Stranger Things: Eleven's Powers Explained

In 2016, Netflix introduced the world to "Stranger Things" and, with it, Millie Bobby Brown's incredibly powerful hero Eleven. Debuting in the series at 12 years old, El met Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) when their friend, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), went missing. Accompanying them on this search and rescue mission into another dimension, El demonstrated exactly what she was capable of. As it turned out, this quiet, mysterious girl could do some really freaky stuff.

Since then, Eleven has been a core part of The Duffer Brothers' Amblin-esque universe, as she's learned to harness her extraordinary gifts. Often fuelled by her emotions, and even fighting battles that saw her briefly lose them, they've helped make El who she is. Holding her own against Demogorgons, Mind-Flayers, and Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), she's displayed a wild selection of abilities. But how varied are El's powers, and when have they been put on show to help save the day and establish her as a force to be reckoned with? After skimming through Netflix's award-winning show, here's a detailed breakdown of just what kind of firepower El is packing and just what type of damage they can do.

El's telekinesis feels like her most commonly used ability and has been since the beginning. Ever since this quiet little girl wandered into a diner, she's been moving objects and people regularly, and we've never gotten tired of seeing it.

Given its regular use, El's telekinesis has also been a strong indicator of her power level increasing with every season. The larger the object she needs to move, the more effort (and stronger nosebleed) she needs to put into shifting it. In the first season, she displayed impressive telekinetic feats, such as stopping Mike from falling to his death and later flipping an entire van into the air. By season 4, she was raising tanks off the ground and bending helicopters to her will.

While there's no doubt that El is a force for good, there have been instances when she's crossed a few lines and used it to hurt or even kill people. One of the first people that caught El on her bad side was school bully, Troy Walsh (Peyton Wich), who had his bladder meddled with by Eleven, which saw him publicly wet himself (he also got a broken arm later for his troubles). In more severe cases, Eleven has thrown soldiers off their feet, snapped necks, and has even squeezed the brains of agents that were out to get her. Ultimately, telekinesis might be her most basic power, but it's undoubtedly one of her most lethal.

When it comes to telepathy, "Stranger Things" really turns this typical superpower up to Eleven for our hero. El doesn't just read people's thoughts as they think them, but actually dives into their memories and can inhabit their minds for a while. Her telepathy is also more empathetically tuned to the minds she reads. She's been able to sense fear and sadness and has even detected if someone is hiding information.

Some of the most notable instances of Eleven using this power have been with the Mayfield family. In season 3, El was able to delve into Billy Hargrove's (Dacre Montgomery) childhood, reminding him of what he was like before he became a more violent and troubled individual. It was this action that allowed Billy to tap into what was left of his humanity and fight against the Spider Monster at Starcourt Mall.

Another instance where El took a lengthy trip into someone's mind was with Billy's step-sister, Max (Sadie Sink), in season 4. While Vecna was torturing Max, El entered her friend's hellish hallucinations to try to save her. In doing so, it gave Eleven a glimpse into Max's fears and grief for Billy that had plagued her for most of the season.

One of El's most unique and visually striking capabilities is astral projection. This power enables her to mentally transport herself to a location separate from her physical surroundings at the time, via an endless black void. Like all of her gifts, her astral projection was refined through intense training under the supervision of her former guardian and captor, Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine). Once in the void, Eleven's projection ability was utilized to secretly monitor enemy operations.

While in the void, El's projection is difficult to detect from those she's observing, unless she makes a conscious effort to communicate with them. One notable instance was when she put the power to use for her friends when they were tracking down Will in season 1. One of the most heartbreaking instances, however, was when she witnessed Max close to death in Lucas' arms in the season 4 finale. It's also worth noting that she doesn't actually have to know the people she's looking for; she only needs something as simple as a photo to identify them.

Perhaps one of the most problematic powers in her arsenal, El's ability to open and close rifts has acted as a catalyst for the events in "Stranger Things." In season 1, El managed to create a portal to the deadly dimension. At the time, audiences were under the impression that this was her first attempt at making a tear between worlds. On the contrary, El opened her first gate back in 1979 when she discovered the truth about Henry Creel's plans, retaliating by sending him into the Upside Down. It was this ability that inadvertently transformed Creel into the monster we now know as Vecna, who has been the cause of her problems ever since.

Thankfully, just as El was capable of creating gates, she was also strong enough to close them, but not without bringing herself intense strain by doing so. Like the many other occasions where Eleven has managed to push past her own limitations, closing gates to the Upside Down has led to severe nosebleeds. This was demonstrated in all its exhaustive glory when, under the protection of Hopper (David Harbour), she was able to close the Mothergate in season 2.

One new power that appears to be put to good use in the show's final season is the ability to levitate. El has shown she can float in the past, but it was more of a side effect of pushing her powers to the limit. Besides lifting objects and people, season 2 saw her float when she had to close the dimensional gate to the Upside Down. Flash forward to the final trailer for season 5, and it's clear that El has been able to harness this extra feature and is putting it to use.

Seemingly getting plenty of airtime in the show's final chapter, the preview shows El pushing herself up in the air via her telekinesis, leaping over gates, and scaling buildings. We don't know just how long El can hold herself in mid-air, or how much of a toll it could take on her, like some of her other powers often do. What will be interesting to see is how long she'll be able to hold herself up there for. Could Vecna and El's final battle see them take to the skies in some comic-book-level confrontation? We won't have very long to find out.