Steve Harrington is the character that evolved the most from season 1 to season 3 of Stranger Things. He began as an arrogant, selfish typical popular kid, but quickly became a valuable asset to El and the rest of the group. However, during this transition, he makes a fair number of mistakes. Steve begins Stranger Things with practically every viewer hating him. He is a bully, who is rude and disrespectful towards practically everyone, including his friends and girlfriend, and is just outright annoying, even though you hardly know anything about him.
Nevertheless, he quickly learns what he's done wrong and rapidly tries to change by helping his best friend Dustin, Robin, and Erica 'defeat' the Russians and risking his life for the group. On many occasions, fans can't help but hate him, but at other times, you just feel terrible for him since he makes many mistakes and is clearly rather inept, at times.
Hated Him: Being A Bully
In season 1, Steve Harrington was a bully. He was horrible to almost everyone he met, the only exception being the girls he wanted to sleep with. He was a pretty despicable and horrible guy.
Any fan of Stranger Things hated him at the beginning of the show. He was unkind to his friends, to Barb, Jonathan and really anyone who went against him. Ultimately, Steve was pretty popular at school, but by no means popular to any fan - he was a horrible bully who caused a variety of problems for the protagonists of season 1.
Felt Bad: Bullied By Billy
By the time Billy graces our screens in season 2, viewers' opinions of Steve has already changed. He has left his friends and realized what a horrible guy he was and is trying to make amends. So when Billy arrives on the scene, Steve sees himself and what he could have become.
Billy instantly starts bullying Steve. He gets pushed around and shot straight down the popularity ladder, causing him quite the shock. Although Steve was previously a bully, it is still hard to see him get pushed around so much.
Hated Him: Picked On Jonathan
Although it has already been mentioned that Steve was a bully towards pretty much everyone in school, nothing boiled fans' blood more than when he began picking on Jonathan, right after poor Will went missing.
Steve is absolutely relentless towards Jonathan, partly because of jealousy, but mostly because he is just an outright bully. Jonathan has just lost his younger brother and is clearly hurting, so when Steve bullies him, it is impossible to not hate him.
Felt Bad: Beaten Up By Billy
One of the most well-known facts about Steve is that even though he is a bully, he is not a good fighter. So when he stands up for Lucas and the group and begins fighting Billy, fans can't help but feel worried about him, and rightly so.
The tables turn and Steve is pinned to the floor in serious trouble. Ultimately, Max has to end the fight and stop Billy from really hurting Steve. Any fan of the show felt bad for poor Steve at this moment.
Hated Him: Not Caring About Barb
When Barb went missing and Nancy frantically searched for her best friend, all Steve really cared about was his parents finding out that he had a party whilst they were gone!
This another example that season 1 Steve was ridiculously selfish and arrogant. Since viewers knew exactly what happened to Barb and that she may have been dead already, they knew how serious the situation was. So when Steve shows how little he cares about his girlfriend's best friend, it infuriates everyone watching.
Felt Bad: Getting Dumped
Due to his previous actions, it isn't too shocking that Nancy decides to break up with Steve. Nevertheless, the situation in which it happened is far too harsh on Steve, who has clearly grown to love Nancy.
A drunk Nancy calls their relationship bulls**t and tells him outright that she never really loved him and was only with him because she couldn't have Jonathan. No matter how horrible Steve cold be, the heartbreak in his eyes is enough to make anyone feel terrible for him.
Hated Him: Breaking Jonathan's Camera
When Steve found out that Jonathan took photos of his night with Nancy, he was understandably furious! It was a creepy and out of order thing for Jonathan to do.
However, when Steve and his friends decided to rip up his photos and berate him in the middle of the school parking lot, he took it too far. He destroyed his camera right in front of him, annoying Nancy and devastating Jonathan. This was a step too far, and also a critical point in which Nancy realized how much of a bully Steve actually was.
Felt Bad: Getting Cheated On
Nancy never loved Steve, and she really liked Jonathan, so when the two went on a discovery together, it was only a matter of time. Arguably, the two are better suited to each other, but it never should have happened like it did, no matter how mean Steve was towards Jonathan.
Poor Steve was absolutely heartbroken when he heard what had happened between the two and it was impossible to not feel sorry for him.
Hated Him: Berates Nancy
Before Nancy and Jonathan got together, the two went through a traumatic experience in which Nancy almost gets killed in The Upside-Down, so they stay in Nancy's room for the night. So when Steve saw the two together, fans waited with bated breath to see what he would do.
Steve was immature about the situation. Instead of going to Nancy and asking her what happened, he spray-painted horrible messages about her and berated the poor girl horrendously, leading to Jonathan beating the life out of him.
Felt Bad: Drugged
Thankfully Steve redeems himself in season 2, so by the time season 3 comes around, he is close to being everyone's favorite character. He does everything he can to protect his friends, even fighting a Russian soldier!
Even though he actually succeeds at fighting for once, he still gets captured, and although it is rather funny to see both Robin and Steve high on truth serum, it is undeniable that the two almost being tortured makes anyone feel sorry for poor Steve, who seems to just get dumped in it all the time.