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Villain Overview

You failed. Just as you have failed everyone in your life. Tomorrow, a village will be missing its idiot. You should've kept running when you had the chance, Frenchman.
~ Valak, whilst possessing Sister Irene and before it possesses Frenchie.
There was a crooked man... and he walked a crooked mile,
[...] The crooked man stepped forth and rang the crooked bell!
And thus his crooked soul spiraled into a crooked Hell,
Murdered his crooked family and LAUGHED A CROOKED LAUGH!
~ Valak as the Crooked Man; its own twisted rendition of "There Was a Crooked Man".
Your name gives me dominion over you, demon, and I do know your name! You are Valak - the defiler, the profane, the marquis of snakes! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, I condemn you back to Hell!
~ Valak's defeat as Lorraine Warren condemns the demon back to Hell.

Valak, also known as The Nun, is the main antagonist of The Conjuring Universe.

Valak is an extraordinary powerful demon that manifests as a demonic nun to both mock the faith of its enemies and to hide among them. It also holds the title as the archenemy of the Warrens, Lorraine Warren in particular, with their rivalry starting when she exorcised it from Maurice towards the end of its origin film. It was once an angel but rejected and sent to prison in hell by God.

Valak is the archnemesis of Lorraine Warren and Sister Irene.

It is portrayed by Bonnie Aarons as a nun and Javier Botet as the Crooked Man, with its voice provided by Robin Atkin Downes. Botet also played Tristana Medeiros in the REC film series, Mama in the film of the same name, Myrtui in The Other Side of the Door, the Leper, one of the many forms of It, in the 2017 adaptation of IT, KeyFace in Insidious: The Last Key, Slender Man in the 2018 film of the same name, and Dracula in The Last Voyage of the Demeter. While possessing the Abbess of St. Carta, it was portrayed by Gabrielle Downey.

Personality[]

I've seen her stalking the hallways at night, we all have. She looks like us, but she's not one of us, it's something unholy. It takes on different forms to deceive us and prey on our weaknesses, it appears as a nun so it can hide among our cloister until it can corrupt us all.
~ Sister Oana to Sister Irene on Valak.

The personality of Valak is as horrific as its physical form of a nun. It is a very wicked, ruthless, sadistic, cold, and completely despicable demon, shown when it begins to haunt and terrify the Hodgsons family just for its own twisted pleasure. These traits make it feared by the nuns of the abbey of St. Cârța in Romania. It is spiritually oppressive, taunting Lorraine about her Catholic faith. Valak holds a grudge over the Warrens for being exorcised out of Maurice by them, showing a vengeful side to itself.

Despite its abominable cruelty, Valak is shown to be really intelligent, well-organized and a good mastermind, being able to disguise itself as a nun to not be noticed in the abbey and she also succeeded in tricking the Warrens by making them think it was Bill Wilkins who possessed Janet instead of Valak itself. However, it’s trick was revealed when Bill Wilkins tells Lorraine that he wasn't the one who possessed Janet. Valak mostly put things down and pushed people back with a blast of breath. Even hidden in the shadows, Irene was the only nun who can see it.

Valak also has a silent and opportunistic personality. It likes to play with it’s adversaries before killing them, and only speaks when it is possessing someone, with even then saying few words. If it is in it’s nun form outside of a vessel, it doesn’t speak.

History[]

Past[]

In ancient times, Valak was once an angel in Heaven who served God. However, a fellow angel named Lucifer rebelled against God and gathered other angels to become his followers, including Valak. After the rebellion, Lucifer, Valak, and the other angels were cast out of Heaven. Lucifer became Satan and Valak and the other angels who were cast down became demons. In the process, Valak was not only stripped of its status as an Angel, but was also stripped of its special powers it had as an Angel.

The Nun[]

In this prequel, it is revealed that the Cârța Monastery was built somewhere in the country of Romania by a duke centuries ago. Becoming obsessed with dark magic and Satanism, the Duke attempted to summon a demonic force from the catacombs only to be killed by the members of the Vatican who then sealed the rift with the Blood of Christ. Hundreds of years later, the monastery was bombed heavily during the events of World War II, releasing the same evil spirit from its imprisonment. The demon had since taken the form of a nun as a means of blending with the other nuns as well as to mock their faith. Throughout the years, nuns continuously prayed in communion to combat the evil, but in vain as while the rift remained open, Valak was free to walk freely around the monastery every night, whilst killing them one by one.

By 1952, Valak had slaughtered all of the nuns, leaving only two survivors. After murdering one after she retrieved the key to the relic, the other, Sister Victoria, commits suicide in order to prevent Valak from claiming her as a host. Sometime after her death, the Vatican tasks Burke and Sister Irene to investigate. Valak manipulates the characters throughout the film ranging from creating mass illusions with the ghosts of the slain nuns to weakening Sister Irene and tormenting Father Burke by taking the form of a young boy who had died from a botched exorcism at his hands. Valak then buries Father Burke alive before luring Sister Irene to become possessed. When the catacombs began to flood, Valak tries to strangle Sister Irene to death. While inspecting her for any vital signs, Sister Irene spits the Blood of Christ onto Valak, burning it severely. The rift is then resealed. However, this would prove to be in vain as just before being banished, Valak had managed to latch itself onto Frenchie, a French Canadian otherwise known as Maurice who is revealed to have an inverse cross branded on the back of his neck. This segues to the original Conjuring film during a lesson the Warrens were giving about demonic possession. Valak spent years posing as Maurice before being outed by Ed and Lorraine Warren, who then had priests try to exorcise the demon. Before they could, however, Valak willingly left Maurice (an act which caused his death several years later) and cursed Lorraine to have visions of Valak and Ed's death as revenge.

The Nun II[]

Sometime in between the events of The Nun and The Conjuring 2, Valak returns with a vengeance against Sister Irene. It is revealed that right before Sister Irene banished Valak back to Hell, Valak tethered himself to Maurice in order to escape banishment. Using Maurice as a pawn, Valak scoured the catholic boarding school in search of a lost ancient relic known as The Eyes of Saint Lucy. Upon finding out what the demon was after, Sister Irene found the relic and dug it up, only for Valak who was possessing Maurice to attack her and take the relic.

After obtaining the relic his eyes glow yellow with his full Angelic powers back, Valak now has accesses his full potential again, and made quick work of Sister Irene and her allies. However, through deep belief and conviction, Sister Irene and her new nun apprentice were able to wash Valak in wine turned into Christ’s blood, and set him on fire. They also freed Maurice from Valak’s possession in the process. It is currently unknown if Valak was sent back to Hell or not, but it is likely he will eventually return, never stoping for vengenace against Sister Irene.

Annabelle: Creation[]

Sister Charlotte shows Mr. Mullins a picture of herself in Romania with three other nuns. Mr. Mullins asks who the nun in the background of the photograph is. Sister Charlotte looks at the nun, revealing Valak to be standing behind her in the picture. She tells him that she does not remember who the "woman" is as she never met her.

In a post-credits scene, Valak is seen roaming the candlelit halls of the Cârța Monastery in Romania in 1952. This was however just a teaser for the (at the time) upcoming spin-off featuring Valak.

The Conjuring 2[]

Valak first appeared during a séance to determine whether or not a demonic presence was truly responsible for Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdering his family on November 13, 1974. Whilst paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren relieved the murders, Valak lured her to the basement in the form of a demonic nun in order to blaspheme her faith in Catholicism. Knowing how special Ed was in her life, Valak showed her a vision with Ed being impaled. Valak had continued to haunt Lorraine since then.

After Ed was compelled by a dream to paint Valak in its nun form, tormented Lorraine with another vision of Ed being impaled, using the painting to its advantage, as well as blaspheming the song Hark! The Herald Angels Sing to indicate its arrival.

Later in the movie, the Hodgson family, a British household living in the United Kingdom, starts experiencing paranormal activity. On top of that, Janet Hodgson, the youngest daughter, becomes possessed by the spirit of Bill Wilkins, the previous owner of the house the Hodgson family is living in. When the Hodgsons retreat to their neighbor's house, Valak appears as The Crooked Man when it transformed from a dog before Billy Hodgson and attacked him before turning into a shadow, quoting the Crooked Man's own rhyme with some sinister twists to it. When the shadow reveals itself to the family, it appears to be Janet possessed by the demon who continues to present itself as the character. This makes the Hodgson family call for help and Ed and Lorraine take the case.

When Ed and Lorraine Warren eventually come close to outing Valak, the demon has Janet deliberately throw furniture about in front of a camera, leading to all the paranormal investigators dismissing it as a hoax and leaving. Seizing the opportunity, Valak possesses Janet and chases the other Hodgson's out of the house, preparing to sacrifice Janet. On the train back, Lorraine has a vision of Bill Wilkins himself, who reveals he wishes no harm upon the family, that Valak had manipulated him into tormenting the family, to prevent her and everyone else from seeing the true perpetrator and not letting him move on into the afterlife.

Soon after they discover that Valak is behind everything, Ed and Lorraine return to the Hodgson residence, only to find all of the Hodgsons, except for Janet, locked outside. A lightning strike hits a nearby tree, leaving a jagged stump resembling the object that impaled Ed in Lorraine's first vision. Ed ventures into the house alone but Valak causes the pipe to burst open, partially blinding his eyes with steam. Valak (in the form of the Crooked Man) appears before him in Billy's tent and tries to kill him by the umbrella, but fails because of Ed's resistance. Ed eventually finds Janet standing near the window and getting ready to commit suicide. Ed grabs Janet in time but finds himself holding onto a shower curtain being torn from its rings due to Ed and Janet's combined weight. Soon, Lorraine enters the room herself. She finds and confronts Valak (now as the nun) and successfully condemns Valak back to Hell.

Powers and Abilities[]

  • Demonic Physiology: Valak is a powerful demon being known as the Marquis, the Unholy, Marquis of Serpents, and is the leader of more than 100 legions of demons in Hell, being shown more powerful than Malthus. After reclaiming his lost Angel powers, Valak became at least four times as powerful as he was before.
  • Advanced Telekinesis: Valak is shown to have Telekinesis on a massive scale, being able to throw people, furniture and other objects without even being in the same room. Another example of its sheer power is shown when it telekinetically throws a barrel and anchor at Sister Irene. It's also able to telekinetically unlock doors and break them off their hinges.
  • Advanced Intelligence: Valak is an extremely intelligent demon. This is proven when it tricks Ed and Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring 2, using Bill Wilkins as a pawn, fooling them into thinking it was him haunting the British family.
  • Advanced Pyrokinesis: Valak is shown to have Pyrokinesis on a large scale, being able to set people and objects alight.
  • Aerokinesis: Valak has Aerokinesis. This is shown in the Conjuring 2 when it shows itself to Lorraine, creating a reasonable amount of continuous wind in the room. This is shown again in The Nun II, when it appears at the end of the movie, creating a continuous strong breeze, howling throughout the clocktower.
  • Possession: Valak can possess people at will. This is shown when it possesses Janet in The Conjuring 2, shown again in The Nun when it possesses Sister Irene, and shown again when it possesses Maurice in The Nun II. Upon enhancing his powers using the eyes of St. Lucy, Valak can now separate himself from his vessel, while still possessing them.
  • Animal Manipulation: Valak was able to manipulate his accounts.
  • Levitation: Valak managed to levitate over the water to his sister Irene.

Trivia[]

  • In mythology, Valac is known as the Great President of Hell, with over 30 legions of demons at his command. Valak manifests as an angelically winged boy riding a two-headed dragon and it possesses the power to find treasures. In the case of the film, Valak's treasure was the vision of Ed Warren being impaled, which it offered to his wife Lorraine as a "gift".
  • Other ways to spell Valak's name include "Valac", "Ualac", "Valax", "Valu", "Valic", and "Volac".
  • Despite the fact that many people have thought that the Crooked Man was a completely computer-generated character, he was actually played by Javier Botet with heavy makeup. Botet was born with elongated limbs and digits, allowing him to portray tall, skinny characters (especially monsters) with little to no alternations made to his appearance aside from makeup and wigs.
  • In the original draft of The Conjuring 2, Valak was intended to only appear as a dark figure with horns (similar to its "true form" seen later in the film). Only three months before the film was intended to release, James Wan suddenly had the idea of reimagining the creature as a demonic nun that mocked Lorraine's faith. The film crew reshot several scenes of Lorraine facing Valak and digitally altered Ed's painting from the horned demon to the nun.
  • The character of the Crooked Man was designed by the conceptual artist Jared Krichevsky (Krampus (2015), TMNT: Out of the Shadows), who revealed that director James Wan initially envisioned The Crooked Man "with a large moon face.".
  • In The Conjuring 2, right after Lorraine wakes from her nightmare, the decorative wood letters V, A, L, A, and K can be seen spelling out Valak's name on the bookshelf behind her.
  • It was implied that Valak appeared as a nun in order to test Lorraine Warren's faith and distort her perception of her Catholic beliefs. The Nun film, however, makes it clear that Valak had already taken the visage of a nun long before, as his description in a book by the count who summons him during the middle ages already describes Valak as such.
  • Its ability to block Lorraine Warren's visions makes it the most dangerous spirit that the Warren couple ever met.
    • Valak is the most powerful entity thus far in the series, as compared to Malthus the Annabelle Demon, which required a conduit to commit evil, Valak was capable of such without one.
  • In 2018, the same year The Nun was released, there was an ad for the film where it shows something messing with the user, shutting the volume off completely. After this happens, Valak in its Nun form appears roaring loudly, ending the ad. However, YouTube controversially removed the ad for containing a jump-scare (which violated its terms of service).
  • Valak posing as the Nun appeared as a cameo in the 2018 film Blood Fest.
  • Valak appeared as one of the three main antagonists (alongside Bathsheba Sherman and Annabelle the Doll) of "The Conjuring Universe" haunted attraction at Warner Brother's 2018 Horror Made Here event.
  • Many have mistaken Valak appearing in the scene where a nun-like figure pushing Janice's wheelchair in an attempt for Malthus, the demon that latched onto the Annabelle doll, to possess her. However, it was actually Malthus itself attacking Janice in Sister Charlotte's form. It did, however, make a brief cameo in a picture of Sister Charlotte in Romania with three other nuns and Valak appears in the shadows at the very back. It also makes a cameo in the post-credits scene roaming around Saint Cartha's monastery in Romania, as promotion for The Nun (2018).
  • A movie about Valak in its Crooked Man form was in development and was to be titled The Crooked Man. In November 2022, The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 director, James Wan, announced that the film was shelved permanently.

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