Every Stranger Things monster from Dungeons and Dragons

Upside Down If you know Dungeons & Dragons , you may have a head start on Stranger Things . by Robin Bea May 18, 2022 Netflx

Netflix Stranger Things follows a group of outcast kids in the ‘80s, so it’s natural that Dungeons & Dragons is involved. The gang is seen playing D&D in the very first episode, but it is more interesting how Stranger Things incorporated D&D monsters into its story.

Starbreeze Studios The major threat of Stranger Things Season 1 is a terrifying monster from the Upside Down called the Demogorgon .

Netflix The kids themselves dubbed the monster the Demogorgon, based on the D&D monster of the same name.

Netflix In Stranger Things , the Demogorgon is a predator that the characters compare to animals, like lions. It has an oddly plant-like appearance thanks to the fang-lined “petals” that make up its head.

Wizards of the Coast In Dungeons & Dragons , Demogorgon (there’s only one) is a much different adversary. A towering demon lord, it has two heads and tentacle-like arms.

Unlike Stranger Things ’ instinctual hunter, D&D ’s Demogorgon is an intelligent demon with hordes of followers, capable of hypnotizing foes and using magic. Wizards of the Coast

Netflix Season 2 introduced an even more terrifying monster in the Mind Flayer, once again named by the D&D -playing crew of Stranger Things .

Like the Demogorgon, it bears little resemblance to its tabletop counterpart, but this time it acts a lot like the game’s Mind Flayers . Netflix

Wizards of the Coast In D&D and Stranger Things , the squid-faced Mind Flayers ’ goal is to subjugate other creatures by taking control of their minds.

That’s done by literally eating the victims’ brains in D&D , but Stranger Things leaves that particularly gruesome detail out. Wizards of the Coast/Larian Studios

Wizards of the Coast Stranger Things has another unofficial connection to Mind Flayers in Billy . Intellect Devourers are minions of the Mind Flayers — they’re literally brains with legs — used to take control of victims.

Netflix Billy plays the same role in Season 3, though he doesn’t need to eat brains or turn into one to do it.

Netflix The biggest connection yet comes in Season 4 . In the new season’s trailer, we saw a glimpse of a horrifying humanoid denizen of the Upside Down.

Wizards of the Coast Its name is Vecna , which should be immediately recognizable to D&D players. Vecna is an evil god in the game, one of its most nefarious villains.

Wizards of the Coast He’s a cruel manipulator, capable of seeing through his followers and aiming to rule existence by defeating the rest of D&D ’s gods.

Stranger Things ’ Vecna is the closest in appearance to his D&D counterpart of any of the show’s villains, resembling a desiccated corpse. Netflix

Netflix Vecna is clearly more intelligent than the show’s Mind Flayer and Demogorgon, and if he’s anything like his D&D namesake, we may learn that he’s been pulling the strings in Hawkins and the Upside Down all along.

We’ll need to wait and see what Vecna has in store for the Hawkins crew when Stranger Things 4 Volume 1 arrives on May 27 on Netflix.

Every Stranger Things monster from Dungeons and Dragons

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