Dimension X

Spoiler Warning! This article or section reveals details from Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Read at your own discretion...

This topic might have a better name. Dimension X currently lacks an official in-universe name or nickname (the name "Dimension X" comes from behind the scenes/production materials) If this changes, this page should be renamed. Talk about it here.

"Dimension X"
Other names	A Realm Unspoiled by Mankind (by Vecna)
Type	Alternate dimension
Inhabitants	The Mind Flayer Vecna Demogorgons Demobats Vines

A mysterious alternate dimension existed in parallel to the human world. This dimension had an unclear relationship to a similar alternate dimension known as the Upside Down; the two dimensions were visually distinct to one another, but contained the same creatures and lifeforms.

The dimension was characterised by desolate landscapes inflected with vines, with clusters of rocks floating above in a "scorched sky". The vines, a race of humanoid predators, a flying bat-like species and a dark, floating mass of sentient particles were all known to inhabit the dimension.

Upon being banished to Dimension X in 1979, Henry Creel came to view the dimension as a "realm unspoiled by mankind", and went on to create or seize control of the hive mind psychically linking all life within the dimension. Though apparently having some relationship to the Upside Down, Dimension X's potential role in the Upside Down's invasion of Hawkins is still unclear.

History

SPOILERS AHEAD  for  The First Shadow  and  Stranger Things VR

1943

The USS Eldridge, a US navy ship, was used in the secret government experiments known as both "Project Rainbow" and the Philadelphia Experiment. On October 28, 1943, the vessel went missing; the vessel had traveled to Dimension X, with most of the crew being killed in the process. Only Dr. Martin Brenner's father survived the disaster; on his deathbed, he finally divulged the truth about the incident to his son.

1950s

Following the Philadelphia Experiment incident, Dr. Brenner and his staff began work on the "Nevada Experiment", an attempt to reproduce what had happened to the Eldridge in 1943. The government facility that hosted the experiments was located in or around Rachel, Nevada. However, a rogue staff member defected and stole essential equipment from Brenner, hiding the equipment inside a nearby cave system.

According to one account, it was this equipment which changed the trajectory of Henry Creel's life forever. Henry, who was only a small child, was exploring the Nevada caves one day while playing with his spyglass. While exploring, Henry stumbled across the scientific equipment; the technology unexpectedly activated, transporting Henry and the rogue staff member to Dimension X, killing the staff member in the process. In the alternate world, Henry saw glimpses of strange creatures and was exposed to the influence of a shadowy entity.

Henry survived the ordeal and eventually returned home after 12 hours, but with wildly different blood, and an altered personality. Brenner later recovered the stolen equipment, also finding the spyglass belonging to Henry. Brenner was able to eventually track down Henry thanks to the dropped spyglass, and would eventually make him the first of a new series of test subjects at Hawkins Lab.

According to this account, it was Henry’s exposure to Dimension X and/or the Mind Flayer at a young age that led him to develop special psychokinetic abilities. This appears to contradict Henry's own account of events, in which Henry apparently discovered the Mind Flayer and Dimension X at a much later stage in his life.

1979

Henry's banishment

On September 8, 1979, Henry, now an orderly at Hawkins Lab, tricked test subject Eleven into removing an implant in his neck that was suppressing his abilities. A vengeful Henry then used his restored powers to murder all the other test subjects. He attempted to do the same to Eleven, but she stood her ground and ultimately overpowered him.

A Gate unexpectedly opens in the Rainbow Room

Eleven used her powers to pin Henry against the wall of the Rainbow Room and started to disintegrate his body; however, an inter-dimensional gate then appeared in the wall and transported Henry away, before sealing up and disappearing again.

1979-1983

A realm unspoiled by mankind

The twin planes

Henry gives form to the Mind Flayer

Henry was jettisoned to a strange space between dimensions. For an unknown period of time, he fell between two parallel planes; he was constantly electrocuted by lightning leaping across the twin planes. The damage inflicted by the lightning marked the beginning of a bodily transformation; from this point on, Henry slowly morphed into a form barely recognizable as human.

Some point after surviving his fall, Henry exited the inter-dimensional space and entered Dimension X. Though the alternative account of Henry's life showed that Henry had visited this dimension once before as a child, Henry seemed to have no memory of this as an adult. At first, Henry believed the dimension to be a kind of ‘purgatory’, but he soon changed his mind, coming to view it instead as “a realm unspoiled by mankind”. Henry began to traverse the alien terrain, encountering “so many things”, including a species of faceless humanoid predators.

Eventually, Henry discovered “the most extraordinary thing of all”: a living organism made up of swirling, storm-like particles. Using his abilities, Henry formed a psychic connection to the particles. Recalling the giant spider-like "predator" he had envisioned as a child, Henry used his powers to reconstitute the particles into a giant, spider-like entity with a flame-shaped head. In time, this being would become known as the Mind Flayer.

With the Mind Flayer at his side, Vecna’s powers expanded. The Mind Flayer’s body could split into smaller pieces while sharing a collective consciousness. These smaller pieces could possess other creatures and beings, tying them to the same core consciousness; through the Mind Flayer, Vecna could connect various lifeforms to a shared hive mind, with Vecna's will apparently at the top of the chain.

A familiar figure

When Henry initially encountered the shadowy entity in Dimension X, the entity first - either literally, or just in Henry's visions - adopted the voice and form of Alice, Virginia and Victor before eventually adopting the persona of Dr. Brenner. The entity claimed it wanted to "study" Henry, and that he was the "most magnificent thing" it had ever encountered. The entity encouraged Henry to take control of the various Demogorgons that roamed the landscape, which Henry achieved by systematically penetrating the mind of each individual creature.

Henry and the entity developed a complicated relationship via psychic connection; Henry repeatedly attempted to seize full control over the entity and the hive mind, but the entity would retaliate, forcing Henry to re-experience troubling memories.

1983

Making contact

After the massacre and Henry's disappearance, Eleven became the sole focus of Dr. Brenner. In a series of experiments, Eleven would be immersed in a deep psychic state via sensory deprivation tank. She could observe people in different physical locations while in this frame of mind. Brenner sought to use this power to spy on enemy Russians.

Eleven makes contact

The Mothergate opens

While Eleven eavesdropped on a Russian spy from within her mental void, she accidentally encountered a monster. At Brenner's request, Eleven made psychic contact with the Monster - and by extension, Vecna’s hive mind - on November 6, 1983, while the creature fed off a large, yellow egg.

In the moment contact was established, a second gate cracked open in the wall of the tank room. However, this gate lead to a completely different-looking dimension than Dimension X; this new dimension was a perfect physical copy of the human world, albeit one that was "frozen" on November 6, 1983, and inflected with Dimension X’s spores, vines and creatures. This place would soon become known as "the Upside Down".

It remains unclear if Dimension X persisted beyond Eleven’s moment of contact, or if it transformed to become the Upside Down.

Behind the scenes

In the teleplay for "The Piggyback", and in Michael Maher, Jr's concept art, the location is described as "Dimension X".

Maher’s concept art originally emphasized a link between the Mind Flayer’s particles and the dimension’s floating rocks, saying that the particles had an "anti-gravity" element to them. However, this concept was ultimately cut from "The Piggyback", since it would take too long to explain and detract from the rest of the scene.

It remains to be seen whether Dimension X is wholly separate from the Upside Down, or an earlier version of the same dimension.

Trivia

• A similarly named Dimension X appears in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, though it does not appear in the TMNT x Stranger Things crossover.

Gallery

For this subject's gallery, see Dimension X/Gallery.