Vecna is taking children because they are "perfect vessels" to create a massive psychic link, allowing him to merge the Upside Down with the human world, reshaping it in his image; he targets them as they are more malleable and controllable than adults, with Will serving as his initial "pilot program," and now seeks 12 to act as stable anchors for a full-scale dimensional takeover, as revealed in Stranger Things 5.
The reason Vecna is kidnapping little kids because he is trying to recreat what he thought he had with 11 and the other kids who turned against him when he git his powers back. The last kid they show dying is the strongest one - 10. Will and 11 join forces to destroy Vecna after they see him kill Mike.
The reason for that is likely that the turmoil of teen-agers is plumper, juicier, and easier to exploit than that of adults. Younger people probably make better dimension bridging devices/batteries and their suffering last longer. Vecna needs those gates to destabilize the barrier between dimensions.
Vecna wants 12 kids to create a Time Machine/tesseract (A Wrinkle in Time being an easter egg) or the Wormhole. Each kid is powering it. I figured this because there are twelve numbers on a clock, twelve months in a year. And there's something in the cave shown where max hid, I think dr.
Vecna also went after Chrissy Cunningham early in the season, as her trauma from her mother made it easy for her to fall into his hands. Stranger Things season 4 delved into Vecna's origin story as well, from his upbringing at the Creel House to becoming Dr. Brenner...
However, after he revealed his true nature as a misanthropic, nihilistic, and genocidal psychopath, Eleven overpowered Henry and sent him to the Upside Down, where he was gradually disfigured by its abnormal lightning and toxic atmosphere, transforming him into the being known as Vecna.
Fred Benson, another Hawkins High student, was Vecna's next target. The previous year, Fred had crashed a car and accidentally caused his friend's death; Fred was haunted by survivor's guilt ever since, making him a perfect target for Vecna.
Vecna targets Will Byers because Will shares deep psychic similarities, being a sensitive outsider, and became a crucial anchor or "phylactery" for Vecna's power after being connected to the Mind Flayer; Vecna sees Will as a vessel, a mirror of himself, and potentially a key to his immortality, needing him alive to maintain his own strength while also wanting to corrupt and use him.
William's obsession with becoming immortal makes him have no sense of remorse or care for people, seen when after he cruelly murdered five children, instead of regretting his actions, William wanted to continue his killing spree by setting up a new trap called Circus Baby's Pizza World.
He also confirms that he chooses to prey on children because they are easier to fool and scare. He believes their fears are easier to interpret in a physical manner, which he claims is similar to "salting the meat", as frightened flesh tastes better to him.
Vecna (Henry Creel) fears the cave because it's the site of his first, deeply traumatic exposure to the Upside Down, where he was accidentally teleported and first encountered the Mind Flayer, a moment that forever changed him and corrupted his humanity, despite his adult mind repressing it. The cave represents the origin of his powers and his loss of self, making it a place of terror and a mental prison he cannot enter, even in his own mindscape.
It began possessing rats, forcing them to consume chemicals in order to form animate biomass. One such rat was caught by Mrs. Doris Driscoll, who was later infected by the rat and became "Flayed". She also consumed fertilizer in order to create a chemical reaction in her body which would break her down into biomass.
Hopper later went to Eugene's farm and discovered that the pumpkins were succumbed to the same rot. After realizing that the rot was actually originating from Hawkins National Laboratory, Hopper convinced Dr. Sam Owens to send a team of scientists to test the contaminated pumpkin patches for any leak from the lab.
Contrary to what is stated; however, William designed these robots not with the intent of entertainment, but to capture and kill children to obtain Remnant, in which he discovered after knowing that his victims haunted the animatronics at Freddy's.
For Gabriel. Gabriel Johnson was one of the 6 children killed by William Afton at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in 1985. Gabriel was killed after being promised a free dog and lured into the back room of Freddy's, and his body was hidden inside the animatronic called Freddy Fazbear.
In experiments, babies consistently prefer people who help others and avoid those who show anger or harmful behavior. They're not judging “good” or “bad” like adults—but their brains are already wired to sense safety, kindness, and emotional intent.
The first Afton child to die is widely believed to be the Crying Child (sometimes called Chris or Evan Afton), who died from the "Bite of '83" at Fredbear's Family Diner after his older brother Michael put his head in the animatronic's mouth as a prank, leading to a fatal crushing. While some theories place Charlotte Emily (Henry's daughter) as the absolute first victim in the lore timeline, the Crying Child is the first of William Afton's own children to perish.
William Afton, within what is implied to be the Spring Bonnie suit, had approached the five children - Susie, Fritz, Gabriel, Cassidy, and Michael - and had lured them into a back room. Back there, he had slaughtered all five, before stuffing them into the mascot suits.
Afton's famous last words in the first film before succumbing to his fatal injuries from the springlock malfunction, foreshadowing his return as Springtrap in the future - a reference from the game Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator. I always come back!
While Nancy Wheeler loses her virginity to Steve Harrington, Barb Holland awakens in a waterless, dark version of Steve's pool, every surface covered in fleshy black vines.
Yes, in a way, the Demogorgon used Will Byers as a host to "impregnate" him with larvae from the Upside Down, as a part of the creature's reproductive cycle and the Mind Flayer's larger plan to spread its influence. A tendril was inserted down Will's throat, essentially planting a larva that would grow, leading to him coughing up slug-like creatures, but Will survived because Joyce and Hopper removed the tendril and the Mind Flayer's influence was later burned out.
Henry is no longer capable of feeling anything other than rage and sadness, which he later advised Eleven to use to fuel her powers. Due to this, Henry (even as Vecna) is unable to comprehend positive human values, which can be a weakness for him.
Max had kept running away because she wasn't happy about the marriage. Which is why Billy gets so upset when she says it's "his" fault that they moved into Hawkins. Although even though it's supposed to be before the events of season 2 and leading into that.
Fred Benson Stranger Things Death Explained (What Was His Trauma?) Fred Benson's personal trauma, his guilt over a car accident that killed another kid, plays into his ultimate demise at the hands of Vecna in Stranger Things season 4.
Jason, after being knocked out by Lucas, woke up to see the gate's opening, bisecting him as the fissure spread. All four curse gates then proceeded to tear through Hawkins, causing massive destruction and killing dozens of townspeople, before merging at the center of the town.