Ranking Every Major Stranger Things Character's Ending

Netflix

One of Netflix's hugest hits has been "Stranger Things," a 1980s-set series that blends horror and science fiction into an action-packed coming-of-age story. After five seasons, the show came to a close at the end of 2025, bringing the extra-dimensional action to an explosive climax. Once the dust settled and the battle for the fate of Hawkins, Indiana was decided, the "Stranger Things" finale proved to be divisive among fans (to say the least). This mixed reception was, in no small part, because of how it left each of the show's main characters by the time the end credits rolled.

Simply put, some fan-favorite characters came off better than others, some were left by the wayside, and others got more satisfying conclusions to their respective arcs. While it's hard to keep an eye on such an extensive ensemble cast, the disparity between how the characters ended up was considerable. With that in mind, we're looking at how each of the main characters fared in the Netflix original show's final season. 

Here is our ranking for every major "Stranger Things" character's ending by the series finale.

Netflix

One of the most underrated relationships in "Stranger Things" is the friendship between Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) and Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard). This dynamic is similarly slept on by the final season, with much of Lucas' involvement in the season tied to his girlfriend Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink). Initially maintaining a vigil over Max, while she's comatose, Lucas plays a vital role in trying to protect children targeted by Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). After defending Max from demogorgons in the hospital, Lucas participates in the final battle against Vecna, saving Hawkins.

Lucas is at the bottom of this ranking because he gets the least substantial development of the main characters, including little known about his activities after graduation. Both Lucas and his younger sister Erica (Priah Ferguson) are relatively forgotten about outside of the high school graduation ceremony. For a character who's been there since the beginning and an integral part of the core friend group, he deserved far better. A frustrating development with no definitive word on his plans after finishing high school, Lucas feels underutilized on multiple levels in Season 5.

Netflix

Ever since her debut in Season 3, Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke) has been one of the more pleasant additions to the overall series. The start of Season 5 reveals Robin has since become the radio deejay for Hawkins while carrying a relationship with former classmate Vickie Dunne (Amybeth McNulty). In the immediate aftermath of Vecna's defeat, Robin resumes her role as a deejay during the recovery of Hawkins. In the show's epilogue, 18 months after Vecna's downfall, Robin reveals that she has moved to Massachusetts to attend the prestigious liberal arts school Smith College.

Maya Hawke wanted her "Stranger Things" character to either die or get a spin-off, though, at the time of this writing, it appears she avoided either fate. But we don't really know much about what happened to Robin, beyond her choice in college after leaving Hawkins. We don't know if she's still in a committed relationship with Vickie or what her love life is like at all. While Robin wasn't around at the very beginning, she'd become such a prominent part of the group that we want to know more about how she ended up.

Netflix

Over the course of "Stranger Things," Jim Hopper (David Harbour) grew from a lawman grieving the loss of his daughter into an unlikely action hero. The final season saw Hopper strike something of a balance between sword-wielding prisoner-of-war and caring father figure to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). After training Eleven to hone her telekinetic powers, Hopper handled a lot of the dirty work taking on soldiers occupying Hawkins and the Upside-Down. After the day is saved, Hopper accepts a job as the sheriff of Montauk, New York, with his girlfriend Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) joining him.

All things considered, it's surprising how quickly Hopper bounces back from the apparent loss of Eleven. The duo's father-daughter bond was one of the stronger emotional dynamics in the series, and Hopper takes it in stride after the 18-month time jump. What is intriguing about Hopper's ending is that his new assignment quietly refers to one of the show's inspirations, the Montauk Project. Offering Hopper a fresh start while potentially teasing a "Stranger Things" spin-off, Hopper has arguably come the farthest of the ensemble since his slovenly introduction.

Netflix

Over the course of "Stranger Things," Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) grew from girl next door to gun-toting hero. Those sharpshooting skills continued in the final season as Nancy frequently is seen taking point whenever precise gunplay is needed. On a personal level, Nancy and her longtime boyfriend Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) amicably break-up while temporarily trapped in the Upside-Down. After the time jump following the climactic battle against Vecna, it's revealed that Nancy dropped out of Emerson College to take a journalist position at the Boston Herald.

The break-up between Nancy and Jonathan feels like one of the more forced plot developments in "Stranger Things" Season 5, diminishing both character arcs. This comes after the show has gotten us to care about the couple's relationship for years, including challenges surrounding its shift to long-distance in the preceding season. As far as the epilogue goes, Nancy was always going to be a journalist, that was something that had been building since the show's early seasons. But in the shadow of her break-up with Jonathan, there is something more bittersweet about Nancy finally diving into her dream job.

Netflix

Joining the main cast in Season 2, Max Mayfield quickly became a firm fixture in the core Hawkins friend group. The Season 4 finale left Max gravely injured and comatose from her showdown with Vecna, a condition that continues into Season 5. While unconscious in the real world, Max's consciousness is revealed to be hiding within Vecna's mind where she helps the kidnapped Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher). When Max is revived in the real world, her prolonged comatose state means she hasn't fully regained the ability to walk.

Max's more ethereal role for most of "Stranger Things" Season 5 is a frustrating direction for the character. On the one hand, it shows her still defiantly opposing Vecna while offering viewers a window into his mind. But for the skateboarding, street-smart figure, it does feel like she's sidelined for a big part of the adventure. Fortunately, Max is revealed to have fully physically recovered by the series finale, but it does feel a little bit like it's too little, too late. 

Netflix

After the Byers family temporarily relocated to California, Jonathan became something of a stoner for much of Season 4. By Season 5, Jonathan had not only moved back to Hawkins but resumed becoming a much more serious character compared to his divisive arc in the preceding season. While infiltrating the Upside-Down, Jonathan and his girlfriend Nancy acknowledge that they've grown apart and break up, despite his plans to propose to her. After the final battle, Jonathan begins attending New York University where he studies to become a filmmaker.

What puts Jonathan higher than Nancy, despite the two characters undergoing similar arcs, is how much Season 5 improved Jonathan's journey compared to Season 4. Jonathan's stoner subplot felt like an attempt to lighten up the normally quite serious character with mixed results. Outside of the aforementioned break-up, Jonathan gets a much better arc throughout the final season, even if it isn't that substantial. The film school ending, however, is a nice touch for the character, though Jonathan feels more like the character that would drop out of college than Nancy.

Netflix

The de facto protagonist of "Stranger Things" is Mike Wheeler, the center of his young friend group who takes in Eleven at the start of the series. When Mike's family is attacked by Demogorgons early in Season 5, his feud with Vecna becomes especially personal. When Eleven apparently sacrifices herself to seal the Upside-Down and avoid being recaptured by the government, Mike takes this news the hardest. Mourning Eleven for 18 months, Mike leaves Holly and her friends to become the town's next generation of "Dungeons & Dragons" players, and there are hints that he became a writer.

Mike essentially gets the "Stand by Me" arc, the young man who goes on a life-changing adventure with his friends that leaves him haunted for the rest of his life. Getting arguably the most bittersweet ending of all, Mike takes solace in the experience before trying to move on with his life. The writing career path also makes sense for the character, given Mike's clear imagination and ability to craft a solid "Dungeons & Dragons" campaign. I don't know if we necessarily expected Mike Wheeler to have a happy ending, but there is a pronounced melancholy to how he ended up.

Netflix

"Stranger Things" started with the disappearance of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), eventually revealing that he had been kidnapped by Vecna and taken to the Upside-Down. Over the course of the series, Will recovers and transforms from victim to warrior through his connection to his extra-dimensional tormentor. The first group of episodes end with Will Byers developing powers, using them to save his friends from Vecna. The second set of episodes feature Will coming to terms with his homosexuality with his family and friends and being accepted for it, setting up his subsequent happy ending.

The sad fact is that "Stranger Things" Season 5 has a tendency of turning wildest cliffhangers into disappointments, and that includes developments involving Will. The show doesn't do all that much with Will's new powers, despite setting him up as being the one to take down Vecna. Similarly, while a necessary and emotional character moment, the handling of Will's coming out scene is clumsily executed and oddly placed within the overall arc of the season. We're fans of Will Byers and his self-actualization trajectory, but it all feels like it could've been presented better overall.

Netflix

Going into the final season, it's revealed that Eleven has been training diligently for her inevitable rematch against Vecna for the fate of Hawkins. This is done in hiding, as Eleven is wanted by the government, so they can continue their experiments on developing people with psionic powers. With that in mind, Eleven decides to make an apparent sacrifice play, sealing the Upside-Down for good after Vecna's defeat and avoiding the military waiting for her in Hawkins. Mike theorizes that Eleven didn't sacrifice herself at all but used her psionic powers to fake her death and secretly escape back to the real world.

If you're wondering why Eleven ranks as highly as she does here, despite the divisive nature of her ending, the buzz surrounding her fate is a big factor. That we're still debating what happened to Eleven months after "Stranger Things" ended demonstrates how much we care about the show and the character. Even with that ambiguity and the suggestion that Eleven escaped, fans were furious over Eleven's fate, but the season definitely set up this tragic conclusion. I'm personally of the mind that Eleven did leave the Upside-Down, but her ranking here wouldn't have changed if her fate was more definitively darker.

Netflix

Despite becoming such a fan-favorite character, Steve Harrington nearly died in the first season of "Stranger Things," before the showrunners changed his fate. A lot of that comes down to Joe Keery's likable performance as the high school jock with a heart of gold. But over the course of the series, Steve became something of a surrogate older brother figure to Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) and his friends. That dynamic remains in place for Season 5 as he guides the younger characters in the Upside-Down during their battle against Vecna.

After surviving the final showdown, Steve mentors new generations of Hawkins kids, both as a little league baseball coach and a teacher. Since the time jump, Steve has also entered into a new romantic relationship and appears to be thriving in his new role. Steve's friendships are maintained after the time jump and he stays in touch with Dustin by visiting him at college. Once a boorish boyfriend and something of a bully, Steve Harrington has grown the most since his debut and gets a job befitting the trajectory of his growth.

Netflix

Dustin is in a particularly dark place at the start of "Stranger Things" Season 5, still mourning the death of his friend Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn). This puts him in a combative and self-destructive mood for much of the season, gradually alleviating when he reconnects with his friends. It's Dustin who begins to understand the true nature of the Upside-Down and its otherworldly nature, trying to warn the others not to destabilize it. By the end of the season, Dustin regains his sense of self-worth and reaffirms his friendships while getting one last rebellious dig at the high school administration.

Dustin has always been a fan-favorite character among the "Stranger Things" cast, and though he starts in a frustrating place, it makes his season-long arc that much more earned. So much of the emotional turmoil that the main characters should go through is reflected most saliently through Dustin, particularly in regard to grief and trauma. In the end, the spirit of Eddie Munson lives on through Dustin, with his actions during his high school graduation reflecting Eddie's own unrealized graduation plans. Charting the evolution of an unabashed nerd growing up to become a defiant rebel, Dustin Henderson gets the most ambitious arc within Season 5.

Netflix

In a lot of ways, the arc of "Stranger Things" quietly hinges on the arc of single mother Joyce Byers. Working a thankless retail job while raising two teenage boys, Joyce was shaken from the ennui of her daily life by Will being dragged into the Upside-Down. After that, Joyce not only ventured into the nightmarish dimension herself, but even traveled all the way to the Soviet Union to rescue the man that she loved. That growth is certainly recognized in the final season, particularly when it comes to the climactic confrontation against Vecna.

The person that delivers the killing blow on Vecna isn't Eleven, Mike Wheeler, or Will Byers, it's Joyce. This essentially pays back Vecna for targeting her son at the start of the series and causing all that missing child misery. More than just getting the well-deserved big hero moment, Joyce gets a happy ending with Hopper after seeing her boys off. From struggling single mother to the hero of Hawkins, Joyce Byers gets the most satisfying finish to her character arc in "Stranger Things."