Kali Prasad (Stranger Things)

“ We'll always be monsters to them. Do you understand? ”

–Kali Prasad.

Kali Prasad, also known as Eight, is a recurring character introduced in the second season of Stranger Things. As a young girl, Kali was one of several test subjects experimented upon at Hawkins Lab. Ever since her escape, she has sought for the injustices she suffered there.

History -

Background -

Kali lived in London before she was at a young age. At the age of five, she was taken to Hawkins National Laboratory. At the lab, she was given the number “008” and experimented on alongside Eleven and likely other children possessing abilities like herself. Together, she and Eleven would play in a room in the lab called the “rainbow room”. She was present that day Terry Ives came in looking for Eleven. One day, when Kali went to the rainbow room, she discovered that Eleven had been taken away.

Once Kali's abilities were strong enough, she used them to escape the lab. She found a new family and home but eventually lost them as they were unable to help her. She then began using her powers to get on the people from the lab. At some point, she met Axel, Mick, Funshine, and later Dottie. The gang would pursue and kill the people from their pasts who had wronged them.

Personality -

Kali is a headstrong independent young girl who uses her powers for the sake of robbery and . Identifying as an outcast and stuck on the streets, Kali feels her life was destroyed by the people that took her away and seeks justice.

Despite Kali's upbringing and cold personality, she shows a different side to her friends and to Eleven. She is welcoming to all fellow outcasts, regardless of whether they are "gifted" or not. After being shown proof that Eleven is gifted like her, she instantly accepted her into the group and even trained her to use the pain of her past to empower her telekinesis. However, her survivalist lifestyle means she's not above manipulating others into doing her bidding, as she did with Eleven.

Powers and Abilities -

Kali has the psychic ability to induce mental hallucinations, causing her target to see and hear something that is not truly there. Kali can project the illusion to one or more people. The more complex or intense the illusion, the more strain it puts on her. Her power even allows her invisibility, as she was able to cloak herself and her friends in broad sight from policemen to escape. She also displays a form of precognition, using it to guide her friends away from the authorities in Pittsburgh. Like Eleven, overuse causes her nose to bleed.

Relationships -

Familial -

Jane Hopper -

Because of their similar abilities and shared experiences at Hawkins Lab, Kali and Eleven view each other as sisters. The two were shown to play together in the rainbow room when they were young (something that Eleven originally had no memory of). Following their reunion, Kali took her in immediately. During their time together, Kali became a mentor to her of sorts, teaching Eleven how to better control her powers by using anger.

Kali’s true intentions for helping Eleven are mostly left ambiguous. It is implied she originally intended to manipulate Eleven so she could exploit her abilities to make tracking down their targets easier. However, she appeared to genuinely want to help Eleven overcome her pain from the harsh experiences she had suffered. Though her methods for doing so were no doubt dubious, her skewed morality almost leading Eleven down a dark path of crime and . She even went as far as making Eleven see an illusion of Brenner in an attempt to convince her to face her pain. Good intentions or not, when Eleven ultimately chose to return to Hawkins instead of escaping with the gang, Kali was visibly devastated.

Non-familial -

The Gang -

Kali is the founder and leader of the gang, comprised of Mick, Axel, Funshine, and Dottie. Outcast by society, Kali took them in, and in doing so provided them the opportunity to get on those responsible for what happened to them. In return, the gang was loyal to Kali, following her orders with little to no protest. However, Eleven’s arrival and Kali’s subsequent decision to take her in caused some friction between her and some of the gang’s members, particularly Mick and Axel. Though, they still reluctantly went along with Kali’s wishes after being convinced.

Martin Brenner -

Kali despises Brenner for being the one responsible for her imprisonment in the lab, in addition to the cruel treatment she received at the hands of the scientists under his supervision. It is implied by Kali he had tried the same manipulation tactics on her as he had with Eleven, attempting to condition her into viewing him as a father figure.

Memorable Quotes -

1. "Boom."
2. "So, we're threatening little girls now, are we?"
3. "I can make people see, or not see, whatever I choose."
4. "This butterfly, it isn't real. I've just convinced your mind it is. Think of it as a kind of magic."
5. "Society left them behind, hurt them, discarded them."
6. "They're criminals. We simply make them pay for their crimes."
7. "I was just like you once. I kept my anger inside. I tried to hide from it, but then that pain festered."
8. "If you wanted to show mercy, that is your choice. But don't you ever take away mine. Ever."

Where is Kali when she becomes naked and how does it happen?