The "Stranger Things" villain Vecna shares his name with an undead lich from which tabletop game?

The Stranger Things villain Vecna shares his name with an undead lich from the tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons.

In Dungeons & Dragons, Vecna began as a powerful wizard who became a lich, an undead spellcaster who uses magic to defy death. His mythology is especially recognizable because only his left hand and left eye remained after his body was destroyed. Those relics became the famous Hand of Vecna and Eye of Vecna, powerful artifacts in the game’s lore.

Stranger Things uses Dungeons & Dragons names as labels for supernatural threats, including the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer. The characters call Henry Creel “Vecna” because his powers, monstrous transformation, and role as a terrifying supernatural enemy resemble the game villain. The television character is not literally the same being as the tabletop lich: the name is an in-universe comparison made by the Hawkins characters. Vecna first appeared in D&D material in the 1970s.