Who is Vecna in Stranger Things season 4? After three years away from our screens, we can finally return to the Upside Down asStranger Things season 4 has arrived. The Netflix series makes a triumphant return, as you can see from our Stranger Things season 4 review, and one of the main talking points is the new villain of the show – Vecna.
We are delighted to see that Stranger Things season 4’s horror elements are being leaned on more than ever before. The intention of the Duffer Brothers, the creators of the sci-fi series, was to throw the characters into a horror movie, and it certainly feels that way. A large part of this success is down to the formidable presence of Vecna, the new demon causing chaos in Hawkins.
If you’ve yet to watch the new season of Stranger Things, you’d better stop reading now or you will encounter spoilers ahead. If you have seen it, however, you’ll probably be wondering who is Vecna, and where did he come from? Well, we’ve uncovered the mystery behind him for you.
What is Vecna’s real identity?
While watching Stranger Things season 4, we pretty much took it for granted that Vecna was simply some strange creature that was lurking in the Upside Down, similar to the Mind-Flayer. Where he came from, or who he was, didn’t really cross our mind at first. How foolish we were.
It turns out that Vecna’s real identity is pivotal to pretty much everything that has been going on in Hawkins since Stranger Things season 1, and he is linked to Eleven in a huge way. When Eleven was in the lab with Papa and the other numbered child experiments, one number was missing – 001. In episode seven of the new season, we learn that 001 was there the whole time as an orderly in the lab.
When he kills all the other kids and tries to recruit Eleven to his evil mission, she fights back and sends him into the Upside Down. While there, his skin is torn off and he becomes part of the sinister agenda of the Mind-Flayer. So, Vecna is actually ‘Experiment 001’ from the Hawkins Lab, case closed. Well, not quite!
Not only is Vecna the new alter-ego of 001 after being banished to the Upside Down, but he is also the son of Victor Creel. Long before he was a number in a lab or an abhorrent demon from below, Vecna was actually a very disturbed young child, who terrorised his family with his superpowers, before being taken into the care of Doctor Brenner at his facility.
How is Vecna killing people?
Vecna obviously has incredible supernatural abilities, which is why Doctor Brenner was experimenting on him in the first place. By using these powers, Vecna is able to connect telepathically with his victims from the Upside Down, and torment them with horrifying visions, before unleashing his brutal attack.
Once he is done playing with them, Vecna uses telekinesis to lift his victims into the air, mutilates their body, and essentially drain the life out of them. Oh, and he takes their eyes too, because why not.
What is Vecna’s plan?
It turns out Vecna was just a sadist, there was a motive for his brutal killings. The superpowered psycho planned on killing four individuals in order to create a super gate between our world and the Upside Down. This would allow the two dimensions to merge and Vecna planned on building a beautiful new world out of the ashes.
What is Vecna based on?
As with most of the storylines and ideas for Stranger Things, this particular villain has been plucked right out of the lore of the Dungeons and Dragons board game. Just like the Demogorgons and the Mind-Flayer before him, Vecna is one of the demons that players come up against during the game.
In Dungeons and Dragons, Vecna is originally a very powerful human king who essentially became a god. With his great powers, Vecna became a lich, one of the most abhorrent wizards there is, and basically spent too much time with the undead.
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Over time, Vecna was corrupted and evil consumed him. He was obsessed with twisting the minds of his enemies, gaining their secrets to use against them and destroy them. His powers included the ability to paralyse his victims, to alter reality, and extra-sensory perception.
The Vecna of the Dungeons and Dragons world had no real kingdom or home to call his own, and instead wandered the multiverse, causing pain and suffering to anyone he could. Eventually, he would be imprisoned in the Citadel, as it was drawn into the Domains of Dread by the Dark Powers
So, that’s Vecna explained for you. As we await the release of Stranger Things season 4 part 2, you can now sleep a little easier knowing who Vecna is and what his methods are.