Stranger Things is like a wild ride through 1980s Hawkins, Indiana. A bunch of kids looks for their buddy Will Byers and uncovers some seriously creepy government experiments. Supernatural forces? Check. Alternate dimensions? Double check. With a killer cast and a mix of suspense, laughs and feels, this show has taken over pop culture. It is basically a must-see for anyone who enjoys a good mystery.

Meet the characters from Stranger Things

Eleven

Eleven is this intense, quiet force of nature — equal parts steel and soft center — who will stare at you like she knows your secrets and then punch a hole in reality. She’s fiercely loyal, awkward with words, and has a very specific relationship with Eggo waffles (sometimes it’s pancakes, I swear she once ate a pancake?). Her powers are terrifying and beautiful at the same time, and she carries this baffling mix of childlike wonder and veteran trauma. Also she hums 80s songs when she’s nervous, which is somehow both adorable and creepy.

Martin Brenner

Brenner is the lab coat, the clipboard, the kind of man who calls himself “Papa” and means it in the most chilling way possible. Brilliant and cold, he treats people like experiments and corners of the world like chess moves, always five steps ahead and smelling faintly of coffee and antiseptic. There’s this little tilt of grief in him somewhere, like someone once told him feelings were a waste and he believed it. He keeps secrets in metal filing cabinets and probably wears the same pen behind his ear every day.

Nancy Wheeler

Nancy is stubborn, brave, and way more complicated than the “nice girl” label she got in school pictures. She will fight you with a notebook and a lamp and also cry into her pillow at 2 a.m., usually the same night — ambitious, defensive, a little dramatic, and desperately wants justice for the people she loves. She’s the type who learns investigative skills by force and then refuses to let anyone tell her to sit down; also she has a ridiculous collection of hair clips she never uses. You can count on her to get messy for the truth and then write a list about it.

Will Byers

Will is quiet in a way that makes the air thinner around him — sensitive, imaginative, and older than his years because of what he’s survived. He’s an artist with a habit of drawing lots of tiny maps and monsters, which is adorable and heartbreaking depending on the day. Will is loyal to his friends and weirdly brave when it counts, even though he hates the dark (or maybe he loves it, it’s sometimes hard to tell). He hums to himself a lot and will insist that his drawings are “only for now,” which is both hopeful and suspiciously dramatic.

Joyce Byers

Joyce is an absolute live wire — frantic, fierce, and the kind of mom who will glue the house back together with sheer willpower and Christmas lights. She believes, full stop, and will ring the entire town awake to prove it; equal parts tender and terrifying, she’s maternal and kind of unhinged like in the best protective way. Her house is a shrine to survival and receipts (she keeps receipts, I think?), and she talks to ghosts the way other people talk to pets. Deep down she has this stubborn optimism that borders on reckless, but you want her in your corner.

Steve Harrington

Steve starts off like the classic “perfect hair” jock but evolves into the best big-bro energy you didn’t know you needed. He’s protective to the point of ridiculousness, carries a bat with nails like it’s a fashion statement, and has surprisingly good advice about boys and monsters. Also he cleans rooms and cooks a mean lasagna sometimes — or he claims he does, not sure if that’s from experience or lore. He fusses over his hair and somehow becomes everyone’s favorite chaotic guardian.

Dustin Henderson

Dustin is pure, chaotic, lovable genius — he will make you laugh, explain radio science, and then accidentally start a wildlife diplomacy program with a lizard. His voice is a whole mood and his hat is a personality trait; he keeps optimism in his pocket like a secret weapon. He’s nerdy but charming, reads too many sci-fi tropes and applies them to real life, and is the group heart with slightly questionable snack choices. Also he sings made-up songs at inappropriate times and somehow makes it work.

Jonathan Byers

Jonathan is broody, tender, and intensely observant — like he sees everything and then drafts a moody photograph about it. He’s the quiet protector, awkward in the best way, and a little jaded but with an unshakable moral core; he’ll carry your camera and your secrets. He drinks bad diner coffee and writes notes in a sketchbook he never shows anyone, possibly because he thinks the world is too loud. He can be grumpy but in a way that proves he cares, which is his whole personality.

Jim Hopper

Hopper is gruff and warm in a very unexpected sandwich — ex-cop with a permanent five o’clock shadow and a catastrophic soft spot for kids and coffee. He hides pain behind sarcasm and donuts, makes questionable decisions out of love, and will absolutely punch a monster then cry in his truck afterwards. He’s a mess of badges, bandages, and fatherly advice, but he’d also dismantle a government lab if you asked politely (or not). Somehow tender and terrifying at once, he’s the town’s patched-up hero.

Mike Wheeler

Mike is earnest, bossy-in-a-good-way, and emotionally available in a way that makes people swoon — he’s the kid who organizes D&D and your feelings simultaneously. He leads with loyalty, believes in his friends with an almost stubborn purity, and gets embarrassingly poetic when he’s nervous about things (hi, Eleven). He’s the one who keeps the group together with playlists and sincerity, sometimes a little naive but always genuine. Also he has a habit of saying “okay” a lot, which somehow makes the whole plan feel safe.

Lucas Sinclair

Lucas is practical, skeptical, and fiercely loyal — the friend who will call out nonsense and then silently cover your back in a fight. He has a sports-kid vibe with surprisingly sharp instincts and a slingshot-like precision when needed (metaphorical or otherwise). Sometimes he acts aloof, but it’s more like cautious warmth; he cares in small, stubborn ways like lending his jacket and then pretending he didn’t. He also collects junk parts and occasionally builds something that actually works, which is both useful and suspicious.