOfWillByers Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers]]" (1x01) |
| 34 | |
| 35 | ->''"I want you to feel like you can talk to me."'' |
| 36 | |
| 37 | Mike and Nancy's mother. A housewife who serves as the voice of concern for her son and daughter, though only within the confines of their home. |
| 38 | ---- |
| 39 | * SeventiesHair: The blown out wings she sports in Season 1 are very much a holdover from the 1970s (likely around the time Mike started grade school, judging by the Farrah Fawcett-esque influence). |
| 40 | * EightiesHair: In Season 2 she sports a frosted, hair-sprayed edifice. Season 3 shows her with very teased, blown out, curled hair, even in a ponytail. Come Season 4, she sports a crispy, even more bleached-blonde 'ramen noodle' perm, complete with an Olivia Newton-John-esque sweatband. |
| 41 | * AdvertisedExtra: Karen is officially considered part of the main cast in the opening credits, despite never playing a major role in an episode. |
| 42 | * TheAllegedCar: Her Mercury Colony Park station wagon is...fully compliant with the LawOfNarrativeCausality, in a way that's utterly realistic to people who've dealt with that final generation of carbureted cars. |
| 43 | * AwfulWeddedLife: She is bored and frustrated in a marriage where her husband doesn't appreciate the things she does around the house to keep things organized, doesn't help her with disciplining the children or spending time with them, doesn't notice her enough to see she changed her hair, and leaves the bulk of duties to her. |
| 44 | * BettyAndVeronica: The [[MrsRobinson Veronica]] to [[GirlNextDoor Heather's]] Betty for [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Billy's]] Archie, because she knows she shouldn't given into her attraction to him on account of being married with a family. [[spoiler:Which gets flipped the opposite way when Heather becomes the Veronica after being possessed by the Mind Flayer and Karen becomes the Betty as Billy still wants to protect her.]] |
| 45 | * BlondeRepublicanSexKitten: Implied. In Season 2 she has lightened and curled her hair and is implied to be voting Republican what with the Reagan/Bush '84 sign on their front yard. She also talks favorably about British Conservative Prime Minister UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher on the phone with a friend. |
| 46 | * BrainyBrunette: She starts off the series with meticulously styled brown SeventiesHair that gets lighter and lighter as the series goes on and is proven to be a very intelligent woman who is frustrated with her role and that she was never taken seriously. |
| 47 | * DistractedByTheSexy: Becomes flustered and hilariously nervous when she meets Billy. Didn't help that his shirt was unbuttoned enough to expose his chiseled pecs and abs. |
| 48 | * EveryoneCanSeeIt: Oblivious, home-bound, LockedOutOfTheLoop Karen can easily see there is chemistry between Hopper and Joyce. |
| 49 | * EveryoneHasStandards: Though she's tolerant of her useless husband to some extent, Karen is absolutely disgusted when Ted suggests right in front of Lucas and Dustin's parents that the members of The Party and Hellfire should be arrested to "teach them a lesson". Especially considering that ''their own children'' are involved with said club. |
| 50 | * ExpositoryHairstyleChange: She has a casual dress for the home, albeit one that is suitable for the cover of homemaker magazines, and with elaborate and voluminous hair. Hair that gets more teased, curled, frosted, and styled as time goes on to emphasize an inner fire coming out. |
| 51 | * {{Foil}}: To Joyce. A colder, still-married, and more stable mother that stays at home to watch her kids and who, despite her best efforts, has a hard time getting involved with the broader narrative. |
| 52 | * GirlinessUpgrade: In the first Season, she typically wears plaid shirts and sensible slacks, but come Season 2, she sports a frosted, coiffed 80s hairdo, more make-up, and a more feminine wardrobe (pussycat bow blouses, pencil skirts etc). She also has a fairly fanservicey bathtub scene, where she greets a delighted Billy on her doorstep in a flowy, sexy bathrobe. Whilst she was undoubtedly pretty in Season 1, she goes full on StacysMom in Season 2. Season 3 upgrades it even ''further'' with her in bold makeup matching a figure-hugging swimsuit, looking utterly like a movie star or star of [[Series/Glow2017 another Netflix show set in the 1980s]]. |
| 53 | * GoodParents: She tries to reach out to both of her children, especially after Will's disappearance. |
| 54 | * HappyMarriageCharade: Her and Ted, according to Nancy, married out of convenience rather than [[MarryForLove love]]. Season 2 drives further the point that Ted and Karen are definitely not on the same page. Season 3 even has her nearly cheating on Ted with Billy. |
| 55 | * HiddenDepths: |
| 56 | ** It's implied that she used to be closer to Mike and Nancy, but they've grown distant from each other. She does care deeply for them. |
| 57 | ** She picks a lock with a hairpin, suggesting that she might have been something of a FormerTeenRebel. |
| 58 | ** ''Rebel Robin'' showcases Karen (through Robin's eyes as she worked at Melvald's) as a resentful, vain housewife who resents her children and pines for her glory days in high school as a popular beauty, telling Robin to enjoy her youth. The book perhaps has the most negative new of her. |
| 59 | ** In season 3, she tenderly comforts Mike and Nancy when they're distraught, and provides the latter with genuinely good advice. Her talk to Nancy also implies that she once tried to make it in the world, but was eventually beaten down. She also [[spoiler: is ultimately unable to go through with cheating on her husband]]. |
| 60 | * HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: She once found Ted to be a desirable choice to spend almost 20 years in a marriage, and still found Billy to be a desirable option even after witnessing him publicly humiliate an overweight child. |
| 61 | * ICouldaBeenAContender: When she talks to Nancy about her struggles at the Hawkins Post, it's implied that she likely struggled with trying to make her mark on the world while feeling beat down by the misogynistic attitudes of her day. |
| 62 | * INeedAFreakingDrink: Especially in Season One, she is often seen with a glass of something in her hand, likely due to the monotony and her dissatisfaction with her marriage. |
| 63 | * IfYouThoughtThatWasBad: Sure, she's worried about Mike [[spoiler:when the government agents kick her door in, looking for the boys and Eleven; what she doesn't know is that they have little to no inconvenience killing people that are tangentially in contact with the girl. Had the scrubs and agents not been preoccupied with locating the kids, Karen and Ted might have not come out alive and kicking]]. |
| 64 | * LadyInAPowerSuit: Is seen wearing a boxy (fashionable for 1986) blue suit in Season 4 as she tries to look for Nancy and the other kids after a town hall meeting goes wrong. |
| 65 | * LadyInRed: Season 3 shows her wearing more red lipstick, likely emphasizing her bolder personality and the beginning of her coming out of her shell. The flowy dress and cleavage-enhancing lingerie she wears to meet Billy for an aborted rendezvous are red. Season 1 has her in a red sweater for Christmastime that is figure-hugging without being revealing and Season 2 has her in a red pussycat bow blouse and later a revealing plush red robe when she comes out of the tub to meet Billy. |
| 66 | * LipstickAndLoadMontage: As seen in Season 3's opener, where prior to meeting up with Billy for some fun at a local motel, we see her at her dressing table applying some very vampish makeup and teasing her hair out — all whilst "Died in Your Arms" by Cutting Crew sets the mood. |
| 67 | * LockedOutOfTheLoop: She's visibly frustrated at the fact that her children don't talk to her. This leads her to seriously underestimate how deeply in trouble they are. |
| 68 | * MamaBear: |
| 69 | ** While not as prominent as Joyce, she was extremely frustrated and vocal when Brenner and Connie refused to tell her the details when her son was in danger. While not particularly insightful, she is shown to be a very doting parent. |
| 70 | ** When Nancy tearfully confides in her about the misogynistic harassment she had received at the Hawkins Post, Karen gets really pissed off and tells Nancy to continue with the story she's trying to pursue and pretty much refers to those guys as "shitheads". |
| 71 | ** In Season 4, she extends it to her kids' friends, especially after it appears the Hellfire Club maybe the target of angry reactionaries and defending Mike that he is not a murderer or a cultist. When she sees him again, she states she doesn't want to be separated again from him. |
| 72 | ** When the Upside Down takes over Hawkins, causing a earthquake, she runs to the aid and protection of a hysterical Holly and shields her with her body. |
| 73 | * MoralityPet: To Billy. He shows a more human, charming side when he's flirting with her and seems genuinely nervous when he's on the brink of hooking up with her. Even more importantly, he even manages to stop himself, albeit briefly, from taking her to the Mind Flayer. Although that means his aggression is aimed at Heather. |
| 74 | * MrsRobinson: While she ultimately decides to not follow through with it, there's no mistake that she has ''major'' hots for Billy, who is roughly her daughter Nancy's age. |
| 75 | * MsFanservice: Completely graduates into this role in Season 3, with her swimsuit scenes, glamour-girl makeup and figure-hugging wardrobe, as well as a (spoof) workout video used to promote the new season. |
| 76 | * NiceGirl: Brings food to Joyce in Season 1's third episode, and attempts to comfort her despite her off-putting and frantic behavior. She also possibly [[spoiler: bought Will an Atari for Christmas in the finale, seeing how Joyce could hardly afford something like that.]] |
| 77 | * ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife: Robin in ''Rebel Robin'' sees her as one when Karen bosses (with a smile) a bag boy over how he is packing things wrong, thinking that Karen is comfortable treating him like a servant. She is also shown to be blind to the struggles of less popular children like Robin and focuses a lot on weight and beauty. |
| 78 | * OutOfFocus: Despite still receiving main character billing, Karen has very little screen time or plot significance in Season 2 and despite getting her own poster for Season 4, she has little screen time. |
| 79 | * ParentalHypocrisy: She gets angry with Nancy after finding out she slept with Steve in Season One, looking disapproving of either premarital sex or her underage daughter having sex in general. But then later she is checking out a teenage boy at the pool with other bored housewives and intended to cheat on her husband. |
| 80 | * ParentalObliviousness: Doesn't realize that Mike is hiding Eleven in their basement, and ascribes any of his odd behavior solely to missing Will. By the time of episode seven of season three, she's lost complete track of two of her kids, guessing they're probably off with friends and justifying her lack of knowledge as "it's summer!". |
| 81 | * ParentsAsPeople: |
| 82 | ** She's loving, but her hesitation and obviously in-over-my-head-ness when it comes her older kids have helped build up walls between them all; they all know, but don't discuss it. |
| 83 | ** We get a downplayed, but nonetheless still very evident story of a frustrated woman going through an attempt to both improve herself (in a very 80s way) and add a little spice to what she considers her tediously dull life now that her kids don't apparently need her to pump her energy into them as much. She doesn't go through with full-on adultery, but an oblivious Ted still has a rocky marriage on his hands. The irony is... she'd jump at the chance to get closer to her older kids by being let into the loop and probably has skills she could use to help them, but they don't see that anymore than Ted lets himself spot her makeover rebellion for what it is. |
| 84 | * ParentsKnowTheirChildren: She immediately picks up that Nancy is visibly altered by something that happened during her get-together (as Nancy just had her first sexual experience with Steve). She knows that something is obviously wrong, only that she cannot pinpoint what. Later, Nancy does confess because of Barb's disappearance. |
| 85 | * PinkIsFeminine: She is frequently seen in different shades of pink throughout the series, shades that grow from pastels to bold saturated "shocking" looks highlighting both her femininity, the changing fashions, and her HiddenDepths. |
| 86 | * SexlessMarriage: Ted and Karen's marriage is implied to be this by an offhanded remark Mike makes while showing Eleven around his house on her first morning there that the Lay-Z-Boy chair is "where my dad sleeps." This has to be a fairly recent development, though, as they have a three-year-old daughter. |
| 87 | * SkewedPriorities: Briefly slips into this when she learns Steve and Nancy slept together. Nancy calls her out on worrying about that when Barb has completely vanished and Karen clearly realizes her mistake immediately and visibly kicks herself. |
| 88 | * UglyGuyHotWife: Look at Karen, then look at her husband. There's a discrepancy there. Nancy somewhat bitterly analyzes her parents' relationship as a MarriageOfConvenience, with Karen as the younger TrophyWife and Ted as the older partner providing the money; the discrepancy gets larger over the next seasons where her look get's more glammed up and her clothes reveal more of her figure while he looks as schlumpy as before. |
| 89 | * UnfulfilledPurposeMisery: In Season 3, she partially admits to Nancy that she had her own ambitions (not detailed) but she was shut down by the misogyny and self-doubt of her youth that she just gave up and gave in to her traditional role as a wife and mother. This is another reason for why she feels so bored and frustrated. |
| 90 | * WeightWoe: In ''Rebel Robin'' she openly envies Robin's ability to eat candy and stay slim, with emphasis on Karen's "Jazzercise-toned stomach", showcasing that Karen has to maintain a strict diet and exercise regimen to stay trim as she was before having children. |
| 91 | [[/folder]] |
| 92 | |
| 93 | [[folder:Ted Wheeler]] |
| 94 | !!Theodore "Ted" Wheeler |
| 95 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stranger_thingspng.jpg]] |
| 96 | !!!'''Played By:''' Creator/JoeChrest |
| 97 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E1ChapterOneTheVanishingOfWillByers Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers]]" (1x01) |
| 98 | |
| 99 | ->''"This is our government. They're on our side."'' |
| 100 | |
| 101 | Mike and Nancy's extremely laid-back and removed father. |
| 102 | ---- |
| 103 | * FiftiesHair: Perhaps to emphasize his Reagan support, his age, and how distant his family feels around him, he wears this style to reflect how stagnant this view of the world and his priorities are in a modern world that has, more or less, moved on from a strict view of families and what it means to be an American. This is in contrast to the family he emotionally neglects who wear Seventies and Eighties style hairstyles. |
| 104 | * AdultsAreUseless: The most prominent example in the show. He's useless whenever the family gets into an argument, speaks in lame baseball metaphors to a son who couldn't be less interested in sports, and instantly believes everything the government cover-up team tells him. Lampshaded in this exchange from "Dig Dug", when Dustin attempts to ask him where both of his children (who have been gone for ''days'') are; |
| 105 | -->'''Dustin:''' Son of a bitch. You're really no help at all, you know that? |
| 106 | -->'''Ted:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Hey, LANGUAGE!]] |
| 107 | * BigEater: He often is more absorbed in his food than anything serious going on, whether it's his children arguing or in danger. |
| 108 | * DeadpanSnarker: A deconstructed version, as Season 4 emphasizes his ability to quip dry one-liners at the expense of his kids or his kids' friends (to the embarrassment of Karen). This also annoys the other parents of the Party when he carelessly implies that they should be threatened with jail time. |
| 109 | * DemotedToExtra: Appears only twice in Season 3, and only has dialogue in one scene. His car (the silver-gray Pontiac Bonneville Model G) has never been seen anywhere in the entire series except parked in the driveway). |
| 110 | * DissonantSerenity: No matter how crazy things get, Ted doesn't let that get to him. The guy just doesn't care; it's as simple as that. |
| 111 | * TheDragAlong: He doesn't act out of his own initiative, though it goes beyond the apparent. It's implied that Karen's apparent inaction towards their children is due to Ted talking her out of her concerns. |
| 112 | * DumbassHasAPoint: It's clear that he is not the most curious or intellectual man, but his hunch in Season 1 that the weird events surrounding Hawkins lab may have something to do with the Soviets [[spoiler: more or less comes true, when the Soviets attempt to reopen the gate in Hawkins]]. |
| 113 | * EveryoneCanSeeIt: Even oblivious, incurious, dense, mediocre ''Ted'' can see there is chemistry between Joyce and Hopper, despite him not realizing there is no chemistry between him and his own wife. When Karen notes Joyce and Hopper make an odd couple, Ted remarks "there's always one for everyone", putting his hand on his wife's shoulder, which causes her to roll her eyes in annoyance. |
| 114 | * EveryoneHasStandards: Even Ted, for all his faults, finds it absurd that the news media even suggested that Eddie and the Hellfire Club could somehow be responsible for the "earthquake", meaning he's not paranoid enough to be a part of the infamous "Satanic Panic" of the 80s demonstrated throughout ''Stranger Things 4''. |
| 115 | * TheFriendNobodyLikes: A family example. His wife is angry and dismissive of him (and is tempted to cheat on him), his daughter rolls her eyes at him, his son can tell his attempts at talking with him are hollow. The only one who seems to hold any regard for him is the youngest child (and that's likely because she's too young to even consider her parents are flawed). Even the other neighbourhood parents don't seem to like him much and find him obnoxious. |
| 116 | * GoodCounterpart: To Lonnie Byers. Ted is a lot less charming and personable, but he's also a completely genuine individual who actively provides for his family and while he's undeniably distant, in his own way he does make an effort to be there for his loved ones. In short, [[BumblingDad he's more obliviously doing a half-hearted 50s dad thing]] than being [[ParentalNeglect outright neglectful]]. |
| 117 | * HandsOffParenting: If Ted was remotely more invested in the plights of his kids, Eleven would have been found out sooner. He seems to leave most of the parenting duties to Karen, only really contributing with the occasional admonishing comment, and always only at her overt insistence. |
| 118 | * HappyMarriageCharade: Him and Karen, according to Nancy, married out of convenience rather than [[MarryForLove love]]. Season 2 drives further the point that Ted and Karen are definitely not on the same page. |
| 119 | * InnocentlyInsensitive: |
| 120 | ** Or at least close to that. He asks his son if he'd jump off a cliff if his friends did so in Season 2. Considering that he ''did'' jump off a cliff ''to save his friend'' in Season 1 and is only alive because of Eleven... |
| 121 | ** In Season 4, this is more serious as he makes remarks about Mike being in a cult despite the severity of the situation and then makes a comment about how the kids need to spend time in jail to be taught a lesson. The fact that he's not taking the situation seriously rightfully gets on everyone's nerves. |
| 122 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's snarky and quick to make dismissive remarks towards his kids and their friends (especially Dustin, who's not afraid to dish it right back), but he does show at various points that he at least genuinely loves his family at the end of the day, which is more than can be said for some other dads on the show like Max and Billy's or Will and Jonathan's. |
| 123 | * LazyHusband: When he isn't making clueless remarks and asides, he is often asleep on his chair in the living room, which pisses Karen off, especially when she's taking a bubble bath by candlelight whilst reading a romance novel and listening to Streisand -- and the doorbell rings. |
| 124 | ** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] – the chair is a Lay-Z-Boy. |
| 125 | * LockedOutOfTheLoop: With a huge slice of "[[SelectiveObliviousness doesn't even want to know that there's a key to get into it]]". He's installed his own filters for so long, it's doubtful either Nancy or Mike have bothered telling him anything they think genuinely important for years. This might even have saved his life, ironically enough. |
| 126 | * MellowFellow: It is in general very hard to get a genuine rise out of him, but this unfortunately also is a problem for his relationship to his family. |
| 127 | * MiseryBuildsCharacter: Tells Mike that ties are supposed to be tight when they [[spoiler:dress for Will's "funeral."]] |
| 128 | * OutOfCharacterMoment: In the episode "The Body," he asks Karen if he should comfort Mike about Will's apparent death. |
| 129 | * ParentalNeglect: A downplayed example; he's far from the worst parental figure on this show, but he is pretty checked-out when it comes to the lives and concerns of his kids, and usually puts in the barest effort possible into engaging with them (usually limited to chiding them for their language). He's basically living at work, not at home. |
| 130 | * PatrioticFervor: When the government is at his door asking questions, his immediate response is to insist they trust them. And when told Eleven is a danger to Mike, his first response is to worry she's a spy. In Season 2, his house has a great big Reagan/Bush '84 sign in front of it, and it's revealed that the government spookshow [[SureLetsGoWithThat easily secured his unqualified cooperation by taking his "Russian child agent" story and running with it]]. He even salutes them and calls his family patriotic Americans. |
| 131 | -->'''Ted:''' My god, is she ''Russian?'' |
| 132 | * PerpetualFrowner: It's quite rare to see him smiling, and that's mainly because of [[UglyGuyHotWife his not so appealing facial features]] and [[MellowFellow how hard it is to genuinely get his attention]]. |
| 133 | * SkewedPriorities: The poster boy. Disappeared kids? He's got chicken to nibble! Government agents kick the door open asking for his son? Let's trust them! |
| 134 | * TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: Ted doesn't stop eating dinner while the rest of the family engages in an emotionally charged conversation about Will's disappearance. Karen calls him on it by heatedly asking if he's enjoying the chicken. He doesn't even understand what she's mad about. In Season 4 he is seen holding a stack of doughnuts at the Town Hall meeting while his wife and the other parents are worried about vigilantes hunting down their kids. |
| 135 | * ToughLove: Seems to be a firm proponent of this, as he's insistent on making his kids and their friends take the harsh route to teach them lessons. Season 4 even has him openly suggest that the teenage Lucas, Max, and Dustin spend the night in jail for fleeing the police, which the Sinclairs, Mrs. Henderson, and his own wife all take much issue with. |
| 136 | * UglyGuyHotWife: Look at Ted, then look at his wife. There's a discrepancy there. Nancy somewhat bitterly analyzes her parents' relationship as a MarriageOfConvenience, with Karen as the younger TrophyWife and Ted as the older partner providing the money. |
| 137 | * WrongGenreSavvy: Ted acts like he is living in a 50's sitcom. He is a shameless LazyBum who only cares about his job, thinks there's nothing wrong with Hawkins, and constantly makes cheesy quips that show he has little to no awareness of how serious things are. |
| 138 | [[/folder]] |
| 139 | |
| 140 | [[folder:Holly Wheeler]] |
| 141 | !!Holly Wheeler |
| 142 | [[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/holly_wheeler.png]] |
| 143 | !!!'''Played By:''' Anniston & Tinsley Price |
| 144 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E1ChapterOneTheVanishingOfWillByers Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers]]" (1x01) |
| 145 | |
| 146 | Mike and Nancy's youngest sister, an adorable toddler. |
| 147 | ---- |
| 148 | * CassandraTruth: |
| 149 | ** Is one of the few people besides Joyce who sees the thing living in her walls, but because of her young age, when she tells her mother, she isn't believed. |
| 150 | ** In Season 3, she notices the trees rustling at the Fourth of July festival but her parents encourage her to look at the fireworks. |
| 151 | * ChildrenAreInnocent: She's aged between 3 to 6 years old from Seasons 1 through 4, and usually with her mom, so she doesn't get into much trouble. |
| 152 | * TheCutie: Holly is absolutely adorable and innocent. |
| 153 | * DaddysGirl: She is often found alongside her father. This becomes a plot point in Season 3, [[spoiler: wherein Karen discovers Holly sleeping gently on Ted's lap in front of the TV. Such familial closeness ultimately reminds Karen that her responsibilities as a mother and a wife come first, and she stands up Billy's offer of a late-night tryst]]. |
| 154 | * GirlishPigtails: Which add to her cuteness. |
| 155 | * LivingProp: She is often in the background more than she is involved or aware of the situations and drama within the show. |
| 156 | * OutOfFocus: More so in Season 2. Season 3 shows her presence to be important to [[spoiler: her mother deciding not to cheat on her father, and shows her spending time with her parents at the fair]]. Season 4 plays with this trope again [[spoiler:when the heroes use her electronic Lite Brite toy as means of communication with the Upside Down]]. |
| 157 | * PracticallyDifferentGenerations: Holly is much younger then both of her siblings, but there is an especially large age gap between her and Nancy. Approximately, she is about 13 years younger than her. |
| 158 | * UnusuallyUninterestingSight: |
| 159 | ** Sees [[spoiler:Will trying to signal her with the lights and his attempts to push through the wall, but she's more confused than freaked out.]] |
| 160 | ** [[spoiler:In season 3 she spots the nearby trees rustling due to the Mind Flayer moving through them, but her parents ignore what she's saying and tell her to look at the fireworks.]] |
| 161 | [[/folder]] |
| 162 | ---- |
| 163 | |
| 164 | !!Holland Family |
| 165 | |
| 166 | [[folder:Barb Holland]] |
| 167 | !!Barbara "Barb" Holland |
| 168 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/barbst_8.png]] |
| 169 | !!!'''Played By:''' Creator/ShannonPurser |
| 170 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E1ChapterOneTheVanishingOfWillByers Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers]]" (1x01) |
| 171 | |
| 172 | ->''"Nance, seriously. You're gonna be so cool now, it's ridiculous."'' |
| 173 | |
| 174 | Nancy's best friend and reluctant voice of reason. |
| 175 | ---- |
| 176 | * SeventiesHair: An old photo at her parent's house shows her with a face-framing Dorothy Hamill-esque pageboy. |
| 177 | * EightiesHair: Barb styles her shiny red locks into a short, wavy style of the decade. |
| 178 | * AcademicAthlete: According to ''Stranger Things Worlds Turned Upside Down: The Official Behind-The-Scenes Companion'', she was noted to be playing Varsity Softball while being a Class Treasurer and public library volunteer, and a member of the Key Club, National Honor Society, Rotary Youth Exchange, and a Mathlete. Also a childhood photo has one of her wearing a ballet costume, implying she took ballet. |
| 179 | * AloneAmongTheCouples: At Steve's party, she's forced to fifth-wheel alongside Carol/Tommy and Steve/Nancy. |
| 180 | * AmbiguouslyGay: Even for a best friend, she's quite protective and devoted to Nancy, and her hurt and dejection after being told by Nancy to go home while she stays with Steve at the party can be read as romantic rejection, but it's never really developed one way or another. [[spoiler: Not least because she is abducted into the Upside Down and brutally killed mere moments after.]] |
| 181 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:She is abducted into the Upside Down and dragged offscreen screaming before she can escape her attacker. We see her badly mutilated and half eaten corpse in the penultimate episode, confirming her demise was quite gruesome.]] |
| 182 | * DeadAllAlong: Nancy is worried that Barb might have been killed just like Will, [[spoiler:only that Will wasn't killed, but Barb was. She doesn't get confirmation until El finds out while searching for both in the Upside-Down]]. |
| 183 | * TheDragAlong: Sensible, dependable Barb ''really'' has no interest in partying at Steve's house with jerks like Tommy H and Carol, but Nancy convinces her to come along, and she reluctantly agrees. She really only stays out of well-founded concern for Nancy, [[spoiler:and gets abducted to the Upside Down by the Demogorgon whilst patiently waiting for her on the patio.]] |
| 184 | * FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: [[spoiler:Her mutilated, decaying corpse is found by Eleven with a larger version of the worm-thing Will coughed up emerging from her mouth.]] |
| 185 | * ForegoneConclusion: We as the audience know for a fact that [[spoiler: Barb was murdered by the Demogorgon less than five minutes after it abducted her,]] but Nancy and subsequently nobody else knows what has happened to her. When [[spoiler: her ultimate fate is revealed in Episode 7 "The Bathtub", foregone conclusion it may be, but seeing her mutilated corpse is gut wrenching and heartbreaking at the same time, especially at the thought that an innocent girl had died so horrifically.]][[spoiler:This assumption ends up not being so foregone to a degree, as Season 4 implies Vecna may have had a hand in Barb's death as well.]] |
| 186 | * GasLeakCoverUp: Invoked and played with. [[spoiler:Investigator Murray argues that in order to hit Hawkins Lab where they will hurt, he, Nancy and Jonathan have to set up a considerably less outlandish version of the truth of Barb's death. In their version, instead of Barb being pulled to a parallel dimension and killed via a rift that the Hawkins Lab personnel forcibly opened, Barb would have died from a poisonous experimental gas leak that the lab coats tried to cover up. Contrary to the trope itself, it's not the suits who are trying to push the story, but rather Barb's friends trying to exact punishment from the offending party, who otherwise would have been given the benefit of the doubt]]. |
| 187 | * GoryDiscretionShot: [[spoiler:We don't quite see her body in full (with the exception of her gouged-out face), but she was clearly dispatched quite gruesomely after being dragged back into the pool.]][[spoiler: This lack of seeing the deed would end up becoming important in Season 4, as Vecna implies it was him and not the Demogorgan who actually dragged Barb back in and killed her.]] |
| 188 | * GutFeeling: Barb has 20:20 vision when it comes to the internal dynamic of the terrible trio Nancy is trying to make friends with to get with one of them. And, wasn't all that wrong about how awfully the pool party would go for her in their company, either. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for her, "party-crashing monsters from beyond the dimensional veil" would have needed a full-blown crystal ball and tarot deck, not just a good gut.]] |
| 189 | * HiddenDepths: According to "Rebel Robin", Barb used her good girl persona to get what she wants and is a lot sneakier than she appears. She is also hinted at to be a lesbian. |
| 190 | * HugeSchoolgirl: She's a lot larger, curvier, and taller (Shannon Purser is 5'9") than most of the girl characters. |
| 191 | * KillTheCutie: With her large glasses, mom jeans, coy demeanor, porcelain features, red hair, and her loyalty towards Nancy, it's hard to not find Barb endearing. [[spoiler:This is likely why so many audience members were upset when she was confirmed to be dead.]] |
| 192 | * MauveShirt: While she does appear for a while prior to her death, it's more or less inevitable once she gets left alone at Steve's party that it's only a matter of time. |
| 193 | * MissingWhiteWomanSyndrome: Deconstructed. In an age where teens were allowed to be more free-range, going missing even when you are a white young woman doesn't get the authorities all that bothered, especially after only a couple of days of it. |
| 194 | * NerdGlasses: She sports very large Sally Jessy Raphael style glasses which, along with her penchant for voluminous high-waisted pants and high-necked blouses, lend her a rather momsy, mature look. |
| 195 | * NiceGirl: Barb is perhaps the nicest teenager in the show (along with Nancy), being excited for Nancy and her budding relationship with Steve, but also concerned for her when she begins to hang around [[JerkAss jerkasses]] Tommy H and Carol. She also waits for Nancy when she goes upstairs with Steve, despite her telling Barb that she can go home. |
| 196 | * NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: She goes to the party with Steve and his friends to make sure Nancy doesn't get too drunk. Even after Nancy tells Barb that she can go home, Barb remains nearby out of concern for her friend. [[spoiler:This ultimately leads to her getting abducted by the Demogorgon and killed by Vecna.]] |
| 197 | * PinkIsFeminine: She wears a coral pink, ruffled sweater-blouse with a pussycat bow [[spoiler: the last time she was alive]] and in one of the old school photos of herself when she was younger, she wore a similar style blouse with a darker pink color. This is likely to tie her into her "classic good girl" role. |
| 198 | * RedheadInGreen: An old photo of herself that was displayed with her childhood photos has her in a [[https://www.pinterest.com/pin/815644182495277896/ green formal dress]] that complements her flaming hair color. |
| 199 | * TheReliableOne: From being a pre-test quiz mistress to having a car, compassion and common sense, Barb is great to have in your corner. |
| 200 | * RevealingCoverUp: [[spoiler: When her car is oh-so conveniently found by ever-so convenient state troopers right by the bus station, it all but confirms to Hopper that the "Energy Department" is definitely behind ''everything'' going on in Hawkins.]] |
| 201 | * TheRunaway: Invoked, as this is the initial presumption of her disappearance. As most of the search efforts are concentrated on finding Will, Barb's own disappearance largely goes under the radar. [[spoiler:El finds out that she was taken to the Upside Down and killed seemingly by the Demogorgon; when Hopper and Joyce venture into the beast's lair, they find Barb's dead body next to Will. Season 2 reveals the government is still lying that it's a disappearance.]] |
| 202 | * SacrificialLamb: [[spoiler:She's the first in our world to be killed by a monster [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence while her friend gets laid]]]]. |
| 203 | * SarcasticDevotee: A loyal friend to Nancy, but frequently snarks about her relationship with Steve and his party. |
| 204 | * SexSignalsDeath: Inverted. She is the only one at the party not to have sex and is taken while everyone else at Steve's party is hooking up. |
| 205 | * ShrinkingViolet: She's extremely uncomfortable at Steve's party, hesitant to stick up for herself, and she's in general a very cautious character. |
| 206 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Despite being killed off less than halfway through Season 1. Not only does her death lead to Nancy realizing the existence of the Demogorgon, and in turn down the path of the other main characters, but it also serves as [[spoiler:the final nail in the shutdown of Hawkins Laboratory]]. |
| 207 | * TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Barb is considered less feminine (compared to Nancy), however she does have interests in athletics while sporting eye shadow, pink, took ballet. |
| 208 | * TrueBlueFemininity: She is a classic "Good girl" whose childhood portraits on her parents' sideboard feature her wearing a blue sundress and bolero sweater. She's last seen alive sporting a dark turquoise jacket. |
| 209 | * WeUsedToBeFriends: "Rebel Robin" reveals she used to be good friends with Robin from Kindergarten to sixth grade, until Barb chose to hang out with more "priss" and conventional girls like Nancy. |
| 210 | * YouthfulFreckles: She has porcelain skin with prominent freckles. |
| 211 | [[/folder]] |
| 212 | |
| 213 | [[folder:Mr. and Mrs. Holland]] |
| 214 | !!Mr. Holland & Marsha Holland |
| 215 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/barbs_parents.jpg]] |
| 216 | !!!'''Played By:''' Cynthia Barrett (Mrs. Holland) & Aaron Muñoz (Mr. Holland) |
| 217 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E3ChapterThreeHollyJolly Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly]]" (1x03) |
| 218 | |
| 219 | Barb's parents. |
| 220 | ---- |
| 221 | * FiftiesHair: Mrs. Holland wears her hair in an outmoded 50s style, which complements her role as a traditional housewife. |
| 222 | * {{Gaslighting}}: The Lab does this to them -- badly. The "Department of Energy's" piss-poor attempt at selling the "Barb ran off to the bus station and got on a Greyhound to wherever" story (rather than coming up with a more character-appropriate reason for her disappearance, a fake body or a Jane Doe report meeting their daughter's description, the idiots just left Barb's ultimate fate hanging), they (quite naturally) still tried digging into their daughters disappearance with Murray's help, understandably. This leads to Nancy, Steve (well, somewhat) and Jonathan to feel guilty about not being able to tell them what really happened and inadvertently joining in on adding to this terribly wrong narrative, especially as the Hollands were sinking their house and savings into their search. This compels the kids to move against the Lab more actively. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Nice job, Brenner & Co]]. |
| 223 | * GoodParents: Post-disappearance, they are both willing to blow all their money to either get their child back or at least find out what happened to her. |
| 224 | * {{Housewife}}: Marsha is a classic example, as she is seen at home during the day wearing an apron, preparing the family meal. The fact that she later offers only KFC to Steven and Nancy speaks volumes about her state of mind at that point. |
| 225 | * MamaBear: Marsha is very determined to get her daughter home or find out about her, even if it means putting the house on the market. |
| 226 | * ObliviousGuiltSlinging: They are upbeat about the possibility of finally tracking down Barb, unaware that their dinner guests know exactly what happened to her but can't bring themselves to tell them. |
| 227 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:Sadly is the case for them, as Barb was taken to the Upside Down and killed there and it's even implied that she is likely their only child]]. |
| 228 | * PapaWolf: As determined as his wife to get his daughter home, aside from putting the house on the market, he is visibly angry with Hopper for the perceived inaction in searching for her. |
| 229 | * ParentsKnowTheirChildren: Which is why they knew what they were told about Barb's disappearance was a pile of BS. |
| 230 | [[/folder]] |
| 231 | ---- |
| 232 | |
| 233 | !!Henderson Family |
| 234 | |
| 235 | [[folder:Claudia Henderson]] |
| 236 | !!Claudia Henderson |
| 237 | [[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/claudia_5.jpg]] |
| 238 | !!!'''Played By:''' Creator/CatherineCurtin |
| 239 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E5ChapterFiveTheFleaAndTheAcrobat Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat]]" (1x05) |
| 240 | |
| 241 | Dustin's mother. |
| 242 | ---- |
| 243 | * EightiesHair: Sports a teased and curled style in Season 3 and it gets more volumized in Season 4. |
| 244 | * BourgeoisBohemian: Implied. While she's not vocal about her political beliefs like typical examples, she does display a Mondale/Ferraro '84 sign in her front yard and lives in the same hilly, upper-middle class area of Hawkins as the Sinclairs and Wheelers who are notably more Republican. |
| 245 | * GoodParents: Very sweet, close and loving with her son, dotes on her cat. |
| 246 | * KindHeartedCatLover: A loving and supportive mother who is very attached to their cat Mews. [[spoiler: After Mews dies (as far as she knows the cat "disappeared"), she is seen snuggling a new kitten at the 2nd season finale]]. |
| 247 | * LockedOutOfTheLoop: Like the Sinclair parents, her son Dustin is very close to her, yet he manages to convince her that their cat Mews went missing when, in fact, the cat got disemboweled by a creature from another world. |
| 248 | * MamaBear: In Season 4, her first instinct (after her son and his friends are made targets by reactionaries), is to defend his reputation, search for him, and keep him safe from the growing WitchHunt. |
| 249 | [[/folder]] |
| 250 | ---- |
| 251 | !!Sinclair Family |
| 252 | |
| 253 | [[folder:Charles and Sue Sinclair]] |
| 254 | !!Charles and Sue Sinclair |
| 255 | [[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sinclairsst.png]] |
| 256 | !!!'''Played By:''' Creator/ArnellPowell (Mr. Sinclair) and Creator/KarenCeesay (Mrs. Sinclair) |
| 257 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E5ChapterFiveTheFleaAndTheAcrobat Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat]]" (1x05) |
| 258 | |
| 259 | Lucas and Erica's parents. |
| 260 | ---- |
| 261 | * EightiesHair: Both wear styles associated with middle-aged professionals and suburbanites in the African American community during the decade. Mrs. Sinclair in relaxed CompressedHair and Mr. Sinclair cropping his textured hair into a conservative style. Mrs. Sinclair's hair starts to take on an appearance equal to [[https://i.pinimg.com/736x/8f/fa/e7/8ffae7036cb6bd450bf34663f10be9e7.jpg Princess Diana]] in Season 4. |
| 262 | * DadTheVeteran: Mr. Sinclair had fought in the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar. |
| 263 | * {{Foil}}: They, especially Mr. Sinclair, contrast with most of the parents on the show. From the family's scenes together, Charles and Sue are portrayed as a close and loving couple who are involved in their children's lives. Charles has a strong connection with Lucas, ensuring that he can come to his dad for girl advice -- something that one would ''never'' see Mike do with his father, and unlike Ted, Charles also seems to have a very close relationship with his wife. Charles is also less plagued by his notions of masculinity and strict behavior, in contrast to Hopper, Lonnie, and Neil. Sue seems to be a stern but fair disciplinarian, if Erica's rant about how mad she would be if Erica was late for an uncle's birthday party was anything to go by. |
| 264 | * GoodParents: Involved, loving, and expecting their children to behave well. Compared to the Byers and the Wheelers, they're presented as a more stable, functional family. |
| 265 | * HappilyMarried: In contrast to most of the parents on the show, they're presented as a loving couple who are affectionate with one another. |
| 266 | * LockedOutOfTheLoop: To a lesser extent than Karen and Ted; both their children are very close to them and do come to them for more mundane concerns like crushes on girls or sibling bickering and using too much maple syrup, but their children keep them out of the events surrounding the Upside Down -- likely out of concern for their parents' safety, rather than being outright distant. |
| 267 | * MamaBear: Mrs. Sinclair gives off this vibe, and according to Erica her mom would personally hunt down anyone who might have had something to do with the disappearance of any of her children. In Season 4, she is worried for Lucas after he's made a target of the local reactionaries and gets angry with Ted for making a carelessly insensitive comment about Lucas and his friends. |
| 268 | * NuclearFamily: A classic example made up of mom, dad, son and younger daughter; it is also worth noting they appear to be the only couple that hasn't had to contend with losing their child, a sagging love life, a divorce, history of abuse, etc. and all the other problems that have plagued the other families featured in the show. |
| 269 | * PapaWolf: He is protective of his kids in Season 4 and gets angry at Ted after he makes the dumb suggestion that the kids could benefit from a stay in jail. |
| 270 | * StandardFiftiesFather: He fulfills this role better than most of the fathers on the show, being kind and dependable with a authoritative air that allows his son to ask him for advice regarding girls while reading his newspaper. |
| 271 | * WomenAreWiser: Apparently, one of the reasons that Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair have such a good relationship is that Mr. Sinclair has learned to subscribe to this. When Lucas is asking him for advice on talking to girls and brings up how he mends fences with his wife even when she is in the wrong, Mr. Sinclair's response is to half-jokingly quip "She's ''never'' wrong." |
| 272 | [[/folder]] |
| 273 | ---- |
| 274 | !!Hopper Family |
| 275 | |
| 276 | [[folder:Sara Hopper]] |
| 277 | !!Sara Hopper |
| 278 | [[quoteright:212:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sarah_hopper.png]] |
| 279 | !!!'''Played By:''' Elle Graham |
| 280 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E8ChapterEightTheUpsideDown Chapter Eight: The Upside Down]]" (1x08)[[note]]Flashback[[/note]] |
| 281 | |
| 282 | Chief Hopper's late daughter with his former wife Diane. |
| 283 | ---- |
| 284 | * TheCutie: One of the reasons her dad has been long unable to cope with her loss. She was a cute little button. |
| 285 | * DaddysGirl: She was Hop's pride and joy. |
| 286 | * DeathOfAChild: Died very young from a sudden illness, [[spoiler:due to her father's unprotected exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.]] |
| 287 | * GirlishPigtails: Her hairstyle drives home her innocence. |
| 288 | * LittlestCancerPatient: ImpliedTrope. In flashbacks, she has a fainting spell, and her mom and Hopper take her to the hospital to find out that she presumably has cancer. |
| 289 | * MoralityPet: Sara is one of the reasons Hopper is fiercely protective of Eleven, as she was the catalyst for much of his kindness. |
| 290 | * PosthumousCharacter: Her demise is the source of Hopper's grief, aggressiveness, and bouts of alcoholism. [[GriefInducedSplit It's also presumed to have caused his divorce.]] |
| 291 | [[/folder]] |
| 292 | ---- |
| 293 | !!Ives Family |
| 294 | |
| 295 | [[folder:Terry Ives]] |
| 296 | !!Teresa "Terry" Ives |
| 297 | [[quoteright:246:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/terry_ives.png]] |
| 298 | !!!'''Played By:''' Aimee Mullins |
| 299 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E3ChapterThreeHollyJolly Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly]]" (1x03)[[note]]Newspaper article[[/note]], "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E6ChapterSixTheMonster Chapter Six: The Monster]]" (1x06) |
| 300 | |
| 301 | ->''"Breathe... Sunflower... Rainbow... Three to the right, four to the left... 450."'' |
| 302 | |
| 303 | A middle-aged catatonic woman and former subject of Dr. Brenner's experiments. |
| 304 | ---- |
| 305 | * AmbiguousSituation: In the first season, it's not known whether Terry went insane from the pressure of her efforts to fight the government, or the scrubs at Hawkins [[{{Gaslighting}} did something to her]] to shut her up once and for all. Season 2 confirms that Terry was [[spoiler: subjected to brutal electroshock therapy. This, combined with the trauma of losing -- and briefly finding, only to lose again -- her daughter, is what fried her brain and made her the EmptyShell we see today]]. |
| 306 | * AndIMustScream: This is precisely what Terry's MadnessMantra summates: Terry has been seeing certain things and hearing certain words related to [[spoiler: Jane's kidnapping on loop for ''years'' now - Becky telling her to breathe as she goes into labor. The sunflowers in her hospital room where she's lied to and told Jane was stillborn. The combination on the safe she gets the gun out of to go get Jane back at any cost. The rainbow on the doorframe outside Jane's room, where she finally confirms she was always right and Jane was kidnapped. And finally, horrifically, the voltage Brenner ordered the shock therapy machine turned to when it fried her mind.]] Breathe. Sunflower. Three to the right, four to the left. Rainbow. Four-fifty. Breathe... [[spoiler: Her worst memories on repeat for eternity - Becky says Terry's stuck in a dream she hopes is good, but really Terry's been subjected to a hellish FateWorseThanDeath]]. And by the time [[spoiler:Eleven]] leaves, [[spoiler:Becky knows. Imagine her caring for her sister now, hearing those words and knowing what they mean.]] |
| 307 | * CassandraTruth: No one believed her when she told the world that [[spoiler:she carried a baby to term and was taken away from her]]. The problem lied in the fact that she tried to fight a battle against the very people that held all records of the events, with nothing but her word to show for it. [[spoiler:Taking matters into her own hands, she broke into Hawkins Lab to find her daughter, finding her in the "Rainbow Room", where she was eventually captured and subjected to a lobotomy]]. |
| 308 | * ConspiracyTheorist: What her sister Becky describes Terry devolved into. It reached the point where it became BigBrotherIsWatching until she lost her sanity. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that she was lobotomized by Hawkins Lab personnel]]. |
| 309 | * DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: GenderFlipped. She never intended to abandon Jane, and only abandoned her after being driven to insanity, and being ''physically unable to move'', by electroshock therapy. |
| 310 | * DadTheVeteran: Hers and Becky's father and [[spoiler: Eleven's biological grandfather]] was a World War Two veteran who was involved in liberating a Nazi concentration camp. He suffered PTSD and nightmares from it. |
| 311 | * ADayInTheLimeLight: She is one of the main characters of "Suspicious Minds". It focuses on her backstory and her time with Dr. Brenner and her relationship with [[spoiler: Eleven's biological father.]] |
| 312 | * DiagnosisKnowingTooMuch: She was subjected to electro-shock therapy in order to silence her from claiming her daughter back. |
| 313 | * EmptyShell: Her traumatic past has taken its toll on poor Terry, [[spoiler: though Season 2 shows that Brenner running a powerful electrical current through her head has more than a little to do with that]]. We see her sitting in her wheelchair with an apathetic ThousandYardStare. |
| 314 | * FakingTheDead: She claimed that her baby was taken away from her and that all records were faked in order to show that she aborted the baby. [[spoiler:All signs point to the possibility that Eleven is her daughter Jane, though Eleven wasn't the only child they experimented upon]]. |
| 315 | * {{Gaslighting}}: The government spent such an effort [[spoiler:trying to convince the world that she miscarried her daughter that Terry went insane. She knows the truth deep down, but the government made sure to destroy everything else in her mind, rendering her unable to fend for herself. Season 2 reveals that her present state is a result of her attempt to bust into Hawkins Lab and find Jane. [[ShootTheShaggyDog She succeeded in that much]], before Brenner caught her and essentially had her brain deep fried]]. |
| 316 | * GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: In the novel ''Suspicious Minds'', she refuses to abort her child against her friend Gloria's advice. |
| 317 | * GuineaPigFamily: She was experimented upon as a young woman, [[spoiler:and her daughter was too]]. |
| 318 | * HiddenDepths: |
| 319 | ** The tie-in novel revealed that she was a very ambitious and idealistic young woman who one that changed the world and be part of something bigger. |
| 320 | ** She is revealed to have been riveted by ''[[Literature/LordOfTheRings The Two Towers]]'' around that time, likely implying she was as nerdy as her daughter's friends. |
| 321 | * HippieParents: Flashbacks have shown her looking like a young hippie of the early 70s with long hair and long dresses, the tie-in novel pushes this further by showing her as a serious and hard-working college student and waitress who is very much interested in the world around her and wants to go to places like New York and Berkeley, she's also shown to be very idealistic. |
| 322 | * IWasQuiteALooker: With a side of SheCleansUpNicely. In her catatonic state, she isn't able to pay attention to her appearance. When she was a young woman in the 70s, as seen in flashbacks, she was very pretty, with golden locks and stylish clothing. |
| 323 | * LaserGuidedAmnesia: [[spoiler: The scientists at Hawkins Lab literally fried her brain with ''450 volts'' of electricity after she broke into the lab to look for her daughter, leaving every single one of her memories removed forever except for her worst ones, which she endlessly repeats to this day.]] |
| 324 | * MadnessMantra: She is in a permanent, semi-catatonic state, endlessly repeating the refrain "Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow. Three to the right, four to the left. 450." [[spoiler:It turns out that this apparent nonsense is linked to her memories of losing Jane to the researchers at Hawkins Lab, and her desperate attempts to get her back. It is all that she has left of her daughter]]. |
| 325 | * MamaBear: She fought so much to try to prove her child was alive that her mind broke under the pressure, or at least that's what her sister Becky thinks. [[spoiler:Turns out, she was lobotomized to keep her quiet once and for all]]. |
| 326 | * MilitaryBrat: Her late father was a veteran of World War II and after being traumatized by the experiences, he emphasized to her the importance of being knowledgeable about current events. |
| 327 | * MindRape: She was experimented on, gaining telekinetic powers in the process. [[spoiler:She was pregnant at the time and those responsible took her full-term baby from her when she was born]]. These events shattered her mind and left her catatonic. |
| 328 | * NiceGirl: According to the novel ''Suspicious Mind'', Terry was a warm and friendly young woman. |
| 329 | * ParentsKnowTheirChildren: She refuses to believe anything but the fact that her child is still alive and will come back to her. |
| 330 | * PromotionToParent: According to the tie-in novel "Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds", she was promoted to guardian for Becky after their parents died in a car accident. |
| 331 | * PsychicLink: She's fully aware that her daughter is alive, as they share a link, which is confirmed in Season 2. |
| 332 | * PsychicPowers: While she can't do anything on the scale of her daughter, she can manipulate small electronics and share memories with Eleven through their PsychicLink. |
| 333 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Terry appears only fleetingly in every single season, but her role is extremely important to the story and to Eleven/Jane's development. Not only is she Jane's mother, but the memory of her, Brenner's crime against her, and her love for Jane actually motivates Eleven continuously throughout every season, giving her the strength to draw upon her psychic powers even in the worst circumstances. |
| 334 | * SoWhatDoWeDoNow: Even if she were to get her child back, she is in no position to raise anyone, as she's already catatonic and completely unable to even take care of herself. [[spoiler: As Eleven sadly finds out.]] |
| 335 | * TestedOnHumans: All sorts of things were done to her to test her potential PsychicPowers. |
| 336 | * ThousandYardStare: Constantly, as a side effect of being lobotomized by Brenner's team. |
| 337 | * TraumaCongaLine: Revealed by "Suspicious Minds": her parents died when she was young, leading her to become guardian to her younger sister, Becky. As an idealistic college student, she tried to protest against the Vietnam War due to her father's experiences in World War Two. She joined experiments for money, which left her with telekinetic powers, and got pregnant by her then-boyfriend. Her boyfriend was sent to Vietnam where he was killed and she nearly died giving birth to her daughter. She was then told that her daughter had died, but remained convinced that she was still alive. After all her efforts to be reunited with her daughter, she was for a moment before being brutally dragged away from her. She was then tortured via electroshock therapy, which seems to have left her effectively braindead. |
| 338 | * UnwittingTestSubject: She ''volunteered'' for the experiments and paid no mind to what was being done to her until she found out that [[spoiler:she was pregnant... and the scrubs had shown some vested interest in the prospective daughter]]. All hell broke loose from that point forward. |
| 339 | * WheelchairWoobie: She is amongst the most tragic characters on the show, a doesn't even die a gruesome death to qualify. [[spoiler: After a near fatal birthing process, her baby daughter is taken from her- which she witnesses, but nobody believes her. Then when she goes to save her daughter from the Hawkins Lab, Dr. Brenner and his men capture her, and strap her to a table, where they electrocute her brain with an extreme 450 volts. Henceforth she is left brain-dead, with nothing but the worst, painful memories of her life]]. As a result, she now lives catatonic and disabled. |
| 340 | * YouAreTooLate: Hopper and Joyce come to talk to her about the experimentation done on her past, but she had been rendered catatonic years ago by [[spoiler: Brenner pumping her brain full of electricity.]] They leave empty-handed. |
| 341 | [[/folder]] |
| 342 | |
| 343 | [[folder:Becky Ives]] |
| 344 | !!Rebecca "Becky" Ives |
| 345 | [[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/183136.jpg]] |
| 346 | !!!'''Played By:''' Amy Seimetz |
| 347 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E6ChapterSixTheMonster Chapter Six: The Monster]]" (1x06) |
| 348 | |
| 349 | Terry's younger sister and main caretaker. |
| 350 | ---- |
| 351 | * AgentScully: She received the brunt force of Terry's breakdown, so is not so inclined to believe her claims of a "lost child". |
| 352 | * ArbitrarySkepticism: Played with. She's aware that Terry was experimented on, but she doesn't believe in a missing child, or the whole superpowers claims. It's hard to blame her, considering how outlandish it sounds. [[spoiler: El showing up in Season 2 and opening the door with her powers puts a pin in that.]] |
| 353 | * ButForMeItWasTuesday: When Hop and Joyce visit her and Terry, it's markedly clear that Becky has had to deal with people asking names and nosing around for a long time. |
| 354 | * CoolAunt: After she learns that Jane is actually her niece, she immediately wants to take care of her and does her best to help her. |
| 355 | * DadTheVeteran: Hers and Terry's father was a World War Two veteran who liberated a Nazi concentration camp. He had nightmares and PTSD from it. |
| 356 | * LittleSisterInstinct: ''Suspicious Minds'' reveals that she is Terry's younger sister, but now that Terry is catatonic, Becky has taken on the role of her carer. |
| 357 | * NiceGirl: She loves her sister dearly and takes care of her the best she can. What's more, when Eleven [[spoiler:tracks her and Terry down and proves that she's Jane Ives, Becky shows herself to be a loving and attentive aunt. She even asks Eleven to stay and live with her, and apologizes to her for not believing that she existed.]] |
| 358 | * PromotionToParent: She's her sister Terry's only carer and becomes a parental figure for El, since Terry can't take of her. |
| 359 | [[/folder]] |
| 360 | ---- |
| 361 | !!Hargrove Family |
| 362 | |
| 363 | [[folder:Neil Hargrove]] |
| 364 | !!Neil Hargrove |
| 365 | [[quoteright:212:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/neilhsf.png]] |
| 366 | !!!'''Played By:''' Will Chase |
| 367 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS2E8ChapterEightTheMindFlayer Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer]]" (2x08) |
| 368 | |
| 369 | Billy's father and Max's stepfather. |
| 370 | ---- |
| 371 | * AbusiveDad: |
| 372 | ** [[spoiler:Is both physically and verbally abusive to Billy, which goes a long way toward explaining Billy's {{Jerkass}} behavior.]] This is shown more in ''Runaway Max'' where he infamously ''beats Billy with a belt.'' |
| 373 | ** It's more downplayed, but he's not the greatest stepdad to Max in ''Runaway Max'' either, calling her a stupid little girl for trying to help Billy, as well as trying to take her dad's place as father, regardless of how Max feels about him, or her real father. |
| 374 | * CrazyJealousGuy: Max implies that he didn't like the amount of time that she was spending with her biological father, which is what was the catalyst of the Hargroves moving from California. He was also abusive to his first wife because he suspected (with no discernible proof that the audience sees) that she was cheating on him. |
| 375 | * DemotedToExtra: Despite how much of important role he had in Billy's character, and already only appeared in one scene for Season 2, he has even less screen time in Season 3, where he's only seen when [[spoiler: Eleven is looking through Billy's memories]], and more or less has his FaceFramedInShadow. |
| 376 | * DomesticAbuse: He physically attacked his first wife, Billy's mother, purely for encouraging Billy's love of surfing. ''Runaway Max'' also that indicates that he doesn't treat Susan much better, and ultimately abandons her by Season 4. |
| 377 | * EvilCounterpart: |
| 378 | ** To Jim Hopper. Like Jim he demands obedience and is prone to [[AngerBornOfWorry angry outbursts]] when his step-children go missing, and generally has a tough time disciplining rashly. However, unlike Jim, Neil is not shown to have a soft, fatherly side or any of Hopper's other likable traits. |
| 379 | ** [[EvilerThanThou To a lesser extent]], he is also one to Lonnie Byers, [[DamnedByFaintPraise who was only shown as emotionally abusive, but not physically, and seems to have a better temper by comparison.]] |
| 380 | * GriefInducedSplit: [[spoiler:It's implied that one of the reasons he and Susan [[OffscreenBreakUp split up between Season 3 and Season 4]] is because of the death of Billy; Max states Neil didn't cope with it well and the couple's relationship deteriorated until Neil left. The marriage already had issues, with Susan being uncomfortable with Neil's authoritarian behaviour towards Billy; Neil was also abusive towards his first wife and is shown to have been controlling of Susan, at the very least. Max doesn't care about her stepfather leaving because she thinks he's an asshole, although [[PlayedForDrama without his financial support]] she and her mother had to move to a crummy house in a trailer park and Susan is [[StrugglingSingleMother forced to work two jobs]]; Susan hasn't been coping well, [[DrowningMySorrows frequently drinking heavily]]]]. |
| 381 | * HairTriggerTemper: Neil has a ''very'' short temper. In ''Runaway Max'', when Max and Billy meet for the first time, he is barely able to restrain his anger over Billy being late. |
| 382 | * HateSink: One of the most despicable adults in the show. He is one of the reasons for Billy's repugnant behavior, and is also incredibly hot-headed and aggressive. [[spoiler: Even in-universe, when El sees the past Neil's abuse in Billy's memories, she views him with disgust as she looks for "the source"]]. |
| 383 | * {{Jerkass}}: He's a stern, vicious man who exhibits a variety of intolerant, bigoted behaviors and is shown to be violently abusive to his son. |
| 384 | * KarmaHoudini: He wrecked Billy's life and since he doesn't appear in any present scenes in Season 3, it's likely he never gets his comeuppance. [[spoiler: Extra sad is that Billy was ultimately the one to pay the price in the end. Even worse, the only other people who could punish Neil are in no position to do so at the end of Season 3, as El (who saw Neil's abuse in Billy's memories) loses her powers and moves away, while Hopper (whom El could have tipped off) is missing or potentially also dead. Even after his son dies, he abandons Susan and Max, never to be seen again.]] |
| 385 | * KickTheDog: Whatever satisfaction that could be had from watching him verbally and physically beat Billy down is lost when it's realized that it's precisely why Billy is a son of a bitch in the first place. |
| 386 | * MirrorCharacter: To Lonnie Byers. Both of them are abusive, self-absorbed parents who treat their spouses like garbage, and try to force their children to be more masculine than they truly are. They also both make very few appearances before disappearing from the story altogether, due to a LackOfEmpathy for their respective wives. The only real differences are that Lonnie isn't the slightest bit invested in his kids, with even Will's disappearance and presumed death barely affecting him (outside of him trying to cash in on it through a lawsuit). By contrast, Neil did care about his son and adopted daughter to ''some'' extent, to the point where he shows concern and anger over Billy letting her wander around unsupervised. |
| 387 | * NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: He's absolutely correct when he says that nothing about Billy's behavior is okay, but we later learn that ''he's'' the reason for Billy's behavior. |
| 388 | * OfficeRomance: How he and Susan got together, detailed in ''Runaway Max'': they were coworkers at a bank, with Neil as the security guard and Susan as a bank teller. They bonded over coffee breaks and single parenthood. |
| 389 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:At the end of Season 3, he has lost Billy to the machinations and destruction of the Mind Flayer]]. |
| 390 | * PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: |
| 391 | ** Chews Billy out for "staring at himself in the mirror like a faggot" and offhandedly refers to the girl he's planning a date with as a "whore". Makes you wonder how his wife feels. |
| 392 | ** As seen from Billy's childhood, he's incredibly insecure when it comes to masculinity, considering his first wife's loving nature to be weakening Billy. |
| 393 | ** Season 3 and ''Runaway Max'' reveal him to have beaten his first wife and to be a hard-core Republican who longs for the 1950s and looks down on Walter Mondale and ''that lady'' (Geraldine Ferraro). |
| 394 | * PutOnABus: [[spoiler:By the time season 4 starts, Neil has left Max's mom after Billy's death.]] Max makes it very clear to her counselor that she does '''NOT''' miss him. |
| 395 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:He leaves Hawkins following Billy's death, abandoning his wife and stepdaughter in the process.]] |
| 396 | * SoftSpokenSadist: How he talks down to Billy is a mix of this and HairTriggerTemper. Billy then talks to Max the same way. |
| 397 | [[/folder]] |
| 398 | |
| 399 | [[folder:Susan Hargrove]] |
| 400 | !!Susan Hargrove |
| 401 | [[quoteright:212:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/susanst_2.png]] |
| 402 | !!!'''Played By:''' Jennifer Marshall |
| 403 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS2E1ChapterOneMADMAX Chapter One: MADMAX]]" (2x01) |
| 404 | |
| 405 | Max's mother and Billy's stepmother. |
| 406 | ---- |
| 407 | * EightiesHair: Her strawberry blonde hair is permed and coiffed to high heaven. |
| 408 | * AdultsAreUseless: She's hardly around enough to see how much of an asshole her stepson is to her daughter. |
| 409 | * AlcoholicParent: [[spoiler:After Neil abandons her and Max]], she turns to alcohol to cope with her newfound poverty. |
| 410 | * BrokenBird: Season 4 shows she has become a stressed, emotional wreck while working two jobs to afford the trailer she and Max now live in after [[spoiler: Neil abandons them]]. |
| 411 | * ADayInTheLimeLight: We learn more about her in ''Runaway Max'', particularly her relationships with Max and Billy and how she and Neil got together. |
| 412 | * FemaleMisogynist: Not an overt example but in ''Runaway Max'' it's revealed that while she supported Walter Mondale during the 1984 election (which was going on during Season 2), she thought he was crazy for picking Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate for Vice-President because she felt no one would vote for a woman, even if she had a law degree. Max even notes her as wishing for a daintier daughter, pretty much wanting Max to be like Nancy before the events of Season 1. |
| 413 | * {{Foil}}: Compare her to all the other mothers in the series, especially in Season 2 where we meet Lucas's good-humored and lovingly stern mother, Dustin's mother who is an independent DotingParent who votes for Geraldine Ferraro, the vivacious and strong-willed Karen, the emotional and loving ActionMom Joyce, and Barb's grieving albeit determined mother who is looking for her daughter's whereabouts. Susan seems to give in to her husband and boyfriends at the expense of her daughter, while being absent in her life for long periods of time. [[spoiler:The parallels between her and Joyce become even more apparent in Season 4, after Neil abandons her and Max following Billy's death similarly to how Lonnie abandoned Joyce and their sons. Whereas Joyce remains a doting and attentive mother to both Will and Jonathan despite being overworked and in poverty, Susan becomes overwhelmed by stress and alcoholism in the same situation which causes the rift between her and Max to widen further]]. |
| 414 | * HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Even before Neil, she dated a number of men who were unreliable, goofy, unfaithful or lazy, though they were more amiable to Max. Season 4 has her make a comment about Eddie doing something to warrant police attention, showing that she exhibits prejudiced attitudes. |
| 415 | * OfficeRomance: How she and Neil got together in ''Runaway Max''. They were coworkers at a bank, Susan as a teller and Neil as the security guard. They bonded over being single parents and it escalated from there. |
| 416 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:She loses her stepson at the end of Season 3, and her daughter is apparently left brain-dead by the end of Season 4]]. |
| 417 | * ParentalNeglect: She and Neil are on vacation for most of Season 2, only appearing come episode 8, which means she left her daughter in Billy's care for a whole ''week.'' Also, whilst she's clearly bothered by Neil's abuse of Billy, she voices only weak concern. |
| 418 | * PutOnABus: She is absent for all of Season 3, only returning (briefly) in 4. |
| 419 | * RichesToRags: In Season 2, she and Max seemed to be living in a well-off house with the Hargroves. [[spoiler: But in Season 4, after Neil abandons them following Billy's death, they're now reduced to living in a trailer with Susan working two jobs to make ends meet.]] |
| 420 | * UselessBystanderParent: Not only is she not around to keep Max safe, but she sees her husband physically manhandle his son and just stands there horrified. Granted, she was likely afraid of [[DomesticAbuse how he might react if she tried to intervene]]. |
| 421 | [[/folder]] |
| 422 | ---- |
| 423 | |
| 424 | !!Bingham Family |
| 425 | |
| 426 | [[folder:Suzie Bingham]] |
| 427 | !!Suzie Bingham |
| 428 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stranger_things_suzie_actor_1947550.jpg]] |
| 429 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"Dusty-bun!"'']] |
| 430 | !!!'''Played By:''' Gabriella Pizzolo |
| 431 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS3E8ChapterEightTheBattleOfStarcourt Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt]]" (3x08) |
| 432 | |
| 433 | ->''"I haven't heard from you in a week, and now you want a mathematical equation that you'' should ''know so you can save the world?"'' |
| 434 | |
| 435 | Dustin's Mormon-raised genius girlfriend from Utah whom he met at Science Camp. |
| 436 | ---- |
| 437 | * EightiesHair: In Season 4, she lets her hair down and loose and possesses heavy bangs. |
| 438 | * AffectionateNickname: "Suzie-poo", courtesy of Dustin. |
| 439 | * ChekhovsGunman: Introduced in name only at beginning of Season 3. Confirmed not only as real by the end of Season 3, but also the only character who knows the numerical code needed to save the world. |
| 440 | * ChildProdigy: Dustin's claims about her being a genius turn out to be 100% correct, in fact she is probably the smartest pre-adult character in the entire cast. |
| 441 | * ClingyJealousGirl: Gets protective when she hears Erica on the walkie with Dustin, unaware that Erica is more of an AnnoyingYoungerSibling than a threat to her relationship. |
| 442 | * DatingWhatDaddyHates: She is in a long-distance relationship with Dustin, however since he is not Mormon (he is indeed an agnostic) her parents will probably never approve. |
| 443 | * GirlfriendInCanada: PlayedWith, as for most of Season 3 just about everyone thought that Dustin made her up, but then she turns out to be real. |
| 444 | * GoshDarnItToHeck: When she's frustrated she sounds like this. She even reprimands her older sister for actually swearing, with the use of a stern, "Language!". Even Mike has to watch himself from slipping up around her. |
| 445 | * HerBoyfriendsJacket: A variant; Dustin lets Suzie keep his iconic red, white, and blue baseball cap after they leave science camp. |
| 446 | * InformedAttractiveness: According to Dustin, she's as attractive as [[Film/FastTimesAtRidgemontHigh Phoebe Cates.]] She's definitely cute when we get to see her in person, but in a more grounded, mundane way -- her intelligence, on the other hand, is every bit as real as advertised. |
| 447 | * LockedOutOfTheLoop: Despite providing absolutely ''crucial'' help on two occasions, she's completely unaware of the existence of the Upside-Down and the threat it poses. |
| 448 | * LongDistanceRelationship: Her boyfriend, Dustin, lives in Hawkins, Indiana, whereas she lives in Utah. |
| 449 | * LovableNerd: As big of a nerd as Dustin. The two end up singing the theme to ''Film/TheNeverEndingStory'' during the FinalBattle with the Mind Flayer. When not dancing along while singing she is triumphantly acting out singer Limahl's poses. |
| 450 | * MassiveNumberedSiblings: The brief stop at her home in Season 4 reveals that she has ''at least'' 8 siblings. |
| 451 | * PinkIsFeminine: She is seen wearing a pink floral nightgown and cute hair decs. |
| 452 | * SkewedPriorities: Since she feels that Dustin blanked out on her for the past few days and is only now contacting her to ask her for a math equation, she threatens to hang up on him if he doesn't make up for it by singing ''Film/TheNeverEndingStory'' theme with her, dismissing his claims about "saving the world" as one of his games. This happens all while the kids are being pursued by the Mind Flayer and the adults could be caught by the Soviets at any minute. Though this is {{Justified|Trope}} as "saving the world from Russians and monsters" is a rather unlikely activity for a 14 year old from a small Midwestern town like Dustin to be engaged in, and despite everyone in the Party being on the radio with him, no one thinks to tell Suzie that Dustin is being deadly serious. |
| 453 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Suzie has only appeared twice on the show but, both times, she provides invaluable help to the heroes without even realizing it: |
| 454 | ** In Season 3, she [[spoiler: provides the value of Planck's constant, allowing Hopper, Joyce and Bauman to successfully destroy the Soviet machine before it can tear open a new Gate to the Upside-Down]]. |
| 455 | ** In Season 4, she [[spoiler: uses her informatic skills to find the location of NINA. This, in turn, allows the boys to reach Eleven just in time to prevent her from getting killed by one of Sullivan's soldiers]]. |
| 456 | * SmartPeopleWearGlasses: She sports a large, round pair of spectacles, and is a ChildProdigy. |
| 457 | * SpannerInTheWorks: Is unknowingly this to both the [[BigBad Mind Flayer]] and the UsefulNotes/SovietUnion when Dustin contacts her for a crucial bit of information necessary to take down both, albeit temporarily (one wonders what she thought when she saw Starcourt on the news the next day). |
| 458 | * StarCrossedLovers: Dustin describes their relationship as such, due to the distance and (her) disapproving parents. Indeed they get angry that she has a long-distance boyfriend, and an agnostic one at that. |
| 459 | * TeenGenius: She knows Planck's Constant despite being 14 at most. |
| 460 | * WalkingSpoiler: The fact that she turns out to be real is a spoiler in itself, which is to say nothing of the major role she plays in the final battle of Season 3. |
| 461 | [[/folder]] |
| 462 | |
| 463 | [[folder:Eden Bingham]] |
| 464 | !!Eden Bingham |
| 465 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/who_is_audrey_holcomb.jpg]] |
| 466 | %% [[caption-width-right:350:]] |
| 467 | !!!'''Played By:''' Audrey Holcomb |
| 468 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS4E6ChapterSixTheDive Chapter Six: The Dive]]" (4x06) |
| 469 | |
| 470 | Suzie's older sister, who would really like her to help with their vast, unruly bunch of younger siblings. |
| 471 | ---- |
| 472 | * BadlyBatteredBabysitter: Mostly because her younger siblings are borderline crazy, their father (parents?) is virtually absent, and Suzie can barely be bothered with such mundanities. |
| 473 | * {{Goth}}: She has the look, although much closer to the "listens to The Cure" than to the "wears period Victorian lace" end of the scale. Not so much gloomy as very much put upon. |
| 474 | * PromotionToParent: To her great dismay, she has to watch the children and divide chores between her siblings while their father wiles away in his office. |
| 475 | * RuleAbidingRebel: It can be inferred about her, as she's a goth with a sour personality, yet also the sister of very strictly raised Suzie and the acting homemaker of the family, since apparently nobody else can be bothered. |
| 476 | * ShipTease: With Argyle, with whom she smokes weed. |
| 477 | * SiblingYinYang: About as far from Suzie as you can get, where Suzie is a GoshDangItToHeck type who can even use a glance to force [[SirSwearsALot Mike]] to clean up his language, Eden doesn't care. (Hard to say about the rest of the kids, who mostly just seem deranged or feral). |
| 478 | * SirSwearsALot: For someone raised in a Mormon household, Eden is quite profane. |
| 479 | * WholeCostumeReference: Her baggy black outfit, messy hair, and goth makeup is a sweet nod to Allison Reynolds, the kooky "weird girl" from 80s teen classic ''Film/TheBreakfastClub''. |
| 480 | [[/folder]] |
| 481 | ---- |
| 482 | !!Russia |
| 483 | |
| 484 | [[folder:Alexei]] |
| 485 | !!Alexei |
| 486 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7c1747f0_9f63_11e9_bf2c_39e169bfb17e_800_420_4.jpeg]] |
| 487 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"Нет вишни, нет сделки"'' (''No cherry, no deal'')]] |
| 488 | !!!'''Played By:''' Alec Utgoff |
| 489 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS3E1ChapterOneSuzieDoYouCopy Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?]]" (3x01) |
| 490 | |
| 491 | -> ''"Почему они играют, если игры сфальсифицированы?"'' (''Why do they play if the games are rigged?'') |
| 492 | |
| 493 | A Soviet scientist working on the Gate. |
| 494 | ---- |
| 495 | * ChummyCommies: Provided you don't treat him as harshly as Hopper did, he's pretty friendly even with people from an enemy nation. |
| 496 | * DyingAlone: [[spoiler:He succumbs to his bullet wound after Murray leaves him to get help.]] |
| 497 | * EveryoneCanSeeIt: He seems to have been under the assumption that [[UnresolvedSexualTension Hopper and Joyce]] were already romantically and sexually involved and thinks it's hilarious that they aren't. |
| 498 | * {{Foil}}: To Steve. Steve is an American pretty-boy with little in the way of book smarts, while Alexei is a Russian scientist and isn't cool in a conventional sense. Both are captured by authority figures from enemy nations and interrogated, with contrasting results; Steve genuinely knows nothing, is understandably panicked during the whole ordeal and gets beaten and drugged despite his innocence, meanwhile Alexei does know what the Soviets are up to, stands his ground upon being questioned and ultimately manages to collaborate with his captors. Both also have an affiliation with ice; Steve sells ice-cream and Alexei enjoys slurpies. |
| 499 | * HeKnowsTooMuch: Hopper suspects that his superiors will want Alexei dead for being held captive for information, in addition to being seen as a traitor for giving up that information. [[spoiler:He's right.]] |
| 500 | * HeelFaceDoorSlam: [[spoiler:He considers defecting to the U.S., but is killed by Grigori before it can get off the ground.]] |
| 501 | * HopeSpot: When Hopper's interrogation of him goes nowhere, he kicks Alexei out of Murray's place and gives him the keys to the car and cuffs. [[BatmanGambit Hopper is betting on Alexei's predicted escape attempt to stop when he realises]] [[HeKnowsTooMuch he'll be killed for giving up information and he'll come crawling back to him]], and he's right -- Alexei tries to drive away, but stops partway through the gate. |
| 502 | * {{Manchild}}: Alexei loves Franchise/LooneyTunes, insists on FoodAsBribe to cooperate with Hopper, and wins a giant WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker plushie at the Hawkins town festival. |
| 503 | * MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: He ends up having a relatively fun time experiencing the joys of American life outside of his station and even considers defecting. [[spoiler:Sadly, he's killed before he can really leave.]] |
| 504 | * MundaneObjectAmazement: He finds 7-Eleven, slurpies (particularly cherry-flavored ones), and fairs amusing. |
| 505 | * NotSoAboveItAll: Enjoys watching ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and is really happy when he wins a ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'' plushie at the Hawkins town fair. |
| 506 | * OddFriendship: With Murray. |
| 507 | * OhCrap: His reaction [[spoiler:upon seeing Grigori at the fair]]. |
| 508 | * PunchClockVillain: He may be a scientist for the Soviets, but he doesn't agree with their cruelty. He also doesn't seem to be aware of [[EldritchAbomination the side-effects of his work]]. |
| 509 | * RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:As soon as he starts to realize that he should stay with the Americans and begins cooperating, he gets killed.]] |
| 510 | * RussianGuySuffersMost: He's on the receiving end of Hopper's temper (which is [[SmugSnake not totally undeserved]]) and is threatened by his Soviet superiors to complete his work on the Gate or else. [[spoiler:Then, as he's coming to like his time on American soil, he's silenced by Grigori and ends up DyingAlone.]] |
| 511 | * ShooOutTheClowns: [[spoiler:He gets fatally shot by Grigori right before the grim and action-packed Season 3 finale.]] |
| 512 | * SmugSnake: Tells Hopper that he'll spill if he gets a cherry-flavored slurpie. When he gets a "shit" strawberry-flavored slurpie instead, he arrogantly refuses. Hopper isn't having any of it, but Alexei starts cooperating once Hopper [[BatmanGambit crushes]] his HopeSpot. |
| 513 | * TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: Has to be bribed with burgers and slurpies before he'll talk. When Hopper obliges, Alexei just complains about the taste of the slurpie, which leads to an explosive argument that looks like it could end in a bloodbath any second. Over slurpies. |
| 514 | * {{Turncoat}}: Sad though it is, [[spoiler: as a Soviet all the actions listed above are incompatible with loyalty to MotherRussia. As he gives up all of the highly classified information he has to betray his home nation, he therefore qualifies. Even [[TheBrute Grigori]] can see it, which is why he executes him without hesitation. Whilst saying nothing more than "Traitor".]] |
| 515 | [[/folder]] |
| 516 | |
| 517 | [[folder:Enzo]] |
| 518 | !!Dmitri "Enzo" Antonov |
| 519 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ft9xv_9ueae5_2fjpeg.jpg]] |
| 520 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"A hundred to one. Son of a bitch."'']] |
| 521 | !!!'''Played By:''' Tom Wlaschiha |
| 522 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS4E2ChapterTwoVecnasCurse Chapter Two: Vecna's Curse]]" (4x02) |
| 523 | |
| 524 | A prison guard at the Gulag holding Hopper in season 4, which also doubles as the training ground for the Soviet Demogorgon. |
| 525 | ---- |
| 526 | * AllThereInTheManual: He's not been referred to as "Dmitri" in the show yet, but is billed as such in casting information. |
| 527 | * ChummyCommies: Corrupt as he may be, he's quite personable. |
| 528 | * DirtyCop: Prison Guard but engages in corrupt and criminal behavior like working with a smuggler and taking bribes from prisoners. In this case it's a heroic example, as the regime he works for is a cruel and evil one, and his "corruption" is in aiding a hero, albeit primarily for his own benefit. |
| 529 | * DramaticGuncock: To make Yuri cooperate with their escape plan, Dmitri cocks his gun to emphasize his threat to deliver a BoomHeadshot if he refuses to fly them out of the USSR. |
| 530 | * FireForgedFriends: With Hopper. Originally just an alliance of mutual convenience, to which he doesn't care if Hopper succeeds or not, they become much more genuine allies when forced to fight the Soviet Demogorgon together. Hopper trusts him enough to keep an eye on Yuri when the latter is trying to kickstart a helicopter, making sure he wont sabotague them any further. |
| 531 | * OhCrap: He has three. The first is when he realizes that [[spoiler:Yuri has betrayed him and his superiors are coming to apprehend him.]] The second is when Hopper starts to describe the Soviet Demogorgon and he realizes exactly how bad their odds against it are. The other is when Hopper tells him about being hit by Agent Orange during the Vietnam War; it's pretty clear he knows what the Agent Orange can do. |
| 532 | * OnlyKnownByHisNickname: Yuri calls him Enzo, the name he apparently took to coordinate Hopper's escape, which was in reference to a place important to both Hopper and Joyce. |
| 533 | * SoleSurvivor: By the end of the season, he is the [[spoiler:only staff member of ''Kamchatka'' to be alive, the rest killed off by the various Demodogs and Demogorgon.]] |
| 534 | * TokenGoodTeammate: After Alexei, he's the only other Soviet that isn't a villain. |
| 535 | * WellDoneDadGuy: He's got a teenage son who doesn't think too highly of him. |
| 536 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: He disappears and we get no indication of what he's up to after [[spoiler:he and Yuri pick up the Americans and ferry them back to Hawkins.]] |
| 537 | * YouUsedToBeBetterSpeech: He gives a speech to Yuri about his past as a great man before his days as the "Peanut Butter Smuggler" and how he once would have looked up to him before he lost his way to gambling and greed. It clearly cuts Yuri deep and ends up compelling him to genuinely help out the Americans. |
| 538 | [[/folder]] |
| 539 | |
| 540 | [[folder:Yuri]] |
| 541 | !!Yuri Ismaylov |
| 542 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1653812261_djuricko_3_1200x800.png]] |
| 543 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"I love the smell of cash in morning."'']] |
| 544 | !!!'''Played By:''' Nikola Đuričko |
| 545 | !!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS4E4ChapterFourDearBilly Chapter Four: Dear Billy]]" (4x04) |
| 546 | |
| 547 | A Russian smuggler who profits off of the Cold War, and is hired to help get Hopper home. |
| 548 | ---- |
| 549 | * ActuallyIAmHim: When he first meets with Joyce and Murray, he gives a spiel about the Yuri they are looking for was killed by polar bears shortly before they arrived. It isn't particularly convincing, and he is quick to assure them ''he'' is Yuri, alive and well. |
| 550 | * AffablyEvil: He's a genuinely upbeat and cheery criminal smuggler who happily sells out Hopper, Enzo, and Joyce while pocketing the money they paid him. Enzo mentions that Yuri was once a far more impressive figure before his reputation sank to "peanut butter smuggler". |
| 551 | * AnnoyingLaugh: Yuri frequently lets out an incredibly fake-sounding laugh while he's trolling Joyce and Murray, much to their frustration. |
| 552 | * TheAtoner: After all the crap he put Hopper, Joyce, Murray and Enzo through, he manages to redeem himself by tracking down a helicopter and getting them out of the gulag. |
| 553 | * BewareTheSillyOnes: He's first introduced as a comedic character who acts very chummy and playful. This makes it all the more jarring when he becomes a traitor who singlehandedly ruins the heroes' plans. |
| 554 | * BoundAndGagged: When he is taken prisoner by Murray and Joyce, his legs and arms are bound and a rag is stuffed into his mouth, preventing him from warning the Soviets while still keeping with playing the role of a prisoner. |
| 555 | * ChangedMyMindKid: [[spoiler:Is about to leave Hopper, Joyce, and Murray to their fates, but Enzo manages to awaken his conscience by appealing to his sense of patriotism and his apparently once-heroic past.]] |
| 556 | * {{Deconstruction}}: Of the LoveableRogue and OnlyInItForTheMoney. Yuri has no issue breaking laws to smuggle in goods to Russia for the right price, and seems affable when he first meets Joyce and Murray, but at the end of the day, he is only looking out for himself. While this kind of character might be considered a JerkWithAHeartOfGold in another story, it's made pretty clear here that he's a complete {{Jerkass}} whose only priority is how much money he can make. [[spoiler: This is why he ultimately reneges on the agreement he made with Enzo: Why simply take the $40,000 he's going to receive anyways when he can also betray Hopper, Enzo, Joyce, and Murray to the KGB and make even more money off of that?]] Unfortunately for Yuri, this ends up proving to be his undoing: [[spoiler: When Joyce and Murray eventually break free and overpower Yuri on the flight over, they crash his plane in Russia, take Yuri hostage, force him to help them break into the prison to rescue Hopper, and make it very clear to Yuri that the only "reward" he's getting at this point is not being tied up and left to freeze to death in the wilderness.]] |
| 557 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: If Yuri had just done what he was hired to do in the first place, he still would have received his money's worth while avoiding a lot of unnecessary grief. Instead, {{Greed}} got the better of him, and he betrayed Hopper and Enzo while also kidnapping Murray and Joyce so he could hand them over to the KGB for the right price. Right away, his plans went sideways: His plane gets destroyed, he is held hostage by the very people he was trying to kidnap (who are extremely pissed with him), he's forced to break into a Russian prison while being BoundAndGagged, and the only reason he survives the finale is because the others need a pilot. And all this without a rouble to show for it.]] |
| 558 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He claims to sincerely love his [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas mother]] and his daughter, with his [[spoiler:betrayal of Joyce and Murray motivated by getting enough money to set them up for life.]] |
| 559 | * ExactWords: He claims to be able to fly the Americans out of the USSR when they ask about him having a backup plane. He leads them to a beaten-down helicopter he had never flown before. Joyce is incredulous, but Yuri correctly reminds her that he never said a plane, he simply said he could fly them out of there. |
| 560 | * FakeRussian: Played by a Serbian actor using his native accent, no less. |
| 561 | * FallenHero: Downplayed; he's closest to the "withdrawn" subtrope. Although he used to be hailed a hero, by the time Joyce and Murray reach him he's an opportunistic smuggler. |
| 562 | * FamedInStory: He's a pretty well-known smuggler in his corner of the Soviet Union, and a former hero. (The latter part may explain why the authorities seem to tolerate him, despite the former part. That, or he's just a useful informant.) |
| 563 | * HiddenDepths: As Enzo pointed out, Yuri was originally a more noble rogue that would be ashamed of the opportunist he's turned into. This is enough to make Yuri reflect and eventually atone. |
| 564 | * LargeHam: Oh my. He barely utters a word that isn't a part of a loony, bombastic tirade filled with the oddest digressions. |
| 565 | * LaserGuidedKarma: He completely upsets the heroes' plan to get Hopper out of jail. As a result, he's forced to participate in an even '''riskier''' plan that what was already set into motion; Murray takes his place, tapes his mouth shut and makes him act as a prisoner, and he spends the rest of his runtime gagged, bound and forced to hop around. |
| 566 | * NoodleIncident: The event that earned him a reputation for heroism isn't described in detail, but the mention of "Damansky" suggests that it was the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Soviet_border_conflict#Battle_of_Zhenbao_(Damansky)_Island undeclared border war]] over [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhenbao_Island Damansky/Zhenbao Island]] in 1969. |
| 567 | * NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Nikola Đuričko plays the Russian Yuri with his native, Serbian accent, [[LargeHam joyously serving it up]]. |
| 568 | * OpportunisticBastard: Paying this guy upfront turned out to be a ''very'' big mistake for everyone involved. |
| 569 | * OhCrap: When his prisoners turn the tables on him and tie him to a tree in the Arctic environment, they point out that whilst they may not be hard enough to kill him, they won't ''need'' to, since he'd be as good as dead left in a hostile wilderness. His face falls immediately. |
| 570 | * ThirdPersonPerson Frequently talks about himself in the third person. |
| 571 | * VenturousSmuggler: Deconstructed, as the kind of person willing to do such work is probably not a heroic or trustworthy individual. |
| 572 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: His final scene in season 4 has him [[spoiler:arrive at the prison to bring the Americans to Hawkins. No mention is made by the other characters of what he is up to or where he is, as he doesn't show up with Hopper and Joyce at the end.]] |
| 573 | [[/folder]] |
| 574 |
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