A ‘Stranger Things’ Prequel Novel Revealed Who Eleven’s Father Is

As one of the most popular shows on Netflix, Stranger Things has been running strong for four seasons now. As a mix of sci-fi and retro horror, it’s found a massive worldwide following among a diverse array of audiences. From its ’80s nostalgia-driven setting to the cool, monsters, magnetic cast, and unpredictable plot that has kept viewers on their toes all the way, it’s no wonder the show’s been widely praised by both audiences and critics alike — creating a media enterprise in the process (there are even Demogorgon Plushies now).

Often at the heart of the show, many fans’ favorite character, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), has been a mainstay and is often portrayed as tough but vulnerable too. As we build up to the enormously anticipated fifth and final season, fans have been eager to unravel her past that’s often shrouded in mystery. Part of that mystery since the first season has been the lingering questions behind who Eleven’s father is — with many questioning if it could be Dr. Brenner himself.

However, in the 2019 prequel novel Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond, the mystery is addressed and adds much more drama to the scope of it all. According to that novel, here’s how we know who Eleven’s father is.

A Deeper Look at Eleven’s Background in Stranger Things

Stranger Things created a massive media franchise for itself, resulting in a huge partnership between Netflix and Penguin Random House for a series of books that have been written to tie into it. At the same time, there have been comics by Dark Horse Comics and graphic novels that have also been published to expand the world of Stranger Things further beyond the screen. On the other hand, the prequel book Suspicious Minds takes place before the events of the show and predominantly deals with Eleven’s mother, Terry Ives, and the experiences she has with Dr. Brenner.

Related

Netflix Teases Major Plot Point in Stranger Things Season 5

Episode titles for the final season of Stranger Things have been revealed, and one of them in particular is catching fans’ attention.

The novel was followed by Darkness on the Edge of Town by New Zealand author Adam Christopher. It takes place after the events of the second season of the show. Between 2019 and now, a string of other novels have since been written and published, each dealing with a character or storyline from the show in more prominence.

While all of these have been great in their own way, as we get nearer to the final season of the show, Suspicious Minds, which has a canon status that has been disputed among fans, will likely take greater prominence as it reveals Eleven’s complicated family history and who her father is. According to the book, her biological father is a man named Andrew Rich, who we’ve yet to see in the show.

Who Is Andrew Rich, and Will He Show Up in Stranger Things?

In the show, we often see Dr. Brenner portrayed as a possible father figure for Eleven, who she even calls Papa. However, in Suspicious Minds, there is no mystery as Andrew Rich is clearly named as Eleven’s father. We further learn that he was her mother’s boyfriend and was drafted for the Vietnam War before she was born and tragically passed away before she ever got to meet him.

As Eleven’s past is a constant focal point, add on the fact that Eleven later endures under all the experiments and cruel tests she is subjected to while under the care of Dr. Brenner, and it becomes clear why she’s always been such a tragic character. Despite being very powerful, her past shapes her inner pain but also makes her who she is, as The Script Lab points out:

“But with great power comes great responsibility, and Eleven’s powers are no exception. Her inability to process her emotions at times leads her to rely on her powers, causing chaos similar to Vecna. Despite the challenges she faces, Eleven’s strength and resilience shine through when she embraces her power and uses it to do great things like closing the gate to the Upside Down, banishing the Mind Flayer, and even bringing her friend Max back from the brink of death.”

Unfortunately, since the show takes place in the present, we won’t be able to see Eleven’s father, even if details of him are finally revealed in the show. As he’s already been dead for a long time, all we can hope for is that possible flashbacks or other poignant scenes are added which may shed some light on him for viewers.

Implications for Stranger Things

Readers who are familiar with Suspicious Minds will know that it doesn’t just reveal who Eleven’s father was but builds a lot of what an antagonistic presence Dr. Brenner actually is in her life. Aside from everything he puts her through in the show that viewers know about, we see from the prequel novel that he indirectly destroyed her life long before this.

That’s because the novel also reveals that Andrew Rich’s death wasn’t just bad luck or a tragic casualty of war but that his draft and everything that followed had actually been orchestrated by Dr. Brenner, making it all that much more tragic for Eleven as a character. Even without these sad details, Eleven was already cast as a very tragic character. However, her tale gets much more morose if you read Suspicious Minds.

Stranger Things Doesn’t Cover the True Horror Behind Her Tragic Tale

Throughout the show’s first four seasons, we know how sad and empty Eleven often feels because of the life she’s been forced to live and the pain she feels for having never had the chance to properly know her parents. We also know that she was robbed of her childhood and forced to be trained into a weapon, exploited, and manipulated in a myriad of tragic ways by Dr. Brenner.

However, from Suspicious Minds, what we learn about the true tragedy of her life is just how much she lost. Not only did she lose her biological father and the chance to ever know him, but she also lost the potential of a real home — a potentially happy one at that! We know this because the novel depicts the relationship between Andrew and Terry as a loving and sweet one.

Related

Stranger Things 5 Teaser Reveals Episode Titles for Final Season

Can you spot some major hints from the episode titles?

Not only is their relationship shown to be loving and supportive, but by being forced to deploy, we never get to see what kind of father Andrew would have been. He never even knows about Eleven’s conception nor gets the chance to ever be a father to her before he is killed. While the novel also doesn’t explore him in much detail, however it all ends, these facts prove just how much Eleven actually lost out on — not just a normal childhood, but two loving and supportive parents who cared about each other and would likely have stayed with each other and raised her together had things been different.

While we’ll have to wait to see how Season 5 deals with this all, if at all, for now, Netflix has revealed some tantalizing teasers, like the episode titles. With plenty of mystery and intrigue afoot, it seems the final season of the globally loved show is set to be amazing one way or the other. Stranger Things is streaming on Netflix.