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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | Oh yes. They float, Georgie. They float. And when you're down here with me, YOU'LL FLOAT TOO! | „ |
| ~ Pennywise before killing Georgie Denbrough in the miniseries; his most famous quote |
| “ | I'll kill you all! Haha! I'll drive you crazy and I'll kill you all! I'm every nightmare you've ever had, I am your worst dream come true. I'm EVERYTHING you EVER were afraid of! | „ |
| ~ Pennywise threatening the Losers Club |
It, better known by its favorite form as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, is the main antagonist of Stephen King's 1986 horror novel of the same name, and its 1990 two-part drama miniseries adaptation of the same name.
It is a malevolent cosmic entity who preys on the people of Derry, Maine, mainly children, feeding on their fears and using the writhing, bright-orange lights that comprised Its own life essence, the "Deadlights": an eldritch form of energy (used as a dark, magical weapon by another villain in the Stephen King Mythos, the Crimson King) to render Its victims who see them to "float" and/or go permanently insane before sadistically devouring them. It could also shift into any form it wished, usually based on Its victims' fears, but mostly took on the form of a clown performer. It is the archenemy of the Losers Club, especially their leader Bill Denbrough, due to Its catalytic role in the death of his younger brother, Georgie Denbrough.
In the miniseries, its Pennywise form was portrayed by Tim Curry, who also voiced Anatoly Cherdenko in Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3, Taurus Bulba in Darkwing Duck, Hexxus in FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Skullmaster in Mighty Max, Slagar the Cruel in Redwall, Dr. Neugog in Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, Nihilus in The Story Keepers, Von Talon in Valiant, Joseph Chadwick in the Ben 10 franchise and Emperor Palpatine Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
What Makes It Pure Evil?[]
In General[]
- Upon arriving on Earth, It caused a massive cataclysmic event similar to an asteroid impact.
- Killed the natives that attempted to defeat It with the Ritual of Chüd in the past.
- It has proven it has moral agency and did what It did out of pure sadism, as It bullies and torments Its prey instead of just scaring and killing them, and, as explained in the novel from Its own perspective, It also views humans and life outside of Itself as inferior to It.
- It awakens every 27 years to devour the people of Derry (mostly children), having killed thousands of them over the years.
- It feeds primarily on children since they are easier to scare and taste better; as a result, It relishes in their fear and the "taste" It adds.
- Has tacked the corpses of Its victims onto a mountain full of those It had killed in the past in Its lair, showing Its sadistic nature.
- Is responsible for many tragedies in Derry over the years, such as the Kitchener Ironworks massacre, which killed 108 people, including 88 children, with one's head being decapitated and left in a tree, and the massacre at the Black Spot nightclub.
- Pennywise tricks Bill Denbrough's younger brother, Georgie Denbrough, by asking him if he wants It to give him his paper boat back before attacking him, biting his arm off, and leaving him to die without a second thought.
- Savagely kills Betty Ripsom by ripping her in half and hangs her corpse in a room at the Neibolt House.
- It kills Eddie Corcoran by tearing his arm off.
- Sadistically taunts all of the members of the Losers Club and uses Its powers to toy with them, exploiting all of their greatest fears and insecurities. This includes:
- Taunting Bill Denbrough with Georgie's death.
- Taunting Beverly Marsh with her father's sexual abuse, as well as her fear of the Witch from Hansel and Gretel and blood.
- Taunting Richie Tozier with his fear of werewolves.
- Taunting Ben Hanscom's overweight frame and exploiting that with his crush on Beverly.
- Taunting Mike Hanlon with the deaths of his parents in a fire.
- Taunting Stan Uris with the fear of a creepy-looking, flute-playing woman in a picture. Stan later commits suicide as an adult by slitting his wrists upon realizing It has returned.
- Taunting Eddie Kaspbrak with the fear of a leper, as well as his hypochondria and his relationship with his mother.
- It influences the adults not to do anything to help kids when they are in trouble.
- Drives Henry Bowers even more insane by forcing him to kill his abusive father and attempt to kill the Losers Club.
- Then causes Henry to take the blame for his murders, which leads to him being imprisoned in an insane asylum.
- Has also shown to have influenced Henry's behavior, noticeably being present every time Henry is more dangerously violent and homicidal.
- It is responsible for the deaths of the entire Bowers Gang.
- It drives Bill's wife, Audra Philips, into a catatonic state when she sees Its true form.
- Apparently rescues a gay man named Adrian Mellon after he had been harassed, only to brutally kill him in front of his boyfriend, Don Hagarty.
- Breaks Henry out of his mental asylum and manipulates him into going into another killing spree and trying to kill the Losers Club once again.
- While It meets a gruesome demise of being dismembered, eviscerated, and having Its heart ripped out and presumably crushed by the Losers Club, this isn't played for any sympathy at all, as It completely deserved it due to all of the horrible actions It had done, considering what It did to the victimized children and the Losers Club in general.
- Despite being a literal eldritch monster, It has very high intellect and displays a clear mind and personality.
- While Pennywise is pretty comedic and entertaining, it is merely a façade, and It is taken completely seriously in the story; even keeping this façade eventually reveals Its horrifying true form.
Novel exclusive[]
- Murdered over 340 settlers, and many years later, It killed a large group of lumberjacks as well.
- Killed a young girl named Esther Sinclair in a similar manner to Georgie.
- Brutally murdered a toddler named Frederick Cowan by drowning and partially devouring him, causing his mother to go insane and be confined in an insane asylum.
- Brutally ripped a boy's head off as he was heading home.
- Murders Patrick Hockstetter in the form of leeches, even though he outright deserved his fate, this was still malicious on Its end.
- The Losers Club mentions that all of Henry's friends were eventually killed by Pennywise, proving that It killed Peter Gordon, Moose Sadler, and Gard Jagermeyer as well.
- Hypnotizes Beverly's abusive ex-husband, Tom Rogan, when the latter arrives in Derry with the intent of killing Beverly as revenge for leaving him abandoned, in which It uses Tom to capture Audra and have her brought to Its lair in the city sewers. When Tom sees Pennywise in Its true form, he collapses dead from shock before his corpse is consumed, although he deserved it for his abuse towards Beverly.
- Tears Eddie Kaspbrak's arm off and kills him.
- During its cameo in 11/22/63, It tries to lure Jake Epping into the Kitchener Ironworks to kill and eat him.
- While it does scream in agony when Ben crushed its spider eggs might seem like a redeeming quality, this isn’t really redeeming as it only screams due to losing its means of an army, showing it presumably never cared for its own spawn.
Miniseries exclusive[]
- Killed Lorrie-Anne.
- Tears Georgie's arm off, leaving him to bleed to death.
- While its origins are left out in the miniseries, there's no evidence to suggest It is made of evil.
- Mocks Bill over Georgie's death by pouring blood over Georgie's photo.
- Mocks Ben over his deceased father by taking his form, turning into Pennywise, and attempts to scare him by turning into a swamp skeleton monster.
- Transforms into blood on Beverly Marsh's sink and taunted her that she will die if she tries to defeat It.
- Devours Belch Huggins by folding him in half and pulling him into the pipe.
- Drives Henry Bowers insane by showing its true form to him and framing him as the one responsible for the disappearances of the children in Derry, causing him to be imprisoned until he is an adult.
- Eats a young girl named Laurie Ann and leaves a half-devoured corpse of her, in which her mother finds and screams in horror.
- Taunts Ben in the library, telling him that he should leave Derry.
- Manipulates Henry Bowers into killing the Losers Club, resulting in Mike getting injured and put in the hospital.
- Squeezes Eddie's ribs until he dies.
Trivia[]
- It is the only live-action villain role of Tim Curry to be Pure Evil so far.
- Its 1990 incarnation was the first Pure Evil portrayed by Tim Curry, giving him (Alongside Robin Atkin Downes) the second highest acting and voice acting amount of Pure Evil villains after Jim Cummings.
- It serves as a foil to Its archenemy, Maturin, who (ironically) is Pure Good and Lawful Good in alignment, while It is Pure Evil and Chaotic Evil in alignment.
External Links[]
- It on the Villains Wiki
- It (novel) on the Hate Sink Wiki
- It on the Stephen King Wiki
- It on the Wikipedia
- It on the VS Battles Wiki
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 Pure Evils
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Novels Adaptations Kurt Barlow (2024) | Richard Straker (1979) | Overlook Hotel | Greg Stillson | Frank Dodd | Judge Axel | Damon Killian | It (2017) | George Stark | Samuel Norton | Bogs Diamond | William Wharton | Mr. Gray | Randall Flagg | Boogeyman | Kurt Barlow The Resurrection of Rose | ||
 Pure Evils
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The Tall Man | Michael Myers | Chucky | Ghostface | Freddy Krueger Others | ||