D&D General An Iconic D&D Villain Features In Stranger Things’ New Seasom

Following on from Season 1's Demogorgon, the producers of Stranger Things have confirmed in an IGN interview that the villain in the upcoming 4th season of the show is named after the iconic D&D archlich Vecna!

Perhaps the juiciest part of this very juicy trailer was not one, but two shots of our new big bad, who, as the brothers revealed, is named Vecna. One comes in at the very beginning, with a shot of him opening his eyes as his creepy voiceover reads, “your suffering is almost at an end,” which Matt calls “our Hellraiser line.” Ever since Season 2, the Duffers say, they wanted to do a character that was similar to the horror figures that terrified them growing up, from Freddie Kruger to Pinhead to Pennywise.

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[ko6ux]

I disagree, I think an intelligent, relatable villain is just what stranger things needs to keep things fresh. They've run 3 seasons where the monster was some cryptic, alien creature, and while it worked great, by the third season the formula was getting quite stale. They really need to do something different to keep the show interesting for another season, and this looks like a promising approach.

To each their own, but a thing can be intelligent without relatable. It was obvious that there was some overarching intelligence behind the threats that the Stranger Things kids had been fighting. I was just hoping for a more alien, unknowable intelligence than what it appears in this trailer.

 

[LordEntrails]

To each their own, but a thing can be intelligent without relatable. It was obvious that there was some overarching intelligence behind the threats that the Stranger Things kids had been fighting. I was just hoping for a more alien, unknowable intelligence than what it appears in this trailer.

You mean like Cthulu in season 7?

 

[Alzrius]

There is a long tradition of the Head of Vecna being a thing.

Fun fact: the head of Vecna actually appears in Die Vecna Die! (affiliate link), though it's obviously not the real thing.

 

[Bacon Bits]

Ope! Apologies!

@Morrus

No worries. I've never gotten far into it because because I'm rewatching it with a friend I only see on weekends. It's been like a year and we're almost to where I was when we restarted!

This is just not the place I expected to see Stranger Things spoilers.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Well that seems like a bit of stretch.

I don't think it is that much of a stretch. Vecna is a very big personality in D&D like Lord Soth. And both were Ravenloft domain lords in their careers. It is just personal taste, but my reaction to this information is it reduces my enthusiasm for what is coming.

 

[Lidgar]

Can I get a new Stranger Things shirt with this on the front?

 

[dave2008]

I don't think it is that much of a stretch. Vecna is a very big personality in D&D like Lord Soth. And both were Ravenloft domain lords in their careers. It is just personal taste, but my reaction to this information is it reduces my enthusiasm for what is coming.

It is not literally Vecna, just like it was not literally Demogorgon of a Mind Flayer in the previous seasons. It is some kids playing D&D relating something from the game they play to issue they are facing in their lives. It is not Vecna. Have you watched the series?

 

[darjr]

Yea, I think the very best part to me is that hey are not the D&D monsters. Confusion and mistaken identity make it seem more realistically horror to me. Heroic horror sure.

 

[Dire Bare]

No worries. I've never gotten far into it because because I'm rewatching it with a friend I only see on weekends. It's been like a year and we're almost to where I was when we restarted!

This is just not the place I expected to see Stranger Things spoilers.

We've seen the villain in the new trailer. So, this thread is about as spoilery as the trailer. We now know that at some point, the kids decide to call the villain "Vecna" . . . but this tells us nothing about the villain other than it is evil and scary. Just like the "demogorgon" was nothing like D&D's Demogorgon, and the "mind flayer" was nothing like D&D's mind flayer.

 

[Tonguez]

So, the big villain of Stranger Thing is ... a man in a rubber suit?

I am underwhelmed. This show was soundly in the "cosmic/weird horror" genre. The last thing it needs is a humanoid undead as the BBEG.

Apparently the seasons being split into 2 parts, so if Vecna menaces part 1 Im guessing the true bbeg will show up in part 2 ( and next season). Especually since theyre doing a Pinhead homage