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The Adults
Joyce Byers
Joyce Byers
"Just ring me up, Donald."
Played By: Winona Ryder
Debut: "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers" (1x01)
"Maybe I'm a mess, maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I'm out of my mind! But God help me, I'll keep these lights up until the day I die if I think there's any chance that Will is still out there!"
A divorced supermarket cashier and Will and Jonathan's single mother.
- '70s Hair:
Word of God has it that Joyce's hair in Season One was inspired by Meryl Streep's hair in Silkwood, which focused on the shag do'd whistleblower Karen Silkwood and her 1974 murder. As the series goes on, her hair gets longer and more well-kept. - '80s Hair: Her hair in Season 3, while still low-maintenance is fuller and has heavier bangs.
- Action Survivor: Joyce willingly goes into the Upside-Down with Hopper to find her son. That's damned courageous for anyone, let alone a middle-aged mother with no self-defense training. She later even travels to Kamchatka with Murray to save Hop, and, with help from Murray and an unwitting Yuri, manages to break into Russia's nastiest prison and save him.
- Almighty Mom: She brooks no mistreatment of her sons, she doesn't care if you're an interdimensional monster or a local police officer. When she finds out that Jonathan has been arrested, she demands, nay, commands that he be let out of his handcuffs. It's telling that whenever she gives an order to Chief Hopper, he never argues.
- Beauty Inversion: A decidedly un-glamorous role for Ryder, with terrible fried hair and a polyester wardrobe. It works for the time and the role. In later seasons she's relaxed enough to put effort into her appearance.
- Beware the Nice Ones: As kind and gentle as she can be, she does have a lot of limits. Ridiculing the tactics she comes up with in order to find her son, calling her crazy, and not being able to understand what is wrong with Will is going to get you into serious trouble with her.
- Big "NO!": She lets out several in "The Mind Flayer" as she witnesses a pack of Demodogs mauling Bob to death.
- Blue Collar Hero: She is a struggling single mom who works a clerk position at a local store that barely covers her family's standard of living and lives out in the woods where she can handle an ax to fight monsters and other things after her and her family and their friends.
- Cartwright Curse: By the end of Season 3, her last two relationships ended with the (at least apparent) death of her love interest.
- Cassandra Truth: Joyce insists that Will is not dead. For good reason, she's dismissed as simply being in denial. She's absolutely, 100% right, however.
- Cigarette of Anxiety: She starts bumming Camels following the stress of Will's vanishing.
- Combat Pragmatist: Given that she's not an Action Girl, her contributions to fights consist of her supporting Hop (and later Murray) with whatever tools she can find, whether it's a gun or otherwise.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: At some point Hopper realizes that Joyce's crazy idea about Will communicating with her through Christmas lights may not be so crazy after all.
- Cuteness Proximity: Anxious, tired, stressed, and focused on getting her son back she may be... but, the minute she sees how love-deprived Eleven is, you can see her hasty progression to Mom-Mode on her behalf, too.
- Deadpan Snarker: She doesn't always express it, but it's there, especially getting in at Murray for being so chatty with a Soviet guard when they're sneaking incognito.Joyce: Why are you talking so much?
Murray: He was nice.
Joyce: He was nice?
Murray: He was a nice guard.
Hopper: Yeah, I can probably invite him over after this is all done.
Joyce: [throwing her hands] Yeah, I can bake him a casserole. - Determinator: She refuses to stop searching for her son, going as far as smashing down a wall with an axe to try and find him.
- Fisher King: Her home becomes a dilapidated mess as the show goes on, mirroring the stress and trauma she undergoes to find her son. It's fully repaired and comforting a month after Will is rescued. Season 2 has it grown just as crazy as the Mind Flayer grows in strength, though this time, her significant others know what this means.
- Foil:
- To Brenner. Both are parents to missing children, but while Joyce seemingly loses her mind from anxiety and grief, Brenner never so much as raises his voice or walks at a hurried pace. This also illustrates the fundamental difference between them; Joyce is frantic and borderline crazed because she's a loving mother in a nightmarish situation for such a parent (even before the paranormal starts to butt in), while Brenner obviously doesn't really care about Eleven beyond her abilities and usefulness as a weapon.
- To Karen. She's less glamorous, has anxiety issues, works at a job that can barely pay the bills, broke off her unsatisfactory marriage to Lonnie, and has less time and financial means to focus on the appearance of her home. But she easily recognizes when something is wrong with her children and becomes a valuable part of the Party.
- To Hopper. Both end up as concerned and overprotective parents two of the most central people to the conspiracy (Will for Joyce, and Eleven for Hopper), but while Joyce is extremely encouraging, gentle, and understanding of Will, Hopper is equally well-meaning but Cannot Spit It Out, which leads to his and Eleven's relationship breaking down a lot of the time.
- Former Teen Rebel: She used to skip class and smoke cigarettes with Hopper when she was a teenager. She later lights one up with him at the Snowball.
- Genre Savvy: Not only about what kind of missing her son is, but the lengths she might have to go to get him back. And, she quickly gets that the body of Will she's shown isn't Will — and, what that could mean. She also sees through her ex enough to dig through his stuff, and unearths a Russian attempt to reopen the Gate via magnets. Joyce is a savvy, if frazzled, bunny.
- Good Is Not Soft: A decent woman who has fallen on hard times and a supportive mother, but doesn't hesitate to storm the Upside Down to save her son as well as restraining Will to decisively exorcise the Mind Flayer out of him while even Jonathan begged her to stop.
- Good Parents: A more realistic type in that while she's constantly stressed out, overworked, and underpaid trying to keep the family afloat, she values her kids more than herself. She takes the time to understand them (like knowing that Jonathan's dream school is NYU and Will's artistic leanings) and spend time with them. She also takes her time in making sure Eleven is comfortable with a real and caring adult around.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: At 5'2", she's the tiny girl to Hop's huge guy, who at 6'3" is a clear foot taller than her.
- Humble Goal: In the first half of Season 3, Joyce drags Hopper along on a conspiracy-quest just to find out why her fridge magnets aren't working.
- Hysterical Woman: Especially in Season 1, where it's justified by her missing son, but she tends towards being emotional and shouting at or dragging Hopper along in Season 3.
- Informed Poverty: Downplayed. She and her boys live in the more rural outskirts of the town in a 1-floor house with no paved driveway or road leading to it. While they're not poor per-se, they are shown to have it harder than the other families depicted, who live in the town in bigger houses; this also comes into collation considering that both Joyce and her son Jonathan work to get by. Further downplayed because her house has a lot of seventies holdovers in interior decorating, contrasting the 80's look of most other houses and implying that they did not had enough money to redecorate to newer styles.
- The Insomniac: Becomes this for most of the season, especially after making contact with Will.
- It's Personal: Joyce is more determined than ever to kill the Mind Flayer after Bob's death.
- I Will Find You: Said word-for-word to Will in "The Body".
- Jaded Washout: By Bob's reaction, she was apparently very popular (and out of his league) when they were both in high school. Now she is a struggling single mother who can barely afford her own home, is divorced from an abusive man, and has a history of mental health struggles. She doesn't let that affect her relationships with her sons however.
- Mama Bear:
- To Will more than Jonathan; of course, Jonathan is capable of looking after himself. She doesn't hesitate to walk into another dimension for a chance at saving her son! It comes out in full force while trying to cure Will of the Mind Flayer's influence in "The Mind Flayer". It ultimately pays off.
- Is also this to Eleven, and to an extent, most of the group.
- My Beloved Smother:
- According to Lonnie, her over-parenting is ruining their boys. Did we mention that Lonnie is an abusive, neglectful asshat?
- She gets slightly clingy in Season 2 as an emotional response to what happened in Season 1.
- She lampshades her own genuine (justifiably developed by this point, since Will has twice now been a victim of otherworldly evils in as many years) Smotherly tendencies to Hopper at the end of the second season, noting that Will wants some space, so she is giving him "a few feet."
- Nervous Wreck: She has a history of anxiety problems according to Jonathan and Lonnie. The show's main conflict isn't helping her one bit. This very history is depicted as both a boon and a curse. On the plus-side, she knows exactly what a downward spiral presents and feels like, so quickly realizes that what she's going through isn't like previous bouts she's had. Which clues her in to the existing weirdness behind Will's disappearance. The downside is, she also knows exactly why there's almost no chance to convince others of this, even as she gets more frustrated trying. Knowing this doesn't help her nerves... which feeds back into her behavior, thereby making her look more unhinged to others.
- Nice Girl: She's an incredibly devoted and protective mother who is loving, caring and understanding to her very core.
- No Endor Holocaust: Joyce skips work, blows a paycheck, and goes into credit to buy more lights and phones to communicate with Will, holds a funeral, and breaks down a wall in her house, while her son Jonathan tears the place apart and sets it on fire in a confrontation with the Demogorgon. One month later, she's bought Will an Atari, a comparatively pricey present for someone who was struggling to make ends meet before the show began. note In Season 3, however, the new shopping mall has starved the local businesses and Joyce's store is hanging by a thread. She's eventually forced to move away.
- Open-Minded Parent: In Season 3, she is very aware of Jonathan and Nancy sleeping together in his bed and barely scolds him after appearing with Nancy's lipstick mark on his cheek; Justified because by this point he and his girlfriend are both 18 and have been dealing with supernatural monsters, aside from him having to be independent and contribute to both the household income and the care of his younger brother earlier than most of his peers.
- Parental Substitute: Not quite on Hopper's level, but Joyce is the closest thing to a mother that Eleven has. When Eleven finds Barb's corpse in "The Bath" and is understandably horrified, Joyce is the one to rush into the pool and reassure her everything is all right, which is the first instance of maternal affection Eleven has ever had. When reunited in "The Gate", Eleven just goes over and wordlessly hugs Joyce, who is only too happy to see that she's all right. In Season 3, Joyce also helps Hopper in parenting Eleven, serving as a sounding board in how to interact with Eleven and Mike. Then she reaches Hopper's level by taking Eleven in when Hopper is presumed to be killed at Starcourt.
- Parents Know Their Children:
- This is one of Joyce's most prominent character traits, and key to the strength of Ryder's performance. Joyce has a thorough and timely understanding of her son's social life. She deduces that the drawing Hopper found within the Department wasn't created by Will by asking the exact right question, "Was it good?" and shows pride of her son's artistic talent. She remembers where his birthmarks are. Most importantly, her motherly intuition leads her to the conclusion, despite knowing full well just how crazy it sounds, that Will is communicating from the Upside-Down through flickering the lights and playing the Clash, knowing it's one of Will's favorite songs. This is contrasted with her abusive, neglectful ex-husband Lonnie, who doesn't know something as simple as where Jonathan wants to go to college.
- In Season 2, she recognizes when the Mind Flayer, not Will, is in control of Will's body. When Will begins screaming and convulsing violently while they try to drive it out of his body by heating up the room, Jonathan can't bear to look at his brother in pain, but Joyce, knowing that it's the Mind Flayer up to its tricks, cranks up the heaters to drive the monster out of her son.
- Platonic Life-Partners: In Season 4, after the apparent death of Hopper, Joyce and Murray have become very close, and play off of each other's eccentricities.
- Progressively Prettier: Joyce is introduced as an overworked single mother, who's especially stressed out because of her son's disappearance. Winona Ryder is dressed down to look like someone who wouldn't believably be caring too much about looking perfect. By Season 2, her hair has grown out and she's wearing more make-up. It's justified by her son now being home and safe, as well as a romance with Nice Guy Bob (where she'd probably feel like making more of an effort).
- Revenge: The Mind Flayer took over her son's body and caused the death of her boyfriend. She declares that she wants it dead, setting the plot to do just that into motion.
- Room Full of Crazy: Her house eventually devolves into a messy living space with tons of Christmas lights and a wall filled with alphabet letters as a reflection of her mental state. It gets another one in Season 2 with Will's drawings, but she's much more mentally equipped to handle that situation.
- Sanity Slippage: After Will's disappearance. Given some of the townspeople's comments, she wasn't that stable before he left. Having said that, given her asshole ex-husband, she might have had a reason or two behind any other anxiety episodes, as well. Lonnie has done some divide and conquer gaslighting as a tactic on screen; who knows what he previously put her through.
- Stronger Than They Look: In an emotional sense rather than a physical one. Joyce initially appears to be the typical, frail, hysterical mother going out of her mind over her missing son. But years of putting up with an emotionally manipulative husband, walking out on said husband, and taking care of two boys by herself has given her a core strength that can only be rivaled by Hopper. When the Demogorgon climbs out of her walls, she initially runs, but later returns to her living room with an axe.
- Team Mom: For the core group as of Season 2. She's the nurturing and gentle presence to contrast Jim's strict Team Dad approach. Most evident in her eternally warm and caring interactions with Eleven.
- Took a Level in Badass: Gradually transitions from barely keeping it together to punching out the town's corrupt mayor.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: In Season 4 finale, she electrocuted a Demogorgon ready to kill Hopper few times after their Big Damn Kiss.
- Waif-Fu: She's a short, very petite woman, but the events of the first three seasons toughen her up, so much so that she's able to pin down her Flayer-possessed son and, a season later, cold-cock Hawkins' corrupt mayor.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Delivers a blistering one to Jonathan after learning that not only did he decide to take on the Demogorgon alone, he roped in Nancy in the plan as well.Joyce: [breaking down] My God, Jonathan, what if it took you, too...
- Women Are Wiser: She handholds Hopper and needs to give him so much emotional advice in order to stop him from just straight up breaking Eleven's door down in fits of rage.
- You Have to Believe Me!: She falls victim to this a bit; she's naturally a rather anxious and nervous person even before her son disappeared, the campaign of gaslighting and discrediting her ex-husband did to smear her reputation hasn't helped her credibility, and her story is, let's be fair, very hard to believe. She has enough self-awareness to realize that she doesn't come across as very believable, but personality traits can be hard to overcome.
Jim Hopper
Chief James "Jim" Hopper / "Hop" / "The Chief"
"Mornings are for coffee and contemplation."
Played By: David Harbour
Debut: "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers" (1x01)
"This is Hawkins. You wanna know the worst thing that's ever happened here in the four years I've been working here? The worst thing was when an owl attacked Eleanor Gillespie's head because it thought that her hair was a nest."
The town of Hawkins's Police Chief and main investigator of Will's disappearance. A divorced former law enforcer in an undisclosed big city, whose daughter died of cancer. He struggles with alcoholism and substance abuse to cope with his losses.
- Action Dad: After adopting El, as he's a badass Police Chief.
- Anger Born of Worry: Hopper's attitude towards finding out that El had snuck out of the house in "Will The Wise" is clearly about how worried he was about her putting herself in danger like that. He confirms this with her directly during their conversation in the car in "The Gate."
- Anti-Hero: He's spurred into action by Joyce's Armor-Piercing Question from the first act and is clearly trying to find Will as a means of finding closure for the death of his daughter, whom he couldn't save. To do it, there's no one he won't punch, threaten, exploit, or betray.
- The Atoner:
- His life spiraled out of control after his divorce, following the death of his child. It appears that if he can save Will, he might assuage some of his guilt.
- Seems that he feels this way over El's disappearance at the end. He even feeds her via dead drops, implying she's still alive. Then he takes her in, acting as El's Parental Substitute in Season 2.
- Badass in Distress: He spends Season 4 as a prisoner in the Soviet Union.
- Badges and Dog Tags: Hopper had previously served in the Army Chemical Corps during the Vietnam War. In his backstory, he believes his exposure to Agent Orange is related to the cause of the death of his daughter to childhood cancer.
- Bad Liar: Completely unconvincing when trying to cook up a fib, which simply results in him just giving up and punching someone.
- Baritone of Strength: A big, powerful fighter and a very competent cop with a deep voice.
- Beard of Sorrow: Hopper takes a very lackadaisical attitude toward shaving in spite of being a police officer. In Season 1, he's deeply depressed about his daughter's death. In Seasons 2 and 3, he's still not shaving much, perhaps due to the various sources of stress in his life.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Joyce in Season 3. She missed a dinner date, which he took personally and they spend the rest of the season arguing over everything. In a moment of frustration, Murray tells them to just go fuck in the bushes because there's bigger issues to worry about.
- Big Beautiful Man: Through Seasons 1-3. Years of donuts and grief have taken their toll on his physique, but he's quite rugged-looking nonetheless. In Season 4, after months of living on rations and forced labor in a Russian prison, he's shed all the weight and developed more muscle.
- The Big Guy: Aside from Eleven, he's almost certainly the best fighter amongst the viewpoint characters.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: His behavior in the early episodes of Season 3 might be the least justified instance in the history of the trope, for two reasons: first, Mike Wheeler is not at all the kind of boy who would put his own desires ahead of his girlfriend's wellbeing, and second, any boy who tries to pressure Jane Hopper into doing something outside her comfort zone and won't take no for an answer is liable to find himself hurled across the room. After the compassion Hopper showed for both adolescents during their reunion scene in Season 2 (ensuring that whatever anger Mike felt over the revelation that El had heard him calling her and not answered was directed at himself, not at El), this borders on Flanderization of his character; the Hopper portrayed in "The Gate" should have understood how badly coercing Mike into lying to her would hurt El.
- Broken Bird: Hopper's had to deal with people he cares about being taken from him ever since his Vietnam days.Hopper: I used to think I was cursed. Now I realize, I am the curse.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: At the start of Season 1, he's a lazy drunk slob who may or may not also be a junkie. He's also a pretty damn good cop when he actually applies himself.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Interestingly less of a problem at the beginning of the show, where he doesn't have any significant relationships to worry about. But by Season 2 he's struggling to talk to Eleven about important things, made even worse by her lack of social skills. In Season 3 he can't talk to Eleven about her relationship with Mike, and seriously cannot bring himself to communicate with Joyce properly.
- The Casanova: Has a number of exes. The guy gets around even when he doesn't have his feet on the ground.
- Character Signature Song: Jim Croce's "You Don't Mess Around With Jim", clearly because it's a song about a guy named 'Jim' who's touted be a massive badass in his town. Except, well... see Irony below.
- Childhood Friend Romance: He and Joyce have known each other since high school, and ultimately become an Official Couple by the end of Season 4.
- Close to Home: The experience with El keeps remind him of his lost daughter.
- Combat Pragmatist: The Chief is very fond of sucker punches and sneaking up on his opponents.
- Cowboy Cop:
- After he realizes the government is covering up what happened with Will he begins to act outside the law. May still be doing it. Hopper is more than bright enough to work out that El and Will are but the tip of the conspiracy iceberg; model security guard/ contractor? Bloody doubt it.
- Taken to new heights in Season 3, where he (with Joyce's help) takes the mayor of Hawkins hostage, threatens to cut off his finger, and later straight up steals a car. It doesn't help that he spends much of the season without his uniform.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Reacts very negatively when Joyce misses a date to get an impromptu physics lesson from Mr. Clarke and accuses her of wanting to date him instead. He doesn't let up about it either.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass:
- He is initially presented as a struggling alcoholic/addict and uncaring police officer who rolls into work hours late, but later proves to be more than capable of handling himself. He knocks out a State Trooper with only two punches, is able to take down a government agent and disarm an MP in the space of a few seconds, and later incapacitates three more agents whilst avoiding being spotted by a helicopter. Later, even when threatened with torture and death whilst being interrogated, he remains unfazed and warns the agents they are going to negotiate with him for the safety of the boys.
- A box hidden beneath the floor of his cabin in Season 2 hints he served during the Vietnam War. Possibly even in special forces, as he demonstrates a keen knowledge of irregular warfare (such as booby-trapping the house he shares with Eleven to help protect her). He also expertly handles an M-16 he salvages from a dead guard later in the season, as well as a similarly-acquired AK-47 in Season 3.
- This proves to be his biggest advantage in dealing with the Government Conspiracy. They pretty clearly thought they were dealing with a barely-competent small-town sheriff who wouldn't recognize a clue if it walked up and gave him its business card. By the time they realize that's not who Hopper is, he's pretty much got their number.
- In Season 3, it seems as though the hot-tempered and bullheaded Hopper has bungled yet again when he tries to stop Alexei's constant demands by giving him the means to escape. In the end, however, he's confirmed to have read the situation perfectly.
- Cutting the Knot: While he usually does try the subtle approach to solving a problem first, he tends to default to rather direct violence as the way out whenever it doesn't work. The greatest example is perhaps how he deals with the state trooper guarding the morgue; when his attempt to bluff his way past him fails, Hopper instead nonchalantly knocks the guy out cold with a swift punch to the face.
- Dad the Veteran: Hopper is a Vietnam War vet, and we find out in Season 4 that he believes Sarah's death might have been due to his exposure to Agent Orange.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has a rather dry and dark sense of humor.
- Death Seeker: Is implied to have started smoking sometime after his daughter died of lung cancer, though Season 2 reveals he and Joyce used to skip class to smoke together when they were in high school. He cuts down his smoking and pill-popping habits after Season 1.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Cowboy Cop and The Heroes of The '80s. He's very much aggressive and hotheaded like most of the famous examples of the tropes above, which sometimes leads to his suspension as well as (temporarily) alienating his loved ones, like Eleven in Season 2 and Joyce in Season 3. He clearly means well, but can't show it properly due to his tough guy persona.
- Defective Detective: Hopper was once a big-city cop, but he's become a mess since his daughter died. He's divorced, spends his time abusing substances, and returned to his hometown Hawkins where he grew up in.
- Disney Death: Gets one at the end of season 3 where it looks like an explosion is taking his life while he actually was Saved by the Platform Below.
- Donut Mess with a Cop: In the pilot, his first order of business when he arrives at the station is to grab a coffee and donut. The Season 2 opener has a similar moment when Flo takes a donut out of his mouth and hands him an apple, only for him to throw the apple in the garbage after one bite.
- Doom Magnet: Reveals to Eleven that he's afraid he destroys everything good that happens to him. He says this as he's driving them on an extremely risky mission, but they both survive.
- Emotionally Tongue-Tied: A recurring problem of his, especially in Season 3. He's now completely incapable of expressing his feelings to Joyce, preferring to respond with aggression, and treats El with anger because he doesn't know how to express that he cares for her. He planned to tell her how in Season 3, as his letter indicates, but he forgot about it in fury upon Mike and lost the opportunity after getting captured by the Soviets.
- Establishing Character Moment: He wakes up on a couch, smokes a cigarette, brushes his teeth, washes down some pills with Schlitz, smokes another cigarette... and then puts on a police uniform. Yeesh! Later on in the series, though, his reliable, steadfast nature and heart of gold get more of the spotlight.
- Face Death with Dignity: When Joyce has to destroy the collider but is worried about Hopper getting caught in it, he gives her a reassuring smile to let her know he's at peace with his fate. Ultimately, though, he survives.
- Fatal Flaw: His inability to express his emotions properly tends to hurt the people he cares about most.
- Formerly Fat: In the first 3 seasons, while still being muscular, he sported a quite noticeable big gut caused by years of depression and letting himself go. But in season 4, after being captured and imprisoned by Soviets in Siberia for almost an entire year, he shed a lot of fat and got more definition to the point of even having defined and visible abs. A lot of characters comments on it when they see him again, and even him himself talks about it some times.
- Former Teen Rebel: He used to cut class with Joyce and smoke cigarettes as teenagers; they later light some up at the Snow Ball.
- Functional Addict: A hard drinker and pill-popper. It comes back to bite him when he's under threat from the agents. They threaten to shoot him full of dope and make it look like an OD, before he strikes a deal. By Season 2, it appears he's quit his pill-popping habit, since he's not shown taking any pills.
- Good Is Not Nice: By Season 3, he can be extremely rude, abrupt, and aggressive, but he tries to protect the town, and El specifically.
- Good Is Not Soft: The guy has his flaws and shortcomings, but he's a force to be reckoned with. He can be rather intimidating at times when the situation warrants it and even throw some fisticuffs for good measure. And he will use a Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique when needed.
- Grief-Induced Split: He is introduced to the series as single. However, he later reveals that he had a wife and a daughter. After their daughter tragically passed away from cancer, the couple divorced.
- Guest Fighter: He appears as a skin for Apollo in Smite.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Gains one by Season 3, and is very Hot-Blooded to Joyce to boot.
- Heartbroken Badass: In Season 1 over the death of his daughter.
- Heroic Build: Hopper sheds a lot of flab during his time as a Soviet prisoner and builds up muscle from all the forced labor.
- Hidden Depths: He is a more insightful, conniving, and caring person than he lets on.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The huge guy to Joyce's tiny girl.
- Idiot Ball:
- In Season 1, after discovering Will's death was faked, he immediately decides to invade the facility, alone, with no backup, and without telling anyone or leaving any sort of notes. And he already has plenty of reason to know they're willing to murder people to cover things up!
- In Season 2, he manages to find the underground tunnels Will's drawings led to and decides to explore them all alone without calling for any backup. It doesn't take long before he ends up trapped and, if not for Will and Bob having managed to find where he was located, he would have surely died.
- Irony: Hopper clearly has a huge love for the song "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" because it's about a badass son-of-a-gun named 'Jim' (a.k.a. Hopper), with lyrics warning that messing with him is like 'tugging on Superman's cape'. The second half of that song, however, has a guy named Slim show up to and stab Jim about a hundred times and then shot him a couple times more after Jim supposedly cheated him at pool, at which point the lyrics start singing "You don't mess around with Slim".
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: At first, Hopper seems lazy, irritable and just plain bored. He exerts the minimal amount of effort into finding Will. Once he realizes that Will's case is serious, however, he becomes more competent and determined, even risking his life to solve the case.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Starts as a jaded cynical addict with a Dark and Troubled Past who's basically just going through the motions of his daily life. Over the course of Season 1, he develops into a gruff, protective determinator. In Season 2 he's developed into a harsh protector of Eleven, hiding her from those who would lock her away for study. At the end of Season 2 he winds up becoming her adoptive father thanks to some help from Dr. Owens. He still retains the rough edges even after all of this character development, however.
- Lantern Jaw of Justice: It comes with being played by David Harbour.
- Last-Name Basis: Referred to as "Hopper" or "Hop" by most everyone.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: Played with. Hopper having been exposed to chemicals during the Vietnam war affected his fertility, which in turn affected the health of his biological daughter, who died in childhood as a consequence. He later adopts Eleven.
- The Mourning After: He is still haunted by the death of his daughter and his divorce, still not coming to terms with those in the beginning of the series. His bout with substance addiction and alcoholism are attributed to this. Whenever he mentions his daughter, he frequently talks about her in the present tense, which tells you just how much in grief he's still in over her death.
- My Beloved Smother: Gender Inverted to Eleven in Season 2. He more or less forbids her from leaving their cabin out of fear of the government finding her again. He gives her more freedom by the end, but in Season 3 we find him struggling to manage her budding relationship with Mike, ultimately causing him to take drastic action.
- Mysterious Past: Aside from a brief mention that he used to work in "the big city", and that he and his wife separated after the death of their daughter, nothing concrete is revealed. However, given his combat and infiltration skills, connections to reporters with the New York Times, and his ability to parlay with the government agents to negotiate the safety of the boys and ensure he doesn't end up getting tied up as a loose end (he is seen to still be alive and have his job a month later), one can speculate he may have also worked for the government prior to relocating to Hawkins. In Season 2, Eleven finds a bunch of boxes stored under the cabin; one of them is marked "New York" and the other "Vietnam". Depending on how you view canon, the tie-in novel Darkness on the Edge of Town reveals that he was a detective in New York during the 1970s, and was present during the Blackout of 1977. Season 4 reveals he enlisted in the Army to "prove to his Dad that he wasn't a piece of shit." He was in the Chemical Corps and responsible for mixing Agent Orange. He was only given kitchen gloves, and was constantly exposed to its byproducts. Upon his discharge, he married Diane and moved to New York to start a family and pursue a career in law enforcement. While he was able to avoid the side effects of the chemical, his daughter Sara developed a horrendous type of cancer resulting in her death. Hopper blamed himself, and Diane did as well, resulting in his divorce and relocation back to Hawkins. There he "hid himself in drugs and booze" for the next five years until Joyce and Eleven entered his life.]]
- Nerves of Steel: Almost never hesitates in dangerous or tense situations, not even when he has to cut open Will's body to find out it is a fake dummy.
- Never Found the Body: There's no trace of him after Joyce closes the Gate in the Season 3 finale, and it was already established that the energies given off by the Soviets' device can completely vaporize a human. And yet there's the American in the Soviet prison in The Stinger. The first preview for Season 4 outright confirms that he somehow survived and is working at the Soviet prison in question.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In what can be considered a borderline villainous move, Hopper sells out Eleven to Brenner for the chance to save Will. This directly results in the attack at the school in the climax of Season 1.
- No One Could Survive That!: Although he seemed to have died at the end of Season 3, it turns out that he's somehow alive in Season 4.
- One-Man Army: Hopper is a large, formidable powerhouse, having survived stints as a special forces operative in Vietnam and a New York City homicide detective during the 1970s crime wave. He has no reservation about taking on all of Hawkins Lab or a base full of Russian mooks by himself. Lampshaded by Dustin who reassures Hopper he can "all the fighting and dangerous hero shit" with the Russians and by Alexei who dubs him "Fat Rambo".
- Only Known by Their Nickname: In Season 4, his captors and his fellow prisoners know him only as "the American".
- Outliving One's Offspring: His daughter died of cancer. It still very much haunts him.
- Papa Wolf: He eventually becomes extremely protective of the whole group of kids, especially Eleven, whom he later formally adopts.
- Parental Substitute: In Season 2, Hopper takes care of Eleven by having her move into and live in his own house. And by the end of the season, he legally becomes her adoptive father (via forgery of official documents thanks to Dr. Owens).
- Parents as People: He explains to Eleven that he's so hard on her because he's scared of losing her like Sarah.
- Police Are Useless: Played with; by the time the series starts, he clearly only values his job because being the police chief of a small, quiet town gives him plenty of opportunity to slack off and indulge his vices without being overly inconvenienced by having to do much actual serious policing. Will's disappearance spurs him to pick his boots up and remember his long-atrophied competence, however, implying that he wasn't always like this but simply fell into depression and apathy due to his personal grief.
- Porn Stache: He is sporting one in Season 3. Since he's shown watching Magnum P.I. at the TV, this could be not coincidental.
- Rabid Cop: Even though his suspicions turn out to be correct, Hopper pretty quickly descends to the point of beating up two (possible) members of the State Police.
- Really Gets Around: It's all but stated in season 1 that he's slept with multiple women in Hawkins, and was even a player in high school.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Hopper is actually pretty willing to listen once he sees actual evidence. He's also remarkably quick on the uptake, as seen in "Holly, Jolly" when he realizes the tape they were shown wasn't the night after Will's disappearance, as it was pouring rain while the tape showed none.
- Relative Button: As Mayor Kline learns the hard way in Season 3, do not insult his late daughter's memory.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: Uses one, in contrast to the Hawkins Lab agents who favor semi-automatics. Justified since he's a small town police chief and they're well-funded government agents. Given his suggested experience in the Vietnam War, and automatic handguns of that period's propensity for jamming, his choice may be justified as a sidearm. This is also Truth in Television as revolvers were standard police issue until the mid-nineties. For example, the NYPD didn't stop issuing them until 1993. It is highly unlikely that a small-town Indiana police department would have had the resources in 1984 to issue automatic pistols which were very expensive in those days.
- Running Gag: Whenever he tries to talk his way into a place he isn't supposed to be in, it always ends with Talk to the Fist.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: In Season 2, he's the Manly cop to Bob's nerdy and humble Sensitive Guy.
- The Sheriff: Not his actual job title, but he fits the archetype nonetheless.
- Smarter Than You Look: When he lets Alexei go. To properly set the scene: Hopper takes off the handcuffs; tells Alexei to scram; tosses the car keys at him, then throws the Russian out the door. Murray and Joyce are furious with him as he quietly smirks and smugly says, "He'll be back." They continue screaming at him as all three hear the car start up and drive off. Hopper doesn't change his stance at all. Admit it, you thought he'd stacked it as well... until they find Alexei had stopped the car just a few feet away from Murray's gate. He agrees to come back with his tail between his legs.
- Spotting the Thread: One reason why Hopper is a Reasonable Authority Figure — when he sees something amiss, he doesn't write it off as just a coincidence until he's investigated it fully.
- He sees Will's "abandoned" bike. He knows the kid's running, as even a kid in pain would walk the bike home. He sees a dent in the wall the shape of a doorknob lock? He notices that the rest of the house is too well-maintained for it to be a normal occurrence, meaning the door was opened forcibly from the outside. He sees a half-empty box of rifle rounds next to a gun rack but no gun? He knows that someone loaded the rifle but was unable to fire it.
- The lab people think they've quieted Hopper by showing video of the night in question that shows all normal. However, Hopper knows something is wrong because the video has a clear sky but the actual night had a torrential downpour in the area.
- When Will's "body" is found in the quarry, he knows it's is a fake — because a fall from the cliffs around it should have pulped it.
- He instantly realizes that the state trooper who found the "body" is part of the conspiracy when the trooper lies to his face regarding the jurisdiction of the quarry.
- Stout Strength: Hopper is stocky, sports a noticeable gut, and lives a pretty unhealthy lifestyle, but he's strong and can hold his own in a fight.
- Survivor's Guilt:
- Hopper carries a lot of this around over his daughter's death from cancer prior to the series throughout much of Season 1 and Season 2. It led to the collapse of his marriage, and is the source of his reputation as a junkie. It also drives his Anger Born of Worry with Eleven in Season 2. Notably, in the conversation he has with El on the subject in "The Gate," he calls himself a black hole that sucks in and destroys everything around him, and he was terrified of doing the same to her.
- During his time in Vietnam he was in the Chemical Corps and was responsible for the manufacture of Agent Orange. While he was able to avoid the side-effects many of his compatriots got sick and died. Worse exposure to the chemical resulted in many of of his friends' children being born with birth defects. Hopper believed himself spared this, but to his horror his daughter Sara developed cancer as a result of his exposure. Hopper blamed himself for her death, and Diane did as well, and he's never forgiven himself for this.
- Talk to the Fist: He makes quite a bit of progress just with sucker punches.
- Team Dad: To the core group of heroes as of Season 2, especially given that all of them (except for Joyce) are underage. He's protective of all of them (especially Will and Eleven) and is the one most likely to shoot first to defend them.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Having to endure the brunt of Mike and Eleven being Sickening Sweethearts constantly for seven straight months has clearly taken a toll on not just his anger management skills but arguably his sanity as he's much more belligerent in Season 3, getting in Mike's face anytime he kisses El, regularly bickering with Joyce over a missed date, and outright bullying Alexei out of frustration at the language barrier. That's not even counting the level of Cowboy Cop he goes to, with him doing things like kidnapping and subjecting his own boss Mayor Kline to a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown for a little bit of information. Fortunately, he cools off after months of being held as a Soviet prisoner.
- Took a Level in Kindness: In Season 2, his kinder and caring side is much more apparent, such as when he attends Will's visits to the lab and when he looks after Eleven. He is also very supportive of Joyce.
- Trauma Button: He is still coping with the death of his daughter and the case of missing Will brings it to the surface via Troubled Backstory Flashback.
- Traumatic Haircut: His head gets shaven when he's locked in a Soviet prison.
- Uncertain Doom: Seemingly killed at the end of Stranger Things 3 but The Stinger provides evidence suggesting that he might still be alive as a prisoner of the Soviet Union... which was outright confirmed in the first teaser for Season 4.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Murray in Season 3. They seem to know each other much better than their Season 2 interaction implied, and even as they bicker there seems to be a lot of trust and understanding between them.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: He had a strained relationship with his father due to him viewing Hopper as a "worthless piece of shit." Hopper was so determined to prove him wrong that he enlisted to fight in Vietnam, resulting in his exposure to Agent Orange
- You Are Fat: Alexei aptly describing Hopper as "Fat Rambo". Doesn't mean you can mess with him and get away with it, though.
Martin Brenner
Bob Newby
Bob "the Brain" Newby
Played By: Sean Astin
Debut: "Chapter One: MADMAX" (2x01)
Joyce's boyfriend at the start of Season 2 and head of Hawkins' Radio Shack.
- Action Survivor: He's not a fighter like Jim, but still risks his life to open the research lab's doors. This trope is sadly deconstructed immediately afterwards; thanks to his nerves and inexperience, Bob makes a couple of mistakes such as leaving his gun behind and knocking over a broom that get him killed.
- Actor Allusion: When shown the map of the tunnels, he asks "What's at the 'X'? Pirate treasure?"
- Badass Bookworm: He's geeky, but he still risked his life to open the doors at Hawkins' "Department of Energy" research facility.
- The Cameo: Has a posthumous one in Season 3.
- Catchphrase: "Easy-peasy."
- Crucified Hero Shot: After the others successfully flee from the Demodog-infested lab, Bob's dead body is seen in this pose as he's being gruesomely devoured by the beasts.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: It hardly gets more cruel and unusual than being devoured alive by a pack of Eldritch Abominations just as you're about to make it to safety.
- Connected All Along: Turns out he was the one that set up Hawkins AV club in Hawkins middle school and Clarke learned everything from him.
- Dare to Be Badass: "Bob Newby, superhero."
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: He gets this from all angles. Will and Jonathan see him as an interloper. Hopper sees him as a pathetic weakling and he's been stuck with his school nickname (Bob "The Brain") for his whole life. He's rather proud of as an adult however. Most notably, by the end of Season 3 he's the only one to have made the connection between the Upside Down, its creatures and their hatred of water. Since Bob's the one who said it, everyone else has let it slip and forgotten it completely. Sad.
- Face Death with Despair: He can be seen screaming in agony as he dies, although there's really only so much composure you can maintain when you're being ripped apart and Eaten Alive by vicious alien beasts.
- Good Parents: Not in a literal sense, but he loves Will and Jonathan as if they were his own sons. This makes it all the sadder when he's killed while trying to protect them.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He willingly risked his life to save Joyce, Hopper, Will, Mike and Dr. Owens. He almost made it before being killed.
- Hidden Depths: In "The Mind Flayer", Mike reveals that Bob founded the AV studio at Hawkins school and fundraised the equipment. Mr Clarke also learned everything he knew from Bob. He also initially seems to be a bit of a clueless dork, if kind-hearted and well-meaning, but is later shown to have a cool head on his shoulders, be very good at mentally adapting to strange and bizarre new circumstances, and a very brave and self-sacrificing man.
- Hope Spot: After escaping a small Demogorgon and seeing Joyce next to the exit, one more Demogorgon rushes out of nowhere and kills him.
- I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: Elated, he tells Joyce that he can barely believe that he's dating the Joyce Byers.
- Irony: Early in the second season, he professes to hate scary movies. When he finds himself in his town's real-life equivalent of one, however, he adapts very well under the circumstances. Though sadly not well enough to save his life.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Attempted. Joyce tried to do this, but his intelligence was too useful and he was forced into the loop.
- Meaningful Name: Bob Newby is unaware of the weirdness in Hawkins, and when he gets pulled into it headfirst by the events of Season 2, he's mostly out of his depth. In other words, he's a newbie.
- Mellow Fellow: He's perpetually nice and easygoing, to the point that his nastiest moment is getting slightly snippy with Hopper when asked if he can teach Hopper BASIC while trapped in the locked-down Hawkins Lab: "Would you like me to teach you French while I'm at it?" He takes everything in stride, reacting to Joyce's latest Room Full of Crazy with a mild, "Huh." Will says this is the reason he likes Bob: everyone else acts cautious and careful around Will after his experiences in Season 1, but Bob just treats him normally.
- Nice Guy: He is always kind and generous to everyone around him, and he loves the Byers family so much that he's unofficial family.
- Not Quite the Right Thing: Giving Will advice on how to face his fears is a very reasonable stand for a parental figure, and would definitely be the good thing to do if it was indeed just Will being afraid of something that isn't there.
- Parental Substitute: Although Bob's not married to Joyce, while Jonathan and Will aren't really his sons, he proves to be a far better father figure than their biological dad Lonnie Byers ever was.
- Romantic False Lead: A heartbreaking example. He was a kind man throughout the second season and wanted more with Joyce, but he was killed near the end.
- Sacrificial Lion: As a half-way important character, he is sacrificed by the writers to add drama and make the demo-dogs look more of a threat.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The nerdy and humble Sensitive Guy to Hopper's rough Manly cop.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: He gets eaten by the demogorgons in the penultimate episode of Season 2, right when the series has reached its most serious and dramatic point.
- Shrine to the Fallen: Will's drawing of "Superhero Bob" on the Byers' fridge.
- The Smart Guy: He demonstrates a strong knowledge of electronics, knows how to program computers in BASIC, and loves puzzles and brain-teasers; back in high school, he founded the A/V Club and was mockingly called "Bob the Brain", a label he's rather proud of as an adult. His intelligence comes in handy when he is able to figure out where Hopper is in Season 2 and resets the research facilities' doors saving everyone's lives.
- Take a Moment to Catch Your Death: He slams the door behind him just before the Demodog catches him, and when he sees Joyce it seems like it's over. Until another Demodog catches him from the side.
- Unfazed Everyman: His initial reaction to seeing the Byers' House Full of Crazy is a nonchalant "Huh." Admittedly he seems to initially think it is just some kind of game, but he continues to keep a level head after witnessing clearly supernatural things and being brought in on the Government Conspiracy.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His advice to Will of facing your fears is sound if it was just irrational fears like Bob thought it was, and not a very real and dangerous Eldritch Abomination trying to take over Will's body. In his defense, though, there'd be little Will could do to escape the Flayer forever.
- The Villain Must Be Punished: After Bob's death, Mike makes a point of beating the Mind Flayer so Bob's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. Joyce is more determined to fight the Mind Flayer because of Bob's death, and we see her mourning his loss at the second season finale. We also see that Will drew Bob as a superhero and hung it up to honor the man.
Sam Owens
Murray Bauman
Murray Bauman
"So Jonathan...how was the pullout?"
Played By: Brett Gelman
Debut: "Chapter One: MADMAX" (2x01)
"I'm sorry, are my free translation services not good enough for you? Because you can just go ahead and file your complaint RIGHT UP MY ASS!"
A former journalist turned private detective, Murray was hired by Barb's mother and father to locate their daughter and bring her home.
- '70s Hair: Aside from his receding hairline, he has the facial hair, sideburns, and unruliness associated with the 60s and 70s counterculture.
- All There in the Manual: Although not elaborated upon in the series, actor Brett Gelman revealed in the Beyond Stranger Things 2 aftershow that Murray's journalism career and family were destroyed as a result of his efforts to expose what happened in Hawkins in the aftermath of Season 1.
- Ambiguously Jewish: An abrasive, Brainy Brunet (albeit a balding one) sarcastic know-it-all with a Jewish name, a big beard, and a Chicago accent, who has an old anti-Nazi poster on his wall and he's fluent in Russian. He's also played by a Jewish actor.
- Ascended Extra: Had a minor yet noteworthy role in Season 2. Season 3 places him in the main plot, but does not credit him as one of the main characters, likely due to only joining Hopper and Joyce halfway through the season. Season 4 credits him in the opening with the other main characters, and he is with Joyce for the entire season.
- Befriending the Enemy: When Hopper and Joyce bring him a Russian scientist so he can translate for them, they become quite chummy, mainly because they talk about Hopper in Russian while he's right in front of them.
- Birds of a Feather: Not a lot of screen time is devoted but he and Nancy have a lot in common. They're both intelligent investigators with an interest in journalism, they are both dismissed due to their claims being unbelievable (although right), they stand apart from their society, and they lose their good friends (Barb and Alexei) in a cruel manner.
- Breakout Character: His secondary role in Season 2 was popular enough that he then joined the main adventure partway through Season 3, and was present for the entirety of Season 4 as an official main cast member.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: His personality ranges between Manchild, Jaded Washout and regular weirdo but he's a very good journalist and probably the smartest character in the show.
- Chekhov's Skill: His ability to speak Russian in Season 3 and his newfound black belt in Season 4 both come in handy.
- Child Hater: Says he's this in Season 3, though this sentiment is mostly brought on by interacting with Dustin, who gives him an Embarrassing Nickname, and Erica, a foul-mouthed Little Miss Snarker. He dials this down in Season 4, treating El, Mike, and Will more cordially when in California.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Big time. He's certain something happened in Hawkins the government is now trying to cover up. Ironically, while he's right about that, he mistakenly believes it's connected to the Cold War and Russian agents operating on US soil. And he's correct about that too when it's revealed that the Russians are operating below ground in Hawkins in a misguided attempt to open the Upside Down.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: He's a paranoid full-on Conspiracy Theorist but he's also very intelligent. He is right that something off is happening in Hawkins, just with interdimensional monsters and psychic children instead of aliens and Russian spies (though it turns out he's right about the latter, he was just off by a year). He was also able to see Nancy's and Jonathan's obvious feelings for each other and their personalities.
- Deadpan Snarker: Delivers a lot of this in his scene with Jonathan and Nancy, particularly over their denial of their feelings for one another.
- Double Entendre: Drops the mother of them all the morning after Jonathan and Nancy do the deed. His complete shit-eating grin afterwards completely sells it.Murray: [supposedly referring to the folding couch Jonathan slept on] So how was the pull-out?
- Eccentric Mentor: He's a stone cold weirdo, but it's possible that he inspired Nancy and Jonathan to pursue investigative journalism through his unconventional help with the Barb case.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Given the callsign "Bald Eagle" by Dustin who takes some glee in forcing Murray to repeat it back during radio communication.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Watering down his vodka gives him the inspiration for how to leak the truth about Hawkins Lab in a manner that people would actually believe it: Rather than expose the inter-dimensional shenanigans and Eldritch Abominations, instead leak that something did happen, but fudge the details into something more believable (in this case, experimental chemicals leaking into the environment and killing Barb).
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The posters in Murray's house imply he might have participated in some anti-Vietnam protests-turned-riots in the late '60's.
- Functional Addict: Uses vodka to help him think, since it suppresses the central nervous system.
- Hidden Depths: On top of his other skills and knowledge, he apparently makes a "schmackin'" risotto.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: He's the only one Hopper knows who can speak Russian and has limitless knowledge of conspiracies and Hawkins infrastructure.
- Iconic Sequel Character: He made his debut in Season 2 and remains in the show the following seasons as one of the main adult characters.
- Master Actor: Due to his fluency in Russian, Murray is able to fool any Soviet he meets without arising even the slightest hint of suspicion that he's American. Taken even further in Season 4, where he not only manages to perfectly disguise himself as Yuri, but also manages to nail his Cloudcuckoolander tendencies so well that even high-ranking Soviet officers believe he's the real deal.
- Odd Friendship: With Alexei the Russian scientist.
- Properly Paranoid: Tries to alert Hopper about the Hawkins lab, which Hopper knows about more than Murray, and warns him about a "full-on Russian invasion, right here in Hawkins!" which is revealed to having on the starting phase by that time, and active in Season 3.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Certainly one of the more explicitly comedic main characters.
- Sherlock Scan: Murray demonstrates an aptitude for reading people, and thoroughly dissects both Jonathan's and Nancy's personalities after only a brief meeting. Even correctly deducing that they harbor more feelings for one another than anyone else would admit.
- Shipper on Deck:
- He notices the clear attraction Nancy and Jonathan have for each other and points this out gleefully. Then he offers them to share his guest bedroom to let it work itself out. He then ribs Jonathan rather mercilessly when he insists on sleeping on the sofa instead, offers him to use the pull-out mattress, but suggests he take the bed with Nancy instead.
Murray: What's going on here? A lovers' quarrel?
Jonathan: No, no. I mean, we're just friends!
Nancy: [frantically] Friends! [chuckles nervously]
Murray: [laughs in disbelief] You've told me a lot of shockers today, but that, that is the first lie.- Again with Joyce and Hopper, at one point telling them to stop bickering and just screw already.
- The Social Expert: His ability to pick up on the main casts dynamics allows him to silence even Hopper. It's safe to assume the reason he never questioned the insanity of what they tell him is because he's a Living Lie Detector.
- String Theory: He has a big board in his home, with everything connected to the incident in Hawkins connected via strings.
- Suddenly Always Knew That: The introduction in Season 3 that he knows Russian.
- Took a Level in Badass: Season 4 reveals that he's become a black belt in karate. His lessons pay off and allow him to more than hold his own in a fight against the hulking Russian, Yuri.
- Vitriolic Best Buds:
- With Hopper. They spend all of their time together bickering, but they seem to know each other well (Hopper knows off-hand that he's fluent in Russian and where to find him in a time of need) and there's a lot of implicit trust between them. Hell, Murray is just about the only person who actually calls the Chief "Jim". Murray's pretty obviously devastated by Hop's apparent death.
- In Season 4, in Hopper's absence, he then develops this kind of relationship with Joyce.
