Stranger Things: Was Vecna The Final Villain Or Is The Real Monster Still In Hawkins?

Stranger Things had me hooked since day one. But when Vecna popped up as the big bad in Season 4, I didn’t exactly jump out of my seat. Yeah, he’s creepy. Sure, he’s powerful. But the final villain? Not buying it. From the start, the show’s real horror came from the unknown. The Upside Down wasn’t scary just because of its monsters. It was terrifying because we didn’t know what lurked in it.

Season 1 had us piecing together clues like a D&D campaign gone sideways. But with Vecna? It felt like the curtain had been pulled back too far. We saw his backstory, understood his trauma, and even heard his twisted logic. That mystery? Gone.

Why Did Vecna Feel Beatable Despite Being Stranger Things’ Big Bad?

While I get why the Duffers leaned into his humanity, it gave him depth — it also made him feel somewhat beatable. He had a face. A name. A music-based weakness. Come on. Kate Bush blasting from a walkman doesn’t exactly scream “apocalypse.” Cool scene? Absolutely. But as a narrative tool, it was a little too easy.

Also, let’s talk kills. Vecna took out random side characters and got close with Max, but that’s just it. Close. He didn’t land a single blow that truly rocked the show’s core. Compare that to the Mind Flayer, who took over Hawkins one gooey body at a time. Vecna tortured, sure. But he wasn’t terrifying.

Is The Real Monster Still In Hawkins?

The real villain was never Vecna. It’s still the Mind Flayer. Always has been. That shadowy spider from Seasons 2 and 3? That thing still gives me chills. It was never fully explained, never really understood. And that’s what makes it stick. Will was possessed by it, the town was nearly consumed by it, and even when it formed that grotesque biomass monster, we never quite knew what it was. That’s the kind of fear you can’t kill off with fire or music.

Even with Vecna controlling it, the Mind Flayer never lost its menace. It was vast. Unknowable. More force of nature than villain. Unlike Vecna, it didn’t need a monologue to scare you. It just hovered over Hawkins like a nightmare you couldn’t wake up from.

So yeah, Stranger Things Season 5 might bring Vecna back with some vengeance. But if the Duffer Brothers really want to stick with the landing, they’ll bring the focus back to what made the show legendary in the first place: the mystery. The horror of not knowing. And the real monster still lurking beneath Hawkins.

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