The Upside Down
"The Upside Down" was the main name used to describe a mysterious alternate dimension existing in parallel to the human world. The dimension was somehow "created" on November 6, 1983.[2]
Though the Upside Down was "created" in 1983, it was not the first alternate dimension that humans had discovered or encountered. In 1943, the USS Eldridge was accidentally transported to an older alternate dimension; this older dimension, described by Henry Creel as a "realm unspoiled by mankind", was home to all the creatures and lifeforms later observed roaming the Upside Down.
After being banished to this realm in 1979, Creel discovered "so many things", including a storm-like mass of sentient particles. Using his psychokinetic abilities to reshape and gain control over the particles, Henry forged a collective hive mind, allowing him to possess even more creatures and organisms.[3][4][5]
Four years later, Eleven made psychic contact with the hive mind from across dimensions under Dr. Martin Brenner's instruction. By doing this, she inadvertently opened the "Mothergate" at Hawkins Lab; somehow, making contact also created a perfect physical copy of the human world, exactly as it existed on November 6, 1983.[6][2] The older dimension explored by Henry either transformed to become the new dimension or had some other involvement in the new dimension's creation. This new dimension soon became known as the Upside Down.
Though it appeared as a perfect physical copy of the human world, the Upside Down was overrun with alien vines, spores and membranes originating from the older dimension, with the new dimension being completely devoid of human life. The vines, a race of humanoid predators and a bat-like species were all part of the hive mind; the Upside Down essentially acted as one gigantic organism, with all life within it psychically connected via Henry and the Mind Flayer.[7]
Following the opening of the Mothergate, the Upside Down began to corrupt the surrounding small town of Hawkins, Indiana. Crops started to rot, and a gigantic vine-like organism, stemming from the Mothergate, burrowed beneath Hawkins; an elaborate series of tunnel-like structures were formed, through which adolescent Demogorgons ("Demodogs") could travel in secret beneath the earth. However, in late 1984, Eleven interfered by closing the Mothergate, severing the psychic link between the worlds, and killing the Demodogs and tunnel organism in the process. A piece of the Mind Flayer hiding at the abandoned Brimborn Steel Works was also affected, its particles scattering across the floor of the facility and falling dormant.
On June 28, 1985, a new gate was opened by hidden Soviet forces operating beneath the newly-built Starcourt Mall. With the Upside Down's psychic link reestablished, Vecna (Henry Creel) reanimated the dormant fragment of the Mind Flayer and used it to kidnap and possess multiple humans and rats, feeding them chemicals and melting their bodies into puddles of biomass. This biomass was then combined to create a proxy form, an avatar through which Vecna could act in the human world. However, this proxy form was rendered useless after the new Gate was shut, and the psychic link disabled once again.
In 1986, Vecna took a more direct approach in his attempts to destroy humanity. He began psychically tormenting and murdering a host of Hawkins residents, using their deaths to open a series of new gates. Dustin, Nancy, Max, and others began investigating the murders, nicknaming the killer "Vecna" after a character from Dungeons & Dragons. The group's efforts to defeat Vecna culminated in a dual assault; Eleven used psychic projection to confront Vecna within his own mind, while Nancy, Steve and Robin traveled to the Upside Down version of the Creel House to attack his real body. Despite heavily wounding him, the group could not stop Vecna from furthering the Upside Down's invasion of Hawkins and the world at large.
The Upside Down
"The Upside Down" was the main name used to describe a mysterious alternate dimension existing in parallel to the human world. The dimension was somehow "created" on November 6, 1983.[2]
Though the Upside Down was "created" in 1983, it was not the first alternate dimension that humans had discovered or encountered. In 1943, the USS Eldridge was accidentally transported to an older alternate dimension; this older dimension, described by Henry Creel as a "realm unspoiled by mankind", was home to all the creatures and lifeforms later observed roaming the Upside Down.
After being banished to this realm in 1979, Creel discovered "so many things", including a storm-like mass of sentient particles. Using his psychokinetic abilities to reshape and gain control over the particles, Henry forged a collective hive mind, allowing him to possess even more creatures and organisms.[3][4][5]
Four years later, Eleven made psychic contact with the hive mind from across dimensions under Dr. Martin Brenner's instruction. By doing this, she inadvertently opened the "Mothergate" at Hawkins Lab; somehow, making contact also created a perfect physical copy of the human world, exactly as it existed on November 6, 1983.[6][2] The older dimension explored by Henry either transformed to become the new dimension or had some other involvement in the new dimension's creation. This new dimension soon became known as the Upside Down.
Though it appeared as a perfect physical copy of the human world, the Upside Down was overrun with alien vines, spores and membranes originating from the older dimension, with the new dimension being completely devoid of human life. The vines, a race of humanoid predators and a bat-like species were all part of the hive mind; the Upside Down essentially acted as one gigantic organism, with all life within it psychically connected via Henry and the Mind Flayer.[7]
Following the opening of the Mothergate, the Upside Down began to corrupt the surrounding small town of Hawkins, Indiana. Crops started to rot, and a gigantic vine-like organism, stemming from the Mothergate, burrowed beneath Hawkins; an elaborate series of tunnel-like structures were formed, through which adolescent Demogorgons ("Demodogs") could travel in secret beneath the earth. However, in late 1984, Eleven interfered by closing the Mothergate, severing the psychic link between the worlds, and killing the Demodogs and tunnel organism in the process. A piece of the Mind Flayer hiding at the abandoned Brimborn Steel Works was also affected, its particles scattering across the floor of the facility and falling dormant.
On June 28, 1985, a new gate was opened by hidden Soviet forces operating beneath the newly-built Starcourt Mall. With the Upside Down's psychic link reestablished, Vecna (Henry Creel) reanimated the dormant fragment of the Mind Flayer and used it to kidnap and possess multiple humans and rats, feeding them chemicals and melting their bodies into puddles of biomass. This biomass was then combined to create a proxy form, an avatar through which Vecna could act in the human world. However, this proxy form was rendered useless after the new Gate was shut, and the psychic link disabled once again.
In 1986, Vecna took a more direct approach in his attempts to destroy humanity. He began psychically tormenting and murdering a host of Hawkins residents, using their deaths to open a series of new gates. Dustin, Nancy, Max, and others began investigating the murders, nicknaming the killer "Vecna" after a character from Dungeons & Dragons. The group's efforts to defeat Vecna culminated in a dual assault; Eleven used psychic projection to confront Vecna within his own mind, while Nancy, Steve and Robin traveled to the Upside Down version of the Creel House to attack his real body. Despite heavily wounding him, the group could not stop Vecna from furthering the Upside Down's invasion of Hawkins and the world at large.