Billy Hargrove

Character
Name:	William "Billy" Hargrove
Occupation:	High Schooler
Relationships:	Max Mayfield (step-sister) Neil Hargrove (father) Susan Hargrove (step-mother) Steve Harrington (rival)
Fandom:	Stranger Things
Other:	Played by Dacre Montgomery
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Billy Hargrove is a fictional character from the Stranger Things television series, and is portrayed by Dacre Montgomery. He is a popular character within the fandom, particularly in fanfiction and as the topic of speculation for fan theories and headcanons, in part due to the limited backstory he is given on screen. However, this popularity is also controversial in some fan spaces, and there have been heated discussions and arguments about Billy's portrayal in fanon and his popularity.

Canon

Billy Hargrove is introduced in the first episode of season 2 as Max Mayfield's older step-brother; as a classmate of Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers, and Nancy Wheeler; and as a rival to Steve. He is a secondary antagonist in seasons 2 and 3, while also being a victim of the Mind Flayer himself, until he briefly becomes an ally when he saves Eleven’s life by sacrificing his own.

During his time on the show, Billy was often controlling and hostile with Max and generally antagonistic towards the majority of the main characters. He was also shown to be the victim of domestic abuse at the hands of his father and the small amount of backstory he received throughout season three revealed that his mother had left when he was young.

Fandom

While there was fan interest in Billy's character from his debut, particularly focused on his rivalry with Steve which then led to them being a popular ship in fanworks, the fan interest seemed to increase significantly in season three, possibly due to the story-line which saw Billy as both an antagonist and a victim and the introduction of some details of his backstory.

Statistics

• In July 2022 Billy was the 8th most popular Stranger Things character on AO3.

Common Pairings

• Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington - most popular pairing
• Billy Hargrove/Eddie Munson
• Billy Hargrove/Reader - Particularly popular on Tumblr

Fanon and Common Tropes in Fanworks

• Alternate Endings - As Billy canonically dies in Stranger Things, many canon-divergent works involving his character either have him avoid dying at all or him coming back in some way, usually related to the Upside Down.
• Redemption Arc - Due to Billy's canonical actions and the single act of redemption he carried out before his death, it is a popular trope to explore a fully realised redemption arc for the character. Again, as he dies in canon, this occurs in canon-divergent or alternate universe works.
• Angst and Trauma - As Billy's domestic life is an abusive one, fanworks often explore this area in more detail.

Controversy

Billy is an incredibly divisive character within the Stranger Things fandom. At the center of this divide are disagreements over how he should be portrayed and over whether it is wrong to like problematic characters.

As a Popular Antagonist

Billy's tragic backstory, complex relationship with other characters, and the fact he carried out an act of sacrifice in his final scene on the show garnered him a notable fanbase, especially for fans who enjoy darker or morally ambiguous characters. However, because he behaved in misogynistic, racist, and abusive ways towards other characters (an interpretation which some fans argue is itself debatable, leading to further controversy, discussed below), his popularity has led to a significant amount of discussion in fan spaces.

Racism

There were scenes during the show where Billy exhibited racist behaviour towards Lucas Sinclair, particularly in his efforts to keep Max away from Lucas and the wording used in those situations. Ross Duffer confirmed in interviews that they had written Billy as racist and the original script called for Billy to use language towards Lucas which Dacre Montgomery asked to be removed from the script as he wasn't comfortable saying it.

However, while many fans interpreted his actions as explicitly driven by racism even before Ross Duffer's interview, others argued that his hostility towards Lucas arose from his controlling and abusive tendencies, rather than racial prejudice specifically. This led to ongoing and intense discussions, debates and controversy regarding the fandom response to Billy's character. Dacre Montgomery later stated in a separate interview that he did not believe that Billy was racist; some fans took his word as the final say, while others pointed out that he would be more likely to defend the character he played, especially as he convinced the Duffer brothers to write Billy as a more sympathetic character.

[DjLilTahj]
People act like since he didn’t flat out call Lucas the n-word that now he can’t be racist. Reminder racism doesn’t have to be directly in your face for it still to be racism.

[MandelAomine]

He only didn't because Dacre didn't want to

[jotyma5]

Wait, huh? Was the script originally gonna have him call Lucas the n word?

[Sudden_Pop_2279]

Likely in the scene where he pushed Lucas against the wall, he was supposed to call him a “far worse piece of language”. However, Dacre wasn’t comfortable with saying it.

The show did portray racism with Troy’s midnight comment and Billy’s “certain type of people” comment was more than enough to show his.

It’s well known that Billy is racist throughout the show and if you’re not able to figure that out on your own, you should probably rewatch it. He only targeted Lucas even though him and his friends were doing the same things as him-hanging out with Max. He used dehumanizing language and didn’t even see Lucas as a person. '"There are a certain type of people in this world you stay away from," and that Lucas is "one of them." ‘ He jumped to that conclusion without even knowing Lucas, but just by looking at him.

SpadesH3eart comment on r/Stranger Things 

Some fans of Billy's character argue that his motivation for attacking Lucas and trying to keep Max away from him was driven by concern for Max, or bring up the abusive household that Billy was raised in — by a bigoted father — in discussion of his character and actions. The manner in which this was discussed led to some fans feeling as though Billy's own experiences were being used to excuse away his racist and abusive behaviour; while other fans state it is providing context and not an excuse.

Example Fanworks

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

Fan Art

• Billy and Max by orbuz228, ^{Archived version}
• Billy Pin-Up, ^{Archived version}

Fanfiction

• Don't Tell Me There's No Hope At All/ Together We Stand, Divided We Fall by Straight_Outta_Hobbiton - A popular Billy-focused longfic dealing with heavy topics including abuse, addiction and parental murder.

Fan Vids

• Rockstar | Billy Hargrove by TheNerdMaster
• billy hargrove | gasoline by holy wolf

Meta

• The Queer Rage of Billy Hargrove by Virgil Rose
• Billy Hargrove's bedroom: Part One, Part Two, Part Three by gothyringwald. Posts identifying all the items in Billy's bedroom in Seasons 2 and 3
• for years i’ve been trying to make some sense of billy’s place within the show... by witchsickness. A response to an anonymous ask on Tumblr that goes into depth about the place (or lack thereof) that Billy's backstory has in the show

Archives and Communities

• Billy Hargrove tag at Archive of Our Own
• Billy Hargrove filter at FanFiction.net

Links and Resources

• Billy Hargrove at the Stranger Things Wiki