Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Stranger Things 4has introduced a very unlike translation of the classicDungeons & Dragonsvillain Vecna . Some change made to Vecna are obvious I because of the divergence between the public ofD&Dand a unrecorded - action serial . The other departure , however , are more like twists to the Vecna intimate toD&Dplayers .
[ discourage : This article contains freebooter for Stranger Things 4 . ]
The first volume ofStranger Thingsseason 4 was let go May 27 , 2022 , on Netflix , and over the seven episodes , audiences are care for to a terrifying interpretation of Vecna wreak havoc on Hawkins . TheD&Dversion of Vecnahas been mentioned in many publications over the decades but was most heavily feature in the adventure moduleVecna Lives!for theWorld of Greyhawkcampaign mount . Vecna has also appear inCritical Role’sfirst effort facing off against Vox Machina as they fought to halt his ascension to godhood .
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When adapting such anevil and well - knownD&Dvillain , the Duffer Brothers have been clever in maintain sealed face ofD&D’sVecna while interchange others to suit their scope . Vecna ’s background and identity element have all had to take a shift to meet into the world ofStranger thing ; however , there are still enough element forD&Dfans to recognize . When watchingStranger matter 4,D&Dfans will notice all the fashion this Vecna is both standardized and different to the classic arch - lich .
Similarities Between Vecna in Stranger Things and D&D
In the universe ofD&D , Vecna started life as a deathly king who feared destruction so much he eventually became an arch - lich , an extremelypowerful undead spellcaster inD&D. MostD&Dplayers are potential to be intimate with this variation of Vecna . There are various possibility throughout theD&Dmultiverse on how Vecna achieve this stratum of power . One possibility is that he used a rite to absorb mightiness from someone on multiple planes of existence .
The arch - lich variant of Vecna is not too different from how Vecna inStranger Things 4is run . Toward the end of volume one , both Dustin and Nancy have extend to the conclusion that Vecna is using the deaths of the people he is killing to fertilise his own business leader and grow in strength to open more gateways . Although this adaptation of Vecna is not undead , he was also a mortal military personnel who has been mutated by the parallel earth of The Upside Down .
During his rise to powerD&D’sarch - lich Vecnawas betrayed double , each time by loyal followers . The first was a half - demon called Acererak , who order for Vecna to be ambush for gain his favour and get access to Vecna ’s most closely guarded arcanum . The 2d was Vecna ’s most confide deputy Kas , who Vecna had ordered to manage the forging of a power brand which was to serve well as a symbol of his office . Vecna ’s evil , however , manifested in the blade , which seduced Kas into usurping his master and pour down him .
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This stem of betrayal is again echo inStranger thing 4when Vecna is revealed to be Henry Creel , aka One . As One , Vecna manipulated Eleven into freeing him of Dr. Brenner ’s control resulting in the massacre of faculty and children at the Hawkins Lab . However , One is betrayed by Eleven when she rejects his offer to go with him and fight back .
Differences Between Stranger Things Vecna and D&D
D&D’spowerful Vecnaand the version inStranger Things 4have differences that are more obvious and legion . Within theD&Dmultiverse Vecna , after being betrayed by Acererak , became haunt with derive and keeping secrets . Vecna ’s hunger for secrecy aided in his quest for magnate and led to him being idolise by cultists , creating the cultus of Vecna .
InStranger Things 4 , Vecna does not horde secrets , instead claim that he wishes to reveal a person ’s Sojourner Truth to them . When speak with Eleven One / Vecna take a firm stand that he is holding up a mirror to mass ’s dead on target nature . Each of One / Vecna ’s victims in Hawkins had something they were hiding from others or at least something he perceived they were hiding , and through manipulating their enigma , One / Vecna was capable to gain increasing access to their minds .
AfterD&D’sVecna was endedby Kas , he finally uprise to godhood after his cult amassed enough followers . As a deity , Vecna did not arrogate a specific arena but wandered the entireD&Dmultiverse . There are similarity with Vecna fromStranger thing 4 , who , although powerful and influential in the Upside Down , does not wholly control it like the Mind Flayer .
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When speaking to Eleven in Hawkins Lab , One claim that she , like him , is superior to steady world . He equate humanity to a pest job and , in an endeavor to convert her to fall in him , tells her that they could reshape the world together . One / Vecna importune that humans enforce an abnormal structure on the existence and relate to life as a silly , dreadful play . One / Vecna claims he is a predatory animal but for good , unlike theevilD&Dcharacter , and that he wishes to restore balance and order of magnitude to nature .
This is the most significant deviation from theD&Dversion of Vecna , who never showed any interest beyond accumulating top executive and achieving immortality . InD&D , Vecna think that every living thing hold a enigma that he could fake to bring about its demise . Once all enigma had been discovered and exploited , Vecna believed he could achieve control over others . This variant of Vecna aimed to make more ability by destruct other God . His pledged enemy was the Raven Queen , a goddess with territory over life and death . InD&DVecna envied the Raven Queen , who have the alone ability to amass knowledge from the person of the idle . Among Vecna ’s many goals was to bring down the fairy and rule the entire Shadowfell .
Until the final volume ofStranger Things 4arrives on July 1 , 2022 , all the remainder between the two versions of Vecna will not be completely clear . Will One continue his finish to rid the world of manhood , or has his focus changed to array more with the object glass ofD&D’sVecna ? Although godhood is unlikely forStranger thing 4’sVecna , it would make for a herculean villain for Eleven and the team to face up . Perhaps as more of his king are reveal and grow , he will morph into a creature more like to hisDungeons & Dragonscounterpart .
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