In the fall of 1984, Nancy's struggle to grieve Barb created a rift between her and Steve, leading her to drunkenly confess that she didn't love him anymore.
"Vecna seems to be actually intrigued by Nancy being able to figure him out, to be able to get this close to the truth... I think this is more Vecna's narcissistic traits that pull him to Nancy, why he wants to give her this information."
She wound up injuring her hand while trying to shotgun a beer. While Barb was off tending to her wound, nobody seemed to care about her wellbeing. Even the usually loyal Nancy brushed her off by telling her to go home. Instead, the Demogorgon targeted Barb as she sat alone by the Harringtons' pool.
Fans who dislike Nancy feel that she has a frustrating personality and that she doesn't make the best choices. Redditor ObessiveRantingFan doesn't like Nancy for another reason: she seems to be fulfilling a trope or type of character and that's why she's on Stranger Things.
Vecna Will Target Nancy In Stranger Things Season 5 - But Will Do More Than Kill Her.
Yes! Nancy (Natalia Dyer) is fine — at least, as fine as she can be after being traumatized by Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) and almost strangled to death by his squelchy, squelchy tentacles. Instead of escaping Vecna's Mind Lair by hearing her favorite song, Nancy is actually released by Vecna himself.
Vecna draws power from sad and angry memories and that is the main reason he targets traumatized teens. Those teens are a well of power just there to be absorbed. This is not just a theory, Vecna himself told Eleven about the power that angry and sad memories hold.
For starters, she's a girl, one of the few teen girl characters in the first season. And many LGBTQ+ viewers saw Barb as a closeted queer character with an unrequited crush on Nancy.
At first, Nancy wanted to change her clothes in private, but decided to have sex with Steve where she undressed in front of him. As Nancy lost her virginity to Steve, she was unaware that Barb, who was sitting alone outside by the pool, was abducted by an otherworldly monster.
By 1986, the death of Barb Holland is what many believed to be what set off the "curse" of Hawkins. Fred Benson, a friend of Nancy's who was similar to Barb, was cursed and killed by Vecna. His death brought back Nancy's trauma, guilt, and grief over Barb's death.
Many fans didn't like how Nancy abandoned her best friend to hook up with Steve, which resulted in the Demogorgon ambushing and abducting her.
The Cast of I Know What You Did Last Summer Play a Scary Game of Would You Rather. Nancy's the one who posits that the Demogorgon can smell blood (and that's how it found Barb), so the pair decide to use their own to do the trick. Each of them makes a deep cut in the palm of their hand, and lo and behold, it works!
While intending to get his revenge on Eleven and Brenner, Vecna also goes after victims who have dealt with traumatizing experiences in the past (reminiscent of his childhood and his time at the Hawkins lab).
We know Eleven was born in 1971, which means her mom got pregnant with her during the tests, sometime in 1970. A 1959 flashback in the mid-season 4 finale reveals a 12-year-old One (Jamie Campbell Bower). That puts One, a.k.a. Vecna, as 24 when Eleven was born.
Nancy: She Cheated On Him
It was whilst at Murray's that Nancy and Johnathan finally gave in to their feelings and slept together for the first time. This is a harsh blow to Steve, especially considering Murray's observation that Nancy likes Steve a lot but doesn't love him moments earlier.
She ditches Steve and his friends, making up an excuse, and goes back to Steve's house to try to find some clues. She finds Barb's car where they left it the night previous, and while looking around the woods, she glimpses the strange Thing - again we don't get a good look at it, but it's huge and hulking and grey.
Physically, she's with Steve and the others, but mentally she's trapped in the harrowing past with Vecna stalking her. In the upside down, she sees Barb dead in the pool before 001 in monster form starts to taunt her about the guilt she feels about her friend's death.
Barb Dies In Stranger Things Season 1 When She's Trapped By A Demogorgon In The Upside Down.
Nancy Cared About Steve More
Nancy chose to remain with Steve rather than accompanying Barb home, despite her friend having hurt herself. It could be argued that Nancy cared about her boyfriend more, as she disregarded the feelings of her friend. Barb promises to chaperone Nancy when they go to Steve's party.
The Demogorgon Tried (& Failed) To Use Barb
The slugs, the theory claimed, were a side-effect of the Mind Flayer's powers and possession – a moment that would eventually have an in-show explanation and provided more of the nightmare-inducing imagery that makes Stranger Things great.
What was Chrissy's Trauma? Chrissy's life appears to be free from flaws on the surface, but in reality, she is struggling terribly to conceal her depression and self-image stemming. She was struggling with these issues, which resulted in her developing an eating disorder due to her mother's verbally abusive comments.
The episode then cuts to Vecna in 1980s Upside Down, zooming in on his arm, where a tentacle slides away to uncover 001 tattooed on his wrist. So Vecna is 001, who is also Victor Creel's son.
Realizing he had tremendous psychic power, he haunted his family with visions before ultimately killing most of them. His father was framed for the murders and locked away in a mental hospital as a disturbed serial killer. Henry then found himself in the care of Brenner, who decided he wanted more kids like the boy.