Dustin Henderson (Modern AU)

Dustin Henderson, portrayed by Gaten Matarazzo, is a main character in Stranger Things; he is also the protagonist of the novel Stranger Things: The Dustin Experiment. 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.

Dustin was somewhat of a typical "nerd", and had a rare genetic disorder (cleidocranial dysplasia) that prevented his teeth from developing properly, making him a prime target for bullies. He arrived in Hawkins in fourth grade, growing a strong bond with Mike, Lucas and Will and becoming best friends.

When Will mysteriously went missing, Dustin, Lucas and Mike made it their mission to find him. However, while searching for Will, they stumbled upon a mysterious girl named Eleven instead. After learning Eleven possessed special psychokinetic abilities, Mike believed she could aid the quest to find Will, though Lucas was suspicious of Eleven's behavior and actions; Dustin acted as a meditator between the two, keeping them focused on the task at hand. Dustin and his friends deduced that Will was lost in an alternate dimension, one that could be accessed via a "gate" at Hawkins Lab; though the group were unable to personally retrieve Will, Dustin and his friends later faced off against the creature that had abducted him, with Eleven seemingly sacrificing her life to defeat the Demogorgon. The group later joyfully reunited with Will, who had been rescued and brought to hospital.

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.

Dustin is also the most scientifically inclined of the group (despite his love of fantasy) and may be the most intelligent of the quartet- notwithstanding his bad judgement in keeping Dart as a pet, although even this unexpectedly saved the group in the end.

Dustin is also shown to be well-behaved around girls, trying to flirt with them. When he developed a brief crush on Max Mayfield, he did any means to impress her such as inviting her to go trick-or-treating or showing Dart to her though his attempts went a little too far. After receiving advice from Steve and Nancy on how to approach girls, Dustin managed to get the attention of Suzie whom he met at Camp Know Where. As he dated Suzie, he would affectionately call her "Suzie-Poo", sing "Neverending Story" to her, and describe her as the perfect girl (though Dustin's descriptions of her made others doubt her existence).

Dustin was often influenced by older male figures in his life, namely Steve and Eddie. In Steve's case, Dustin was given tips on styling his hair and applied them for the Snow Ball. Steve also gave him advice on flirting with girls, especially Max, and told him to act casual and to refrain from purring at them; a habit Dustin had been practicing at the time. With Eddie, Dustin gained a diehard loyalty to the Hellfire Club under Eddie's leadership and seemingly mimicked his style after the latter's death. Dustin not only continued to wear his Hellfire Club shirt, but also grew his hair out and began wearing multiple rings, making him resemble Eddie and his metalhead fashion sense. He also honored Eddie at his high school graduation, by carrying out Eddie's wish to get up on stage, flip off the principal and then take his diploma and run.

In 1986, Dustin's personality remained the same by the time he entered high school. When Eddie Munson became a suspect in the murder of Chrissy Cunningham, Dustin refused to believe Eddie was responsible as Eddie had been kind to him and Mike when they started high school. Dustin's belief in Eddie's innocence was proven to be true when Eddie revealed how Chrissy was killed through supernatural means. While investigating Vecna with his friends, Dustin proved how high his intelligence was by remembering how portals to the Upside Down were found due their electromagnetic fields affected a compass needle, figuring out how Vecna was opening portals through making psychic contacts with his victims, and developed a plan to attack Vecna's physical body while he was attacking another victim by entering its mind.

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