“Stranger Things” Season 4 not only introduced us to Henry Creel/Vecna – the series’ big bad, who has been pulling the demogorgon strings from the very beginning – but also how he came to be in a parallel world called Dimension X.
Creel was put in Dimension X by Eleven years before the events of Season 1, and in that time, the man traveled the alien land and grew acquainted with the bizarre landscape and alien species that lived there.
But what exactly is Dimension X? It’s still largely shrouded in mystery – so much so that fans often consider The Upside Down to be the same place when in fact they’re very different. Vecna, The Mind Flayer, and the demogorgons’ home will likely be a key factor in the final season, so here is what you need to know about Dimension X before starting your binge.
What is Dimension X?
Dimension X is an alternate plane parallel to the real world that Eleven forces Henry/One into during their fight in Hawkins Lab in 1979. Henry does not die despite being ravaged by a lightning storm during his transition to the dimension. Instead, he becomes an explorer of this desolate place that houses the various monsters – demogorgons, demodogs, demobats, the vines – and shattered pieces of earth floating in the air.
Henry calls it a place “unspoiled by mankind” and travels for years until he finds the floating particles that he’s able to manipulate with his powers and connect with. This allows him to create the Mind Flayer, who is able to link all the monsters of Dimension X into a hive mind that has allowed Henry – now more Vecna – to control them throughout the course of the series.
How is it different than The Upside Down?
Contrary to some initial belief, Dimension X and The Upside Down are not the same place. The Upside Down did not come to be until Eleven accidentally opened a gate and made contact with a demogorgon that Vecna sensed through the hive on Nov. 6, 1983.
In that moment, an exact copy of Hawkins was created – albeit one riddled with the vines and monsters Vecna discovered first in Dimension X. Every time the characters have headed to The Upside Down throughout the series, it has been stuck as a horrific version of Nov. 6, 1983 – which is also the day Will was kidnapped and taken there by Vecna.
It remains unclear if The Upside Down replaced Dimension X when Eleven made contact with the demogorgon, or if both still exist as separate places. There is a larger connection between our world, Dimension X, and what The Upside Down really is, and the Duffer brothers have assured that those answers will be found in Season 5.
