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This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
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| “ | After Sara… I saw her too. And I heard her. I didn't know what was real. And then I figured out that it was in my mind, and I had to pack all that away… otherwise I was gonna fall down a hole, that I couldn't get out of. | „ |
| ~ Jim Hopper, November 9, 1983. |
| “ | Mornings are for coffee and contemplation. | „ |
| ~ Jim Hopper. |
Chief James "Jim" Hopper, also known as The American, is one of the deuteragonists of the Stranger Things franchise, and the main protagonist of the novel, Darkness on the Edge of Town.
He is the chief of Hawkins, Indiana, which remained a town that was quiet until a boy named Will Byers mysteriously vanished one night. Initially not taking it seriously, Hopper would find himself involved in a conspiracy of Hawkins' labs and saved the child from a dark dimension known as the Upside Down.
He is portrayed by David Harbour, who also portrays Red Guardian in the MCU, Hellboy in the 2019 film of the same name, Santa Claus in Violent Night, and will voice Frankenstein in Creature Commandos.
Biography[]
Background[]
James "Jim" Hopper Jr. was born in 1942 in Hawkins, Indiana to the chief of police, James Hopper Sr., and an unnamed mother, later attending Hawkins High School in 1957 with Joyce Byers and Bob Newby. Hopper hints that he wasn't exactly the model student, and once lied to his mother about his whereabouts so he could secretly hook up with girls, such as Chrissy Carpenter. Hopper also mentioned that he smoked with Joyce during sixth and seventh period, but sometimes got caught by the teachers.
After graduating in 1960, Jim took up a job as a town cop and later joined the United States military to serve in the Vietnam War. Hopper was stationed in the Chemical Corps, and as a result, he was exposed to the chemical compound Agent Orange. After his service, Hopper met and fell in love with a woman named Diane, and the two married in 1972. The couple moved to New York and had a daughter named Sara, but she was later diagnosed with cancer. Despite receiving chemotherapy treatment, Sara was unable to recover and passed away. After Sara's passing, Jim and Diane divorced, and he moved back to Hawkins in 1979. Hopper became the Police Chief at the Hawkins Police Department and started to rely on alcohol, prescription medication, and sleeping with women to get through his grief.
Hopper is introduced as a senior in Hawkins High School, and has a tenuous relationship with his father due to how much his father belittles him, mostly through calling him "Junior". Eventually, his car broke down and his father wouldn't pay for repairs due to Hopper not having a job of his own, so he became motivated to earn the money himself. An opportunity soon presented itself when a schoolmate, Claudia Yount's, cat was viciously killed and mangled. Claudia offers $100 to anyone who could give information on perpetrator of the attack. This led to him partnering himself with the dorky AV club founder, Bob Newby, who had been following the pet murders as well and had a camera that would come in handy.
The two visit the grave of Claudia's cat and dig it up to analyze the body. Bob soon discovered that its eyes were missing and all of its bones were broken. The two realize that all of the pets killed were owned by members of the school play that was ran by Joyce Byres, bringing them to the conclusion that it had to be a member of play who was guilty. Hopper proceeds to join the production under the pretenses of wanting a role with his real intentions being to interrogate the actors. He initially suspects the over-the-top method actor, Alan Munson, but soon drops his suspicions after learning that Alan's pet was a victim of the killer too.
Joyce soon confronts Hopper on his strange behavior, and he confesses that he's really looking for the Hawkins pet killer, so Joyce joins the investigation. The trio discovered that the attacks were happening in areas that received large electrical surges previously, so Bob builds a machine to pinpoint the location of the next attack. They trace it to the Creel households, where they walk in on Victor Creel having a manic episode due to Henry Creel showing him traumatic visions from the war. Soon, an injured and blinded Principal Newby reveals himself, and they bring him to an ambulance.
Believing the one responsible for the attacks was Victor Creel (although it was actually his son, Henry), Hopper and Joyce reported their findings to Hopper's father who laughed at both of them, claiming they didn't have sufficient proof. This led to a fight breaking out between Hopper and his dad until it eventually got broke up. Knowing the only way of incriminating Victor Creel was with a confession, Hopper, Bob and Joyce plan on abducting Victor Creel at their play and intend to have Hopper impersonate his dad to coax Victor into revealing what happened on tape. However, their plan gets messed up when Joyce's ex-boyfriend, Lonnie, gets abducted instead on accident. Hopper runs to the Creel's house, discovering the body of Henry's mother and sister and believes Victor did it (when it was actually Henry again). He felt partially responsible for what happened due to not being able to expose Victor and his dad tries to tell him that it isn't his fault.
By the end of the production, we see a now adult Hopper working as a young police officer, saying goodbye to Joyce as he plans to leave for basic training with the army.
Season 1[]
After Will's disappearance, Hopper was given the case to find the boy, but didn't take it seriously since he believed the boy was just playing hookie. When he realized the situation was more involved than he thought it would be, Hopper went to Hawkins Middle School and spoke to Will's best friends Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair and Dustin Henderson. Asking of Will's last whereabouts, they told him that Will rode his bicycle near Mirkwood, and advised the kids to go back home after school. Doing the search, Hopper and the officers found his bicycle, but no evidence that he went home. The police department then started a night to party to search for Will, but had to cut if off due to a storm. The following day, Hopper was called to Benny's diner where he learned that Hammond was dead, and spoke with Earl since he was at the diner the day before.
Speaking with him, he learned that there was a kid with a shave head, and when pondering whatever it was Will, Early simply replied that it could have been. After finding a piece of cloth near Hawkins laboratory, Hopper went there and searched their security cameras, where he noticed that was no storm there like it was the previous night. Once he read up on Dr. Martin Brenner and Hawkins lab's involvement with MKULtra, the chief started to believe that they were behind Will's disappearance. Notified to go to the local quarry, the department dragged out Will's "corpse". Jim comforted Joyce and refused to believe that Will was still alive and was being chased by a monster, believing that she was suffering from delusions since he did when he loss his own child.
He was later convinced that something was going on after the local corner was replaced, and cut through Will's "corpse" and saw cotton was filled in. Hopper then broke into the lab and saw a gate to a different dimension, but was knocked unconscious by Brenner's agents and taken back to his home. Despite awaking in his home, Hopper remembered the night and destroyed a hidden microphone planted by the agents. Traveling to Joyce's home, he explained the situation, apologized for not believing her, and also told his theory that he was searching for the daughter of Terry Ives. The two traveled to the Ives residence and spoke to Terry's sister Becky, learning that she was experimented on while pregnant and later miscarried.
Hopper was called back to the police station since Joyce's son Jonathan was arrested for fighting Steve Harrington, and the police discovered that his vehicle contained weapons. He learned that Jonathan and Nancy Wheeler were preparing to fight the monster, and decided to save Will before the agents could descend on the town. Jim contacted Mike, Dustin and Lucas at the junkyard, where he found the boys and Eleven hiding in an abandoned bus. Once Eleven managed to reach out to Will at Hawkins Middle School's makeshift tank, Hopper and Joyce traveled to the lab where he encountered Dr. Brenner. Hopper agreed with Brenner, to allow him and Joyce to save Will and he would reveal Eleven's location.
Entering the Upside Down with Joyce, Hopper rescued Will and the two escaped from the dimension as Eleven defeated the monster at the cost of entering the dimension. After taking Will to the hospital, Jim was picked up by agents and drove away. Knowing that Eleven was alive, Hopper went into the woods and placed eggos for her to eat.
Season 2[]
In that same month, Jim was reunited with Eleven, who had escaped from the Upside Down and found his box of food. He took her to a cabin in the woods that became their new home and rigged the outside for traps to alert them of intruders. For them to communicate safely, Hopper taught Eleven how to read and signal Morse Code, and also created a set of rules for Eleven's safety.
While keeping Eleven a secret, Hopper was greeted by a private investigator named Murray Bauman, who knew of a little girl with psychic abilities and explained his conspiracy theories. While Murray was talking, Hopper was called in by the station to investigate a pumpkin patch that had rotten. After leaving the patch, Jim met with Joyce at the Hawkins lab to see Will's session with Dr. Owens, learning of his episodes of seeing an evil entity. Hopper agreed with Owens that the episodes were occurring because of the "anniversary effect", but Jim started to suspect things when learning that the pumpkin rot was spreading across Hawkins. Around this time, Jim's relationship with El started to become strained, with him being late to dinner and not letting her leave the cabin to see Mike.
Realizing that the rotten pumpkin patches were originating from the lab, Hopper met with Owens, who agreed to see the other patches with him. When learning from Powell that a woman witnessed a strange girl, Jim realized that it was Eleven and returned to the cabin. Finding her there, the two got into an argument that ended with Hopper grounding her. Traveling to the Byers residence the following morning, Jim learns from Will of his "now memories" and sees his drawings as a connection to the rotten pumpkin patches. Leaving, he heads to a pumpkin patch to dig a hole, discovering a strange growth that sprays him, causing him to fall unconscious. Trapped in the tunnel system, Jim is caught by the vines when he attempts to burn them, but he is saved in time by Joyce and Bob.
Returning to the lab with Joyce, Will, Mike, and Bob, they discover that Will has lost his memories and witness him be influenced by the Mind Flayer to trick the Hawkins soldiers. When the Demodogs attack the lab, Hopper remains with the others until the power is turned back on by Bob. Leaving the lab, the group meets with Jonathan, Nancy, Dustin, Lucas, Steve Harrington, and Max Mayfield outside, and then returns to the Byers residence. The party deduces that the Mind Flayer is controlling Will in its hive mind, and believes that once it is stopped, Will will be free. The group then makes the backyard shed unrecognizable to interrogate Will on how to stop the Flayer, which results in the child revealing that they need to close the gate. However, the Mind Flayer learns of their location and sends the Demodogs to kill them.
The group is saved by Eleven, who returned from meeting with her mother and spiritual sister. Forming a new plan, Jim and El agree to close the gate while the others stay with Will to exorcise the Flayer or burn the tunnel system to distract the Demodogs. At the lab, Hopper and Eleven encounter a wounded Owens, and Jim manages to convince the doctor to let El live a happy life. Hopper then supported El in closing the gate, who managed to channel her anger to close it and save Will. Months later, Jim meets with Owens, who gives him a document of El's forged birth certificate as "Jane Hopper". He later meets with Joyce at the Snow Ball, and comforts her since she is still mourning Bob's death.
Season 3[]
In the summer of 1985, Hopper becomes frustrated with Eleven's relationship with Mike, feeling that he has become distant from her. Speaking to Joyce on the matter, she proposes that he write a heart-to-heart letter to speak to both of them, but he later decides to instead force Mike to spend less time with El. Overjoyed when he learns that Mike has accepted the terms, Jim returns to Joyce and convinces her to go on a date with him. However, his conversation is interrupted when has to disperse protests against the mayor Larry Kline. That night, Jim arrives for their dinner date, but she doesn't arrive due to studying magnets and speaking to Scott Clarke.
Still annoyed by Joyce's ditching of their date, he initially ignores her when she explains her theory that something is happening at Hawkins lab. When she leaves to investigate on her own, Jim decides to go with her, and the two are ambushed by a Russian operative named Grigori. Injured from his fight with the Russian, Hopper is taken to the cabin by Joyce, who remains there all night to watch over him. The next day, Jim learns from Joyce that Grigori escaped on a motorcycle and realizes that he saw the Russian previously meeting with Kline. Going to the mayor's office, Hopper confronts Larry for information, learning that the mayor has made bribes with the Russians to create a machine in East Hawkins. Traveling there, the pair discover a secret base inside a home and kidnap Alexei before leaving.
After Grigori destroys their car, Jim and Joyce contact Murray due to his ability to translate Russian. Alexei reveals that the Russians created a machine (referred to as the key) to open the gate, siphoning transformers across East Hawkins to have the key open the portal. Going to the fair, Jim, Murray, and Joyce discover that Alexei has been killed, and escape when the Russians attempt to kill them. Having overheard the Russians speaking of "kids" at the Starcourt Mall, the adults head there and reunite with the party. Forming a plan, Jim, Murray, and Joyce disguise themselves as Russian soldiers to infiltrate the underground base and are assisted by Dustin in getting the code to get the keys.
When preparing to shut down the key, the group is ambushed by Grigori, leading to Hopper fighting the Russians in combat inside the chamber. He manages to kill Grigori by throwing him into the machine, but this causes it to become unstable, electricity sparking out and trapping him. Wanting to save the people of Hawkins, Jim approves Joyce in shutting down the machine, with the two giving each other a final glance. Allowing Joyce to shut the key, the machine is destroyed, thus closing the gate and stopping the Mind Flayer.
Season 4[]
Despite being believed dead by his loved ones, Hopper had run away when the machine was shut down, finding himself in another destroyed lab. He was then taken by the Russians, who proceeded to torture him for information before sending him to Kamchatka prison.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Marksmanship Excellence: As an Army veteran and the present Police Chief, Hopper is noteworthy for his experience with a variety of firearms, ranging from handguns, shotguns, and rifles. While he mostly carried his revolver around with him during investigations and settling minor disputes, he was shown to be remarkably proficient in handling rifles and shotguns when he fought side by side with Eleven and protected her from the Demodogs by shooting a substantial number of them without much difficulty, and later when he shot Russians while holding a rifle with one hand.
- Expert Combatant: As an Army veteran and the present Police Chief, Hopper is highly trained in both boxing and kickboxing hand-to-hand combat. He beat up David O'Bannon, defeated laboratory security guards, was able to easily fight against and knock out a Russian spy, and even held his own against Grigori and managed to win the fight in the end, though with extreme effort.
- Peak Human Conditioning: Thanks to years of combat experience in Vietnam and gruelling training in a Russian prison he got back into peak shape allowing himself high tolerance toward painful infections shown when a prisoner used a sledgehammer to swing at his feet to lose his chains which he barely flinched on furthermore adapts to walking in extremely cold environments with his bare feet. His speed even aids him into running or dodging attacks, his strength can physically fight a Demogorgon and kill it with a sword.
- Expert Tactician: Hopper's basic surviving skills helped him considerably when he was trapped in the tunnels corrupted by the Upside Down, such as placing cigars to leave a trail to follow, cutting off a part of his shirt to cover his face, and crafting a makeshift torch from a branch. Being a natural survivalist, he escaped terrifying and supernatural locations known as the Upside Down, endured inhuman cruelty in a Russian prison, and even fought Demogorgons with melee weapons.
- Craftsmanship: His military life led him to be familiarized with some crafting skills too, as displayed in "The Pollywog" when he constructed trip-wires around Eleven's location. During his imprisonment, he even rips off a piece of his jacket to wraps around a spear and dunks liquor on it to use as a torch against a Demogorgan.
- Multilingualism: Hopper also had some knowledge regarding radio operation and its mechanisms, as he taught Eleven how to communicate over the radio using Morse code during their time together, as well as was very quick to infer the Morse Codes the then possessed Will was trying to signal. Hopper later learned some Russian when he was imprisoned.
Victims[]
- 5 Demodogs - Shot to death by Hopper.
- 4 Unnamed Soviet Union Guards - Shot to death by Hopper.
- Grigori - Thrown into the Gate Machine by Hopper.
- Unnamed Russain Prison Guard - Hit over the head with a sledgehammer by Hopper.
- Unnamed Russain Prison Guard - Neck broken with ankle chains by Hopper.
- 5 Unnamed Russian Prison Guards - Killed in an explosion caused by Hopper.
- Demodog - Shot in the head by Hopper.
- The Russian Demogorgon - Slashed in the head by Hopper.
Quotes[]
| “ | Bike like this is like a Cadillac to these kids. | „ |
| ~ Jim Hopper |
| “ | I know you do experiments on kidnapped little kids, whose parents' brains you've turned to mush. And I know you went a little too far this time and you messed up in a big way. | „ |
| ~ Hopper to the agents and Brenner. |
| “ | You wanna know the worst thing that’s ever happened here in the four years I’ve been working here? You wanna know the worst thing, was when an owl attacked Eleanor Gillespie's head because it thought that her hair was a nest. | „ |
| ~ Hopper to Joyce. |
| “ | The truth is, for so long I’d forgotten what those even were. I’d been stuck in one place- in a cave, you might say, a deep, dark cave. But then I left some Eggos out in the woods, and you came into my life, and for the first time in a long time, I started to feel things again. I started to feel happy. [...] But I know you’re getting older, growing, changing. And I guess, if I’m being really honest, that’s what scares me. I don’t want things to change. So I think that’s why I came in here. To try to stop the change. To try to turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were. But I know that’s naïve. It’s just not the way life works. It’s moving, always moving, whether you like it or not. And, yeah, sometimes that’s painful. Sometimes that’s sad. But, sometimes… that’s surprising. Happy. So you know what? Keep on growing up, kid. Don’t let me stop you. Make mistakes. Learn from them. And when life hurts you- because it will- remember the hurt. The hurt is good. It means you’re out of that cave. But please, if you don’t mind, for the sake of your old Dad, keep the door open three inches. | „ |
| ~ Hopper's letter to Eleven. |
Trivia[]
- The name Jim Hopper could a reference to the 1987 film Predator, as the first person killed by the Predator was a man named Jim Hopper.
External Links[]
- Jim Hopper on the Stranger Things Wiki
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