The annoying thing about people putting Mike anywhere near "seeing El as a weapon" is he's the only one who doesn't.
This is strictly looking at it from a writing perspective. I think the other characters didn't really/shouldn't see her as a weapon in my mindset of my fondness for them, but based on what The Duffers did, the writing was on the wall every season. The other characters utilized her as a weapon every chance they got. It's not that I think they viewed her as a weapon (like they thought she was threatening). I think they viewed her as a hero. And I'm sorry but it's not flattering to look at someone as your go-to to be your main Protector. The problem doesn't really lie in the lack of choice of her fighting for them, the problem lies in them being willing let her sacrifice herself for them...and I'm not talking about Eleven's death. Let's look at the facts:
Ranking Best (Most Considerate) to Worse-
Jonathan: That's her brother, y'all (not cause of The Duffers, no development onscreen but) The person who has jumped in the line of fire to help her most consistently, next after Mike. He'll be the first or second to do something when it matters. He doesn't want her to be their hero; he's not even in the conversation!
Lucas is the one who always tries to offer help and solutions to El fighting, but has no problem with her fighting in their battles. I give him the most credit, because I think in a way he did start to look to her as a sister after being critical of her in the first season. It's not that I think him not having a problem with her fighting in their battles is him looking at her as a hero (or a weapon), I'm just adding this to show how he looks at her differently, not romantically, because if he did he'd never be able to easily settle with the thought of her putting herself in danger. The one thing I didn't even agree with the fandom at the time, but can now laugh at is Lucas looked very unaffected by El when she sacrificed (nothing against Lucas; I just know Caleb Mclaughlin was over it by this scene and who can blame him)
Dustin doesn't hang around The Party much anyway, so it's hard to evaluate him. Dustin doesn't really make protests one way or another, but I am side-eyeing him for grieving a guy he knew for 7 months more that his friend he knew for 4 years. What does this say: they were never really close (horrible writing by The Duffers).
Will: The writers should've made them act like actual siblings! Will consistently never cared if El was in the position to sacrifice for them. The Duffers never developed them so we never got to see that sibling relationship onscreen. I can't believe we didn't even see emphasis on Will grieving solo considering their proximity and the effort to convince tell us they're a family (I can; The Duffers suck). Will has the problem of acting like a little sibling though, so while I do think he'd put up a fight, it'd be a little one had she ever been in the position to sacrifice for him.
Max initially wants El to be their sole savior She looks at her powers like a cool magic trick of fantastical value. And I can't fault her that much; she'd just come into the group and it was fascinating to her. But it's irritating as fuck when you think about how Max is so easily regarded as her bff and the savior to her independence when she didn't have to do anything to prove she sees El as a person, considering Mike still gets questioned for viewing her as a superhero. You can't really inflate the portrayal of her encouraging independence without having to challenge the evidence that she's not treating El as a person. The writing never did anything to convince or develop Max's view on this point; Max has always seen her as a mage! I do believe her pain is high amongst The Party members though when she watched her go and they reminisced during D&D (grieved a lot and of The Party definitely one of that felt it the most).
Nancy: She doesn't really give a fuck; I'm sad (I hate The Duffers). She cares for Mike, caring for her, and for that I appreciate. Just to give the reasonings: suggests El to use her powers to protect them, simplifies it to "knowing her abilities", unconcerned with using her for her own beneficial pursuits in the moment. It was a nice moment coming to El's aid with her own weapon (see what I did) in the finale, and that showed that she does care. The only reason reason she's this low on the list is because it was equally motivated by Nancy wanting to end that thing for Barb, because it's based on her collective stance over the show, and due to everyone else she's up against.
Steve: Evidence not foundπ. He would jump into save her if needed if he was around her with the other Party members, but other than that, there's not much to base it off of.
Robin: Have they met? jk (there'd be no reason for them to have any (solo) scenes together)
The Party should've gotten much closer to her through the seasons. Nancy should've had more moments and been shown getting closer with her. Johnathan should've been shown getting closer to her. But none of that happened!
Mike's worst fault is that he was overprotective, but it wasn't for lack of seeing her as a person. He shouldn't be anywhere near that conversation. He's #1-
- Doesn't want her to sacrifice/doesn't want her to put herself in danger for them
- Always first to jump in when she's hurt or getting attacked
- Constantly worried over her safety
- Makes the suggestion in the finale on how to help her fight Vecna
- Grieves the most/doesn't want to move on/ will never move on (the writing over 5 seasons tells me so)
- First one to truly see her as a person, and encourage the party to not treat her like a weapon (nor "a dog" per the dialogue)
- Bonus: Sees her as extraordinary ("a superhero") but doesn't see her as a hero, needing to throw herself in danger so she can protect them; also let's her be her own person and accepts her as she is
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