Here's How Victor Creel Ties Into Stranger Things 4, In Case You're Confused
He's (C)reel creepy.
For the bulk of Stranger Things 4, the Hawkins gang is trying their damndest to figure out a totally new mystery revolving around the demonic murderer, Vecna. But it isn’t until they hear the story of Victor Creel, a veteran who moved to Hawkins back in the ‘50s, that they finally get their first clue about Vecna. And as it turns out, that first clue really was the biggest. Here’s what you need to know about Victor Creel in Stranger Things 4, because he really is central to the mystery.
Spoiler alert: This section of the post contains light spoilers up through Episode 4 of Stranger Things 4. Eddie’s uncle is the first person to bring up Victor Creel, telling Nancy of his theory that the convicted murderer must have escaped the asylum to murder Chrissy in his trailer. Through research, Nancy and Robin learned Victor was charged with murdering his family in gruesome, ritualistic ways shortly after moving to their new home in Hawkins back in 1959. However, there was more to the story than the newspapers reported. While Nancy and Robin visited Victor in the asylum where he was imprisoned, Victor confirmed Nancy and Robin’s suspicions that Vecna was the true murderer behind his family members’ demises. Victor said a demon had been torturing the family for a while, until it finally attacked. Victor was only able to survive; the kids realized this was because the Ella Fitzgerald song playing on the radio broke Vecna’s spell and brought Victor back to reality.
Fans should have known Victor Creel would become more than just a red herring this season. Stranger Things teased the importance of the Creel house and its backstory long before Season 4 dropped, in a teaser clip released in September 2021.
Through Victor’s story, the gang was able to deduce that Vecna’s home base is in the Creel house, but it isn’t until the end of Vol. 1 that everything really comes together.
Spoiler alert: The rest of this post contains major spoilers from Stranger Things 4 Episode 7, the final episode in Vol. 1. In the final moments of Season 4, Vol. 1, Vecna’s true identity was finally revealed to be none other than Victor’s son, Henry Creel. It turned out, Henry was actually Dr. Brenner’s very first test subject, so he’s also known as One. He was turned over to Brenner after he used his growing powers to murder his mother and sister, having grown disgusted by humanity.
Through her memory training, Eleven was able to unlock her repressed memory of helping One escape Brenner’s control, only to realize his evil intentions. In her fight against him, Eleven was able to unlock her full power for the first time, opening up a gate to the Upside Down and sending him through it. In the process, Henry’s body distorted into his current Vecna form.
Upon first viewing, fans might not have realized just how important Victor Creel’s backstory was, but that shocking reveal will probably have you rewatching it to pay extra special attention to Henry. Fans are sure to learn even more about Henry/One/Vecna when the final two episodes of Stranger Things 4 arrive on July 1.
