Mike Wheeler

Michael "Mike" Wheeler is one of the main protagonists of the franchise.
 
He is the younger brother of Nancy Wheeler, the boyfriend of Jane "El" Hopper, and the best friend of Will Byers, Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson, and Max Mayfield. As the leader of the Party, he is their most proactive and unfailingly kind member by far.
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 where he discovered Eleven knew how to find Will so he enlisted her help. During their time together, Mike and Eleven formed a strong bond and quickly grew to love each other. When 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.
One year later, Mike, still devastated by Eleven's disappearance, 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 Balldance with Eleven, which he previously promised her to take her to.
In 1985, when Mike and Eleven's relationship faced new trials and tribulations. Their attention would turn to more pressing concerns, however, when Will alerted them to the presence of the Mind Flayer. After Max’s stepbrother Billy Hargrove was noted to be acting unusually, they learned Billy and various Hawkins residents had become possessed by the Mind Flayer, and began efforts to defeat it. Three months later, Mike and his friends had to bid farewell to Eleven, and the Byers who were moving out of Hawkins. Before leaving, Mike and Eleven made plans to visit each other at Thanksgiving and reaffirmed their love for one another.
By 1986, Mike began attending high school, but noticed his friend group was falling apart due to the trauma they sustained from last year. He headed to Lenora Hills, California to spend spring break with Eleven, but discovered Eleven to be struggling a lot since she lost her powers. When Dr. Owens whisked El away to work on regaining her powers, Mike joined Will, Jonathan, and Argyle in searching for her, all the while evading Lt. Colonel Jack Sullivan and his forces, who held Eleven responsible for a murder spree in Hawkins. With help from Dustin's girlfriend, Suzie Bingham, they tracked down Eleven at a secret facility in Nevada, narrowly escaping Colonel Sullivan’s forces. Later, Mike and the others helped Eleven fight Vecna from afar by creating a makeshift sensory deprivation tank, allowing her to psychically project her consciousness to Hawkins. During El’s mind-battle with the enemy, Mike make it clear to her that he loved her, giving her the strength to momentarily overpower and defeat Vecna.
Two days later, the group returned to Hawkins, and were shocked by the scale of destruction inflicted by a recent opening of four portals to the Upside Down. Upon their return, Mike assured Will that they will kill Vecna once and for all as he's been revealed to be the Mind Flayer before he reunited with Hopper and witnessed the Upside Down beginning to infect Hawkins.
He is portrayed by , who also played young Richie Tozier in It: Chapter One and It: Chapter Two, and Trevor Spengler in Ghostbusters: Afterlife and its 2024 sequel Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
==Biography==
===Background===
Michael "Mike" Wheeler was born on April 7th, 1971 to Ted and Karen Wheeler, and is the younger brother to Nancy Wheeler and older brother to Holly Wheeler and the only son. During his early childhood, Mike was lonely until he befriended Will Byers and Lucas Sinclair, who started to play Dungeons & Dragons in the Wheeler's basement. In the fourth grade, the trio befriended their new classmate Dustin Henderson, whom they invited into their D&D games. Mike also has a close relationship with his older sister since she used to participate in their "campaigns", but she would stop once she got older.
===Season One===
The day after playing Dungeons & Dragons, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas see that Will didn't come to school, and later learn from Jim Hopper that Byers was missing. The trio investigated their friend's disappearance, and traveled to Mirkwood to find him, but discovered a girl named Jane Ives. Taking her to the Wheeler residence, Mike decided to skip school to take care of Jane, who explained that bad people were looking for her. Once Lucas and Dustin arrived, Jane used her telekinetic powers to prevent Sinclair from leaving, and later flipped their Dungeons & Dragons board to give a clue to Mike about Will's location. Starting "Operation Mirkwood", the group had Jane locate him and brought them to the Byers' residence, much to their confusion. 
The group then saw police going to a quarry where they saw Will's "corpse" being dragged out, and Mike accused Jane of lying to them. However, she gave him his super com where Will could be heard singing and realized that Will was somehow still alive despite seeing his "corpse". Mike then informed Dustin and Lucas of the revelation, and they decided to bring Jane to school to use Mr. Clarke's heathkit so they could communicate with Will. 
At a ceremonial for Will, Mike confronted Troy and James for making crude remarks about Byers, which led to Jane using her powers to make one of them piss on themselves. The group then used the heathkit and overheard Will speak to his mother, but the device caught fire. Returning to Mike's basement, the kids deduced that Will was trapped in another dimension, which Jane confirmed was the Upside Down.
After Will's funeral, the group spoke to Mr. Clarke on theories of other dimensions, and Scott explained that it's possible that a gate opened would affect electronics. Dustin used his compass and discovered that wasn't pointing north as a result of the gate and had Jane take them there. She tricked them as she didn't want to put them in danger, which culminated in Mike defending her and briefly fighting Lucas. After Jane vanished due to being upset, Mike and Dustin went to search for her while Lucas used the compass to find the location of the gate. Wheeler and Henderson were ambushed by Troy and James, and the latter threatened to cut Dustin's teeth if he didn't jump off the cliff overlooking the quarry. He did so but was saved by Jane, who broke Troy's arm, causing the bullies to run away as the trio reconciled.
Returning to Mike's home, the trio was informed by Lucas that "bad men" were coming, which allowed them to get on their bikes and evade them. Reuniting with Sinclair, who apologized for his previous actions to Jane, they hid in the junkyard until they were found by Hopper. Meeting with Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy, the group worked together to break into Hawkins Middle and place Jane in a tank to locate Will. After finding that Will was barely alive in the Upside Down, Joyce, and Hopper went to Hawkins laboratory as Jonathan and Nancy returned to the Byers residence to trap the Demogorgon. At the school, Mike revealed his feelings for Jane by kissing her and asking her to attend the snow-ball with him. The kids were then pursued by Brenner's agents until Jane killed several of them, allowing the Demogorgon to arrive through the dead agents' blood.
The kids were forced to fight the creature, but Jane used her powers to vanquish the creature, but also disappeared in the process. A tearful Mike tried to find Jane in the classroom to no avail but was happy to reunite with Will at the Hawkins hospital. Following the incident, Mike started to use his super com to communicate with Jane, as he and the others were forbidden to see Will after he was released from the hospital. Despite reuniting with Will and his friends during Christmas, Mike still missed Jane and kept the pillow fort he made for her.
===Season Two===
Mike continued in his attempts to communicate with Jane but also tried to reclaim normalcy with his friends despite Will having episodes.
Mike and his friends witnessed a new student, named Max, arrive. Because of her name's similarity to the alias used at the arcade, they suspected she was MADMAX, but Mike was not all that interested in her, believing she would replace Jane as Dustin and Lucas invited her to join their friend group.
Byers would admit that he had been seeing things from the Upside Down to Wheeler on Halloween night, but asked him to not tell anyone else. The next day, the group meet with Dustin who tells them to meet him in the AV club. During the meeting, Henderson reveals his new pet creature named Dart, and Wheeler become suspicious of it when he notices a strange growth. Shining a lamp on it, Dart shrieks and Henderson informs Wheeler that his pet doesn't like heat. Will would notice that the creature was the slug he vomited a year before, and tells Mike that Dart is from the Upside Down. The two stop Dustin and Lucas from revealing Dart to Mr. Clarke, and explain to them about Dart and that Will's episodes have allowed him to see the other dimension.
When conversing with Dustin that his new pet could be dangerous, Dart proceeded to go through another transformation, and escaped from them after growing legs. During their search, Mike became annoyed with Max, and witnessed her be thrown off her skateboard when she attempted to impress him. Noticing that it was similar to how Jane would use her telekinesis, Mike quickly realized that she was near and attempted to find her. Unable to, Wheeler was contacted by Will that he found Dart, but when going to the bathroom, instead found Dustin, whom lied that he didn't find his pet. Mike, Lucas and Dustin discovered Will outside the schools suffering from another vision, and witnessed him be taken away by Joyce.
The next day, Mike met with Lucas and Dustin and revealed that Will saw a shadow monster on Halloween night, and is worried about him since he didn't come to school. Believing that Dart could provide a clue on what is happening to their friend, the group agreed to split up to search for the creature. Wheeler went to the Byers house after school and reassured Will that he wouldn't allow the monster spy on him, as Will revealed that it could see what he saw. The following morning, Mike is awoken by Will, whom explains that he could see Hopper trapped somewhere in the monster's vision. Having Byers make drawings, they asked for Bob Newby's help, managing to discover that Will's drawings were a map of Hawkins. While Joyce and Bob searched for Hopper in the tunnels, Mike witnessed Will fall to the ground and convulse as Hawkins lab agents arrived.
At the lab, Will was unable to remember anyone except for Mike, and Dr. Owens was able to educe that Will was tied to the monster's hive mind by burning a vine. The monster would later have Will deceive the lab's soldiers into being ambushed by the Demodogs, forcing the group to hide when the power was shut off. Bob would sacrifice himself to turn the power back on, resulting in him being killed by the creatures when trying to escape. Escaping with a sedated Will to prevent the monster from fining their location, the group meet with the party, Max, Jonathan, Nancy and Steve. At the Byers residence, they form a plan to make the shed unrecognizable to interrogate Will on how to stop the monster. 
Will was able to use morse code to tell his allies that they needed to close the gate, but the monster (dubbed the Mind Flayer) is able to find their location and send its Demodogs. The group are saved by Jane, whom happily reunites with Mike and the others, and form a plan to have Jane and Jim close the gate. As the others stayed to exorcise Will, Mike helped Lucas, Dustin, Max and Steve in pouring gasoline in the tunnels to distract the Demodogs. Before they commence their plan, Max's stepbrother Billy Hargrove arrived, which turned into an altercation between Billy and Steve. After Max had him sedated, the party leave with Steve in Billy's car to reach the tunnels. Succeeding in their plan, the tunnels are set ablaze as Jane closes the gate, thus freeing Will from being the Mind Flayer's host.
In December, Mike attends the snow ball with Jane, having a dance with her before sharing a kiss.
===Season Three===
Mike and Jane continued dating into the summer of 1985, much to the annoyance of Jim, whom decided to drive a wedge in their relationship. Upon Dustin's return from summer camp, Mike and the party perform a welcome surprise party for him, but Henderson is frightened and sprays Lucas with a can. Wheeler and his friends then worked with Dustin's cerebro device so he could contact his long distant girlfriend Suzie, but the others weren't convinced that she was real. The couple then made up an excuse to leave early and returned to the cabin, but Hopper interrupted them to have a heart-to-heart. Instead of doing so, he told Wheeler to start spending less time with Jane if he wanted to continue dating her.
Mike agreed to Jim's term and lied to Jane that he couldn't come to the cabin because his grandmother was sick, but Jane became suspicious and started to hang out with Max. At Starcourt, Wheeler revealed what he did, and Lucas advised him to get a present to make it up to her. However, he was confronted by Jane while she was hanging out with Max, and broke up with him since he couldn't come up with a reason why he lied to her. Returning home that evening, Mike and Lucas discussed about girls being a "different species" since they came to the conclusion that they did nothing wrong. Unbeknownst to them, Jane was spying on them by entering the void.
The following morning, Mike and Lucas were awoken by Will, who attempted to start a game of Dungeons & Dragons, but they refused since the latter needed to grow up. Will then became upset and left, leaving to Wheeler and Sinclair to head to Castle Byers to find him. At the remains of the castle, Will explained that the Mind Flayer had returned, and Mike alerted Jane and Max to meet them in his basement. Explaining the situation, Jane revealed that Billy was acting strange when she spied on him, and they all suspected that Hargrove has become the Flayer's new host. At the community pool, the party managed to trap Billy in a sauna to test to see if he was possessed, which proved true. 
After his escape, the group returned to the Wheeler residence where they met with Jonathan and Nancy, whom explained that Doris Driscoll was exhibiting similar behavior when Will was possessed. Realizing that the Mind Flayer has obtained more hosts, the party travel to the Holloway residence since Jane and Max's previous investigation lead them there. At the residence, they found chemical substances everywhere, and deduce that the flayed were consuming chemicals and that the Holloway family had been turned. Upon Will's proposal to use Doris to find the location of the flayed, the party went to the hospital and witnessed Nancy and Jonathan be attacked by the hospital creature. 
Once the creature escaped to the sewers, the group traveled to the cabin where Mike confessed his love for Jane when they wanted her to go into the void. Jane managed to find the location of the flayed by entering the memories of Billy, but was trapped by the Mind Flayer, who sent his Spider Monster proxy to attack them. During the assault, Jane was injured by the Spider Monster, but she able to split its head in half, allowing the party to escape. Going to a local supermarket to heal Eleven's wounds, Mike is contacted by Dustin, asking for his help. Jane then used her powers to find Dustin, and the party head to Starcourt to save Henderson, Steve, Robin Buckley and Erica Sinclair from the Russians. Wheeler then witnessed Jane collapse to the ground in pain due to a piece of the monster being in her leg, forcing her to use her telekinesis to get it out.
Reuniting with the adults, the party formed a plan to stop the Russians machine that was keeping the gate open, and informed Buckley and Erica about the Upside Down. The kids are assigned to reach Murray Bauman's shelter for safety, but were forced to return into the mall when Billy arrived. The Mind Flayer then arrived and Hargrove managed to capture Jane, and Mike was knocked unconscious during the attack. He eventually woke up to fin that Billy was killed protecting Jane from the Mind Flayer, and later learned of Jim's "sacrifice" in destroying the machine.
Months after the Starcourt incident, the Byers adopted Jane due to Jim's supposed death, and decided to leave Indiana to Lenora Hills, California. Mike, Nancy, Dustin, Lucas and Max then witness the Byers leave Hawkins, and Wheeler returned home and was comforted by his mother.
===Season Four===
Having graduated from Hawkins Middle, Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Max become freshmen at Hawkins High in 1985-1986. Wheeler and Henderson joined the Hellfire Club under the leadership of Eddie Munson, but Lucas joins the basketball team to stop being picked on by his peers, and Max distances herself due to her struggle with Billy's death.
===Season Five===
To be added.
==Abilities==
*High Intellect: He used an example from Mr. Clarke about the outcome of mixing chemicals together to create a new substance to deduce the Flayed were creating something new in themselves by consuming them.
**Master Strategist: Mike also stated that his experience playing Dungeons & Dragons helped him and his allies survive the show's events.
**Leadership: As the Paladin, Mike has shown to be a reliable leader for many situations in danger when going up against threats either from the military or Upside Down.
*Indomitable Willpower: Mike has an unbreakable will, never giving up on being there for Jane or defying the devices of Vecna.
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*In the early development of the series, the character's name was "Elliot".
*Mike is the first character to refer to the show's alternate dimension as "the Upside Down".
*His first name is a reference to Michael "Mikey" Walsh from the 1985 film The Goonies, who his character was originally based on.
==External Links==
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