There are so many beloved characters in Stranger Things, but also a handful of villains. Here are the characters viewers dislike the most.
Stranger Things is one of the best shows currently on and is definitely my favorite Netflix show ever. The sci-fi phenomenon debuted back in 2016 and became an instant success, with viewers becoming obsessed with the 1980s vibe the show created. Throughout the four seasons, each storyline has become more intense as the characters grow older and face bigger threats. The first season introduces us to Eleven, one of my favorite fictional characters ever, a lost young girl without a name or a home.
As Mike, Dustin, and Lucas get to know Eleven while trying to find their friend Will who disappeared, they discover she’s more special than they could have ever imagined. And her powers help them find Will.
Part of the reason people love Stranger Things so much is the amazing characters we meet each season, and season 4 is no exception. When the season dropped last summer, fans fell in love with the likes of Eddie Munson and Argyle, two new characters who join the friend group. It’s impossible not to root for the main characters of the Netflix series, though there are a handful of villains who viewers absolutely cannot stand.
As much as the heroes in the story are so fantastic and inspirational, the villains can be so evil. We’re breaking down the 18 most disliked characters and creatures in Stranger Things, ranking them from least bad to absolutely terrible. And surprisingly, we’ll be starting off the least with a central character that many fans find annoying.
Flip the page and find out if you agree with the most disliked characters and creatures!
18. Neil Hargrove
Introduced in the second season of Stranger Things, Neil Hargrove is the abusive father of Billy and the stepfather to Max. Portrayed as an antagonist, we don’t see any redeeming factors — if he even has any at all — for this character. He severely mistreats Billy, which is likely why Billy turns out to be such an angry, aggressive person. Because he’s such a minor character, Neil has no character development nor backstory, meaning fans see him as one-dimensional and an uninteresting villain. As much as we see, he’s just a bad father and husband.
Max and her mom are better off without Neil, though they’d probably bring back Billy from the dead if they could.
17. Two
Two is a recurring antagonist who was part of Eleven’s life at an early age, though we don’t get to know him until the fourth season. He is one of the test subjects being experimented on at Hawkins, and we see how badly he bullied El during the flashback scenes. Of course, the real enemy here is Martin Brenner, as he steals children to experiment on them, but it’s easy to understand why fans don’t like Two either.
The eldest experiment after Henry/One, Two is very powerful and that strength makes him cocky and aggressive. I’m sure most of the kids take their anger out on one another, but Two seems especially mean. We see him mistreat Eleven in the flashbacks, and that alone makes him a disliked character.
Two ends up being killed by Henry/One, which is a fate he definitely doesn’t deserve. He’s a product of his environment, though the fact that he’s an enemy of Eleven makes him an enemy of Stranger Things fans, too.
16. Larry Kline
Larry Kline is one of the many antagonists in Stranger Things, and he plays a big role in the third season as the mayor of Hawkins, Indiana. Though he doesn’t have a ton of screen time, his behavior makes it clear that he’s a power-hungry and corrupt politician who prioritizes himself over the town. He’s willing to overlook the danger going on in Hawkins to save face, wanting to simply protect his image over anything else.
It’s easy to dislike Larry Kline. That’s because of his selfish and villainous nature, and because he gets in the way of the central characters who are worried about real-life threats like the Upside Down. I don’t think there’s much else explaining to do here!
15. Yuri Ismaylov
Okay, this one is interesting because it seems like the Stranger Things fandom either loves or hates Yuri. We get to know Yuri in the fourth season when Hopper tries to get into contact with Joyce. Though he seems friendly on the surface, he has ulterior motives and isn’t just helping to be a good person. (But really, can you blame him?)
Though Yuri is definitely funny at times, he also puts Joyce and Murray in danger when drugging them with plans to sell them to the Russian government. He thinks about himself over others, and he cannot be trusted. Plus, many fans find him to be pretty annoying. He serves his purpose for entertainment in the latest season, but beyond that, he doesn’t do much.
14. Grigori
He might not have a huge role in Stranger Things, but Grigori is a villain we would never want to mess with. The Russian enforcer in the third season is introduced to us through his work for the Soviets. He’s portrayed as a ruthless antagonist who will do everything he can to uncover what is going on in the Upside Down, as well as the experiments at Hawkins Lab. Of course, this interferes with the main characters who have their own agenda when it comes to the Upside Down — stopping whatever threats come out of it.
Because he endangers the main characters, it’s easy to understand why he’s so disliked by the Stranger Things fandom. He’s aggressive and violent in nature, and I don’t think anyone is disappointed when Hopper finally takes him down.
13. The Demobats
They’re not as menacing as the Mind Flayer, but the Demobats we meet in the fourth season of Stranger Things are certainly a threat fans of the show strongly dislike. I mean, they kill Eddie Munson, remember? I’m still not over his death!
The flying creatures reside in the Upside Down and characters Steve, Nancy, Robin, Dustin, and Eddie encounter them while carrying out a plan to kill Vecna. Dustin and Eddie serve as a distraction for the Demobats, putting on an epic rock concert in the alternate universe. Though the scene is awesome, the Demobats simply need to go.
Could anyone be a fan of these deadly creatures?
11 and 12. Troy Walsh and James Dante
We haven’t seen these two in a while, but just the thought of them gets under our skin. When we first meet Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will in Stranger Things, they’re a bit of outcasts at school. They aren’t in with the popular crowd and get bullied pretty severely. Here’s where Troy Walsh and James Dante come in. The two continue to target and ridicule the group throughout the first season, even going so far as to make fun of Will’s disappearance.
Things escalate during the memorial for Will when James and Troy continue to talk badly about the group and Mike decides to defend himself. Thanks to Eleven, they’re able to get back at the bullies when El makes Troy pee his pants in front of everyone.
But of course, that’s not the last we see of James and Troy. The final showdown with them occurs when the bullies confront Mike and Dustin near the quarry, where Eleven saves the day again by saving Mike’s life. The fact that the bullying gets to this point is so frustrating, especially because Mike and the gang are such great people! They don’t harm anyone, so to be picked on like this is so uncalled for.
As the kids start to grow up and face even bigger threats like the creatures from the Upside Down, they’re less and less targeted by bullies. Even if their classmates wanted to harm them, they’ve got bigger fish to fry now!
10. Mike Wheeler
Let me just start off by saying I personally like Mike. He’s one of my favorite characters, actually! He’s so dependable, passionate, and really loves Eleven. But there are so many Stranger Things fans who dislike Mike. Many find him annoying, among other things. If you take a look at popular social media platforms, you’ll see the hard feelings for the character.
One Reddit thread in particular asked why people hate Mike so much, to which one user explained they think the writers just don’t know what to do with him because they give him boring storylines, and sometimes his only point is to be El’s love interest. Another said that he is mean to Max in season 2 and they don’t like that, while others highlighted he isn’t the greatest friend to Will in season 4. One even said they believe Mike is controlling over Eleven.
Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven, discovered that people don’t like Mike at the German Comic Con Limited Edition in Dortmund last summer, and she was shocked.
Mike’s addition to the list is the most controversial one, so I’m sure if you don’t agree with this take, the rest will be easier to digest!
9. Billy Hargrove
Yes, Billy Hargrove is a heartthrob, but he’s also a pretty bad person. Not only is he mean to his stepsister Max, but he’s also sparked accusations of racism from Stranger Things fans. The character is introduced in season 2 when he and Max move to town, and he’s unpleasant right from the start. He’s verbally abusive to Max, and he even threatens to run over Mike, Dustin, and Lucas while he’s driving.
When Max starts hanging out with Lucas, Billy doesn’t approve and is completely unfair about it. He grabs Max’s wrist at one point and hurts her, making her cry. By the third season, he becomes one of the main villains when he’s possessed by the Mind Flayer. Though Max doesn’t believe he deserves to die, he does meet his fate by the season 3 finale. Many fans might think that was a good thing.
8. Lonnie Byers
Though he has a small part in Stranger Things, Will’s dad Lonnie is certainly disliked by Stranger Things fans. And understandably so. The ex-husband of Joyce appears in the first season after Will goes missing, and he’s totally unhelpful. When Jonathan goes to his house to see if Will might be there, Lonnie doesn’t seem concerned whatsoever and says bad things about Joyce.
Lonnie also makes homophobic remarks and pokes fun at Will’s sexuality, which is a terrible thing for anyone to do, let alone a parent. He’s one of the worst characters in the show and would be higher on this list if only he had more screen time.
Even though it probably hurts, I’m glad Will and Jonathan don’t have much of a relationship with Lonnie because he’s just such a bad father.
7. Tom Holloway
Tom Holloway doesn’t have a big role in Stranger Things, either, but the scenes he does appear in are enough to make fans’ eyes roll. He’s completely misogynistic, as we learn as he starts to work with Nancy at the Hawkins Post, and is super rude to her. He serves as one of Nancy and Jonathan’s bosses in the third season and we’re glad he doesn’t make it to the fourth.
Tom is not professional in the slightest, nor are his other male employees, and he’s arrogant and cruel. And that’s not even when he gets possessed. After he’s picked by the Mind Flayer, he fires Nancy and Jonathan from the paper and becomes a true villain of the season. He’s all around a bad guy and fans have zero reasons to like him.
6. The Demogorgon
They might not speak threats or insults, but the monsters of Stranger Things are definitely major villains who fans love to hate. The Demogorgon is a super dangerous, super creepy humanoid creature who terrorizes the main gang and all of Hawkins. And once it’s brought over to Russia, it suddenly poses a threat to the whole world. The creature comes from the Upside Down and is first brought to the real world through a gate accidentally created by Eleven.
Once the Demogorgon is unleashed on Hawkins, it has no reason to spare any lives in its path. It has superhuman strength and is attracted to blood, having the ability to sense it. Not to mention it’s huge, intimidating even the strongest and most fearless people of Hawkins.
Sadly, Nancy’s best friend Barb is attacked by the Demogorgon in season 1 and killed. For that reason and so many others, fans will never forgive the scary monster.
5. The Mind Flayer
Vecna might be the big bad villain of Stranger Things, but the Mind Flayer (a.k.a. the Shadow Monster) is a monster we’ve known way longer. And not for any good reason. As we learn in the fourth season, Vecna is the one who created the Mind Flayer and is the one controlling it, so they’re basically one and the same. But because they are separate entities, we’ll separate them on this list.
We’re introduced to the Mind Flayer, a huge, monstrous creature with tentacles, in the second season. Though season 2 is my least favorite installment, I have to admit it’s probably the creepiest. And that’s because of the Mind Flayer’s possession of poor Will. Stranger Things fans will always defend Will to the end, and that’s one of the many reasons we dislike this creature so much.
The Mind Flayer is a relentless creature that will keep coming back as long as Vecna wants it to. It’s caused so much destruction and is a complete force to be reckoned with, unfortunately for our favorite characters.
4. Vecna
Okay, Vecna is a hard one to place on this list. While he’s obviously the most powerful and evil villain in Stranger Things, fans also love Jamie Campbell Bower’s performance and have a bit of fun with the character. No, we’re not rooting for him, but his wickedness is compelling. He has such an interesting backstory and viewers are on the edge of their seats while watching it in season 4.
Fans are divided on the character. While many dislike him because he’s scary and wants to harm the main characters we love so much, others find him super intriguing and one of the best characters in the series despite how bad he is. It also doesn’t help that season 4 came out after TikTok became the phenomenon it is, with so many videos and memes about Vecna going viral on social media.
Of course, Vecna is a bad guy, but we’d say his actions are what’s most disliked about him. In the upcoming fifth season, he’s out to kill Will and his friends. Without a doubt, fans are hoping for his downfall at the show’s conclusion.
3. Dr. Brenner
Now we’re getting to the worst of the worst in Stranger Things. Martin Brenner is a scientist who raised children as test subjects, one of them being Eleven. As we learn more and more about El’s traumatic past throughout the seasons, it becomes apparent that her “papa” is an evil villain. And one who should never be forgiven.
Though Dr. Brenner acts like he’s doing what’s best for Eleven, he’s only ever thinking about himself and his experiments. He doesn’t care about her well-being and will push her to her breaking point just to get what he wants. In the fourth season, he’s shot and killed and Eleven gets to say her final goodbye. It’s a satisfying scene for both the character and the viewers.
2. Jason Carver
The two most disliked characters in Stranger Things are actually not introduced until the fourth season. But I promise this isn’t recency bias; these two are actually that bad. First, there’s Jason Carver, the captain of the Hawkins High basketball team. From the start, he seems obnoxious, but once he wrongfully accuses Eddie of killing his girlfriend Chrissy, he’s unbearable.
Jason discriminates against Eddie just because he’s not popular and is “different,” as he could be found playing a game of Dungeons & Dragons and listening to metal music over playing a team sport or partying. He targets Eddie right away when in reality, Eddie is a complete sweetheart with great intentions.
Throughout season 4, Jason will do whatever it takes to get to Eddie, even if that means fighting Lucas and accusing the Hellfire Club of satanic activity. For so many reasons, he’s an antagonist who viewers easily root against.
1. Angela
Though she doesn’t get as much screen time as other characters on this list, Angela is a ruthless bully and her treatment of Eleven places her in the number one spot. The character is introduced in the fourth season as Eleven’s new classmate in Lenora Hills. El doesn’t fit in and doesn’t have any friends at her new school beyond Will, which is really sad to watch. She’s constantly picked on, and the ringleader of the pack of bullies is Angela.
And when Angela gets in trouble at school for destroying Eleven’s project, she’s more determined than ever to make her life miserable. Mike visits El and Will for Spring Break, and when they take a trip to Rink-O-Mania, Angela’s there. Her group targets the couple and embarrasses Eleven with a cruel prank, which is just heartbreaking to watch.
Eleven gets her revenge by hitting Angela across the face with a skate, and although violence is never the answer, Angela kind of had it coming.
Which character in Stranger Things gets under your skin the most? Did we miss any?