The Nun's History
Valak is the main antagonist of the The Conjuring Universe, first appearing as the main antagonist of the 2016 live-action horror film The Conjuring 2, as the titular main antagonist of the 2018 spinoff The Nun as well as the upcoming Crooked Man spinoff, as an unseen antagonist in the first The Conjuring film and as the secondary antagonist of Annabelle: Creation. Valak is a powerful demon that manifests as a demonic nun to both mock the faith of its enemies and to hide amongst them.
It is portrayed by Bonnie Aarons as a nun and Javier Botet as the Crooked Man, with its voice provided by Robin Atkin Downes. Botet also played Tristana Medeiros in the REC film series, Mama in the film of the same name, the Leper, one of the many forms of It, in the 2017 adaptation of IT, KeyFace in Insidious: The Last Key and Slender Man in the 2018 film of the same name. While possessing the Abbess of St. Carta, it was portrayed by Gabrielle Downey.
The Nun
In this prequel, it is revealed that the Câr�?a Monastery was built somewhere in the country of Romania by a duke centuries ago. Becoming obsessed with dark magic and Satanism, the Duke attempts to summon a demonic force from the catacombs only to be killed by the members of the Vatican who then sealed the rift with the Blood of Christ. Hundreds of years later, the monastery was bombed heavily during the events of World War II, releasing the same evil spirit from its imprisonment. The demon had since taken the form of a nun as a means of blending with the other nuns as well as to mock their faith. Throughout the years, nuns continuously prayed in communion to combat the evil, but in vain as while the rift remained open, Valak was free to walk freely around the monastery every night, whilst killing them one by one.
By 1952, Valak had slaughtered all of the nuns, leaving only two survivors. After murdering one after she retrieved the key to the relic, the other, Sister Victoria, commits suicide in order to prevent Valak from claiming her as a host. Sometime after her death, the Vatican tasks Burke and Sister Irene to investigate. Valak manipulates the characters throughout the film ranging from creating mass illusions with the ghosts of the slain nuns to weaken Sister Irene and tormenting Father Burke by taking the form of a young boy who had died from a botched exorcism at his hands. Valak then buries Father Burke alive before luring Sister Irene to become possessed. When the catacombs began to flood, Valak tries to strangle Sister Irene to death. While inspecting her for any vital signs, Sister Irene spits the Blood of Christ onto Valak, burning it severely. The rift is then resealed. However, this would prove to be in vain as just before being banished, Valak had managed to latch itself onto Frenchie, a French Canadian otherwise known as Maurice who is revealed to have an inverse cross branded on the back of his neck. This segues to the original Conjuring film during a lesson the Warrens were giving about demonic possession. Valak spent years posing as Maurice before being outed by Ed and Lorraine Warren, who then had priests try to exorcise the demon. Before they could however, Valak willingly left Maurice (an act which caused his death several years later) and cursed Lorraine to have visions of Valak and Ed's death for the next 8 years as revenge.
Annabelle: Creation
Sister Charlotte shows Mr. Mullins a picture of herself in Romania with three other nuns. Mr. Mullins asks who the nun in the background of the photograph is. Sister Charlotte looks at the nun, revealing Valak to be standing behind her in the picture. She tells him she does not remember who the "woman" is. as she never met her.
After Janice accidentally released the demonic doll Annabelle from the closet which the Mullins locked it in, she started being haunted by the doll, who saw her as a perfect host. After a brutal encounter the previous night, Janice is led outside by Sister Charlotte, however, a bell rings in the distance, causing Sister Charlotte to investigate and leave Janice by herself. A few moments later, Janice is being led into the barn by a nun-like figure, but when Janice looks up, she realizes with horror that she was being kidnapped by Valak, who had arrived at the Mullins home and was helping Annabelle with it's goal. Janice begged Valak to not go through with it but the demon didn't listen, cruelly dumping her inside the barn and locking the door, allowing Annabelle to finally get it's host.
In a post-credits scene, Valak is seen roaming the candlelit halls of the Câr�?a Monastery in Romania in 1952. This was however just a teaser for the (at the time) upcoming spin-off featuring Valak.
The Conjuring 2
Valak first appeared during a seance to determine whether or not a demonic presence was truly responsible for Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdering his family on November 13, 1974. Whilst paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren relieved the murders, Valak lured her to the basement. Knowing how special Ed was in her life, Valak shows her a vision with Ed being impaled. Valak had continued to haunt Lorraine since then.
After Ed was compelled by a dream to paint Valak in its nun form, Valak itself chooses the form to torment Lorraine, using the painting to its advantage.
Later in the movie, the Hodgson family, a British household living in the United Kingdom, start experiencing paranormal activity. On top of that, Janet Hodgson, the youngest daughter, becomes possessed by the spirit of Bill Wilkins, the previous owner of the house the Hodgson family is living in. When the Hodgson's retreat to their neighbours house, Valak appears as The Crooked Man when it transformed from a dog before Billy Hodgson and attacked him before turning into a shadow, quoting the The Crooked Man's own rhyme with some sinister twists to it. When the shadow reveals itself to the family, it appears to be Janet possessed by the demon who continues to present itself as the character. this makes the Hodgson family call for help and Ed and Lorraine take the case.
When Ed and Lorraine Warren eventually come close to outing Valak, the demon has Janet deliberately throw furniture about in front of a camera, leading to all the paranormal investigators to dismiss it as a hoax and leave. Seizing the opportunity, Valak possesses Janet and chases the other Hodgson's out of the house, preparing to sacrifice Janet. On the train back, Lorraine has a vision of Bill Wilkins himself, who reveals he wishes no harm upon the family, that Valak had manipulated him into tormenting the family, to prevent her and everyone else from seeing the true perpetrator and not letting him move on into the afterlife.
Soon after they discover that Valak is behind everything, Ed and Lorraine return to the Hodgson residence, only to find all of the Hodgsons, except for Janet, locked outside. A lightning strike hits a nearby tree, leaving a jagged stump resembling the object that impaled Ed in Lorraine's first vision. Ed ventures into the house alone but Valak causes the pipe to burst open, partially blinding his eyes with steam. Valak (in the form of the Crooked Man) appears before him in Billy's tent and tries to kill him by the umbrella, but fails because of Ed's resistance. Ed eventually finds Janet standing near the window and getting ready to commit suicide. Ed grabs Janet in time but finds himself holding onto a shower curtain being torn from its rings due to Ed and Janet's combined weight. Soon, Lorraine enters the room herself. She finds and confronts Valak (now as the nun) and successfully condemns Valak back to Hell.
The Crooked Man
Valak is set to appear in another spin-off, this time in its Crooked Man form, hinting that Valak manages to escape Hell.
