Character Relationship Map: The Nun

Characters

• Sister Irene (played by Taissa Farmiga) — protagonist

  Devoted Catholic nun who confronts ancient demonic forces in Romania and France to protect the innocent.

• Father Burke (played by Demián Bichir) — protagonist

  Former priest with a haunted past who joins Sister Irene to investigate a Romanian abbey's dark secrets.

• The Nun / Valak (played by Bonnie Aarons) — supporting

  Ancient demonic entity disguised as a nun, seeking to corrupt holy sites and claim human souls.

• Lorraine Warren (played by Vera Farmiga) — supporting

  Clairvoyant and spiritual medium who senses demonic entities and guides her husband in supernatural cases.

• Carolyn Perron (played by Lili Taylor) — supporting

  Mother of five whose family is tormented by a witch's curse in their new Rhode Island farmhouse.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Carolyn Perron → Lorraine Warren (Narrative Case Witness) — Carolyn is connected to Lorraine through the supernatural case that follows the epilogue.

  Carolyn Perron watches Lorraine and Ed Warren present footage of their attempt to exorcise a possessed older man. The incident initiates their investi...

• Lorraine Warren → The Nun / Valak (Conflict Supernatural Target) — Valak reaches Lorraine through a possessed survivor after the Romanian events.

  At the university seminar, the possessed older man grabs Lorraine and shows her a vision of Ed dying. The plot states that Valak had possessed him.

• Father Burke → The Nun / Valak (Conflict Supernatural Adversary) — Burke's investigation and religious role place him directly against Valak.

  Valak lures Burke through hallucinations of a boy connected to his failed exorcism and buries him alive in the graveyard. Burke later helps investigat...

• Sister Irene → The Nun / Valak (Conflict Arch Enemy) — Irene is the principal human opponent of Valak.

  Valak attacks Irene, possesses her in the tunnel, and later tries to drown her. Irene uses the blood of Christ to cast out and banish the entity.

• Sister Irene → Father Burke (Alliance Investigation Partner) — They work together as the central investigative team against the supernatural threat.

  The Vatican sends Father Burke with Sister Irene to Romania to investigate the monastery attacks. They continue investigating the abbey together after...

Story Analysis

A novice and a haunted priest confront Valak, uncover the abbey's buried history, and seal the demonic rift through faith and sacrifice.

Plot Progression

1. The Abbey's Bloody Summons — An attack at the Romanian monastery brings Sister Irene and Father Burke into the investigation. Their arrival exposes an evil presence already surrounding the abbey.
2. Buried Beneath the Graveyard — The investigators encounter restrictive abbey rules and supernatural attacks. Burke is lured into a grave and rescued by Irene, making the threat immediate and personal.
3. The History of Valak — Irene learns about the abbey's occult origins, the sealed catacomb rift, and its reopening during wartime bombings. Burke identifies the demon as Valak, while the abbey's apparent leadership is reveal...
4. Prayer Against the Empty Abbey — Valak attacks Irene as the apparent nuns provide deceptive comfort. Irene discovers that the nuns were never real and that the last surviving nun sacrificed herself against possession.
5. Blood in the Flooded Chamber — The trio retrieves the sacred vial and prepares Irene for the final descent. Valak possesses and nearly drowns her, but Irene uses the blood of Christ to banish the entity and seal the rift.