Spoilers for all five seasons, including the series finale. Before Stranger Things 5 aired, these ten characters had the strongest story-based reasons to seem at risk. This is a retrospective ranking of pre-season danger, not a claim that their deaths were unknown or a statistical forecast. The season has since ended: Netflix says the Party defeats Vecna and destroys the Upside Down, while Eleven’s fate is left deliberately ambiguous. Netflix’s finale explainer describes the ending and the surviving characters’ futures.
How this ranking works
There is no official or measured probability for any character’s death. The order below is an editorial estimate of how much danger viewers could reasonably infer before Season 5, based on exposure to the central conflict, unresolved peril at the end of Season 4, and whether a sacrifice could plausibly complete a character’s arc. Genre expectations are weaker evidence than what the story actually establishes.
Netflix’s Season 5 cast guide describes the characters’ setup for the final fight. Those descriptions give context for speculation; they do not predict who would die. The final fates below are based on Netflix’s finale account.
The 10 characters who seemed most at risk before Season 5
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Max Mayfield
Max had the clearest unresolved peril: at the end of Season 4, Vecna had nearly killed her, and she was left in a coma. Netflix’s cast guide called her recovery an uphill battle and quoted Sadie Sink describing a small glimmer of hope. That made her an emotionally powerful candidate for another confrontation with Vecna, but it was not evidence that she would die. In the finale’s postscript, Max and Lucas settle together, confirming she survives the series.
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Eleven
Eleven was directly tied to Vecna and the Upside Down, and her determination to protect her friends made a self-sacrificing ending plausible. Yet her central role also gave the story a strong reason to keep her alive. The finale preserves uncertainty rather than confirming her death: Netflix says the scene can be read as her escape, and the Duffer Brothers leave the interpretation to viewers.
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Steve Harrington
Steve was entering the ultimate battle, and Netflix’s cast guide placed his relationship with a grieving Dustin at the forefront. His protective instincts and close ties to the younger group made a last stand easy to imagine—and made that possibility an especially familiar genre expectation. Neither his battle preparation nor his bond with Dustin established that he would die. In the future described by Netflix, Dustin continues university and adventures with Steve.
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Will Byers
Will’s history with the Upside Down and his continuing connection to its threat put him close to the season’s central conflict. That connection could make him vulnerable, but it could equally make him essential to ending the danger. Netflix’s account of the finale says Will finds acceptance outside Hawkins, pointing to a future beyond the fight rather than a confirmed death.
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Dustin Henderson
Dustin’s grief after Eddie’s death and his closeness to Steve supplied the ingredients for a high-stakes emotional storyline. But grief is not a death signal, and a character’s importance to another survivor does not establish a sacrifice. Netflix says Dustin continues university and adventures with Steve after the finale.
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Lucas Sinclair
Lucas’s connection to Max made him likely to be drawn into the consequences of Vecna’s attack, while his loyalty to his friends put him in danger whenever the group faced the threat directly. Those circumstances supported concern, not a reliable prediction. Netflix describes Lucas and Max settling together after the events of the finale.
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Mike Wheeler
Mike’s role in planning missions, noted in Netflix’s cast guide, made him a participant in dangerous action rather than a distant observer. His importance to Eleven also made a tragic loss conceivable to viewers. But leadership and emotional closeness are narrative context, not evidence of a death. Netflix says Mike becomes a writer in the characters’ post-finale futures.
Rank #3
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Robin Buckley
Robin’s involvement in the community mission put her within reach of the season’s danger. As a capable member of the group, she had a reason to be in the action; as a supporting character, she could also have been used to raise the stakes. Those are possibilities, not confirmation. Netflix’s finale account does not list Robin among the futures it summarizes, so that source alone does not establish her final fate.
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Jonathan Byers
Jonathan’s family ties and connection to the central group made him vulnerable to the same escalating danger facing the others. A sacrifice to protect Will or Joyce would have been imaginable, but the pre-season setup cited here does not give a specific reason to rank him above the principal fighters. Netflix’s finale account does not specify Jonathan’s post-finale future, so no particular outcome should be inferred from that omission.
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Joyce Byers
Joyce repeatedly put herself in danger to protect her family, making another rescue attempt a credible source of risk. Her survival, however, was also important to the family story, and the available pre-season setup does not point to a particular fatal turn. Netflix’s finale account does not detail Joyce’s post-finale future; its silence is not evidence that she dies.
Rank #4
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What the finale establishes—and what it leaves open
Netflix’s finale explainer says the Party defeats Vecna and destroys the Upside Down. It also distinguishes confirmed futures from uncertainty: Max and Lucas settle together, Dustin continues university and adventures with Steve, Will finds acceptance outside Hawkins, and Mike becomes a writer. These outcomes rule out treating those characters as confirmed Season 5 deaths.
Eleven’s ending is different. Matt Duffer explained, “What we wanted to do was confront the reality of what her situation was after all of this and how could she live a normal life.” Ross Duffer said, “The fact that they’re believing in it, we just thought it was such a better way to end the story and a better way to represent the closure of this journey and their journey from children to adults.” Netflix presents the scene as open to interpretation, not as a definitive on-screen confirmation of her death or survival.
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