Top Ten Stranger Things Season 4 Characters

It's time...for this ranking...to end...(read this in Vecna's voice).

Guys. The final ranking before season five. It's coming. I can't believe it. I'm losing my mind. I'm so excited. Anyways, it's time to talk season four characters. Season four really does a great job of focusing on some previously smaller characters and giving them big upgrades while also introducing two of the best and most important new additions to the cast. There's so many great characters in this season, so this was a really tough ranking to get down. But I did it, so here it is.

10. Steve Harrington

Still great, but there's a lot of great characters this season

Look, it's Steve. He's always great and he will always be on one of these lists. However, I do think this is his weakest season yet. Stranger Things 4 is massive, so the characters really have to share the screen. And, because of that, Steve gets a little bit of the short end of the stick. He is abnormally stupid and the brunt of many jokes here, which can get frustrating. But, when he needs to, he still has some great, iconic moments. He is still the most selfless character on the show, whether its him diving into one of the gates or protecting the kids at all costs. He still feels like Steve, and that is the most important thing.

9. Nancy Wheeler

The aspiring journalist some of her most iconic moments

Nancy maybe took a bit of a step back in season three, but that is fixed when season four lets her take a step forward. She owns some of the best and most badass moments of the season. It feels like she has fully come into her own by this time in the show, and this season especially lets her shine because she doesn't have to deal with Jonathan. If you shoot Vecna with a sawed-off shotgun, you are making the character ranking for the season. Because that is awesome. In my opinion, Nancy almost takes over as group leader this season. It feels like Dustin is the brains of the operation and Nancy is the brawn, and she gets plenty of awesome, brawny moments here.

8. Martin Brenner

An unexpected return that adds complexity and nuance to the show's initial villain

When I say "unexpected return", I don't actually mean that. Since his "death" in season one, it had become pretty clear that Brenner was still alive and would show up again at some point. And I think they nailed his return to the show. Season one portrays him as a relatively one-note antagonist: a mad scientist who values his work above all else, including human life. Season four shows that he's still insane and still does terrible, terrible things, but there's a lot more nuance to his character. He actually clearly cares about Eleven and views her as a daughter figure in his own psychotic way. He truly believes that what he's doing is right and that he is helping her. He is more compelling because you see his passion and belief in this experiment. He is even trying to take down Vecna, but he wants to do it in his own horrible way. I think this is a really great way to make a villain more complex while not necessarily redeeming him. His final moments as he does let Eleven go really show the completion of his great return journey in this season.

7. Dustin Henderson

Still as charming as ever, but with an added heartfelt side

Dustin has always been the best of the original party, and a lot of that was due to his nerdy charm. HIs relationship with Steve is one of the best elements of the show, but season four takes that and adds a heavy dose of heart into his character. By allowing him to have another relationship with a Steve-esc figure, Dustin is automatically tied into the emotional side story. Dustin and Eddie are, alongside Lucas and Max, the beating heart of this season. You see how much these two care about each other, so it makes it way more meaningful the lengths that Dustin is willing to go to in order to clear Eddie's name. Of course, Eddie's already devastating death hits ten times harder when you see how much it breaks Dustin. So season four made one of the show's best characters also one of this season's most heartfelt, emotional characters. Thus, Dustin belongs on this list.

6. Eleven

The redemptive arc nobody knew she needed

Eleven's character at the beginning of the season is incredibly frustrating, but a lot of it is due to her plot line rather than her actual character. They set her up as being lost without her powers. She is now just a regular, awkward teen who is getting bullied. That makes her feel incredibly vulnerable, which is a state we've never really seen her in. Through rediscovering her powers and re-living her traumatic memories, she overcomes the vulnerability that she felt when being bullied and comes back stronger than ever. This is Eleven in full control of her abilities, and it is simply glorious to watch.

5. Jim Hopper

The redemptive arc nobody knew he needed

Part of me thinks Hopper should've stayed dead, but another part of me loves this character to death, so I'm okay that he's still alive. Especially since the arc they give him in season four is great. Similar to Eleven, this is the weakest and more vulnerable we've ever seen him. The man is stuck in a Russian gulag, for Christ's sake. That sucks. But, because of this, we see Hop have to stick it out. Part of him clearly wants to give up and stop fighting. He views himself as this curse that hurts everyone he gets close to, so he wants to just stop trying and live out his days in Kamchatka. Watching him overcome that and fight the Demogorgon to reunite with Joyce is powerful, powerful stuff. Pair that with some of his smartest and most ingenuitive moments, and you've got a great redemptive arc for this character. And the cherry on top is David Harbour's performance, which I think may honestly be his best in the entire series.

4. Lucas Sinclair

One of two supporting characters that gets a big upgrade this season

Lucas has always been fun, but, like Dustin, he gets to carry a lot of this season's most emotional moments. His relationship with Max is the other beating emotional heart of Stranger Things 4, and it just lets you really see this character in a different light than we've seen him before. The beginning of the season focuses on some very real high school problems, where Lucas is splitting off from his nerdy friends to join the basketball team. This conflict runs throughout the season as we see Lucas eventually rejoin the main party and remember who his true friends are. He is always putting himself on the line for his friends, whether it be Max or Dustin or someone else, and that just makes him extra compelling. Caleb McLaughlin also gives his best performance this season, which just makes Lucas even better. He truly shoots up from a relatively mid-tier character to one of the best members of the Stranger Things crew through this season. It's awesome.

3. Vecna

The show's big bad is as terrifying as you'd expect

After three seasons of shadowy, goopy antagonists who served more as final boss battles than actual characters, season four introduces us to the actual main villain of Stranger Things. And he is amazing. Even before we get to know him as a character, he feels threatening. The way he kills people is so memorable and horrifying. The Freddy Krueger-inspired dream world that he creates feels impossible to defeat. And he feels like he ties the mythology of the show together as we understand him to be the master of the Upside Down. But, beyond that, he is a great foil to Eleven. We see him as this sensitive child who was taken under Brenner's care before being tortured and abused in the same way that Eleven was. But instead of escaping and joining normal society, he was banished to the Upside Down, where he became this monstrous, terrifying creature. His existence automatically raises the stakes of the show: this sentient monster that can threaten and outthink our characters is a scary way to send the show into its final two seasons.

2. Eddie Munson

The lovable metalhead is a fan favorite for a reason

Perhaps no character in Stranger Things has captured everyone's hearts as quickly as Eddie did. From the first episode, this character is just immediately charming and fun. Joseph Quinn's charismatic performance portrays Eddie as a somewhat wild but deeply caring person at his core. Because he is this outcast, however, he is suspected of murdering Chrissy Cunningham, and this sends him into this spiral of fear and hiding for the rest of the season. They do a great job of setting up this arc where he runs from trouble and does not try to be a hero, so his final moments where he distracts the demobats with Master of Puppets and fights them off to give Steve, Robin, and Nancy more time hit extra hard. There have been sad deaths in Stranger Things before, but none hold a candle to how utterly devastating Eddie's is. Joseph Quinn and Gaten Matarazzo nail the emotions of that scene, and it hits even harder as you realize that Eddie is still being blamed for these murders after his heroic sacrifice. Hopefully his name gets cleared in season five. As it stands, he is probably my favorite single-season character in the show.

1. Max Mayfield

Stranger Things's exploration of trauma and grief makes Max one of the show's best characters

Max's arc in season four is, in my opinion, the most compelling arc on the show. She's never been a major focus before this, but after Billy's death in the final of season three, we spend a lot of time with her grieving that loss. Because of this, she has locked herself away from her friends. She's clearly spiraled into a deep depression where she does not talk to anyone. She isolates herself...which is exactly what causes Vecna to target her. After the incredible Running Up That Hill sequence in which she narrowly escapes death, she comes in with a new perspective and starts reconnecting with her friends, especially Lucas. This makes it all the more crushing when she does not make it out of the season okay. She doesn't quite die, but she gets blinded and all of her bones broken by Vecna, leaving her comatose. I hope to God she gets a happy ending in season five, because this character is just so compelling and relatable. Everyone experiences depression, guilt, and shame, and Max's character in this season is a beautiful, poignant, and truly emotional exploration of that. On top of all of this, Sadie Sink gives a stunning, heartbreaking performance that was horribly snubbed by the Emmys. I love this character to death, and almost all of that is due to her incredible, heavily emotional arc in this season.