In the Stranger Things season 5 finale, the show never gives a clear, on‑screen explanation of where all the Demogorgons are during the final battle, which is exactly why so many fans are asking “where were the demogorgons in the finale.” Most of what exists right now are fan theories piecing things together from earlier seasons and a few lore hints, rather than a definitive canon answer.

Quick Scoop

  • The finale focuses on Vecna, the Mind Flayer’s new giant “spider” body, and the human characters, so Demogorgons are mostly absent from the action even though they were a huge threat in earlier seasons.
  • This absence is not directly explained in dialogue or a dedicated scene, leading many viewers to feel like the Upside Down/Abyss suddenly became weirdly empty compared to how swarming it used to be.
  • Current explanations are headcanon and fan theory, not confirmed canon; the writers have not (as of the latest public discussion) provided a detailed breakdown of “all the missing demos.”

Popular Fan Theories

Fans across Reddit and wikis have floated a few main ideas for where the Demogorgons went in the finale.

  1. Sacrificed to build the Mind Flayer’s body
    • Many people think the Mind Flayer used Demogorgons, demo-dogs, and demo-bats as raw material to forge its massive spider-like physical form, similar to how it used flesh and biomass in season 3.
 * In this view, the “missing” creatures are literally fused into that huge boss body, which is why the Abyss/ Upside Down feels so empty.
  1. Pulled back into the Abyss with Vecna
    • Another theory is that after season 4, Vecna retreated deeper into the Abyss, taking most Demogorgons and bats with him, leaving the more “surface” areas of the Upside Down relatively clear.
 * By the time of the finale, what we see on screen is just the part of the dimension where almost everything has already been withdrawn or consumed.
  1. Hive-mind collapse killed them
    • Some commenters argue that once the Mind Flayer’s main “head” or core structure is destroyed, anything fully linked to that hive mind dies off, which would include most Demogorgons.
 * This would explain why we don’t see waves of them after the big confrontation: if the controlling node goes, the army goes with it.
  1. They’re just elsewhere in a huge world
    • A softer, lore-based idea is that Dimension X/Abyss is enormous and what we see in the finale is just one region, while other Demogorgons are far away, not part of the battle at all.
 * The Russian Demogorgon being initially separate from the hive in earlier seasons is often used as support for the idea that not every demo is always plugged into Vecna/Mind Flayer’s main network.

Why It Feels Off On-Screen

  • Longtime viewers expected the finale to throw everything at the heroes—Demogorgons, demo-dogs, demo-bats, Vecna, and the giant spider form—creating a massive multi-front battle.
  • Instead, the Upside Down/Abyss sequences often look like a dangerous but strangely quiet landscape, so many fans felt the lack of Demogorgons made parts of the finale feel like a “walk in the park” instead of a desperate last stand.

What’s Actually Canon Right Now

  • Official plot summaries and lore sources describe where Demogorgons come from and how they’re tied to the Mind Flayer and the Abyss, but they do not spell out a step‑by‑step fate for every Demogorgon by the finale.
  • So, when people ask “where were the demogorgons in the finale,” the honest answer is:
    • On screen: mostly absent, without a direct explanation.
    • In fandom: widely believed to be consumed/merged into the Mind Flayer’s giant form, pulled deeper into the Abyss with Vecna, or wiped out with the hive mind—depending on which theory you like best.

TL;DR: The show doesn’t clearly state where the Demogorgons are in the finale; most fans think they were either absorbed to build the Mind Flayer’s giant spider body, withdrawn deeper into the Abyss with Vecna, or destroyed along with the hive mind, which is why the battlefield looks oddly empty.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.