No, Nancy didn't get Vecna's curse in the traditional sense (leading to her death or a physical mark like Max), but she was targeted, put into a trance, and given a vision of Vecna's plans, which counts as being deeply affected by him. Vecna released her to deliver a message to Eleven, choosing her because she was close to uncovering his secrets, and her guilt over Barb made her a suitable target for his mind games, but he didn't intend to kill her then.
Additional note: Nancy Wheeler was put into a trance by Vecna, but was not technically cursed as she did not experience symptoms and the latter did not aim to kill her.
Yes, Nancy and Jonathan get out of the melting room in Stranger Things Season 5, but not before having a significant "unproposal" and breakup, realizing their relationship was unhealthy, and the strange goo surrounding them solidified, saving them just as they accepted their potential deaths. They survive the immediate threat and are rescued, but their romantic relationship ends, with the Duffer Brothers explaining it was to give Nancy independence.
While Nancy Wheeler loses her virginity to Steve Harrington, Barb Holland awakens in a waterless, dark version of Steve's pool, every surface covered in fleshy black vines.
In late 1983, Barb mysteriously vanishes, which leads Nancy and Jonathan Byers to investigate her disappearance. Eventually, it was revealed that she had been killed by the Demogorgon.
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In the Upside Down, a vine/tendril from the hive mind (later revealed to be connected to Vecna and the Mind Flayer) was inserted into Will Byers' mouth, extending down his throat and into his lungs, essentially "impregnating" him to grow larval creatures (slugs) and use him as a living conduit to the human world, which gave him the special connection to the Upside Down that he later developed.
Nancy's guilt about her best friend's death has been the driving force of every decision she has made since early in Stranger Things' first season. Before Barb went missing, Nancy was a typical teenager. She was a good kid trying to find who she was and how she fit into the world.
Yes, in Stranger Things, Will Byers is in love with Mike Wheeler, not Eleven (El); his feelings for Mike have been a key part of his character arc, revealed more fully in Season 4 and continued in Season 5, creating tension with Mike's relationship with El.
Nancy is terrified to stop and face her guilt. She's always moving forward to outrun her past. It's why Vecna's attack on her parents broke her for just a moment.
Billy is flayed in Season 3; however, his character arc culminates in a tragic demise when he sacrifices himself for Eleven. His sacrifice suggests he still had a soft heart within his flayed body, enabling him to break free of the monster he had become and save a life.
He and Nancy end up getting back together because she realizes she loves him back. Right people, wrong time type of thing. Steve sacrifices himself for either the group, Nancy, Robin, or Dustin because he loves them and has nothing else. Steve lives and Nancy chooses Jonathan.
Recognizing the obvious tension between Nancy and Jonathan, Murray suggests that they share the bedroom. Though they initially resist, Nancy and Jonathan end up sleeping together that night. Upon their return to Hawkins, Nancy and Jonathan find the Byers residence empty and littered with Will's drawings.
Nancy asked what happened between them, saying that she waited for Jonathan before ultimately ending up with Steve again. Jonathan retorted by saying she only waited a month and he was busy looking after Will.
Sam Owens's confession, which compelled Hawkins Lab to acknowledge their coverup of Barb's death. They claimed her death occurred due to the leak of an experimental chemical asphyxiant, a cover story that Nancy, Jonathan and Murray reluctantly agreed to.
Nancy is also occasionally joined by her boyfriend Ned Nickerson, a student at Emerson College, who is introduced in the seventh book.
Before they embark into the Upside Down, Will comes out as gay to his family and close friends, explaining that Vecna showed him visions of his failed and distant relationships with his loved ones after they learnt the truth.
Vecna targets Will Byers because Will shares deep psychic similarities, being a sensitive outsider, and became a crucial anchor or "phylactery" for Vecna's power after being connected to the Mind Flayer; Vecna sees Will as a vessel, a mirror of himself, and potentially a key to his immortality, needing him alive to maintain his own strength while also wanting to corrupt and use him.
He is married to Rachel Zane.
Yes, the Demogorgon did essentially "impregnate" Will in Stranger Things Season 1 by implanting a slug-like larva into him, using his body as a host to grow and produce more creatures for the hive mind, a process that was later revealed to be part of Vecna's larger plan. Will coughed up this larva, which then hatched into a polywog (stage two of the Demogorgon life cycle), demonstrating how the Upside Down creatures reproduce and spread, as seen with Barb Holland as well.
So it was the demogorgon that killed her in S1. But in S4, when Nancy was in the mindlair of Vecna, he admitted to her that he killed Barb and that he never forgets everyone he killed.
Note: Due to the intentional ambiguity of Eleven's fate, she is excluded from this list.
The first character to say the "f-word" in Stranger Things was Will Byers, who uttered it during a heated argument with his friends in Season 1, shocking viewers as he was typically soft-spoken, with later significant uses by characters like Billy Hargrove.
Yes, Dart (D'Artagnan) is a baby Demogorgon, specifically an adolescent stage called a "Demodog," which Dustin Henderson found and raised in Stranger Things Season 2; he's essentially a younger, less aggressive version of the main monsters from Season 1, evolving from a pollywog-like creature into a four-legged, predatory form.
Yes, according to the show's creators, Mike did realize that Will's "crush" in his coming-out speech referred to him, even though it wasn't explicitly stated in dialogue; his reaction shots and subsequent apology scene were designed to show he understood the depth of Will's feelings, though the payoff for their storyline was minimal in the finale.