Who dies in Stranger Things: every major death, from season 1 to the end
Guide · The deaths · Seasons 1 to 5
Who dies in Stranger Things? The show kills little, but it kills well: a forgotten friend at the edge of a pool, a kind man in a hallway, an older brother who redeems himself, a metalhead on a roof. Here are all the striking deaths, from November 1983 to the last episode. And the answer to the question everyone asks about the ending.
The essentials
- Season 1: Benny, then Barbara Holland.
- Season 2: Bob Newby
- Season 3: Billy Hargrove, Alexei
- Seasons 4 and 5: Chrissy, Fred, Patrick, Eddie, Brenner, Kali, Henry
Contents
Who dies in season 1: Benny, then Nancy's friend
The first death is Benny's, the diner owner who feeds Eleven and whom the lab men shoot in the first episode. The most famous is Barbara Holland's, Nancy's friend, taken by the Demogorgon at the edge of the Harrington pool while everyone looks the other way. Her body, found in the Upside Down, haunts Nancy for two seasons. The Demogorgon, for its part, is pulverized by Eleven in the finale.
The Eddie Munson T-shirt, died a hero.
In the shopKids' black Demogorgon metal T-shirt24,90 €See the product
Season 2: Bob
Bob Newby, Joyce's companion, electronics-store manager, kind and brave, dies in the lab lobby, under the demodogs, after restoring the power to save everyone. It is the most mourned death in the show, because it is that of a man who had asked for nothing.
| Season | Who dies | How |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benny Hammond | Shot by the lab men |
| 1 | Barbara Holland | Taken by the Demogorgon, the Harringtons' pool |
| 2 | Bob Newby | The demodogs, lab lobby |
| 3 | Alexei | Shot by Grigori at the fair |
| 3 | Billy Hargrove | Killed by the flesh monster, while holding it back |
| 4 | Chrissy, Fred, Patrick | Vecna's Curse |
| 4 | Eddie Munson | The demobats, in the Upside Down |
| 4 | Martin Brenner | The army's bullets, in Nevada |
| 5 | Kali | The soldiers' shots, the lab assault |
| 5 | Henry Creel | Impaled by Eleven, beheaded by Joyce |
Season 3: Alexei and Billy
Alexei, the Russian scientist who loves cherry slushies, is shot by Grigori at the fair, at the moment he was starting to be happy. Billy Hargrove, possessed by the Mind Flayer all season, turns on the flesh monster in the hall of Starcourt and holds it with his bare hands until it kills him. His death redeems the character, and it is the one that haunts Max two seasons later.
Season 4: Vecna's victims, Eddie, Brenner
Chrissy Cunningham, Fred Benson and Patrick McKinney die of the curse, their limbs broken, a few days apart. Eddie Munson, wrongly accused of those deaths, dies a hero under the demobats after playing Metallica on a roof to draw them away from his friends. Brenner, last, dies under army fire in Nevada, shielding Eleven with his body. Max dies a few seconds before Eleven brings her back.
Those who almost made itMax, heart stopped then started again; Hopper, presumed dead in 1985 and found in Russia; Will, declared dead in 1983 on a fake body. The show likes deaths that are not.
Season 5: Kali, Henry, and the Eleven question
The last season kills few. Kali, Eight, freed from the army, dies under soldiers' fire during the assault on the lab. Henry Creel dies in the Abyss, impaled by Eleven then beheaded by Joyce, and the entity he carried is destroyed in its titan form. Eleven, for her part, stays in the Upside Down as it collapses: the show shows neither her death nor her survival, and Mike believes she is alive.
The whole 1983 party survives, as well as Hopper, Joyce, Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, Robin, Erica and Murray.
The Demogorgon figure, the first cause of death.
In the shopLego dark Demogorgon mini figure14,90 €See the product
The complete table, season by season
| Season | Who | How |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benny Hammond | Shot at home by the lab agents, after feeding Eleven |
| 1 | Barbara Holland | Taken by the Demogorgon from Steve's pool; her body is found in the Upside Down |
| 2 | Bob Newby | Killed by the Demodogs in the lab hall, a few meters from the exit |
| 3 | Alexei | Shot by Grigori at the fair, a cherry slushie in his hand |
| 3 | Heather Holloway and her parents | Possessed, then melted into the flesh monster |
| 3 | Billy Hargrove | Pierced by the flesh monster he holds back, at Starcourt |
| 3 | Grigori | Thrown by Hopper into the gears of the Russian machine |
| 4 | Chrissy, Fred, Patrick | The three victims of Vecna's curse |
| 4 | Jason Carver | Cut in two by the rift that opens under him, in the Creel house |
| 4 | Eddie Munson | Devoured by the demobats in the Upside Down, after diverting the swarm |
| 4 | Martin Brenner | Shot by Sullivan's men in front of the Nevada lab |
| 5 | Kali | Stray bullet during the lab assault, after hiding the children |
| 5 | Lieutenant Akers | Forced by Eleven to turn his gun on himself |
| 5 | Henry Creel | Arm torn off by Will, impaled by Eleven, beheaded by Joyce |
The deaths that are not
The show has a habit of fake deaths, and you are better off knowing them before you cry. Will, in Season 1, is declared dead when a body is pulled from the quarry: it is a lab dummy. Eleven disappears disintegrating the Demogorgon, then spends the fall of 1984 hidden at Hopper's. Hopper himself disappears in the explosion under Starcourt, and reappears in Kamchatka. Max dies for a minute at the cemetery, brought back by Eleven, then wakes in episode 7 of the last season.
Eleven's case in the finale is the only one the show leaves open: left in the Upside Down at the moment of the explosion, she is shown neither dead nor alive. Mike offers an explanation, an illusion of Kali's, and the show leaves it there.
The deaths from before the show
Two slaughters take place before 1983 and are only shown in flashback. In 1959, teenage Henry Creel kills his mother Virginia and his sister Alice in the family house, and leaves his father Victor accused of the massacre: that is the story Nancy and Robin discover at the asylum in season 4. In 1979, at the lab, Henry, now subject One, massacres the other numbered children and the guards, before Eleven throws him into the Upside Down.
You also have to add Sara, Hopper's daughter, who died of cancer before the show, whose memory explains everything Hopper does for Eleven, and Terry Ives, Eleven's mother, kept in a vegetative state by Brenner, who is not dead in the strict sense but whose life stopped at her daughter's birth.
The complete-series poster.
In the shopLarge Demogorgon pin 4,5 cm14,90 €See the product
TakeawayBarbara Holland, then Bob: the two founding deaths. Billy and Eddie: the two redemptions. Brenner, Kali, Henry: the last three. Eleven: a fate left open.
Frequently asked questions
Who dies in Stranger Things?
Benny and Barbara Holland, in season 1. Then Bob in season 2, Alexei and Billy in season 3, Chrissy, Fred, Patrick, Eddie, and Brenner in season 4, Kali and Henry Creel in season 5.
Who dies at the end of Stranger Things?
Henry Creel and the entity he carried. Eleven's fate is left open: she stays in the Upside Down, and Mike believes her alive.
Does Eddie really die?
Yes, in season 4, under the demobats. He does not come back in season 5, except through Dustin's jacket.
Does Steve die?
No. He survives all five seasons and ends up a high-school baseball coach.
How many main characters die in the whole show?
Few, in reality: Bob, Billy, Eddie and Kali, if you stick to recurring allies. The 1983 party, Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, Robin, Joyce and Hopper all make it to the epilogue.
Who dies in 1959 in the Creel house?
Virginia and Alice Creel, Henry's mother and sister, killed by him at fourteen. His father Victor is accused and committed to the Pennhurst asylum.