Fred Benson

**Fred Benson**, portrayed by Logan Riley Bruner, was a recurring character in the fourth season of *Stranger Things*. He was a student at Hawkins High School, and worked on the school newspaper.

## History

### 1985

At some point in 1985, Fred was in a car accident which killed another student. He sustained facial injuries himself in this accident, which caused a scar on his left cheek. He was wracked with guilt overnight.

### 1986

Fred joined his classmate and fellow journalist Nancy Wheeler to investigate the Forest Hills Trailer Park, where Chrissy Cunningham was murdered, knowing such an event would bring his article about the Hawkins Tigers basketball team winning their tournament to shame. They were stopped by Hawkins Police before they could enter the trailer park, at which point Vecna began to manipulate Fred's mind. Fred hallucinated that the officer was saying that Fred was a murderer, and he watched in horror as the officer's face become disfigured. In his vision, he felt the scar on his own face grew larger and more obvious. Suddenly, the vision ended and Fred snapped back to reality.

While Nancy was speaking to Wayne Munson about Chrissy's murder, Fred heard the ticking of a clock behind him, in the woods. Following the sound, he investigated the woods and found a coffin with a grandfather clock lying on top of it. He was suddenly surrounded by undead-looking mourners, accusing him of being a murderer. Terrified, Fred ran away.

By nightfall, Fred reached the road where the car accident had occurred the previous year, and suffered from another hallucination. He hallucinated that he was back at the accident, and that the dead man was crawling out of the burning wreckage. Alarmed, Fred stumbled backwards and fell into an open grave. Vecna then appeared, taunting him, and killed him through the same method he killed Chrissy. The following morning, Fred's corpse was found lying on the highway.

### Legacy

After Fred's death, both Nancy and Max Mayfield would see Fred's corpse in Vecna's Mindspace, along with the bodies of Chrissy and Patrick McKinney, bound to tall pillars by various tentacles and vines.

Dr. Sam Owens would later show Eleven a picture of Fred's corpse along with Chrissy Cunningham and Patrick McKinney, suggesting that Vecna was letting them know he was back.

## Personality

Fred seemed to be just a stereotypical 80's nerd who is clever and yet kind-hearted. However, he showed quite a bit of wit and snark towards Nancy, typically in regard to Jonathan Byers. He was intelligent and passionate for journalism, to the point that Nancy invites him along to investigate the murder of Chrissy, with her. Unlike the reporters at the Hawkins Post, Fred treated Nancy with respect. Though Fred appeared to be bright and level-headed, he harbored extreme guilt for his role in the fatal 1985 car accident, and believed many people look at him as a "murderer." This guilt and mental unrest made him a target of Vecna.

## Relationships

**Nancy Wheeler**

Nancy and Fred seem to have a positive working relationship, as both work on Hawkins High School's *The Weekly Streak* newspaper. They seem to have enough of a positive friendship for her to invite him along, to investigate the death of Chrissy Cunningham. He annoys her with his questions about her relationship to Jonathan. After they arrive at the scene, he is lead to the woods by Vecna and Nancy becomes worried. When Fred's corpse is found, along the highway, she is visibly distraught. She is also shocked to find his strung-up corpse within Vecna's mindspace, when she is possessed, days later.

## Appearances

 Dear Billy\*

\*Corpse can be seen/flashback

## Memorable Quotes

**To Nancy**: "Somebody is testy! Curious."

**To Nancy**: “And yet, he’s so nervous about this acceptance letter, he doesn’t have time to visit the number one most desired girl in Hawkins?”

## Gallery

Fred's hallucination of the Hawkins Police tormenting him about the accident.Fred hearing the clock chime.Fred finding the clock embedded in a coffinFred's visionFred's hallucination of the car accident.Fred begins to Float.Fred faces down Vecna, resulting in his death.Fred's corpse along the highway, following his death.Fred's corpse being covered by a white bag in the morning.Fred’s body in Vecna’s lair
## Trivia

* Fred shares the same name of the one of main characters from the Nickelodeon/Paramount Plus show, *iCarly*, as well as a professional soccer player.
* Fred's death was shown in greater detail on screen unlike those of Vecna's other victims, Chrissy and Patrick.
* Fred seemingly has a crush on Nancy due to his quote “-number one most desired girl in all of Hawkins-“

## References

1. ↑ Dr. Owens's files in "Papa"
2. ↑ ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 First-Look Photos Revealed by Netflix