Valak

Valak is the main antagonist of the 2016 live action horror film, The Conjuring 2, and the upcoming 2018 spin-off The Nun. It manifests as a demonic nun before Lorraine Warren and as The Crooked Man before Ed Warren and the Hodgson family.

It was portrayed by Bonnie Aarons as a nun, and Javier Botet as the Crooked Man. Botet also played Tristana Medeiros in the REC film series, Mama in the film of the same name, Mytru in The Other Side Of The Door and would later play the Leper, one of the many forms of It, in the 2017 adaptation of IT.

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 in 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.

Later in the movie, the Hodgson family, a family 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. This makes the Hodgson family call for help and Ed and Lorraine take the case.

In the middle of the film, it appeared as The Crooked Man during a massive showdown sequence when it re-transformed from a dog before Billy Hodgson and attacked him and then its shadow appeared before the whole family, quoting its own rhyme with some sinister additional quotes. 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.

It is eventually revealed that the ghost of Bill Wilkins himself wishes no harm upon the family. Lorraine encounters him in a vision, where he exposes the truth that Valak had manipulated him into tormenting the family, to prevent her and everyone else from seeing the true perpetrator.

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 and successfully condemns Valak back to Hell.

Annabelle: Creation
Sister Charlotte shows Mr. Mullins a picture of herself in Romania with 3 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 doesn't remember who the woman is.

In a post-credits scene, Valak is seen roaming the candle-lit halls of the Carta Monastery in Romania in 1952.

Judging by the scene where Janice is led by a nun-like figure to the cottage where Annabelle possesses her, Valak intentionally helped the other evil spirit with its goal.

The Nun
A spin-off to The Conjuring 2 will be released in 2018 and it is rumored to be centered around Valak's origins.

Trivia

 * In mythology, Valac is known as the Great President of Hell, with over 30 legions of demons at his command. Valak manifests as an angelically winged boy riding a two-headed dragon and it possesses the power to find treasures. In the case of the film, Valak's treasure was the vision of Ed being impaled, which it offered to Lorraine as a "gift".
 * Other ways to spell Valak's name include Valac, Ualac, Valax, Valu, Valic, and Volac.
 * It has been confirmed that a spin-off film concerning the Nun is in the making. It was confirmed on April 27, 2017 that Bonnie Aarons will reprise her role.
 * Despite the fact that many people thought that A Crooked Man was completely computer-generated character, he was actually played by an actor with a heavy make-up.
 * The style and movements of A Crooked Man are reminiscent of the other supernatural come-to-life character, Mister Babadook.
 * The character of The Crooked Man was designed by conceptual artist Jared Krichevsky (Krampus (2015), TMNT: Out of the Shadows), who revealed that director James Wan initially envisioned The Crooked Man "with a large moon face."
 * In approximately 44' we can see the letter "V A L A K" in the bookshelf behind Lorraine Warren.
 * It was implied that Valak appeared as a nun in order to test Lorraine's faith and distort her perception of her Catholic beliefs.
 * Its ability of blocking the Lorraine's visions makes it the most dangerous spirit that the Warren couple ever met.
 * Valak may be the most powerful entity thus far in the series, and the "Evil Nun" in Annabelle: Creation implies that it has been manipulating events for some time, possibly making it the main antagonist of The Conjuring series overall.

Valak