Your guide to every ‘Stranger Things’ monster in the Upside Down (2025)

Hawkins, Indiana has been well-known for its missing kids and unnatural occurrences since 6 November 1983. But what is perhaps even stranger are the monstrous villains frequenting the town from alternate dimensions and terrorising its residents. Grotesque and sinister, every monster in Stranger Things is unique. Here are Vecna, Demogorgons and more Stranger Things monsters explained.

Netflix mega-hit Stranger Things follows four friends — Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) and Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) — who get caught in the middle of a string of mysterious events plaguing their hometown after they discover a lost girl, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). As the unlikely heroes rise to save the day, the challenges keep getting increasingly fatal, with deadlier monsters popping up every season.

While audiences love the perfect blend of sci-fi, horror and coming-of-age drama the show has to offer, for the most devoted of fans, the beauty of the show lies in its celebration of nerd culture. It is replete with nods to Stephen King novels, Steven Spielberg movies and of course, legends of Dungeons & Dragons.

The fantasy role-playing game, which was quite popular in the late ’70s and ’80s, helps the characters explain the supernatural events around them as terrifying monsters, similar to those from the game’s lore, keep coming to life.

Talking about the inspiration that D&D provided for the monster designs, Matt Duffer, one-half of the director-duo Duffer Brothers, revealed to Tudum, “We come up with a monster that we want in whatever season we’re doing, and then we flip through the D&D Monster Manuals looking for, ‘What would [the kids] be referencing here?'”

From Demogorgons to Vecna, the four seasons have portrayed nail-biting encounters with these formidable D&D-inspired foes and more.

Before we delve into whether Stranger Things’ fifth and final season will add new monsters, the show’s highly impressive catalogue of nightmare-inducing creatures is worth revisiting.

Every Stranger Things monster ranked and explained

1. Vecna

Your guide to every ‘Stranger Things’ monster in the Upside Down (1)

First appearance: Season 4, Episode 1
Victims: Chrissy Cunningham, Fred Benson, Patrick McKinney, Jason Carver, Max Mayfield

The ultimate villain, Vecna tops our list of the most terrifying Stranger Things monsters.

With a skeletal structure covered with squelchy vines and a skull-like face, Vecna’s nightmarish appearance doesn’t even match the horror he unleashes on his victims, mentally. Inspired by a being from the earliest days of D&D lore, Vecna is a humanoid monster who lives in the Upside Down and hunts Hawkins’ teenagers in a gruesome fashion by zeroing in on their insecurities and trauma.

Before becoming Vecna, he was known as Henry Creel. After moving with his family to Hawkins, Henry discovered that he possessed telepathic powers and used them to kill his mother and sister. Gradually, he ended up in Dr Brenner’s lab as a caretaker till a young Eleven banished him to the Upside Down to prevent his genocidal plans.

Decades later, when Vecna strikes back, he uses each of his kills to open a portal between the two dimensions in hopes of weakening Hawkins and defeating Eleven.

“Vecna just feels so ominous and scary. We wanted it to be just like the Demogorgon is. We wanted it to be a monster that is infamous in the D&D world,” shares Ross Duffer in an interview about the character’s creation.

Note: If you thought the manipulative villain was even slightly similar to the Night King from HBO’s mega-hit Game of Thrones, you aren’t alone. In fact, BGFX, the company that created the prosthetics for Vecna is headed by artiste Barrie Gower, who won three Emmys for producing the prosthetics for Game of Thrones. Working with Gower was a conscious choice for the Duffer brothers who wanted to create a similar humanoid villain as the Night King.

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2. The Mind Flayer

Your guide to every ‘Stranger Things’ monster in the Upside Down (4)

First appearance: Season 2, Episode 8
Victims: Will Byers (not fatally)

An inter-dimensional monster that enslaves other species by taking control of their brains. Which sci-fi villain could be scarier than that?

The Mind Flayer, aka the Shadow Monster, made its debut in the second season with Will Byers under his spell. After it was revealed that season 1’s Demogorgon was just one creature that resided in the Upside Down, the characters learn that the Mind Flayer’s most distinct ability is the formation of the hive mind. The tentacled monster not only attacks physically but can also possess and control its victims. While Will was saved by his friends in season 2, the monster got Max Mayfield’s half-brother Billy Hargrove in season 3. (More on that later).

Now you could be wondering why this extremely powerful Stranger Things monster is ranked second. But the truth is, Vecna controls the Mind Flayer. It is explained in season 4 that the Mind Flayer was formed from dust by Vecna or Henry Creel, who lent the monster its capabilities of a hive mind consciousness, human possession and more.

3. The Spider Monster

First appearance: Season 3, Episode 3
Victims: Billy Hargrove, Doris Driscoll, Heather Holloway, Tom Holloway

Remember that tentacled, gooey, decaying giant in the Starcourt Mall? An offshoot of the Mind Flayer itself, the fleshy and overall terrifying spider-shaped creature was formed from the part of the monster trapped in Hawkins after the closure of the Gate. (Hawkins just can’t catch a break!)

Unable to get back, the consciousness manipulated and gathered some human (and rat) flesh to form a physical body in this dimension.

But what does this villain want? As explained by a possessed Billy, these Stranger Things monsters want to destroy mankind to take over this dimension, much like your run-of-the-mill alien evil force.

4. Demogorgons

Your guide to every ‘Stranger Things’ monster in the Upside Down (5)

First appearance: Season 1, Episode 1
Victims: Barbara Holland

Fans can’t imagine Stranger Things without its iconic Demogorgon.

The OG villain, however, looks nothing like its two-headed D&D counterpart. The first monster to appear in Stranger Things, this 9-foot tall, humanoid creature with a flower-shaped head, freakishly long arms and a billion teeth devoured Nancy’s best friend Barb (RIP), tormented Will and faced off against Eleven.

With a shrill roar and impossible strength, the creature drags its victims to the Upside Down, its home, and tears them apart. What’s worse is that there’s a whole army of them! While they don’t seem to have a motive of their own, instead just preying on the weak, they are also subordinate to the Mind Flayer, which, in turn, serves Vecna. A Demogorgon’s only weaknesses are heat and fire.

In the fourth season, we also meet the “Russian Demogorgon”, a creature held captive at a Soviet-run prison camp in Kamchatka, where Jim Hopper was imprisoned. The finale saw Hopper picking up a sword to fight the beast.

Well, we can’t ever tire of seeing these Stranger Things monsters getting a dose of their own medicine at the hands of El, Steve Harrington and Hopper.

5. Demodogs

Your guide to every ‘Stranger Things’ monster in the Upside Down (6)

First appearance: Season 2, Episode 2
Victims: Bob Newby

Even though these creatures are supposed to be smaller, younger versions of the Demogorgons, the emotional damage they inflicted on fans with the killing of Joyce’s then-boyfriend Bob Newby (portrayed by Sean Astin, aka Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings trilogy) makes them a formidable threat among the Stranger Things monsters.

In season 2, Dustin finds one in a trash can outside his house and keeps it as his pet (of course he names it Dart). Quickly moulting into its adolescent stage, Dart starts to resemble a nascent Demogorgon, snacks on Dustin’s cat and causes mayhem.

Hunting in packs, their wicked teeth and uniquely shaped heads make these monstrosities quite deadly.

6. Demobats

First appearance: Season 4, Episode 7
Victims: Eddie Munson

To make the Hawkins gang’s life harder in season 4, secondary antagonists were dropped in the form of demobats. These large bat-like creatures have sharp teeth and tendril appendages to strangle victims. Their main purpose? To protect Vecna’s lair in the Upside Down.

While these Stranger Things monsters may look much smaller than the other monsters on this list, true fans need not be reminded of Eddie Munson’s (portrayed by Gladiator II star Joseph Quinn) heartbreaking sacrifice. Eddie’s “Master of Puppets” solo of the Metallica song kept the army of Demobats away while Steve and co. confronted Vecna.

7. The vines

Your guide to every ‘Stranger Things’ monster in the Upside Down (7)

First appearance: Season 1, Episode 1
Victims: Jim Hopper (not fatally)

Although some might consider the vines in the Stranger Things universe to merely be a background character/element, rather than a monster, the fact that they are a hybrid between a plant and an animal and have a consciousness makes them extremely creepy and dangerous. The rope-like growths are part of the hive mind network; if one is alerted, the others will attack, which makes them particularly terrifying.

Growing out of the interdimensional portals linking the world to the Upside Down, they are also seen attached to Vecna in season 4. Fire can defeat or momentarily repulse them.

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Will there be a new monster in Stranger Things season 5?

Now that we have explained all the Stranger Things monsters (so far), their origin and motives, you might be wondering what’s next.

Though story details for season 5 are kept under wraps, Netflix dropped the episode titles in November 2024. Eagle-eyed fans were quick to notice that episode 6 is titled “Escape from Camazotz,” which sounds like another Dungeons & Dragons monster reference from the showrunners.

In D&D, Camazotz is the god of bats from the Olman underworld. In the world ofStranger Things, this could refer to an evolved version of a Demobat. While Demobats have already scarred us after mauling our beloved Eddie to death, it’s likely season 5 will find some of the Hawkins’ gang chased by Camazotz.

However, since this is all speculation, we would take this with a pinch of salt and love to be surprised by the creators. What’s for sure is that the most dangerous Stranger Things monster, Vecna, will be back and his army of Upside Down creatures will make for a hair-raising finale, the kind that the brilliant Netflix show deserves.

(Hero and featured image credits: Stranger Things/@Stranger_Things via X)

The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.

Your guide to every ‘Stranger Things’ monster in the Upside Down (2025)
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