4 Stranger Things Characters Who Could Now Beat Vecna, Ranked by How Powerful They Are

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The final season of the hugely popular show Stranger Things has started, and Netflix is releasing it in a way that will keep fans excited for months. The season is divided into three parts, with episodes arriving in November, December (Christmas Day), and January (New Year’s Day). When the first episodes were released, so many people tried to watch at once that Netflix temporarily crashed for thousands of users.

Warning: Spoilers below for Stranger Things 5, Volume 1

The first part of Stranger Things Season 5 brings back the characters we love and dramatically changes everything we thought we knew. Hawkins is now under strict military control, cut off from the outside world and haunted by the Upside Down. While Vecna seemed unbeatable at the end of last season, these new episodes show that the heroes have grown stronger, with several characters now capable of challenging and potentially defeating him.

4) Max Mayfield and Holly Wheeler

Throughout the series, everyone wondered what happened to Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink). The new episodes finally explain that while her body is still in a coma, her mind is trapped within Vecna’s world. For almost two years, she’s been surviving inside his memories, a truly terrifying situation. However, this has given her a unique ability: she’s found a specific, safe place within Vecna’s mind – a memory of a rock wall and a cave – that he’s afraid to enter. This allows her to hide and, crucially, plan a way to defeat him.

Max’s odds of winning increased dramatically when Holly Wheeler, who had been kidnapped and taken to Vecna’s hideout, was rescued. Now, both Max and Holly are inside Vecna’s mind. Although they aren’t physically strong, their location is a huge advantage. If Vecna is busy fighting in the real world, Max and Holly could attack his thoughts, potentially distracting him enough to defeat him.

3) Kali Prasad

A major surprise in the fifth season’s first part is the return of Kali Prasad, also known as 008. While her story in season two felt separate from the main plot, the creators have now made her central to the current events. The military, led by the harsh Dr. Kay, has captured Kali and is using her psychic abilities to power dangerous sonic weapons designed to stop Eleven. The fact that Kali’s powers alone can fuel these weapons, even against other psychics, shows she’s far more powerful than anyone realized.

Now that Eleven has found her, Kali presents an unpredictable element that Vecna might not anticipate. Although she can’t move objects with her mind like Eleven, her ability to create incredibly realistic illusions could disorient or deceive Vecna in a fight. Plus, if she fights with Eleven and the others, she could use her powers to hide their actions or lure Vecna into revealing his true form.

2) Eleven

Between seasons of Stranger Things, Eleven has been intensely training, both physically and mentally. Hopper designed a challenging obstacle course to push her limits. She’s transformed from a scared girl dealing with trauma into a skilled and focused fighter, preparing for a specific threat. Eleven’s telekinetic powers are still the most powerful in the show, and she’s the only one who’s faced Vecna in a psychic battle and survived.

The latest episodes show her becoming more skilled at strategy, even as they reveal a weakness to powerful sound-based attacks. She managed to find a Demogorgon’s path back to the Upside Down and uncovered a huge, self-healing barrier of flesh that she thinks is protecting Vecna from her mental powers. She also displayed a frightening ability to enter someone’s mind and pull out information, leading her to discover a hidden enemy base in the alternate dimension. While she hasn’t broken through Vecna’s defenses yet, she’s found where his territory begins and has the most powerful telekinetic abilities of anyone involved.

1) Will Byers

Throughout the series, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) suffered because he was linked to the hive mind, which allowed monsters to torment him. But in the climax of the first part of Stranger Things 5, this changes. During a fierce attack by a Demogorgon, Will actively uses his connection to the hive mind to control the creatures. He demonstrates a power comparable to Vecna’s, freezing the monsters in place and breaking their bones with just his thoughts – a chillingly similar method to how Vecna kills people.

Will now has a unique ability to access and potentially control Vecna’s forces from within. By manipulating creatures like the Demogorgon and even the Mind Flayer’s influence, he could disrupt Vecna’s plans and turn Vecna’s own power against him. This hidden connection to the hive mind means Will is now facing a greater danger than his friends, and is potentially Vecna’s biggest threat.

The first part of Stranger Things season 5 is now available on Netflix. The second part will be released on December 25th, and the very last episode will stream on December 31st.

Who do you predict will ultimately defeat Vecna in the series finale? Share your thoughts in the comments and join the discussion in the ComicBook Forum!

Read more of ComicBook‘s essential Stranger Things Season 5 coverage:

  • Stranger Things Season 5, Vol. 1 Ending Explained: Will & Vecna, All Twists & What’s Next?
  • Stranger Things Season 5: All the Confirmed New & Returning Cast & Characters
  • Vecna’s Plan In Stranger Things Season 5 Explained: Everything We Know (& What’s Next?)
  • Why Stranger Things Brought Back That Divisive Character Explained by the Duffers
  • What Happens When You Call The Phone Number In Stranger Things Season 5 (It Continues A 6-Year Trend)

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2025-11-28 17:41