You know how selfless Steve is!
After believing Nancy was cheating on him with Jonathan in the first season (in a way, she was), Jonathan takes photos of him without his consent (the house was Steve's, he violated his privacy, and he's in the photos too), and Nancy threatens him with a gun. Steve returns to the Byers' house to protect Nancy and Jonathan, risking his own life.
They didn't care that Steve's face was covered in bloody cuts when they kicked him out of the house, or that the Demogorgon might be after him.
Then, in the second season, he accompanies Nancy to see Barb's parents because he feels guilty. And Nancy breaks his heart and blames him for Barb's death (when it was she who abandoned Barb).
This time, Steve more or less knows what he's getting into by going with Dustin, but tell me, what does he gain by protecting these kids? Exactly, nothing!
He gets beaten up for protecting Max, whom he'd only known for a few hours, and Lucas, whom he'd only seen briefly. And what did he gain? A concussion, no doubt!
He tells the young woman who broke his heart and deceived him (no, they hadn't broken up) to move on and that he'll take care of Mike. He follows the kids into the tunnels and protects them; what a selfish young man!
In season three, I don't really think their initial intention with the mission with Dustin was anything other than to make the kid have a fun time and forget that his friends had abandoned him.
But when the Russians catch them, he tries to draw attention to himself so they'll focus on him and leave Robin alone. It's so great to get your ass kicked again! Cheers!
Crashing into a moving car was a piece of cake, all to save your ex and her boyfriend. Wow, that felt good!
And finally, in the fourth season, we follow Dustin and get him back into all the crazy stuff.
He jumps into a lake to check the portal and gets beaten up again, but this time by monsters.
He risks his life time and time again because he's sure there's a great reward at the end of the road.
Steve could have easily ignored the entire Upside Down world; he had no ties apart from Nancy, and she broke his heart before he met Dustin.
He's only received pain and suffering. Furthermore, he's been constantly belittled and insulted.
I don't recall Steve ever speaking ill of Jonathan outside of the first season, and he had plenty of reasons to do so (talking about Jonathan's family was wrong, and Steve went to apologize to Jonathan).
Meanwhile, Jonathan just insults and mocks Steve for no reason every season.
There's a lot of sarcasm in this, but I got stressed reading so many people saying Jonathan is right.
Steve is one of the most selfless characters, and no one will change my mind.
Most likely, he'll get hurt or die again. I hope he says "not today, Satan" again and survives this season. If he does die, let it be protecting someone who values him or hasn't looked down on him.
Too much text, I've gone overboard.
