Valak is the over-arching antagonist of The Conjuring Universe who takes on many forms to spread terror. Here are the demon's real-life origins.

Summary

• Valak's history and origin in the Conjuring Universe dates back further than its first appearance in The Conjuring 2, with the prequel The Nun revealing its fallen angel backstory and its release into the world.
• Valak appears in multiple forms throughout the Conjuring movies, mainly taking the shape of a Catholic nun with eerie features. However, it has also appeared as the Crooked Man and its original form, Valak the Defiler.
• Valak draws inspiration from real-life demonic entities, with a rich history in literature and occultist writings. Its depiction in the films has solidified its status as an iconic horror villain.

Valak returns in The Nun IIto expand the demon's massive presence in The Conjuring Universe and add to its already robust origin and myriad forms. A direct sequel to The Nun, a film that explored Valak's origins beyond what had been hinted at in The Conjuring films, The Nun II follows Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) and Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) investigating a priest who's been violently murdered in 1950s France, with all signs pointing to Valak's return, despite the fact that they sent the demon back to hell with a powerful mixture of faith and holy weapons.

Taking inspiration from biblical and pagan history, Valak (as played by Bonnie Aarons) first appeared in The Conjuring 2 in the guise of a Catholic nun, but after being incredibly popular, the demon was incorporated into other parts of The Conjuring universe, with the film releases not necessarily coinciding with the horror franchise's precise chronology. While Valak's presence has sometimes generated confusion among fans of The Conjuring Universe, particularly in terms of where The Nun 2 takes place in The Conjuring timeline, there's no denying how effective a villain Valak is throughout the films.

Valak's History & Origin In The Conjuring Universe

As far as the franchise is concerned, Valak first appeared in The Conjuring 2, but the demon's origins go back further than that, and the prequel The Nun revealed that Valak was, in actuality, a fallen angel banished to Hell by St. Michael the Archangel. When a Romanian Duke built the Cârța Monastery, he attempted to use its catacombs to summon Valak, but the Vatican killed him and sealed the rift with the Blood of Christ before that could happen. After the monastery was bombed during World War II, Valak was finally freed and posed as a nun both hiding in plain sight and mocking the Catholic Church.

After possessing several nuns and priests and forcing them to commit violence, Valak was believed to be defeated by Sister Irene and Frenchie, though at the conclusion of The Nun, it's revealed that he bears an inverse cross on the back of his neck, which ties into the original Conjuring film and a lesson the Warrens teach about demonic possession. Eventually, Frenchie underwent an exorcism after trying to kill his wife, but the Warrens weren't able to save him, leaving Valak to attach itself to the Warrens in The Conjuring 2 and eventually, Janet Hodgson.

Valak's Multiple Names & Forms In Conjuring Movies Explained

Valak has taken on many forms throughout The Conjuring franchise as an over-arching nemesis of the Warrens and other innocent victims. In The Nun, The Nun II, and The Conjuring 2, Valak took the form of a Catholic nun with pale white skin, sunken, black-rimmed yellow eyes, and needle-sharp teeth. When Valak didn't appear as a nun in The Conjuring 2, the demon presented itself as The Crooked Man, the entity shown terrorizing Janet Hodgson, and its original form, Valak the Defiler, is only ever seen by Ed and Lorraine's daughter Judy Warren when she accidentally switches on the projector and sees Frenchie's exorcism.

In Annabelle: Creation, Valak has a cameo standing behind Sister Charlotte in a picture taken during the time that Valak would have been masquerading as a nun in Romania. A post-credit scene of the film reveals that Valak was still roaming Cârța Monastery in Romania in 1952. The movie makes clear that Valak intentionally assisted the spirit of the doll in accomplishing its goal by appearing as a nun to Janice and leading her into the cottage where Annabelle could take possession, and was still alive to encounter the characters in The Nun 2.

Which Conjuring Universe Movies Valak Appears In

Valak first appears in The Conjuring 2 as both the nun and The Crooked Man from the "There Was a Crooked Man" rhyme. In the film's interpretation, the demon sought a human host in order to escape its confinement within the Cârța Monastery. Valak first appeared during a seance involving Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdering his family, and after her encounter with the demon through reliving the murders, Lorraine couldn't shake it and neither could her husband Ed, who painted Valak in the demon's iconic nun garb. Later, the British Hodgson family becomes tormented by the spirit of the previous homeowner of their house, Billy Wilkins.

When Ed and Lorraine visit the Hodgsons, they find that Valak, in the guise of The Crooked Man, has been the one tormenting the family, not Wilkins, which culminates in a showdown to exorcise Valak back to Hell. The Nun then had a cameo in Annabelle: Creation that hinted at its reign of terror in Romania in the '50s, and finally, its origins were explained in The Nun and followed up in The Nun 2. That being said, there are effectively 3 Conjuring movies to see before The Nun 2 which contains a mid-credit scene that includes Ed and Lorraine Warren and sets up a reunion with Valak for The Conjuring 4.

The Real Life Inspiration For Conjuring's Demon Nun

Valak's real-life inspiration isn't far removed from the origin story that the demon gets in The Conjuring movies. Valak was an angel rejected by God and sent to Hell, where he eventually transformed into a demon and became known as the Great President of Hell, with legions of lesser demons that he could command to do his bidding. The films showcase him as something terrifying and sinister, but in literature, he was often depicted as a winged boy riding a two-headed dragon, with the ability to dispense gifts to seduce his victims (such as showing Lorraine an image of her husband being impaled in order to sway her judgment).

Valak (also appearing as "Volac," "Valac" and "Ualac" in literary explanations) has been examined in various grimoires and treatises stretching back centuries. Dutch physician Johann Weyer discussed Valac in his Pseudomonarchia Daemonum in regard to people being falsely accused of witchcraft in the 16th century, and occultist Aleister Crowley wrote about him in The Lesser Key of Solomon in the 19th century. Valak's rich history as a terrifying supernatural force has been effectively translated into a compelling cinematic villain that has not only dominated The Conjuring Universe but cemented him as a truly iconic horror villain.