Mileven/Tropes

Mileven
tropes

Tropes

General

Strong Girl, Smart Guy Eleven is a powerful Little Miss Badass with psychic powers but, due to her isolated upbringing, she can barely speak. Mike is a smart, nerdy boy who teaches her some vocabulary. Childhood Friends The two have known each other since Mike, Dustin and Lucas found Eleven in the forest when they were around twelve. Childhood Friend Romance Mike and Eleven developed feelings for each other when they were around twelve. Love at First Sight Mike's actor Finn Wolfhard states as such in an interview, "He's been in love with Eleven since the first season. Since he laid eyes on her." Single Woman Seeks Good Man Eleven falls in love with the friendly, loyal, and selfless Mike who was the main one of their group to consistently be nice to her as well as not treat her like a freak. First Love Mike and Eleven are around twelve when they meet and obviously experiencing attraction to each other for the first time. Puppy Love Mike has a thing for Eleven from the get-go. She quite likes him, in return. Official Couple At the end of Season 2. Understanding Boyfriend The added trials of dating a traumatized, socially maladjusted girl with deadly powers, who is a regular target of government agents and interdimensional monsters, have not kept Mike away from Eleven. Violently Protective Boyfriend It doesn't matter if El has powers or if there's a Flayed!Billy or powerful servant of the Mind Flayer, Mike will not tolerate anyone harming his girlfriend. Violently Protective Girlfriend Ironically this trope tends to come into play when Mike and Eleven aren't dating, in Season 1 before she even knew about romance as a concept she breaks Troy's arm for forcing Mike to jump off a cliff (and threatening to cut out Dustin's teeth with a knife), in Season 3 during a temporary break up she sends a flayed Billy through a brick wall when he decides to go after Mike. Love Confession Mike confesses to his sister and friends that he loves Eleven and can't lose her again. Later, Eleven tells Mike she loves him too.

Series

She Is Not My Girlfriend Mike dismisses both Lucas and later Nancy when they imply he is smitten with Eleven, despite it being obvious. Almost Kiss In Season 1, and another one in Season 2. The Big Damn Kiss The first is at the end of Season 1, and the second is during the finale of Season 2. Act of True Love Mike intervenes when Dr. Brenner and his goons come to take Eleven back, stepping into the line of fire to stop them. Go Through Me When Dr. Brenner arrives at the school demanding Eleven, Mike unhesitatingly tells him that if he wants Eleven, they'll have to kill him, with Dustin and Lucas instantly agreeing. Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye At the climax of the first Season, Eleven uses her powers to destroy the Demogorgon, apparently killing herself in the process. Before this, she turns to Mike, the first person to have shown her genuine kindness, and calmly says a final goodbye to him. Thankfully, she survives. Devoted to You Mike kept trying to contact Eleven even when he didn't know if she was dead or alive. Eleven listened and ran away from her hidden place to try and see Mike despite the danger. I Will Find You As revealed in Season 2, Mike has been calling out to Eleven for 353 days, not having giving up hope that she's still alive. Sickening Sweethearts At the beginning of Season 3, Mike and Eleven's puppy love has evolved into this, complete with them being glued at the hip and only having eyes for each other. They tone it down a little after their first big fight. Star-Crossed Lovers While Mike and Eleven got to be a couple in between Seasons 2 and 3, their relationship has had to deal with at least one spanner in the works the rest of the time due to her supernatural abilities attracting some dangerous kinds of attention. Cannot Spit It Out Mike tends to get flustered easily when talking about his feelings for Eleven and thus has a hard time putting his feelings into words. In Season 1 he found himself unable to directly tell her he liked her romantically so decided to just kiss her instead. In Season 3 he could not bring himself to even say the word "love" in front of Eleven let alone the phrase "I love you". It ultimately took a heated argument with his friends for him to admit it out loud, albeit accidentally, though with El being in the next room she doesn't hear him say it. At least that's what Eleven let's Mike think at the time, before revealing that she not only heard, she also loves him. Even in Season 4, he can't bring himself to even write that he loves Eleven, much to Eleven's frustration. Long-Distance Relationship How Mike and Eleven's relationship is by the end of the third Season — El is adopted by Joyce, but they have to move because of financial reasons. However, Mike is planning to call and visit El. Anguished Declaration of Love In Season 3, when Eleven is trying to located a Flayed!Billy, Mike is incredibly worried for her safety. Everyone present tries to reassure him but to no avail, as he impulsively states he loves her and is afraid of losing her. Later in Season 4, after a year of not sayng it outright to Eleven, Mike finally declares his love for her while she's under Vecna's curse, which gives her a fighting chance against her arch-enemy. The Power of Love While Eleven does draw on her rage against Hawkins Lab to amplify her powers, her love for her friends — especially Mike — has allowed her to channel it rather than be consumed by it.