9 Things to Know about Nancy Wheeler / Natalia Dyer
Nancy Wheeler is one of the main characters in the movie series Stranger things. The character was portrayed by Natalia Dyer.
1. Who is Nancy Wheeler?
Nancy Wheeler, a fictional character in the movie Stranger Things, is one of the main characters portrayed by Natalia Dyer. Nancy is the daughter of Ted and Karen Wheeler. She is the sister of Mike Wheeler (played by actor Finn Wolfhard) and also the ex-girlfriend of Steve Harrington (played by actor Joe Keery). Nancy also has a little sister named Holly and a kid brother whose name is Mike.
Nancy starts out as a young and naive girl in Hawkins high school with the intention of making friends while staying focused on her studies. However, it turns out she has feelings for Steve Harrington and was enjoying his company and the energy he was dishing out to her.
She loved the butterfly feeling she was having but played it cool even when Steve tried to be all up in her space. On the other hand, Steve could not help but seize every opportunity to spend some time with Nancy. He even took advantage of the chance of her upcoming test to spend some time with her. Although they have had a fair share of impromptu make-outs, she was skeptical about officially introducing him to her parents.
Her best friend Barbara was not in support of the relationship between Nancy Wheeler and Steve Harrington, and she did not hesitate to give her best advice to Nancy even when she was invited for a mini party at Steve’s house.
Nancy kept enjoying the energy between herself and Steve Harrington, and even when she was forbidden to leave the house because of the disappearance of will, she used the search party organized by Hawkins high school at night as an excellent excuse to leave the house. She went to the party at Steve’s house with Barbara.
Despite the fact that the two friends arrived at the party together, Nancy neglected her friend Barbara. Nancy was having so much fun at the party that it distracted her a lot. At some point, she sent her friend home when she felt uneasy about the way Barbara kept treating her like a child and the words Barbara said to her.
She didn’t realize her friend only had good intentions for her. She slept with Steve that night and was engrossed in the act that she failed to hear her friend scream for help. She lied to her parents about her whereabouts just to be with Steve.
She is also somewhat distant from her brother and his friends. Her brother, Mike, revealed her relationship with Steve to their parents over dinner. She was uncomfortable about this conversation and left the dining table for her room.
While she climbed up the stairs to her room, she was greeted by Steve Harrington moments later, who climbed up to her room through the window, but she rejected his sexual advances.
Nancy’s Dilemma
Everything changed when Barbara Holland, Nancy’s best friend, went missing. Her intuition gave her an impression that something terrible must have happened to her friend. The next day, Nancy noticed that Barbara wasn’t in school. Soon after she called Barbara’s mother on the phone, she realized her mother hadn’t seen her as well.
She was tenacious and decided to team up with Jonathan Byers (played by Jonathan Charlie Heaton), who is soon to be her future boyfriend and is currently grieving the disappearance of his younger brother, Will Byers. They both join forces to investigate Will and Barbara’s disappearance, which leads to the discovery of ‘Upside Down.’ Of course Joyce Byers (played by Winona Ryder) is equally interested in finding her missing son.
Nancy showed so much guilt about her friend’s disappearance that it motivated her to stop at nothing in the search for her friend. She took a bold step to return to the woods close to Steve’s house in search of a lead but was exposed to the existence of the creature that possibly abducted her friend Barbara and Jonathan’s brother, Will.
Narrating her experience to Jonathan made him believe the creature’s existence as his mum, who he thought was very close to losing her mind, also spoke about the exact same creature. The creature also best fits the description of the image on the photo he took while snooping around Steve’s house on the night of the party that Nancy was invited to.
This motivated them even more to continue the search. Nancy frequently met up with Jonathan to discuss their plans to search for their loved ones while unintentionally keeping some distance from her boyfriend Steve, who disliked Jonathan and thought he was a freak.
They both practiced shooting in the woods, and afterward, they both encountered a wounded deer that was grabbed by an unseen force very quickly. Nancy became fully involved in the investigation and search as she continued to feel guilty for Barbara’s disappearance.
During the course of the investigation, Jonathan and Nancy accidentally discover the alternate dimension referred to as ‘The Upside-Down’ where the creature that took Barbara and Will resides. The creature was called ‘The Demogorgon.’
While in the woods, Nancy accidentally split up with Jonathan and ran into ‘The Demogorgon.’ Nancy was terrified, but she was smart enough to hide from the creature.
Unfortunately, she was caught and was dragged into the alternate dimension ‘The Upside-Down.’ Thankfully, Jonathan saved the day. Nancy successfully escaped from the hole in the tree that was a dimension to The Upside-Down with the help of Jonathan.
After this scary experience, the two returned to Nancy’s room for shelter. Nancy specifically requested Jonathan’s warmth, and he obliged as they spent the night in each other’s arms.
Unfortunately, Steve is feeling the absence of Nancy and decides to check up on her but finds her in a compromising position with Jonathan. Steve immediately concluded that Nancy was cheating on him and in a bit of rage, he intercepted the duo on their way from getting weapons to capture and kill the monster.
With the help of Steve’s friends, Tommy H. and Carol Graffiti, they slut shamed Nancy and even wrote the name with spray paint on the movie theater’s signboard. Nancy confronted Steve, and a fight ensued between Jonathan and Steve. Jonathan was infuriated by the demoralizing names that Steve kept calling his family and him.
A fight eventually ensued between both of them, and Jonathan got arrested. Nancy had to go with him to the police station. Jim Hopper, the Police chief, was immediately contacted, and he arrived at the station with Jonathan’s mum as quickly as he could.
At the police station, the matter was about to be treated lightly because of the influence of Jonathan’s mum, but then the police officers saw the dangerous items that were purchased by Nancy and Jonathan in the trunk of the car.
Jonathan was interrogated by Hopper and after some persuasion, he disclosed his knowledge about the alternate dimension and his intention to kill the Demogorgon with Nancy. Hopper and Joyce, Jonathan’s mum were previously working on Will’s disappearance and Hopper was so passionate about the search that he found some strong leads.
As Nancy and Jonathan shared information about The Demogorgon, they all decided to work together. Still, they needed to contact Mike, Nancy’s brother who had gone into hiding with his friends, and Eleven, who was a target of the Hawkins Laboratory.
Jonathan was helpful as he remembered his brother had a radio for communicating with his Friends. With this bit of information, Nancy successfully contacted Mike.
Hopper convinced Nancy that she had to stay away from her family as the Bad guys from Hawkins Lab were already in communication with her parents. Nancy obliges and works with Hopper to reunite with Mike and his friends at Hawkins Middle School.
Working together to successfully achieve this plan, they all built a makeshift sensory deprivation tank for Eleven to make use of in finding Will and Barbara. Eleven courageously sat in the water and used her super power to transcend to the realm of the alternate Dimension, The Upside.
Eleven discovered that Barbara had been killed by the Demogorgon. This revelation broke Nancy down and hurt her deeply but solidified her decision to kill the horrible monster. Eleven also verified that Will was still alive but very weak and feeble. She encouraged him to hold on and expect his mother to come to his rescue as quickly as possible.
Nancy and Jonathan courageously returned to the Byers house to create a distraction for his mum and Hopper who decided to make that trip down to the upside-down.
They came up with a great plan to capture the Demogorgon, as well as grant Joyce and Hopper safe passage through The Upside-Down while they embark on the search for Will. Nancy and Jonathan lured the Demogorgon to the house with their blood. They had all the weapons set for the capture of the creature but then Steve showed up at Jonathan’s house to apologize and seek forgiveness.
Nancy did not like that Steve showed up in the middle of a time like this. She ordered him to go home, but he refused despite the extreme measure Nancy took by pointing a gun at his head.
He thought it was all a joke and didn’t understand Nancy’s display of violence. He eventually became a witness to The Demogorgon and was frightened by the sight of the strange creature.
Although Nancy and Jonathan asked Steve to leave the house and save himself, he summoned a lot of courage due to his love for Nancy, and he entered the house again. He was successfully able to injure the Demogorgon.
This creature from the upside-down was captured and set ablaze, but it vanished. It was lured back to Hawkins Middle School, where it was killed by Eleven and they both vanished.
Nancy eventually reconciled with Steve and resumed their relationship. She gifts Jonathan with a new camera for Christmas. Jonathan first hesitates but accepts the gift from Nancy as an atonement for the damage done to his old camera by Steve.
Nancy’s Resident guilt
It had now been over a year since the series of events that happened in Hawkins but Nancy still felt the guilt of the death of her friend, Barbara. She visited Barbara’s parents with Steve to have dinner.
Barbara’s parents still had some hope in their hearts that there was a possibility that their daughter was still alive. Barbara’s parents had put their house up for sale so that they could afford to pay the private investigator, Murray Bauman, that they hired to pick up where Hopper left off.
Nancy continued to dwell on the tragic event that led to the death of her friend and is engulfed with so much grief. Soon enough, she began to exhibit some potential signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. Nancy believed she was seeing Barbara’s ghost following her around the school’s library.
On the night of the Halloween party, Nancy got drunk and began to criticize Steve very angrily. She blamed Steve for the death of Barbara and also told him that she didn’t have any feelings for him.
This action of hers hurt Steve very much at the Halloween party. Steve tries to cut her off and that leads to a fall out between the two. After Steve left the party feeling very upset, Nancy, on the other hand, was escorted back home by Jonathan, who secretly has feelings for her.
The following day, Nancy and Steve ended their relationship after Steve gave her the cold shoulder from the event that transpired last night. Nancy decided to confide in Jonathan on the situation.
Nancy had that strong conviction for exposing Hawkins laboratory so that she could avenge Barb’s death and find closure.
Nancy confides in Jonathan, and they both decide to arrange a meeting with Barb’s mother in the park. At the park, Nancy and Jonathan began to have the strong feeling that they were being watched. As the suspicion grew, they were intercepted by the agents of Hawkins Lab.
They were smart enough to secretly record a conversation with Dr. Owens, who was trying to play the saint as he explained that he is full of good intentions and is trying to amend all of Brenner’s mistakes. He also admits to being culpable in Barbara’s death.
Time to Save the Day
Nancy and Jonathan pay a visit to Murray at his residence to confirm if they can gather enough damning evidence to lead to the complete shutdown of Hawkins Lab.
Murray suggested that they act clever and water down the story so that it can be more believable and acceptable to the public.
He also observed that Nancy and Jonathan had feelings and sexual tension, so he suggested that they share his guest room. This gave the couple an opportunity to reciprocate their feelings for each other that night.
As they returned to Hawkins, after their experience the night before, Nancy and Jonathan walked into the Byers residence to find it completely empty and littered with some of Will’s drawings. They immediately head towards the Hawkins Lab where they coincidentally met with Steve, who had made friends with Dustin, Lucas and Max Mayfield (played by Sadie Sink).
They move towards the front gate, where they meet with Hopper, Joyce, Mike, and a heavily sedated Will, who has now become possessed by the Mind Flayer. They returned to the Byers house and attempted to interrogate Will, who had been communicating in Morse code for them to shut the gate to The Upside Down.
As soon as they deduced Will’s message, the phone in the Byers house rings, to alert The Mind Flayer to their location. The house suddenly became swarmed and engulfed with Demo dogs but they were soon incapacitated by Eleven.
The group reunited with Eleven and developed a plan. Hopper and Eleven returned to Hawkins Lab to enable Eleven to close the gate to the Upside-down, while Joyce and Jonathan went to Hopper’s cabin to exercise Will and destroy the Mind Flayer.
As much as Nancy didn’t want to leave the kids, Steve encouraged her to go with Jonathan and made her a promise to look after Mike and the rest of the other kids. This means they all put their differences aside to achieve the common goal of exorcizing Will.
Nancy then followed Jonathan to exorcize Will. She restrained him and exposed him to several heaters. As soon as the Mind Flayer had successfully exited Will’s body, everyone in the group signals Hopper to close the gate.
Audacious Nancy
Nancy and Jonathan got internships at The Hawkins Post In the summer of 1985, under the watch of Tom Holloway. Nancy shows so much zeal and eagerness to impress her male co-workers by suggesting story ideas but they never took her seriously. Her efforts and ideas often result in demeaning jokes and comments that leave Nancy feeling humiliated and very embarrassed.
While Nancy was working late one night, she received a call about rats eating Doris Driscoll’s fertilizer. Nancy’s colleagues rejected the story, and that did not go down quite well with her.
With the attitude of her colleagues, Nancy was determined to go the extra mile to receive recognition and approval from her co-workers. Nancy’s determination to win respect from her co-workers led her to make certain decisions without thinking it through. Her intentions led to her and Jonathan getting sacked at work, which puts their relationship on the edge.
With some encouragement from her mum, Nancy decided to follow up on the report. She immediately assumed the guise of a reporter and Nancy and Jonathan interviewed Mrs. Driscoll at her house, where they witnessed a rabid rat that she captured.
Later on, she returned to the house, only to find out that Mrs. Driscoll had become infected by the newly resurrected Mind Flayer. She was eating fertilizer and screaming that she “has to go back”.
Meanwhile, the newly resurrected Mind Flayer possessed Billy Hargrove (played by Australian actor Dacre Montgomery), Tom’s daughter Heather, Tom and the rest of the Hawkins Post staff. The Mind Flayer compels the Hawkins post staff to fire Nancy and Jonathan to prevent them from learning the truth.
Despite the argument she had with Jonathan, Nancy still decided to follow up on the story. She noticed symptoms in Mrs. Driscoll that were similar to Will’s possession.
Nancy called Jonathan immediately and asked to meet up with Will. As they discuss this piece of information, Nancy, Eleven, Jonathan, Mike, Will, Lucas and Max returned to the hospital, but just then, Nancy and Jonathan found out that Mrs. Driscoll was missing and they were intercepted by the possessed Tom and his co-worker Bruce.
A fight broke out and Jonathan killed Tom while Nancy killed Bruce. Just then. The two Mild flaying demons form a Monster. The monster was injured by Eleven before retreating into the sewers.
The group decided to take refuge at Hopper’s cabin, but the Mind Flayer somehow managed to track them down and wounds Eleven. The group retreats and moves up towards the Starcourt Mall to regroup with Dustin, Steve’s co-worker Robin, Steve and Lucas’ sister Erica.
While they were there, Hopper, Joyce and Murray arrive to reveal that they know how to shut the new opening to the Upside-Down that was built by a Soviet detachment right under the Star court Mall.
As soon as the Mind Flayer arrived at the mall, it was fended off with fireworks by Nancy, Will, Jonathan, Lucas, Steve and Robin. While Billy tries to infect eleven, she reaches through to Billy but he sacrifices himself to The Mind Flayer to save eleven which results in his death.
The gate was eventually closed by Joyce, but at the cost of Hopper’s life and after Hopper’s death, Joyce adopted Eleven.
Nancy and Jonathan share a deep, passionate and emotional kiss and say goodbye as she watches with her brother, Dustin, Max and Lucas as they leave Hawkins Three months later.
2. Who is Nancy Wheeler in love with?
Nancy Wheeler is in love with Jonathan Byers. However, the series started out with Nancy and Steve. It was a very different experience and feeling when she was with Jonathan.
Nancy and Jonathan started out as friends and teammates, but with the series of events that happened all through the three seasons of Stranger Things, it is very obvious that Nancy Wheeler is in love with Jonathan Byers.
She felt more comfortable with Jonathan than with Steve. Nancy feels free to express herself however she wants to when she is with Jonathan.
3. Does Nancy Wheeler love Jonathan?
Nancy Wheeler developed feelings for Jonathan over time. She continuously spent quality time with Jonathan while trying to defeat ‘The Demogorgon’.
She specifically requested that Jonathan lay on her bed the night they both had an encounter with ‘The Demogorgon’.
On the night when Nancy and Jonathan met with Murray, she was worried about what Murray had said.
Jonathan walked into the room where Nancy was and kissed her. They continued kissing passionately and doing more.
Nancy and Jonathan officially started a relationship later in the third Season. They both spent their summer as interns at the local paper.
4. How old is Nancy Wheeler?
Nancy Wheeler portrayed by Natalia Dyer was born on January 13, 1997. She is 24 years old.
The character Nancy is 18 years old in season 3 of ‘Stranger Things’,
Nancy Wheeler was born in November 1967 to her parents Ted and Karen Wheeler. The couple later had two other kids after Nancy which makes Nancy the oldest child.
Nancy became the older sister to the children of her parents. The names of her two Siblings, Mike and Holly Wheeler.
While she was younger, she often played games with her younger brother and his friends, Dustin Henderson, Will Byers, and Lucas Sinclair as they played Dungeons & Dragons.
While she grew older, she became somewhat distant from her siblings and parents as maturity began to take its course.
Nancy also began to suspect that her parents were never in love with each other. She believed that they only got together to start a nuclear family because her father had the funds to buy a house and her mum was very young at that time.
5. Is Nancy Wheeler smart?
Nancy Wheeler is a bright student and one of the smartest students in her grade. But even without textbooks, flashcards and studying, she has an exceptionally clever and intuitive skill.
With her intuitive skill, she played an active role in solving the mystery of the disappearance of Barbara.
Nancy is studious and intelligent as this was seen when she was preparing for her test. She often studied rigorously for her tests.
Although, she portrayed some bad attributes like lying and was rebellious to her mum a couple of times and this was possibly because of the presence of Steve in her life at that time.
She led the investigation into Hawkins Lab in season two and also played detective in season 3, with Mrs. Driscoll and the infected rats.
She was clever enough to quickly deduce that the last person to see Barbara was Jonathan upon seeing his photos of Barb. She reached out to him for help in finding Barbara.
Nancy’s intuition also picks up some important clues that help her to keep her loved ones safe.
In addition to Nancy’s smartness and great intuition, she is a skilled marksman. While she and Jonathan were practicing, she hit the can that was the target meanwhile, Jonathan was initially struggling with it. He had fired a couple of shots and missed.
Nancy demonstrated proficiency with firearms a couple of times in the series.
She also showed a tremendous amount of bravery and conviction as she was determined to kill the Demogorgon. She also was determined to find closure for the death of her friend, Barbara.
6. Why did Steve and Nancy Break Up?
Steve’s relationship with Nancy started out smooth and interesting but it all changed when Barb, Nancy’s friend disappeared. She began to be emotionally absent towards Steve and this gets him very worried.
Steve breaks up with Nancy because she said she did not have feelings for him anymore. Even after she had told him that she did not love him anymore, she even calls their relationship fake and vents all her grief, sadness and anger on Steve.
Although Nancy seemed to not have any memory of her drunken state the following day, she felt very guilty for saying all of those harsh words to Steve.
The following day when she apologized to Steve and blamed her actions on the alcohol, he asked her to tell him that she loves him but she could not. This gesture of hers only validated what she said at the night of the Halloween party.
It proved to Steve that what Nancy initially said the night before was true despite the fact that she was drunk.
7. Was Steve in love with Nancy?
Nancy was initially doubting Steve’s feeling’s for her. She had thought that he was not taking her seriously. She also thought that he was not serious about the relationship but she was wrong.
Steve was really in love with Nancy. He mentioned that she was not like the other girls. He would always utilize every opportunity to be with her. He sneaked into her room a couple of times just to be with her.
When Steve invited Nancy to his house, she was excited to go. She had fun but was not sure if she was ready to have more. However she had an open mind.
The moment they had sex at the party that was held in Steve’s house, they officially began their relationship.
Everything changed the moment Nancy realized that her friend Barb disappeared and she became very distant from Steve.
Steve on the other hand really did not know how much he loved her until he started to miss her a lot. He grew very worried. His friends even made fun of him for catching feelings for a girl but he just could not help it.
His worry grew and so he decided to check up on his girlfriend Nancy who was currently emotionally disturbed by the disappearance of her friend Barb.
As soon as he visited her in her house to check up on her, he saw Nancy and Jonathan together, sitting on the bed in each other’s arms in Nancy’s room.
Steve automatically believed that his girlfriend Nancy was cheating on him. He grew very jealous and confronted both of them just outside the premises where they got the weapons to fight the Demogorgon.
Nancy had no explanation to what Steve saw the night before even though he gave her a chance to. Her silence left him even more infuriated. He began to call Jonathan names and rained insults on his family.
After some time, Steve realized that he had overacted and felt very bad about the things that he said to Jonathan. After realizing that he made a mistake, he immediately went straight down to visit Jonathan in his house in order to apologize.
He was surprised to see Nancy there but that was not the bone of contention. She wanted him out of the house because she and Jonathan were currently trying to capture and defeat the Demogorgon.
He was surprised to see the creature and had to help Nancy and Jonathan with the battle of the Demogorgon.
Just a month after all of these events, Steve and Nancy made up and got back together because Steve had understood the reason for Nancy’s close relationship with Jonathan.
It was barely a year and not too long after they got back with their relationship that they had a rift again. The relationship was thrown into jeopardy as Nancy was no longer able to bear the guilt of keeping the secret of Barb’s death from her parents.
She suggested to Steve to tell the truth to Barb’s parents, the Hollands. Steve was not in support of this idea and he reminded her that the step she was advising them to embark on will not be a favorable one.
Barb’s parents will not take the news lightly and that in turn puts them in great danger.
At a Halloween party, Nancy had too much to drink and that made her tell Steve that she did not have any feelings for him. This gesture of hers was an emotionally heartbreaking moment for Steve as he really cared about Nancy and was in love with her.
A year after their breakup, Steve had emotionally healed from the heartbreak and he confidently reveals to Robin that he had no feelings for Nancy anymore and they both consider each other as friends.
8. Is Nancy cheating on Steve?
Nancy slept with Jonathan while she was still in a relationship with Steve. Although they had an argument that infuriated Steve, they did not officially end their relationship.
Nancy was very expressive about her current feelings for Steve. Although she had too much to drink, she still spoke her mind. She outright said that she was no longer in love with Steve and blamed him for all that happened to her friend Barbara.
Nancy did not bother to apologize to Steve even after the argument that they had but Steve acted very maturely as he did not hold any grudge against her. He was constantly around her house and was helping Nancy’s brother and his friends without expecting any form of payment or anything in return.
When Nancy confronted Steve the next day after the episode at the Halloween party, she could not remember what happened in her drunken state.
Although she makes some effort to reassure Steve that all the things that she said were not true.
Steve wanted Nancy to prove that what she said in her drunken state was not true. He then asked her to tell him that she truly loves him but Nancy could not say those words. This was heartbreaking for Steve and so it led to their break up.
While in the company of Jonathan, Nancy tries her best to recall all that happened in her drunken state. She felt very bad and guilty for hurting Steve’s feelings. She started to wonder if she really meant all that she said to him.
Steve had been spending most times with Nancy’s brother and his friends and so, the moment Nancy met up with Steve again, she was very grateful to him and thanked him so much for watching over the kids.
Steve immediately told her that she ought to be in the company of Jonathan, as he has come to terms with her new found feelings for Jonathan.
Nancy then tried again to apologize to Steve because she felt she had hurt his feelings. She was very sorry for hurting his feelings, but Steve was very mature about it and just calmly let it go.
9. Who is Nancy dating in Stranger Things?
Nancy started out by dating Steve Harrington in the series Stranger Things and they seemed to get along pretty well.
They had a couple of make outs and she had sex with him in his house but in as much as she enjoyed the company of Steve, it was obvious that she had a stronger connection and bond with Jonathan.
Later on in season 2 of the series, Nancy started dating Jonathan Byers. Although she kissed Jonathan whilst she had not officially ended the relationship with Steve.
She spent more of her time in the company of Jonathan where she was able to completely express herself without any restrictions. They both worked together to fight the Demogorgon and seemed like a good team together.
Nancy and Jonathan finally accepted their feelings for each other while at Murray’s place. They slept together that night for the first time.
We are very excited and can’t wait for Natalia Dyer to return to the screen in Stranger Things 4 and grace us with her clever and intuitive super skill.
