Spoilers below for anyone who hasn't caught the entirety of Stranger Things Season 1.
Netflix's latest original series Stranger Things took audiences by storm, with people becoming engrossed in its characters, eighties throwbacks, and especially the mysteries. What exactly is the Upside Down? Are there test subjects One through Ten? Does anybody even care about poor Barb? The show opted to leave these threads dangling for the inevitable Season 2, givings fans plenty of time to work up their own answers and fan theories. More often than not these don't hold much weight, but one theory concerning the shows biggest plot point is too crazy to not consider. Some theorists believe that the superpowered Eleven and the Demogorgon are in fact one and the same.
Eleven (played by Millie Bobbie Brown) is the product of secret government testing that granted her telekinetic powers. She was emotionally abused and manipulated her entire life before her "father" forced her to contact what seemed to be another dimension. Eleven encounters the Monster of the series and their meeting sparks its release into our world, the murder of a bunch of people, and the two seemingly dying in the climactic showdown. Eleven seems to be gone for good, but some fans believe it to be much more complicated than that. Uproxx has streamlined and pieced together several theories from around the Internet that use some pretty solid evidence on the show to explain that the Monster isn't just a being from another world, but a reflection of the anger and abuse of Eleven's psyche.
When Eleven first meets the Monster, it isn't in the blue tinted mirror world we come to know as the Upside Down. The meeting takes place in some kind of endless black void, with the Monster crouching all by itself. Fans believe this place to be a representation of Eleven's psyche and the creature she's meeting is her anger taken form. Despite how much she loves her friends and Eggo's, Eleven's got a temper and the Monster might be those feelings come to life. The two are connected, something that's demonstrated in the final episode. When Elevens confronts the Monster with her powers, she raises her hand toward it - an action that is almost perfectly mirrored by the Monster. When the Monster disappears, so does she, suggesting there is some sort of connection. Eleven even stays at one point, "I am the monster."
Of course, she could have just meant that she was a badass, but there's more evidence to support the theory. The Monster is labeled the Demogorgon by Mike and the boys after a Dungeons and Dragons creature. Said creature has two heads continually at odds with each other. Seeing as how the Monster barely has one face, this could mean that Eleven is the other head in the relationship. Another example is the shoutout to X-Men #134, an issue about Jean Grey (who's also telekinetic) and her dark persona as Dark Phoenix. The Demogorgon in this sense could be Eleven's personal Dark Phoenix.
Like all great fan theories, this has some really solid evidence but not without it's holes. If the Monster is a reflection of Eleven, then what does that make the Upside Down? Was it always there or did Eleven create it? What about the Monster injecting its victims with slugs? Also, what are the slugs even for? All good answers come to those who wait and while Season 2 has not officially been announced, it's crazy to think that it won't. Here are more weird and wild shows you can watch in the meantime.
