MOVIE NEWS – The overarching antagonist of The Conjuring Universe, who takes many forms to spread terror. Here is the true origin of the demon.

Valak returns in The Nun 2 to expand the demon’s massive presence in The Conjuring universe, adding to its already robust origins and myriad forms. The Nun 2 is a direct sequel to The Nun, which explored the origins of Valak beyond those already hinted at in The Conjuring films. The film follows Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) and Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) as they investigate the violent murder of a priest in 1950s France. All the signs point to the return of Valak, despite the demon being sent back to hell with a potent mix of faith and holy weapons.

Inspired by biblical and pagan history, Valak (played by Bonnie Aarons) first appeared in The Conjuring 2 as a Catholic nun, but after becoming incredibly popular, the demon was incorporated into other parts of the film universe, with the film appearances not necessarily coinciding with the exact chronology of the horror franchise.

Its presence has sometimes caused confusion among fans of the universe. Especially in terms of where The Nun 2 takes place in The Conjuring timeline. But it is undeniable how effective a villain Valak is throughout the films.

The origins of the demon go back further. The prequel film The Nun, revealed that Valak was actually a fallen angel banished to hell by the archangel St. Michael. When a Romanian prince built the Cârța monastery, he tried to use its catacombs to summon Valak. But the Vatican killed him and closed the rift with the blood of Christ before this could happen. After the monastery was bombed during World War II, Valak was finally freed. He posed as a nun, hiding and mocking the Catholic Church.

After seizing several nuns and priests and forcing them into violence, Valak was believed to have been defeated by Sister Irene and Frenchie. At the nun’s conclusion, she is revealed to be wearing an inverted cross around her neck, a link to the original Conjuring film and the Warrens’ lesson on demonic possession. Finally, Frenchie is exorcised after trying to kill his wife. But the Warrens were unable to save him. Thus, the Someone in The Conjuring 2 became attached to the Warrens and eventually to Janet Hodgson.

More names and forms of Valak in The Conjuring films

Some have taken many forms throughout the franchise, such as the overall nemesis of the Warrens and other innocent victims. In The Nun, The Nun 2, and The Conjuring 2, the demon took the form of a Catholic nun with pale white skin, sunken yellow eyes with black frames, and needle-sharp teeth. When Valak did not appear as a nun, the demon revealed itself as “the crooked man”, the entity that terrorised Janet Hodgson.

His original form, “Valak the Defiler”, is only seen by Ed and Lorraine’s daughter, Judy Warren, when she accidentally turns on the projector and sees Frenchie’s exorcism.

In Annabelle: The Creation, Valak is standing behind Sister Charlotte in a cameo in a picture taken at the time when the demon was disguised as a nun in Romania. In a later scene in the film, it is revealed that Valak was still wandering around the Cârța convent in Romania in 1952. The film makes it clear that the demon deliberately helped the baby’s ghost to achieve his goal by posing as a nun to Janice, leading her to the cottage where Annabelle could take possession of it and still be alive to meet the characters in The Nun 2.

The real inspiration behind the villain of The Conjuring franchise

The real-life inspiration of someone is not far from the origin story that the demon gets in the movies. According to related literature, he was an angel rejected by God and sent to hell, where he eventually turned into a demon. He became known as one of the mighty lords of hell, with legions of lesser demons at his command to do his bidding. The movies portray him as a fearsome and sinister being.

But in literature, he was often portrayed as a winged boy riding a two-headed dragon and able to hand out gifts to seduce his victims.

Valac (who also appears in literary commentaries as “Volac”, “Valac”, and “Ualac”) has been the subject of numerous grimoires and treatises going back centuries. The Dutch physician Johann Weyer, in his Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, discussed Valac in relation to people falsely accused of witchcraft in the 16th century. And occultist Aleister Crowley wrote about it in the 19th century in his work The Lesser Key of Solomon. The demon’s rich history as a fearsome supernatural force was effectively transplanted into a compelling cinematic villain. The character not only dominated The Conjuring universe but cemented him as a truly iconic horror villain.

Source: Wikipedia