Vecna targets Max in Stranger Things because her trauma and guilt make her an ideal victim to fuel his plan of opening gates between Hawkins and the Upside Down. He also fixates on her specifically after she escapes him once, turning her into both a personal obsession and the crucial “fourth kill” needed to complete his portal.

Max’s trauma and guilt

• Max is consumed by grief and survivor’s guilt over her stepbrother Billy’s death, plus depression and isolation from her friends.

• Vecna preys on people with intense psychological pain, using their darkest memories to break them down, so Max’s mental state makes her a perfect target.

Role in Vecna’s plan

• Each of Vecna’s kills opens a new gate to the Upside Down in Hawkins, and he needs four victims to fully tear the barrier open.

• Max, once marked by his curse, becomes strategically important: her death would complete the fourth gate and trigger the large-scale destruction of Hawkins.

Why he stays fixated on her

• After Max first escapes using “Running Up That Hill” and her happy memories, Vecna is enraged and becomes more determined to claim her as a victim.

• Because Max and Eleven are close, harming Max is also a way for Vecna to hurt Eleven psychologically and undermine her resistance to him.