Will Byers (Stranger Things): the vanished boy of 1983, from the Upside Down to the last chapter
Character · The vanished boy of 1983 · Seasons 1 to 5
Will Byers is the boy everything starts with: his disappearance, on the night of November 6, 1983, is the first scene of Stranger Things. Abducted by the Demogorgon, a survivor of the Upside Down, possessed by the Mind Flayer, exiled to California, he carries for five seasons a tie to the other world nobody understands, and which becomes, in 1987, the weapon that brings down Vecna. This page brings together everything: his seasons, his tie to the hive, his feelings for Mike, and what the finale does with him.
The essentials
- Name: William “Will” Byers, born March 22, 1971
- Family: Joyce, his mother; Jonathan, his brother; Lonnie, his absent father; Eleven, his adoptive sister
- First appearance: season 1, the Dungeons & Dragons session of November 6, 1983
- Role in the party: the cleric, then “Will the Wise”
- Particular: linked to the hive mind of the Upside Down since 1984
- Played by: Noah Schnapp
- Status: alive, graduated from Hawkins High at the end of season 5
Contents
Played by
Noah Schnapp
It is Noah Schnapp who lends his face to Will Byers on the show.
Image: Stranger Things series, via dnm.nflximg.net.
Who is Will Byers?
On November 6, 1983, Will rides home from a Dungeons & Dragons game at the Wheelers'. On the Mirkwood road, something follows him. He runs to his house, empty, then to his shed in the yard, Castle Byers. The lamp goes wild. He disappears. That three-minute scene opens the show, and Will is absent from almost the entire first season, both everywhere and nowhere.
Will is the quietest of the party: the cleric of the role-playing group, the one who draws, who listens, who does not dare. He lives with his mother Joyce, a cashier at Melvald's, and his big brother Jonathan, in a small house on the edge of the woods. His father, Lonnie, left a long time ago, and left behind only hurtful remarks about this son he found too sensitive.
It is that sensitivity that makes Will the strangest character on the show. He survives a week alone in the Upside Down, comes back marked forever, and becomes, without meaning to, an antenna plugged into the other world. Every season, when something approaches, Will feels it first.
Will the WiseThat is the character Will plays in their role-playing games, from season 2 on. The name is not an accident: in the show, Will is the one who knows. He detects the Mind Flayer in 1985, senses Vecna in 1986, understands the hive in 1987. The quiet cleric had been the party's sage from the start.
In the shop: a piece inspired by Will Byers, chosen by us.
In the shopMen's Will Byers T-shirt39,90 €See the product
Will season by season
1983Season 1: the missing boy
Abducted by the Demogorgon, Will hides for a week in the inverted version of Hawkins, in his own cabin, Castle Byers. He communicates with his mother through the house lamps: Joyce paints an alphabet on the wall and strings Christmas lights so he can spell his answers. Eleven locates him in a sensory-deprivation tank. Joyce and Hopper enter the other world through the lab gate and find him unconscious, a vine in his throat. He is brought back. A month later, at Christmas, he coughs up a larva in the sink and sees, for a second, the bathroom tip to the other side.
1984Season 2: the possessed
A year later, Will has “episodes”: absences where he finds himself in the Upside Down, facing a giant shadow. The doctors talk about post-traumatic stress. On the night of Halloween, the shadow catches him and enters him. The Mind Flayer possesses him: it sees through his eyes, knows what he knows, and Will becomes a spy against his will, who sends the lab soldiers to their deaths in the tunnels. His family understands that the creature fears heat. In Hopper's cabin, Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy burn him with radiators until the shadow comes out of him screaming. Eleven closes the gate. At the Snow Ball, Will finally dances.
1985Season 3: the summer everything changes
Summer 1985, his friends discover girls and Will still wants to play. He feels a chill on the back of his neck: the Mind Flayer is back. Nobody listens to him at first. He destroys Castle Byers in the rain, wild with anger and grief, then helps the group understand that Billy is possessed. After the battle of Starcourt and Hopper's presumed death, Joyce leaves Indiana and settles in California. Will goes with his mother, his brother, and Eleven, who has become his sister.
1986Season 4: California
In Lenora Hills, Will is a displaced teenager who finds no place anywhere. When Mike comes to visit, he has eyes only for Eleven, and Will hides under his arm a painting he made for him. In the van crossing the desert, he finally talks about it, pretending the painting comes from Eleven: in it he tells Mike he is the heart of the group. Everyone has understood, except Mike. Back in Hawkins, the back of Will's neck burns again: Vecna is there, and he has always felt him.
1987Season 5: the wise one
In fall 1987, Will's link to the other world is no longer a curse: he sees through the creatures' eyes, and he discovers he can reverse the current. He kills Demogorgons with his mind. He comes out to his family and friends, who support him. In the final battle, linked to Henry Creel by the hive, he begs him to resist then, when Henry refuses, tears off his arm by telekinesis so Eleven can strike. He helps destroy the Upside Down. The epilogue shows him graduated, and hints that he leaves Hawkins for a city where he can love freely.
What defines him
The flaw his father blamed him for becomes the gift that saves the show. Will feels the other world before anyone else, in the back of his neck, like a cold.
He draws the tunnels under Hawkins in 1984, he paints the knight in 1986. Will speaks better with a pencil than with words.
A spy against his will in 1984, a detector in 1985 and 1986, a fighter in 1987. The same link, reversed.
His best friend since kindergarten, and the love he does not dare name before season 5. Everything Will does, he also does for Mike.
Key moments
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Castle Byers, 1983
The lamp that flickers, the door that opens with no hand, a boy who vanishes. The founding scene of the show.
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The wall of lights
Will answers his mother through the bulbs, letter by letter. When he spells a word to say to run, the season turns.
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The exorcism
Tied up in Hopper's cabin, heated by radiators, Will screams while Joyce tells him about the day he drew a rainbow ship. The shadow comes out through his mouth.
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The destruction of Castle Byers
In the rain, in 1985, he smashes his own fort with a bat. The grief of childhood, in one scene.
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The van
In the desert, he talks to Mike about the painting while pretending it comes from Eleven. Jonathan, at the wheel, has understood everything. The most discussed scene of season 4.
Another piece from the selection: a piece inspired by Will Byers.
In the shopLego Will Byers mini figure on skateboard14,90 €See the product
Not to be confused
| People often say | In reality | The landmark |
|---|---|---|
| Will is found in the quarry | The quarry body is a fake; Will is found in the Upside Down | Episode 8 of season 1, by Joyce and Hopper |
| Will is possessed by Vecna | No: it is the Mind Flayer that possesses him, in 1984 | The heat exorcism, at Hopper's |
| Will dies in season 5 | He survives, fights, and gets his diploma | The epilogue shows him with his friends |
| Will is Eleven's brother by blood | She is adopted by Hopper, then raised by Joyce | They become brother and sister in 1985 |
One last one: the song tied to Will, “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash, does not come from chance. It is Jonathan who introduced him to it, to give him courage facing their father. When it plays on a broken radio in 1983, it is Will calling.
Our Will Byers products
Will is the character who opened the show, and one of the most requested by fans: string lights, Castle Byers posters, T-shirts, and accessories inspired by his seasons. We pick every piece ourselves, and claim nothing beyond our passion for the show.
To complete the reading: a piece inspired by Will Byers.
In the shopWill Byers hoodie59,90 €See the product
Frequently asked questions
In which episode is Will found in Stranger Things?
In the last episode of season 1, the eighth. Joyce and Hopper enter the Upside Down through the Hawkins Lab gate and find him unconscious in the inverted version of the library, a vine in his throat. Hopper revives him, and Will wakes at the hospital, surrounded by his friends.
Is Will possessed by Vecna?
No. Will is possessed in 1984 by the Mind Flayer, the giant shadow of season 2, which his family drives out of his body with heat. Vecna, for his part, has never inhabited Will. Season 5 does reveal, though, that the Mind Flayer and Henry Creel share the same mind, which explains Will's lasting link to the hive.
Is Will gay in Stranger Things?
Yes. The show hints at it as early as season 3, makes it explicit in season 4 through the painting for Mike and the van scene, and Will comes out to his family and friends in season 5. They all support him. The epilogue hints that he leaves Hawkins for a city where he can live freely.
Does Will die in Stranger Things?
No. Will survives the five seasons. In the final battle of 1987, he immobilizes Henry Creel by telekinesis so Eleven can strike, then takes part in the destruction of the Upside Down. He graduates from Hawkins High with his friends.
What are Will's powers?
They come from his 1984 possession: Will stays linked to the hive mind of the Upside Down. In season 2, the creature sees through his eyes; in seasons 3 and 4, he feels it coming; in season 5, he reverses the link, sees through the creatures' eyes, and kills Demogorgons with his mind.
Who plays Will Byers?
Noah Schnapp has played Will since 2016. The character, almost absent from season 1, becomes central from season 2. The images on this page come from the show and its promotion; they remain the property of their rights holders.