WITCH BOY

Henry Creel Shrine @ RabbitNET

Unfortunately, the only official trading cards of Henry depict his "Vecna" form... lame...

DOCID: 001011008 ID: BVT2026

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CHARACTER SUMMARY

Name: Henry Creel

DOB: March 22*, 1944-1950**

Place of Birth: Rachel, Nevada***

Age: 37-42**

Sex: Male

Canon Information:

Henry Creel/Vecna/One/Mr. Whatsit is one of the main antagonists of Stranger Things. He was officially introduced in Season 4, although he was also revealed to be the "mastermind" behind most of the previous seasons.

Henry has various psychic powers stemming from an encounter he had with an alien rock when he was a child. As he grew older, he grew more disillusioned with society, ultimately attempting to use his powers to destroy humanity.

However, The First Shadow, a prequel stage play that explores Henry's teenage years, and some scenes of Season 5, call into question how in control Henry really was of his actions. The implication is that Henry was really a victim of mind control by an alien creature called the Mind Flayer, and a victim of circumstance, who gave into the alien's control to feel powerful. Unfortunately, this tragic side of his character is mostly relegated to The First Shadow, with the show presenting him as much more flat and evil.

And then they chop his head off. Yippee.

Reason for Shrine:

I actually really dislike Vecna. I think his addition to Stranger Things brought with it a stupid Marvel-esque tonal shift that basically ruined the show. His design is bad and his personality is boring.

But Henry Creel is the ultimate potential man. I think Jamie Campbell Bowers brings a sensitivity and understanding to the character that shows through his performance and makes Henry much more fascinating. He's just really neat. He has a cute, unassuming face and a calming, soft voice.

I don't believe Henry should have got a full-on redemption arc. I am not a militant member of the Henry Defence Squad, but I do think his ultimate lack of depth in the show is very disappointing.

So, this shrine is dedicated to Henry Creel first, Vecna only by extension. And it's all about the little details that I appreciate about this character.

Addendums:

* Henry coincidentally shares his birthday with Will Byers.

** Henry's age is inconsistant throughout Stranger Things.

*** Rachel did not formally exist until 1973. It was likely chosen due to its proximity to Area 51.

Henry Creel

Summary

The First Shadow, a spin-off stage play set in 1959, follows Henry at the age of 14. It's basically a nonstop onslaught of awful things happening to him.

His mother hates him, his dad doesn't care about him, his sister isn't a character, and he keeps accidentally on purpose killing people's pets. It's rough.

My Thoughts

While I think the play is a little mid, one thing that Stranger Things always does well is making compelling characters and Henry is no exception. He's really charming in an awkward bumbling theatre kid way.

My love for Henry is incredible biased. I've not made it a secret that I have suffered with mental health issues for all of my life, even as a young child. Season 4 of Stranger Things partially revolves around Max's struggle with suicidal ideation after the death of her brother. And, while it is a great storyline and clearly very emotionally resonant for a lot of people, it is also a very palatable and understandable depiction of mental illness.

An evil alien taking over Henry's brain and making him an evil little shit is a more relatable depiction of mental illness to me, even if Henry's condition is more akin to a personality or dissociative disorder than depression. He also reminds me a lot of friends I had in secondary school and the struggles they had. I appreciate that The First Shadow is capable of treating Henry with sympathy without fully white-washing his behaviour (although it is still a little too forgiving imo. let him be more complicated!)

Stamps

- stamps by me, free to use

Creelby

Creelby is the ship name for Patty Newby x Henry Creel, the main romantic pairing in The First Shadow. It's my favourite ship in Stranger Things.

Every other Stranger Things ship is jealous of Creelby. Bylers are constantly trying to use Creelby as evidence for Byler. Mileven has Creelby parallels all over. Even Elmax and Henderhop are Creelby, if you look close enough. It is the Alpha and the Omega.

Patty Newby is essentially the only good thing that ever happened to Henry. She's chipper and assertive and helps give Henry hope and confidence, while still remaining true to her own hopes and dreams. Given that Henry's story in The First Shadow is so tied into mental illness and stigma, I find Patty's implicit understanding of Henry to be really lovely. She doesn't take shit from him, but she still gives him grace.

The Stranger Things Twitter account initially referred to Henry's orderly persona as "Peter Ballard", to keep his true identity secret.

While he's never explicitly referred to by this name in canon, it's become a popular fandom name for this iteration of the character.

Here's a fan-made mock-up of his ID card. (If you know who made this, let me know! It's been passed around online under a numer of different accounts)

001

"I know what it's like to be different.
To be alone in this world."

- Season 4, Chapter 7

Summary

Season 4 is split into four-ish storylines that all connect with eachother at the end. One of these storylines centers around Eleven's time in Hawkins Lab when she was eight years old.

During this time, she made friends with an unnamed orderly who tried to help her escape. This orderly was actually One, the origin of Project Indigo. One then proceeded to kill all of the other psychic children, aiming to escape the lab with only Eleven (because he believed she was the strongest), but Eleven fought him and trapped him in the Abyss.

My Thoughts

There is one specific moment that solidified Henry as one of my favourite Stranger Things characters and it comes from this iteration. One, stood in a room full of dead children that he murdered, begins monologuing to Eleven about his sad boy childhood. And during this monologue, I shit you not, he says:

"I found a great comfort in [spiders], a kinship. Like me, they are solitary creatures, and deeply misunderstood."

- Season 4, Chapter 7

That's hilarious. It's so funny to call yourself "deeply misunderstood" while surrounded by the bodies of murdered children. It's cliche to the point of absurdity and I love it.

Beyond that, One's interactions with Eleven are very adorable. I also believe they show a level of depth to the character. I believe he really does care about Eleven, albeit for somewhat selfish reasons. And the plot twist reveal is masterful.

Henry and Eleven's matching tattoos.

This is my favourite screenshot of Henry.
It should be illegal for somebody to be this cute.

Screenshot of Henry literally trying to explode Papa with his mind.

Vecna

"Most people fear spiders. They detest them. And yet, I found them endlessly fascinating. More than that, I found a great comfort in them, a kinship.

Like me, they are solitary creatures, and deeply misunderstood. They are gods of our world. The most important of all predators. They immobilize and feed on the weak, bringing balance and order to an unstable ecosystem."

- Season 4, Chapter 7

Summary

After being trapped in the Abyss for a good few years, Henry joined the hivemind and morphed into Vecna. Once Eleven opened the gate to the Upside Down in season 1, he started doing a bunch of bad stuff.

In season 4, Vecna is revealed to be a big meaty meat tentacle man. He sets about cursing people across Hawkins in order to tear open a psychic rift to the Upside Down. He torments them for 24 hours with visions of their biggest fears and then he breaks all their bones.

After being almost killed at the end of season 4, he returns in season 5 with a snatched waist and a bad attitude. He wants to merge the Abyss and Earth to kill everybody.

My Thoughts

God he's so boring. It shouldn't be possible for a psychic dream serial killer to be this bland.

Nothing he does is scary. At all. Most of the curse scenes are just sharp-tooth smiley evil faces. It's Goosebumps-tier. And speaking of execution, breaking every bone in somebody's body and then popping out their eyeballs is so over the top that it becomes lame. It isn't helped by the CGI for those scenes being truly dire. It genuinely looks like everybody is made of rubber and corn syrup like a Stretch Armstrong.

It's baffling to me that they went through the effort of making Vecna almost entirely practically but then skimped on the death scenes. The Ring (2002) featured a dead girl with a similar broken-jaw screaming face that Vecna's victims have and it was entirely practical and it looks phenomenal. What's Stranger Things excuse?

I'm not making this section look good because I really have no patience for or interest in this iteration of the character.

I couldn't get a good enough look to be 100% sure, but I believe this may be the pocket watch model that Mr. Whatsit carries.

Mr. Whatsit

If you want to know my full thoughts on the Camazotz Storyline, check out this insanely long essay on my blog.

Summary

In season 5, Henry takes on the persona of Mr. Whatsit, named after Mrs. Whatsit from A Wrinkle in Time, in order to win the trust of 12 children. He then traps them in his mind (a world referred to as Camazotz by the characters) and tries to use them in a ritual to destroy the world.

Mr. Whatsit is soft-spoken and friendly, with a few shocking moments where he breaks character. Basically he's a retread of the Friendly Orderly from season 4.

Worst season of Stranger Things, great scene of Henry (almost ruined by Eleven's ugly wetsuit).

My Thoughts

Mr. Whatsit is the best part of a very annoying storyline. He's kind of giving evil!Doctor Who, or divorced English teacher energy.

Don't get me wrong, he isn't interesting. There's no depth to Henry in season 5 outside of what Jamie Campbell Bower can squeeze into his performance. But I enjoy Mr. Whatsit well enough. A lot of missed potential, like the rest of season 5.

Chapter One: The Little Boy Scout

For Henry's 12th birthday, he recieved a Captain Midnight Spy-Scope, as seen in this flyer. The item in real life was black and red, but the version seen in Stranger Things is blue and black. This flyer also specifically markets the Spy-Scope to Cub and Boy Scouts, for use in birdwatching and other scouting activities.

Captain Midnight was a radio drama for kids that followed the adventures of the Secret Squad, a group of air-force agents. I've listened to an episode of it and it's genuinely quite entertaining. Henry was a huge fan of Captain Midnight, even into his mid-teens.

Captain Midnight was sponsored by Ovaltine, a warm milk concoction which was described at the time as a "food beverage" (ew). Almost any piece of Captain Midnight merch required proof of an Ovaltine purchase to buy it, and the Spy-Scope was no exception. Interestingly, Ovaltine was specifically marketed towards families with children, particularly boys, who were skinny, low-energy, irritable, and/or nervous. I have no doubt Virginia had Henry absolutely guzzling the stuff.

Henry abandoning his Spy-Scope outside of the cave in Nevada is what ultimately lead Dr. Brenner to him.

This is an Order of the Arrow (OA) sash. The Order of the Arrow is a very prestigious group within the BSA that can only be joined via an election of your peers. This further shows Henry's dedication to the Scouts, but also implies that he was well liked by other scouts too. Unfortunately, the angle that this sash is in Henry's trunk makes it impossible to know what rank Henry was in the OA.

This is Henry's rank badge, it means he's first class scout. This would have been really impressive for him to achieve at 10 years old, as he was originally intended to be. At 12, it still shows that Henry took scouting very seriously.

This is the Arrow of Light (AOL). It represents the highest rank a Cub Scout can achieve.

A Cub Scout who achieves AOL can graduate to Boy Scouts without reaching the age requirement. This could be the costume department's way of explaining how Henry managed to become a Boy Scout at the age of 10, and why his uniform is a mish-mash of Cub Scout and Boy Scout details.

...Unfortunately the AOL did not become a thing until the 1970s. Whoops!

This is the "Cooking" merit badge, which shows skill in cooking food both at home and in the wild. These are skills that are basically required to achieve First Class rank. It should also be noted that Henry "cooks" a bunch of meals for Holly as Mr. Whatsit when she first arrives in Camazotz. At least he's still putting the badge to good use.

This is the "Camping" merit badge. Again, camping is a required skill for any Boy Scout. Henry does seem to enjoy the outdoors, or at least used to, given that he spent his birthday running around caves alone. Also, the section of the cave that Max hangs out in in Camazotz features a lot of camping equipment, including a firepit. I think it's likely that Henry used to camp there in the real world.

This is the "Dog Care" badge. There is no indication that the Creel family had a dog, so this badge has a few possible interpretations. From a meta perspective, this badge could be a reference to the demodogs that Vecna controls. In-universe, it's possible that the Creel family used to have a dog and the dog died, either of natural causes or because of Henry. Or, Henry used to care for other people's dogs (in The First Shadow, Henry had an altercation in Nevada with a classmate whose dog he killed). Interestingly, Will Byers also had a dog, Chester, who vanishes from the show after Season 1.

This is the "Rabbit Raising" badge. This badge is a clear meta reference to the rabbit that Henry tortured to death as a teen. This rabbit is explicitly mentioned as Alice's pet rabbit, and her bedroom is full of bunny toys and imagery. But given the age gap between the two of them, Henry probably helped look after her rabbits, earning him this badge. Fun fact: This badge is no longer awarded by Boy Scouts of America, possibly because rabbits are not a popular pet among Boy Scouts as they're seen soft and girly. This backs up Victor's statement that Henry was a "sensitive" boy.

This is the "Bird Study" badge, which in modern Scouting is called "Ornithology". From a meta perspective, this badge could be a reference to the demobats that Vecna controls. The Captain Midnight Spy-Scope was explicitly advertised in the flyer above as being good for scouts doing nature studies, so possibly Henry recieved it for his birthday because he was already fond of bird watching. Also, to achieve this badge, Henry would have been asked to produce a sketch and diagram of a bird, which ties into his art skills.

Henry came into contact with the Mind-Flayer on his 12th* birthday. During this time, Henry was a proud member of the Boy Scouts of America. He presumably left the Boy Scouts soon after this incident, as his meeting with the Mind-Flayer irreparably changed his mind and personality.

The set and costume designers clearly put a lot of thought into Henry's Boy Scout paraphernalia. So I took the clearest screencaps I could, and did a lot of Googling, and managed to track down all of it. Here's some clearer photos and what each piece meant for Henry.

*Initially, Henry was 10 during this moment. However, performances of The First Shadow after Season 5 changed his age to 12.

Henry prominently wears this patch on his uniform, which was given to attendees of the 1950s jamboree in Valley Forge National Park. This event was a huge deal for the BSA, being the first national jamboree after World War 2.

This patch, short for "Nevada", takes the place of Henry's council patch. Typically, it would have been worn with another patch identifying what town or city Henry was affiliated with. This was skipped in Stranger Things presumably because Henry is from Rachel, a town that did not actually exist at the time and even now only has a population of 80.

This patch represents the Cub Scouts pack that Henry was part of. This was the hardest patch to discern from screenshots of the show (it literally looks like an abstract black and red blob there), but I'm certain it's this raccoon design.

To my understanding, Cub Scout packs can have any logo or theme that they want. The costume department possibly picked a raccoon because they're native to Nevada.

Henry wears this patch on his bag, not his uniform, possibly because he's no longer part of the Cub Scouts, but still holds fondness for his old pack.

This is Henry's Cub Scout unit number. It seems weirdly huge for a unit number, but I'm not a Cub Scout from Nevada in the 1950s, so what do I know? This is also another example of Henry seemingly being both a Cub Scout and Boy Scout at the same time.

Chapter Two: Murder House

One night in 1959, Henry Creel murdered his mother and sister. He did this due to paranoia that his mother would return him to Hawkins Lab, where he had been an unconsenting test subject for an unknown period of time. He kept his father alive specifically to frame him for the murder. The psychic energy required to do this proved to be too much for Henry, and he passed out. Depending on the telling of this story, this was simply a minor fainting spell, or a week-long coma. Regardless, he would soon fall back into the grasp of Dr. Martin Brenner, who formally faked Henry's death, and kept him in captivity for the next 20-ish years of his life.

Here, I have recreated the newspaper article about the incident that was featured in Stranger Things Season 4 as best as I can from screencaps. Please note that some details here are inaccurate to the current canon of the show (In particular: Henry and Alice's ages were seemingly swapped in the show proper).

Also note: A heavily redacted version of this article was released as a teaser for Season 4. In this teaser version, Henry was referred to as Edward, and his sister and mother had their names swapped. While some people in the fandom believe this points to a possible multiverse plot line within the show, I'm 100% sure these were just pre-release or place-holder details that were changed during development.

I've taken some creative liberties with the images I've used, as some images were simply too low-quality in either original versions of this article.

Newspaper reconstructed from Season 4, Episode 3: "The Monster and the Superhero"

Hawkins Public Library

The Weekly

Watcher

March 26, 1959

Vol 8, No 2

VICTOR CREEL CLAIMS:

ANCIENT DEMON
KILLED FAMILY

The Murder That Shocked A Small Community

Was it a triple
homicide? Or
demonic ritual?!

Roane County prosecutors successfully argued that Victor Creel, 40, is a cold-blooded killer, responsible for the brutal slayings of his beautiful wife Virginia, 36, and their two innocent children, Alice, 15, and little Henry, 12.

But even now from behind bars at Pennhurst Mental Hospital, Victor insists that he is innocent. According to several insiders, Victor believes his house was haunted by an ancient "demon". He maintains that this venegeful demon terrorized his family, reaching a bloody climax on that tragic night in March.

Hawkins Public Library

Prosecutors are certain Creel is to blame, but he claims otherwise.

Victor Creel: killer or tragic
victim of a vengeful spirit?

The once happy Creel family standing in front of their recently purchased home in Hawkins, Ind. A small inheritance helped Creel buy the home.

Crime scene photos from inside the Creel Home obtained EXCLUSIVELY by THE WEEKLY WATCHER reveal a complete blood bath...

"I thought I was dying . . . so I was flooded with relief . . . but there was a sense of terrible grief, too."

[Two paragraphs have been removed here because I can't read them from the screenshots.]

[...] He claims this so-called "vengeful demon" was too powerful, resisting the priest's commands to depart from the family home. He insists it was this very attempt to intervene which angered the spirit.

Whomever you believe, the strange case of the Creel family has put the heretofore sleepy town of Hawkins, Indiana on the map. "It is safe to say that the entire region will never be the same again," District Attorney Philip Bradley said of the ordeal.

Now, our source inside the mental hospital where Creel is serving out his life sentence, have gotten the exclusive scoop from Creel himself, including grizzly detail never before reported, and Creel's theory as to why his life was so conveniently[...]

...paranormal. Night after night, a horrible stench would presage the discovery of a dead animal on the property. One evening, the daughter Alice found a rotting possum in her duvet cover, with no idea how it could have gotten there. Another such spine-tingling event occurred when the bathrub began to spout not water but insects. Their healthy lawn turned black overnight.

The family's former gardener (who wished to remain anonymous) who was a witness at the Creel trial [...] that Victor [...] was haunted by a [...]

Full article as presented in the "Hawkins Memories: Vecna's Curse" collector's box:

Triple homicide? Or demonic ritual? Prosecutors successfully argued that Victor Creel, age 40, is a cold-blooded killer, responsible for the brutal slayings of his beautiful wife Virginia, age 36, and their two innocent children, Alice, 15, and little Henry, 12. But even now from behind bars at Pennhurst Mental Hospital, Victor insists that he is innocent. He maintains that a vengeful demon terrorized his family, reaching a bloody climax on that tragic night in March.

Now, our sources inside the mental hospital where Creel is serving out his life sentence have gotten the exclusive scoop from Creel himself, including grizzly details never before reported, and Creel's theory as to why his life was conveniently spared. Are these the ravings of a murderous madman? Or is there something to the supernatural yarn Creel has spun?

The Creel Family had only recently moved into their home in Hawkins, having relocated from South Bend. Court documents revealed that Victor's childless uncle had recently passed away, leaving Victor a modest inheritance with which he eventually purchased the two-story murder house.

Creel claims that as soon as the family had settled in to their new residence, they began to experience a series of disturbances that could only be explained as paranormal. Night after night, a horrible stench would presage the discovery of a deal animal on the property. One evening, the daughter Alice found a rotting possum in her duvet cover, with no idea how it could have gotten there. Another such spine-tingling event occured when the bathtub began to spout not water but insects. Their healthy lawn turned black overnight.

The family's former gardener (who wished to remained anonymous) who was a witness at the Creel trial, testified that Victor was certain the house was haunted by a malevolent spirit. "He kept going on and on about this evil spirit. I didn't know what to believe", he told the court.

"I said I thought probably some teenagers set the grass on fire, but he wouldn't listen to me." Creel's gardener tells our source that the family had had enough. He believed that these horrifying occurrences would not stop unless he took matters into his own hands. As he told us, "I had to protect my family."

At this point, he tells us, Creel sought out a priest to perform an exorcism. This cannot be confirmed, and the identity of the alleged priest is still in question. This publication's inquiries with local houses of worship have been inconclusive.

But the exorcism failed, says Creel's former groundsman. He claims this so-called "vengeful demon" was too powerful, resisting the priest's commands to depart from the family home. He insists that it was this very attempt to intervene which angered the spirit.

"He thought that he fought back and it was punishing him. That's why it killed his family, disfigured them, pulled out their eyes."

Victor himself was completely unharmed in the bloodbath, he responded "He seemed to think it was enrgaed by what he tried to do. He tried to destroy it, so it destroyed the things he loved most in the world. Now he has to live with the loss."

The night before Creel's sentencing, he was found by gaurds at the Roane County lockup attempting to cut out his own eyes with a stolen cafeteria fork. He said he acted out of guilt and sadness. The guards were able to restrain him, but he is now partially blind.

Creel's graphic retelling of the events of the night of the murders included some other fantastic details that have caused our editorial staff to scratch their heads. He says that he witnessed the demon lift his family off the ground and suspend them in mid-air. Even more unbelievable still, he told our source that he had what could be referred to as an out-of-body experience.

"One minute I was there, and the next," Creel said, "I was transported to another time and place. And when I came to, they were all dead." Pressed on the exact where and when of his unbelievable transportation, he replied, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Meanwhile, the Creel murder house sits empty in Hawkins. A site of unspeakable horrors. No amount of fresh paint or lustrous linoleum can undo the terrible deeds that were done at this address. But if convicted murderer and mental patient Victor Creel is to be believed, the house still has one resident that isn't going anywhere. "It was there long before we moved in, and it'll still be lurking there for a long time. Believe you me." Are these the ravings of a murderous madman? Or is there something to the supernatural yarn Creel has spun?

Chapter Three: Wise One

What is "Wiseone"?

Stranger Things has a shipping culture that is very different to any other fandom that I've been in. For one, "gen" shipping, which means supporting platonic relationships between characters rather than sexual or romantic, is incredibly common. The Stranger Things fandom also loves quirky names for their ships, and this extends to gen ships and romantic ships equally. Most of these quirky names are simply the time-honoured tradition of slapping the characters' names together (Mileven = Mike + Eleven, Byler = Will Byers + Mike Wheeler), but some require a bit more decoding.

A lot of ships involving Will Byers use his "Will the Wise" Dungeons & Dragons persona. Therefore, "Wiseone" is used to refer to the (platonic!!! don't get it twisted!!!) ship between Will and Henry (One).

Connections Between Will and Henry

Henry and Will are almost the same person. This is stated outright in Season 5 multiple times. Not all of this connection is just a by-product of the hivemind. Even prior to the events of Stranger Things, we can see similarities between young Henry and Will.

Will and Henry are both quiet, sensitive kids who enjoy making art. Will is consistently shown to be a talented illustrator throughout the series, and many of our limited scenes with teenage Henry feature him drawing, one of which shows a very nice life drawing of a black widow. Both of them have made large drawings of the Mind-Flayer, although that does come after Henry’s influence over Will has begun.

Their other hobbies have similarities too, albeit less one-to-one as drawing. Bluntly, both of them are nerds. Henry is obsessed with Captain Midnight, a kid’s radio serial, and Will loves Dungeons & Dragons. There are also parallels between Dungeons & Dragons and Henry’s participation in the school play. They both like to act! Even Mr. Whatsit can be seen as a form of LARP, if you think about it.

Most damning of all, Will and Henry have the exact same birthday (March 22nd). It’s a minor detail but it’s a hell of a coincidence.

Throughout Season 5, there are lines of dialogue from Will that seemingly reflect Henry’s perspectives. Most infamous of these is during Will’s coming out scene where he mentions his favourite childhood memories. Most of them are things we know Will to like, but two of them are strange: “biking to Melvald’s for malted milkshakes” and “getting lost in the woods”. In the 1980s, Melvald’s is a general store. While it’s possible that it sells packaged malted milkshakes, it definitely doesn’t serve fresh ones. And we never see any of the main cast buying milkshakes there. Do you know when Melvald’s definitely did sell milkshakes? The 1950s, when it was a milkshake bar. In fact, that was where Henry went on his first date with Patty Newby. As for “getting lost in the woods”, Henry was a boy scout with a penchant for solo orienteering. That’s how he encountered the Russian spy in the mines. This discrepancy in Will’s memory is never really addressed in the show, by the way. It genuinely might just be a coincidence of bad writing.

Hurt People Hurt People

Henry is obsessed with strength and weakness. Henry kidnapped Will, out of all the kids in Hawkins, because he believes Will is weak. In doing so, he recreated a very similar traumatic event to the one that set Henry on this path; Henry also went missing, albeit for less time than Will. And both Henry and Will were attacked and possessed by the Mind Flayer, an act that the show frequently compares to sexual assault.

In Season 2, we see Will’s struggle with mental health issues stemming from his kidnapping, the stigma of mental health issues, and the difficulty in receiving care. This is a huge part of Henry’s struggles in The First Shadow. He mentions being sent to multiple doctors, taking medication, and even receiving an exorcism, all things that Will undergoes.

But there’s a huge difference here. Will’s exorcism works in part because of the love and support of his family and friends. Joyce, Will’s mam, has a much more supportive dynamic with Will than Virginia had with Henry. Dr Owens is deeply opposed to Dr Brenner. It’s notable that the memories that Will seems to have inherited from Henry are positive memories. Even if Henry has seemingly forgotten, Will remembers that date at Melvald’s. Vecna claimed that Will was an “experiment”. In some regards, unintentionally, Will is an experiment of what would have happened to Henry if he had a better support network.

The only ray of light in Henry’s life was Patty Newby. Everything else was working against him (At least, I believe that’s what we’re supposed to draw from The First Shadow. Joyce is also supportive of Henry in the play, and he also doesn’t really experience much abuse or harassment at school. But I think that discrepancy is down to clunky writing). With nobody to turn to, Henry turns inwards. He gives into the Mind Flayer because it makes him feel strong. Henry reconceptualises himself as a predator (“The most important of all predators. [Spiders] immobilize and feed on the weak, bringing balance and order to an unstable ecosystem.”) to cope with his status as a victim. He thinks victims are weak and predators are strong.

In an incredibly misunderstood plot point, Vecna tries to use Will’s sexuality against him. I don’t blame people for misunderstanding this whole section of Season 5 because, frankly, it’s one of the worst bits of writing in that dogshit season. Let me say from the jump: Henry is not homophobic. Henry is an anarchist, politically. He’s not actually offended at the idea that Will wants to kiss boys. What the show actually means is that Vecna showed Will a vision of the future where Will’s sexuality ruins his relationship with his friends. Will says that he saw people moving away from him, or the vibes being off, leaving Will completely isolated. And it’s isolation like that that turned Henry into Vecna.

Henry spent approximately twenty years of his life half-conscious, unable to go outside, being drained of all of his blood. Presumably the only person who ever spoke to him was Papa. Henry is branded with the number “001”, the loneliest number.

Henry picked Will, consciously or subconsciously, because of their similarities. He wanted to be the one to make somebody suffer the same way he has. Or, the Mind-Flayer picked Will because it viewed him as controllable, a possible replacement for Henry if he doesn’t end up working out: just another vessel. This is why Henry refuses Will’s olive branch at the end of the show. It’s easier for him to believe that he is an irredeemable monster than a child who was being taken advantage of. Henry is an actor and he’s playing the role of the bad guy to feel like he was ever in control of his life.

I kind of like this ending for Henry, in a better written season. I don’t think a Henry Creel redemption arc is necessary. I wouldn’t be against it, but there’s a beautiful tragedy to his story as is, if the show actually took the time to explore it. Because…

Fumbled

… How much of what I just said is even intentional?

Vecna is a chronic vagueposter, so getting a grasp of his motivations is difficult. Everything I just said about Will and Henry’s connection is basically conjecture. I think it’s probably the story that’s intended, but I’m genuinely unsure if I’m just reading too deep into things.

While writing up this section, I was shown snippets on Twitter of two interviews that Jamie Campbell Bower (Henry’s actor) gave: “I went crazy for, like, two days [before getting the role of Vecna]. In my apartment, I put a picture of Will Byers in the middle, and then all the other characters around it … I always was like, why Will? Why go back to Will? It just felt appropriate … I feel like there is more to be uncovered here [after the finale]. I feel like there is a beast that needs to be squashed between these two.” So, at least I’m not alone in feeling like this connection is underexplored.

It’s just one of many disappointing loose ends in Stranger Things.

Chapter Four: Vecna Design Bitching

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====================

God I hate Vecna. It's not entirely a design problem (his personality isn't great either!), but I do think design is the biggest component of my distaste for him. If his design had a pinch more sauce, I would be willing to look past the failed attempts at horror, his garbled throaty voice, and the cliche dialogue. Mr. Whatsit is a mid iteration of Henry too, but I can look past it because he's cute. I'm shallow, ok?

I'm sure there are some people who like Vecna. And I don't want to roast those people too hard. But there are also people who like Funko Pops. In fact, I think the Venn diagram of Vecna fans and Funko Pop collectors is a solid circle. All I'm saying is we can aim a little higher.

I'm also aware that it isn't really fair for me to critique Vecna from a position of hindsight. Nobody knew how compelling Jamie Campbell Bowers would be as the Friendly Orderly until season 4 was wrapped. I'm also sure that Henry's story and narrative role changed a few times as the show developed. While I believe the Duffer Bros that 001 was always intended to be the main antagonist, something about the way that Henry keeps being re-contextualised in the show just screams "retcon!!" So this critique also comes with the benefit of having Henry's full story solidified ahead of time.

I'm also an unemployed armchair critic. My opinion means nothing.

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SUBJECT: BUT WHY?
====================

I do, to some extent, think Vecna's current design is maybe the best they could have done. There's a lot of factors that had to be considered, and I don't believe any choice was taken lightly.

Practical Considerations

Stranger Things is an expensive TV show, but it's still just a TV show. The budget is huge, but it has to be spread over multiple episodes. So, costs need to be considered when it comes to Vecna.

A genuinely cool part of Vecna is how he, in season 4, was almost entirely practical effects. Most of the shots of him in that season are barely touched up, with very few fully CGI body-replacements. Even his season 5 redesign is built heavily on top of a practical base. I think that fucks! I love practical effects! I also feel like that helps keep the 80s energy of the show alive. I don't know if practical effects are always necessarily cheaper than CGI, but I think reducing the amount of post-production is a smart idea, and something that I’m sure Vecna’s design had to take into account. Similarly, you want to keep the design breathable and actable.

This is also, I believe, why Vecna can’t wear clothes. While most of Vecna’s scenes are practical, there were a few moments of full body replacement. And cloth physics are a pain in the ass, especially if you have to factor in back tentacles.

I also feel like clothes would add a slight ‘Idris Elba in Cats’ effect. In Cats (2019), Idris Elba plays a horrible cgi cat-human hybrid wearing a big fur coat. Even though he doesn’t wear clothes under the coat, we don’t consciously realise that because he has a big coat on. Almost none of the Cats wear clothes and you don’t really feel like they’re naked because they’re covered in fur. But there’s a scene where you see Idris Elba with his coat off, and it feels like he is fully, buck-ass, flashbang, naked. We don’t really think of Vecna as naked because we never see him wearing clothes. If he had clothes to take off (for the sake of the animators, or when he burns to death, or whatever), we would suddenly be aware that he’s naked.

===

Inspirations (and why Vecna isn't as good as any of them)

Let's take all the inspirations that went into Vecna one by one, and see what we could learn from these inspirations to make Vecna suck less ass.

Freddy Krueger

This is the most obvious point of inspiration. The show isn’t subtle about this one. Vecna and Freddy are both serial killers who kill you in a dream state with a single big claw hand. Vecna and Freddy also look vaguely similar, in that they’re both red and burned-looking.

Honestly, the biggest thing Vecna could stand to take from Freddy is lighting and cinematography. Freddy and Vecna look about as scary as each other to me, from a purely design perspective. But Nightmare on Elm Street knows how to shoot Freddy for horror. He is almost never shown clearly in bright lighting. Most commonly, he’s a silhouette or just a claw, or in very dark lighting.

Meanwhile in Stranger Things, we get a HD slow-moving shot of what Vecna looks like in the first episode of the fucking season. I was gobsmacked when I saw that. Way to ruin any suspense, especially for a character who doesn’t look scary by himself. He needs every bit of help he can get! But by the end of Episode 2, we know his D&D name, how he kills you, his home address, and his entire physical appearance. BOOOO! We didn’t see the demogorgon properly until the end of Season 1! Where’s the patience gone?? Where’s the foreplay???

Pennywise

I could look at nothing but Pennywise for the rest of my life. I love this fucking clown. It (2017) is a phenomenal movie that Stranger Things 4 deeply wishes it was. Everything about the Vecna plot is so bootleg It (2017) it hurts. But Vecna could never be Pennywise because he is not that whimsical kind of girl.

Part of this is just a sheer lack of imagination on behalf of the Stranger Things writers (Vecna never really fully manifests as anything other than himself or a person with a vaguely scary face). But this bitch sesh is about Vecna’s design and not his behaviour.

Obviously Vecna can’t look like a whimsical clown. That would be plagiarism. Although, having more distinct forms for Vecna to turn into, as It does, would allow for the stress of good design to be stretched over a bunch of different designs. Maybe at least one will be good (And you could merchandise each of them separately). But they couldn’t even get one good design for Vecna, I don’t think we should start trying to do more.

Pinhead

Pinhead is pure cunt. He’s inspired by BDSM culture. He’s vaguely non-binary. His whole thing is sex. Vecna has a cunty little waist in Season 5 and a kind of cunty hip swing when he walks, but that’s it. He’s lacking in the cunt department.

Vecna is one of the only genuinely sexual characters in Stranger Things, primarily because most of the cast are minors. But those two facts put together obviously brings an uncomfortable undertone that the show is not happy to deal with. Because most of the characters in Stranger Things are minors, and the general tone of the show isn’t really that mature, most of the romance and even sex in Stranger Things is quite unerotic and unexplicit. I’m not saying that as a criticism, I think that’s a completely valid way of depicting relationships.

The only piece of Stranger Things media that really grapples with sexuality in an actually erotic way (and when I say “erotic”, I don’t mean “hot”) is The First Shadow. It genuinely shocked me to see how up front the play is about Henry’s sexuality. All the other Stranger Things kids ever wanna do is just kiss and hold hands. Henry actually wants to fuck Patty and he feels awful about it. When he’s arguing with his mother about Patty, he throws out a gross little reference to incest between the two of them. He then starts to take off his shirt and talk about how “good” it feels to hurt people. The relationship between Henry, his powers, the people he hurts with them, and the Mind-Flayer are often depicted in The First Shadow through a sexual lens. The vibes are rancid and it’s great. Warping his genuinely normal teenage hormones into a point of horror because of the shame that Henry feels is such a unique idea for Stranger Things.

I don’t think Vecna should be the vessel through which Stranger Things gets more sexual. Or that Stranger Things even needs to be more sexual. I think The First Shadow does enough. But Vecna as he stands currently is kind of too sexualised that it’s unavoidable to view him through that lens, but not sexualised enough that it becomes something that the text has to confront. And that just feels weird.

But he could stand to be cuntier.

Stranger Things Monsters

There are three Stranger Things monsters that appear pre-Vecna: Demos, the Mind-Flayer and the flayed.

Design-wise, Vecna most resembles the flayed. I assume this was done to keep the lore somewhat consistent because the flayed and Vecna are both human in origin. But this was a bad idea. The thing that makes the flayed cool is the way that they explode and mutate and merge themselves into new shapes. Vecna doesn’t do that; he’s just a dude. In Season 5, we do see that Vecna’s claw hand has warped into something more gnarled and less defined, and that’s possible because he’s a big mushy meat monster like the flayed were. But that’s the only time that the flayed inspiration is used for anything interesting.

Demogorgons feel like an obvious point of inspiration, but I think that would lead to a possible misinterpretation of demogorgon lore. I think having a human turn into a demogorgon-esque entity would lead people to believe that demogorgons were once people and not a separate species entirely.

So, Vecna should be based on the Mind-Flayer. As he says in Season 5: “We are one.” Henry’s close relationship to the Mind-Flayer could explain why he physically resembles it. The problem is that the Mind-Flayer is a swarm of particles in a large, abstract shape.

Vecna (D&D)

Vecna in Dungeons and Dragons has a powerful hand and a powerful eye. Also he’s a lich so he looks like a skeleton.

Honestly, the eye and hand thing are the only parts of D&D!Vecna that I think Stranger Things!Vecna should keep. Demogorgons in Stranger Things don’t look like the ones in D&D. Neither does the Mind-Flayer. We don’t need to make Vecna look like a skeleton. Skeletons aren’t scary.

Sorry, skeletons.

Spiders

On all levels except physical, Vecna is a spider. They were the #1 inspiration for Henry in becoming Vecna. So why the fuck doesn’t Vecna look like a spider?

Sure, he hangs from the ceiling on tentacles in a way that is evocative of spider legs. And it’s cool. But that’s not enough.

If I had my way, Vecna would be an evil Spider-man, like in Madame Web. Why’s he not crawling around on the ceiling? Why doesn’t he have giant puppeteered spider legs coming from his back? He could have flaps of skin like the demogorgons do on his cheeks, that open up to form spider pincers.

In The First Shadow, for one excellent scene, Henry has giant spider legs coming out of his back and it’s awesome. Why doesn’t Vecna do that in the show?

Sleep Paralysis Demons

Vecna is a sleep demon! I think there’s a deep well of nightmares and sleep paralysis hallucinations that could be drawn from. Vecna’s design is simply too grounded to feel dream-like. He’s basically just a really burned guy with some tentacles.

Again, this could be improved by lighting. A lot of sleep paralysis demons take the form of shadow people. As the name implies, shadow people are just shadows in the shape of a person. Silhouetting Vecna could give this dream-like effect without having to change his design at all.

Interestingly, while Vecna may not evoke sleep paralysis demons, Mr. Whatsit kind of does. “The Hat Man” is an urban legend stemming from a meme about a particular recurring hallucination that people claim to encounter when taking excessive antihistamines. As the name implies, he wears a hat. But he is also a shadow person. I don’t know if this comparison was deliberate, but it should be.

Again, less is more. Maybe Vecna doesn’t even need a solid design. Maybe a shadow is enough. The Mind-Flayer is also just a large shadow in the vague shape of a spider. Maybe Vecna could be the same, in the shape of a person.

===

So, now that we can see the foundation that Vecna's design is based on, you can maybe tell why I don't care for it. Next, let's take a look at some runner-up options, and see if there was any nuggets of gold we left behind.

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SUBJECT: CONCEPT ART
====================

So it’s not fair to judge a final design based on concept art. Most pieces of concept art are not genuinely “what could have been” but rather an exploration of all possible ideas. And almost all of Vecna’s concept art designs have huge problems with them. Like I said, I think his final design makes the most sense for the show, even if I do think it’s lame and awful.

But here’s some pieces of concept art that move Vecna in directions that I find interesting:

===

A lot of concept art for Vecna depicts him with tiny pin-prick eyes. I think this is really unique and has spooky potential. Unfortunately, I think this was avoided in his final design for two reasons: Prosthetic eyes like that would be a pain in the ass for the actor and it runs the risk of looking kind of goofy. I think the best scary stuff looks a little goofy, so I don’t mind the goof factor. But I can see the Netflix marketing team squirming a little bit.

===

Speaking of goofy designs.

I love this silly little guy. This is maybe my favourite concept art desig, but it absolutely would not have worked for his character. I do love the blank pin-prick eyes, as opposed to the glowing eyes that other designs have. Combined with his lack of a nose, he really looks like a doll or a puppet, which I guess could have been fun foreshadowing of his relationship with the Mind-Flayer. He does feel dreamlike and strange. In fact, he looks like a naked version of the Crooked Man from The Conjuring Part 2, one of my favourite whimsical horror designs.

A big reason why this design wouldn’t really work for Vecna is that he looks too happy. I think his mouth is meant to be downturned, but the scars/wrinkles around it genuinely looks like he has a big :3 face. He’s so happy! Meanwhile, Vecna has nothing to smile about in his life.

The loin cloth is gross. The presence of a loin cloth implies the presence of genitalia. And it really reminds me of that one tweet about Gollum:

Disgraceful.

===

This is the most inhuman and out-there Vecna design. Obviously, it would be a huge pain in the ass to film. And the lack of any hands at all would massively hinder most of Vecna’s powers. But I’m happy that it’s a genuinely spider-like design. And I especially really like the chevron-esque pattern down his chest. It reminds me of an exoskeleton, while still looking tentacle-like and alien.

A lot of alternate Vecna designs have no eyes at all, tying into Vecna’s love of popping eyeballs. This again poses visibility problems for the actor and also feels a bit too obvious for me. Also, Vecna’s eye is a powerful D&D item, so it’s a shame to rule that out completely in Stranger Things.

===

Another blind Vecna. This one I mostly want to highlight for two great reasons: The shape of his body and the colour of his body. A lot of Vecna designs (and even the final design) have pale patches of skin. I think that’s theoretically very spooky, but in practice, it tends to get lost among all the tentacles and coloured lighting that Vecna is put under. This Vecna has very dark, shadowy skin, and it gives a slight xenomorph energy. I think it rules. This xenomorph vibe can also be seen in his exaggerated body shape, especially the strong ribcage and pelvis.

Dare I say, he's almost... cunty?

Again, I like how simple he is. Don’t slap a bunch of tentacles onto him, it isn’t needed. It’s black widow-esque without being too on the nose.

They did end up redesigning Vecna in Season 5 to have a more snatched waist, which I think was an improvement. But they also muddled up that waist shape with a bunch of worms...

===

This one’s just Vecna in a hoodie. When I first saw Vecna in Stranger Things and realised that his design wasn’t working for me, my initial gut reaction to fix him was to just give him a cape. I think it could be evocative of the grim reaper and also Skeletor, the ideal men.

I think it looks great! But it's logistically a nightmare. Cloth physics are a pain, and I don’t know how the cape would work with his back tentacles. Also, where did he get a cape in the Abyss?? I guess he could have picked up the cloak in the Upside Down.

Anyway, I wouldn't be against this design getting added to Fortnite or Dead by Daylight. But I can see why it simply wouldn't work for the show itself.

===

All of this art was done by Michael Maher Jr, who was behind almost all of Stranger Things art direction. Clearly, the guy knows what he's doing.

Honestly, I think my main issue with Vecna's final design is the over-complexity of it. I just don't care for the tentacles! And I know the tentacles are something he is capable of manipulating, and he uses them a lot throughout the series, but I think a bunch of wimpy little worms superglued to a burned guy is just kinda meh.

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SUBJECT: RE: WHAT WOULD I DO?
====================

What would I do?? Fuck I don't know! I'm not a professional character designer!

I think the all black, skinny, cunty concept art is probably my favourite. However, I don't like his lack of eyes.

Watching Season 5, I was struck by two scenes of Vecna. I say scenes of "Vecna", but these are actually both scenes of Mr Whatsit lmao.

The first of these scenes happened in Escape From Camazotz, when Vecna captures Will in his mind. He approaches

I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that Mr Whatsit looks scary here, obviously he doesn't. Mr Whatsit looks like a dark academia Spongebob Squarepants gijinka. BUT as he approaches in the darkeness, there's light hitting his glasses in a perfect anime villain way. And I was struck by how cool that was, visually.

It was evocative of the glowing pin-prick eyes that so many pieces of Vecna concept art played with. It was ominous and surreal, two adjectives I would typically never use for Vecna.

So I think glowing eyes is an addition that would really improve Vecna, at least when he's in some sort of dream state.

===

The second new design element of Vecna (or.. Mr Whatsit) that I enjoyed in Season 5 was his redesigned hand. Specifically, the scene in the finale when his Vecna hand emerges from his Mr Whatsit form.

This is the only part where Vecna's flayed design influence is used for anything interesting. I love that it doesn't even look like a hand anymore.

If we aren't going to get a slick, paired back Vecna, the least we could do is really ham up the body horror and make him something freakishly inhuman.

===

BUT WHAT IF WE COULD HAVE BOTH?

What you're looking at here is the Beast from Over the Garden Wall. If you haven't seen Over the Garden Wall, you really should. It's so good.

Anyway, the Beast is sort of the best of both worlds for simple, understated design and over the top wierd body horror. For most of its appearances, the Beast is simply a shadow with glowing eyes. It's only in one brief moment when light is shone directly on it, that you see the design to the left (and even then, it's a very brief reveal)

So that's what I'm proposing for my Vecna design: A shadow creature with glowing eyes, that is revealed to be something warped and horrific in very rare moments when the light is directly on him.

Also, he should have spider legs.

Another point of inspiration for this is the Void from Thunderbolts. I haven't seen Thunderbolts, and I don't plan on seeing it. But I like the Void's design! And I also think taking inspiration from superhero media is fun, given that Eleven is so often described as a superhero, and Henry is her nemesis.

I think the Mind-Flayer is such a beautiful, ominous design because she's so simple. She's literally just a giant abstract shape. I think Vecna needs some of that sauce too.

Everything about Vecna is just too much and it's messy and nothing really fits together.

I think thematically, making Vecna look like the Mind-Flayer initially, and then also be more like the mindless flayed underneath the shadows, cuts to the tragedy and horror of Vecna. He's a puppet of the Mind-Flayer who's pretending to be in charge, and I think that could be a subtle bit of symbolism.

===

At some point, I'll try my hand at drawing this design I have in mind. And maybe it'll actually be terrible in practice. But until then...

Watch this space
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WITCH BOY

Henry Creel

Summary

My Thoughts

Stamps

Creelby

001

Summary

My Thoughts

Vecna

Summary

My Thoughts

Mr. Whatsit

Summary

My Thoughts

Newspaper reconstructed from Season 4, Episode 3: "The Monster and the Superhero"

Full article as presented in the "Hawkins Memories: Vecna's Curse" collector's box:

What is "Wiseone"?

Connections Between Will and Henry

Hurt People Hurt People

Fumbled

Visitor's Log

Stamps

Cool Stranger Things... Things