Welcome back to the world of Stranger Things – and this season (4) introduces an all-new antagonist: demobats. Do they have the ability to kill humans?
As Screen Rant notes, demobats haven’t come up before, which poses the question of where on Earth they’ve been hiding all this time.
One answer is, of course, that they haven’t been hiding anywhere on Earth. The large bat-like creatures are beasts from the Upside Down.
But questions remain about demobats of Stranger Things’ ability to kill – as compared with, say, the ability simply to maim, or to keep watch – and how much of a deadly threat they pose to the residents of Hawkins, Indiana.
WARNING: STRANGER THINGS SEASON 4 VOLUMES 1 AND 2 SPOILERS AHEAD, INCLUDING DEATH OF CHARACTER.
Stranger Things 4 | Volume 2 Trailer | Netflix
Do the demobats kill?
Unfortunately for the Stranger Things group, yes, they do.
Demobats do have the ability to kill humans, as evidenced by the fact that a flock of them was responsible for the death of Eddie Munson.
Eddie is a high school senior and head of the Dungeons & Dragons society, the Hellfire Club. That’s how he knows Dustin, who ultimately comforts him as he breathes his last dying breath.
Being a devotee of all things fantasy, Eddie Munson accompanies the gang on their quest to learn more about Vecna.
How do the demobats kill Eddie Munson in Stranger Things season 4?
Eddie joins Steve, Nancy, and Robin on a reconnaissance mission into the Upside Down, looking for the monster Entertainment Online ranks highest on its list of Stranger Things horrors – Vecna.
After some nail-biting action, they get out unscathed. It’s during the following trip that the proverbial doo-doo hits the fan.
The gang ventures back into the Upside Down. Needless to say, the expedition doesn’t go to plan. Tasked with luring the demobats away from Vecna, Eddie and Dustin run into problems.
Ultimately, Eddie faces a dilemma. He sacrifices himself, drawing the demobats away from his new group of friends – and suffers life-threatening wounds as a result. Despite putting up a brave fight, Eddie succumbs to wounds inflicted by the demobats, meaning they can indeed kill.
Steve Harrington also fights them but escapes with his life
The demobats also almost kill Steve Harrington in season 4 volume 1 of Stranger Things. Two demobats attack his sides while a third attempts to strangle him.
Thankfully, however, Nancy, Robin and Eddie step in just in time. They beat down the creatures and manage to run away before the swarm attacks them en masse.
Steve escapes with relatively modest wounds. But the short time it takes for the bats to inflict the damage they do only goes to show that they’re capable of killing – and foreshadows the death of Eddie, a few episodes down the line.
So yes, demobats can kill humans, but their role in Stranger Things, or in the Upside Down specifically, appears to have more to do with monitoring and communication than direct attack.
Their speed and agility allows them to have eyes on large areas of the Upside Down, making them more of an extension of Vecna than a threat in and of themselves.
Why don’t they appear in the first three seasons of Stranger Things?
Screen Rant compares the demobats to the flying monkeys who serve the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard Of Oz.
One spies Steve, Nancy and the others en route to the trailer park in episode 7, before scurrying away to alert Vecna.
So, SR continues, one of the reasons we haven’t seen demobats before is that Vecna hasn’t been a direct threat up until recently. Since the demobats appear to exist to serve Vecna, his emergence as a primary antagonist means demobats are now a major part of the picture.
And, unlike the pollywog and demodog, demobats do not appear to represent a stage in the life cycle of a demogorgon. Therefore, there hasn’t been the same inherent necessity to introduce them to audiences.
Unfortunately for the residents of Hawkins, Indiana, not only do the demobats pose an added threat, but their introduction also suggests that there will be more new enemies on the way…