Stranger Things' Duffer brothers explain why Demogorgons went missing

3 January 2026, 16:30

By Katie Louise Smith

Why are there no demogorgons in the Abyss during the big fight against Vecna? Here's your answer...

Amongst the countless burning questions about Stranger Things 5's ending, there's one that everyone keeps asking: What the hell happened to the Demogorgons in the final battle against Vecna?

The Demogorgons have been an integral part of Stranger Things since the beginning and they're back in season 5, snatching kids, terrorising the military and almost taking out the Wheeler parents.

So naturally, with the group's plan to ambush Vecna on his home turf in The Abyss, where the Mind Flayer, Demogorgons, demodogs and demobats all originate, viewers were expecting some kind of final fight against the creatures.

However, they are absolutely nowhere to be seen. Not one Demogorgon is encountered while the group are in The Abyss, and none of them flock to help Vecna as he's getting whacked by Eleven.

In an interview with TheWrap, Matt and Ross Duffer have now explained why they didn't appear...

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"Mainly it’s just that Vecna was not expecting this sneak attack on his home turf," Matt explained. "Never in a million years could he even imagine that."

"They’re there somewhere," he continued, before explaining that they didn't feel it was necessary to have them in the episode. "We obviously discussed having a demo battle on top of the Mind Flayer battle, but it felt more right to us that why does he need the demos when the Mind Flayer is this giant thing and can attack them? He doesn’t need his little ant army to attack, he’s going to take care of this himself."

He added: "It’s a giant, desolate planet. If you recall, you see Henry wandering the planet back in Season 4 and at some point in his journey, he does see a demo far in the distance, but it’s not like they’re hanging out in little huts. There’s not like a giant civilisation of demos up there."

Matt and Ross went on to reveal that they did originally plan to have the group come across a "giant field of demo eggs in kind of an 'Aliens' thing", and they intended to have the demos hatch out of the eggs... "but you can’t get all your ideas in there," Matt added.

They also revealed that they took "demo fatigue" into account, particularly after Will's incredible moment in Volume 1. "I felt like we did everything we wanted to do with them in 'Sorcerer,' and wanting to keep the focus on Vecna and the Mind Flayer, who’s been absent this season."

Read more about Stranger Things here:

• Who dies in Stranger Things 5 finale? All the deaths in the final episode
• Jamie Campbell Bower is taking a break from villains after mental toll of Stranger Things 5
• Stranger Things edits out major filming mistake in Holly Wheeler scene
• Stranger Things' Will Byers coming out scene was different in the original draft
• Stranger Things creators clarify 'confusing' Nancy and Jonathan engagement scene

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