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Spoiler Warning!
This article or section reveals details from the second season. Read at your own discretion. |
| This article is about the entity. For the episode, see The Mind Flayer (episode) |
The Mind Flayer, also known as the Shadow Monster[1] or the Brain, is a malevolent entity inhabiting the Upside Down. It was introduced in Stranger Things's second season, and is considered one of the show's main antagonists.
Quick Answers
What is the origin of the Mind Flayer in Stranger Things?
What is the relationship between the Mind Flayer and the Demogorgons?
What are the other names for the Mind Flayer in Stranger Things?
What is the physical appearance of the Mind Flayer?
How does the Mind Flayer control the Upside Down?
History
Background
The history of the Mind Flayer prior to October 1984 remains a mystery. Exactly how long it had existed for, and how and why it came into existence, is unknown.
In November 1983, an inter-dimensional gate was opened at Hawkins Lab, allowing the Upside Down to begin to spread through. It is not known if the Mind Flayer was present within the Upside Down at this time.
Season One
Will Byers, a young resident of Hawkins, was captured by a Demogorgon and brought to the Upside Down's version of the town's public library. Although he was safely recovered by friends and family, Will began to have visions of the Upside Down.
Season Two
Will continued to have visions of the Upside Down for a year following his rescue. These visions were examined by Dr. Sam Owens at Hawkins Lab, who believed Will was experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder.
On October 28, 1984, Will and his friends went to play at the Palace Arcade. While his friends argued with the arcade's employee, Will became distracted by another vision. He walked out of the Upside Down version of the arcade. To his horror, he witnessed a blood-red storm raging in the sky above, before hearing an unearthly howl. However, Will's friend Mike snapped Will out of the vision.
A drawing of the monster, drawn by Will Byers.
Will had another vision the following evening. He went to have a toilet break in the middle of the night, and was returning to his bedroom. However, he saw a red light illuminating the walls of his house. The front door swung open, revealing the Upside Down beyond it, where the red storm violently raged once again. Will walked out into the Upside Down and witnessed the obscured but distinctive silhouette of the Mind Flayer amongst the clouds.
On Halloween night, Will experienced yet another vision while trick-o-treating in Loch Nora, a wealthy neighborhood in Hawkins. He found himself in the Upside Down version of the neighborhood. At first, Will heard a strange chittering sound coming from multiple directions. Then, he watched in horror as the Mind Flayer rose high into the air before pursuing him through Loch Nora. Will hid behind a wall, unaware that the Flayer was close behind him. However, Mike found Will and snapped him out of the vision before the Mind Flayer could touch him.
Shortly after, Will would have another vision of the Upside Down while at school. In this vision, he was chased out of the Upside Down version of his school by the Mind Flayer's tendrils of mist. Upon reaching the outside, Will turned to see the Mind Flayer looming above his school. The Mind Flayer entrapped Will within one of its 'limbs' of mist, infecting him.
The silhouette of the Mind Flayer is seen behind the Gate when Eleven closes it, presumably sealing the Mind Flayer back inside the Upside Down.
Sometime later, during the Hawkins Middle School Snowball Dance, the Mind Flayer looms over the school in the Upside Down, having survived the assault on the Gate.
Appearance
The Mind Flayer is gargantuan and spider-like, being at least 50 ft tall. The precise details of its anatomy remain unknown, due to the thick, black mist which envelops it. It is unclear whether it is entirely composed of mist, or if its body contains any solid elements.
However, the creature does appear to have multiple limbs, some of which split in two; these limbs visually resemble the tendrils and vines present in the Upside Down. It seems to have an elongated head which sprouts from the central body. Its presence is often accompanied by dramatic red lightning.
Pockets of the black mist could move independently while remaining under the control of the Mind Flayer. One of these pockets left the main body and latched itself onto Will Byers, allowing the Mind Flayer to possess him. Will's friends and family eventually forced the creature to abandon Will, with the mist flying away into the sky.
Nature
The Mind Flayer telepathically commands its army, consisting of Demodogs and the tendrils, to kill and destroy humans (except for its host Will). It also displays a sense of human level intelligence, as it forced Will to lie in order to kill numerous soldiers.
Abilities
- Hive Mind: The Mind Flayer's most distinctive feature is the ability to take control and command of the creatures from the Upside Down and later Will. Upon having its feeding area burned, it sent multiple Demodogs to the tunnels in order to deal with the problem. It also had them try and stop Eleven from closing the gate. The downside of this mental connection was that the burning of tendrils would affect the Demodogs and Will, and most likely the Flayer itself. Will was also able to learn instinctive knowledge of its goals, the tunnels and weakness. Despite the hive mind's reach, when Eleven sealed the rift between worlds, the connection was severed and led to the death of its subjugates.
- Possession: By imbuing a portion of its essence on an affected subject (despite both the Flayer and Will being in seperate worlds), the Mind Flayer is able to link the infected to the rest of its army. An example of its power was how it tricked Will into sending numerous soldiers to their death by having Will tell them its weakness was within the feeding area in the tunnels. The possession can be severed by subjecting the infected to extreme heat, which burns the essence out of its body by making it uninhabitable due to a weakness to heat and light.
- Umbrakinesis: The creature could manipulate its own shadow/mist body to forcibly possess and attack. It was able to possess Will through an episode he was suffering, despite his physical body remaining on the Upside Down. Through the gate, it also attempted to attack Eleven as she closed the gate, but her great power was able to block its attempt.
Behind the scenes
Matt Duffer told Entertainment Weekly that the shadow monster was inspired by horror classics: "There's an H.P. Lovecraft sort of approach, this inter-dimensional being that is sort of beyond human comprehension."[1]
The scene in which the Shadow Monster infects or enters Will bears resemblance to similar possession sequences in horror films, most notably in 1973's The Exorcist.
Trivia
- It's possible that to be infected, one needs to have a tendril similar to the Library Tendril attached to them first, or have been in the Upside Down for a significant amount of time; the exact nature of the infection has not yet been confirmed.
- Possessed humans are colder to the touch than average.
- Heat and light are one of its weaknesses. Extreme heat causes the human extreme pain, but is able to cure them with enough exposure and heat. Bob Newby also noted that the Mind Flayer's vines beneath Hawkins deliberately avoided contact with bodies of water.
- Eleven's power is able to block the Mind Flayer's attacks, suggesting a connection between the two.
- Both Dart and Will showed the ability to fight or ignore the Mind Flayer's influence. Dart was able to remember Dustin and Will was able to communicate in Morse Code while being reached emotionally by his family.
- In Dungeons and Dragons, Mind Flayers are a race of magical humanoids with tentacles on their face who eat brains.
Gallery
References
- ā 1.0 1.1 "Stranger Things 2: Behind the sequel's big, bad 'shadow monster'" Entertainment Weekly. September 28, 2017.
