Nancy Wheeler

Nancy Wheeler is one of the deuteragonists of the franchise.
Initially concerned with simple teenage high school issues, her world is almost literally turned upside down when her best friend Barbara Holland vanishes, encouraging her to seek out the truth. Nancy learns of there being a different dimension called the Upside Down, but tragically discovers that Barb was killed by the Demogorgon. Still grieving for the death of her best friend, she and Jonathan Byers took on a journey on themselves to expose Hawkins National Laboratory as a threat. 
Eventually, she helps Jonathan and his mother Joyce Byers in removing Will Byers from the Mind Flayer's hive mind. The following year, Nancy gets an intern job at the Hawkins Post, but returns to help the Party in stopping the Mind Flayer and its Flayed. She initially comes off as a damsel in distress, but soon proves herself a strong ally against the horrors of the Upside Down.
She is portrayed by , and was voiced by (who also voiced Leia Organa in Star Wars Forces of Destiny and Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga) in Rebel Robin: Surviving Hawkins.
==Biography==
===Background===
Nancy Wheeler was born in November of 1967 to Ted and Karen Wheeler, and became the older sister to her parents' two children Mike and Holly Wheeler. When she was younger, she had a close friendship with Mike and his friends, Will Byers, Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair when they played Dungeons & Dragons. As she got older, she stop dressing up during their "campaigns" became distant from them as she matured into high school. Nancy also started to suspect that her parents never loved each other, believing they only got together to create a "nuclear family". 
In high school, she became the best friend of Barbara Holland, and by the start of the first season, started dating the school's "king" Steve Harrington. Additionally, Nancy was classmates with Robin Buckley, who had helped her clear Mr. Hauser's classroom so she could get an extension on his paper.
===Season One===
Nancy continued her romantic relationship with Steve despite her friendship with Barb growing distant, and was forbidden to leave the house when Will mysteriously disappeared. When going to her room after Mike revealed her relationship with Steve, she was greeted by Harrington and later rejected his sexual advances. The following night, she attended Steve's pool party and dragged Barb with her, where she would lose her virginity to Steve after telling Holland to go home. Unbeknownst to her, Barb was taken by the Demogorgon to the Upside Down, where she would be killed by the creature. The next day, Nancy saw that Barb wasn't at school and her mother hadn't seen her, and decided to return to Steve's pool to locate. Despite seeing a creature in the woods, Wheeler returned to school where Steve confronted Will's brother Jonathan for taking pictures of Nancy.
Though seeing the photos of her, Nancy had no ill will towards Jonathan and helped him, but took a picture of Barb at the pool before leaving with Steve. When the police and Steve didn't believe her, Wheeler decided to investigate the situation on her own and met with Jonathan, showing him the picture of Barb he took of her at the pool where the creature could be seen in the background. Jonathan then explained that his mother gave a similar description of a creature, the two decided to work together to discover what was happening in Hawkins. While practicing shooting in the woods, the two encountered a wounded deer that was immediately grabbed by an unseen force. Nancy followed into a hole in a tree that was the dimension for the Upside Down, and Wheeler was hunted by the Demogorgon. She was able to escape by following Jonathan's voice, and decided to sleep over with him due to her recent trauma.
The following day, Nancy and Jonathan decided to buy weapons to fight the creature, but came across Steve and his friends tagging slurs about her. Confronting him, Steve accused Nancy of sleeping with Jonathan since he saw her at his home, but she attempted to explain before Byers and Harrington fought each other. At the police station where Jonathan was placed, Nancy met with Joyce Byers and Jim Hopper and explained everything she knew about the creature. The group then decided to work with Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Eleven to locate Will, as Eleven confirmed that Barb was dead. Wanting to avenge her best friends' death, Nancy worked with Jonathan and later Steve in fighting the creature until was defeated by Eleven. Will was saved by Hopper and Joyce, and the family happily reunited as Nancy restarted her relationship with Steve.
===Season Two===
Despite some normalcy returning to Hawkins, Nancy still felt guilt for Barb's death since she believed their fight caused Holland to remain at the pool. When being investigated by Murray Bauman on Barb's disappearance, Nancy asked to be excused to the bathroom where she broke down. Her guilt would culminate in hurting Steve while she was drunk, blaming him for Barb's death telling him she didn't have feelings for him at the Halloween party. The following day, Nancy and Steve broke up after the latter gave her the cold shoulder for the previous night. She then confided to Jonathan on the situation, but started to focus on exposing Hawkins laboratory so she could avenge Barb's death.
Going to RadioShack to obtain a walkman, Wheeler decided to expose Hawkins lab by setting up a meeting with Mrs. Holland at Forest Hills park. The plan was foiled when the Hawkins lab agents captured them at the park, and they were brought to Dr. Owens, who showed them the gate and confessed the government's crimes. However, Nancy had activated the walkman during Owens' speech to have them keep the Upside Down a secret. Meeting at Bauman's residence, they were sad to learn that they would have to change the story to make it more appealing for the public to digest. Agreeing, Nancy and Jonathan changed the story to make it that Barbara died from a chemical leak that came from the Hawkins lab. 
After sending the evidence to the Chicago Sun-Times, Nancy and Jonathan stayed in Bauman's guest room, and began their romantic relationship by having sex that night after Bauman's suggestions on resolving their sexual tension. Returning to Hawkins, the two found the Byers residence covered in Will's drawings, and returned to the Hawkins lab. Meeting with the others at the lab, they returned to Byers home and formed a plan to save Will from the Mind Flayer. Making the backyard unrecognizable to the boy, Will managed to use morse code to tell his family and friends to close the gate to free him. The group's plan was successful, as Eleven and Hopper closed the gate and the Mind Flayer was exorcised from Will.
Following the incident, Hawkins lab was forced to confess the truth of covering up Barbara's death, and Nancy attended the funeral with her late friends parents. In December, Nancy attended the snow ball with Jonathan, and was seen serving drinks to the guest. Nancy and Jonathan continued their relationship into the next year, and both became interns at the Hawkins Post.
===Season Three===
Hearing of the story of woman named Doris Driscoll dealing with rats eating her fertilizer, Nancy and Jonathan decided to investigate the story. Pretending to be reporters, Nancy took notes of Driscoll's story, and saw a diseased rat that Doris imprisoned. Returning to the post with the story, she is mocked by her colleagues, most notably by Bruce Lowe, whom refers to her as "Nancy Drew". Despite this, she remains undeterred to continue her investigation and returns to the Driscoll residence. At the house, she discovers Doris consuming the fertilizer, not knowing that she has been turned into one of the Mind Flayer's host. Both Nancy and Jonathan were then fired by Tom Holloway since Doris' family were angered by their investigation, and both were further ridiculed by their colleagues. 
Returning home, Nancy was comforted by her mother, who encouraged her to return to the investigation. Meeting with the party, Nancy and Jonathan learn that the Mind Flayer is still in the world by possessing others, and realize that Doris was flayed herself. Going to the Holloway residence, they find numerous chemicals that have been consumed, and deduce that Tom and his wife were taken by their possessed daughter Heather and turned into hosts. Will then proposes that they meet Doris at the hospital to find the location, but Nancy and Jonathan are attacked by a flayed Bruce and Tom. The two managed to defeat them, but their corpses merge together to form a monster. Reuniting with the party, they are saved by Eleven, who used her powers to push the creature out of the hospital, which resulted in it escaping into the sewers.
At the Starcourt mall, the group form a plan to stop the Russians machine from opening the gate, which will end the Mind Flayer's control over its host. When preparing to leave with the kids to stay safe in Bauman's shelter, Nancy is unable to start the car when a possessed Billy Hargrove arrives. The group are saved at the last second by Steve, whom rams into Billy with a police car. Despite this, Hargrove manages to take Eleven to the Spider Monster, and Wheeler assists her allies in throwing fireworks at the creature and evacuating citizens out the mall. The plan is successful, with Hopper "sacrificing" himself to have Joyce close the gate and Billy protecting Eleven and Max from the Mind Flayer.
Following the Starcourt incident, the Byers decide to adopt Eleven and leave Hawkins to California. Nancy helps in their packing, and has a tearful goodbye with Jonathan.
===Season Four ===
A year after the events of Starcourt, Nancy continues her investigation that are tied to the Upside Down while having a distant relationship with Jonathan. Due to Nancy and Steve growing close again due to working together to defeat Vecna without Jonathan, things started to get complicated. Nancy then worked with her friends to find a way to beat Vecna with little success as Vecna is the most powerful villain the group has ever faced. When Jonathan returned to Hawkins after Vecna won, Nancy was very happy to see him to the point where tears shone in her eyes, and the two shared a prolonged hug much to Steve’s disappointment. Jonathan then asked if their relationship was okay, and she said yes. Nancy now with the whole party back together including Jonathan are still working to stop Vecna as he prepares to make his next move. 
===Season Five===
TBA 
==Abilities==
* Skilled Detective: Like her namesake, Nancy is a skilled detective. Upon seeing Jonathan's photos of Barb, she quickly deduced he was the last person to see her alive and sought his help in finding her.
* Skilled Marksman: Nancy demonstrated proficiency with firearms such as a shotgun and handgun. She landed a few good shots on the Mind Flayer with Hopper's shotgun while protecting the kids from the creature, then later shot at Billy with a stolen Russian handgun, albeit with little success. Wheeler's accuracy has improved, as when she went up against Vecna she managed to shoot him 4 times to the left, right side shoulders, stomach till the fifth shot blew him out the window of his lair.
*Improvised Weapon Proficiency: She is also capable of utilizing objects for improvised weaponry. As she 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. 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.
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*The character's name might be inspired by "Nancy Wheeler", a character in Judy Blume's 1970 book, Are You there God? It's Me, Margaret.
*Bruce Lowe refers to Nancy as "Nancy Drew", a fictional character from the titular books.
==External Links==
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