Vecna targets Max in Stranger Things because her intense grief and guilt after Billy’s death make her the kind of traumatized, vulnerable teenager he preys on, and because he needs such victims to power his plan to open gates between Hawkins and the Upside Down. Once he marks her, he keeps going after her even after she escapes the first time, both because she has not truly healed from her trauma and because her death is meant to be the crucial “fourth kill” that completes his ritual.

Max’s emotional vulnerability

• Vecna selects victims who are already suffering from deep psychological pain, like depression, guilt, and trauma.

• After Billy sacrifices himself in season 3, Max isolates herself, blames herself for his death, and shows signs of suicidal ideation, putting her in an especially “bad place” that makes her an ideal target for Vecna’s manipulations.

How Max fits Vecna’s plan

• Vecna’s kills are not random; each victim’s suffering and panic fuel the psychic power he uses to open and strengthen gates into the real world.

• By the time of season 4’s finale, Vecna has decided Max will be his fourth victim, the kill needed to fully break the barrier between Hawkins and the Upside Down, so he continues to pursue her even after music briefly protects her.

Narrative and personal reasons

• Within the story, continuing to target Max also lets Vecna torment Eleven by threatening someone Eleven cares about, aligning with his pattern of psychological cruelty rather than simple efficiency.

• Outside the story, the creators have explained that “it had to be Max” once she was cursed, because her partial escape only delayed, not removed, the danger; the plan was always that she would risk herself again to give the others a chance to stop Vecna.