History Characters / StrangerThingsTheParty

** In the early episodes of Season 3, both the confidence of having a girlfriend and, presumably, the hormonal changes of puberty have apparently gone to his head a bit, as he seems rather more brash and insensitive than in previous seasons. [[spoiler:Such actions as dissing Will's attempts to start games of D&D, abandoning Dustin during his friend's attempt to introduce the Party to his girlfriend, and laughing at Hopper when he tries some real parenting, signal Season 3 Mike as a total ass - although each of these is indirectly connected to his feelings for Eleven.]] Events quickly bring him crashing back down to earth, however, and he proves himself to still be a NiceGuy in spite of his mistakes.

* DefiantStoneThrow: Mike is averse to melee but [[spoiler: bashes a Flayed Super-Billy with a pipe for overpowering Eleven and almost choking her to death]].

* HeroesWantRedheads: He has a crush on the FieryRedhead Max during Season 2.

* HeroesWantRedheads: He gets a crush on the redheaded Max in Season 2 [[spoiler:and ends up with her in the end of the season]].

* CannotSpitItOut: Mike often find himself tongue-tied in romantic situations. In Season 1 he struggles to put his feelings for El into words, and so decides to just [[FirstKiss her]] instead (to be fair, he ''is'' 12 at the time). In Season 3 he can't bring himself to even ''say'' the word "love" in front of Eleven let alone the phrase "I love you". It ultimately takes a heated argument with his friends for him to admit it out loud, though with El being in the next room she doesn't hear him say it. [[spoiler:At least that's what Eleven lets Mike think at the time, before revealing that she not only heard, she also loves him]]. Even in Season 4, [[spoiler:he can't bring himself to even ''write'' that he loves Eleven, much to her frustration. It's so bad that a FreezeFrameBonus on El's shrine to Mike reveals that he bought her a valentines day card that doesn't say love on it, instead saying "I like you"]]. By the end of Season 4, however, [[spoiler:Mike finally says it to her - nine times, in fact (see AnguishedDeclarationOfLove)]].

* CoolLoser: A tomboyish social outcast, she's also a very cool and loyal friend once you get to know her.

* TeensAreShort: He's the smallest of his friends during the first two seasons. However, he does hit a growth spurt in Season 3. By Season 4, he's about Mike's height and nigh-unrecognizable as the kid who got possessed three seasons earlier.

* TeensAreShort: As of Season 3, she's the shortest member of the Party.

* OfficialCouple: With Eleven by the end of Season 2. [[spoiler:Eleven dumps him early in Season 3 when he lies to her for the first time, but she's more angry at him for lying than wanting to end the relationship. After they save each other from a Flayed Billy, they're on the road to a quick reconciliation. Additionally, Mike begins to understand that he was becoming too possessive of Eleven. By the end of the season, they begin a LongDistanceRelationship when the Byers move out of Hawkins and take Eleven after she confesses she loves him back. During Season 4, their relationship is strained because Mike is unable to say "I love you". Mike finally declares his love for her in the finale.

* InSeriesNickname: Her video game handle is Mad Max, which initially [[SamusIsAGirl fools the Party into thinking she's a guy]]. Once she warms up to the group, she assigns herself another nickname, "the Zoomer," to act as her D&D class.

[[quoteright:282:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxine_9.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:282:''"That's presumptuous of you."'']]

!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/SadieSink, Jacey Sink (child, Season 3), Belle Henry (child, Season 4)

!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/SadieSink

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Season 4 reveals that Will is in love with his childhood best friend Mike, and has been for a while. Mike is unaware of Will's true feelings towards him and has been in a relationship with Eleven for two seasons. However, Mike and El's relationship status at the end of the season remains equivocal, so time will tell if this is of the Unlucky or Victorious variety of the trope.

* CannotSpitItOut: Mike often find himself tongue-tied in romantic situations. In Season 1 he struggles to put his feelings for El into words, and so decides to just [[FirstKiss her]] instead (to be fair, he ''is'' 12 at the time). In Season 3 he can't bring himself to even ''say'' the word "love" in front of Eleven let alone the phrase "I love you". It ultimately takes a heated argument with his friends for him to admit it out loud, though with El being in the next room she doesn't hear him say it. [[spoiler:At least that's what Eleven lets Mike think at the time, before revealing that she not only heard, she also loves him]]. Even in Season 4, [[spoiler:he can't bring himself to even ''write'' that he loves Eleven, much to her frustration. It's so bad that a FreezeFrameBonus on El's shrine to Mike reveals that he bought her a valentines day card that doesn't say love on it, instead saying "I like you"]]. By the end of Season 4, however, [[spoiler:Mike finally says it to her, nine times in fact (see AnguishedDeclarationOfLove)]].

** When Eleven is trying to locate [[spoiler:Flayed!Billy]], Mike is incredibly worried for her safety. Everyone present tries to reassure him but to no avail, but in the heat of the moment, he admits that he loves her and is afraid of losing her.

* CannotSpitItOut: Mike shows extreme discomfort with expressing romantic feelings toward Eleven and has a hard time voicing his romantic intentions. In Season 1 he tries, struggles, and fails to put his feelings in a romantic context so decides to just [[AwkwardKiss kiss]] [[FirstKiss her]] instead. Though to be fair, he is 12 at the time. In Season 3 he can't bring himself to even ''say'' the word "love" in front of Eleven let alone the phrase "I love you". It ultimately takes a heated argument with his friends for him to admit it out loud, though with El being in the next room she doesn't hear him say it. [[spoiler:At least that's what Eleven lets Mike think at the time, before revealing that she not only heard, she also loves him]]. Even in Season 4, [[spoiler:he can't bring himself to even ''write'' that he loves Eleven, much to her frustration. It's so bad that a FreezeFrameBonus on El's shrine to Mike reveals that he bought her a valentines day card that doesn't say love on it, instead saying "I like you"]]. By the end of Season 4, however, [[spoiler:Mike finally says it to her, nine times in fact (see AnguishedDeclarationOfLove)]].

** When Eleven is trying to locate [[spoiler:Flayed!Billy]], Mike is incredibly worried for her safety. Everyone present tries to reassure him but to no avail, but in a spur of the moment, he states he loves her and is afraid of losing her.

* CannotSpitItOut: Mike shows extreme discomfort with expressing romantic feelings toward Eleven and has a hard time voicing his romantic intentions. In Season 1 he tries, struggles, and fails to put his feelings in a romantic context so decides to just [[AwkwardKiss kiss]] [[FirstKiss her]] instead. In Season 3 he can't bring himself to even ''say'' the word "love" in front of Eleven let alone the phrase "I love you". It ultimately takes a heated argument with his friends for him to admit it out loud, albeit accidentally, though with El being in the next room she doesn't hear him say it. [[spoiler:At least that's what Eleven let's Mike think at the time, before revealing that she not only heard, she also loves him]]. Even in Season 4, [[spoiler:he can't bring himself to even ''write'' that he loves Eleven, much to her frustration. It's so bad that a FreezeFrameBonus on El's shrine to Mike reveals that he bought her a valentines day card that doesn't say love on it, instead saying "I like you"]]. By the end of Season 4, [[spoiler:Mike finally says it to her (see AnguishedDeclarationOfLove).

** When Eleven is trying to locate [[spoiler:Flayed!Billy]], Mike is incredibly worried for her safety. Everyone present tries to reassure him but to no avail, but in a spur of the moment, he states he loves her and is afraid of losing her. [[spoiler:He is immediately regretful, however, and tries to play it like he doesn't know what she's talking about when El eventually confesses that she heard him and loves him too]].
** After a year of not saying it outright to Eleven, Mike finally declares his love for her while she's under Vecna's curse to give her a fighting chance against her arch-enemy. [[spoiler:It doesn't work, El is unable to save Max in time and neither Mike nor El are speaking to each other after the confession]].

* CannotSpitItOut: Mike shows extreme discomfort with expressing romantic feelings toward Eleven and has a hard time voicing his romantic intentions. In Season 1 he tries, struggles, and fails to put his feelings in a romantic context so decides to just [[AwkwardKiss kiss]] [[FirstKiss her]] instead. In Season 3 he can't bring himself to even ''say'' the word "love" in front of Eleven let alone the phrase "I love you". It ultimately takes a heated argument with his friends for him to admit it out loud, albeit accidentally, though with El being in the next room she doesn't hear him say it. [[spoiler:At least that's what Eleven let's Mike think at the time, before revealing that she not only heard, she also loves him]]. Even in Season 4, [[spoiler:he can't bring himself to even ''write'' that he loves Eleven, much to her frustration. It's so bad that a FreezeFrameBonus on El's shrine to Mike reveals that he bought her a valentines day card that doesn't say love on it, instead saying "I like you"]]. By the end of Season 4, [[spoiler:Mike finally says it to her (see AnguishedDeclarationOfLove). However, he never actually looks El in the eye to say it, and ultimately needs encouragement from Will when she's in a life or death situation with a grimace on his face]].

* TheHeart: In "Papa", Will terms him this, gifting him a painting he'd drawn of their D&D characters fighting a 3-headed red dragon, using it as a metaphor to encourage Mike after he expresses his own feelings of inadequacy, pointing out how his character's shield bears the coat of arms of a heart. Mike doesn't really fit this specific character trope however, and Will's description of the role of the Heart matches the TheLeader much closer. Ironically, during the climatic confrontation with [[spoiler:Vecna when Will reminds Mike he is "the Heart", Mike's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove to Eleven ''isn't'' what enables her to overpower the stronger psychic during a pivotal moment for the various groups to start making headway against him and the Upside-Down monsters he shares a [[HiveMind mind-link]] with. It's only when she finally sees Max getting hurt do the vines loosen and she breaks free]].

* InsecureLoveInterest: Mike feels inadequate to El, which he confides to Will about in Season 4. Mike idolizes El's powers, for what she has done with them to save him and his friends countless times. He feels indebted to her, that he isn't special and it could've been anyone who helped her that night him, Lucas and Dustin stumbled on her in the woods, that it was simple dumb luck. Mike feels he took advantage of her vulnerability in the beginning when she needed him then, but now she doesn’t need him to save her life anymore, and Mike is terrified that El is realizing this too.

* OfficialCouple: With Eleven by the end of Season 2. [[spoiler:Eleven dumps him early in Season 3 when he lies to her for the first time, but she's more angry at him for lying than wanting to end the relationship. After they save each other from a Flayed Billy, they're on the road to a quick reconciliation. Additionally, Mike begins to understand that he was becoming too possessive of Eleven. By the end of the season, they begin a LongDistanceRelationship when the Byers move out of Hawkins and take Eleven after she confesses she loves him back. During Season 4, their relationship breaks down because Mike is unable to say "I love you". Although Mike eventually does manage to say it, neither of them have talked much in the two days since, leaving their relationship status ambiguous]].

* TouchedByVorlons: After coming back from the Upside-Down, he seems to have developed a permanent connection with the other plane, and he starts to have visions of the Upside-Down. Considering that the Mind Flayer was able to possess him through one of these visions, it seems that [[AstralProjection his mind might actually enter the other dimension]] during these episodes.

* FreudianExcuse: Her rough attitude can be explained from her mother divorcing her father and then moving to Hawkins to get away from him. And having [[{{Narcissist}} Billy]] as a stepbrother. To say nothing of probably seeing how Neil treats Billy and her mother sticking her in this whole situation for unclear reasons.

* GamerChick: Arcade games specifically. The boys first grew interested in her when they discovered that she had beaten Dustin's top score for the game ''Dig Dug''.

* GirlinessUpgrade: She's somewhat more feminine in Season 3. While she's still her feisty, snarky, skateboarding self, she does show a girlier side when she introduces Eleven to shopping at the mall and has a blast helping her pick out clothes. In Season 4 she's now a fan of Music/KateBush.

* IconicOutfit: The blue outfit worn in "Dear Billy" is arguably her most famous outfit and very popular for cosplay.

* OneOfTheBoys: She decided to join the four boys rather than any girls clique.
* OtakuSurrogate: She owns and enjoys comic books, especially Wonder Woman.

* RedheadsAreUncool: Played with. Something of a loner in school, but viewed as being ''very'' cool by the (also fairly uncool) main clique.

* RelationshipRevolvingDoor: Apparently between Season 2 and Season 3, Max has dumped Lucas on five different occasions.
* TheRunaway: She attempts this twice in her book, giving it its title of "Runaway Max". The first time is at the beginning of the book, trying to catch a bus to Los Angeles to live with her dad and avoid moving to Hawkins. She was actually going to try this a second time, but then Lucas showed up to her house. After both her experiences with the Party and Steve and standing up to Billy, she decides to stay in Hawkins.

* TomboyishName: Downplayed. Her full name is "Maxine" but she'd rather go by the more masculine sounding nickname, "Max".

* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Very much a {{Tomboy}} full of piss and vinegar, but [[GirlinessUpgrade during Season 3]], she's shown doing things like enjoying shopping, dancing to pop music, reading teen magazines, and fawning over Ralph Macchio.
* TrashyTrailerHome: By Season 4 she has moved into a trailer park with her mother after the father left them.
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: Like Eleven for Mike in Season 1, Max isn't yet Lucas's girlfriend, when she uses an injection needle to subdue her abusive stepbrother Billy and threaten his groin with a nail-embedded bat, after he had forcibly shoved Lucas against Joyce's shelf of knick-knacks; though beating Steve to a pulp probably helped.

* AlcoholicParent: While Max's mother seemed a decent enough parent in the second season, by Season 4 the divorce and Billy's death have taken a toll on her, leading to some ParentalNeglect of Max.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: She starts feeling that Eleven is this to her when she's continuously LockedOutOfTheLoop by the guys, but Eleven wasn't.
* AMFMCharacterization: Season 4 establishes that "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush is her favorite song, with the added significance of the song playing an active role in helping her escape Vecna. The score of the show even begins to use the main melody of "Running Up That Hill" as Max's {{Leitmotif}}. The lyrics of the song itself are about switching places with a person to better understand them, which mirrors her grief over Billy's death and her wish that she had known him better in life.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: While Mike irrationally disliked her because he feared she would replace El, Dustin became distant due to her growing relationship with Lucas, Will being too wrapped up in visions of (and later full on DemonicPossession by) an EldritchAbomination and El coldly shrugged off Max's greeting when they first met, Lucas was the only one of them to be consistently nice to her, and as such, she is the closest to him.

* BrokenBird: Billy's death in such a gruesome manner turned Max from a happy-go-lucky tomboy to a loner girl struggling with PTSD. She shunned herself down from everyone for weeks, and started to see a shrink which didn't help her very much because she couldn't tell what she truly witnessed.

* CheatedDeathDiedAnyway: Max was able to get past Vecna the first time he tried to kill her and thanks to the tunes of Kate Bush she was able to hold him off indefinitely. Then Max uses herself as bait, a plan which experiences several setbacks that ultimately lead to Max dying a painful death. Eleven was able to restart Max's heart, but by that point the damage had been done and she's left comatose for the foreseeable future.

* DamselOutOfDistress: The first time Vecna gets her she manages to free herself and escape.
* TheDarknessBeforeDeath: Vecna's curse damaged Max's eyes. They're completely white and bleeding profusely.

** "Runaway Max" is one for her, detailing both the events of Season 2 from her perspective and her backstory.
** Season 4 also also gives her a hearty amount of focus, particularly "Dear Billy" and "The Piggyback".

* DeadpanSnarker: Her sense of humor and personality tends towards the sarcastic. Initially, she's rather more caustic and cutting than she needs to be, but the longer she and the boys spend in each other's company and the more comfortable they all get with each other, the more playful she becomes.
** Crowning example has to be her reaction to Dustin asking her to play D&D.

* DeathSeeker: Admits that after Billy's death, she started praying something awful would happen to her thanks to her SurvivorsGuilt over Billy's death and her shame over secretly being relieved that he died. When she finds out she's cursed by Vecna, she accepts it and puts her affairs in order, which is less FaceDeathWithDignity as it is grim hopelessness. However, this is subverted when Vecna actually puts her in his mindscape, which she tries to, and succeeds in, escaping. When she's actually dying in agony the second time she goes up against Vecna, she's absolutely terrified, desperately whispering that she's not ready to go yet.

* TheDogBitesBack: After being bullied by Billy throughout the season, she's the one that takes him down and threatens him to leave her and her friends alone or face CripplingCastration.

* DudeMagnet: Dustin and Lucas got crushes the second they saw her.

* FairyTaleMotif: While she is never officially given a ''D&D'' class like the others (despite dubbing herself the "Zoomer"), a lot of her characteristics bring to mind a Rogue (which, prior to her introduction, was a very conspicuous omission from The Party's lineup). Her subversive attitude, skill with a lockpick, being associated with speed (her skateboard and the scene where she drives Billy's car), and stabbing her brother in the back with a "poison" needle are all characteristics and behaviors you'd expect from a Rogue. Further, her fiery personality, acerbic wisecracking, and {{Tomboy}} appearance are all classic Rogue staples; she's pretty much as close as you can get to [[Roleplay/RecordOfLodossWar Woodchuck]] or [[Franchise/StarWars Han Solo]] as a teenage suburban girl.
** The Han Solo comparison gets taken further at the end of Season 4 due to the effectively "frozen" state she ends up in, akin to ''[[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack The Empire Strikes Back]]''.
* FeminineMotherTomboyishDaughter: The show implies this to be the dynamic between Max and her mother Susan, which is confirmed and expanded on in the tie-in novel Runaway Max. Max (a [[TomboyishName short for]] Maxine) is a tomboy who skateboards, drives, plays video games, and hangs out with a group of guys. Susan is dainty, frustrated with Max's tomboyishness, and is a UselessBystanderParent to her new husband's abuse of her new stepson.

* {{Foil}}: To Eleven. Both are the sole females of the Party for most of a season -- the entire first season for El, and most of Season 2 for Max. One of the boys had an irrational dislike of said girl during the season (Lucas disliked El mainly because Mike wanted to spend all of his time with her and Mike disliked Max because he feared she would replace El). They both have a dysfunctional family life to some extent and are newcomers to Hawkins, Indiana (El because she ran away from Hawkins Lab and Max because she moved there from California). The Party included El in most other adventures, but hesitated with Max because of Mike's insistence and the fact that what they went through ''had'' to be kept secret. Both of them have some sort of physical skill the others don't (El's psychic abilities and Max's skateboarding, and later, driving skills). El has NoSocialSkills while Max is relatively adjusted for her age. They both also mainly go by shorter variations of their names and form a close, romantic bond with another Party member (El for Mike and Max for Lucas) because said boy was the one to [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe initially treat them with the most kindness and respect of the group]], and are ''very'' [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend protective]] of respective boyfriends.

* BlackAndNerdy: He's black and a nerd like the rest of his friends. Averted in Season 4 when he tries out for basketball in the hopes of fitting in with a more conventional crowd.
* TheBlindLeadingTheBlind: Downplayed. Is Mike's love adviser in Season 3. While both are young and inexperienced in relationships, and much of Lucas's advice is immature and backfires on Mike, Lucas has managed to maintain a steady if on-off romance with Max, and [[spoiler:unlike Mike, spots a tell from Eleven that indicates she dislikes being broken up as much as Mike does and wants to get back together.]]

* CrazyPrepared: When preparing to fight [[spoiler:The Demogorgon]], he brings a lot of weapons. [[spoiler:Subverted in that they're all completely ineffective against the monster.]] Played straight in Season 3 when Lucas [[spoiler:spots a large display of dangerous fireworks during a store raid, and with El injured from their last fight, convinces the Party to bring them along as support weapons. The fireworks later become critical in suppressing the Mind Flayer, saving El from getting flayed and buying more time to close the gate.]]

* DislikesTheNewGuy: Of the trio, Lucas was quite vocal over his dislike and suspicions of El, mainly because Mike is paying more attention to her. Although this is subverted in Season 2, as he adores Max and instantly welcomes her.

* EyeScream: Brought along his slingshot and several rocks as ammo with the intention of blinding whatever took away Will via a well-placed shot in its eyes. [[spoiler:It turns out that the monster is completely blind, rendering this pragmatic aim useless.]]

* FatalFireworks: He jury rigs fireworks into firebombs to use in their fight against the Mind Flayers avatar.

* GroinAttack: [[spoiler:Gives Billy a well-deserved one.]]

* MalignedMixedMarriage: Puppy love first relationship, anyway. [[spoiler:Billy]] is not happy that Lucas and [[spoiler:Max]] have a romantic relationship.

* TokenBlackFriend: Subverted. Lucas was the only black main character before his sister Erica was joined the main cast in Season 3. He's also quite put out that Mike expected him to be the Winston Zeddemore of their Ghostbusters Halloween costumes, while Mike insists it's not because he's black. However, he has his own character development and arc like his friends, which Lucas isn't satisfied with since he's not established as strongly as the others.

* DitzyGenius: Dustin is the most intellectual member of the Party. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of D&D, comparing the Upside-Down to the Vale of Shadows, the Shadow Monster to the Mind Flayer, and readily equated Will's "Now Memories" to True Sight. He quickly narrows down what type of natural creature Dart could be, though he ends up very wrong. He's also the most knowledgeable on how compasses work, loves books, and has a huge passion for science. However, he is also incredibly impulsive and often fails to think things through (like thinking about keeping a creature from the Upside-Down as a ''pet'' to impress a girl is a great idea). To keep with the ''D&D'' theme, he rolled an 8 on Wisdom.

* FireForgedFriends: With Erica. He sees her only as Lucas' AnnoyingYoungerSibling who makes fun of nerds, and only lets her join because he, Robin and Steve are too big to fit through the ducts. During their time foiling the Russian plot, they slowly overcome their petty differences and form an OddFriendship. It probably helps that he realizes that she's a nerd too.

* HeroesWantRedheads: He had a crush on the FieryRedhead Max during Season 2.

* HeroWorshipper: Towards Mr. Clarke, who he treats with great reverence and always addresses by some honorary title.
** Arguably, he latches this way onto an older male in every season. Mr. Clarke is an adult, but his friendships with Steve and Eddie also have shades of a mentor-pupil relationship. [[WildMassGuessing Is this due to lack of a father figure?]]

** Dustin is implied to have a PrecociousCrush on Nancy in season 1, but she's not interested.
** He enters a LoveTriangle with Lucas over their shared feelings for Max in season 2. In the end, Max and Lucas become a couple.
** Averted in season 3, when [[spoiler:it's revealed he's in a LongDistanceRelationship with Suzie]].

* TheLeader: Takes up this role for the Party in season 4 with Mike stuck in California. His decisiveness and knowledge guide the group, and even some of the older characters, well against Vecna.

* MagicMusic: PlayedForLaughs near the end of Season 3 when Dustin [[spoiler:is forced by his girlfriend Suzie to sing a duet of "The Neverending Story" song with her over the radio so she will give him the code to open a safe with the keys Hopper and Joyce need to shut down the new gate. This happens while everyone listening in is in mortal danger. Lucas and Max later make fun of Dustin with their own rendition of the duet.]]

** He even forms one with Erica in Season 3, over their love of fantasies and their snark.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Gaten Matarazzo has cleidocranial dysostosis, so Dustin does too. It gives the bullies one more reason to pick on him. Could be seen as a downplayed version of DisabledCharacterDisabledActor, as neither Dustin nor Gaten is particularly inconvenienced by their condition.
** Lampshaded when Steve has a CaptainObvious moment:

* SadClown: His cheerful, goofy personality hides a great deal of social insecurity, which becomes most evident [[spoiler:at the Snow Ball dance. After building up his confidence and putting loads of effort into his appearance, he is rudely rejected by all the girls he asks to dance. He is so broken by this that he retreats to the bleachers and cries alone. Seeing Max, his crush of Season 2, dance with Lucas probably didn't help either. He does get rescued by Nancy moments later, but apparently even the camera operator was moved to tears by Dustin's sadness!]]

* StarCrossedLovers: How Dustin describes his relationship with [[spoiler:Suzie, in season 3, due to the distance and disapproving parents]].

* EightiesHair: He develops this after taking hair styling advice from Steve and then shaping his naturally curly hair.

* AgentMulder: He seems to be a very credulous boy, usually being the first to (correctly) suggest some sort of supernatural explanation for the events of the story. He's also the quickest to come to terms with the weirdness going down in Hawkins.

* AscendedExtra: Downplayed. Dustin has always been a main character, but unlike Mike and Lucas, he did not go through any character development in Season 1. In every following season however, he seems to have become the leader of his group that the other members try to contact when separated. Come Season 3, he's probably the member of the Party with the most overall screen time after Eleven.
* BigEater: A DownplayedTrope in season 1: out of the viewpoint characters, he's the one most obsessed with food, but this mostly manifests as him being the one who remembers to bring snacks when they're trekking through the woods and taking advantage of the empty school to steal chocolate pudding. He seemingly grows out of this trait, as it's nowhere to be seen in later seasons.

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: When Eleven is trying to located a [[spoiler:Flayed!Billy]], Mike is incredibly worried for her safety. Everyone present tries to reassure him but to no avail, but in a spur of the moment, he states he loves her and is afraid of losing her. [[spoiler:He is immediately regretful however and tries to play it up like he doesn't know what she's talking about when El eventually confesses that she heard him and loves him too]].

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: In early episodes, he's seen bickering with Nancy and she found him annoying.

* BatmanInMyBasement: Hides El from government baddies in a makeshift fort in his basement in Season 1.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: How his friendship with Will started. At their first day of kindergarten, Mike was all alone and then saw Will, who was also alone. Mike went over to Will to ask if he wanted to be friends with him. And Will replied, "Yes".

* BigBrotherInstinct: Inverted, as Mike is Nancy's ''younger'' brother. Despite their constant bickering, Mike is quick to defend Nancy when someone theorizes she may be a traitor and absolutely refuses to "prostitute" her to Keith.
** He's also become ''much'' more protective of Max in Season 3. Especially when he yells for her to get out of the way from [[spoiler:Possessed!Billy in the sauna, and when he is visibly angered and rushes to her defense when Billy knocks her out.]]

* BreakTheCutie: Although Mike has shown signs of depression since Season 1 [[note]] Mike thinking that dying/jumping off a cliff is the best option so Dustin doesn't get his teeth cut out is the kind of thing that puts people on suicide watches in real life [[/note]], he was generally the WideEyedIdealist of the Party. Witnessing Eleven's fake-out death by exhausting her powers fighting the Demogorgon sends Mike into a depression in Season 2, stuck in the denial phase and behaving more apathetic and introverted than before. In Season 3, he is paranoid about El's overuse of her powers (as it lead to her "death" last time and he blames himself for that), [[spoiler:and is ultimately proven right to be worried when she loses them]]. The tie-in-book ''Lucas on the Line'' shows that Mike was heavily mentally impacted by the events at Starcourt and the Byers leaving, not hanging out with Lucas and Dustin by refusing to leave his basement and turning it into "the armpit" that is shown in Season 4. Witnessing so much death from seeing his best friend's corpse (although it later turned out to be fake) in Season 1 to being being in the middle of the massacre at Hawkins Lab in Season 2 to the unknown agent man in Season 4, it's no surprise that by the time Season 4 is happening, his grades have slipped and he’s barely eating in meal scenes, far from the smiling, cheerful kid he was at the beginning of Season 1.

* CannotSpitItOut: Mike shows extreme discomfort with expressing romantic feelings toward Eleven and has a hard time voicing his romantic intentions. In Season 1 he tried, struggled, and failed to put his feelings in a romantic context so decided to just [[AwkwardKiss kiss]] [[FirstKiss her]] instead. In Season 3 he could not bring himself to even ''say'' the word "love" in front of Eleven let alone the phrase "I love you". It ultimately took a heated argument with his friends for him to admit it out loud, albeit accidentally, though with El being in the next room she doesn't hear him say it. [[spoiler:At least that's what Eleven let's Mike think at the time, before revealing that she not only heard, she also loves him]]. Even in Season 4, [[spoiler:he can't bring himself to even ''write'' that he loves Eleven, much to Eleven's frustration. It's so bad that a FreezeFrameBonus on El's shrine to Mike reveals that he bought her a valentines day card that doesn't say love on it, instead saying "I like you"]]. By the end of Season 4, [[spoiler:Mike finally says it to her (see AnguishedDeclarationOfLove). However, he never actually looks El in the eye to say it, and ultimately needs encouragement from Will when she's in a life or death situation with a grimace on his face]].

* DefiantStoneThrow: Mike is averse to melee but [[spoiler:will bash a Flayed Super-Billy with a pipe for overpowering Eleven and almost choking her to death]].

* TheHeart: In "Papa", Will terms him as this, gifting him a painting he'd drawn of their D&D characters fighting a 3-headed red dragon, using it as a metaphor to encourage Mike after he expresses his own feelings of inadequacy, pointing out how his character's shield bears the coat of arms of a heart. Mike doesn't really fit this specific character trope however, and Will's description of the role of the Heart matches the TheLeader much closer. Ironically, during the climatic confrontation with [[spoiler:Vecna when Will reminds Mike he is "the Heart", Mike's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove to Eleven ''isn't'' what enables her to overpower the stronger psychic during a pivotal moment for the various groups to start making headway against him and the Upside-Down monsters he shares a [[HiveMind mind-link]] with. It's only when she finally sees Max getting hurt do the vines loosen and she breaks free]].

* TheHero: He also serves as TheLeader of the group. He's the one driving the search for Will in Season 1. Although he becomes more of a SupportingLeader in Season 2, he remains the most significant motivating voice behind the Party's actions, such as by suggesting the attack on the Mind Flayer's tunnels to draw off the Demodogs and give Eleven and Hopper a clear path to the Gate. He's ThePaladin of the Party, a bold and courageous character class.

* InterspeciesRomance: {{Downplayed}} with Eleven, as while they are both technically human, he is a regular human while she's an enhanced one.

* IWillWaitForYou: As revealed in Season 2, he's [[spoiler:been calling out to Eleven for 353 days, not having giving up hope that she's still alive. He doesn't go looking for her however, despite seeing her through a window]].

** During Season 3 when his relationship with Eleven has taken top priority, he's often short with Will and dismisses any of his attempts to play D&D. This eventually leads to them having a fight during which he accuses Will of not liking girls, something which Will has been bullied for his entire life.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: His reaction after he has a heated argument with Will.

* NiceGuy: Most overtly in Season 1. He is notably the first of the kids to warm up to Eleven and introduce her to concepts like promises and friendship. Mike is also a loyal friend and a helpful person in general, although he picks up the JerkassBall a fair bit more in later seasons. However, when he's acting less nice, it's usually for some deep emotional reason, and he will readily apologize and make amends for his worse moments.

* PineappleRuinsPizza: In Season 4, in contrast to Eleven, he's disgusted by the very idea of pineapple on pizza. After he is force fed a slice by Argyle and El, he admits that it is actually pretty good.
* PuppyLove: He really, ''really'' likes El, even when he won't admit it to his sister. Near the end of season 4, he says that he had been in love with her ever since they first met, at the age of 12.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: Mike's the palest of his friends and his hair is solid black. If it wasn't for his colorful clothes he'd be a case of LooksLikeCesare.

* StandardizedLeader: Compared to the rest of the Party, Mike's life is fairly drama-free (aside from getting sucked into fighting monsters and amoral organizations, that is). He's not a magnet for paranormal terrors like Will, not a nerd like Dustin, isn't the designated token in an almost all-white town like Lucas, wasn't experimented on like Eleven and he doesn't come from an abusive household like Max, in fact the worst personal drama he goes through is tied directly to his relationships with [[PuppyLove Eleven]] and the rest of the party. Oddly, this very lack of disadvantages opens him up to attack as being soft, naïve, out-of-touch, and just, well, too bougie, which (in addition to his basic good-heartedness) seems to drive him to be the most aggressively fair-minded and self-sacrificing member of the party.
* StarCrossedLovers: Lampshaded by Dustin and Argyle in Seasons 3 and 4, both comparing his relationship with Eleven to [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet Romeo and Juliet]] and directly calling Mike "Romeo". In Season 3, Hopper serves as an outside force working against them which is similar to Romeo and Juliet's story of disapproving family member(s).

* SugarAndIcePersonality: He can sometimes go from being patient and nurturing, to [[HotBlooded agitated and angry]], all in the same breath. One example is when he softly explains to Eleven how a watch works, only to turn around and snap "[[SuddenlyShouting Coming!]]" when his mom tells him to get ready for school, and go right back to a sweet tone with Eleven afterwards. He's particularly cold to Max due to his resistance over her joining the group.
* SupportingProtagonist: While he was the main focus of the Kids/Eleven plotline in Season 1, he takes a much less involved role as a main character in the Joyce/Will plotline of the Season 2, most likely to give the other members of the Party some development.

* TeensAreShort: Defied and averted, by Season 3 he is 14 years old and already towers over [[BigLittleBrother his sister]] and his mother (who has to stretch herself vertically when he hugs her).

** {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Mike goes through this in Season 2 due to [[spoiler:Eleven's disappearance. He's still kind to his friends, but he's noticeably rougher around the edges and was very hostile to Max due to a fear that she was taking Eleven's place]]. His parents explicitly bring this up in the first episode of Season 2, listing off his behavior changes over the last year (getting in fights at school, stealing from Nancy, etc).
** Again in the early episodes of Season 3; both the confidence of having a girlfriend and, presumably, the hormonal changes of puberty have apparently gone to his head a bit, as he seems rather more brash and insensitive than in previous seasons. [[spoiler:Such actions as dissing Will's attempts to start games of D&D, abandoning Dustin during his friend's attempt to introduce the Party to his girlfriend, and laughing at Hopper when he tries some real parenting, signal Season 3 Mike as a total ass - although each of these is indirectly connected to his feelings for Eleven.]] Events quickly bring him crashing back down to earth, however, and he proves himself to still be a NiceGuy in spite of his mistakes.

* TheAllAmericanBoy: Seems to possess some elements of the classic trope, like being polite, having a fort, bicycling, and being able to work a loaded rifle. However, his shy nature and interest in science, art, and fantasy boardgames rather than sports makes him a [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] case. It seems his estranged dad wants him to act ''more'' like this trope, as such behavior would be conventional in Indiana during the '80s.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Will is a polite, sweet kid. However, the very first episode shows that when he was threatened by an unknown entity, he immediately ran into a shed to load a gun, and then point it in the direction of said entity.
* BigBrotherWorship: Will is very close to his older brother Jonathan, who would always look out for him and give him good advice. They also both share a love for The Clash.
* BigBrotherInstinct: In Season 4, when Joyce takes El into their family, he's frequently seen with her when they're in school, constantly trying to reassure her and make her feel better, giving her advice, and although he's not a very confrontational person, you can ''see'' the TranquilFury in his eyes when the bullies start harassing her in the roller rink.
** When they finally reunite with El in the desert, all he cares about is that she's okay and trying to take the collar Brenner put on her off.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: Downplayed. His eyes are pretty dark already, and the change only affects his irises (instead of the whole eye as is the norm for this trope), but as the Mind Flayer exerts more and more control over Will, his eyes grow steadily darker. It's so subtle you may not notice until he's already fully possessed.
* BreakTheCutie: His time in the Upside-Down is this to him.

* ChickMagnet: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. In contrast to his friends' struggles to get girls' attention, several girls in both Hawkins and California have shown interest in Will, but he's not very eager to respond whether due to social awkwardness or [[AmbiguouslyGay another reason]].

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Season 4 reveals that Will is in love with his childhood best friend Mike and has been for a while. Mike is unaware of Will's true feelings towards him and has been in a relationship with Eleven for two seasons. However, Mike and El's relationship status at the end of the season remains equivocal, so time will tell if this is of the Unlucky or Victorious variety of the trope.

* DetectEvil: He develops a sort of psychic connection to the Upside-Down after his rescue, which intensifies after being possessed by the Mind Flayer.

* DistinguishingMark: He has a birthmark on his right arm which Joyce points out when rejecting the dead body as her son's.
* DistressedDude: He was in [[TrappedInAnotherWorld the Upside-Down]], fending off an alien predator and waiting to be saved. He ultimately was saved by his mother and Jim Hopper. He becomes this again in Season 2 when the Mind Flayer possesses him through one of his visions.

* EveryonesBabySister: Mostly in season 2, with everyone still treating him like he's made of glass.
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: Rescued from this fate in the Season 1 finale, but the final scene reveals that it was at best ''partially'' successful.

** Will's stealth and skillfulness at evading danger is very similar to the Rogue class in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', a game he and his friends enjoy playing. However, his InUniverse character is a Wizard named Will the Wise. In Season 2, however, his connection to the Mind Flayer definitely mirrors a Warlock rather than a Rogue.
** In Season 2, Mike says that he's the party's Cleric, which fits his gentle personality. Clerics also act as servants for higher powers, which Will unwillingly becomes. As Warlocks weren't in 1st Edition D&D, the relationship between a Cleric and their deity is the next best analogy. Though in this case the "deity" is an abusive controlling dick, and the "cleric" would rather not go along with its plan, thank you very much.
* FakingTheDead: After his disappearance, the bad men produce a fake corpse to end the search for Will.

* HeroicSacrifice: His D&D character, "Will the Wise", performs a heroic sacrifice during their game in the first episode, a fact which Mike uses to convince his friends to continue the search for Will even when it gets dangerous. He was also willing to die in order to close the gate on the Mind Flayer.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: In Season 4, it becomes apparent that Will's attachment to Mike is a romantic one, but chooses to help Mike mend his relationship with El rather than confess his own feelings. At the same time, he does seem to be really upset about the whole arrangement.

* JockDadNerdSon: Lonnie had absolutely no respect for Will's nerdy pursuits, and mistreated him because of them.

* LossOfIdentity: He gradually loses his memory after being possessed by the Mind Flayer.

* MindRape: Not only did he get impregnated by the Demogorgon, he also gets possessed by the Mind Flayer.
* MinorInsultMeltdown: When he and Mike spar with words, the latter accuses him of not liking girls. In response, Will leaves in tears, and tears down Castle Byers. Considering Will is gay and in love with Mike and this is a very homophobic time period, one can understand why he reacted this way.
* MrExposition: His main role in season 3 is to explain how the Mind Flayer works and how to tell if someone is Flayed, as well as announcing when the Mind Flayer is active or nearby.
* MisterSeahorse: After the Demogorgon impregnated him, he "gives birth" to the demodogs. By coughing them up.

* MommasBoy: If having your head screwed-on enough to survive what he goes through, partly thanks to how Joyce has raised him to keep going in a physical ''and'' emotional crisis ''by seeking support'', is being a Momma's Boy, then his dad is right. Others may suggest that just not being super-macho doesn't make you this trope.
* MoralityPet: With Mike, though mostly in season 2. While Mike was [[TookALevelInJerkass short and hostile to mostly everyone]], he always took the time to check on Will's well-being.
* MotherOfAThousandYoung: He apparently coughed up at least several dozen demodogs between seasons 1 and 2.

* NiceGuy: Even though Will spends most of Season 1 trapped in the Upside-Down, he is still shown to be an honest and kind person. Before his taking in the first episode, he admits to Mike that the former's roll landed on a seven and finished him off in their D&D game. When he's rescued and hospitalized near the end of Chapter 8, one of the first things he does when he wakes up is ask if his brother is okay when he sees Jonathan's bandaged hand.

* SingleIssueWonk: Downplayed. Will frequently brings up wanting to play D&D throughout the early episodes of Season 3, in contrast to his friends who are withdrawing from the game. He grows out of this towards the end of the season.

* TheSneakyGuy: Will is often described as being "good at hiding." So good that he manages to evade the Demogorgon for almost a week in the Upside Down, whereas other victims like Barbara and Shepard get taken out in minutes. It's also implied that the Demogorgon has ''other'' uses for him.

* StraightGay: Has all the same interests as Mike, Lucas, and Dustin, with the notable exception of girls.
** That said, Lucas in Season 4 is about the only one who approaches a stereotypical vision of masculinity, and even among his friends, Will is soft-mannered and the artistic type. Which you may choose to see as [[SubvertedTrope the slimmest hint of camp]].

* SurvivalMantra: The glimpses that shows him in the Upside-Down often has him repeating the chorus to "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by ''Music/TheClash'' over and over again, seemingly in an attempt to comfort himself.
* TeensAreShort: He's the smallest of his friends during the first two seasons. However, he does hit a growth spurt in season 3. By Season 4, he's about Mike's height and nigh-unrecognizable as the kid who got possessed three seasons earlier.

* TraumaCongaLine: This boy grew up with an emotionally abusive father, constant bullying, and all before he was abducted by an interdimensional monster hell-bent on either eating him or implanting him with Demogorgon slug babies. At twelve, he had to survive alone for a week in an environment with no food, no water, toxic air, and a monster hunting for him. He is eventually found by the monster after he's too weak to escape, taken to its nest, has a living tube shoved down his throat, and is actually dead by time Hopper and Joyce rescue him. Only Hopper's timely CPR saves his life. In Season 2, he is living through severe PTSD, only to realize it's not really all PTSD, and he then gets taken over by a [[EldritchAbomination preeminent bastion of evil]] that makes him try to kill his friends and family.
* UnreliableNarrator: The Rink-o-Mania scene is mostly shot from Will's perspective, as his emotions are the focus for much of the scene. Will also feels unhappy because he perceives that Mike and El are ignoring and third-wheeling him and that they are being a happy couple at least on Mike's side, despite El lying to Mike. However, focusing on Mike in the background tells a whole other story. After Will confronts El for lying to Mike and they are putting on their skates both El and Mike force a smile, although the camera focuses only on El. In addition, the first shot outside of Will's perspective, when Angela sees Mike and El skating together, they both look miserable. Later, Mike even says to Will that he noticed Will was rolling his eyes, moping, and barely talking, implying that Mike was actually paying attention to him, but Will and the audience didn't see it.

** He's also become ''much'' more protective of Max in season 3. Especially when he yells for her to get out of the way from [[spoiler:Possessed!Billy in the sauna, and when he is visibly angered and rushes to her defense when Billy knocks her out.]]

* BreakTheCutie: Although Mike has shown signs of depression since Season 1 [[note]] Mike thinking that dying/jumping off a cliff is the best option so Dustin doesn't get his teeth cut out is the kind of thing that puts people on suicide watches in real life [[/note]], he was generally the WideEyedIdealist of the Party. Witnessing Eleven's fake-out death by exhausting her powers fighting the Demogorgon sends Mike into a depression in Season 2, stuck in the denial phase and behaving more apathetic and introverted than before. In Season 3, he is paranoid about El's overuse of her powers (as it lead to her "death" last time and he blames himself for that), [[spoiler:and is ultimately proven right to be worried when she loses them]]. The tie-in-book ''Lucas on the Line'' shows that Mike was heavily mentally impacted by the events at Starcourt and the Byers leaving, not hanging out with Lucas and Dustin by refusing to leave his basement and turning it into "the armpit" that is shown in Season 4. By the time Season 4 is happening, his grades have slipped and he’s barely eating in meal scenes, far from the smiling, cheerful kid he was at the beginning of Season 1.

* InsecureLoveInterest: Mike feels inadequate to El, which he confides to Will about in Season 4. Mike idolizes El's powers, yet almost every time that he has been brave, El has saved him. He feels indebted to her, that he isn't special and it could've been anyone who helped her that night him, Lucas and Dustin stumbled on her in the woods, that it was simple dumb luck. Mike feels he took advantage of her vulnerability in the beginning when she needed him then, but now she doesn’t need him to save her life anymore, and Mike is terrified that El is realizing this too.

** In season 1, he turns on El and shouts at her after she throws Lucas across the junkyard.
** During season 3 when his relationship with Eleven has taken top priority, he's often short with Will and dismisses any of his attempts to play D&D. This eventually leads to them having a fight during which he accuses Will of not liking girls, something which Will has been bullied for his entire life.

* PineappleRuinsPizza: In season 4, in contrast to Eleven, he's disgusted by the very idea of pineapple on pizza. After he is force fed a slice by Argyle and El, he admits that it is actually pretty good.

** Mike is the most zealous of his friends in his search for Will and leads the charge. After Will's fake body is pulled from the quarry, he is the only other person initially besides Joyce who is adamant that Will is alive, recognizing Will's voice on his walkie-talkie and convinces Lucas and Dustin that he is right. When Will is finally rescued, Mike is the only one of his friends to stay up in the hospital and is the first to reach and hug Will.

* StarCrossedLovers: Lampshaded by Dustin and Argyle in Seasons 3 and 4, both comparing Mike and El to [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet Romeo and Juliet]] respectively. In Season 3, Hopper serves as an outside force working against them which is similar to Romeo and Juliet's story of disapproving family member(s).

* DemotedToSatelliteLoveInterest: While in Season 1 and 2 he was the closest thing the series had to a protagonist and leader of The Party, his main role is reduced in Season 3 when he becomes Eleven's boyfriend. Mike's plot in Season 3 is mainly focused on his relationship with El and his concern about her wellbeing, while letting go of his other relationships. While for most of Season 4, his arc is primarily about reconnecting with his childhood best friend Will, healing the damage caused my Mike's behavior in Season 3 and from their six month separation on top of attempting to fix his disintegrating relationship with Eleven, the most important thing he does plot wise is tell Eleven that he loves her in the final battle against Vecna.

* UnreliableNarrator: The Rink-o-Mania scene is mostly shot from Will's perspective, as he is the focus for much of the scene. Will also feels unhappy because he perceives that Mike and El are ignoring and third-wheeling him and that they are being a happy couple at least on Mike's side, despite El lying to Mike. However, focusing on Mike in the background tells a whole other story. After Will confronts El for lying to Mike and they are putting on their skates both El and Mike force a smile, although the camera focuses only on El. In addition, the first shot outside of Will's perspective, when Angela sees Mike and El skating together, they both look miserable. Later, Mike even says to Will that he noticed Will was rolling his eyes, moping, and barely talking, implying that Mike was actually paying attention to him, but Will and the audience didn't see it.

!!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E1ChapterOneTheVanishingOfWillByers The Vanishing of Will Byers]]" (1x01)

!!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E1ChapterOneTheVanishingOfWillByers The Vanishing of Will Byers]]" (1x01)

!!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E1ChapterOneTheVanishingOfWillByers The Vanishing of Will Byers]]" (1x01)

!!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS1E1ChapterOneTheVanishingOfWillByers The Vanishing of Will Byers]]" (1x01)

!!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS2E1ChapterOneMADMAX MADMAX]]" (2x01)