The characters of No Fate

With Camp NaNoWriMo for July underway, I’m heavily invested in the plot of my 2020 NaNoWriMo project, No Fate, a Terminator/Stranger Things crossover story.

I’m spending July outlining the plot of the story in order to help me write the story when November hits and it’s time for the main writing event.

Since I’m heavy into the planning stages of the story, I’m excited to share some details about the characters who will appear in the story, and how they relate to characters originally featured in the Terminator films.

Leaders of the Human Resistance

• General Will Byers: The primary leader of the human resistance against Skynet. Will has extensive knowledge of the workings of Skynet thanks to his upbringing. When Skynet activates a contingency plan to change the past in order to alter the future, Will sends back a protector to save his mother.
• General Jonathan Byers: Another leader of the human resistance. He’s Will’s older brother and has the same knowledge of Skynet as Will. Both Jonathan and Will parallel John Connor from the Terminator films.

As the leaders of the Human Resistance against Skynet, Will and Jonathan Byers will parallel John Connor in No Fate.

• Captain Mike Wheeler-Byers: Jonathan and Will’s second-in-command in the resistance and Will’s spouse. The two married soon after the start of the war. Mike helped Will embrace his role as the leader of the human resistance and often fights right alongside him in battle.
• Lieutenant El Byers: Will’s adoptive sister and a commanding officer serving under Will. She often leads battles against Skynet and is responsible for discovering the T-800 series and the human skin the Terminators use to blend in.
• Lieutenant Lucas Sinclair: A weapons specialist who serves under Will and Jonathan. He has invented numerous weapons the human resistance has used in the war against Skynet.
• Lieutenant Dustin Henderson: A comms specialist under Will’s command. Dustin gathers intel on the machines and Skynet and reports his findings to Will. Dustin discovers the time displacement equipment that Skynet plans to use as a contingency.
• Lieutenant Max Mayfield: Max is a medic and tech expert who serves under Will. Married to Lucas. She is skilled in healing wounds sustained during battle and is able to hack into Skynet’s database to gather intel.
• Staff Sergeant Steve Harrington: A senior sergeant officer under Will’s command who is a tech specialist. He works with Dustin on decoded encrypted messages intercepted by the Resistance.
• Staff Sergeant Nancy Wheeler: Mike’s older sister and Jonathan’s wife, who’s been married to Jonathan since before the war. Nancy is a weapons specialist and upgrades the many weapons used by the resistance.
• Staff Sergeant Robin Buckley: Robin is a tech specialist who works to repair items used by the Resistance, including vehicles, weapons, bombs and communications devices. She is best friends with Steve and partners up with him on missions, sometimes with Jonathan and Nancy.
• Staff Sergeant Erica Sinclair: Lucas’ younger sister who was recruited into the Resistance by her brother. She is a mechanic, but also a formidable soldier. She can do a bit of everything: she’s a master at repairing, a poet with a gun, a smooth talker and has a knack for spotting Terminators.

The kids and teens of Stranger Things will serve as the top commanders under Will and Jonathan Byers in the war against Skynet.

• Sergeant Jim Hopper: A soldier in the Resistance who was rescued by Jonathan and taken in as a soldier. Hopper is loyal to Jonathan and Will and immediately volunteers himself to go back through time to protect Joyce Byers. As the protector of Joyce who travels through time, Hopper is a parallel to Kyle Reese.

As the soldier sent back through time to protect the mother of the future leaders of the Resistance, Jim Hopper parallels Kyle Reese.

Terminators

The three Terminators sent back through time to turn the tide of the war. Their roles will be largely similar to the original roles of the Terminator films.

• The Terminator: A T-800 series Terminator sent back through time in order to kill Joyce Byers and prevent the births of her sons. The Terminator is sent back through time as a contingency by Skynet to turn the tide of the war in Skynet’s favor. It will stop at nothing to achieve its goal.
• The Guardian: A T-800 captured by the Resistance and reprogrammed to protect Jonathan and Will as children. The Guardian behaves like a typical Terminator, but eventually develops human traits after spending so much time with Will and the others.
• The T-1000: An advanced Terminator prototype sent back through time when the first Terminator fails in its mission. Its primary mission is to eliminate Jonathan and Will, but it has a secondary assignment to terminate their future lieutenants.

Characters in the Past

• Joyce Byers: The future mother of Jonathan and Will Byers and lover of Jim Hopper. In the first part of the story, Joyce leads an ordinary life that is upended when she is the target of the Terminator. By the time Jonathan and Will are teens, Joyce is obsessed with her role as a mother and with preparing her sons for the future. Joyce is a parallel to Sarah Connor.

As the mother of the future leaders of the human resistance, Joyce Byers parallels Sarah Connor.

• Terri Ives: Joyce’s roommate and best friend. She works as a waitress alongside Joyce and is a free spirit.
• Phil Callahan: A senior homicide detective of the Los Angeles police department. He is somewhat gruff and sarcastic, always having a dry with comment to make about a case. Callahan is paralleled to Detective Vukovitch (Lance Henriksen’s character in The Terminator)

Callahan from Stranger Things parallels Vukovitch from The Terminator.

• Lieutenant Calvin Powell: A homicide lieutenant for the Los Angeles Police Department. When a series of murders involving women named Joyce Byers take place, Powell takes over the case and tries to get in contact with the targeted Joyce Byers and offer her protection. Powell is a parallel to Lieutenant Traxler.

Powell from Stranger Things will parallel Lieutenant Traxler.

• Martin Brenner: A criminal psychologist retained by the Los Angeles Police Department. He is brought in to examine Hopper and determine his mental state. In part two of the story, he works for a hospital for the criminally insane and is Joyce’s primary doctor. Brenner is a parallel to Dr. Silberman of the first three Terminator films.

Dr. Brenner will serve as a criminal psychologist in No Fate and will parallel Dr. Silberman.

• Scott Clarke: The director of special projects for Cyberdyne Systems. Clarke uses the chip from the first Terminator in order to conduct his research and create a new program for defense. Clarke’s work will lead to the creation of Skynet and the near extinction of humanity. Clarke is a parallel to Miles Dyson.

Mr. Clarke will serve as the director of special projects at Cyberdyne Systems in No Fate, paralleling Miles Dyson.