Heather Holloway

— Heather to her father

**Heather Holloway**, portrayed by Francesca Reale, was a recurring character, and later an antagonist, in the third season of *Stranger Things*. She was a lifeguard at the Hawkins Community Pool and a co-worker of Billy Hargrove.

During the summer of 1985, Heather became a member of the Flayed after being kidnapped by a possessed Billy. She helped Billy flay more people (including her parents) until her death at the hands of the Mind Flayer.

## History

### Background

Heather Holloway was the daughter of Tom and Janet Holloway. Born in 1967, she was presumably raised in Hawkins, Indiana for most of her life. During the summer of 1985, Heather became a lifeguard at the Hawkins Community Pool where she became co-workers with Billy Hargrove.

### 1985

At the Hawkins Community Pool, Karen Wheeler and her friends would eagerly wait for Heather's shift as lifeguard to be over, as after her came Billy, who was extremely attractive towards the women at the pool.

During one of her shifts, she found Billy acting strange and goes to check on him. This proved to be a bad idea as Billy abducted her and brings her to the Mind Flayer, where she is converted into one of the Flayed. Her conversion is also heard by Eleven when she is spying on Billy, but she does not see Heather or the Mind Flayer.

Eleven used her powers to track down Heather after they figure out she's missing, and find her in a tub of ice, with Heather popping out begging for help, jump scaring Eleven and then falling through the floor in the Void.

When Max and Eleven go to Heather's house, they found Billy with her parents Tom Holloway and Janet Holloway. Heather came out of the kitchen offering Eleven and Max a cookie, which they refuse and then leave. Janet later does not feel so good, spilled her wine, and goes to lie down, only to fall to the floor unconscious because of Billy and Heather had drugged the drinks. When Tom goes to check on her, Heather picked up an empty bottle and knocked him out with it. They then dragged them to the garage, restrained them, and take them to the Mind Flayer, where they were then converted into the Flayed.

Later, Heather tended to Billy's injuries after his fight with Eleven, with Billy commenting on how Eleven, Max, Mike, Will, and Lucas know that he was now Flayed. Heather responded that they don't know about more individuals of having been Flayed by the Mind Flayer.

Later, the Party figured out that the Mind Flayer possessed more people (thus dubbing them as "Flayed"), and realized that Heather was among those people.

On July 4th, Heather and her mom were summoned by the Mind Flayer to Brimborn Steel Works where she was melted by the Mind Flayer and merging with it to make it stronger, along with her mom, Mrs. Driscoll, and the rest of the Flayed, thus killing her.

### Legacy

A year after Heather's death, she was one of the few people mentioned by Jason Carver during his speech before a basketball game at Hawkins High School. He listed her as one of the individuals killed in the fire of Starcourt Mall.

## Personality

Heather was a sweet and sensitive girl who hung out with and worked alongside Billy as a lifeguard at the Hawkins Community Pool. She seemed to be both sympathetic towards and harbor some degree of feelings for Billy, prior to her abduction by him, as evidenced by both her flirtatious remarks towards him while walking past him during their shift switches, as well as her concern for his mental state while he was hallucinating due to his implantation by the Mind Flayer.

After her abduction by Billy and conversion into one of the Flayed, her personality became very one note and almost like an exaggerated version of her prior personality. She quickly became completely subservient to the will of the Mind Flayer, leading to the development of sociopathic tendencies as evidenced by the remorseless assault, abduction, and conversion of her parents by herself and Billy.

By the end of her life, she became totally devoted to the cause of the Flayed, which ultimately led to her death.

## Powers and Abilities

Heather gained the following abilities after becoming one of the Flayed:

* **Hive Mind**: After being possessed by the Mind Flayer, Heather was connected to it and the rest of the Flayed and can communicate with them in multiple ways.
* **Enhanced Strength**: Much like Billy, Heather gained more strength once she became one of the Flayed, which made it easier to capture others to bring to the Mind Flayer. She was also able to effortlessly lift a wine bottle with her right hand and knock out her father with it. Heather also became slightly more muscular after getting flayed.
* **Enhanced Durability**: Heather also gained more durability. We can see just how durable she might have been through Billy, as he also gained these abilities from the Mind Flayer and used them to escape the sauna and Eleven's grip.

## Relationships

* Billy Hargrove (co-worker) †
* Tom Holloway (father) †
* Janet Holloway (mother) †
* Nancy Wheeler (classmate)

## Family tree

*note: family trees are only visible on desktop.*

## Quotes

— Heather, in Billy's hallunicaton.

— Heather to Billy before he captures her.

## Behind the scenes

Her character was revealed in 2018 where Heather was described to be "a lifeguard at the community pool who becomes the centerpiece of a dark mystery."

## Trivia

* If Heather's age in the script of "Suzie, Do You Copy?" is accurate, it means her birthday is between June 30, 1966 and June 29, 1967.
* Heather is the second Hawkins High student killed during the events of the series (the first being Barbara Holland).
* After "The Mall Rats", Heather starts to wear a watch.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Suzie, Do You Copy?" script