Marissa, portrayed by Christi Waldon, is a minor character in the first, second, fourth, and fifth seasons of Stranger Things. She is a librarian at the public library in Hawkins, Indiana. At one point she dated the police chief Jim Hopper. She briefly assisted him and Officer Powell in finding information about Hawkins National Laboratory.
History
Background
Marissa was a librarian at the local library in the smalltown of Hawkins, Indiana. At some point, Marissa dated police chief Jim Hopper. However, the relationship was short-lived, with Marissa saying that he "wasted her time" and cut off contact with her, suggesting Hopper was non-committal.
1983
On November 9, 1983, Hopper and his deputy Powell arrived at the library to research experiments done at the Hawkins National Laboratory. Hopper approached Marissa politely but was soon put in his place when Marissa brought up how he threw their relationship to the side while calling him a "dick". Despite the tense altercation, Marissa brought Hopper and Powell to the archives, questioning why they weren't searching for a missing boy named Will Byers, though Hopper explained this was part of the investigation. Hopper then naively asked Marissa to start in one section while he and Powell poked through the other. Marissa simply scoffed, looked at Powell in disbelief, and walked away.[1]
1984
On November 1, 1984, Dustin Henderson attempted to check out several books from the library. However, Marissa wouldn't allow him, as he had too many books checked out already. Dustin attempted to convince her that the books were his "paddles" for knowledge and needed them urgently, though Marissa firmly repeated that he couldn't. As tension grew further when accidentally Dustin cursed at Marissa, he distracted her by pointing behind her and running off with the books.[2]
1986
On March 23, 1986, Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley arrived to investigate the Creel murders of 1959. Inside, Nancy kept ringing the desk bell in frustration as Robin bugged her. Marissa arrived and went to grab the keys to the basement archives at Nancy's request. When Marissa gave the girls the keys, Marissa told them to have fun, though Nancy sarcastically remarked that they'd try, leaving Marissa and Robin to wince in concern at one another.[3]
1987
On November 6, 1987, Erica Sinclair and Murray Bauman came to Scott Clarke's house early in the morning to ask him to make a telemetry tracker to save Dustin. They then learned, much to their surprise, that Scott was now dating Marissa after she appeared behind him as he was talking to Erica and Murray and called him "Snookums", much to their amusement.[4]
Relationships
- Jim Hopper – Former romantic interest
- Dustin Henderson, Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley - Customers
- Scott Clarke - Romantic interest
- Erica Sinclair and Murray Bauman - Harassers
Appearances
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Gallery
Trivia
- Out of all her appearances, Marissa appeared in the third episode of each season except for the fifth season where she appeared in the sixth episode (which is a divisible number with 3).
- Season Three is the only season of the show where Marissa does not make an appearance.
- Marissa is a non-playable side character in Stranger Things: The Game, with her side quest being part of the story: To get access to the library and rescue Dustin, the player (as Hopper) has to obtain flowers at the flower shop and grovel to Marissa, asking her out on a date. In the game's epilogue, Marissa and Hopper go on a date to the Hawk Theatre.
- In the novel, Stranger Things: One Way Or Another, she was misnamed as "Melissa" through out the whole book.