21. Dr. Brenner (Papa)

Died: Season 4
Actor: Matthew Modine

Other than Vecna, Dr. Brenner is the number one iconic villain. With his sullen, dignified cruelty towards Eleven, he definitely gave us the spooks. His villainous potential was never fully exploited until Chapter 4, with his reason for torturing Eleven finally revealed beyond the whole “I’m a bad guy doing bad stuff” malarkey.

The mad scientist who experimented on kids (and, erm, made them call him “papa”) was technically the root of all evil in Hawkins. Dr. Brenner was spine-chilling to say the least, and we couldn’t have been happier seeing him go at the end of Season 4.