Eleven (Stranger Things)
Jane Hopper, better known as Eleven or "El", is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Netflix science fiction horror television series Stranger Things, portrayed by Millie Bobby Brown. Eleven has psychokinetic and telepathic powers.
Fictional character biography
Born Jane Ives on June 7, 1971, Eleven is the daughter of Teresa "Terry" Ives. Terry was one of the test subjects in MKUltra, a real-life Central Intelligence Agency -sanctioned program where the government conducted mind control experiments on real people. According to the series, Terry joined the program as a college student in 1969 under the supervision of Dr. Martin Brenner. Terry was subjected to experiments, including drug testing, psychedelic drugs, and being submerged in sensory deprivation tanks. She did not know she was pregnant at the time with her and her boyfriend, Andrew Rich's, baby while these experiments were taking place. Andrew's identity is only revealed in Suspicious Minds. Andrew died fighting in the Vietnam War, before he ever learned he was going to be a father. His death was not a total accident, as Dr. Brenner had Andrew expelled from college, which made him eligible for the draft. This was not only a form of punishment for Terry, but it also made it easier to take their daughter away. Dr. Brenner is able to cover up Eleven's kidnapping by making it look like Terry miscarried. He took Eleven to Hawkins National Laboratory in order to develop her psychokinetic skills. Everyone, including Terry's sister Becky, believed the miscarriage story; Terry never did and knew her daughter was still alive. She tried to sue the government for stealing her child, but the case was ultimately dismissed. Terry stormed Hawkins Lab in 1974 in order to get her child back. She was able to find Eleven and Kali playing in the Rainbow Room. Before she could leave with her daughter, Terry was captured by lab workers and given electroshock therapy until she experienced severe brain damage.Eleven appears to have been born a psychic with notable telekinetic and extrasensory abilities. However, when she uses these abilities to a significant degree, she becomes temporarily weakened and her nose bleeds. When placed in a sensory deprivation tank, she can use remote viewing to access other dimensions, primarily for the purposes of espionage. In addition, Eleven can open and close portals, known as "Gates", to a parallel dimension called the Upside Down.
Season 1
In the first season, Eleven escapes from Hawkins National Laboratory wearing only her hospital gown and attempts to steal food from a local restaurant. The owner Benny takes pity on her and calls social services while putting her in a long t-shirt associated with the restaurant. The responding social worker, who turns out to be an agent sent from Hawkins Laboratory, kills Benny. Eleven then flees before she can be taken again. She is encountered by Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair, who are looking for their missing friend Will Byers. The boys learn her name is Eleven from a "011" tattoo on her left forearm. Mike decides to call her "El" for short and allows Eleven to live in his basement while providing her with some new clothes. Fearing recapture, Eleven convinces Mike not to tell any adults, so Dr. Brenner, whom she calls "Papa" and the people that work for him, called "Bad Men", cannot find her.Eleven helps to locate Will and determines that he is trapped in a parallel dimension, which the children dub the "Upside Down", where he is being hunted by a creature called the "Demogorgon". The group sets out to find Will using their compasses, but Eleven interferes with their search when she realizes they are being led toward Hawkins Laboratory. Lucas, upon noticing her deception, becomes angry; she knocks him unconscious and flees. She later steals Eggo waffles from a grocery store and eats them in the forest. Mike and Dustin are later threatened by bullies ; Mike is forced to jump off a high cliff into a lake while Dustin is held hostage. Eleven returns and intervenes before Mike hits the water, frightening the bullies and saving both Mike and Dustin.
Eleven, Mike, and Dustin reunite with Lucas and make amends. They travel to the town junkyard with Dr. Brenner and his associates in close pursuit. During the chase, a government van catches up to the children; Eleven uses her powers to flip the van through the air, blocking the convoy's path and allowing the group to flee. They are then joined by Joyce Byers, Hawkins police chief Jim Hopper, Nancy Wheeler, and Jonathan Byers. Together, they create a makeshift isolation tank with a pool and bags of salt in order to help Eleven access the Upside Down. Eleven, using her powers, confirms that Will is alive, but says that Barbara, Nancy's friend taken shortly after Will, is "gone". As government forces close in on the school, Mike tells Eleven she can be a part of his family; he then asks her to the school dance and kisses her after struggling to explain his feelings. Eleven later helps the group escape by using her powers to kill most of the agents. After the Demogorgon makes its way into their dimension, Eleven seemingly sacrifices herself to destroy the creature and save her friends.
One month later, after a Christmas party, Hopper leaves the police station and drives to the woods. There, he leaves waffles in a concealed box. Eleven's condition and location are left ambiguous.
Season 2
After defeating the Demogorgon, Eleven wakes up in the Upside Down. She escapes through a portal that leads her back to Hawkins Middle School. With the government still searching for her, she is forced to hide in the forest. Eleven eventually finds the Eggos Hopper has left for her and seeks him out. The two move into a fortified cabin in the woods, where he forbids her to leave, fearing for her safety. Hopper hides Eleven indoors for almost a year, concealing her survival and whereabouts from everyone, including the children. During this time, Eleven gains better control over her powers; she is less weakened by the use of her telekinesis, and she is now able to project her mind without the use of a sensory deprivation tank. She uses the latter ability to listen to Mike's attempts to contact her, though she is increasingly frustrated at her inability to reply. Eleven also significantly expands her vocabulary during this time, learning from both Hopper and television.Eleven becomes restless and longs to reunite with Mike and his friends, which causes tension between her and Hopper. One day, she runs away from home and travels to Hawkins Middle School. When she finds Mike with a new student Max Mayfield, Eleven mistakenly thinks Max is flirting with Mike. Out of jealousy, she uses her powers to knock Max off her skateboard before leaving. Upon returning to the cabin, she gets into a heated argument with Hopper over her leaving without permission, ending with her angrily using her powers to damage the cabin. The next day, whilst cleaning the mess she made, Eleven looks through records in the cabin's basement and discovers that her birth mother, Terry, is alive, contradicting what Hopper and Dr. Brenner had told her. She runs away once again and hitchhikes to her mother's residence, where she first meets her aunt Becky. Through Becky, Eleven finds out what happened to Terry at Hawkins National Laboratory. While there, she realizes Terry is trying to communicate with her, but is unable to effectively do so due to her catatonic state. Eleven, using her powers, views a flashback of her mother. After her daughter was taken from her, Terry attempted to force her way into Hawkins National Laboratory to save her. As a response, Brenner and his assistants capture her and subject her head to 450 volts of electricity, resulting in her current condition. This makes the words "breathe", "sunflower", "rainbow", "450", "three to the right, four to the left" repeat in her head faster and faster. "Breathe" for what Becky repeated to Terry when she was in labor; "sunflower" for the first thing she saw after her C-section; "rainbow" for the room she found Eleven and Kali in; "450" for the voltage of the electroshock therapy she forcefully received; and "three to the right, four to the left" for the combination to her safe where she kept her gun.
Eleven then uses her abilities to find out she has a "sister"—another gifted girl taken by Dr. Brenner for experimentation—and sets out to find her.
Using her abilities once again, Eleven locates her sister and discovers that she is an older girl named Kali Prasad, ID number 008, who can cause people to experience visual hallucinations. Eleven finds and stays with Kali and her friends in Chicago—runaways who are determined to take revenge on people who have hurt them. Kali teaches Eleven to focus on her anger to get the most out of her powers; she successfully uses this tactic to move a railcar, impressing Kali and eliciting cheers from the gang. Later, the group tracks down Ray Carroll, a former Hawkins Lab employee. When she discovers that he was one of the individuals responsible for Terry's condition, Eleven begins to choke him to death in a rage. However, she stops upon realizing that he has two daughters, and ends up preventing Kali from shooting him. Back at the hideout, Eleven witnesses Hopper and Mike in danger through the void. While the gang is about to flee, Eleven realizes she needs to return to her friends to save them.
Eleven goes back to Hawkins and finally reunites with Mike with a heartfelt embrace and her friends after saving them from a Demodog. The group realizes that she needs to close the gate to the Upside Down, and she and Hopper head to Hawkins Laboratory. There, Eleven remembers Kali's lessons and focuses her anger on her powers, closing the gate and draining her energy. Afterwards, Dr. Sam Owens meets up with Hopper and hands him a forged birth certificate, which allows Hopper to legally adopt Eleven, and tells him that she must be hidden for at least a year to ensure her safety. Eleven's name now changes from Jane Ives to Jane Hopper. However, on Owen's advice, Hopper lets her attend the Snow Ball at Hawkins Middle School. She meets up with Mike, dances with him, and they share their first kiss as a couple. Hopper's daughter, Sarah, wore a blue hair tie before she passed away, which Hopper made into a bracelet that he wore throughout the first two seasons. Eleven wears the same bracelet to the school dance.
Back in the Upside Down, the Mind Flayer observes Eleven and her friends at the high school.