Most people, especially those who are active on social media or have a Netflix subscription, have heard of the show Stranger Things. Stranger Things came out in 2016, as a Netflix original. Spanning across five seasons, the last season premiered in 2025, in three different volumes, with eight episodes in the final season and 42 episodes as a series total.

The original main characters include Will Byers, Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson, and Eleven. As the seasons progressed, more characters were introduced and other existing characters gained more importance to the storyline. For example, Max Mayfield was introduced in Season Two and became a core character ever since.

While these characters are all amazing and definitely very important to the story, other characters such as the teens, which include Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, and Steve Harrington, are also just as pivotal.

In Season One, Steve and Nancy are together, and Steve is portrayed as a playboy and jock. However, there is so much more to his character than that. As the series goes on, Steve becomes known as the “Babysitter” to fans, which is a fitting name, but it makes me wonder if fans understand what has caused him to act as so. Steve earned the nickname of the babysitter while spending time around the kids, when his original goal was to try and get back with Nancy after their last fight. His priorities change when the impact that the kids have on him becomes greater than any other force present in his life. Even other characters, such as Robin, point out how he acts as a parental figure. One instance is in Season Three when Robin and Steve work at ‘Scoops Ahoy’; When the kids show up Robin calls out for Steve saying “Hey Dingus, your children are here!”. As Steve gets more screen time and viewers get to know him better, we learn more about his home life and the fact that his parents are not around much and leave the house to him for long periods at a time. Steve uses this to his advantage to some extent, playing into his stereotype, when he mentions to Nancy that his parents aren’t home, and he throws a party.

All of his time spent alone, at a house that is supposed to be a “home”, could attribute to his wantingness for a close circle of friends that would represent more of a family dynamic than a friend one. I personally believe that this is another reason why he steps up to be this protector for all of his friends, especially the younger kids. Steve’s lack of parental figures present most likely influences his instincts to be said figure for those around him, notably due to their dangerous, high stress environment. Steve and Dustin grow close during the series, having many hilarious and heartfelt scenes together. As Dustin gets older, Steve continues to serve as a protective mentor figure for Dustin, despite their ups and downs. This dynamic works well for them due to the fact that Dustin’s father is never shown or mentioned which leads viewers to believe he is absent in Dustin’s life.

Jonathan Byers, like Steve Harrington, did some questionable things in the series, however there are also many scenes that seem to be largely overlooked that shape him as a character and give more context as to why he acts like he does. Jonathan is Will Byers’ older brother and only sibling. When Will goes missing in Season One, it obviously took a toll on both Jonathan and Joyce Byers, who is their mother. Joyce is the only present parental figure for Will and Jonathan since their father, Lonnie, left when they were very young. Lonnie comes back for a few episodes, but it ultimately does not work out and ends with Joyce and the boys alone again. This could likely be the main reason that Jonathan seems to feel the weight of being the “man of the house”. Jonathan is a very anxious teen and this, along with the issues they face in his household and community, make the tension between him and his mother rise. Jonathan and Joyce argue a lot during the time that Will is missing – and following that sequence of events. They both have differing opinions on what is going on and what happened to Will, which causes Jonathan to be angry since he feels like his mother is being irrational and gets embarrassed.

It can be easy for viewers to get angry at Jonathan for this, since the viewers understand why his mother is acting the way that she does since they get the insight of all events, similar to an omniscient point of view. The viewers saw clearly when Joyce was communicating with Will, and they know that he is not dead due to the scenes with Hopper, however Jonathan did not see those events unfold. Jonathan is trying his best to handle grief, balance a high school life where most people at his school consider him a “freak” or “weirdo”, and keep his mother sane. At this time Jonathan is simply acting on his own judgement and knowledge.

All of this could also contribute to the reasoning why he is so attached to Nancy. After an incident between Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan, when Jonathan takes pictures of Nancy without her consent or knowledge, tension rises. After this, Nancy shows that she is not mad at Jonathan for taking pictures of her and instead leans on Jonathan, becoming friends with him. This friendship quickly turns into something more, and they get into a relationship with each other. Jonathan is most likely very open to this because he sees how Nancy is so forgiving to him and she is one of the only people in the town, besides any of his family, who makes it a point to regularly talk to him and treat him kindly. Over the course of their relationship, he still displays the same insecurity that was introduced to viewers in Season One, which is understandable since he is still a teenage boy who is trying to figure himself out in a place that makes that a very difficult task. Jonathan’s insecurity is usually shown when Steve is present, since Steve could be naturally flirty with Nancy due to their past and regularly does things to show up Jonathan due to their differences in appearance, interests, skills (for example combat levels), and other various areas. Their relationship moves at a very fast pace and by Season Five, Jonathan proposes to Nancy. This is just another example of how their relationship is based on irrational decisions, since they are still so young, and in a very dangerous situation. In the end, they do not get engaged since Nancy wants freedoms that being engaged – and eventually married to Jonathan, does not offer. This is also a clear display of Nancy’s character complexity and how she longs for a life of freedom, far from Hawkins, where she could fulfill her goals of being a successful journalist, not a housewife with children.

To further expand on Nancy and the depths of her character, it is important to pay close attention to the way that she acts in a job environment, along with how she talks about her mother. Nancy is very passionate about Journalism, and despite her hostile work environment, she works hard in her position at the Hawkins Post although it eventually doesn’t work out there. During this time, she talks a lot about how this is extremely important to her and it becomes clear that being a journalist is a goal for Nancy. She also mentions on multiple occasions how she does not want to end up like her mother, who married for money and ended up in a loveless marriage stuck as a housewife. This dream and goal for freedom and a stable career without outside influences and ties is a clear reason why Nancy is better off alone, not in a relationship with Steve or Jonathan. This is due to the fact that Steve wants multiple children which would result in Nancy being a house wife and stay at home mom. Jonathan on the other hand doesn’t make his future plans, in the aspect of children, clear, but he does propose and he is quite controlling during their relationship, which could be a reason why Nancy says no to getting married to him. Despite all of their differing personal goals, they all make great friends at the end of the day since they have been through so much together and have lots of love for one another.

These characters are only a few of the many interesting characters that make up the storyline of Stranger Things, with complex backgrounds and character arcs. While many characters are overlooked, it is important to dig deeper than the surface level in order to gain an understanding as to why they all act the way that they do, and to further understand the dynamics present. Steve, Jonathan, and Nancy are much more than what they appear to be at the first glance, and that also applies to many of the other characters that surround them.