Who dies in Stranger Things 5 finale? All the deaths in the final episode

1 January 2026, 18:50

By Katie Louise Smith

Here's every characters that dies in Stranger Things 5 finale, who kills them and who manages to survive Vecna's final battle. [Spoilers ahead!]

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Stranger Things 5 has officially come to an end. After 9 years, five seasons and countless trips to the Upside Down, the Netflix series ended in absolutely spectacular fashion—but who dies and who survives?

Since the start of Stranger Things back in 2016, we've lost a lot of characters: Barb, Benny, Bob, Billy, Alexei, Chrissy, Eddie, Brenner, all those kids from Hawkins lab... While the body count in season 5 has been pretty big, no major characters have actually been killed off.

Ted and Karen Wheeler came pretty close after getting attacked by a Demogorgon but as of episode 7, they're both currently alive. Max, who did technically die in season 4, is also now out of her coma and awake again.

Going into the final episode, it wasn't looking good for Holly Wheeler and her friends, or Eleven who appeared to agree to sacrifice herself with Kali to stop Dr. Kay creating more 'numbers' to use as weapons.

Now, we have our answer... Who dies in final episode of Stranger Things? Scroll down for the full list. [MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!]

Read more: Does Eleven die in Stranger Things 5?
Read more: Stranger Things creators explain why they're hesitant to kill off main characters

Who dies in the Stranger Things 5 finale?

WARNING: Major Stranger Things 5 spoilers ahead! Picture: Netflix

WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for Stranger Things 5!

This article contains spoilers for the final episode of Stranger Things. If you haven't finished watching the final episode yet and don't want any spoilers, bookmark this page and come back once you've watched it.

If you are here looking for spoilers specifically, then scroll away!

Who dies in Stranger Things 5 final episode? Picture: Netflix

All the character deaths in the final episode of Stranger Things:

Several military soldiers - shot and killed by Hopper as he runs back to save Kali in the lab.
Several military soldiers - killed by Eleven after Murray blows up a chopper to destroy the kryptonite.
Lt. Akers - killed by Eleven after she forces him to shoot himself with her powers.
Kali - killed by Akers who shot her just as the helicopter explodes. She later dies of her gunshot wound.
[FLASHBACK] Scientist in the cave - killed by young Henry Creel after he opens the case and gets flayed by the Mind Flayer.
Vecna - killed by Joyce (!) who delivers the final blow and literally chops his head off with the axe! This is after a brutal fight in which Eleven ends up forcing him back onto a spike in the Pain Tree monster, assisted by Will who taps into the hive mind to stop Vecna from killing her right at the last moment.
Eleven* - sacrifices herself in the Upside Down after the bomb is detonated. She stands at the gate in the MAC-Z as everyone watches her disappear as the gate closes.

However, all might not be what it seems with Eleven...

Stranger Things' Duffer brothers have not filmed multiple endings

How many deaths are there in Stranger Things 5 in total?

There is over 100 deaths in Stranger Things 5 according to the Stranger Things fandom wiki.

The majority of these deaths are Dr. Kay's soldiers, as well as three Demogorgons (killed by Will) and three Demodogs (killed by Karen Wheeler). Some of these deaths also occur in flashbacks, such as Kali's friends and a handful of soldiers from her lab escape.

The major characters who die are: Lt. Akers, Vecna, Kali and Eleven*.

The Demogorgon kills several people in Stranger Things 5, and three Demogorgons are also killed by Will Byers. Picture: Netflix

Who survives Stranger Things 5?

Almost all of our Hawkins heroes manage to survive the final fight, although a couple of them come VERY close to dying, including Steve who almost falls of the radio tower, Holly who almost gets caught by Vecna and Hopper who almost meets a brutal end at the hands of Akers.

The surviving characters are: Will, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Max, Erica, Steve, Jonathan, Nancy, Robin, Hopper, Joyce, Murray, Karen, Ted, Holly, Dustin's mum, Lucas' parents, Mr. Clarke, Derek and the rest of Holly's friends... to name a few.

Dr. Kay is also still alive, but she is not shown again after the gate closes in the MAC-Z.

Does Eleven die in Stranger Things?

*And, for one last plot twist, as Mike is telling the story of what happened to each member of the party after his final campaign... He tells the "true story" of the Mage (Eleven) and what happened to her—or at least what he chooses to believe happened to her. This is what we then see played out on screen.

When Kali was shot, she devised a plan with El to help her escape from Dr. Kay. When she made it back to the MAC-Z, Kali (who was still alive at the lab in the Upside Down) formed a projection of El which is what everyone saw standing in the gate.

Mike then says that El managed to escape through the tunnels, made it out of Hawkins and completely disappeared to a place where Kay couldn't find her. And that place? It's a place with three waterfalls, just like Mike's dream for them had.

Of course, all of this is what Mike is telling the rest of the party so we don't know if it's true or not. But the final glimpse we see of Eleven is her walking through a mountainous landscape, finally free.