According to our little heroes (Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will) book Dungeons and Dragons, the Upside Down is simply an alternate dimension, an exact copy of our world, but full of death and decoy, with no clear oxygen, humans, or resources. They used to play with that sci-fi books just for entertainment, but they never thought to face all the monsters and creatures from Upside Down in real life.
So, my strange fellows, today we’re simply going to see, which characters from the brave town of Hawkins visited Upside Down. The most interesting fact is no one ever wanted to visit such a dark place on a purpose, but one way or another, some of them had to explore the depths of dark fantasies. We’ll make it even more interesting by elaborating which characters survived and which didn’t separately.
So, hold tight, and let’s explore each character’s journey one by one.
All the characters who visited and survived Upside Down
Will Byers
Visited: Season 1
Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) is among one of the very first characters who was trapped in the Upside Down without any knowledge or purpose. He was the reason others explored about that place. He survived through the worst climate without any food and proper air for weeks. The most interesting part is, that he even learned to communicate without any proper mediums and that’s how he saved his mother (Joyce Byers played by Winona Ryder) from the Demogorgon.
He was saved by Jim Hopper (David Harbour) and his mother when they managed to get permission from Hawkins Lab to go to the other side and find Will.
Will was physically trapped in the first season, but, later he becomes a medium for Mind Flayer (an ancient entity that controls the Upside Down). In the second part of the series, he was possessed by shadow monster and visited that place in his memories.
Joyce Byers
Visited: Season 1
Winona Ryder truly proved motherly love in her portrayal as Joyce Byers in Stranger Things. She declared that she could go to any length or can cross any line when it comes to her children. She visited the devastating copy of our world to save his son Will. She entered that place with the police chief Jim Hopper and both of them rescued the poor boy to bring him back to life.
Her visit was a short one, and luckily she didn’t have to face any monsters or creatures and the best part is she brought her son back.
Jim Hopper
Visited: Season 1
One of the most funny, curious, and responsible man in Stranger Things. The whole town of Hawkins was like a home to him and he cared for each person living, equally. His visit to the dark side was on purpose and he literally proved in the first season that he’s the bravest police officer. He helped Joyce find her son and even put his own life at risk to perform his sole duty which was to serve and protect.
His role became even more mysterious and complex in the following 3 seasons but he chose to grow and love the people around her and never failed in his duties. Luckily, he also didn’t have to face any monsters on his rescue to mission to save Will.
Nancy Wheeler
Visited: Season 1 and 4
Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) was another curious member, who was stubborn and always liked to live and play in her own style. In the first season, she planned an expedition with Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) to find Will and Barbara Holland (Shannon Purser) who were taken by Demogorgon.
Her first visit was not on purpose, she was simply wandering in the woods with Jonathan to find out about her friend but an unfortunate tragedy dragged her into the Upside Down, and, luckily she survived and came back.
In the fourth season, she visited twice, first to save Steve’s (Joe Keery) and secondly to save Max’s (Sadie Sink) life. She’s brave and never hesitates to face any challenge. Her skills can be seen when she manages to defeat the Demogorgon with Jonathan in the first season. Later on, she even fought Vecna when to save her friend’s life.
Steve Harrington
Visited: Season 4
Now comes Harrington, one of the coolest guys in the town of Hawkins, who literally stole the spotlight in every early episodes of the series with his looks and bravery. Even though he always complained about looking after the children so they could keep themselves out of trouble, still he managed to visit the darker copy of our world in season 4, when he was simply looking for a gate in the lover’s lake.
The interesting part is, that he was also dragged into the Upside Down against his will, as one of the hive vines caught his feet. Later on, he visited with his own will just to fight Vecna and survived as well.
Robin Buckley
Visited: Season 4
The most confused and talkative member of the Sranger group, Robin (Maya Hawke) appeared in season 3 and visited the Upside Down with Nancy and Steve in season 4, in order to save Max’s life and fight the Vecna. Despite other qualities, she was always up to help her friends and most importantly she’s intelligent as well.
She’s a capable girl who can decode secret codes and find out hidden mysteries, as she was the only one who managed to find out the real case of Victor Creel (Robert Englund) which led these guys to the house of Vecna. Her character becomes more curious when we realize she is interested in girls, not boys, and still always up for adventure.
Dustin Henderson
Visited: Season 4
After Will, Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) from the nerd’s group visited the alternate shadowy dimension in 4th season. The only difference is he visited on purpose in order to lay bait against Vecna and to fight Demo bats along with Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn). Dustin’s visit was far more adventurous than Will and he fractured his leg as well.
To save Eddie’s life, he did a heroic act but unfortunately, he failed whereas, the best part is he saved hundreds of lives living in the town of Hawkins by playing his part in fighting Vecna. He was the most charming child in the series and certainly has taught us one of the biggest lessons about animals in Stranger Things that no one noticed.
Eleven
Visited: Seasons 1, 2, 3, and 4
Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) was the only character who visited the Upside Down in all four seasons, in fact, she was the reason the gate to such a cold and dark place was opened in the first place. In the beginning, we can see she was just a subject for scientists in Hawkins Labs, so opening the gate was a mistake, but as she has a direct connection with that place she had to visit it often to save her friends.
- In season 1, she visited through her mind powers to find Will and Barb.
- In season 2, she stepped at the front gate to close it to save Will’s life and defeat the Shadow monster.
- In season 3, she again uses her psychic powers to find out about Billy’s (Dacre Montgomery) past and save him from the Flesh monster.
- In season 4, she had to piggyback to save Max’s life and defeat Vecna.
As we already know, she had superpowers and that is why she was able to escape that shadowy place easily. She could visit it anytime using her powers and even can see anyone at any time.
All the characters who couldn’t survive Upside Down
Barbara Holland
Trapped: Season 1
Barbara Holland (Shannon Purser) was the best friend of Nancy. When it comes to the list of the people who were dragged to the Upside Down against their will and didn’t survive, she comes first. What happened to her, really saddens the heart, as she was never the part of all this but got trapped on because of a cut on her hands. Eleven tried to find her using her powers but it was too late by the time she found her.
Demogorgon can detect blood and this the reason Barb got trapped because of a simple cut on her hands.
Shepard
Trapped: Season 1
Shepard (Christopher Cody Robinson) appeared for a few seconds in the series. Well, he only got one important role and that was to find out what lies beyond the messy portal gate opened accidentally by Eleven. He was assigned to this particular task by Dr Martin Brenner (Mathew Modine) who ran Hawkins Lab and was the main reason behind all this mess.
Unfortunately, the moment Shepard crossed the gate, he couldn’t even speak and lost his life. What happened to him remains a mystery in the series, still, we already know that he was also taken by the Demogorgon.
Billy Hargrove
Possessed: Season 3
Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery) never visited physically, but as we know at the beginning of 3rd season, he acts as the main guy for Mind Flayer’s trap. He was possessed by the Flesh monster and later he had visions and hallucinations about the dark sides and alternate dimensions. He was fully trapped and sacrificed other people to build the Flesh monster’s army.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t survive by the end, as he gave his life to save Eleven and her sister’s friends in the Starcourt Mall Battle. What he did was a courageous move and showed his soft side as everyone used to think of him as a tough guy.
Eddie Munson
Trapped: Season 4
Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) is another cool nerd in the series that appeared in season 4. He was also a huge fan of Dungeons and Dragons and he was the first person to speak of the name “Vecna” from his campaign. Everyone thought of him as a killer but in reality he was a saviour. He visited the Upside Down twice, first, to rescue Steve with Nancy and Robin, and secondly, while fighting Vecna along with Dustin.
He gave his life for the people of Hawkins and became a silent hero as no one knew how huge his sacrifice was. The sad part is, that he could have saved his life, but, he fought the Demo bats to buy more time for Steve, Nancy, and Robin so they could easily fight with Vecna.
Max Mayfield
Trapped: Season 4
Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) was the younger step-sister of Billy Hargrove. After Billy’s sacrifice, Max got depressed and blamed herself for his death. She regretted every moment when she used to hate Billy, and all that sadness and self-torture led her to the curse of Vecna.
She also visited Upside Down through a hallucination and saw everything Vecna had done to his previous victims. As a fourth and final victim, we saw her in the hospital at the end of season 4, still, Max’s fate will be disclosed in the fifth and final season of Stranger Things.
As of personal opinion, Max didn’t survive, otherwise, she would be alive and Vecna’s ultimate plan of opening multiple gates in Hawkins would never have been accomplished.
