Gearing Up For Stranger Things Season 2? Don't Forget How Season 1 Ends

Will Byers is the 12-year-old son of Joyce and brother to Jonathan. He is extremely close with his three best friends, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas; they often play Dungeons and Dragons in the basement and ride to and from school together on their bikes. During the show's season premiere, Will goes missing. His disappearance is at the center of the series, as every major character tries to uncover the truth about his disappearance and rescue him from the Upside-Down (an alternate dimension where he is taken after being kidnapped by the Demogorgon).

Will is ultimately rescued by his mother and Chief Hopper and appears to make a full recovery, rejoining his friends and getting back to normal life. However, in the season finale, Will is shown coughing up a black, slug-like creature with the Upside-Down flashing briefly behind him. No one knows exactly what happened to Will while he was in the alternate dimension, so it's possible that there are unknown side-effects that will affect his happy return home.

Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is a young girl who has been experimented on since her birth. Raised by Dr. Brenner in the Hawkins National Laboratory, she develops psychokinetic abilities, allowing her to move objects with her mind as well as enter other dimensions via astral projection. She escapes the lab and encounters Mike and his friends; together, they join forces to save Will from the Upside-Down. In the season finale, she faces the Demogorgon and is able to destroy him, but sacrifices herself in the process. However, her fate is left ambiguous as Chief Hopper is seen leaving a box of Eggos (her favorite) in the woods one month after Eleven's apparent death.

Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) are Will Byers's best friends. After Will's disappearance, the gang embarks on a quest to find their missing friend. Along the way, they meet Eleven, learn of the Upside-Down, and try to destroy the Demogorgon. During the season finale, they come up with a plan that will get their friend back and destroy the monster once and for all. Successful, their lives go back to normal; however, having developed feelings for Eleven (even kissing her and asking her to the Winter dance!), Mike struggles to move on from her apparent death.

Mike's older sister, Nancy (Natalia Dyer), and Will's older brother, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), slowly become friends as they spend time together searching for a missing Barb. This infuriates Nancy's boyfriend, Steve (Joe Keery), as he suspects that they have feelings for each other. However, in the season finale, the trio put their differences aside and set a trap for the Demogorgon, successfully injuring the creature. A month after Will's return and the discovery of Barb's demise, Nancy has resumed her relationship with Steve, both of them becoming good friends with Jonathan.

Jim Hopper (David Harbour) is the chief of police in Hawkins, IN. Having lost his own child, he dedicates his time and efforts into helping Joyce find Will, as well as uncovering the truth behind the secret government operation. During the season finale, Hopper and Joyce enter the Upside-Down themselves and rescue Will. After dropping the boy off at the hospital, Hopper is seen reluctantly getting into a black SUV with government agents; a month later, he delivers a box of Eggos to a metal box out in the woods. The scene suggests that Eleven, a big fan of Eggos, is still alive. However, Hopper's involvement with the government agents, and the extent of his knowledge of Eleven's whereabouts and condition, is unknown.

Barb Holland (Shannon Purser) is Nancy's best friend. Introduced at the beginning of the season, she is suspicious of Nancy's relationship with Steve and preaches caution, much to Nancy's irritation. Keeping a close eye on her friend, Barb agrees to accompany Nancy to a party where she is left alone. An exposed, bleeding cut gets the Demogorgon's attention, and the monster takes her to the Upside-Down. Nancy and Jonathan investigate Barb's disappearance, and in the season finale, we see Barb's (very dead) corpse in the Upside-Down. #RIP #JusticeForBarb

Nicknamed the "Demogorgon" by Will's friends, the monster (Mark Steger) is created during the experiments at Hawkins National Laboratory. Unbeknownst to Dr. Brenner at the time, he had accidentally created an alternate dimension aka the Upside-Down. The Demogorgon lives in the Upside-Down and feeds on people, taking the lives of lab technicians, local residents, and poor Barb, as well as kidnapping Will for a future meal. During the season finale, the creature has a showdown with Eleven at the local high school and is killed during their battle.

Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) is the extremely dedicated mother of Jonathan and Will Byers, the latter of whom goes missing in the Upside-Down. Though no one believes her at first, Joyce remains steadfast in her belief that her son is alive and stops at nothing to find him. In the season finale, she and Chief Hopper venture into the Upside-Down themselves to rescue Will. Now, with both of her sons safe, Joyce is content with getting back to their normal lives.

Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) is the director of the Hawkins National Laboratory. He had taken a young Eleven away from her mother and performed numerous experiments on her over the years, manipulating her by acting as a father figure and constantly pushing her boundaries to dangerous limits. When Eleven escapes the lab, Brenner spends the duration of the season looking for her and trying to keep the operation under wraps. He finally finds her during the season finale — also coming face-to-face with the Demogorgon. The monster attacks him, but we don't know for sure if Dr. Brenner is really dead.