Stranger Things exploded into a pop-culture juggernaut when it premiered back in 2016. Since then, the show has grown in scope, stakes, and emotional weight — a story of Hawkins in the 1980s, a group of kids battered by the Upside Down, and monsters that dig into our dreams and our scars. Season 4 landed in 2022, and since then fans have waited, impatiently, for Season 5 — the final chapter.

Along the way, we’ve grown attached to a wide range of characters — the fearless, the flawed, the beloved. And if past seasons are any barometer, some of those attachments will be tested. With Vecna returning, the Upside Down breaking through once more, and the stakes ratcheting higher than ever, it’s safe to assume that casualties will accompany this climax. So, which characters are most likely to die in Season 5? 

Max Mayfield 

Max Mayfield has always been the quiet rebellion of Stranger Things — a storm disguised as a skater girl. Sadie Sink’s Max became the show’s emotional spine in Season 4, when grief turned her into prey and her love for her friends became her only shield. Vecna broke her bones, stole her memories, and left her in a coma — a body breathing, a soul in limbo.

The Season 5 trailer shows Lucas carrying Max out of a hospital as a Demodog closes in — confirming that Vecna hasn’t let her go. The Duffers have described Max’s arc as “tragically suspended,” and Sadie Sink herself said in an interview with Variety that “Max’s story isn’t over — but she’s not the same girl she used to be.”

Some fans believe Max is now tethered to Vecna, spiritually or mentally — a half-open door between worlds. That would make Max his greatest weakness… or his final weapon. Whether she lives or dies, Max’s battle won’t be about her body — it’ll be about reclaiming her mind.

Jim Hopper

Hopper’s journey has always been about redemption. A man who lost everything — his daughter, his faith, his peace — and clawed his way back through pain, vodka, and violence. After surviving the Russian prison in Season 4, you’d think he’d earned rest. But this is Hawkins. Peace doesn’t last long here.

The Season 5 trailer shows Hopper deep within the Upside Down, flame-thrower in hand, marching through fog and terror. He’s older, slower, but unbroken. Yet his absence from key emotional scenes has fans worried. TV Insider and Collider speculate that Hopper could be the “sacrifice archetype” — the father who finally saves his family by trading his life.

Hopper's death won’t be shocking. It’ll be poetry — the end of a man who finally learned how to love again, dying so his adopted daughter, Eleven, can live free.

Eleven 

Eleven’s story has always been one of creation — born in pain, built for control, and destined to rebel against the hands that shaped her. In Season 5, that cycle reaches its breaking point. The trailer shows her doing the impossible — flying, deflecting explosions, and radiating power that looks godlike. But it also hints at her exhaustion.

Millie Bobby Brown told Variety that she’s ready to “close this chapter,” and the Duffer Brothers have hinted that the final season will “return Eleven to her emotional core.” Many fans theorize that Eleven may have to destroy the Upside Down from within — a sacrifice mirroring her Season 1 act, but on a cosmic scale.

If Eleven dies, she dies a free girl — no longer a number, no longer a weapon. If she lives, it’s because she finally realizes she never needed saving — she was the savior all along.

Steve Harrington 

There’s something almost cruel about Steve’s glow-up — he started as Hawkins’ arrogant heartthrob and became its most selfless hero. His arc screams growth, redemption, and heartbreak. The Stranger Things 5 trailer shows a teary-eyed Steve holding Dustin close as the world collapses around them — a visual gut-punch that instantly set fan theories ablaze.

Joe Keery himself joked that “Steve doesn’t have much luck in dangerous situations” during a GQ interview earlier this year. But there’s nothing funny about where his story is heading. Fans believe Steve will be the “emotional sacrifice” of the final season — a character who dies saving the kids he once teased, proving once and for all that love isn’t about grand gestures, but about standing your ground when everyone else runs.

Nancy Wheeler

Nancy Wheeler has always been defined by her determination — a mind too sharp for small-town limits, a heart too heavy for apathy. She’s lost friends, lovers, and innocence along the way. But she’s never lost focus. The Season 5 trailer shows Nancy covered in blood, shaking and crying, as she washes her hands in a mirror. Whatever she saw… changed her.

Natalia Dyer has said that Nancy’s “arc in Season 5 is about responsibility — and guilt.” Many fans believe she’ll take on the “soldier’s burden,” living long enough to see others die for a cause she started. If anyone carries the guilt of Hawkins’ final battle, it’ll be Nancy — the one who never stopped investigating, even when the truth stared back with sharp teeth.

Will Byers

Will Byers began Stranger Things as the boy who vanished — the missing child whose scream started it all. But he’s never really come back. Season after season, Will has carried a piece of the Upside Down inside him, a silent echo of Vecna’s reach.

In the Season 5 trailer, Vecna hisses, “Will… you’re going to help me. One last time.” That line broke the internet — and set fire to theories that Will might be Vecna’s unwilling key to merging both worlds. Noah Schnapp told Deadline that “Will’s story will come full circle,” hinting that he may have to confront Vecna not as prey, but as a mirror.

Will’s death would close the loop that opened the series. It will be transcendence — a boy finally letting go of the shadow that’s been chasing him since 1983.

Vecna 

Henry Creel, a.k.a. Vecna, isn’t just a villain — he’s the show’s reflection of what happens when pain festers into hate. After being left for dead by Eleven in Season 4, Vecna’s return in Season 5 is bigger, darker, and more personal. The trailer shows him commanding armies of Demogorgons and spreading his infection across Hawkins.

Jamie Campbell Bower told Empire Magazine that Vecna is “no longer hiding — he’s evolved.” This hints that he’s more than human or monster now. He’s a god of his own making. But like all fallen gods, his reign must end — and it will likely be Eleven and Will together who deliver the final blow.

Season 5 of Stranger Things will be a reckoning. The Upside Down isn’t a place anymore; it’s a consequence. And as Vecna’s shadow spreads, every character must decide what kind of legacy they’ll leave behind — survival or sacrifice.

Max may wake. Steve may fall. Eleven may transcend.
But one thing’s certain: Hawkins will never be the same again. 

As we stand on the threshold of the final chapter of Stranger Things—Season 5—the echoes of Hawkins grow louder, the darkness deeper, and the stakes higher than ever. The characters we've ridden with since Season 1 are no longer just kids on bikes—they’re the last stand of their world. Whether they survive or fall will define everything we’ve watched.
Embrace the tension, lean into the fear, and don’t look away. Because when the Upside Down collapses into reality, only the boldest hearts will carry its scars—and its hope.