Billy Hargrove

Villain Overview Gallery

Evil-doer
Full Name	William Hargrove
Alias	Billy Hargrove Mr. Hargrove
Origin	Stranger Things
Occupation	Student at Hawkins High School Lifeguard at Hawkins Community Pool (both formerly)
Powers / Skills	Brute Strength Fighting Skills Charisma Intimidation Former hive mind powers: Superhuman Strength Superhuman Speed Superhuman Durability
Hobby	Taking care of or abusing his stepsister Max. Harrasing Lucas Sinclair and Steve Harrington.
Goals	Continue to control Max (partially succeeded, later failed). Drive Lucas out of Max's life (failed). Assist the Mind Flayer in it's plans (formerly). Redeem himself; by helping to defeat the Mind Flayer (succeeded at the cost of his life).
Crimes	Assault and battery Attempted mass murder Hate crimes Sexual harassment Psychological abuse Murder (while brainwashed) Kidnapping (while brainwashed) Aiding and abetting Conspiracy Property damage
Type of Villain	Wrathful Abuser

“	This is serious s--t, okay? I'm older than you. And something you learn is that there's a certain type of people in this world, that you stay away from. And that kid Max - that kid is one of them. You stay away from that kid you hear? Stay away.	„
	~ Billy Hargrove.

“	He can't hear you. You shouldn't have looked for me. Because now, I see you. Now we can all see you. You let us in. And now, you, are going to have to let us stay. Don't you see? All this time, we've been building it, we've been building it, for you. All that work, all that pain, all of it. For you. And now it's time. Time to end it. And we are going to end you, and when you are gone, we are going to end your friends. (Eleven: NO!) And then, we are going to end… everyone.	„
	~ Billy threatening Eleven while possessed by the Mind Flayer.

“	I'm sorry.	„
	~ Billy's final words to Max.

William "Billy" Hargrove is a major antagonist in the Stranger Things franchise.

He was the abusive and arrogant stepbrother of Max Mayfield, who was morphed into becoming a violent sadist and eventual xenophobe by his father, Neil Hargrove. He eventually became the main host for the Mind Flayer, leading its army to invade Hawkins.

He was portrayed by Dacre Montgomery, who also voiced the Mind Flayer when possessing Billy, and by Christopher Convery as a child.

History

Childhood

Born on March 29, 1967 to Neil Hargrove and his unnamed mother, Billy loved to surf, which his mother supported, while his father did not. Neil was abusive towards Billy and his mom, which caused Mrs. Hargrove to divorce Neil, but leave Billy with his dad after he supposedly won custody over him. Years of Neil's abusive made Billy into a brutal and arrogant bully. An unknown amount of time later, Neil remarried to a woman named Susan, who also had a daughter, Max, whom Billy took out his abusive tendencies on. A few years later in 1984, Billy and his new family moved from California to Hawkins, Indiana, and he began attending Hawkins High School.

Moving to Hawkins

Introductions

Billy arrived at Hawkins High School in his blue Camaro with his stepsister Max. As Max skateboarded towards Hawkins Middle School, Billy got out of his car and was noticed by several students including Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler, as well as Carol Perkins and two other girls who admired his figure.

On October 31, 1984, Billy waited to pick up Max from school. When she arrived, he chastised her for being late and said next time it happened she would have to skateboard home. On the way home, Billy noted that Max seemed to enjoy their new town despite her denial of this. Billy then asked her whose fault it was that they had to move to Hawkins; Max muttered that it was his. Billy was enraged by this comment and began speeding and yelling. Billy then threatened to run over Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair as they were cycling home. Max grabbed the wheel and swerved to avoid collision with the boys.

Antagonizing Lucas Sinclair and Steve Harrington

Billy joined the school basketball team and played against Steve, demonstrating skill and strength over him. Billy's team won easily against Steve's team. Billy also attempted to wind Steve up by talking to him about his relationship with Nancy in the school shower.

Billy eventually did leave Max to skateboard home one day when she was late. He left with a date.

One day, when Billy saw Max leaving her school with Lucas Sinclair. Billy watched Max and Lucas argue with each other. When Max got into his car, Billy told her that there are people in the world who she should avoid and that Lucas is one of them. Max tried to stand up for herself, but Billy tightly gripped her arm and reinstated his command. As they drove home, Max quietly cried. Billy was further angered by Max when he saw her with Lucas a second time at the arcade.

Final Showdown

Seeing that his sister was missing this did not seem to matter much until the arrival of his father and stepmother who asked him where he was and what was his responsibility, he was forced to look for her until finally he arrived at the house he was with the Other guys, Steve Harrington came out to distract him and this asked him about what he did there but the achievement to see his sister Max with the other guys including Lucas.

This makes him hit Steve making easy work of him before entering the house. As he enters he sees his sister next to Lucas this one attacks against him but Steve appears and begins a fight against him, after some blows this furiously gives him a blow and throws to the ground, beating him even after he’s fallen unconscious. His sister Max, upon seeing this, takes courage and uses a syringe with tranquilizer injected into the neck leaving it insensitive, finally at some point it returns to the house without knowing if it still has remorse.

Possession

Billy makes his appearance again in the third season, having a job as a lifeguard at a public pool during the summer. While working, he very much enjoys the attention of the female pool-goers and even manages to secure a date with one of them. However, when he is driving to the motel he wants to meet his date late at night, he has an accident near an abandoned factory. While Billy survives, he is suddenly grabbed by a fragmented Mind Flayer who drags Billy into the factory's basement and infuses him with its essence. Billy thus becomes the first of the "Flayed" - humans infused with part of the Mind Flayer's essence. While he retains his psyche, the Mind Flayer can take over his mind and his body, making Billy a puppet.

The Mind Flayer now uses Billy to lure more people to the factory in order to add them to his army of the Flayed. The first person Billy brings is his colleague Heather and together, they kidnap Heather's parents and bring them to the factory where they become Flayed as well. Although Max and her friend Eleven become suspicious, they are unable to notice what exactly is wrong, thus allowing Billy and Heather to go through with their evil deed and surrender Heather's parents to the Mind Flayer. Over the course of the next days, the army of the Flayed grows and grows, with several dozens of citizens falling under the influence of the Mind Flayer.

Final confrontations and death

However, eventually the Party suspect Billy of being the Mind Flayer's new host. In order to find out, they lure him into the sauna of the pool he works at and lock him up. By raising the heat - something the Mind Flayer cannot stand - they manage to prove their suspicions, but Billy manages to break free and attack the group. While Eleven manages to fend him off with her supernatural powers and forces him to retreat, the group also realizes that Billy is not at fault for his actions since he is controlled by the Mind Flayer.

Eventually, the Mind Flayer rounds up all his Flayed except Billy. It melts their bodies to mold a body for itself out of their flesh. While he heads out to confront and kill the Party, it sends Billy to Starcourt Mall, where the Party is hiding out. Billy sabotages the group's car and waits inside his car on the parking lot to prevent anybody from fleeing from the mall. Eventually, he heads inside after locating Max, Mike and Eleven. He knocks out all of them and kidnaps Eleven, bringing her back into the mall to surrender her to the Mind Flayer. However, while doing so, Eleven manages to break through the Mind Flayer's psychic barriers and reaches Billy directly by reminding him of one of his few happy memories of his childhood. This allows Billy to get back control over his own body and he attacks the Mind Flayer just as it is about to kill Eleven. However, the Mind Flayer then focuses its wrath on Billy, impaling him on several of its spiked tentacles before ramming another tentacle directly through his heart. While Billy dies, his sacrifice bought the group enough time to defeat the Mind Flayer once more. After the chaos has settled, Max goes to her brother, who apologizes before dying.

Aftermaths

About a year later, Billy's death caused Neil to divorce Susan, abandoning her and Max, leading them to sell their house and move into an local trailer park. An alcoholic Susan had to work two jobs to support herself and Max. Max, for her part, kept crying for Billy, and at the same time, she felt guilty for his death. Her emotional pain eventually caused a creature from the Upside Down, under the name of Vecna, to target Max, while also murdering several Hawkins teenagers dealing with trauma.

Thinking that Vecna ​​would kill her soon, Max went to Billy's grave, reading a posthumous letter to her stepbrother, in which she tells him that she wishes they could have been good siblings to each other. To torment Max, Vecna ​​uses a hallucination of Billy, saying that a part of her wanted Billy to die, and that's why she didn't save him. He then attempts to murder her, but is finally freed from Vecna's influence when Lucas, Dustin, and Steve save her by playing her favorite song to bring her to her senses.

Personality

Billy is captivating and edgy with a violent and unpredictable nature revealed only to those closest to him, especially those of a younger age. He acts as an antagonistic bully to Steve and sees him as a rival to overcome. He drives a blue Camaro and is a drinking-game pro, immediately becoming keg king in Hawkins. He’s shown to be abusive to Max, emotionally and to an extent, physically at times, gaslighting, insulting her and even grabbing and squeezing her wrist to the point where she cries. Despite this reckless attitude, Billy struggles with problems at home: namely, his abusive father, who treats him much like he treats his own step-sister.

Billy was shown to be homicidal as well. Billy was perfectly willing to try and run over the boys simply because Max wouldn't say it was her fault they moved. Billy also beat Steve brutally and most likely was going to kill him before Max stopped him. He also, as revealed in Runaway Max, brutally and sadistically broke Max's friend, Nate's arm to prove Max wasn't"easy". He's shown to be a racist, ordering Max to stay away from Lucas simply because he’s black and even shoved Lucas against a wall and was about to beat him; before Steve stopped him. He also has a misogynistic attitude, seeing the high school girls as cows and having a low attitude of women.

Before his teenage years, Billy was actually a kind young boy who loved spending time with his mother and tried to protect her from his father. Unfortunately, his father's abusive behavior forced his mother to leave Billy all alone with his father. The abuse from his father throughout the years led Billy to become a bully. 

In spite of his aggressive nature, it is implied that he cares deeply for his family. In Runaway Max, he was shown to sometimes get along with Max, who pitied him for getting beaten by his dad. Even when possessed by the Mind Flayer, while he gathers more victims, he noticeably spares his own family members, who would have been easiest for him to attack. The day after his possession, when Karen Wheeler approached him, the Mind Flayer seemed to urge Billy to attack and subdue her on the spot. Billy resisted the urge, and instead warned Karen to stay away from him, sparing her what he knew others would suffer from him. He was shown by dying on several times while free from and under the possession of the Mind Flayer, showing he held remorse for heinous deeds. Billy even sacrificed himself to save Eleven after she empathized with him and admitted to Max he was sorry for what he did to her before succumbing to his wounds.

Allies

• The Mind Flayer (formerly)
• Karen Wheeler (mutual attraction)
• Max Mayfield (currently)
• Eleven (currently)

Enemies

• The Mind Flayer (killer)
• Vecna
• Steve Harrington (arch-rival)
• Lucas Sinclair (dislike)
• Neil Hargrove
• Max Mayfield (formerly)
• Eleven (formerly)
• Mike Wheeler
• Dustin Henderson
• Nancy Wheeler
• Will Byers
• Jonathan Byers
• Joyce Byers
• Robin Buckley
• Erica Sinclair
• Jim Hopper
• Murray Bauman

Quotes

“	Billy Hargrove: You smell that, Max? That's actually shit. Cow shit. Max Mayfield: I don't see any cows. Billy Hargrove: Clearly you haven't met the high school girls.	„
	~ Billy to Max.

“	This is serious shit, okay? I'm older than you. And something you learn is that there's a certain type of people in this world that you stay away from. And that kid, Max - that kid is one of them. You stay away from that kid, you hear me? Stay away.	„
	~ Billy expressing his racist views towards Lucas Sinclair.

“	I thought she was at Lucas'. but Mrs. Sinclair said that your house is the designated hang out, so, you know, here I am.	„
	~ Billy Hargrove.

“	Oh, hi. I, uh, didn't realize Nancy had a sister.	„
	~ Billy talking to Karen.

“	I'm looking for my step sister. Small, redhead, bit of a bull.	„
	~ Billy to Steve.

“	HEY, LARD ASS! No running on my watch! I gotta warn ya and you’re banned for life.	„
	~ Billy warning the boy from the pool.

Trivia

• He is the second antagonist in the series to be redeemed.
• It was debated why he didn’t want Max to hang out with Lucas. Eventually, the Duffer Brothers and Caleb McLauglin confirmed he was indeed a racist who hated Lucas because he was black and Runaway Max supports this, with Max seeing through Billy’s attempts at “protection” and deciding, just like his father, he disliked Lucas because of his race. Even Dacre Montgomery eventually confirmed his racism at a 2022 comic con event, stating Billy was repeating what his father taught him.
• Before it was revealed that Vecna was actually Henry Creel, some fans theorized that Vecna was the Mind Flayer using Billy's corpse, with Vecna's identiy revealed, the theory was proven half-right because of Vecna taking the form Billy's bloodied corpse when attacking Max Mayfield through hallucinations.

External Links

• Billy Hargrove on the Stranger Things Wiki