Michael "Mike" Wheeler, portrayed by Finn Wolfhard, is a major protagonist in the first and second seasons of Stranger Things. When Mike's best friend, Will Byers, mysteriously went missing, he and his other friends, Lucas and Dustin, made it their mission to find him. However, while searching for Will, they stumbled upon an escaped girl named Eleven instead. Mike soon discovered that she knew something about Will's disappearance and enlisted her help in finding him. During their time together, Mike and Eleven formed a strong bond and quickly grew to like each other. Once Will was found, Mike was happy that he had returned home safely; however, he was greatly devastated by Eleven's sacrifice to defeat the Demogorgon. Still devastated by Eleven's disappearance one year later, Mike called for her every night while also assisting Will with a new supernatural issue. Eventually, he reunited with Eleven. He, along with his friends and Steve, then worked on burning the sprawling network of another inter-dimensional threat, using it as a distraction for Eleven to close the Gate for good. Mike later attended the Snow Ball dance with Eleven, which he had promised her the previous year. Personality and Traits Mike is shown to be an optimist, morally compassionate and highly committed to his friends, usually going to great lengths to help them. His D&D role as Dungeon Master suggests that he, like Will, is a creative thinker. Out of the four boys, he is the most emotionally open and willing to accept fantastical explanations behind complex situations. After Will disappeared, he quickly drew a parallel to Will’s defeat at the hands of the Demogorgon. After witnessing Eleven's psychic powers, Mike became faithful to the idea that she could help find Will. While his friends were initially skeptical about Eleven, Mike wholeheartedly trusted her to guide them and even developed a close relationship with her. Mike's slightly unorthodox approach led him to connect some of the dots explaining the mysterious Upside Down. Mike's sheer resolve to helping his friends was so much that at one point, he jumped off the cliff to protect Dustin before Eleven came to rescue him. Additionally, Mike displayed strong morale and courage when he confronted Troy about his joke of Will's presumed death, showing just how much he cares for his friends. Even after Will was saved, Mike perceived that Will was struggling due to his connection with the Upside Down and tried to help him. Mike was also the only one out of his friends to stay with Will in the lab when he was suffering from memory loss and was manipulated by the Mind Flayer to kill them, proving that he was always ready to put himself in harm's way to protect his friends. Moreover, when Eleven disintegrated the Demogorgon and vanished away, Mike was severely traumatized by her disappearance and struggled. Yet he still believed that she was alive and continued to try contacting her for 353 consecutive days, until his determination was rewarded when he finally reunites with Eleven after almost a year. His undying love and concern for her were also explicit when he endeavored to convince the group to distract the Demodogs from Eleven, defying Steve's orders, as well as keeping his promise to her by attending the Snow Ball. Relationships FamilialNon-Familial Nancy Wheeler Mike and Nancy were hinted to have been closer when they were younger; Nancy would dress up for some of Mike's early D&D campaigns. However, the two drifted apart, likely due to the large age gap between them and the fact that they attended different schools. Nancy was often dismissive of her brother, calling him "gross" and a "douchebag", and in turn Mike was dismissive of her relationship with Steve Harrington. However, when Mike briefly went missing, Nancy was genuinely worried about him. After he was found, he and his sister agreed to stop lying to each other and to always tell the truth. However, this was short-lived, as both siblings immediately started lying to each other again. Karen Wheeler Mike had a healthy but somewhat strained relationship with his mother. He knew that Karen was always there to comfort and protect him. However, he disobeyed her orders to not go looking for Will and frequently lied to her. He also did not trust her to handle the situation surrounding Eleven. Karen appeared frustrated that both Mike and Nancy seemed unwilling to be honest and open with her. After being unable to accept Eleven's presumed disappearance, Mike started behaving peculiarly which caused Karen, unbeknownst to it, to compel him to pack a major portion of his toys, frustrating Mike even more. Ted Wheeler Mike and Ted did not appear to have the strongest relationship. Ted was often at work and so had less time to spend with his son. Ted's tactless nature could sometimes annoy his family, Mike included.