Stranger Things creators reveal why there were no Demogorgons in the finale
Their absence led to major criticism from fans
Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Stranger Things season five
The creators of Stranger Things have revealed the reason why there were no Demogorgons in the finale of the show.
The Netflix show came to an end after almost a decade with the heroes of the party finally defeating Vecna and the Mind Flayer in an epic finale.
Stranger Things fans have been heavily critical of the fifth season of the show, particularly the penultimate episode The Bridge, but the reaction to the finale has been mostly positive.
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Despite this, though, many fans have been left with a number of burning questions, some of which have been answered, some of which haven’t.
One question in particular, however, revolved around arguably the most important character missing from the finale: the Demogorgons.
Named after a horrifying monster from Dungeons and Dragons, the Demogorgons started off as a major threat after one of them kidnapped Will and killed Barbara.
As the seasons went on, though, fans noticed that they began to lose their scare factor a little after the main characters of the show managed to find progressively more batsh*t ways to survive encounters with them.
That said, they are arguably the most iconic villain in the show after Vecna, the Mind Flayer, and ‘Papa’, so to see them completely missing from the finale was a major shock for some fans.
One particular fan pointed to the flashback in season four in which Henry Creel is sent to The Abyss by Eleven, creating Vecna, which shows Demogorgons roaming around.
Despite this, the Duffer Brothers have defended the decision not to have the demogorgons in the finale, even explaining the in-universe logic that led to it.
Speaking to The Wrap, Matt Duffer said: “Mainly it’s just that Vecna was not expecting this sneak attack on his home turf. Never in a million years could he even imagine that. They’re there somewhere.
“We obviously discussed having a demo battle on top of the Mind Flayer battle, but it felt more right to us that why does he need the demos when the Mind Flayer is this giant thing and can attack them?
“He doesn’t need his little ant army to attack, he’s going to take care of this himself. It’s a giant, desolate planet.
“If you recall, you see Henry wandering the planet back in Season 4 and at some point in his journey, he does see a demo far in the distance, but it’s not like they’re hanging out in little huts.
“There’s not like a giant civilization of demos up there.”
He went on to finally add the reasoning within the plot, saying: “One of the other things we talked about was just demo fatigue. I felt like we did everything we wanted to do with them in Sorcerer [the final episode of volume one], and wanting to keep the focus on Vecna and the Mind Flayer, who’s been absent this season.”
Fans on social media were typically unforgiving of the explanation, with many comparing it to the Game of Thrones controversy in which the creators claimed that Daenerys ‘kinda forgot’ about the Iron Fleet.
One reply said: “‘We kinda forgot the demogorgans’ ass excuse.”
Other fans, however, have been more forgiving of the finale, with one post on Reddit saying: “Loved it, haters gonna hate.”
Topics: Stranger Things, Netflix, TV and Film, TV
Michael Slavin