While driving to the Byers', Dustin talked to Mike and Lucas about their Christmas gifts to Max and El. The conversation was abruptly interrupted when Dustin suddenly freaked out and said he saw an unknown creature, referencing Dart, lurking in the woods, but Lucas, Mike, and Steve did not see anything so they decided to continue their route to the Byers' house. By the spring of 1986, tech-savvy Dustin's long-distance relationship with Suzie is still going strong, and he's now part of the Dungeons & Dragons group, Hellfire Club, along with Lucas and Mike. Their dedication to the club subjects Mike and Dustin to the tirades and demands of the club's Dungeon Master, Eddie. [4] When Eddie becomes a suspect in the murder of fellow student, Chrissy Cunningham, Dustin and his friends discover an entity from the Upside Down known as " Vecna" is responsible for Chrissy's death. As Vecna begins committing murders around Hawkins, Dustin and his friends work together to investigate Vecna and stop him. However, upon discovering Vecna's true identity and motives, Dustin and his friends formulate a plan in an attempt to kill Vecna. Dustin joins Eddie, Robin, Steve, and Nancy in venturing into the Upside Down where he and Eddie distract the Demobats guarding Vecna's hideout, the Creel House. However, while fighting the Demobats, Dustin gets injured where Eddie ends up being killed after preventing the Demobats from entering in the real world through a gate. The boys investigated their friend's disappearance that evening and accidentally encountered an escaped Eleven, who they allowed to stay in Mike's basement, making a pillow fort for her to sleep in.

In the Worlds Turned Upside Down companion book, he is erroneously stated to be a Thief. It is possible that his character’s class changed between campaigns. No, Mike, you give me a break! All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes! I was the only reasonable one." Genius-Level Intelligence/Wisdom: The bard in The Party, Dustin has wisdom and knowledge to maintain a balance where things can be endured through the indifference of chaos. household to meet with Joyce, Will's brother Jonathan, and Mike's sister Nancy. Together they broke into the middle school, creating a makeshift sensory deprivation tank which El could use to enhance her psychic abilities. They learned that Will was alive, barely surviving in the Upside Down. Following the gruesome death of her stepbrother Billy Hargrove at the hands of the Mind Flayer, Max spent nearly nine months in depression and solitude, causing estrangement in all of her friendships. Even despite their distance, Dustin tried to reconnect with her and in the last school day before Spring break, Dustin tried to invite her to the Hellfire Club led by Eddie Munson and when an apparently-enthusiastic Max asked if she could have one of the club's "cool t-shirts," Dustin replied that every member would receive a free t-shirt before realizing Max was being sarcastic. Upon learning of the death of Chrissy Cunningham in the Munson trailer, Max immediately shared this with Dustin rather than anyone else. Though Max was skeptical of Eddie's innocence, Dustin stubbornly insisted that Eddie would never harm anyone. The duo reunited with Lucas and their older allies (Nancy, Steve and Robin) to find Eddie, who helped them realize that Chrissy was murdered through supernatural means, specifically by an entity residing in the Upside Down, and they dubbed Chrissy's killer "Vecna," after a villainous "dark wizard" from Dungeons and Dragons.Dustin did not seem to have a good relationship with Lucas's little sister, Erica, despite being social with her. When Dustin tried to get in touch with Lucas to inform him about D'Artagnan, Erica did not bother to help Dustin and turned off Lucas's Supercom. A rift grew between Lucas and the two other boys, who continued to argue about Eleven. Lucas attempted to once again find the Gate while Mike and Dustin searched for Eleven.

The group reached a deserted field, where Lucas, Mike, and Eleven reconciled. After they realized the laboratory was still looking for them, they hid in an abandoned bus. Chief Hopper found them, taking them to the Byers After Lucas informs him of a manhunt for Eddie, Dustin tells him they've got bigger problems to worry about. basement. Mike, acting as Dungeon Master, summoned a Demogorgon, which ultimately defeated Will's character. While they looked for the missing dice, Mike's mother Karen insisted it was time for his friends to leave; and shortly after this, Lucas, Dustin, and Will cycled home. On the way, Dustin challenged Will to a bike race home for one of his X-Men comic books, and shortly after, Will went missing. As they rode their bikes home, Dustin informed Mike through his Supercom that Max was indeed "MADMAX," but Mike was not interested. He then decided to invite Max into the Party, despite Lucas's worries over Mike not liking the idea, but Dustin insisted as they are allowed to take new members into their Party if they want to. After saying saying good night to Lucas, Dustin arrives home, but is unable to notice or hear the sound of a strange creature inside his outdoor trashcan.Dustin, Mike, and Lucas were the first visitors aside from Jonathan to see Will in the hospital. The three of them were overjoyed to see him safe and sound. They caught up with Will, telling him about the events which transpired in his absence. As of August 2023; Dustin is tied with Eleven as the character with the most variants in Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, each having four. Hopper has three, while Lucas, Max, Dustin, Mike, Will, Nancy, Steve, Robin, Joyce, and Murray all have two. The rest of the characters each have one.

Become a part of the Hawkins High Hellfire Club with your very own Hellfire Club shirts, shorts, hoodies, tanks, and more! After school, Dustin and Lucas waited in a parking lot near the arcade to see if Max would come and play at the arcade. With Lucas's binoculars, they saw Max arrive at the arcade where she argued with somebody in the car before she gave the finger as the car drove off. Dustin and Lucas then followed her into the arcade and saw her playing a game at the arcade, coming to the conclusion that she is "MADMAX." Dustin Henderson, portrayed by Gaten Matarazzo, is a main character in Stranger Things. He is the best friend of Mike Wheeler, Eleven, Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers, Max Mayfield, Eddie Munson and Steve Harrington, and is the boyfriend of Suzie Bingham. He is one of the members in The Party. As his friend's older sister, Nancy only has occasional interactions with Dustin. The first exchange we see them having is when Dustin offers Nancy a slice of pizza while she is on the phone, only for her to slam the door in his face. Dustin claims that Nancy 'used to be cool.'The man who accompanied Claudia and Dustin to Will Byers's funeral in "The Flea and the Acrobat" appeared to be Dustin's father.

Singing: Dustin also has a great singing voice, excellently performing "Never Ending Story" with his girlfriend Suzie over Cerebro. In 1984, when Dustin, along with Lucas, invited Max Mayfield into the Party without informing Mike first, Mike was upset, but showed no hostility towards Dustin. While they had an argument over the situation regarding Dart, their friendship never turned bad as he directly headed to Mike's house to warn him about its danger and also searched for him with the group during the Demodogs' invasion. Dustin also supported Mike's plan to distract the Demodogs from El and Hopper by burning the tunnels of the Upside Down, proving that they still endanger themselves to protect their friends. A month later, at the Snow Ball, Dustin still remained on good terms with Mike, who playfully teased his hairstyle.Dustin is an observer and a protector of the unity within the friend group. He frequently resolved the conflicts within the group by drawing their attention to what was going on around them. He had a neutral, level-headed approach to Eleven and the supernatural events unfolding around them; in some ways, he was a negotiator between the open-minded Mike and the skeptical Lucas.