Stranger Things S5: The Internet’s Inconvenient Crush on Vecna, Explained

I hope this is a safe space.  I didn’t wake up planning to romanticise Vecna when I started watching Stranger Things Season 5 at 6.30 AM on November 27. And yet, somewhere between the posture, the unnerving silence, and that snatched waist situation, I found myself doing the unthinkable: trying to understand him.

Which is how it always starts, I guess

Let’s be clear, this is a man who has snapped teenagers like glow sticks and rearranged eyeballs for sport. Morally, this should be a non-starter. And yet… here we are. Because pretty privilege is real, and apparently, it does not stop at the gates of the Upside Down.

The Internet Didn’t Make This Up,  The Show Did

This latest spiral really kicked off after a recent interview where Noah Schnapp andMillie Bobby Brown were asked which villains from the show they think are misunderstood. Schnapp’s answer? “Low-key Vecna, because like—”

Cut off. Sentence unfinished. The Internet ruined. Spiralling over a Vecna-Voldemort-in-an alternate-universe scenario. And suddenly, everyone is asking the same question: Are we about to be asked to feel sorry for Vecna?

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Worse — are we already doing it?

Part of the problem is that Vecna isn’t just Vecna. He’s Henry Creel. He’s One. He’s 001. He’s Mr Whatsit. He’s a child, a lab experiment, a psychic prodigy, and an interdimensional middle manager.

Too many identities? Too many sides? As someone who has a different personality depending on the day, the trauma, and the outfit — I fear I relate.

Each version of him chips away at the idea that he’s just a monster. And the more human he becomes, the harder it is not to sympathise. Which is dangerous. Because sympathy is how villains get fandoms.

The Trauma Is Doing Heavy Lifting

In season 4, we already see that Vecna doesn’t choose victims at random. He targets people who are already hurting. Grief, guilt, PTSD — he senses it, feeds on it, amplifies it. Which has led to the now-dominant theory that Vecna isn’t the original evil at all. The Mind Flayer is.

That Henry was the first victim. Controlled, twisted, and slowly reshaped into the perfect weapon.

As one Reddit user put it, he can be manipulated and have darkness inside him. Two things can be true at once. And that’s exactly what makes him compelling — he’s not innocent, but he’s not unfazed either.

Unfortunately, He Looks Excellent While Being Tragic

Now we need to address the real reason this discourse exists.

The show did not have to make Henry Creel alluring. And yet, in Volume 1, it absolutely did. With Mr Whatsit: The suit.  The stillness. The way he stands, like he knows something you don’t.

Season 5 only doubles down — sharper styling, deliberate movements, and hands that have been zoomed in on far more than necessary. This is not accidental. This is intentional villain framing. And it works because attraction softens judgment every time.

If Vecna didn’t get his nails done, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But he did. So here we are.

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Why We Always Do This

Vecna is just the latest in a long line of villains we’ve collectively decided to “understand.” Loki? Anakin? Killmonger? Thanos — a man who wanted to erase half the population and still got think pieces written in his defence.

At some point, you have to wonder if this is why Thanos wanted us gone. Because as a species, we see a sad backstory and a sharp jawline and immediately start drafting excuses.

Vecna doesn’t even need a redemption arc. He just needs enough tragedy for us to project onto him. And suddenly, the monster becomes a mirror.

The Real Twist Isn’t Vecna — It’s Us

If Stranger Things Season 5 reveals that Vecna was never the original villain, just the most corrupted casualty, then the real reveal isn’t about him.

It’s about us.

Because we didn’t wait for lore, flashbacks or official confirmation to start sympathising. We did it the second he looked human. The second he looked good. The second we caught ourselves thinking, but what if he didn’t choose this? And that’s truly the unsettling part.

Not that Vecna might be misunderstood — but that understanding him came so easily.

So honestly? Thanos might’ve had a point.

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