History Characters / StrangerThingsHawkinsNationalLaboratory

* NeverMyFault: A huge part of his character is his inability to accept blame, remorse or guilt for his actions, as he is constantly deluding himself into thinking he's a WellIntentionedExtremist who [[IDidWhatIHadToDo only does what is necessary]], which includes shifting blame onto others frequently. Even when he lies dying at Eleven's feet after saving her, he begs her to say that she understands his actions, not once owning up to how terrible they were.

* OhCrap: His face [[spoiler:just before the Demogorgon jumps on him.]]

* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Even though he knew what Henry had done to his family, and that he could not control him, he still kept him around the other psychics as an orderly in the lab. To Brenner's credit, he did place a chip inside of Henry that negated his powers, but Henry being TheSociopath sociopath that he is, easily manipulates one of the kids into freeing him, resulting in [[Recap/StrangerThingsS4E7ChapterSevenTheMassacreAtHawkinsLab the massacre]].

* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler: Him having the Orderly tortured becomes this in retrospect once it's revealed he was EvilAllAlong. Also his torture of Number Two for threatening to kill Eleven.]]

* LetThemDieHappy: [[spoiler: Subverted big time in Season 4; as he is dying from wounds inflicted by the military he begs Eleven to forgive him and to reassure him that he was always a WellIntentionedExtremist aiming to do the right thing. This proves a step too far for Eleven, who just tearfully says "goodbye" before walking away and leaving him to bleed out on his own.]]

* TheSociopath: A downplayed example. While he is capable of showing concern for others, he doesn't actually ''empathize'' with anyone or see them as anything beyond what they mean to him and his own agenda.
** [[spoiler: Subverted in season 4. His reaction to the deaths of his subjects is one of genuine horror, with him even cradling one of their bodies. He also does care for Eleven and dies protecting her from the military. He is shown to be less of a sociopath and more of a {{Narcissist}}, who [[NeverMyFault cannot ever accept blame or embrace feelings of remorse.]]]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:After Bob gets the doors open, he stays behind to guide Bob to safety. [[SubvertedTrope He surprisingly survives]].]]

-> See [[Characters/StrangerThingsVecna here]] for more info.

-> See her [[Characters/StrangerThingsEleven own page.]]

[[Characters/StrangerThingsMainCast Main Cast]] ([[Characters/StrangerThingsSteveHarrington Steve Harrington]] | [[Characters/StrangerThingsRobinBuckley Robin Buckley]]) | [[Characters/StrangerThingsTheParty The Party]] ([[Characters/StrangerThingsEleven Eleven]]) | [[Characters/StrangerThingsSupportingCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/StrangerThingsHawkins Hawkins]] | '''Hawkins National Laboratory''' | [[Characters/StrangerThingsTheUpsideDown The Upside Down]] ([[Characters/StrangerThingsTheMindFlayer The Mind Flayer]] | [[Characters/StrangerThingsVecna Vecna]]) | [[Characters/StrangerThingsOutsiders Outsiders]]-]]]]]

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler: As awful as his treatment of the children is, Brenner seems to genuinely care for them in some way. When conducting tests with Ten, he speaks to him politely, doesn't try to force him to push beyond his limits and laughs when he mistakes his dog drawing for a cow. In addition, Brenner is beyond horrified after seeing that One has violently massacred them all, even cradling Ten's body in his arms and running towards the screams of the other children, reacting with pure anger upon seeing Eleven and believing she had killed them all. He also defends Eleven after Two hurts her. [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]], however. At the end of the day his love is still a possessive and objectifying type of love; where his capacity to regard the test subjects as trophies outweighs that of regarding them as individuals and humans]].

* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Even though he knew what Henry had done to his family, and that he could not control him, he still kept him around the other psychics as an orderly in the lab. To Brenner's credit, he did place a chip inside of Henry that negated his powers, but Henry being the [[TheSociopath sociopath that he is]], easily manipulates one of the kids into freeing him, resulting in the massacre.]]

* HateSink: He’s a nasty piece of work who believes he's the best "test subject" out of all the other kids, constantly bullies El because he sees her as weak and doesn't understand why Dr. Brenner wastes his time on her, and at one point plans to ''kill El'' because he got punished by Brenner for breaking the rules and assaulting El when he thought no one was watching him.
* JerkassWoobie: As sadistic a BarbaricBully Two was, he was still a teenager raised in an emotionally abusive environment and watching him [[spoiler:be brutally electrocuted then horribly killed in One's massacre]] wasn't pretty. Even Eleven seemed [[SympathyForTheDevil more concerned than relieved]].

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler: As awful as his treatment of the children is, Brenner seems to genuinely care for them in some way. When conducting tests with Ten, he speaks to him politely, doesn't try to force him to push beyond his limits and laughs when he mistakes his dog drawing for a cow. In addition, Brenner is beyond horrified after seeing that One has violently massacred them all, even cradling Ten's body in his arms and running towards the screams of the other children, reacting with pure anger upon seeing Eleven and believing she had killed them all. He also defends Eleven after Two hurts her.]]

* LackOfEmpathy: One of his defining traits. Although he does have some sort of regard for the children in the facility and makes an effort to present himself as a doting father figure, it becomes more and more apparent that his “regard” is reminiscent of an overly controlling pet owner; wanting to keep them as intact as possible without any regard for their psychological development or wellbeing - living trophies to live through and exploit for his own legacy. Whenever he is confronted about his treatment or worldview (either by other characters or his own thoughts alone) he ''always''has to twist it to contextualize himself as a well-intentioned victim of circumstance regardless of how hollow it rings. Taken even further with those he ''doesn’t'' consider worthy as test subjects. He treats anyone who isn’t his “son” or “daughter” as either disposable instruments at best or annoying obstacles at worst.

* BadassInANiceSuit: He wears a typical MenInBlack suit and saves the kids during a gunfight with some soldiers.

!!!'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS2E5ChapterFiveDigDug Chapter Five: Dig Dug]]"

An agent serving under Owens in season 4.

One of the scientists serving under Owens in season 2.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: [[spoiler:Shockingly, he turns out to be this. At first he's hesitant to test the soil but once he realizes something is going on, he is focused on solving the problem. He refuses to burn the tunnels under Hawkins, as it would kill Will and only temporarily slow down the growth of the tunnels. He later stays behind to guide Bob to safety, and even creates fake documents so Eleven can live her life in peace after Hopper saved his life.]]
** He also [[spoiler:gets the charges against Eleven dropped as thanks for her heroics in Hawkins.]]

An agent serving under Owens in season 4.

* {{Expy}}: They're pretty clearly based after "The Shop" from [[Creator/StephenKing Stephen King's]] ''Literature/{{Firestarter}}''.

* AbusiveDad: [[spoiler:To Eleven]]; he's probably not her real father, just a father figure, but abusive all the same. He submits her to TrainingFromHell, torture, confinement and traumatic punishments. [[spoiler:Season 4 shows that he's a parental figure towards many other children that Hawkins had captured on his behalf, but when the children break rules that he has put in place, he shows no qualms about torturing them as punishment]].

* AntiHero: [[spoiler:In season 4. He's still ruthless and unethical, but he ''does'' work with Dr. Owens to help Eleven regain her powers.]]
* ArcVillain: He's the instigator of the entire series's conflict with the Mind Flayer, but only serves as a prominent threat in the first season [[spoiler:before seemingly being killed by the creature he accidentally unleashed.]]

* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:He gets mauled by the Demogorgon in Season 1 and is presumed dead, but returns in Season 4 alive and well. How he managed to survive is never addressed, except that he bears a scar on his face when he comes back. Presumably the Demogorgon got distracted right after pouncing on him. Possible FridgeBrilliance with the reveal at the end of Season 4 that One has been behind all of the invaders from the Upside Down going straight back to the Season One Demogorgon, meaning that One may have been controlling it and let Brenner live intentionally, or directed it to ignore him when he realized Eleven was nearby]].

* EnemyMine: [[spoiler: Forms one with Dr. Owens in season 4, when Brenner's first experiment resurfaces and the military starts hunting Eleven.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler: As awful as his treatment of the children was, Brenner seemed to genuinely care for them in some way. When conducting tests with Ten, he spoke to him politely, didn't try to force him to push beyond his limits and laughed at Ten mistaking his dog drawing for a cow. In addition, Brenner was beyond horrified after seeing that One had violently massacred them all, even cradling Ten's body in his arms and running towards the screams of the other children, reacting with pure anger upon seeing Eleven and believing she had killed them all. He also defends Eleven after Number Two hurts her.]]