The history of the Upside Down remains mysterious. Exactly how and why it came into existence is unclear. Dustin theorised the Upside Down had existed for thousands, if not millions of years.
Who Created the Upside Down? In the "Stranger Things" timeline, the earliest we see the Upside Down is during Eleven's time in the Hawkins National Laboratory when an experiment guided by Dr. Brenner results in her accidentally opening the gateway between our world and the hellish dimension on the other side.
One of the biggest questions is how was the Upside Down created in Stranger Things. Millie Bobby Brown spoke about this in an interview with Variety in 2022. When the actress was asked if the Duffer Brothers explained that Eleven creates the Upside Down when she interacts with 001, she said, "They did tell me.
In a fit of rage, Henry used his restored powers to brutally murder the other test subjects and workers, and attempted to do the same to Eleven. However, Eleven stood her ground and ultimately overpowered him, sending him through a gate to the Upside Down; there, he gradually transformed into the being known as Vecna.
Brenner's words make it seem like Vecna subjugated the entire Upside Down and, thereby, created the realm's hive mind. In other words, the Upside Down's hive mind is actually Vecna's mind because everything that he dominates becomes a part of him.
Vecna, unlike the other creatures, is a human who has mutated into a monster from overexposure to the Upside Down. He's been subjected to the toxic environment for around 20 years and has become a part of it.
Before coming to the Hawkins National Lab, Venca had a classic villain origin story — he became obsessed with black widows, tortured his family, and brutally killed his mother and sister pinning it on his father.
As Vecna continued to go after young victims in order to open more portals, he set his sights on Max Mayfield, since she was investigating the deaths of Chrissy and another student named Fred Benson with help from her friends (including Dustin, Steve, and her boyfriend Lucas).
Brenner (Matthew Modine) states in the Stranger Things episode "Papa" that Vecna "consumes" everything about his victims, Vecna targets traumatized victims because it builds for him a well of sad and angry memories to draw from. With each victim, he can become gradually more powerful.
What is the significance of 4 for Vecna? The new season shows that the four chimes of the grandfather clock symbolize the four victims Vecna needs to claim in order to enter our dimension and take over humanity.
In episode 7, Vecna is revealed to be Henry Creel (played as a youngster by Raphael Luce), the son of Victor Creel (Robert Englund) and his wife Virginia (Tyner Rushing) shown in the 1950s flashbacks.
One explanation for why time in the Upside Down is frozen, rather than flowing ahead to 1986 like in the real world, could be the impact of Eleven opening that first gate. The outburst of power she used and the deep emotions that were running through her were enough to shock the Upside Down into time standing still.
But according to Millie Bobby Brown, the Upside Down existed before El ever meddled with it. “I don't think that she created the Upside Down,” Brown told Variety in June. “No, I think that it was always there, I think she just created a gate to it which no one could before.”
The connection between the Upside Down and Hawkins was seemingly established when Eleven made contact with the Demogorgon using her psychic abilities, causing a gate to rip open in Hawkins National Laboratory.
Young Will Byers was the first person to unwittingly visit the Upside Down. After playing Dungeons & Dragons with his friends, he embarked on the trip home only to be abducted by the Demogorgon and taken into the alternate dimension. The disappearance of Will set off the events of Stranger Things.
Hawkins has suffered a lot of trauma over the years - not all of which is connected to Hawkins Lab and the Upside Down - and Vecna's curse takes advantage of that. Vecna appears to carefully choose people who feel a strong sense of guilt or shame, particularly if those emotions are repressed.
(All of which have been cited by show creators the Duffer brothers as inspirations for the villain.) But he does have a surprising weakness: music.
Netflix Vecna has plans for world domination. Essentially, Vecna hates humanity, and wants to take over their world. He had hoped that Eleven would help him achieve this goal. But when he realised she wouldn't, Vecna instead used her.
He sent fragments of the Creel House flying at Max in a last-ditch attempt to stop her, but it was too late: she had returned to reality. After surviving the attack, Max listened to the song at all times to protect herself from Vecna.
Once he takes control of the mind, he traumatizes them by showing the visions of their dark past. He takes them to unknown places and gives them a glimpse of himself. The pain of his victims doesn't end here. Every single one of his victims experiences nose bleeding and severe headaches as well.
Via his 'curse' power, Vecna could make other conscious beings hallucinate and bring them into the mindscape. On March 24, 1986, Max Mayfield entered the mindscape while afflicted with Vecna's curse, but managed to break out of the hallucination and escape to reality.
At his empire's height, Vecna was betrayed and destroyed by his most trusted lieutenant, a vampire called Kas the Bloody-Handed, using a magical sword that Vecna himself had crafted for him, now known as the Sword of Kas.
In his twisted mind, Vecna believes that he his helping the world by wiping out humans, as a "predator, but for good." When Vecna asks for El to join him, it's because he also sees her as a predator, "better" than humans. He offers her his path as a sort of freedom, as they reshaped the world in their image.
Kind-hearted cheerleader Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien) is the first character to be cursed by Vecna, and she dies in season 4, episode 1, "Chapter One: The Hellfire Club." After feeling ill, Chrissy sees the clock and begins picturing her mother, who has always been cruel, saying harsh things about her physical ...