Michael Joseph "Mike" Wheeler is a protagonist in "Stranger Things"
Biography[]
Mike is shown to be optimist, morally compassionate, and highly committed to his friends, usually going to great lengths to help them. His D&D role as Dungeon Master suggests that he, like Will, is a creative thinker. Out of the four boys, he is the most emotionally open and rather gullible, being willing to accept fantastical explanations behind complex situations. After Will disappeared, he quickly drew a parallel to Will’s defeat at the hands of the Demogorgon. After witnessing Eleven's psychic powers, Mike became faithful to the idea that she could help find Will. While his friends were initially skeptical about Eleven, Mike wholeheartedly trusted her to guide them and even developed a close relationship with her. Mike's slightly unorthodox approach led him to connect some of the dots explaining the mysterious Upside Down.
Mike's sheer resolve to helping his friends was so great that at one point, he jumped off the cliff to protect Dustin before Eleven came to rescue him. Additionally, Mike displayed strong morale and courage when he confronted Troy about his joke of Will's presumed death, showing just how much he cares for his friends. Even after Will was saved, Mike perceived that Will was struggling due to his connection with the Upside Down and tried to help him. Mike was also the only one out of his friends to stay with Will in the lab when he was suffering from memory loss and was manipulated by the Mind Flayer, proving that he was always ready to put himself in harm's way to protect his friends.
Moreover, when Eleven disintegrated the Demogorgon and vanished, Mike was severely traumatized by her disappearance and struggled. Yet he still believed that she was alive and continued to try contacting her for 353 consecutive days, until his determination was rewarded when he finally reunited with Eleven after almost a year. His undying love and concern for her were also explicit when he endeavored to convince the group to distract the Demodogs from Eleven, defying Steve's orders, as well as keeping his promise to her by attending the Snow Ball.
As he started dating Eleven, Mike showed a more romantic side to his personality. He was protective of Eleven as he feared losing her again, but he eventually shed his overprotectiveness of Eleven after reconciling with her. Mike was also shown to be more mature as he admitted that he was being too overprotective of Eleven and apologized to her for it.