| NOTE: For the 2017-2019 film adaptation of It, see here. |
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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 |
| “ | 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 secondary antagonist of Stephen King's mythos, specifically as the main antagonist of Stephen King's 1986 horror novel of the same name and its 1990 miniseries adaptation.
It was a malevolent cosmic entity who preyed 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, Nihilus in The Story Keepers, Von Talon in Valiant, and Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
What Makes It Pure Evil?[]
In General[]
- Upon arriving the Earth, It caused a massive cataclysmic event similar to an asteroid impact.
- It killed the natives that attempted to defeat It with the Ritual of Chüd in the past.
- It awakened every 27 years to devour the people of Derry (mostly children), having killed thousands of them over the years.
- Although it might've been in Its infancy and lacked a moral agency before evolving, once turning into an intelligent and homicidal fiend, It remained proud of Its life choices and doesn't express any shred of remorse for Its own actions.
- It fed primarily on children since they are easier to scare and taste better; as a result, It relished in their fear and the "taste" It adds.
- It stacked the corpses of Its victims onto a mountain full of those It had killed in the past in Its lair, showing Its sadistic nature.
- It is responsible for many tragedies in Derry over the years, such as the Kitchener Ironworks, 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.
- It tricked 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.
- It savagely murdered Betty Ripsom by ripping her in half and hung her corpse in a room at the Neibolt House.
- It has proven It has moral agency and did what It did out of pure sadism, as It bullied and tormented Its prey instead of just scaring and killing them and, as explained in the novel from Its own perspective, It also viewed humans and life outside of Itself as inferior to It.
- It murdered Eddie Corcoran by tearing his arm off.
- It sadistically taunted all of the members of the Losers Club, and used Its powers to toy with them and 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, 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 his parents' deaths in a fire.
- Taunting Stan Uris with the fear of a creepy looking, flute playing woman in a picture. Stan would later commit suicide via slitting his wrists upon realizing Pennywise had returned, as he reached adulthood.
- Taunting Eddie Kaspbrak with the fear of a mythical creature called the Lecer, as well as his hypochondria and his relationship with his mother.
- It influenced the adults not to do anything to help kids when they are in trouble.
- It drove Henry Bowers even more insane by forcing him kill his abusive father and attempt to kill the Losers Club.
- It then caused Henry to take the blame for his murders, which lead to him being imprisoned in an insane asylum.
- It has also shown to have influenced Henry's behavior, noticeably being present every time Henry was more dangerously violent and homicidal.
- It is responsible for the deaths of the entire Bowers Gang.
- It drove Bill's wife, Audra Philips, into a catatonic state when she saw Its true form.
- It apparently rescued a gay man named Adrian Mellon after he had been harassed, only to brutally kill him in front of his boyfriend, Don Hagarty.
- It broke 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 had met a gruesome demise of being dismembered, eviscerated and having Its heart ripped out and presumably crushed by the Losers Club, it wasn'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 It was pretty comedic and entertaining as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, it was merely the façade It uses for the Pennywise persona, and It is taken completely seriously in the story, even dropping this façade would eventually reveal Its horrifying true form.
Novel exclusive[]
- It murdered over 300 settlers and many years later; It killed a large group of lumberjacks as well.
- It killed a young girl named Esther Sinclair in a similar manner to Georgie.
- It 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.
- It brutally ripped a boy's head off as he was heading home.
- It murdered Patrick Hockstetter in the form of leeches, although he deserved it.
- The Losers Club mentioned that all of Henry's friends were eventually killed by Pennywise, proving that It killed Peter Gordon, Moose Sadler, and Gard Jagermeyer as well.
- It hypnotized Beverly's abusive ex-husband, Tom Rogan, when the latter arrived in Derry with the intent of killing Beverly as revenge for leaving him abandoned, in which It used 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 considering his abuse towards Beverly.
- It tore Eddie Kaspbrak's arm off and killed him.
Miniseries exclusive[]
- It tore 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.
- It mocked Bill over Georgie's death by pouring blood over Georgie's photo.
- It mocked Ben over his deceased father by taking his form, turning into Pennywise, and attempted to scare him by turning into a swamp skeleton monster.
- It transformed into blood on Beverly Marsh's sink, and taunted her that she will die if she tries to defeat It.
- It devoured Belch Huggins by folding him in half and pulling him into the pipe.
- It drove Henry Bowers insane by showing Its true form to him, and frames him as the one responsible for the disappearances of the children in Derry, causing him to be imprisoned until he was an adult.
- It ate a young girl named Laurie Ann and leaves a half-devoured corpse of her, in which her mother finds and screams in horror.
- It taunted Ben in the library, telling him that he should leave Derry.
- It manipulated Henry Bowers into killing the Losers Club, resulting in Mike getting injured and put in the hospital.
- It squeezed Eddie's ribs until he died.
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 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 in status and Lawful Good in alignment while It is Pure Evil in status and Chaotic Evil in alignment.
External Links[]
- It on the Villains 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 The Resurrection of Rose | ||
 Pure Evils
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The Tall Man | Michael Myers | Chucky | Freddy Krueger Others | ||
