Who is Valak in The Conjuring universe? A good horror tale is nothing without a great villain. From pesky ghosts to flesh-hungry zombies, in order to run, you need someone (or something) to chase you. In the case of The Conjuring world, it’s usually that malevolent demon known as Valak.
Of course, there are plenty of other villains floating around in The Conjuring universe. Over the course of The Conjuring movies in order, we’ve had witches, omnipotent dolls, and an old man who just wants his house back. But if the best horror movies have given us anything, it’s a memorable demon, and in this case, Valak takes the crown.
But who is Valak in the The Conjuring universe, exactly? What’s their problem? Well, we’re here to tell you everything you need to know about the demon in habit that appears throughout The Conjuring movies. Spoilers ahead for the franchise!
Who is Valak in The Conjuring universe?
Valak is the main antagonist of The Conjuring movies, and is a demon that appears throughout in several forms, but most notably takes on the visage of a spooky nun.
In order to understand movie Valak, you should probably understand the lore that comes behind the demon. This is because, although Valak is mostly known for stalking Ed and Lorraine Warren throughout The Conjuring timeline, it basically stars in The Nun spin-off movies, and there is actually a demon who inspired the film.
It’s appeared in several texts throughout history, and has been known as the Great President of Hell. It’s been given many different names and spellings, but since it’s canon to The Conjuring that it’s called Valak, that’s how we’ll refer to this devilish fiend.
In the movies, Valak first appears in The Conjuring 2, as a figure dressed in nun’s garb who haunts Lorraine. It first comes to her during the movie’s opening scene, while Lorraine is caught in a trance during a seance. Valak lures Lorraine into a basement in her dream state, and teases her with visions of the Ed being slaughtered.
Later, when the Warrens are working on the Enfield Haunting case, it’s revealed that Valak is actually tormenting the family’s ghost, Bill Wilkins, into terrorizing them. When Lorraine is able to recall Valak’s name and speak it aloud, it loses all power and is sent back to Hell. See ya!
Of course, this isn’t the only time Valak appears throughout the ghost movies. Valak has actually appeared in four of The Conjuring movies officially, and has been mentioned or alluded to in others. Aside from both installments of The Nun, Valak also appeared in The Conjuring 2, and Annabelle: Creation. (In The Conjuring 2, it also appeared as ‘The Crooked Man’ for a short while.)
Valak has been shown as being ‘defeated’ a number of different ways, so there’s no sure-fire trick to getting it to, you know, chill out. Whether it’s saying Valak’s name, coating it in the Blood of Christ, or setting it alight, none of these have really seemed to do the trick in the long run. As for whether we’ll see it again? Well, we’ll just have to wait for The Conjuring 4 release date to find out!
For more of the biggest bads, check out our list of the best movie villains of all time. Elsewhere, check out our list of the best movies of all time and best monster movies of all time. We’ve also got a feature on why PG-13 horror can be great, as well as guides for the newest Nun story, including ones on the goat, Saint Lucy, and and The Nun 2 cast.
We’ve also got explainers for some of the most famous villains, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. Or, check out the new movies to come with our guides to The Exorcist: Believer release date and Nun 3 release date.