Why did Vecna kill everyone?

One of the joys of entertainment is that it invites you to take part in pointless arguments. That’s how I came to spend the Friday before the Fourth of July aggressively slacking with my editor, Alex Zalben, about Stranger Things. It started as a simple observation: It’s weird that Season 4 spent so long casually letting us believe Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) murdered oh-so-many children. By the end of the day, it had blossomed into a question that has lurked in the back of my head ever since: Who has killed more people — Eleven or Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower)? And what the hell does that mean? Obviously, spoilers ahead.

The answer to this question is exactly who you think it is. It’s Vecna. I’m not going to hide the truth from you. It’s also an answer that has left me with a dozen more questions, many of them about Eleven as our undisputed “hero.” Is there a number of people you have to kill before you can no longer be considered the good guy? If so, what is that number? Are there exceptions? These are all questions I’ve failed to answer. All I can say is that, in the grand scope of heroes’ stories that often feature blameless children pitted against mass murdering adults, it sure is weird that I can even ask this. Let’s get into the math:

How Many People Has Eleven Killed?

By our count, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) has been responsible for the deaths of 21 people. Twelve of those deaths happened in Season 1. Her escape from Hawkins Lab led to six guards being killed. Five more were killed when she telekinetically threw a van at them. Then there was Connie Frazier (Catherine Dyer), the Hawkins Lab government agent who was the main antagonist of Season 1. Eleven ended her by crushing her brain.

Season 2 was a relatively peaceful one for Eleven, which meant no deaths. But Season 3 was more chaotic. Towards the back half of the season, she killed four Russian soldiers. That brings us to Season 4. In the first half of Season 4, she killed three Project Nina guards by slamming them against the roof. The second half saw her taking out two U.S. soldiers as they were shooting at her friends from a helicopter. That’s not the biggest kill count of this show, but it is staggering considering that Eleven is a 15-year-old girl.

How Many People Has Vecna Killed?

Eleven’s count may be high, but Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) has her beat. The monster formerly known as Henry Creel has directly killed 40 people. That number jumps up to 41 if you count Max’s (Sadie Sink) brief trip to the grave.

In a move fitting for one of TV’s greatest serial killers, Vecna, aka One, aka Henry Creel started with his mom. As a child, Vecna killed two people: his mother and his sister. His next massacre as One was far deadlier. By the end of Stranger Things 4 Part 2, we learned that One, and not Eleven, was responsible for the bloodbath at Hawkins Lab. Based on the flashback in “The Hellfire Club”, he killed an estimated 21 people: 13 lab subjects, two orderlies, two guards, Ten, Alec, Dr. Ellis, and Six. A flashback during “The Massacre at Hawkins Lab” later reveals that Vecna killed even more people in Hawkins Lab than we thought. This new scene shows the deaths of nine guards, three orderlies, as well as Selee and Miller. So that’s 35 for this laboratory massacre. By the way, all of those deaths happen before the main action of this season started.

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). But wait, there’s more. You could add Max to this list since Vecna does actually kill her. But since Eleven brings her back, the death comes with a major asterisk.

Another asterisk has to do with Vecna’s indirect death count. He has knowingly and consciously murdered many, but there are countless others who have died due to his actions. For example, we know that when Vecna’s gates came together, at least 22 Hawkins residents died, including jerky jock Jason Carver (Mason Dye). Who knows how many others have perished in the wake of his various schemes? Since he’s been the puppet master behind this entire series, it’s not insane to at least partially blame him for the deaths caused by various Demogorgons, Upside Down bats, and the Mind Flayer. Basically, if you only count direct deaths that have stood the test of time, Vecna is up to 40. But if you count indirect deaths, that number is at least 62 people, but probably more. A lot more.

Can Eleven Kill Too Many People Before She Stops Being A Hero?

Thankfully, this thought experiment has ended with our girl in the moral right. When death is on the table, it’s pretty important that your hero hasn’t killed more people than your biggest villain. But just the fact that we’re asking these questions speaks to an uncomfortable truth about this show.

Killing 21 people isn’t nothing. But Eleven has only killed people in either self-defense, or to save her friends. When it comes to brutal murder, context matters, and a shocking number of her foes have been cool with pulling a gun on a child. That objectively makes them trash.

That said, now we’re comfortably in double digits and Eleven has done absolutely none of the handwringing that typically comes with superheroes ending lives in the name of justice. We’ve been trained to think of our main characters as being morally superior to the rest of us, people who can still find compassion for their greatest enemies. Even our heroes that have rejected that route have had to grapple with the moral reckoning that comes with ending another person’s life. It’s weird to see Eleven and her friends bragging about her kill count with the same cavalier confidence you’d expect from Deadpool.

There are no good answers here. If Stranger Things addresses this problem, we’ll have to sit through hours of Eleven crying and calling herself a monster, like she did in the first two thirds of Season 4 when she thought she was responsible for the Hawkins Lab massacre. Boo. Hard pass. If the show skips over this uncomfortable truth, we’ll have to politely ignore the fact that our best girl has basically wiped out two soccer teams worth of people. Like most arguments with friends, this one is a thought experiment with no good outcomes. But thankfully, nobody died in the process.

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Why does vecna start killing ? from StrangerThings

*SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4 OF STRANGER THINGS BELOW!*

Over the past few seasons of Stranger Things, our favorite group of friends from Hawkins has faced many monsters from the Upside Down. Demogorgons? Check. Mind Flayers? Check again. But now there’s a new creature coming to wreak havoc on our sweet little Indiana town, and you won’t believe the Hawkins history this new guy Vecna brings to the table. As with everything in Stranger Things, things are not what they seem, and this might be the most surprising reveal in the history of the series. (So make sure you finish watching Stranger Things 4 before continuing on, and don’t say we didn’t warn you!)

Here’s everything you need to know about who Vecna is in Stranger Things 4.

Who is Vecna according to the group? What are their theories?

Okay, seriously. Last chance to run away before we dive deep into some big spoilers!

At first glance, Vecna looks like a brand-new monster that has come to turn things upside down (no pun intended) in Hawkins. After mysterious murders start occurring around town, many locals believe they have something to do with the Hellfire Club and satanic rituals (it was the ’80s). But it actually all led back to Vecna and the Upside Down.

Eventually, the crew figures out through Max’s experiences that Vecna targets those with extreme guilt, typically over the loss of someone, and uses a mind link to connect with them. But at a certain point, the mind link causes them to head mentally to the Upside Down, where Vecna kills them, leaving their bodies behind in the real Hawkins while becoming more powerful in the other world.

Since all the monsters in the Upside Down are connected, Dustin figures out that Vecna is not killing people just for fun but rather for the purpose of opening more gates between Hawkins and the alternate world to ultimately help the Mind Flayer. “If the Demogorgon was just its [the Mind Flayer’s] foot soldier, Vecna is his five-star general with the power to open gates,” he points out.

Who is Vecna really?

We find out in episode 7 that just like how everything in the Upside Down is connected, Vecna is also deeply connected to Hawkins and Eleven.

Nancy (who is still in the Upside Down with Steve) ends up under Vecna’s control, and she starts seeing visions about Barb’s death. However, unlike everyone else who ends up seeing only broken parts of Creel House, Nancy—likely due to all the research she’s done—is able to see all the pieces together and look back into Vecna’s memories.

It’s revealed that Vecna is actually Victor Creel’s son, Henry. After realizing he has powers while feeling alone in his own home, Henry decides to attack his own family and kill them to test his power. Victor is framed for the murders at Creel House, while his son is taken away.

At Hawkins National Laboratory, Doctor Brenner experiments on Henry to try to ID the source of his powers. Eventually, Henry becomes powerful and Brenner attempts to duplicate these powers into others. Brenner tattoos the number 001 on Henry’s arm, calling him “One” and making him the first of the many kids experimented on…including Eleven. After a while, Brenner implants a chip in One to help curb his growing powers for good and forces him to work in the lab training other children who are growing their powers.

Realizing that Eleven is different and more powerful than everyone else, One decides to reveal more of the truth to her in an effort to help them escape. Eleven uses her powers to remove the implant, but before they can leave the lab, they are surrounded. In that moment, One finally shows his true powers and also tells Eleven to stay in a room so he can check if things are clear, saying he’ll soon come back for her.

After waiting a long time, Eleven steps out and heads to the Rainbow Room to see that One killed everyone in retaliation. He asks her to join him in trying to take over and “bring balance to the world,” but she refuses and they go after each other. Much to One’s surprise, Eleven ends up being more powerful than even he is and she sends him to the Upside Down, creating a portal in the process and also turning One into Vecna. Oof, that was a doozy. Anyway, now moving along to…

What are Vecna’s motives?

This is still a bit of a mystery. Whether Dustin’s theory is correct about Vecna working with the Mind Flayer still hasn’t been confirmed, but Vecna/One definitely has it out for the world that shunned him. Either way, he’s definitely not welcome at Hawkins, and the team is trying to do everything to take him down.

What are Vecna’s weaknesses?

As tested on Max and revealed by Victor, one way to break out of Vecna’s hold is to have the person listen to a song that is important to them. For Max, it’s “Running Up That Hill (a Deal With God),” by Kate Bush. While that’s good intel to have, the team will have to figure out a different plan if they want to get rid of Vecna more permanently.

What can we expect from Vecna in Stranger Things season 4 part 2?

Now that Eleven remembers who One/Vecna is, there’s no doubt she’ll try to use her powers to stop him again (if she has them back, that is…). Meanwhile, Nancy still seems to be under Vecna’s control, which means the Hawkins group will have to work fast to save her and also make sure the rest of the town is safe in time for El to arrive. Luckily for us, part 2 drops on July 1!

Who plays Vecna/Henry/001?

Jamie Campbell Bower is playing the Stranger Things 4 big, bad villain. The actor, who has previously appeared in the Twilight series and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, landed the coveted role and has since revealed that it would take him about seven hours in a makeup chair to turn into Vecna. He also got really into character by spending some time alone and figuring out how to connect with Henry/One’s anger.

“I wouldn’t speak to anybody outside of the Stranger Things world for at least four days before filming anything. I would find myself doing some pretty wild stuff. If anyone saw me walking around the streets of Atlanta at 2 in the morning talking to myself, they would understand. I was just bringing up a lot of anger, particularly for Vecna,” he told Variety.

Surely all of Vecna’s Jamie’s rituals are already paying off given all the growing hype around part 2 of the show’s latest season, which literally comes out this week!