Byler

"Do you remember the first day that we met? It was... It was the first day of kindergarten. I knew nobody. I had no friends and... I just felt so alone and so scared, but... I saw you on the swings and you were alone, too. You were just swinging by yourself. And I just walked up to you and... I asked. I asked if you wanted to be my friend. And you said yes. You said yes. It was the best thing I've ever done."

- Mike to Will

Byler is the slash ship between Mike Wheeler and Will Byers from the Stranger Things fandom.

Canon
Mike and Will met on the first day of kindergarten in 1976. Mike approached Will while he was alone on the swing set and asked him to be his friend, to which Will agreed. Mike later tearfully described this as the best thing he ever did.

Season 1
"I'm the only one that cares about Will!"

- Mike to his parents

In 1983, Mike and Will are playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) with their friends, Dustin and Lucas, in Mike's basement. Mike, acting as Dungeon Master, summons a Demogorgon, which ultimately defeats Will's character when Will rolls a low number. Mike is, however, not aware of this as he did not see the result of the roll. Although Lucas privately tells Will that his roll does not have to count since Mike did not see it, Will still lets Mike know that he rolled too low before leaving Mike's house.

When Will goes missing, Mike begs his mother to let him look for Will, which she refuses, causing Mike to angrily claim that he is the only one in his family who cares about Will. Mike then convinces Lucas to go look for Will by reminding him how, when they were playing D&D, Will chose to put his character in danger to help the party. Despite the heavy rain, Mike, Lucas and Dustin search for Will in the woods, where they encounter Eleven.

After a body believed to be Will's is found in the local quarry, Mike returns home in tears and is comforted by his mother. Later, in his basement, he grieves Will's death as he looks at a collection of Will's drawings. When Eleven uses her powers to broadcast Will's voice through Mike's radio, Mike realizes that Will is still alive and is determined to find him. During Will's memorial assembly at Hawkins Middle School, Mike notices Troy and James mocking Will and publicly confronts them after the assembly. When Troy makes insulting comments about Will's sexuality, Mike shoves him to the ground and Eleven uses her powers to humiliate him.

After Will is found in the Upside Down and hospitalized, Mike sits awake at the hospital as he waits for Will to regain consciousness. When Mike, Dustin and Lucas reunite with Will, they embrace him and share the chain of events that occurred while Will was gone. A month later, on Christmas Eve, the boys run another D&D campaign in Mike's basement and encounter the Thessalhydra, which they are able to defeat thanks to Will's fireball spell.

Season 2
"Hey, well, if we're both going crazy, then we'll go crazy together, right?"

- Mike to Will

In 1984, Will joins Mike, Dustin and Lucas at the Palace Arcade to play games. He begins experiencing an episode, finding himself in a seemingly abandoned version of the arcade in the Upside Down. He steps outside to see a storm raging in the sky before Mike snaps him out of it and leads him back inside.

On Halloween night, Max, a new classmate of the boys, joins them in trick-or-treating, which causes Mike to become upset as he did not agree to Max joining their group. While Dustin and Lucas walk with Max, Mike stays behind with Will and expresses his annoyance before walking ahead. Will tries to follow him but experiences another episode, again finding himself in the Upside Down, and calls for Mike before seeing a shadow-like creature in the sky. He is snapped out of it by a concerned Mike who tells the others to continue without them and takes Will to his house. In Mike's basement, Will describes his episode to Mike and begs him not tell the others as he believes that they will not understand. Mike claims that Eleven would understand and admits that he sometimes senses her presence, and he wonders if he is going crazy. When Will says that he feels like he is going crazy too, they promise each other that if they both go crazy, then they will go crazy together.

After Will gets possessed by the Mind Flayer, Mike goes to his house to check on him and Will tells Mike about his connection to the monster. Mike says that it may be a good thing as Will can now spy on the monster, which may help them figure out how to stop him. When Will expresses fear over the monster spying back, Mike holds his hand and assures him that they will not let the monster do so. Mike then sleeps over at Will's house. When Will is later taken to Hawkins National Laboratory for inspection, Mike follows and stays by his side. Will suffers memory loss when he awakens and is only able to remember Mike and his mother, Joyce, out of those present.

While attempting to bring Will's memories back and to learn the Mind Flayer's weakness, Mike tearfully tells him about their first meeting on the first day of kindergarten and how asking Will to be his friend is the best thing he has ever done. Joyce and Will's older brother, Jonathan, also share stories involving Will that are personal to them, enabling Will to signal them in Morse code how to stop the Mind Flayer.

A month after Eleven forces the Mind Flayer back into the Upside Down and closes the gate between the two worlds, Mike, Will and the others attend the Hawkins Middle School Snow Ball. When a girl asks Will if he wants to dance, he is hesitant, but Mike's urging causes him to say yes.

Season​ 3
"It's not my fault you don't like girls."

- Mike to Will

In 1985, Mike, Will, Lucas and Max sneak into the movie theater at the Starcourt Mall with the help of their older friend, Steve, to watch Day of the Dead for free. After a sudden power outage, Will feels a strange sensation in the back of his neck. Mike senses that something is wrong and asks Will if he is okay, to which Will replies that he is fine.

Will is later upset with how much time Mike is spending with Eleven, preferring more time for D&D campaigns. After Eleven breaks up with Mike, Will tries to play D&D with Mike and Lucas but when they do not take the campaign seriously, Will becomes upset and storms out of Mike's house. Mike catches up to him and in a heated argument, he says that it is not his fault that Will does not like girls, which leaves Will speechless. He adds that they are not kids anymore and asks if Will really thought that they would spend the rest of their lives playing games in his basement. Will replies that he did and Mike regrets what he said as he watches Will leave in tears in the pouring rain. When Mike and Lucas go to his house to apologize, Will, having realized what the sensation in his neck means, tells them that the Mind Flayer has returned.

Three months after defeating the Mind Flayer, Will and his family, along with Eleven, are moving out of Hawkins. When Will puts his D&D items in the donation box, Mike suggests that Will should keep them in case he ever wants to join another party but Will assures him that he will never do so, causing them to smile at each other. Before leaving, Will tearfully says goodbye to Mike and the others.

Season 4
"It's not the same without you."

- Mike to Will

In 1986, Mike reads a letter from Eleven in which she says that Will has been working on a painting which he refuses to show anyone. Eleven believes that he likes someone and assumes that the painting is for a girl. When Mike visits them in Lenora Hills, Will and Eleven are both eager to see him and wait for him at the airport. However, while Mike happily reunites with Eleven, his reunion with Will is awkward as he avoids Will's hug. Will brought the rolled-up painting with him and intended to give it to Mike but when Mike notices it in his hands and asks him what it is, Will says that it is just a painting he has been working on. As they leave the airport, Will discovers that Eleven has been lying to Mike about having friends.

Will, Mike and Eleven later go to the Rink-O-Mania where Eleven continues to lie to Mike about her social life. Will grows annoyed at her lies and privately confronts her. He says that Mike does not deserve being lied to and that he will be mad when he finds out but Eleven, although affected by his words, ignores him. Mike and Eleven then skate together while a dejected Will skates behind them. When Will tells Mike that Eleven has not been telling him the truth, Mike does not believe him until he sees her being humiliated by the people she claimed to be her friends. She runs off and as they look for her, an annoyed Mike accuses Will of being unkind to her only for Will to point out that he has been forced to third-wheel all day and how miserable he has been. Mike brushes him off and Will asks Mike why he barely called him and only wrote letters to Eleven. Mike replies that Eleven is his girlfriend while Will is his friend and Will retorts that they used to be best friends. Mike then points out that Will is equally to blame for not reaching out more.

When Eleven is taken away by Dr. Owens, Will listens as Mike admits that he fought with Eleven before she left and regrets not having told her what she wanted to hear. Will comforts him and says that Mike can tell Eleven whatever he wants to say when they find her. Mike later thanks Will for comforting him and apologizes for the way he behaved towards him. Will attempts to say that he deserved it for not being more considerate towards Eleven but Mike immediately disagrees and admits that Will did not deserve being treated that way. Mike then reveals, much to Will's surprise, that he felt like Hawkins has not been the same without Will and that they would work better as a team or best friends, to which Will happily agrees.

On their way to find Eleven, Mike grows worried over her not needing him anymore and shares his concerns with Will. Attempting to comfort him, Will hands Mike the painting he intended to give him at the airport. It is an illustration of Mike, Will, Dustin and Lucas dressed as their D&D characters and fighting off a three-headed dragon, with Mike leading them. Mike is amazed by the painting and asks Will if he painted it but Will lies and says that Eleven asked him to make it. Will points to Mike's character in the painting and says that Mike is the heart of the group and that they would fall apart without him. Will then emotionally expresses his romantic feelings for Mike, disguised as Eleven's, and says how Mike makes "Eleven" feel better for being different and that "she" will always need him. Will's words reassure Mike about his relationship with Eleven but he remains oblivious to Will's feelings and does not notice when Will turns away and cries silently.

When Eleven is trapped by Vecna, Will reminds Mike that he is the heart of the group, encouraging him to confess his love for Eleven, which gives her the strength to break free of Vecna's grasp. Although they are able to wound Vecna, Will senses his presence when they get back to Hawkins and tells Mike that Vecna will not stop until he kills everyone. Mike comforts him and assures him that they will stop Vecna once and for all.

Behind the Scenes
"S4 has me shipping byler over anything... vol. 2 now!!"

- Noah Schnapp

"Normalize kids with bad haircuts making veiled love confessions in the back of pizza vans"

- Randy Havens referring to Will's monologue to Mike

"MIKE (CONT'D) – "Thanks, by the way..." WILL – "For what -- ?" MIKE – "For -- knocking some sense into me. I was being -- a total self-pitying idiot." WILL – "I didn't say it..." A shared smile between the boys. MIKE – "Hey, listen -- about... the past couple of days --" Will looks away, this makes him uncomfortable -- WILL – "You don't have to say anything. I -- I was being a jerk to El, I deserved it --" MIKE – "No. You didn't deserve anything, okay? The truth is... this past year, it's been weird. Dustin and Lucas and Max are great -- but Hawkins -- it just hasn't been the same without you. And I feel like -- I've been so worried about El, that -- (beat) I don't know. I felt like... I almost lost you or something." MIKE (CONT'D) – "And... I don't know what's going to happen next. But... I just feel like -- whatever it is -- it'll be easier if we're friends again. Best friends ." Will finally looks at Mike, emotional -- WILL – "Yeah?" MIKE – "Yeah." This intimate moment is shattered by --"

- Dear Billy (official script)

"WILL (CONT'D) – "Can I... show you something?" Mike nods. Will unzips his backpack and hands him his (now slightly crumpled) ROLLED UP PAINTING. Mike removes the twine that clasps it, then unfurls it. His breath catches. IT'S AN INCREDIBLY DETAILED, STYLIZED IMAGE OF MIKE, WILL, AND THE OTHERS -- DRESSED AS THEIR D AND D CHARACTERS -- FIGHTING OFF A THREE-HEADED DRAGON. MIKE IS LEADING THE CHARGE, THRUSTING HIS SWORD BRAVELY AT THE DRAGON. MIKE – "This is -- amazing. You painted this?" WILL (a little flustered) – "Yeah -- I mean -- El asked me to. Commissioned it basically. She told me what to -- draw." Jonathan in the front seat clocks this lie."

- Papa (official script)

"WILL (CONT'D) – "And if she was mean to you or -- or she seemed like she was pushing you away -- it's probably just because she was scared of losing you, just like you're scared of losing her. And... if she was going to lose you, I think... she'd rather just... get it over with quick... like ripping off a Band-Aid... Because losing you -- it just hurts -- it hurts too much. (beat, emotional) So yeah -- El needs you Mike. And she always will ." Mike takes this all in. Emotional now too. MIKE – "... You really think so?" WILL – " I know so .""

- Papa (official script)

"Will is watching Mike and El flirt through the porthole-style window of the pizza kitchen. Unable to watch them anymore, he returns his eyes to the dissolving salt. Jonathan eyes Will. He knows his brother too well. Knows he's hurting."

- The Piggyback (official script)

Fanon
Interest in the pairing arose because of the bond the two share and how they find comfort in each other's company when they are emotionally conflicted or dealing with their personal trauma. The two have shared a significant number of tender moments throughout the series and many of those interactions involved them being vulnerable and confiding in each other in a way that they had not with their other friends. Although Mike claimed in Season 1 that Will, Dustin and Lucas are all his best friends, he clearly views his relationship with Will to be different from his other friendships. Mike's determination to find Will in Season 1 and their heartfelt interactions in Season 2 attracted a significant following, which grew considerably after Season 4, where it was revealed that Will is in love with Mike.

Although Will's love for Mike has been shown to be unrequited, fans argue that Mike's actions towards Will imply otherwise and that Mike is dealing with internalized homophobia, which would explain why he was usually the one to cause tension between them. Mike undoubtedly cares about Will but he has often acted indifferent towards him and became unreasonably defensive when Will called him out on it. Scenes where he behaved in such a way have been significantly analyzed, especially because so far, the series has not given a clear reason behind his behavior. Fans have concluded that Mike's behavior in those scenes can only be explained by him having romantic feelings for Will and those feelings scare him, which causes him to push Will away.

Notable scenes that have been widely analyzed include:


 * Their argument in Mike's garage in "The Case of the Missing Lifeguard" This scene that includes Mike's "It's not my fault you don't like girls" comment has been the subject of significant discussion because it seems to display Mike's internalized homophobia. Although it was revealed that there was a different take of this scene that did not directly address Will's sexuality, fans have stated that it does not matter how many versions of this scene were shot since it was this version that was in the final cut and this version of Mike that the audience got to see. The comment was clearly off-handed, especially since Mike witnessed Will being subjected to homophobic comments and even defended his name in Season 1 by shoving the bully who made the comments to the ground. Therefore Mike saying this to Will's face has aroused criticism and many have attempted to explain his behavior by stating that he was projecting his own insecurities and fears onto Will. This scene has also received attention because it visually parallels a scene from Eyewitness, a series involving a romance between two closeted teenage boys. However, it is unknown whether this was intended or coincidental.


 * Their reunion at the airport in "Vecna's Curse" In this scene, Mike reunited with Eleven and Will after eight months but inexplicably brushed Will off when Will went in for a hug. Fans have stated that there was no reason for Mike to not reciprocate Will's hug since there was no tension between them when Will left Hawkins and they parted on good terms. It came off as particularly weird because Mike was happily hugging his other male friend, Dustin, in the previous episode. However, their final conversation before Will leaves Hawkins is often considered to be the moment when Mike realized that something changed between him and Will, which may explain why his behavior towards Will shifted after that and he began pushing Will away.


 * Their argument at the roller rink in "Vecna's Curse" Fans argue that Mike's side of the argument was weirdly worded if he is not supposed to have romantic feelings for Will. Although Eleven had just gotten bullied, Mike claimed that Will was the one who "sabotaged the whole day" because he was "rolling [his] eyes", "moping" and "barely talking". This was particularly surprising because prior to Mike saying this, the audience was led to believe that Mike was not paying attention to Will at all. Mike then got defensive and stated that Eleven is his girlfriend when Will pointed out that Mike barely called him but wrote tons of letters to Eleven. When Will asked what he and Mike are then, Mike insisted that they are friends. Fans argue that Mike could have written to both Eleven and Will since they were living together and thus had the same address but him not writing to Will further fuels the theory that Mike realized that his feelings for Will had changed before Will left Hawkins and he became distant as a result. Fans also claim that Mike telling Will "Then maybe you should've reached out more" implies that while Will was waiting for Mike to call, Mike thought that Will was not calling him because he did not care and so Mike stopped calling. Additionally, it seems implied by the show that Mike was indeed calling Will, as Dustin says that Joyce has a telemarketer job which always keeps the phone line busy, and that Mike kept complaining about that.

Fans have nevertheless considered the possibility that Mike is simply a flawed character and these scenes or any of their intimate moments were not meant to be romantically-coded. However, even when this is considered, the argument that their relationship was given a lot of focus in Season 4 still persists. Their fight in Season 3 could have been passed off as a time-filling conflict but there was no need to create more tension between them in Season 4 and have them resolve it in several heart-to-hearts if it would not have meant anything and Will's love would stay unrequited.

On AO3, Byler is the most written ship for both Mike and Will. It is also the third most written ship under the Stranger Things (TV 2016) tag.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Will/Mike tag on FanFiction.net
 * Will/Mike tag on FanFiction.net

TUMBLR
 * @Noodles posts on Tumblr
 * @Noodles posts on Tumblr
 * @Noodles posts on Tumblr

TWITTER
 * Mike x Will posts on Twitter
 * Mike x Will posts on Twitter

INSTAGRAM
 * Byler tag on Instagram
 * Mike x Will tag on Instagram

TIKTOK
 * Byler tag on TikTok
 * Mike x Will tag on TikTok

ART
 * Byler tag on Deviantart
 * Byler tag on Deviantart

Trivia

 * Their first names, Michael and William, have seven letters and the shortened forms, Mike and Will, have four letters.
 * Finn Wolfhard, who portrays Mike, shared that in an unreleased scene from Season 1, Mike is crying as he rides home on his bike after the discovery of a body believed to be Will's.
 * During an Instagram live in 2017, Millie Bobby Brown and her brother were asked if they ship Mike and Will, and they both said that they did, with Millie calling them "Mill" and saying that she hopes a love triangle develops between Will, Mike and Eleven.
 * The Netflix India Instagram account included a Byler moment in a post captioned, "How to say 'I love you' without saying 'I love you' 101".
 * Noah Schnapp, who portrays Will, liked a video on TikTok showing Will's romantic interest is Mike.
 * In an interview with Digital Spy, when asked to comment on Will's feelings for Mike, Finn Wolfhard, who portrays Mike, said that he thinks Will's love towards Mike is "a really beautiful thing".
 * NetflixGeeked tweeted a picture showing a visual parallel between Byler's argument in Season 3 and the one in Season 4.
 * Randy Havens, who portrays Scott Clarke, referred to Will's monologue to Mike as a "veiled love confession" on Twitter.
 * In an interview with Variety, Noah Schnapp, who portrays Will, stated that he believes it is clear that Will is gay and in love with Mike.
 * Shawn Levy, a producer and director of Stranger Things, liked a tweet stating that Will was in love with Mike during their argument in Season 3.
 * Brett Gelman, who portrays Murray Bauman, stated on Twitter that he ships Byler if "Byler is what is meant to be".
 * Grace Van Dien, who portrays Chrissy Cunningham, said that she likes "Mike with both Eleven and Will".
 * The Stranger Things Twitter account included Will's monologue to Mike in their "TOP TEN MOMENTS FROM ST4" video.
 * In the script for Dear Billy, the scene where Mike and Will have a heart-to-heart in Will's room is referred to as an "intimate moment".
 * In the script for Papa, Will's monologue to Mike included, "Because losing you -- it just hurts -- it hurts too much".
 * Byler was Fandom's fifth most popular ship of 2022.