The Mind Flayer is the most frightening villain in Stranger Things because it's true shape, powers, and motivations remain shadowy and mysterious. Nothing is scarier than the unknown.
He is terrifying because he has access to secrets and the guilt that accompanies those secrets. Vecna's use of his victims' guilty conscious to terrorize his prey is an obvious tool in his arsenal.
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.
Vecna tormenting Max Mayfield - his most famous quote. Henry Creel, also known as One (001), Vecna, or the Mind Flayer, is the main antagonist of the Netflix original series Stranger Things. He will also be the main protagonist of the upcoming video game Stranger Things VR.
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.
With Vecna taking centre-stage in the fourth season of Stranger Things, eagle-eyed fans have been spotting clues that he's actually been around since season one.
The lab massacre scene in season 4 is the most bloodiest scene in the show so far. Eleven kills several people using her powers, you see blood coming out of their eyes.
Barb was the best friend of Nancy Wheeler. In late 1983, Barb mysteriously vanishes, which leads Nancy and Jonathan Byers to investigate her disappearance. Eventually, it was revealed that she had been killed by the Demogorgon.
Season 4 introduced Stranger Things' best and most terrifying villain yet, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), a psychic from the Upside Down who haunts Hawkins' students with their own traumas before killing them.
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.
Then there were the three poor teens of Season 4. Vecna's first big credited kill was Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien). He followed that murder with canonically terrible driver Fred Benson (Logan Riley Bruner) and basketball star Patrick McKinney (Myles Truitt).
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.
"Vecna seems to be actually intrigued by Nancy being able to figure him out, to be able to get this close to the truth... I think this is more Vecna's narcissistic traits that pull him to Nancy, why he wants to give her this information."
Provided he actually ages in the Upside Down, Vecna could be in his late 30s in 1986, the year that Stranger Things season 4, volume 1 takes place. Vecna became a monster seven years prior, when Eleven defeated the adult Henry Creel, a.k.a. Number One, at Hawkins Lab and he became banished to the Upside Down.
Vecna successfully stole Eleven's powers when controlling the Mind Flayer in Stranger Things' season 3 ending, which finally allowed him to emerge stronger than Eleven and enact his plan to take over Hawkins with the Upside Down.
The four gates dividing Hawkins light up with a hellish glow. Eleven — with her friends behind her — looks down upon Hawkins. Vecna won. So, yeah, Vecna is not dead and the gates have been opened, so Stranger Things Season 5 will be all about the final showdown between Eleven and her friends and Vecna…
At the same time, Nancy, Steve and Robin reach Vecna's body in the Upside Down and throw multiple Molotov cocktails at him before Nancy shoots him, sending his blazing body flying out the window of the Upside Down's Creel House.
On top of that, Will Byers confirms that Vecna is, in fact, alive. Byers has a deep connection with Upside Down, so he can always sense the existence of Mind Flayer or Vecna. After returning to Hawkins, Will can sense that Vecna is injured and in pain, but the demon from Upside Down isn't dead.