We’ve Finally Figured Out the Stranger Things Spinoff’s New Monster

There was never a chance Netflix would let Stranger Things die. The result is the first animated spinoff, Tales From ’85, which is essentially a sort of Season 2.5 – a tale set between the seasons, an untold adventure featuring the Hawkins kids. Showrunner Eric Robles has confirmed he thinks he’s cracked the Stranger Things spinoff code, spotting a major loophole that gives room to add yet more monsters into the mix.

Stranger Things‘ new monsters seem pretty terrifying. The first trailer teased no less than four different creature designs, and we’ve since had action figures that appear to hint at even more. Yet, for all that’s the case, we think we’ve spotted a single theme running through all these different designs. If we’re right, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 isn’t dealing with multiple monsters at all; the Hawkins kids are taking on a single creature.

All the Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Monsters Have One Thing In Common

The trailer for Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 shows what seem to be four different monsters. The first are smaller, chitinous scorpion-like creatures, which appear to flourish in the area around the now-defunct Hawkins Lab. The second is a vine creature blended with a pumpkin (we now know it’s a member of a so-called “Gourd Horde,” suggesting there’s an army of these). There’s a hulking, shadowy shape in a hallway. The final one is a massive, Venus-fly-trap-like monster.

A Stranger Things toyline has added something very different, though. One of the figures is called a “Vine Dog,” which looks like a Demo-Dog that’s been blended with plantlife. It’s much bigger than your traditional Demo-Dog, though, proven by the fact the figure can be “crushed” to reveal a small figure of Mike inside its mouth. It’s clearly based on a scene in the show, but the Mike feature confirms the different scale for this particular monster.

Attentive viewers will immediately notice there’s one common theme between all these creatures: vines. These have been a ubiquitous part of the Stranger Things world since we first entered the Upside Down back in Season 1, but here’s the odd thing; there were no vines in the Abyss itself, hinting they may be somehow native to the Upside Down itself. Now, it looks as though the vines themselves are the threat.

This initially led to speculate the Tales From ’85 monster was based on a Dungeons & Dragons threat called a “Vine Blight.” These affect all plant-life within an area, mutating this into twisted and monstrous forms, eventually consuming an entire forest if left unchecked. But here’s the catch; Vine Blights don’t match with the idea of this Vine Dog. While it’s still possible Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 will incorporate elements of the Vine Blight into its story, this feels unlikely.

We Think We Know What the Tales From ’85 Monster REALLY Is

If the Tales From ’85 monster isn’t a Vine Blight, then what is it? It seems reasonable to stick with Dungeons & Dragons for inspiration, since that’s been the consistent focus of Stranger Things, and the spinoff wants to feel like a good fit. The most likely alternative is a “Bodytaker Plant,” a terrifying D&D plant that is the very definition of an invasive species. It takes root in a given environment, dominating its surroundings by replacing all nearby life with its own podlings.

A Bodytaker Plant has a large, central pod surrounded by a weaving system of vines. Its roots spread out over vast areas, and can regenerate from a single strand, making it very hard indeed to destroy. These monsters spread by depositing other creatures in their central maws, where acids dissolve them and then create a new, twisted version incorporated into the plant’s hive mind. These copies – referred to as “podlings” – then infiltrate and overthrow local ecosystems and power structures, allowing the Bodytaker Plant to extend its reach.

These podlings would explain the variety of forms we’re seeing; all of these creatures could in fact be podlings; fauna and flora that has been absorbed into the Bodytaker Plant’s hive mind. The Vine Dog could even be an actual Demodog, one of the deceased creatures collected by the Bodytaker Plant and duplicated in its own terrifying way. It would certainly make sense of everything we’ve seen so far.

The interesting question, though, is whether the Bodytaker Plant is the true source of the Upside Down’s vines. It’s possible Vecna and the Mind Flayer simply absorbed a Bodytaker Plant into their hive mind… and that, with the connection to the Upside Down broken after the Gate was closed in Stranger Things Season 2, the Bodytaker Plant is reasserting itself in this new environment. That would finally explain what Robles meant when he said he’d found some “loopholes” to exploit.

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