Finally, the Ur-Flan had a strong association with necromancy magic, many of whom aspired to and eventually did become undead, Vecna included. Vecna was trained in the art of sorcery by his mother Mazzel, who was eventually executed by the government of Fleeth for practicing witchcraft.
A fearsome entity aligned with the Upside Down, Vecna had humble origins as the human Henry Creel. After moving to a new home in Hawkins in 1959, the young Henry discovered he had remarkable psychokinetic abilities and could manipulate the perceptions of others.
Over the course of centuries, Vecna began siphoning the essence of a fellow demigod named Iuz, elevating himself to the level of a greater god. Now a true deity, Vecna set his sights upon Sigil, the heart of the multiverse.
At the height of his empire Vecna was betrayed by Kas. Kas managed to destroy the Archlich before his own death, with the Sword of Kas, a lethal blade of the Undying King's own make, leaving only Vecna's left hand and left eye behind. Vecna eventually returned and by 581, had risen to godhood.
Vecna's Hand
This is a reference to the D&D character Vecna, for whom this Vecna is named; the D&D Vecna has a monstrous hand infused with dark magic. The design of Vecna's hand is also a nod to Freddy Krueger, the Nightmare on Elm Street villain who had a huge influence on this season in general.
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).
Curiously, he also seems obsessed with time, projecting strange visions into his victims' minds—including of the grandfather clock from his home in the Creel House. Vecna's obsession with time appears to be linked to his hatred of 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.
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.
While intending to get his revenge on Eleven and Brenner, Vecna also goes after victims who have dealt with traumatizing experiences in the past (reminiscent of his childhood and his time at the Hawkins lab).
However, within the red smoke of Vecna's Mind Lair, it wasn't the song itself that saved her, but the memories it conjured up. What broke through to Max was the happy, loving memories of her friends, particularly Lucas and Eleven, and these were what truly allowed her to break free of Vecna's grasp and escape.
"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."
Vecna was inspired by mould
But according to Gower, they also “looked at a lot of sea life, moulds and animals to create the look, feel and consistency of his skin”. Gower says the Duffer Brothers were also “very adamant that Vecna be glossy and shiny, that he looked as moist and wet as the rest of the Upside Down”.
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 ...
Vecna hated humanity, believing human beings had imposed an artificial order upon the natural world.
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.
Remember also that we have evidence that powers can be inherited -- El inherited her powers from Terri Ives, for example. So it stands to reason that Henry inherited his powers from one of his parents.
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.
Why does Vecna mutilate his victims? Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) clarifies that Vecna "consumes" his victims, as he isn't interested in simply killing them - meaning Vecna takes everything about and from a person.
Creation. The Hand and Eye of Vecna were all that remained of the arch-lich Vecna after his betrayal at the hands of his trusted vampire lieutanant, Kas the Bloody-Handed. Using a sword crafted by Vecna himself, Kas manage to cut off Vecna's left hand and left eye before in turn being destroyed.
In the visions of her trauma induced by Vecna, Chrissy's mother appeared both mentally and emotionally abusive towards her daughter - and it's implied her comments about Chrissy's figure caused her daughter to develop her eating disorder.
Next up, the viewers go on to theorise that One/Vecna is actually Eleven's dad. Yep, told you it was wild. The theory claims that Brenner wanted to create a child with stronger powers, so he waited until One was old enough to become a father.
The Duffer Brothers had Vecna planned from the start, which is how they were able to tie his character into earlier seasons. Stranger Things revealed Vecna was also behind the Mind Flayer that appeared in season 2.