"We acquire more knowledge." This article or section needs to be updated. Info from The First Shadow and Flight of Icarus needs to be added.
|
“ | After Sara... I saw her too. And I heard her. I didn't know what was real. And then I figured out that it was in my mind, and I had to pack all that away... otherwise I was gonna fall down a hole, that I couldn't get out of.
— Jim Hopper, November 9, 1983
|
” |
James Hopper Jr,[2] also known as Jim Hopper, is a main character in Stranger Things. He is portrayed by David Harbour.
Hopper was Chief of Police in the small, sleepy town of Hawkins, Indiana, where he used to live out a carefree existence, though forever haunted by his past. After an old friend, Joyce Byers, reported that her son, Will, had mysteriously disappeared, Hopper's life became infinitely more complicated. He began to unravel a conspiracy involving the nearby Hawkins National Laboratory, discovering the lab had conducted experiments that accidentally opened a gate to an alternate dimension. During their investigations, Hopper and Joyce met Eleven, the escaped child test subject who unwittingly opened the gate using special psychokinetic abilities. Eventually, Hopper and Joyce were permitted to travel through the gate and search for Will in the alternate dimension, where they successfully located, revived and rescued him.
Later that year, Hopper discovered that Eleven, presumed to be deceased, was actually alive, fending for herself in the woods. He decided to take her in, providing a home for her in his cabin, and did everything in his power to hide her from the authorities. After local crops began to rot in October 1984, Hopper discovered that mysterious tunnels beneath Hawkins were the source of the decay. Dr. Owens, the new head of Hawkins Lab, reluctantly informed him that the interdimensional gate beneath the facility was actively growing in size, and in turn corrupting the surrounding environment. Later, Hopper and Owens were took off-guard when a pack of adolescent Demogorgons called "Demodogs" hailing from the alternate dimension attacked the laboratory, with Hopper and his allies only narrowly surviving. The immediate threat was neutralized when Eleven, accompanied by Hopper, returned to the laboratory; Eleven sealed the Gate with her special abilities, cutting off the connection to what she called "the Upside Down". In the months that followed, Hawkins Lab was shut down, with Hopper watching as cement filled in the last traces of the Gate. With Owens's help, Hopper was able to officially adopt Eleven, her legal name becoming "Jane Hopper".
In June 1985, Hopper and Joyce began investigating a vast conspiracy involving the corrupt mayor, suspicious activity at the local power grid, and the newly-built Starcourt Mall. After taking the Russian scientist Dr. Alexei hostage and meeting the Russian-speaking journalist Murray Bauman, Hopper learned that a secret Soviet base had been built under Starcourt Mall; the base housed an experimental technology which could pry open the already-weakened fabric of reality in Hawkins, Indiana. Hopper, Joyce and Murray later infiltrated the secret base and set out to disable the Soviet machine. Though they achieved this goal, it came at a heavy cost; Hopper was captured by the Soviets and was presumed deceased by Joyce and the rest of Hawkins. The Soviets tortured him for information and forced him into servitude at their prison camp in Kamchatka.
By March 1986, Hopper had struck up a complicated friendship with security guard Dmitri Antonov, who decided to help him escape. Antonov sent a package containing a hidden message to Joyce, which prompted her and Murray to travel to Russia in an effort to free him. Hopper and Antonov, punished for Hopper's attempt to escape, were later forced to fight one of the Soviet-captured Demogorgons; Hopper and Dmitri were able to evade the creature's wrath and escape the facility with the help of Joyce and Murray. However, the group later returned to the prison after learning of a new evil from the Upside Down imperilling Hawkins; they hoped to kill the captured Demogorgons and by extension, deal damage to the Upside Down's hive mind. After some time, Hopper, Joyce and Murray managed to achieve this, with Antonov and Yuri Ismaylov arriving by helicopter to take them back to America. Upon his return to Hawkins, Hopper and Eleven happily reunited before watching in horror as four newly-opened gates spewed plumes of smoke and the Upside Down's spores across Hawkins.
Quick Answers
What is the full name of the character known as Jim Hopper in Stranger Things?
Who portrays the character of Jim Hopper in Stranger Things?
What was Jim Hopper's profession in the town of Hawkins, Indiana?
Who reported the mysterious disappearance of her son to Jim Hopper in Stranger Things?
What conspiracy does Jim Hopper begin to unravel in Stranger Things?
History[]
Background[]
James "Jim" Hopper was born sometime between August 1941 and July 1942, to James Hopper Sr and an unnamed mother.[1][2] Hopper reveals that he and his father didn't get along when he was a teenager, who was a police chief. His grandfather resided in a cabin in the nearby woods for some time until his death, and the cabin soon became a storage unit. In middle school, Jim developed a distaste for science after having an unpleasant teacher named Ms. Ratliff.
Jim started to attend Hawkins High School in 1957, alongside Joyce Maldonado and Bob "The Brain" Newby. Joyce and Hopper were extremely close, ditching class and smoking cigarettes during fifth and sixth period; on one occasion, they were caught smoking by their teacher Mr. Cooper, prompting them to giddily run away.
Jim was somewhat of a 'ladies man' during his high school years. On one occasion, he lied to his mother about being on the debate team, when he was really having sex with a girl named Chrissy Carpenter in the back of his father's Oldsmobile. At some point in ninth grade, which was around 1956-1957, he was stood up by a girl named Alice Gilbert.
At some point, Jim became good friends with Benny Hammond.
In or around 1959, an 18-year-old Jim Hopper received an induction letter from the US Military, informing him he had been drafted to fight in Vietnam; he saw the war as his opportunity to finally prove his worth to his father. Sometime later, Hopper was sent to Vietnam; after arriving and testing well, Hopper was placed in the Chemical Corps. On some occasions, Jim and his compatriots would have to mix up 55-gallon drums of Agent Orange with kitchen gloves; other times, they were exposed to the toxic gas while cleaning out buffalo turbines, "just inhaling the stuff" due to never wearing masks. Their superiors told them the chemicals weren't weapons, but tad more than "harmless" herbicide. The health effects of mixing Agent Orange led to the deaths and illnesses of many of Hopper's friends and their children, some of whom were stillborn.
After returning to America, Jim, now a decorated veteran, met a woman named Diane.[3] In April of 1971, a child was born to the couple, whom they named Sara. The couple married in 1972 and moved to New York, where Jim worked in the police force. Jim and Sara were extremely close, playing in the park and reading books together. However, Sara was diagnosed with cancer sometime between 1977-1978. Despite receiving cutting-edge chemotherapy treatment, Sara was unable to recover, passing away at a young age. Hopper, knowing exposure to Agent Orange was the probable cause of Sara's cancer, blamed himself for choosing to have a child, despite being aware of the risks.[4]
After her passing, Jim and Diane divorced. Jim, devastated, wore Sara's hairband around his wrist as a memento and soon moved back to Hawkins in 1979 where he became Police Chief at Hawkins Police Department, a largely carefree occupation due to the town's low crime rate. Hopper started to rely on alcohol and prescription medication to get through his days and began sleeping around with women much younger than himself.
1983[]
November[]
Investigating Will's disappearance[]
On November 6, 1983, Joyce's son Will Byers disappeared. Joyce came to Hopper the next day to report the case. Initially Hopper did not take the case too seriously. He suggested Will was probably playing "hookie" when talking to Joyce at the police station; however, he soon realized the situation was much more complicated than it initially appeared and would require a deep and thorough investigation.
Hopper entered Hawkins Middle School and briefly discussed Will with his friends Mike, Lucas, and Dustin. The boys, worried, argued with each other, causing the chief to get impatient and make statements one at a time and Mike informed him that Will had taken the road where Cornwallis and Kerley meet on his way home the previous night. Hopper, then ordered the boys to return back home after school and not go out searching for Will.
Hopper looked along the road with Officers Powell and Callahan hoping to find evidence, eventually finding Will's bicycle on the side of the road. He theorized that Will had returned home due to the close vicinity to the Byers household. Hopper decided to investigate the house, where he found little evidence to support his theory. He investigated further, going into the garden shed where he heard strange noises before Callahan found him and Jim abruptly left telling him to call Flo and assemble a search party to look for Will. That night, Hopper saw Scott Clarke and he said that Will was a great student before formally introducing each other. When Scott said that he was a teacher at Hawkins Middle and taught Earth and Biology, Hopper said that he had a distaste for science and Scott suggested that he may have had a bad teacher, causing Jim to tell him that Ms. Ratliff was a "piece of work" and that his daughter knew the galaxy and whatnot, and when the teacher asked him if she could be placed into his class, Hopper lied to him that Sara lived in the city with her mother and thanked him for volunteering for searching for Will. The search party walked all the way to Cartersville and back but found nothing and the search party was called off because of a storm.
The next day, six hours later, Hopper headed over to the Byers house to check up on Joyce, informing her of the search results and taking a look at her "barbequed" phone and argued that the phone call was just a prank. Later that day, Hopper went to Sattler's Quarry and when Callahan got too close to the edge of the cliff, he told him to back up and joked that he needed him alive for the next few days and chatted with him before he was contacted by Flo and was told that she got a call from Benny's Burgers and suggested to him that, he get there right away. Jim went to Benny's Burgers and found Benny Hammond found dead inside, appearing to have committed suicide. Hopper then talked to Earl, as he had been present at the diner the day before. Earl told him about an incident involving a kid with a shaved head, who entered the diner and stole food from the kitchen. When pressed as to whether this child could've been Will but with a buzzcut, Earl agreed that it could've been.
At night, while searching for Will, Hopper and his co-workers found a torn piece of cloth from a hospital gown at the end of a drainpipe near the diner leading to Hawkins National Laboratory. Later that night, after sleeping with a local woman, an unsettled Hopper stood out on the trailer’s deck and lamented how he felt "cursed".
The next day, Hopper went to the laboratory with Powell and Callahan to investigate. He was allowed to see the security tapes from the night of Will's disappearance, but he noticed there was no storm on the tapes as there had been that night.
Hopper went to the public library with Powell to search newspapers, where he learned that the laboratory and Dr. Brenner had been involved in the experiments known as Project MKUltra. He began to believe that the lab was responsible for Will's disappearance, but Powell thought it was too big of a reach. They were then notified by Callahan to head over to the quarry.
Will's body was discovered in the quarry by State Police officer David O'Bannon, but Joyce insisted to him that the body wasn't her son and claimed that he was being hunted by a man with no face. Hopper dismissed these worries as grief-induced delusions, similar to delusions he experienced after the loss of his daughter.
Break-in at Hawkins Lab[]
Hopper became suspicious after talking to the local morgue's usual coroner, who informed him that state coroners had replaced him when examining the body. Hopper sought out David O'Bannon in a bar and discovered he was lying about the incident at the quarry. He beat him up to get more information about who told him to lie and saw that a black car was watching them. Hopper broke into the morgue, cutting open Will's body. He found that the body was stuffed with cotton. With his suspicions confirmed, he decided to break into the laboratory compound.
Inside the compound, Hopper broke into a high security area after confiscating a pass from one of the guards. He found a solitary confinement room containing a child-sized bed and a drawing on the wall. Delving deeper into the laboratory, he found a room overgrown with strange biologic matter, unfurling from a Gate to another dimension. He was knocked out by agents in hazmat suits before he could investigate further.
Hopper awoke the next morning in his own house, finding himself surrounded by empty beer cans and some drugs. However, Hopper was not fooled as he remembered last night's events before he was knocked unconscious. Hopper grabbed his gun and went outside, but could not spot any of the agents from the lab. Hopper went to his bathroom and while examining himself through a mirror, he noticed a prick on his neck, making him realize that he had been sedated. Hopper then searched thoroughly to find any hidden microphones in his house, destroying every piece of furniture in the process. He eventually managed to find one in a light above the ceiling and proceeded to destroy it, in order to prevent the lab from spying on him. He went directly to Joyce's house to explain all he knew and to apologize for not initially believing her. He also revealed his theory that he may have unintentionally been tracking down the daughter of Terry Ives the whole time he had been looking for Will.
Saving Will[]
The next day, arriving at Terry's house, Hopper and Joyce were greeted by her sister, Becky Ives, who recounted Terry's involvement in MKUltra. Hopper was disgusted to hear that Terry had been willingly paid to test drugs while concurrently being pregnant. He learned, to his surprise, that Terry had miscarried, although he was aware that the "miscarriage" may have been a cover-up, as with Will's fake body.
Hopper received notice from Powell that Will's elder brother Jonathan had been arrested for assaulting an officer. At the station, Hopper demanded that Jonathan be released but later learnt that he and Nancy had accumulated a box full of weapons in the trunk of his car. He worryingly learnt that he and Nancy had been preparing to fight the monster. Now fully aware that the government officials were descending on the town, Hopper attempted to contact the three friends of Will, and Jonathan suggested using Will's mobile radio. Hopper found the boys and Eleven in an abandoned bus located in a deserted junkyard, encountering and incapacitating several agents who were also looking for them. Hopper took El and the boys to the Byers' house.
Eleven attempted to contact Will and Barbara using her psychic abilities, but she was limited in what she could achieve. Dustin had the idea to create a makeshift sensory deprivation tank in order to amplify Eleven's abilities. The group broke into Hawkins Middle School, with Hopper and Jonathan fetching bags of de-icing salt as Dustin and Lucas set up a kiddie pool. Eleven entered the pool, and entering a deep psychic state. Eleven discovered that Barb had been killed, but she had found Will, barely clinging to his life.
In a desperate attempt to save the boy, Hopper traveled to the laboratory with Joyce in the hopes of entering the Upside Down via the Gate. They were apprehended before they entered the building.
Hopper and Joyce were separated and interrogated by Brenner, Agent Connie Frazier, and another agent. Hopper told them he was aware of the experimentation on Eleven and the fact that they had staged Barb's run-away. They threatened to kill Hopper and stage an overdose if he did not cooperate, but he realized they needed him to locate Eleven. He came to an "agreement" with them; they gave him and Joyce access to the Gate and promised the safety of the three boys, and in return he had to tell them Eleven's location.
As the laboratory officials left to apprehend Eleven, Hopper and Joyce were freed from confinement and allowed access through the Gate to the Upside Down, wearing hazmat suits. They walked through the woods, where Hopper found and briefly studied a mysterious egg. They looked on at the tattered remains of Castle Byers before continuing to the Byers household, where they found a trail of the monster's blood. Hopper and Joyce followed the trail to the town library, where they found Will strung up in webs of strange biologic matter, with a tendril extending down his throat. Hopper pulled out the tendril before shooting and destroying it. He coached Joyce through a combined CPR effort, which revived Will. They returned to their dimension, taking Will to the hospital immediately.
Hopper left through the back door of the hospital. As he began to walk away, a black car pulled up near him. After an agent got out of the car and indicated to him, Hopper entered the vehicle, which drove away to an unknown location.
December[]
A month later, Hopper left a Christmas party at the police station, taking some leftovers with him to give to Eleven. Driving out to Mirkwood on a snowy night, he placed the food, along with some Eggo waffles, in a concealed box before returning to his car.
1983-1984[]
Living with Eleven[]
In December, he was reunited with Eleven, having escaped from the Upside Down and found his box of food. He then took her to a cabin in the woods that would serve as their new home. Together, they cleaned the cabin and rigged nearby trees with trip wire to alert them of any intruders. In order for them to communicate safely, Hopper taught Eleven how to read and signal Morse code. Hopper created a set of rules for Eleven's safety, requiring her to always have the curtains drawn, to always have the door locked, and to never leave the cabin.
On December 22, Hopper stopped Robin Buckley on the road and offered her a ride home. He then drove off after she turned him down.
1984[]
October[]
Investigating the pumpkin rot[]
On October 30, Hopper was met by Murray Bauman, a private investigator, outside the police station. Initially, Hopper tried to brush him off, but when Murray mentioned a hypothetical "Russian girl with psionic abilities", Hopper, believing the child to be Eleven, agreed to give him five minutes to talk. Hopper listened as Murray tried to convince him of a Russian spy presence in Hawkins, eventually coming to the conclusion that Barbara Holland had been taken by Russians. As Murray was talking, Hopper received a phone call requesting that he investigate Merrill's pumpkin patch and had to leave, cutting their time short.
At the pumpkin patch, a strange rot had destroyed all the pumpkins. Merrill told Hopper he believed that Eugene had poisoned his field, though Hopper was skeptical of the idea. His attention was then drawn to a sound coming from the nearby cornfield. Hopper went to investigate the source of the noise, but was interrupted by a crow.
Later that day, Hopper met Joyce and Will at the lab, accompanying them during Will's medical exam. Will explained his episode that he had experienced at the arcade to Dr. Owens, telling him that an evil force wanted to kill everyone. Owens told Joyce and Hopper the reason for the increased number of episodes was because of the "Anniversary Effect". He advised them to just treat Will as normally as possible.
That night, Hopper arrived at the cabin late. This frustrated Eleven because Hopper did not signal to tell her ahead of time. After apologizing, the two then ate dinner together.
The next morning, Eleven tried to convince Hopper to let her go trick-or-treating, arguing that she wouldn't be seen by the bad men because of her ghost costume. Hopper refused, as it would have been too big of a risk. He then came up with a compromise, telling her he would get off work early and they'd watch a scary movie together. While not completely happy with the compromise, Eleven agreed to it.
Later, Hopper was called by Joyce to come over to her house where she showed him a strange drawing of a black monster that Will drew earlier. Hopper then began listening to Joyce where she questioned why Will would lie to her and began believing that Will's visions could be real due to how her son described his episodes to Dr. Owens. When Joyce suggested she take Will to see other doctors to treat him for his episodes, Hopper told her that they would just tell her the same thing Owens had been telling her and she would end up having financial problems. Hopper the discussed how he believed Owens was right about having trauma and even though their lives might not be the same again like it was before they entered the Upside Down, while reassuring her that everything will be fine. Hopper and Joyce then shared cigarettes together where they recalled their times in high school together before reminiscing their shared trauma.
At the police station, Hopper questioned Eugene about poisoning Merrill's pumpkins. He denied any involvement, and instead accused Merrill, since his, as well as several other local farmers' crops, had also succumbed to the same rot. At Eugene's field, Hopper discovered the rot had begun affecting nearby trees. As he was marking the affected area, he lost track of time, resulting in him arriving to the cabin late again. To make up for the candy, he, while driving, asked a girl if he could have some bribe her for some candy, and she said no, causing This angered Eleven, and when Hopper finally arrived at the cabin, she refused to come out of her room.
November[]
Exploring the tunnels[]
The following morning, Hopper managed to convince her to come out of her room. At breakfast, Eleven asked Hopper when she would be able to see Mike again. He tried to placate her by saying she'd be able to see him "soon," but Eleven grew impatient. She lashed out at Hopper and stormed away to her room, slamming the door.
Hopper realized that the rot was originating from Hawkins Lab. When he told Owens this, he dismissed Hopper's worries, assuring him that everything was contained. Hopper wasn't satisfied, and demanded that Owens convince him otherwise. They, along with a team of scientists, traveled to one of the contaminated pumpkin patches. While there, Hopper received a call from Powell, who had been called by a woman who had witnessed a strange girl manipulate her child's swing. Realizing this to be Eleven, he left the pumpkin patch and headed to the cabin.
When she arrived at the cabin, Eleven discovered Hopper waiting for her. The two got into an argument, with Hopper grounding her and revoking her television privileges. However, Eleven held the television in place with her powers, resulting in Hopper destroying the device's cord. Furious, Eleven told Hopper she hated him and went to her room. As Hopper reprimanded her and tried to convince her to open the door, she had a psychic tantrum, breaking all of the cabin's windows.
Before leaving for work the following morning, Hopper told Eleven he'd consider fixing the television if she cleaned up the mess she had made the night before. After heading to his car, he was informed by Flo that Joyce had been trying to contact him. After arriving at the Byers' house, Will explained to Hopper that he now knew things he hadn't before, through memories that "were happening all at once", which he called "now-memories". When Will couldn't make sense of these now-memories, Joyce asked him to draw what he saw. He began frantically drawing what at first appeared to be random scribbles, but Joyce and Hopper soon realized that the drawings were all connected. After assembling the drawings in the correct order, they discovered the drawings depicted a strange maze-like pattern. Assuming that the drawings depicted vines, Hopper made the connection to the pumpkin patch and left.
After digging a hole in the pumpkin patch's soil, Hopper descended into a subterranean tunnel overgrown with biological matter originating from the Upside Down. As he was exploring, he encountered a strange growth that sprayed some type of spore-spray in his face, causing him to lose consciousness.
When he awoke, he vomited a dark substance. Realizing he was trapped, Hopper continued through the tunnels looking for a way out. He eventually came to a point where several of the tunnels intersected, filled with several animal carcasses.
Discovering that the vines were vulnerable to fire, he fashioned a makeshift torch out of a piece of an animal carcass and one of his sleeves. As he futilely tried to dig a way out, he was overcome by exhaustion and stopped to rest. He was then ensnared in a mass of vines. Eventually, he was found by Joyce and Bob, who had discovered his predicament through Will's connection with the shadow monster. After Hopper was freed, soldiers from the lab arrived and urged them to leave shortly before burning the tunnels. Suddenly, Will, who was waiting above ground with Mike, collapsed and began convulsing on the ground.
Hopper, Joyce, Bob, and Mike were taken to Hawkins Lab, where Will was quickly treated. There, Dr. Owens showed Hopper how far the Gate had grown and been spreading beneath Hawkins as a series of network tunnels. Hopper asked him why they hadn't burned them yet, to which Dr. Owens replied that there was a complication.
Escaping Hawkins Lab[]
When Will awoke, he could not remember Hopper, Owens, or Bob, and was barely able to remember Mike. In a test involving a severed vine from the Upside Down, Owens asked if Will could feel anything as another scientist used a blowtorch to burn the vine. Through this, they determined that Will had some sort of "virus" that connected him to all other infected hosts in a hive intelligence.
Hopper, after recovering, used the radio to apologize to Eleven and acknowledged that he didn't want her to get hurt at all, though he was unaware that Eleven had already left the cabin. Back in the infirmary, Will claimed he knew of a way they could possibly stop the shadow monster. Using images that the lab personnel had taken of the map, Will directed the scientists to an area, stating "he doesn't want me to see there."
As soldiers traversed the tunnels with Hopper and Dr. Owens watching them from the control room, Will revealed that the shadow monster made him deceive the soldiers. Realizing it was a trap, Mike tried to warn the scientists, but it was too late; the soldiers were ambushed and killed by a pack of Demo-dogs. Shortly after, Demo-dogs began invading the lab. Hopper and Dr. Owens came out through the stairs. To prevent the shadow monster from knowing their location, Mike urged them to sedate Will. Once Will was unconscious, the group took refuge in a surveillance room, where they witnessed the lab being overrun by Demo-dogs before the power went out.
To restore the power and allow them a way out, Bob volunteered to go down to the basement and reset the breakers, but requested Hopper to get the group out of there and not wait for him. Once the power was restored and the doors unlocked, Mike, Joyce, Hopper, and Will made it to safety while Owens stayed behind to guide Bob. Just when it seemed Bob was safe, he was tackled and killed by several Demo-dogs. Joyce cried in terror but Hopper managed to bring her out of the Lab. Outside, the group met up with Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, Dustin, Lucas, and Max. Together, they escaped the lab.
At the Byers' house, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Max speculated about the shadow monster's weakness. When they realized that the shadow monster controlled everything in a hive mind, they compared it to the Mind Flayer, a monster from Dungeons & Dragons that similarly controls the minds of its victims. They also speculated that, if they killed the Mind Flayer, they would kill everything it controlled. Mike then proposed that, in order to discover the Mind Flayer's weakness, they'd have to take Will someplace he couldn't recognize and try to get through to him. After making the backyard shed unrecognizable, they attempt to interrogate Will. While the Mind Flayer had taken over a majority of Will's mind and body, a part of Will managed to subconsciously signal to them in Morse code. Deciphering his message, they discovered the way to stop the Mind Flayer: by closing the Gate. Soon after, the phone in the Byers' kitchen rang, giving away their location.
Closing the Gate[]
As the house was being surrounded by a pack of Demo-dogs, the group armed themselves. Before the pack could attack, however, to everyone's surprise, Eleven arrived and eradicated them. After a brief reunion with Eleven, Mike deduced that Hopper had been hiding Eleven away for almost a year and forbade her to contact him and as such, Hopper and Mike had an argument as he blamed Hopper. However, they reconciled quickly and together, the group came up with a plan: Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy would exorcise the Mind Flayer from Will's body while Eleven and Hopper would go to the lab and close the Gate.
While Hopper and Eleven were reaching the lab, Eleven revealed that she visited her mother but admitted that she shouldn't have left. In return, Hopper apologized to Eleven about his misbehavior, telling her that it was all his fault and that he was sorry for everything, as he thought he would have lost Eleven just like he'd lost his daughter. They both forgave each other as they held each other's hand.
At the lab, Hopper and Eleven came across Dr. Owens, heavily wounded but still alive. After Hopper patched him up, Hopper revealed that he had been protecting Eleven for almost a year and convinced Owens to help her lead a better, happier life.
After making their way through the complex, they eventually reached the Gate, receiving the signal from Jonathan to destroy it. After being lowered down to the Gate's underground entrance, Eleven, frightened, held Hopper's hand. As Hopper assured her, she began closing it. Now aware of her presence, the Mind Flayer attempted to stop Eleven by sending the Demodogs after her, though Hopper managed to keep them at bay with gunfire. The Mind Flayer then resorted to attacking Eleven directly. By channeling her anger, she was able to overcome the Mind Flayer and close the Gate for good. Hopper tearfully embraced Eleven, exhausted after using her powers, and commended her for her bravery as they both return.
Some time later, lab workers confirmed the Gate had been entirely erased, with only minor cavities remaining in the wall that hosted the gate's initial entrance. Hopper watched as workers filled the last cavities with cement, convincing him the horrors of the Upside Down were well and truly over.[5]
Adopting Eleven[]
December[]
In December, Hopper met with Owens at the Hideaway. He received a forged birth certificate with the name "Jane Hopper", indicating he had taken her in as an adopted daughter. Though Owens advised Hopper that Eleven should still lie low for another year to ensure their safety, Hopper ultimately convinced him to give Eleven a night out to reunite with her friends at the Snow Ball.
On December 15, after taking Eleven to the Snow Ball, Hopper met Joyce in the school's parking lot. He comforted Joyce, who was still grieving over Bob's death.
On Christmas Day, Eleven and Hopper travelled to the Byers house to celebrate Christmas, and was gifted a Supercom from Radio Shack. After venturing out into the snow to rescue a rabbit caught in a trap, Hopper, Eleven, Jonathan, Will, Lucas and Dustin watched various video cassettes of old Christmas specials.[6]
1985[]
June[]
Dad Issues[]
On June 28, Hopper watched TV in his cabin while El and Mike hang out together in El's bedroom. When Hopper grew curious to know what El and Mike were doing, he reclined his chair and saw the them kissing. When El closed the door telekinetically, Hopper objected about a "three-inch minimum," but when he managed to open the door, she saw El and Mike had separated and were in a position of reading some comic books. Despite this, Hopper was not convinced and presumably continued watching TV as Mike, departed, promising to see El tomorrow.
When Jim entered Melvald's General Store where Joyce worked. Hopper complained about how Mike was "corrupting" El, and that they should break up because their kissing is "constant", although Joyce told him to calm down. She suggested that he have a "heart to heart" with them rather than ordering them about, and tutors him in what to say.
Hopper tried unsuccessfully to get Joyce though she was hesitant as she was still grieving over Bob's death.
Later, that night, Hopper tried to take Joyce's advice about having a "heart-to-heart" conversation with Mike and El, but realized they were too obnoxious and not ready to hear his true feelings. Instead, Hopper had a long talk with Mike about "boundaries" in order for him to continue dating Eleven.
In Love and Investigating[]
On June 30, in Hopper's cabin, El called Mike to ask why he hasn’t come over. Mike hurriedly lied about his nana taking a turn for the worse despite the original false alarm, requiring him not to see El that day, and Hopper was pleased to see that there is now some distance between the pair. Ecstatic, he celebrated with Joyce, but did not tell her he didn't use her advice. After pressuring her into going to dinner with him, Hopper was called away to deal with a mob protesting the Starcourt Mall.
The protests on city hall continue, protesters chanting "Kline's a swine". Larry Kline called Hopper in his office to talk with him, saying that the Starcourt Mall has brought in new stores that Hawkins loves, causing them to shop there instead of their local stores, what he termed "good old fashioned American capitalism", to which Hopper fired back that they’re just exercising their "good old fashioned American right to protest". Kline said he agreed, if they had a permit, which they do not, and so ordered Hopper to disperse the crowd. Hopper objected that it would be bad for his re-election campaign, but Kline was unconcerned, saying that the party he intended to throw on Independence Day is all that the voters will remember.
Later, Hopper made his way to his dinner with Joyce and orders an assortment of expensive drinks, but Joyce did not show up. Hopper angrily left the fancy restaurant, feeling hurt that Joyce did not show up to their date. Drunk, Hopper returned home and thinking Mike had disobeyed him and was seeing El, he stormed into El's bedroom, only to find her with her friend, Max Mayfield. Despite being confused, Hopper allowed Max to sleepover with El for the night and left the room to go to bed and was satisfied with the result of his split.
July[]
Russians in Hawkins[]
The next day, Hopper sobered up in the shower until Joyce showed up trying to explain what was happening with her refrigerator magnets and their electromagnetic fields, but Hopper refused to listen to her. Angry because Joyce did not go out with him, he continuously ranted until he discovers that Joyce had left and intended to head back to the abandoned lab on her own, and although he tried to stop her he has no choice but to follow.
At the lab, while investigating, Hopper related how he was often afraid that one of the denizens of the Upside Down would be coming after him, and that he was constantly on the lookout so that people can feel safe. In addition, Hopper revealed knew Joyce is planning to sell her house and leave Hawkins as he wanted Joyce to still consider the town to be home. However, they were interrupted by a noise in another part of the lab.
Splitting up from Joyce, Hopper searched the noise he heard, gun at the ready. However, he was attacked and knocked out by a thug who managed to escape, leaving Joyce to find Hopper's unconscious body. Hopper was then taken back to his cabin where Joyce nursed him back to health.
The next day, Hopper woke up, retching and then getting up only to find that he was not wearing any clothes on, much to Joyce’s consternation, as his clothes got super wet from the rain last night when Joyce took Hopper back to his cabin. As Hopper put on some clothes, he and Joyce tried to identify who attacked Hopper, and Joyce noted that they did not drive a car, which Hopper picked up on as he realized he could been the motorcyclist who visited Mayor Kline two days ago.
Arriving at Town Hall, Hopper asked Mayor Kline about the motorcyclist who had visited him. Kline claimed not to remember, trying to convince Hopper that he was only a maintenance plumber, but Hopper responded with his knowledge of Larry passed out on drugs and cheated on his wife in the past, as a threat. Larry fired back with his own threats and knowledge of Hopper’s actions of getting drunk and taking drugs in the past. When Larry mocked him over Sara's death, Hopper then assaulted him, demanding the information. With Larry uncooperative, Hopper repeatedly threatened to cut off Larry’s finger, and Larry eventually admitted that he was bribed by that person (who worked for Starcourt Mall) in order to help them expand into East Hawkins. Hopper demanded to see records of the purchases, and took Larry hostage to find them.
Hopper and Joyce arrived with Larry Kline at his mansion, going to grab the land deeds from a safe within Larry’s bedroom; not for blackmail, but for protection, due to how "scary" his bribers were. Joyce and Hopper figured out that there was likely a powerful machine on one of the properties, and Hopper prevented Larry from escaping out the window, cuffing him to his bed. Hopper and Joyce then leave to investigate the properties over East Hawkins, in the hopes of finding the machine.
Hopper and Joyce continued to search illicitly-obtained properties in East Hawkins until they discovered one with a pulsing sound coming from below and a hidden staircase leading further down. Descending, they found and binded two Russian scientists before Grigori, another Russian agent, arrived. Hopper pulled a gun on him, but he escaped and the two grappled and disarmed each other. Joyce threw the gun back to Hopper, but it passed him and landed near Grigori, forcing Joyce and Hopper to flee. They took one of the Russian scientists, Alexei, hostage and then left the area after closing the hidden staircase on Grigori. Though Grigori escaped and fired more bullets at them, they managed to escape, realizing the Russian government had infiltrated Hawkins.
The next day, Hopper's car broke down due to bullet holes through the engine. Joyce tried to communicate with Alexei while Hopper tried to fix the car, but as it started the smoke Alexei yelled "stop!" prior to the engine exploding. With no other options, Hopper, Joyce, and Alexei walked through the forest and decided to make their way to Illinois and seek help from Murray as Hopper knew he could speak Russian.
While Hopper and Joyce argue, Alexei located a gas station and there Hopper bought them drinks and a Slurpee for Alexei to quench their thirst. They then commandeer a car and head out, obtaining a faster way to get to Illinois.
Arriving at Murray's warehouse, Hopper urged Murray to let him, Joyce and Alexei due to being exhausted from traveling all day. Murray came out of the door with a shotgun pointed at Alexei, who responded in Russian "Get that out of my face you bald American pig", to which Murray replies in Russian, "I may be bald, but you’re the one in handcuffs, Soviet scum." This shocked the three of them before Murray greeted Hopper. Once inside, Murray then began scanning Alexei, which caused Joyce to doubt Murray can help as Hopper reassured her. After Joyce harangued Murray, explaining the dangers she and Hopper went through and how they worked to seek his help, Hopper silently walked with Alexei as Murray decided to help them.
The New Gate[]
The next day, Hopper went out to Burger King and 7-Eleven as Alexei requested some food in exchange for giving him and Joyce answers about the machine he was working on. Returning to Murray's warehouse, Hopper gave Alexei his food and Slurpee. However, as Hopper, Joyce, and Murray began interrogating Alexei, the Russian scientist became upset when he discovered Hopper to have given him a strawberry Slurpee, instead of a cherry-flavored one. As Alexei demanded to be given a cherry Slurpee, Hopper refused to grant his request. When Alexei refused to talk, Hopper dragged him and threw him out the door with the keys to his cuffs and the car on the assumption that Alexei was more scared of his Russian comrades than of Hopper, leaving Hopper confident that Alexei would return to him. Though Joyce and Murray were doubtful, Hopper was proven to be right as Alexei did indeed uncuff himself, started the car, and began to drive away, but then he stopped and brought the car back, giving the keys to Hopper and saying he liked strawberry, too which made Hopper satisfied.
With Alexei now cooperating and with Murray translating for him, Alexei explained that the ray the Russians were using to open a Gate into the Upside Down, "a doorway between worlds", was called the Key, which emitted large amounts of energy. It consequently required a large quantity of energy to function as well, and so Russians had purchased properties all around East Hawkins that were near transformers, using them to siphon off energy from the town’s power grid.
Infiltrating the Russian Base[]
Murray, Joyce, and Hopper descended into the underground base, killed the guards, and stole their clothes before proceeding. Murray continued on to damage the Key's power supply while Joyce and Hopper waited, with Joyce arranging another dinner date at Enzo's with Hopper after all the events were over. Murray succeeded, raising an alarm and allowing Joyce and Hopper to steal the physical shut-off keys to the Key (albeit with password help from Dustin and Suzie). They then raided the command room, forcing the scientists to leave via gunfire, but just as they were about to turn the keys to disable the Key, Grigori arrived and attacked Hopper, leaving the two to battle outside in the main chamber while Joyce reinserted the keys, intending to turn them alone using a bungee cord. Hopper eventually defeated Grigori, throwing him into the Key and causing a wall of electricity to strike out, cutting off Hopper's escape just as Joyce got a solid grip on both keys. With Dustin screaming over the radio to close the Gate now, and Hopper trapped, Joyce and Hopper shared a final glance at each other, with Hopper nodding his acceptance and smiling at her. Joyce closed her eyes, crying, and she pulled the keys. Hopper dived for cover and landed on a lower platform as electricity flooded the facility. Though he had survived, Hopper was soon captured by the Soviets.
1985-1986[]
Captured by Russians[]
After being tortured by the Soviet Union and refusing to give up any information on Joyce, Hopper was sentenced and imprisoned at a prison in Kamchatka, Russia where his hair and mustache had been shaved off.
1986[]
Attempting to Escape[]
On March 23, while working on a railroad with the other inmates at the prison's labor camp, Hopper stopped working for a moment to catch his breath and was approached by prison guard Dmitri Antonov who questioned if he was tired. Knowing Antonov wanted to speak to him, Hopper started cursing at Antonov in Russian, causing the guard to drag Hopper to piles of wood beams. Once they were alone, Antonov praised Hopper for his fluency in Russian and acting skills before revealing he received word from Joyce and Murray that they were on their way to Alaska with the bribery money. As they went over their plan, Hopper asked Antonov if he trusted the pilot who would be taking him back to the United States, only to be dismayed when Antonov revealed that the pilot, Yuri Ismaylov was a smuggler. When Antonov began describing passionately about his talk with Joyce, Hopper was on the verge of threatening him until Antonov assured him that Joyce would be safe just as he promised. Right as Antonov told Hopper to start thinking about he planned to escape, a guard informed Antonov of Hopper being needed to work back on the railroad, causing Hopper and Antonov to set up an impression that Antonov beat Hopper up into submission where Hopper allowed the guard to punch him in the face, in order to give off the rendition.
The next morning, Hopper woke up and left his cell, following the protocol of marching with the other prisoners to return to work on the railroad as their hands and ankles were chained together. While marching with the other prisoners, Hopper was approached by Antonov who instructed him to go to a town called Kyrzran and wait inside a building with a gray roof for Yuri to meet with him. Hopper also heard from Antonov that Joyce had arrived in Alaska last night with the ransom money and was now waiting for him. As Hopper denied to Antonov about Joyce being his girlfriend, they noticed the same guard they encountered yesterday was checking the prisoners' shackles. This left Antonov to knock Hopper to the ground and force him to get back on his feet, in order to pretend to intimidate him. Once Hopper had his shackles on his feet checked, he was escorted to work back on the railroad with the other prisoners.
Fighting to Survive[]
When Antonov attempted to bribe one of the guards, Ivan, Hopper, who was too depressed, did not say anything to support Antonov's attempts. Antonov attempted to cheer Hopper up by theorizing Joyce was most likely captured and there would be a chance to rescue her, but he shrugged off the possibility. Hopper then revealed his backstory to Antonov on how he was drafted into the Vietnam War, his exposure to Agent Orange led Sara to develop cancer, and his time as a broken man where he revealed once he let Joyce and Eleven into his life, he believed they needed him, but now understood it was he who needed them. And believing now he had got Joyce killed due to sending her the ransom note, Hopper started to come to the conclusion he was a curse, rather than feeling cursed. His talk with Antonov was interrupted when the two men hear the roars of a demogorgon, making Antonov realize that they were likely going to die in the prison just like Hopper predicted.
The next day, Hopper, Antonov, and other prisoners were released from their cells and escorted to the detention pit, thinking they were to be sacrificed to the Demogorgon. However, they were ordered to another section of the prison where they saw a large feast prepared. Hopper, knowing the Warden's intention to fatten up the prisoners before they were to be sacrificed to the Demogorgon, did not eat any of the food with the other prisoners and instead drank only liquor to get drunk. Once he was drunk heard one prisoner, Oleg talking to Antonov and the others how a week ago, six convicted men also ate a big meal and were slaughtered by the Demogorgon once they were in thrown into the pit. Hearing the men promise to stand together, believing they have a chance to survive, Hopper asked the Demogorgon's physical features, which shocked Oleg when Antonov translated for him. Hopper then told the prisoners his encounter with Demogorgons in the past and revealed that the meal they were eating was intended to fatten them up so the Demogorgon can eat them and grow, horrifying the other prisoners and prompting them to stop eating their meals.
Escape[]
Later that night, Hopper and Antonov discussed the odds they had against surviving the Demogorgon and escaping the prison. Antonov believed they will be shot on site if they escaped the Demogorgon, which caused Hopper to positively say they will die as monster slayers. When Antonov said he will still be regarded as traitor, Hopper tried cheering him up by saying being monster slayer will make others forget him being a traitor and his son will be proud of him. Once Antonov remarked he cannot seem to do anything right with his son, Hopper realized Antonov's son is a teenager and remarked how children grow up so fast that they start becoming distant from their parents. When Antonov asked what his relationship with El was like, Hopper explained the last time he was with her, she barely wanted anything to do with him and told Antonov that what El has dealt with in life was not natural. Due to now knowing a Demogorgon to be alive, Hopper understood that the monsters and threats from the Upside Down were still active where he told a vaguely confused Antonov that if they wished to survive and escape, they needed a miracle.
Killing the Demogorgons[]
After his call with the female associate, Hopper and Joyce called Murray and Antonov inside to inform them of what the woman told him. When Murray asked if the girl the woman referring to was El, Hopper said it had to be before revealing that Joyce's sons were also with El fighting an evil in Hawkins. When Murray started to assume Hopper's caller was KGB, Joyce insisted the caller was not and was telling the truth, as they had seen the Mind Flayer's particles being animate which meant a Gate being open in Hawkins. Realizing Joyce was right, Hopper insisted to return to Hawkins immediately and grew impatient with Yuri whom was suspected by Murray and Antonov to be tricking them again. Once Murray pointed out they would not be able to get to Hawkins in time to save the kids, Hopper, Murray, and Antonov heard Joyce propose instead of returning to Hawkins right now, they destroy the Mind Flayer's particles back at the prison to give the children an upper hand in their fight against their enemy, as it is connected to the Upside Down's hive mind. Hopper immediately agreed to this and started to get ready to return to the prison, grabbing weapons and a flamethrower while ordering Antonov to stay behind and get Yuri to fly his helicopter to rescue him, Joyce, and Murray once they destroyed the particles.
Driving past a guard gate at the prison, Joyce, Hopper, and Murray noticed the lack of guards.
After crawling through the hole back into the prison, they found that the containers have been broken empty. Armed with a flamethrower, the trio entered the security room, finding it strewn with dead bodies and a barely breathing general. Murray asked the general what happened, and he (with Murray’s translation) explained to the trio that the Demogorgon got into the building and that the guards accidentally shattered the containers while trying to ward it off by gunfire, breaking out the Demodogs and the particles (referred by the general as "The Shadow") which went into "them", but succumbs to his wounds before explaining who "them" is. However, looking at the security cameras, the crew realized that the particles have possessed the creatures, which are roaming the halls.
In the arena, the crew came up with a plan to bait the creatures into the arena and set it on fire to help El and the kids. Murray was given the flamethrower while Joyce monitored the security system. Hopper planned to lead a Demodog out from the prison laundry room, but Joyce was haunted by Bob Newby's death at the hands of the Demodogs. Hopper reassures her that he'll die someday, but not today, departing with a kiss.
Hopper approached the laundry room and managed to bait the Demodog to follow him and fled through the halls, but was tackled as he neared the arena. Joyce ran to Hopper and uses a taser to incapacitate or kill the Demodog. As they embrace, Hopper and Joyce noticed the Demogorgon and Demodogs charging towards them and fled to the courtyard, where the couple was cornered by the monsters. However, Murray torched the monsters with the flamethrower, killing most of them as Hopper and Joyce took cover from the fire. Despite their relief, the adult Demogorgon revealed itself to be alive, although injured. It approached Hopper, who fired at it several times before running out of ammo. As the Demogorgon roared, Hopper picked up a sword and prepared to face the monster. As it charged, Hopper ran forward and dropped to his knees, slicing its arm off as he slid. Despite the injury, the Demogorgon tried to attack Hopper, who dodged its swings and then decapitated it with his sword, killing it. Joyce and Hopper then embraced as Dmitri and Yuri arrived inside a functioning Katinka to Murray's cheers.
Return to America[]
Personality and traits[]
Sometime after reaching the age of 18, Hopper was drafted into the US Army Chemical Corps through a letter of induction to fight in the Vietnam War. He was exposed to dangerous chemicals like Agent Orange, an herbicide that was used to damage vegetation that the NVA and Viet Cong were using for cover. Alongside his friends who served, they all tried to return to their normal lives after the war, but their exposure to Agent Orange led to numerous health complications for their spouses and as a result, they could not safely have healthy children. Hopper's wife, Diane, was able to luckily give birth to their daughter, Sara. However, this would be short-lived as Sara developed cancer at a young age. The loss of his daughter and family life left Hopper emotionally reserved and cynical. To manage his pain, he regularly drank alcohol, smoked several cigarettes a day and developed an addiction to anti-anxiety drugs. Instead of making real connections with people, he slept around with several women who he never contacted again.
Despite being the Police Chief, he didn't care about his job, as he regularly slept in and showed up late and had an overall laid-back attitude in the office even before the Byers case and had an indifference to the cases brought to his attention. Only when Will Byers went missing and it turned out to be a government cover-up did he start caring about doing his job properly, as he had a personal interest in the case.
After discovering Eleven and taking her in to his cabin as her new home, Hopper grew to be highly sympathetic and responsible, which was why they quickly formed a father-daughter bond. To ensure her safety as well as fear for losing her like his daughter, Hopper placed tripwires around their location and had no other choice but to prohibit Eleven from leaving the cabin at all. His care for her was so fierce that one day, he got mad at her for putting herself in jeopardy, an act he regretted. He later acknowledged this and asked her forgiveness. His sense of duty also didn't waiver during their time together, as he would often go to check out Will's condition and help him out as well as scrutinizing the reason behind the abnormal incidents of Hawkins.
Hopper's empathy for Eleven was the reason why, with the help of Dr. Owens he later took her as his adopted daughter. He also grew overprotective of Eleven and began believing Mike Wheeler to be a bad influence on her, as he did not want Eleven to grow up so quickly. Hopper began to develop romantic feelings for Joyce, but had trouble confessing them for her, despite asking her out on a date. Yet, Hopper was willing to risk his life to protect Joyce and the kids in order to turn off the key that was opening a portal to the Upside Down.
After eight months of being imprisoned in Russia, Hopper was desperate to escape where he formed an alliance with corrupt prison guard Dmitri Antonov. Hopper's time in prison also caused him to reflect on his actions and his relationships with those closest to him such as Sara, Joyce, and Eleven. When discovering a Demogorgon to be kept in the prison he was being held at, Hopper was determined to fight it in order to survive and escape. When reunited with Joyce, Hopper was able to make amends and begin a romantic relationship with her as they attempted to leave Russia. However, when discovering the Party to be in danger, Hopper was willing to return to the Russian prison where he was kept and kill the Demogorgons inhabiting there, in order to save the kids. After successfully killing the Demogorgons and returning to the United States, Hopper was happily reunited with Eleven and Mike and officially started sealing his romance with Joyce.
Abilities[]
- Expert Combatant: As an Army veteran and the present Police Chief, Hopper is highly trained in both boxing and kickboxing hand-to-hand combat. He beat up David O'Bannon, defeated M.P. guards, he was able to easily fight against and knock out a Russian spy, and even hold his own against Grigori and managed to win the fight in the end, though with extreme effort.
- Expert Marksman: As an Army veteran and the present Police Chief, Hopper is noteworthy for his experience with a variety of firearms, ranging from handguns, shotguns and rifles. While he mostly carried his revolver around with him during investigations and settling minor disputes, he was shown to be remarkably proficient in handling rifles and shotguns when he fought side by side with Eleven and protected her from the Demodogs by shooting a substantial number of them without much difficulty, and later when he shot Russians while holding a rifle with one hand. Hopper is also skilled in throwing weapons, as he accurately threw a spear into the Russian Demogorgon's mouth in "The Massacre at Hawkins Lab". When Murray Bauman gave him a pistol in "Papa", he executed a Demodog with a single round.
- Survival Instincts: Hopper's basic surviving skills helped him considerably when he was trapped in the tunnels corrupted by the Upside Down, such as, placing cigars for leaving a trail to follow, cutting off a part of his shirt to cover his face, and crafting a makeshift torch from a branch. Being a natural survivalist, he escaped terrifying and supernatural locations known as the Upside Down, endured inhuman cruelty in a Russian prison and has even fought Demogorgons with melee weapons.
- Skilled Craftsman: His military life led him to be familiarized with some crafting skills too, as displayed in "The Pollywog" when he constructed trip-wires around Eleven's location. During his imprisonment, rips off a piece of his jacket to wrap around a spear and dunks liquor on it to use as a torch against a Demogorgan.
- Multilingualism: Hopper also had some knowledge regarding radio operation and its mechanisms, as he taught Eleven how to communicate over the radio using Morse code during their time together, as well as was very quick to infer the Morse Codes the then possessed Will was trying to signal. Hopper later learned some Russian when he was imprisoned.
Equipment[]
- Smith & Wesson Model 66: Hopper carried a revolver as his service sidearm, as seen in "The Flea and the Acrobat". He replaced it with a different model revolver after he lost it, but resumed carrying it in "The Case of the Missing Lifeguard", "The Sauna Test" and "The Flayed" but it was taken by Grigori.
- Colt Python: Hopper began using a new revolver, as seen in "MADMAX". He later gave it to Dr. Sam Owens in "The Gate".
- Tokarev TT-33: Hopper took a suppressed pistol from a Russian soldier in "The Bite"
- Heckler & Koch MP5K: Hopper used a sub machine gun while rescuing Will in the end of "The Upside Down".
- Bushmaster HBAR Carbine: Hopper used a rifle against Demodogs in "The Mind Flayer" and brought it to Hawkins National Laboratory in "The Gate".
- Mossberg 144 LS: Hopper gave Will's rifle to Nancy in "The Mind Flayer".
- AKMSU: Hopper obtained a rifle to kill Russians in "The Battle of Starcourt".
- Ithaca 37: Hopper brought a shotgun to Hawkins National Laboratory in "The Gate".
- Remington 870: Hopper had another shotgun in his shed in "The Bite".
- AKM: Hopper took another rifle from Yuri Ismaylov's stockpile in "The Piggyback".
- Sword: Hopper used a sword to kill a Demogorgon in "The Piggyback".
Relationships[]
Familial[]
Sara was born in April of 1971, and was the apple of Jim's eye. The two would often read together, study science, and play in the park. One day, however, Sara began to hyperventilate in the park while she and Jim were playing, and was soon diagnosed with cancer. While undergoing chemotherapy, Jim often laid in her hospital bed and happily read to her, but would often sit alone in the stairwells of the hospital crying hysterically. By the end, Sara could not be saved and sadly passed on, right in front of her devastated parents. Hopper mentioned to Joyce that his mind would distort him from reality and cause him to see and hear Sara, until he had to make the decision to pack the memories away, or else he would "fall down a hole [he] couldn't get out of". Despite this, one thing Hopper kept was the memory of Sara alive, taping an old drawing in his trailer, mentioning her fascination of science to others, and wore her old blue hair tie around his wrist. When Hopper is skeptic of Joyce hearing Will's voice on the phone, she berates him and angrily asks if he wouldn't know his own daughter's voice, surprising him and soon giving him motivation to find Will, not wanting to lose another child.
After adopting Eleven, Hopper sees a lot of Sara in her. When driving to Hawkins Lab to close the Gate, Hopper explains to El what a black hole is and that Sara had a picture book about it that she loved. El asks who Sara is, causing Hopper to say that she's "his little girl". When El asks where is she, Hopper states that "the black hole got her", and that he's afraid that it'll take her away to, which causes Hopper to apologize for being so strict on her. A month later, when Hopper allows El to attend the Snow Ball with the Party, he gifts her with Sara's hair tie.
Diane is Hopper's ex-wife and Sara's mother. The two married in 1972, and birthed a child they both loved dearly. But upon Sara's diagnosis of cancer and ultimate death, Diane and Jim divorced in 1979, causing Jim to move back to his hometown in Hawkins, Indiana, while Diane met a man named Bill and had another child. In "The Flea and the Acrobat", Hopper calls her after ripping his trailer apart. It's hinted that Hopper has called her in hopes of getting her back previously, as Diane annoyingly states that she's told him not to call. Hopper simply tells her that he doesn't regret any of their marriage. Diane then asks if he's been drinking, to which Jim initially says no, but soon tells the truth that he has. Diane tearfully tells him she can't do this right now, and Jim simply tells her to say hello to her husband Bill for him before cutting her off by hanging up. As he prepares to leave, Diane attempts to call back, only for Jim to rip the cord out of the socket.
After her defeat of the Demogorgon in 1983, it is revealed that Eleven is alive and comes back through a Gate to escape the school. Hiding in the woods, Hopper had been leaving eggos for her in a lock box until she one day arrives during one of his drops. Hiding her for almost a year in his grandfather's old cabin, for what he believed to be her own safety, the two form a father-daughter bond.
While Hopper thoroughly cared for Eleven, his decision to prohibit her from leaving the cabin ultimately infuriates her as she became enraged for being continued to be promised to see Mike, even though it had been almost a year. They argue one night which causes Eleven to shatter all the windows. The next day, she leaves the cabin to visit her mother. Hopper, who was taken to Hawkins Lab for his injuries, regretted his actions and apologized Eleven for his misbehavior and admitted that he only wanted to protect her, though unaware that she already left.
After passing through many hardship and challenges, they reunite again to forgive each other and finally close the Mind Flayer's Gate together. At the end of the events of Season 2, Hopper adopts Eleven officially as his daughter "Jane".
In 1985, Hopper is very jealous and protective over Eleven due to the events of their past year and a half of living together. Eleven and Mike are now a couple with Mike frequently visiting the cabin to spend time with her, much to Hopper's annoyance. Also, whilst he now allows Eleven to leave the cabin, Hopper gave her a set of rules to stick to, including a curfew, and doesn't allow her to visit places with too many people, such as the Starcourt Mall.
Hopper's irritation at how much time Eleven is spending with Mike, who he thinks is bad for her, causes him to try and have a heart-to-heart with the two of them. When this fails due to Mike acting obnoxious, Hopper forces him to intentionally avoid Eleven with false excuses because he believes it's in her best interest. Before leaving Hawkins with the Byers family, El received a last letter from Hopper, who made clear that he missed spending time with his adopted daughter due to her spending more time with Mike but also told that he knew Eleven was growing older and more mature and she was more than capable of making her own choices. He ended the letter with a final request-- keep the door open three inches.
Unbeknownst to El, Hopper had actually been taken to the prison of Kamchatka in Russia, where he spent the next eight months of his life. He eventually found an ally, who sent Joyce and Murray Bauman a letter to meet with him in exchange for Hopper's freedom. Once Vecna had been temporarily defeated, Hopper and Joyce finally returned to the U. S. A. and Eleven tearfully reunited with her adoptive father, telling him that she never stopped believing that he was alive.
Non-Familial[]
Hopper and Joyce have known each other since high school. They were fairly close, often skipping class to smoke together, even being caught by a teacher on at least one occasion. Their friendship continued well into adulthood, and remained even after Hopper returned to Hawkins after living in another city for several years. Hopper aids Joyce in looking for her son, Will, in the Upside Down and together they managed to revive him through CPR. They became closer when Hopper began to accompany Will during his appointments in Hawkins Lab and Hopper carried Will to safety when Demodogs attacked the institution.
In 1985, Hopper confessed to Joyce how uncomfortable he was towards Eleven's relationship with Mike, though Joyce did not see a problem in that all, believing it to be simply part of becoming a teenager. She attempted to help him create a speech with the intention of creating "limits" between El and Mike but he was unable to perform it well. Instead, he resorted to threatening Mike, who became scared and agreed to stay away from Eleven, leaving Hopper glad. Hopper invited Joyce to dinner at Enzo's but she never came to show up, hurting Hopper's feelings.
However, he quickly pulled himself together from that blow and aided Joyce in discovering the Russians' plan to open a Gate to the Upside Down. Throughout the trip, they argued and made snarky comments about one another until Murray Bauman stepped in and asked them to just admit the feelings they had from one another. Hopper, Joyce and Murray infiltrated the Russians' base of operations and succeeded in destroying the machine that was opening the Gate, only for Hopper to be caught in the explosion, leaving Joyce in deep grief and with the thought that he had died. Shortly afterwards, Joyce took Eleven in and she moved the two of them, Will and Jonathan out of Hawkins.
Eight months later, Joyce came across a letter from "Enzo", revealing that Hopper had survived. She and Murray decided to travel to Kamchatka to rescue him and after several obstacles, they managed to reunite with one another. Joyce was horrified by the scars Hopper had acquired but he assured her that he "needed to lose weight anyway" and revealed how he had been imagining his romantic dinner with her before the two finally gave into their feelings for one another and made out for the first time.
Joyce was concerned when Hopper proposed being the bait to the Demogorgon in prison, only for him to reassure her that he would not die. Joyce saved Hopper from being mauled by a "Demodog" by tasering it to death and witnessed Hopper fighting the Demogorgon, with the creature ending up being decapitated once and for all.
While Bob and Hopper knew each other since high school and were friends from then, Hopper always trifled Bob for his passive nature, calling him "Bob the Brain". However, Jim developed a sense of respect for Bob when he put himself in danger in order to help the group escape from the lab, which ultimately leads to Bob's tragic demise.
Hopper and Mike did not get off to a good start. When questioning Mike on Will's whereabouts, Hopper ordered Mike and his friends to not go searching for Will, but Mike secretly disobeyed him and started searching for Will. When Hopper realized that Mike was in danger for sheltering Eleven, he did not hesitate to find him and come to his rescue at the junkyard. When interrogated by Martin Brenner, Hopper was forced to reveal Mike and the rest of the kids' location, which he regretted.
In 1984, Hopper still showed some care for Mike as he asked Eleven if she wanted him to check on Mike, which she refused. However, when Mike found out that Hopper had been hiding Eleven for nearly an entire year, he became furious with Hopper, blaming him for hiding her as he tried to justify his actions. When Mike took all of his anger out, Hopper stopped and comforted a sobbing Mike, apologizing to him as he realized how wrong he was to keep Eleven hidden.
However, in 1985, Hopper and Mike weren't on good terms again, especially when Hopper was irritated with how much time his adopted daughter, Eleven, spends being with Mike. Eventually, it boils over when Mike becomes too arrogant and Hopper forces Mike to be distant to Eleven, resulting in Eleven not hanging out with Mike, and eventually breaking up, much to Hopper's satisfaction. Before the battle, Jim saw Mike helping an injured Eleven walk, and saw that, despite their break up, they still cared for and loved each other very much, causing Jim to tell Mike to be careful, and started to support his daughter's relationship with Mike.
Mike was devastated upon learning of Hopper's apparent death while closing the Gate to the Upside Down but the police chief had actually survived the explosion and became a prisoner in the prison of Kamchatka for the next eight months. Once Hopper was rescued, he reunited with both Eleven and Mike, telling the latter that he had grown, before they embrace, revealing that despite their past disagreements, they cared for each other.
Hopper had two police officers who were loyal enough to work with him Phil Callahan and Calvin Powell. Hopper was often annoyed with their antics and foolishness, but still allowed them to help him investigate the disappearance of Will Byers and the rotting of the pumpkin fields. Both Callahan and Powell respect Hopper and follow his orders, and even worry about his well-being.
Hopper was friends and acquaintances with Murray Bauman, although the two were sometimes annoyed with each other. In 1984, as Murray investigated the disappearance of Barbara Holland, he tried to explain his clues and theories about a girl with psychic powers and how there could be Russians in Hawkins. However, Hopper, knowing the truth about Eleven and what really happened to Barbara, dismissed Murray's claims and told him to go home.
In 1985, Hopper sought Murray's help when he and Joyce captured Russian scientist Alexei, as Hopper knew that Murray knows how to speak in Russian. Through Alexei, Murray, Joyce and Hopper realized that the Russians had been opening a Gate to the Upside Down and rushed to meet with the members of the Party to come up with a plan to destroy the Gate. Murray was saddened when Hopper chose to stay behind to ensure the Gate was closed and was apparently vaporized.
In the next year, Murray accepted joining Joyce in her trip to Kamchatka to rescue Hopper from prison after she received a letter revealing Hopper's survival. Once they reunited, Murray showed disapproval towards Hopper's plan to return to prison and kill the Demogorgon, believing it to be suicide. However, Murray ultimately agreed and used a flamethrower to weaken the Demogorgon long enough for Hopper to slice one of its arms and then its head.
The connection with his boss, Larry Kline hasn't been known too well in 1983 and 1984. However, Hopper was manipulated by him, and felt threatened due to being fired. When a protest group came over to the Town Hall to yell at Kline for building the Starcourt Mall - which caused them to lose their jobs - Kline said to Hopper that he had to arrest these people, claiming none of the people were given permission to protest. Hopper later noticed that Kline was in cahoots with a man in black, and thought it would be good to point out all the other sneaky things his boss did. Kline says he also knows Hopper did sneaky things too, and threatens to ruin his life by calling Tom Holloway who ran the newspaper. He also scoffs at Hopper to show he didn't care about the "dead daughter story" and tries to leave the office, before Hopper throws the man into the door, breaking his nose. Hopper threatens to break his boss's finger, until he hears that the visiting criminal came from Starcourt Mall. Hopper, Kline, and Joyce head to Kline's mansion, and Hopper teases Kline for being so wealthy, by asking him if he shot the zebra, which made the rug, before nearly exclaiming, "No shit" when he is told it is not real. Kline later corporates with Hopper before being released, though choosing his safety over Hopper's, when Grigori threatens him.
Hopper met and discovered Alexei when investigating the Hess Farm. When Grigori arrived and tried to kill Hopper and Joyce, Hopper decided to kidnap Alexei so he could reveal the Russians' plan. Hopper was quite hostile towards Alexei for most of their time together, often manhandling him and occasionally physically assaulting him, as well as mockingly referring to him as "Smirnoff" rather than his actual name. Hopper would also avoid trying to talk to Alexei until they reached the residence of Murray Bauman, often berating Joyce for trying to communicate with him despite the language barrier. Eventually the tension between Alexei and Hopper ended with Hopper beating Alexei up after he refused to help them over his Slurpee being a different flavor than what he asked for. After this interaction, Alexei was much more cooperative with Hopper and didn't try and provoke him again. After Alexei was killed at the Fun Fair, Hopper realized his death when asking Joyce where he was and looked depressed, despite being hostile towards him.
Jim Hopper and Grigori were enemies. Hopper first noticed him at Town Hall while waiting to be met by Mayor Kline. They engaged in combat with each other on multiple occasions, with Grigori gaining the upper hand most of time. After his first fight with Grigori, Hopper realized that his attacker was drove a motorcycle which matched Grigori's appearance who he saw earlier at Town Hall. This caused Hopper to investigate Grigori's identity. When confronting him again at the Hess Farm, Hopper threatened to shoot Grigori, but the Russian hitman did not believe Hopper would do it as he was a policeman. However, Hopper proved him wrong, but Grigori managed to dodge Hopper's gunshot and fought him.
Later, Hopper shot Grigori multiple times in a fight at the Fun Fair, but Grigori survived. When Hopper and Joyce tried to shut off the Key to the Upside Down at Starcourt Mall, Grigori intervened. Grigori knocked out Joyce and then went after Hopper, with the two engaging in a full out brawl. Both got close to the gateway machine, with Grigori seemingly on the verge of killing Hopper. However, Hopper was able to recover, stabbing Grigori's injured shoulder with his thumb. When Grigori tried to retaliate, Hopper told him he would "see him in hell" before he threw Grigori into the machine, ripping him to shreds and killing him, thus avenging Alexei.
While working as a guard in Kamchatka, Dmitri took note of Hopper's high profile as an American prisoner and offered to help him escape in exchange for payment. Desperate to leave, Hopper agreed. The first step in their loose alliance included Dmitri contacting Joyce by sending her a package with a letter and a doll informing her that Hopper was alive. Making contact with him through a payphone, Joyce was told to travel to Alaska with several tens of thousands in cash to meet a man named Yuri, who would fly her to Russia and retrieve Hopper. Eventually finding an opportunity, Hopper blows up several guards and escapes on a snowmobile to the rendezvous point. When Joyce and Murray arrive in Alaska, they are unexpectedly drugged and brought along as prisoners by Yuri, who has also informed the warden of the prison of Dmitri's treason, completely deviating from the plan to maximize profits for himself.
Now an inmate in the prison he once guarded, Dmitri and Hopper are forced to work together to find a new means of escape. The two are eventually selected alongside many other prisoners to take part in a battle against the prison's captured Demogorgon. Hopper, believing his time is running short, vents to Dmitri, explaining that he believes he himself is a curse to everybody he loves and that he believes he indirectly caused the death of his own daughter despite knowing the risks. Dmitri shares that he is as well a father. The night before the Demogorgon battle, during the group's final meal, Dmitri motivates the rest of the group to stick together during the battle in order to defeat the monster. The following day, as the battle commences, Dmitri and Hopper are the only surviving prisoners, having worked together to escape the cage and eventually join Murray and Joyce in beginning a siege on the prison.
Appearances[]
*Can be seen in The Void and via flashbacks in The Lost Sister
Video games[]
Video game appearances | ||||||||||||
|
Family tree[]
note: family trees are only visible on desktop.
James Hopper Sr |
Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bill |
Diane |
Jim Hopper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Diane's second child |
Sara Hopper † |
Jane Hopper
Jim's Adopted Daughter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Memorable Quotes[]
- "Mornings are for coffee and contemplation."
- "You wanna know the worst thing that’s ever happened here in the four years I’ve been working here? You wanna know the worst thing, was when an owl attacked Eleanor Gillespie's head because it thought that her hair was a nest."
- "Bike like this is like a Cadillac to these kids."
- "You know what I would give? For a chance? You know what I would give?"
- "I know you do experiments on kidnapped little kids, whose parents' brains you've turned to mush. And I know you went a little too far this time and you messed up in a big way."
- "Listen, you know what? I liked your alien theory a lot better. And you want my advice? Why don't you stop bleeding those people dry and go home? All right? Go home!"
- "Now this, this is music."
- "Maybe when this is all said and done, maybe you could help her out too, you know? Maybe you could help her lead, like, a normal life. One where she's not poked and prodded and treated like some kind of lab rat, you know?"
- "Hey! Three inch minimum! Leave the door open three inches!"
- "Maybe I’ll just kill Mike. I’m the chief of police, I could cover it up."
- "No, I don't think so. It's your grandma."
- "Nothing! There's nothing wrong with Nana!"
- "What is up with you and noises?"
- "So you know what? Keep on growing up, kid. Don't let me stop you. Make mistakes, learn from them, and when life hurts you, because it will, remember the hurt. The hurt is good. It means you're out of that cave. But please, if you don't mind, for the sake of your poor, old dad, keep the door open three inches."
- "She's not my woman."
- "The last time I was with El, she wanted just about nothing to do with me ... I think it must be hardwired into us to reject our fathers."
- "I was wrong this whole time. I wasn't cursed. I am the curse."
- "I thought I was put here to pay for what I've done, but I might've been put here for some other reason. Maybe I can, maybe I can still help El, even if it's the last thing I do."
- "Who needs imagination?"
- "Yeah. I kind of stole your look, kid."
- "You're not the only one who didn't stop believing."
- "You've grown."
Gallery[]
For this subject's gallery, see Jim Hopper/Gallery. |
Trivia[]
- As the series progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that Hopper is a veteran of the Vietnam War:
- In "Dig Dug", Eleven finds various cardboard boxes at the Hopper cabin, with one displaying "Vietnam" on its side.
- In the news report shown in "The Battle of Starcourt", a newspaper states that Jim was a decorated Vietnam veteran.
- Finally, in "The Dive", Hopper talks to Dmitri Antonov about his experience in the Vietnam War. He mentions being part of the Chemical Corps, and that as a result, he became exposed to Agent Orange: Hopper suspects this exposure inadventedly led to the death of his daughter, Sara.
- Hopper was likely stationed in Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama, due to being in the Chemical Corps.
- The name "Gillespie" (from Hopper's quote about the owl) could be a possible reference to the famous Silent Hill franchise (a series that largely focuses on many things - among which: deformed human-like creatures, other worlds and dimensions, as well as a town seemingly in the middle of nowhere and in which strange things happen. Also, the plot in the first game revolved around a father trying to find his missing daughter - as opposed to a mother looking for her missing son).
- In the 1987 movie Predator, the first man ever killed by a Predator was named Jim Hopper.
- The pills Hopper takes in the beginning of the series are Tuinal, a popular sedative/anti-anxiety drug that was discontinued in 1991.[7]
- The blue bracelets around his right wrist are his daughter's hair ribbons--every time he wakes, he looks at them before he does anything else.[8] After adopting Eleven as his daughter, he passes the bracelets to her, as seen during the Snow Ball.[9]
- When Hopper approaches the guard at the morgue in "The Body", the guard is reading Cujo by Stephen King. Hopper's line "That's a nasty mutt" is a reference to the book being about a rabid dog.
- Hopper drinks Schlitz beer in "The Vanishing of Will Byers".
- He takes his coffee black.
- Not only does he rearrange Powell's cards when he arrives at the station, he has a box of gambling chips on his kitchen table; leading the audience to believe he may have a gambling habit.
- The typewriter in the first scene between Hopper and Joyce is an IBM Selectric III.
- Hopper drives a Chevrolet K5 Blazer in the first three seasons. His license plate number is 98Y5, with the state shield displayed next to the number.
- His character and look is loosely based on Harrison Ford's roles as Indiana Jones and Han Solo.
- Jim Hopper and Mike Wheeler are the only characters to appear in all episodes of season 1, season 2, and season 3.
- Hopper enjoys the holiday movie, It's A Wonderful Life.[10]
- The Season 3 finale's mid-credits scene infamously hint towards Hopper's survival, with a Kamchaktan guard saying "Not the American".
- When at the Kamchatkan prison camp, his uniform nametag reads "Американец", Russian for "American".
- Jim Hopper has only been absent in one episode, "The Hellfire Club". Thus with the exception of season 4, he had appeared in every episode of a season.
- During the eight months as a prisoner in Kamchatka, Hopper learns some basic Russian.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Basic math and attention to detail from information revealed in Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town yields his age. Hopper was 35 years old during his time in New York in July 1977. So he had to be born between August 1941 and July 1942.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stranger Things: The First Shadow
- ↑ Articles & News/Thirty Dead
- ↑ "The Nina Project"
- ↑ "The Case of the Missing Lifeguard"
- ↑ Stranger Things Winter Special One-Shot
- ↑ "Montauk Pilot"
- ↑ "Interview: Actor David Harbour Embraces ‘Stranger Things’"The Young Folks. August 3, 2016.
- ↑ "12 Clever Details You Might've Missed in Stranger Things Season 2"Dorkly
- ↑ Stranger Things Winter Special One-Shot
|