Especially in Stranger Things 4, there have been many characters introduced that are only good for one thing — inspiring hate. They fulfil their sole purpose with the utmost determination, rousing Stranger Things fans to gather their pitchforks and torches. In the fourth season, the biggest name on our hit list was Jason Carver, portrayed by Mason Dye. Fans have nothing against Mason personally, but Jason was the object of widespread derision for his stereotypical jock routine that opposed fan-favorite character Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn). Aside from Jason, there’s many other characters that made long-lasting impressions on Stranger Things fans for all the wrong reasons.
Even with all these characters that deserve contempt, there are those who, for some reason, garner hatred from fans despite having redeeming qualities or being misunderstood. Stranger Things fans have taken to Reddit to debate which characters get unnecessary hate.
First for the chopping board is Mike by a long shot. Finn Wolfhard’s character often gets overshadowed by the other child actors. As one Reddit user put it, “The kid breathes and a lynch mob forms.” In other words, that means Mike is often the target of hate despite doing nothing other than exist. He isn’t inherently bad, nor does he do anything questionable besides acting like an entitled and pushy teenager at times, especially in the recent season. It has been noted countless times that Mike is nothing but good, always striving to do good and be good. He sometimes behaves like a typical teenager navigating love and life, so he makes mistakes. However, fans make those mistakes character-defining for him and focus only on the negatives.
Competing with Mike for the “most hated” award is Charlie Heaton’s Jonathan Byers, whom fans believed was “edited” to look better after his screw-up with Nancy made him unlikable. This rumor was debunked a long time ago, and Stranger Things fans simply couldn’t accept that Jonathan was redeemable, so they continued to paint him as a hate-worthy character.
There’s a few scattered comments that name Lucas, but that hatred isn’t as prominent as Mike and Jonathan, whom the fanbase seems to be gunning for at all times. With Stranger Things 4 blurring the lines between heroes and villains, it seems some fans might be getting confused. Let’s remind ourselves that Vecna is the true villain here…and Jason, but that’s neither here nor there.