This video breaks down all the monsters in Stranger Things, explaining their origins, connections to the Upside Down and Dimension X, and how they tie into Vecna's ultimate plan. It details the creation of Dimension X and the Upside Down, the nature of the hive mind, and the various creatures that serve Vecna.
Stranger Things isn't just about kids on bikes fighting monsters. It's about the collision of dimensional realities. So, today we are breaking down every monster in Stranger Things, how they connect to the upside down, how Wetnar became the architect of it all, and of course, how it ties into the story's final war for reality itself. Starting with the beginning, Dimension X, a mysterious parallel world that exists alongside the human realm. Though visually distinct from the upside down, the two shares many of the same creatures and environmental features. However, what sets Dimension X apart is that it's a complete separate realm altogether, not an amalgamation like the upside down. X is a barren landscape covered with living vines and an orange sky filled with floating debris. One of the earliest known encounters with Dimension X actually occurred during the Philadelphia experiment in 1943 when the USS Eldridge vanished during a secret naval test which tried to make the ship invisible and undetectable to the Germans. It kind of worked, vanishing for several minutes before reappearing. However, this experiment was still deemed a failure because most of the crew returned dead, only leaving one survivor, Captain Brener, who later at his deathbed shared what actually happened with his son, Dr. Martin Brener. He revealed the ship entered an alternative realm, Dimension X. 7 years later, in attempts to recreate what had happened, Dr. Martin launched a similar government project in the 1950s called the Nevada experiment. However, one of Brener's researchers defected, stealing a critical experimental equipment, hiding it deep inside a nearby cave. Well, I guess it wasn't deep enough because as a wandering boy, Henry Creel stumbled upon the cave, touching the device inside, activating it. This opened a rift in spaceime and transported both Henry and the rogue scientist into Dimension X. The scientist was killed instantly whilst Henry witnessed visions of alien creatures and was exposed to the presence of a shadowy like entity. 12 hours later, Henry reappeared, alive, but changed. His blood chemistry was different and his personality had shifted in ways no one could explain. Henry's parents also quickly realized something was wrong. As not long after his return, Henry lost control and paralyzed another kid. An incident that convinced them they should leave Nevada to a small town in Hawkins in search of a new start. But what followed the Creole family was something sinister. Along with a new bleak outlook on humanity, Henry discovered extraordinary psycho-kinetic powers. From moving objects to reaching inside of the minds of others, his abilities grew stronger and darker. Slowly, Henry would do things as though he was guided by a shadowy figure. Dr. Martin Brener later recovered the stolen equipment, and with it, Henry's lost spy glass. Through this discovery, Brener was able to trace the boy back to his family. He began manipulating Henry's mother, fishing for information on her son, and then later brought Henry to the Haw King's National Laboratory. Inside a sensory depation chamber, Henry showcased his psychic ability, what he called the battlefield, i.e. the void. In this state, he could use his extra sensory perception to see beyond the physical realm where the concept of space becomes very fluid and hence this allows the user to project themselves to other locations or even locate other conscious entity. In doing so, Henry was able to project an image of a humanoid creature. This would be Brer's first glimpse of the monsters to come. But when Dr. Brener tried to push further, ordering him to use his powers to kill a prisoner. Henry lost control. In a panic, he stabbed two gods before demanding to leave the lab. When Henry returned home, he immediately sensed the fear and resentment in his family's mind. Reading his mother's thoughts, he discovered she planned to send him back to Brener. Overwhelmed by rage and by the shadow entity's influence, Henry finally gave in to the darkness and had decided he had no choice but to murder his entire family. This led to the 1959's Creel House tragic event where both Henry's mother and sister were killed with his father being blamed for their murder. Henry abducted by Brener would then be implanted with a power suppressant chip and dubbed number one. The first of a group of child test subjects to be raised in Hawings lab. Obsessed with replicating his abilities, Rener launched Project MK Ultra. Exposing volunteers to hallucenic drugs and transfusion of Henry's altered blood. Many of these test subjects were pregnant at the time. And once born, these children would be taken by Brener raised within the facility. These kids, the numbers, would inherit fragments of Henry's psycho- kinetic powers. Years later, in 1979, Henry would manipulate Eleven into freeing him from Brenda's control and have her removed the chip. His powers returned, and so did the influence of Dimension X within him. Henry slaughtered nearly everyone inside Hawings Lab, seeing himself as a next step in evolution. But when he tried to convince Eleven to join him, she refused. The two fought in a psychic battle that shattered the very air around them in a burst of energy. Eleven overpowered Henry and blasted him through the wall, tearing open a temporary gate between worlds. Henry would be forced into an interdimensional void known as the hellscape, where his body would continuously fall, being fried by lightning until he was warped into the monster that would eventually become Vecnner. He then landed into Dimension X once again, seemingly unaware of his earlier visit as a child. Here, Henry encountered a living swarm of shadowy particles. Using his powers, he forged a psychic bond, reshaping them into a massive spider-like being, and established a hive mind, linking all life forms in Dimension X under his influence, including the demogorgans. However, when he attempted to fully dominate the hive mind, the entity would resist by forcing himself to relive painful memories. Some would even suggest that this entity is truly in control and manipulated the whole situation, using Henry as a conduit to destroy humanity on our realm. But now that we covered Dimension X, let's move to the upside down because no, these two realms are not the same. In 1983, 11 during a remote viewing experiment within the void had stumbled upon a demogorgan from Dimension X. Dr. Brener ordered her to continue reaching out to the monster. And in doing so, the moment she touched it, either due to fear, her powers, or just reaching beyond reality, the upside down world was created. This realm is like a ripple that was fashioned by mixing our world the right side up with dimension X. Hence why the upside down is a snapshot mirror of the night in Hawkins 6th November 1983 when you know it was made. Likewise, this realm also exhibits features of Dimension X from the spores and vines to even the demogorgans finding themselves there. Now, with that said, some theorists even suggest that the interdimensional realm known as the hellscape, which 11 yeed Henry into, is the precursor to the upside down. Regardless, the upside down's creation would also tear a hole connecting all three realms together. The rift under Hawings Laboratory, later dubbed as the mother gate, became an integral physical passage between the two worlds. As not too long after, Wagner would find a way to access this realm from Dimension X, bringing himself along with the Denisens of X into the upside down. Now, as the name suggests, this parallel world would include the same layout, buildings, roads, and infrastructure of Hawings. But the similarities would stop there. The atmosphere is damp, cold, and shrouded in a thick haze. Spores continuously drift through the air like ash, and nearly every surface is overtaken by vines, roots, and membranes that seem to spread unendingly. There is no sign of human life, and even sounds becomes warped in this dimension. Though, despite being separate from the real world, audio from Hawings can sometimes be heard faintly in the upside down. But sounds from this realm will never travel the other way unless a gate is nearby to carry it across. The upside down also interferes with electromagnetic fields. Lights and electronics in Hawkings will flicker or behave erratically when a creature or presents from the other side gets close to them. Joyce Briers noticed the pattern early on using Christmas lights to communicate with her son Will, who was trapped in the upside down. will also use this interference to manipulate electric signals and even cause phones to ring. In a larger scale version of this, opening the mud gate caused a massive power surge across East Hawkins and even disrupted local magnetic fields, causing compasses to point to the lab instead of north. The upside down is also toxic to humanity. Though its air is technically breathable, prolonged exposures can cause problems. For example, Nancy Wheeler spent a brief time there with no side effects, but Will Brier returned sick and disorientated after spending a week there. That said, it's unclear whether this was due to, you know, the air itself or if it was the result of being infected after the mind flare violated him by shoving itself down his throat, in turn linking him directly to the dimensions hive mind. Since the mind flare and Vecna spread their roots throughout the upside down, it's fair to say any toxicity here links back to them. Hence why Hopper, who later inhaled airborne spores in one of the upside down tunnels, lost consciousness and coughed up a black substance after waking up. All in all, the kids compared the upside down to the veil of shadows from Dungeons and Dragons, an echo of the real world that exists besides it, but invisible and filled with monsters. However, to understand any of them, we first have to break down the hive mind. The hive mind is the invisible nervous system that links every living thing inside the upside down and it all runs through Vecna. This shared consciousness built around the sentient particles that make up the mind player allows a single will to guide an entire ecosystem of monsters, spores, vines, and even human host. Once came into contact with the mind flers raw formless mass in Dimension X, he didn't just connect to it, he weaponized it by shaping the particles into a controllable network. Vcnner created an army that could move, think, and react as one. Through this link, everything from the demogorgans and the demobats to human victims like Will Brier and the Flade could be brought under his influence. Even the tunnels under Hawkins in 1984 and the roots creeping through the walls of the Cre House were extensions of this hive. Every sense was shared. If one creature saw something, they all knew it. If one host was harmed, that pain rippled through the network. And with Wetnar seated at the top, he could act on any of it instantly. This gave him an almost omniscient grip on the upside down. The gates to the upside down themselves, which were infused with the same biological matter and psychic presence, were likely part of the system, too, acting as entry points, not just into another world, but into the body of the hive itself. However, this process didn't just happen overnight. It took at least a year. As when the upside down was discovered in 1983, it was believed to be home only to a single creature, the demogorgan. That changed in 1984. As more creatures emerged, scientists at Hawin Labs began to suspect a deeper connection between the dimensions life form. A pack of demogorgans demonstrated coordinated behavior. and Will Briers. Well, he still was recovering from his time trapped in the upside down and began having visions of a towering shadowy entity. Shortly after, Will was possessed by this being, and the group began calling it the mind flare. From 1984 to 1986, the mind flare was considered the leader of the upside down, an intelligent force guiding its monsters through a shared hive mind. It was credited with possessing Billy Harrow and the other flade victims and with directing the biomass creature that formed in Hawkins during the summer of 1985. This creature seemed to have only a few goals in mind. eradicate humanity, merge the two dimensions, and eliminate 11 for harming them through the demogorgans in the past. However, everything changed in 1986 when we learned Wetner revealed that the mind slayer was something he had discovered and reshaped to his liking, modeling it after the Black Widow spiders he admired as a child. In fact, the mind flare's main form, the shadow monster, appears as a massive swirling cloud of dark particles. Vecna claimed to have seized control of this being, using it as the core of the hive mind. Even so, the mind players true nature remains uncertain. Multiple accounts suggest that the shadowy mist had a mind of its own before young Henry ever intervened. The Duffer brothers even wrote a stage play prequel to the main story going deeper into Henry's past where we learned that this entity was responsible for awakening Henry's power when he was transported to Dimension X as a boy, creating a bit of a chicken and the egg situation. Regardless, even a little piece of the mind flare can cause a lot of trouble. During Will's possession, a small fragment latched onto him, giving Vener full control. After being exercised, that piece fled to Brimorn Steelworks, where it remained dormant until the Soviets reopened a gate beneath Starourt Mall. Once reconnected to the upside down, the fragment reawakened and began infecting rats across Hawkins. Elsewhere, another fragment was captured by the Soviet forces and stored in a prison laboratory in Camp Chachkar. When the containment tank shattered, the mist spread and possessed several demod dogs stored nearby before going on a killing spree through the prison. However, this ultimately revealed a weakness of the mind flareer. When Hopper and his allies returned, they confirmed that the mind flarers particles had merged with the creatures. As they fought of the demogorgans, each death weakened both the hy's mind and Vecna. So whilst the mind player can easily spread the influence, each new part of the hive creates a point of vulnerability. Even so, the mind players linked to the hive mind made it one of Vetner's most powerful assets. Every demogorgan, demobat, vine, and flade victim connected through the particles could act as one organism. The mind flare was extremely resilient. Its particles could not be killed by closing a gate. they would simply fall dormant. But once a new portal was opened, the particles would reactivate and rejoin the hive. The creature was also fast, whether flying as a storm or creeping through the vents. Its particles form allowed it to move rapidly and reform as needed. One lesserk known ability was its power to suppress psychic abilities. After attacking Eleven, a piece of the mind flater lodged inside of her, dulling and eventually disabling her telekinesis until the Nenina project the following year. However, the most dangerous part of the mind flare remains to be its subjects, which comes in many shapes and forms. For example, the hospital monster emerged inside of Hawings Memorial Hospital shortly after Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Briers killed two Flade humans, Bruce Laauo and Tom Hol. Oh, and by the way, if I haven't explained what Flade humans were, like the name suggests, the mind flare literally hijacks their mind. But when these two died, their bodies began to melt into piles of flesh which slittered across the hospital floor, combining into a single larger creature, a crablike monster made entirely of cartilage and recycled human remains which serves as another thr of the hive mind. Once fully formed, the hospital monster began pursuing Nancy and Jonathan. As they tried to escape through the hospital corridor, the creature would melt and slip under the doors only to reform itself moments later. However, we don't get to see it in action for very long as Eleven shows up and throws the monster out of the window. That said, even splattering across the pavement doesn't seem to affect it much, and the hospital monster just slithers away down his storm drain to reform with the main mind flare avatar body. Speaking of the main body, it began as a collective of flesh thrs, smaller autonomous creatures created from melted down victims of the mind flares possession. Unlike the more structured hospital monster, these acted independently, but were still physically tethered to the upside downs hive mind. They were essentially the byproducts of the flaying process. malformed chunks of flesh that retained enough sentience and will to act on the mind flare's behalf. In 1984, after the mind flare fragment left Will Briers, it fled to Brimorn Steelworks where it went dormant for about a year until the key was activated, reopening a gate to the upside down and creating a path for the mind flare's influence to reach the fragments once again. As its power returned, it began infecting rodents around Hawkins. Possessed rats would binge on chemicals and fertilizers before violently dissolving into pools of living sludge. This served as raw materials forming a larger proxy body, i.e. what we would come to know as the spider monster. But not all of the biomass remained unified. Some of it broke off and operated as smaller throlls. One of the first sightings came when Doris had Driscoll captured a possessed rat in a cage. The rat later dissolved and reconstituted itself into a twisted fleshy form which allowed it to escape confinement to in turn infect and fle Doris as well. Later during the cabin fight, the spider monster latched onto Eleven's leg and a broken piece bit down hard, embedding itself into her wounds before Mike ripped it away. That chunk was linked to the hive mind and actively sought to rejoin the larger mass. More importantly though, whilst this piece was attacking Eleven from the inside, it limited and ultimately disabled her powers. So whilst these flesh throls weren't intelligent, they were indeed dangerous. Fueled by the hive mind and composed entirely of neurotic tissues, they could squeeze through gaps, scuttle like little insects, bites like animals, and burrow into their prey as they attack. Now, of course, they are nothing compared to the full body, which served as the avatar for the mind flare, i.e. once again, the spider monster. In 1985, shortly after Will Briers was rescued from the upside down, he began experiencing visions of the mind flare. Whilst Will was in the upside down, this monster attached a fragment of itself to him, establishing a psychic connection that allowed Vecna to spy on Hawings lab through Will's eye. After the wave of infected rats, humans were incorporated into the biomass. Blade individuals were melted down and amalgamated into the monster as it continued to grow stronger. Its first human host was Billy Harrove who was then used to capture and infect Heather Holay. Over the course of 3 days, dozens of Hawings residents were flayed and forced to join the hive mind. As the entity grew in strength, it began merging the corpses of its destroyed host into one larger physical form. This included Bruce Laauo and Tom Holloway, whose melted remains reformed into the hospital monster before escaping into the sewers, eventually being absorbed back into the central body. With this, Vecna finally launched his attack. Using Billy as a decoy, he lured any opposition away and summoned the remaining flade to the steel mill. There, their bodies were melted down and added to the growing creature, which was now massive and resembled a twisted version of the mind flar's shadow form. The completed spider monster left the mill and headed for Hopper's cabin, where it attacked the group directly. That night, the creature pursued them to Starcourt Mall. The monster completely overwhelmed the kids. However, by using fireworks, they managed to stun it long enough to gain some footing. Even so, Billy ended up having to sacrifice himself to buy just a bit more time as the last resort. In the end, this is all they could really do to slow down the spider monster. It was only thanks to Joyce and Hopper sealing the gate to the upside down, cutting off the spider's connection to the mind flare that it was defeated. That said, what happened to the body afterward is completely unknown. Whether it was taken by the Soviets like Hopper was hidden by the US government or simply burned in the fire that destroyed the mold shortly after. Regardless if the mind flare is VNA's greatest general, then it's also important to consider their captives, the demogorgans. These monstrous predators are native to dimension X and then later the upside down, serving as foot soldiers in Veteran's growing army. They are connected to the hive mind, operating on shared instincts rather than intelligence. alone. They are dangerous, but under the mine players influence, they are brutally coordinated and nearly unstoppable. The first demogorgon to breach into our world arrived in Hawkins in 1983. It stalked the town after 11 opened the mother gate, snatching victims and dragging them into the upside down. Eventually, it was destroyed, but not before killing NY's friend Barbara and holding Will captive for an entire week, which led him to be possessed by the mind flare. A year later, in 1984, that psychic connection allowed Vecna and the mind flare to send a pack of young demogorgans or demodogs to attack Hawings Lab. When the mother gate was finally closed, their link to the hive mind was severed and cut off from Wnner, leading the demod dogs to die instantly. The Soviets also had an interest in these creatures, bringing them back to Kamchatka alongside a living fragment of the mind flare itself. One of the younglings actually matured into a fully grown demogorgan, which the Soviets were feeding it prisoners so they could study their potential as weapons. However, as terrifying and powerful as they can be, demogorgans aren't born fully formed, they go through several stages of life. Though admittedly, they do so very quickly. Most iconically, we got to watch the entire process through the demogorgan Dustin took in called Dart. Their cycle begins in the laral stage in which they resemble a slug. These larve are planted into hosts through tendrils from the upside down which we saw in both Will and Barbara. In Will's case, he coughed his up a month after returning from the upside down and the creature was able to escape long enough to start to growing. The larva molts into a polywog soon after. Essentially a large tadpole or a froglike creature. This stage is shy, sensitive to heat and scavenges for whatever food they can find. Instead of molting, polywalks transition into a third stage as their limbs rip through their bodies. At this stage, as a frogorggan, they become quadripeds, growing small claws and the beginning of sharp teeth. After the frogorgan stage, a demogorgan molts once more and enters a new phase called the catorgan. At this point, the creature grows to roughly the size of a house cat and develops the demogorgan's signature petal-like mouth lined with heavs. This is also the stage where they begin to hunt on their own, seeking to eat meat rather than anything they might have had prior to this point. Not only that, but their bodies also develop enough to withstand life. From there, it transitions into the demo dog stage. These adolescent demogorgans grow to the size of a large dog and become incredibly violent. They are fast, powerful, and capable of taking out fully grown humans. Their digging and climbing abilities make them effective hunters and their hide is tough enough to take multiple gunshots before going down. Despite this, they aren't indestructible. For example, a demod dog in Kamchatka was killed and dissected, revealing soft tissues under its armored skin. The final transformation results in a fully grown adult demogorgan. These monsters stand between 6 and 10 ft tall, moving primarily on two legs, but capable of dropping to all fours when more speed is needed. They are strong enough to rip through metal doors and toss grown adults with ease. Their senses are razor sharp, especially their sense of smell, which allows them to detect blood across dimensions. At this point, their skin becomes nearly impervious to most weapons, with fire being one of the only few things shown to slow them down at all. The original adult demogorgan encountered in 1983 also showed strange abilities not seen with others. For example, it could open gates to the upside down and might have even possessed mild telekinetic powers. Whether these abilities were unique to that creature or standard for some of the adults remains unknown. Though notably, this is the only demogorgan whose connection to Vecna and the hive mind was never explored. So, it's possible that in order to maintain his control, Vecner seals away his subject's psychic powers. On a similar, but much weaker note, we have the Demobats. Demobats are airborne predators from Dimension X and the upside down with small winged bodies that look similar to the demogorgans. These creatures have long prehensile tails which they use to restrain and strangle their prey and they actually prefer to hunt in packs to overwhelm their target as they are fairly weak individually. Unlike most creatures tied to the hive mind, demobats can fly making them the perfect surveillance tool for weapon. They can cling to walls or ceilings and remain still, allowing them to stay hidden in plain sight whilst observing intruders. These factors combined to make them the ultimate scout unit in Weepness Army. Whilst not physically threatening as the demogorgans, their speed, numbers, and stealth make them a serious threat. And to add to this, some theorize they have the abilities to turn their victims into vampires or something similar to that. Regardless, they aren't the only surveillance tool Vetner has, and one is far more common. Vines. Yep, these vines or tendrils are one of the most widespread and recognizable life forms in the upside down. They are in fact a living organism that can move, react, and attack as needed. These tendrils are animated by the upside down's hive mind, psychically linked to both the mind flare and himself. Hence, they act as a sensory extension of the hive, responding instantly to movement or contact. Basically, they are living trip wires that send alarm bells whenever anyone touches them. These tendrils move like snakes and can coil, bind, or drag anything in their path. They can even fuse to other organic matters to incorporate it into themselves. That said, vines are by far the weakest and more frail creatures we have seen from the upside down and can easily be cut, torn apart, or burnt away. Because of this, they will usually attack in large numbers, hoping to hold down and overwhelm their prey whenever possible. Most upside down environments will have thick clusters of these tendrils, often interwined with web-like structures that coat walls, ceilings, and floors. As the gates expand, vines emerge through them, reaching across the human world like invasive roots that spread wetness influence. And then finally, we have tunnels. The Hawkins tunnel system was a vast subterranean organism that spread outwards from the upside down using the mother gate beneath Hawkins Labs as its point of origin. This was a living network of flesh-like tunnels that stretched beneath the town being made up of similar materials to the vines and acting as a part of the hive for mind. Responding to both the mind flares will and reckn awareness. At the heart of the network was the convergence point known as the hub, a central junction where several tunnels met. The mind player used the will to leak information which lured Hawings lab soldiers to this location as a trap where demod dogs could swarm them. Even the air within the system was toxic. Along the tunnel walls, strange flowers would open and spew spores which could knock out anyone who breathed them in, trapping them inside the tunnels where they could be absorbed and incorporated within the structures. In essence, these tunnels served as a way to spread his influence through the physical world whilst remaining hidden from public eye. All whilst also giving his army of demogorgans a place where they could develop into maturity safely. With that, we have a full picture of Vecnner's army from Dimension X and the upside down. If you guys enjoyed this, then make sure to smash the like button and check out this video
