Angela

**Angela**, portrayed by Elodie Grace Orkin, is a recurring antagonist in the fourth season of *Stranger Things*.

Angela was the 'queen bee' of Lenora Hills High School. She would frequently bully fellow student Jane "El" Hopper, ganging up on her with the help of her boyfriend Jake and her close friends Stacy and Chad.

When Angela got in trouble for destroying El's class project, Angela and her friends decided to get payback by humiliating El at the local roller rink. Unfortunately, following the incident, El finally lost her temper with Angela and struck her in the face, giving Angela a concussion where she was left overwhelmed and in pain.

## History

### Early Life

Angela was born around 1970 or 1971, and presumably grew up in Lenora Hills, California. By the Fall of 1985, she was a freshman at Lenora Hills High School, gaining popularity, a friend group, and a boyfriend, Jake. During this year, two new students from Hawkins, Indiana, arrived at Lenora Hills, Eleven (who was publicly using the name **Jane Hopper**) and her stepbrother, Will Byers. Angela and her posse quickly took it upon herself to make Eleven miserable.

### 1986

On March 21, the last day of school before spring break, each student in Angela's history class was required to give an oral presentation about an historical hero, using a visual aid. When Eleven arrived and sat down, Jake blew a spitball at her through a straw, and laughed with Angela at the expression on her face. Visibly shaken but able to remain calm, Eleven wiped her cheek and tried to ignore them.

Later during their class, Angela presented on Helen Keller, using a slideshow with the help of Jake, and received applause from the class and the teacher, Mrs. Gracey. When Eleven was selected to present next, Angela sarcastically clapped with the class as Eleven stood up. Eleven had made a diorama of her father, Jim Hopper, and the cabin that they both lived in together. As she struggled to say the word "diorama", Jake took advantage of this by calling it "diarrhea", causing the class to errupt in laughter until Ms. Gracey told them to quiet down. Swallowing, Eleven continued and talked about the traps her father made and a pet squirrel she named "Mr. Fibley", causing the class to giggle even more.

Embarrassed, Eleven began to stumble over her words when Angela raised her hand. Mrs. Gracey asked if she could wait until Eleven's presentation was over to ask questions, but Angela framed her question as being one about the guidelines of the project. She pointed out that it was supposed to have been about a famous historical figure. Eleven said that her father was famous since he was in a paper, but Angela smugly asked if she meant her local town paper, causing the class to laugh. Eleven, fighting back tears, said her father was a hero because he died saving lives in a mall fire. Angela, realizing she was likely giving a bad impression, saved face by saying that was not what she had meant and just wanted clarity on the assignment. Reluctantly, Mrs. Gracey admitted that Angela was technically correct, but that she would permit Eleven to do her project on her father. By this time, however, Angela's words had already cut deep in Eleven.

Later that day, Eleven walked across the campus when Angela tripped her and caused her to drop her project. She and her posse laughed as Angela sarcastically asked if "Mr. Fibley was okay". As they walked off, Jake kicked Eleven's project to Chad, Angela's other friend, and he stomped on it, destroying the cabin and her figurine of Hopper. Though she did not take part in the destruction, Angela laughed when she saw what had taken place. Furious, Eleven called out to her and attempted to use her powers in a fit of rage. She screamed as she pointed her hand at Angela, but nothing else happened. Genuinely puzzled by her actions, Angela asked what that was supposed to be, causing her, her friends, and the crowd that gathered around her to laugh uncontrollably, further embarrassing Eleven. The laughter died down when Mrs. Gracey made her way through the crowd and asked if Eleven was okay and if someone purposely destroyed her project. Eleven lied, saying she accidentally tripped and stared down at the ground, but Ms. Gracey realized the truth when she found Angela and her crew avoiding eye contact. Ms. Gracey, angered, took Angela by the arm and led her to the principal's office. Angela said she didn't do anything and called for Eleven, asking her to tell Ms. Gracey that she was innocent, but Eleven was too upset to say anything.

The next day, Angela, Jake, Stacy, and Chad arrived at Rink-O-Mania and saw Eleven skating with a boy they did not recognize. Jake asked who the "twig" was, and Angela said while she doesn't know, she concluded that "the snitch" had a boyfriend and began hatching a plan. Later on, Eleven sat with her boyfriend, Mike, and Will drinking milkshakes, when Angela and her friends skated up to their table. Angela asked Eleven why she had been hiding her boyfriend, and Eleven nervously introduced her to Mike. Mike, having been falsely told by Eleven that Angela was her friend, said it was nice to meet Eleven's new friends.

Angela, taking advantage of this, told Eleven she wanted her to skate with them. Eleven protested, using her unfinished milkshake as an excuse, but Jake forcefully snatched her milkshake and said he would hold onto it for her. Angela then grabbed Eleven by the arm and led her to the roller rink. Will, noticing what was occurring, saw Chad holding a video camera. Eleven looked apprehensive, but Angela mockingly said that they were just having fun as she led her to the center of the rink. She instructed her to stay put, then skated off. The music playing was cut off when the DJ dedicated the next song to Eleven, "the local snitch". As the song, *Wipe Out*, was put on, Angela's friends began circling Eleven on the rink as they called her a "freak", "loser", and "crybaby". As Eleven began to tear up and cover her ears, Chad recorded the humiliation as Angela and her posse continue to circle her. After Mike told the DJ to turn off the music, the circle around Eleven disbanded as the DJ yelled, "Wipeout!" and Jake threw the milkshake on Eleven's dress, causing her to fall backwards. The crowd began to laugh and Angela smugly skated up to her and condescendingly reminded her that food was forbidden on the rink. Eleven was left to pick herself and skate away in tears as the crowd and Angela taunted her, prompting her to disappear into the storage closet.

Angela and her friends laughed over the video they recorded until Eleven angrily stormed out and confronted Angela and blamed her for ruining her day. Angela mockingly asked if she embarrassed her in front of her boyfriend. Eleven tearfully commanded her to apologize and tell Mike it was a joke and that they were in fact friends. Angela then teasingly asked if Eleven would do her "mean stare" again if she didn't comply, causing her crew to snicker. Angela said she was sorry that Eleven couldn't cry to a teacher so suggested she should cry to her father instead. Faking surprise, she then "realized" that she could not do that either and smugly walked away with her posse. Enraged, Eleven followed from behind, grabbing a skate from a boy and calling out to Angela. When the girl turned around, Eleven bludgeoned her face with the skate, knocking her to the floor and causing her to scream.

Shocked and horrified by what Eleven did, Jake and her friends asked if she was alright and moved to help her up, only to find that Angela's nose had a gash and was gushing blood. Eleven, snapping back to reality, realized what she had done as a crowd, including Mike and Will, gathered in shock. Still on the floor, Angela began to wail in pain and distress. Soon, an ambulance arrived, with a paramedic asking an incoherent Angela questions concerning her memories and what parts of her face hurt. Mike, Eleven, and Will were picked up by Eleven and Will's brother Jonathan Byers and his friend Argyle where Eleven felt incredibly guilty for her actions as Angela was presumably taken to a hospital.

The next morning, two police officers arrived at the Byers home to arrest Eleven for assaulting Angela, who was revealed to have suffered a grade 2 concussion from the incident. Due to her foster mother being out of town, Eleven could not be bailed out and was sentenced to be taken to a juvenile detention center. However, the van was stopped on the way by several vehicles containing federal agents, led by Dr. Sam Owens. Dr. Owens and the agents demanded custody of Eleven, and moved her to their own vehicle. That evening, Eleven and Dr. Owens talked in a diner. Eleven asked if she was in trouble for the altercation with Angela, but Sam comforted her and told her he would make the charges against Eleven go away immediately.

## Personality

Angela was a popular and confident girl. However, she had a very cruel and vindictive personality. She had no qualms bullying Eleven, taking advantage of her timid nature and ruthlessly humiliating her while never bothering to leave her alone. Angela seemed to possess no morals between right and wrong where she was quite shocked when she got sent to the principal's office, claiming she did not do anything wrong while ignoring the fact that she encouraged her boyfriend and friends to destroy Eleven's project. While she knew better than to throw Jake or her friends under the bus, Angela cowardly begged Eleven to back up, believing Eleven would help her, despite having bullied her. Angela was even shown to harbor grudges and be very illogical, calling Eleven a snitch despite the latter not having told on her and missing the point that it was Angela herself who got caught in the act. Angela also held no remorse for her cruel actions and did not hesitate to violate boundaries; she mocked Eleven's presumed deceased father, which led to Eleven retaliating, striking her in the face with a roller skate.

## Relationships

### Non-Familial

**Jake**

Jake was Angela's boyfriend. Although they apparently agreed on practically everything, he was destructive while she wasn't, which she didn't do anything to stop due to finding it amusing. While they do not show a lot of affection towards each other, Jake did show concern for Angela when she was struck in the face by an enraged El after their cruelty caused her to reach her breaking point.

**Eleven**

When Eleven moved to Lenora Hills and became a student at her school, Angela chose her as her prime target, humiliating and bullying her every chance she got. Though Eleven did her best to ignore Angela and her friends, she was often hurt by their cruelty. Angela had absolutely no boundaries in messing with her, belittling Eleven for talking about her father being a hero and humiliating her in front of Mike, Eleven's boyfriend. When Angela taunted Eleven about her father's death, El snapped and struck Angela in the face with a roller skate in a fit of rage, giving Angela a grade 2 concussion and a large, bloody cut on her nose. Upon realizing what Eleven did to her after pushing her to her breaking point, Angela cried in distress and pain.

## Quotes

* "I just don't think that's what Ms. Gracey meant by 'historical'. This is supposed to be about famous people?"
* "I didn't do anything! Tell her, Jane! Tell her!"
* "I don't know. But it looks like that the snitch has a boyfriend."
* "Milkshakes? Yum! Where oh where have you been hiding this handsome thing?"
* "Didn't you see the sign, dummy? No food or drinks on the rink."
* "Sorry you can't cry to teacher today. You'll just have to cry to your daddy instead. Oh, wait, you can't do that either."

## Trivia

* Angela was possibly inspired by Stephen King's *Carrie* character Chris Hargensen as they like bullying the protagonist who happens to possess telekinetic powers (Angela tormenting Eleven and Chris tormenting Carrie White).
	+ Angela also vaguely parallels Two, who has bullied Eleven and would later receive punishment.
* Angela's presentation on Helen Keller was hypocritical. Angela praised Keller specifically for how she demonstrated that disabled people shouldn't be dismissed and insulted, but Angela was cruel towards those with social issues.
* Angela is the third person on the show to make fun of someone else's death; the first being Troy Walsh and the second being Larry Kline.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 EXCLUSIVE: Details on Some New Faces Set to Appear Around Hawkins High in ‘STRANGER THINGS’ Season 4
2. ↑ ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 First-Look Photos Revealed by Netflix