Nancy Wheeler

Nancy Wheeler is one of the main protagonists of the Netflix sci-fi/horror drama series, Stranger Things. She is a teenage girl from the small town of Hawkins, Indiana and an ally of the Party. She is the eldest daughter of Ted and Karen Wheeler, the older sister of Mike and Holly Wheeler, the ex-girlfriend of Steve Harrington, and the girlfriend of Jonathan Byers.
== Appearance ==
== Personality ==
At the beginning of the series, Nancy was the typical high school girl who cared only about popularity and school. According to Dustin, Nancy used to be a cool person, even cosplaying as an elf one year for Halloween. However, everything changed when she started dating Steve Harrington, the most popular boy at school. People such as Robin Buckley also identified Nancy as a "priss", mainly because she believed the latter had stolen her best friend, Barb away from her. She was also dismissive of Barb's concerns that they shouldn't be drinking booze at a party or shirking responsibility. However, after Barbara's disappearance, Nancy became upset that no one seemed to care that her best friend was missing. Due to this, she found it easier to bond with Jonathan, because they were both missing Barb and Will at the time.
Nancy was also aloof towards her brother and his friends at the beginning of Season 1, even though they were, at one point, close with them, especially Dustin. Nancy also scolded Mike for nearly ratting her out to her parents that Steve was sneaking into the house. He soon dropped the matter, likely because she could rat him out for housing Eleven in their basement. However, when Nancy heard that Mike was involved in an investigation involving the people from Hawkin’s labs, she immediately worried about her brother and hugged him out of relief.
As time goes on, Nancy's real self starts to shine. She has an interest in investigative journalism and reading news and reports. She is also a studious girl, and has a 3.9 GPA, studying from when a test is announced to the day it is occurring. When Nancy was working as an intern at Hawkins' local newspaper, she faced extreme sexism and misogyny from her co-workers, including her boss and its top-notch reporter. However, Nancy found a better job, working for the school newspaper and becoming an investigative reporter.
In Season 2, Nancy develops a hatred for Hawkins Labs, blaming them for Barb’s death, going after her brother, Mike, and presumably the disappearance of Eleven. She works with Jonathan and Murray to get the place to shut down.  She also embraces a “big sister role” for the Party, especially since Nancy has younger siblings of her own, and it is shown that Nancy loves Mike despite their differences and seemingly adores her younger sister, Holly.
== Abilities ==
* High Intellect: Nancy Wheeler is a straight-A student who is mentioned to have a 3.9 GPA, according to Steve Harrington in "The Disappearance of Will Byers." She is also a studious girl, having studied for her science tests, up to the point where Steve points out that she studied enough. Nancy also managed to answer every question correctly when asked. Later, when wanting to expose Hawkins Lab and get it to shut down, Nancy easily figured out that Murray was implying that she and Jonathan should "water down" their story and make it convincing to not cause a panic. This caused Hawkin’s lab to get properly shut down and get justice for Barbara (and will) at last. However, Murray could tell the chemistry between Jonathan and Nancy and despite their insistence they are just friends, Murray tells Nancy she is a terrible liar. (Chapter Six: The Spy)
* Skilled Marksman: Nancy proves herself to be quite well with a gun despite never using one. When she and Jonathan were out in the woods together Nancy managed to successfully get the beer cans off their stands. This surprised both her and Jonathan because her parents had never owned a gun before and Nancy had never learned how to shoot before.  She shoots the Mind Flayer with Hopper's shotgun while protecting the kids from the creature, Billy with a stolen Russian handgun, albeit with little success, and shoots Vecna 4 times to the left, right side shoulders, and stomach till the fifth shot blew him out the window of his lair.
* Skilled Detective: Nancy is an excellent detective and mostly picked up these skills because she dreamed of becoming a journalist. She managed to figure out that Barbara went missing rather than run away and that Jonathan must have been the last person to see Barbara upon seeing Jonathan's photos of Barbara and sought his help in finding her. Nancy easily deduced that Vecna's mental realm, created by Max Mayfield, included a fragmented version of the Creel family house. This revelation brought the Party and their allies closer to discovering Vecna's identity as Henry Creel.
* Improvised Weapon Proficiency: When under the most stress, Nancy can arm herself with any household items and use them as a weapon. For example, she used a bat against the Demogorgon, a fire extinguisher against the hospital monster, and a boat paddle in Lover’s Lake.
* Strong Will: Nancy has an indomitable willpower despite the past she endured over her teenage years. Her guilt and trauma over Barb's death struggled when Vecna started tormenting her when he enthralled her. However, her will was strong and she wasn't affected by him showing visions of her family dying.
==Equipment==
*Fire Extinguisher: Nancy used a fire extinguisher to brutally swing at flayed Bruce first in the face which shattered his teeth, uppercuts his nose, before finally bashing him with a strike hard enough in killing him.
* Boat Paddle: When entering the Upside Down to save Steve, Nancy uses a boat paddle as melee weapon to fight Demobats by bashing them to the ground before impaling their heads off.
*Guns: Nancy's most used weapons, which she first learn to fire in 1983.
** Smith & Wesson Model 10: In November 1983, Nancy wielded a Smith & Wesson Model 10 that once belonged to Lonnie Byers, Jonathan's father. He gave her when they practiced shooting. She later threatens Steve with the gun in order to get him away from her and Jonathan. However, she later uses it to fight the Demogorgon in, opening fire nine times.
**Will's Mssberg 144 LS: When defending the house against the Demo-dogs, Hopper asks Nancy if she can wield a rifle, which Nancy confirms. He hands Nancy Wheeler Will's Mossberg 144 LS and aims it at the door. However, Nancy lowers the rifle when she sees that it is simply Eleven returning to close the Mothergate.
**Remington 870: Nancy took the shotgun from Chief Hopper's shed and uses it against the Mind Flayer during the assault on Hopper's cabin. She used it against the Demogorgon in an effort to protect Eleven and the children from the Mind Flayer's assault on Jim Hopper's cabin.
**TT-33: During the Battle of Starcourt, Nancy acquired a TT-33 from the body of a Russian agent during the battle of Starcourt Mall. She opened fire on Billy in order to protect the Party from him.
*Winchester Model 1200: In March 1986, Nancy purchased the Winchester Model 1200 from the hunting store. During the Party's attempt to kill Vecna, Nancy fired the shot gun at Vecna.
==Biography==
===Background===
===Season 1===
===Season 2===
===Season 3===
===Season 4===
===Season 5===
==Gallery==
==Relationships==
==Trivia==
*The dress worn by Eleven in the last episodes of Season 1 originally belonged to Nancy.
*She was the only victim of Vecna's curse to survive, though Vecna deliberately freed her and used her as a "messenger" to Eleven. In contrast, his other victims, including Max Mayfield, were executed to create new gates between the Earth and the Upside Down.
*Her character and namesake appear to be derived from Nancy Thompson, the main character in the 1984 film, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and its third installment, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987).
*By the third season, Nancy owns a car and her driver's license.
*Nancy is the only character who entered and exited the Upside Down in over one season.
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