Grigori (Stranger Things)

Evil-doer
Full Name	Grigori
Alias	Thug (by Jim Hopper) Psychopath (by Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers) Khrushchev (by a gas station attendant) Commie Bastard (by Larry Kline) Arnold Schwarzenegger (by Larry Kline)
Origin	Stranger Things
Occupation	Hitman
Powers / Skills	Hand to hand combat Weaponry Intelligence Brutal Strength Tracking skills
Hobby	Killing.
Goals	Kill Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers (failed). Kill Alexei for his betrayal (succeeded). Help his government operate the Key in Hawkins (failed).
Crimes	Murder Assault
Type of Villain	Assassin

Grigori is one of the secondary antagonists of the third season of Stranger Things. He is a Russian hitman aligned with the USSR. Grigori and his government were aligned with the corrupt mayor of Hawkins, Indiana, Larry Kline to create a machine that would open a portal to the Upside Down, underneath Starcourt Mall. When police Chief Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers discovered there were Russians in Hawkins, Grigori was assigned to hunt down and kill them. Grigori was portrayed by Andrey Ivchenko.

History

1984

Grigori was present at the failed test of a Key machine that was designed by a group of Russian scientists, including Dr. Alexei. When the machine failed and killed several Russian personnel in HAZMAT suits, Grigori was ordered by his superior, General Stepanov, to punish the scientist for his failure. Thus, Grigori strangled the unnamed scientist to death. The Soviet General then departed, and gave the newly-promoted Alexei and his team a year to perfect the “Key” by any means necessary as Grigori observed his superior’s departure, dropping the deceased scientist's corpse to the floor.

Personality

Little is known about Grigori's personality, as he preformed his tasks with almost machine-like focus and seemed extremely no-nonsense, being somewhat disrespectful even to his fellow Soviet Comrades, aside from his employer, Comrade-General Stepanov, who he seemed to respect and obey. He also had disdain for Americans, the primary geopolitical rivals of the USSR. He is very aggressive even outside of combat, as evidenced by his interactions with a gas clerk attendant and mayor Kline, as during both conversations Grigori lost his temper and physically threatened them. He also was deeply loyal to his country, as he coldly executed Alexei using a silenced weapon without warning, did so without remorse due to the possibility of confessions being made by him to either Hopper or Murray Bauman, and called him a “Traitor” in Russian as he did so.

Trivia

• Grigori was inspired by the titular character from the 1984 film The Terminator.
  • He was even called Arnold Schwarzenegger by Larry Kline when Hopper attacked him in his office.
• During the fight scene with Hopper in the Hess Farms basement, Joyce throws the pistol to Hopper but it lands next to Grigori. This was accidental, but the crew liked it and kept it in the scene.
• In Biblical lore, the Grigori are the "watcher" angels, and in some of lore they are fallen angels who fathered nephilim (angel-human hybrids) with human wives they took up with.
• Grigori is a bit similar to Connie Frazier, an antagonist from the first season of Stranger Things where they are both ruthless assassins willing to kill anybody; however, Connie kills those who know and met Eleven for her government while Grigori just ruthlessly kills anybody who interferes with his government's plans.