Is Vecna the Voldemort of Stranger Things? Harry Potter fan theory explained

Vecna is the big bad of Stranger Things, and the former Henry Creel is entering his devious endgame this week when Season 5 returns. But is he just the Voldemort of Hawkins? Parallels between the pair are both unmistakable, and numerous.

Stranger Things has worn its influences on its sleeve, featuring non-stop nods to the likes of ET, Gremlins, Ghostbusters, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Thing, The Goonies, Scanners, and It.

But as we learn more about Vecna – the overarching villain of the piece – so fans are noticing clear similarities with the antagonist in the Harry Potter books and films; namely Lord Voldemort.

So here’s a few ways in which Vecna is Hawkins’ answer to “you-know-who,” and why Will Byers is the show’s Harry Potter.

Gifted children who turn on humanity

Netflix

Before they became villains, Voldemort and Vecna were gifted children who could effortlessly read those around them, and possessed a disturbing mean streak that included torturing animals.

Voldemort was Tom Riddle, who explored the dark side of magic from a young age, and bullied his fellow pupils at Hogwarts. Vecna was Henry Creel, who manipulated his family, and also experimented with his special powers.

The world didn’t understand them, and they responded by rejecting the idea of being “just human,” with Riddle using magic to break free from his mortal coil, and Henry utilising his powers to transcend the feelings and emotions that he believed made people weak.

Monstrous Metamorphoses

Their villainous turns are not driven by accident or outside forces – rather for both Vecna and Voldemort, it’s a choice. And the mental soon becomes physical, when they undergo metamorphoses that reflect their inner corruption.

He-who-must-not-be-named strips away his own humanity through Horcruxes until he becomes more snake than man.

While Henry Creel’s frustration and rage turns him into a distorted monster in the Upside Down; one who’s in need of a nose job as much as the Dark Lord.

Fighting psychological warfare

Netflix

In both stories, the villains invade the mind first, and the world second, trying to turn their targets by reshaping and rewiring them.

Voldemort uses Legilimency to plant visions in the brains of his foes, and turn dreams into Freddy Krueger-like traps.

Vecna forms similar mental connections with the children of Hawkins, exploiting memories, pain, and trauma to weaken his victims before taking control of their minds.

Building armies of the lost and vulnerable

A war brews in both stories, for which the villains need an army to fight the powers of good. They go about assembling their forces in much the same way, like a cult collecting members.

Voldemort recruits the the resentful, the disillusioned, and those hungry for power, with his Death Eaters normal people who fall under his spell.

Vecna targets the broken, the lost, and the vulnerable of Hawkins, taking advantage of their suffering, guilt, and fear to turn them into disciples.

Reshaping the world

Both Voldemort and Vecna seek to change – or rather fix – the world, by reshaping it in their own image.

Voldemort is obsessed with blood purity, and his racist ideology demands a world where only “worthy” wizards reign supreme.

Vecna wants to collapse the barrier between Hawkins and the Upside Down, so he can remake reality through his own monstrous logic.

A dark connection to the light

Voldemort’s connection to Harry Potter mirrors Vecna’s link with Will Byers, with both boys made to feel isolated by a curse that no one around them can understand.

Harry’s connection is born when Voldemort tries to kill him, and through the scar that results, he sees the Dark Lord’s pain, emotions, and plans.

Will becomes a host for the Mind Flayer – as made explicit in the above Season 5 clip – and he too can sense Vecna’s presence and intentions.

Stranger Things has positioned Will Byers as the emotional key, and perhaps the solution to the Vecna problem, just as Harry was to Voldemort. So when the final battle arrives on Netflix this New Year’s Eve, it won’t just be a simple fight; rather it will be the collision of two forces that have been spiralling toward each other from the very beginning.

Stranger Things 5 returns this week, while for more Hawkins action, check out the Stranger Things characters most likely to die in the final chapter, a breakdown of the Season 5 time jump, details of how Barb might return, and Dexerto’s favorite Stranger Things episodes ranked.