It (character)

Fictional biography

A monster of unknown origins, It originated before the creation of the universe itself in a dimension named the "Deadlights," and its true form is never revealed. Because of this, the Losers' Club does not know what It actually is, giving the creature its name. It usually takes the form of the sadistic clown Pennywise which is used as a decoy when stalking a child. It takes the form of a monstrous pregnant female black spider in its home under the sewers, which is believed to be close to its true physical shape. Since It controls what happens in Derry, many of the child murders are never solved, as the adults of Derry either act as though nothing is happening or have forgotten about It.

The monster arrived on Earth in the form of an asteroid during prehistory, landing on what later would become the town of Derry, and hibernated there until humans settled and colonized the area. It awoke, fed on the settlers, and started a cycle of hibernation, in which It would sleep for almost three decades and be awake for over two years. Every time It's hibernation stage finished, events of extreme violence happened in Derry. To feed on its prey, It transforms into the shape of whatever the victim most fears. This, the creature informs readers, is the equivalent of "salting the meat."

In the intervening periods between each pair of events, a series of child murders occurred, which were never solved. The book's surface explanation as to why those murders were never reported on the national news was that location mattered to a news story—a series of murders, no matter how gruesome, do not get reported if they happen in a small town. However, the book's implied reason for why the atrocities went unnoticed was far more sinister: It never let them.

Film

It is part of the disasters that occur every 30 years in the Maine town of Derry.

Unlike many horror monsters before him, Pennywise the Dancing Clown is not against killing children; in fact, It actually prefers to kill children as they are easier targets. This is probably why It chooses the form of a clown, a figure that both entertains and terrifies many young children. It has razor sharp teeth that it can use to kill people.

As the film progresses, a group of children known as the Lucky Seven (also mockingly referred to as the "Losers' Club") forms together to kill Pennywise and end It's murderous reign (after It had killed the brother of one of them) and apparently succeed after tracking It down to It's lair. However, Pennywise, being a lesser aspect of a higher being, is not going to stay dead forever and It swears revenge on the gang for its defeat before it vanishes into nothingness.

Many years later, Pennywise keeps its promise and comes after members of the gang, who are all adults in the present day, to kill them. This prompts the gang to reform and battle Pennywise again in order to kill it yet again and save themselves from It's wrath. At the end of the film, the gang does manage to defeat Pennywise again, but in that final battle, it takes the form of a spider-like monster (which is revealed to be close to It's true form) rather than the clown disguise (which It uses for most of the film). It is killed when they pull out It's heart. After they kill it, they leave its corpse to rot.

Novel

The film lacks many elements of It that the novel includes. In the novel, It is an eternal entity that is almost as old as time itself. It is the natural enemy of Maturin (The Turtle), who both exist in the Macroverse.

After arriving on Earth, It would sleep for approximately 27 to 30 years at a time, then awaken to wreak chaos and feed (primarily on the fear of children). It is able to take many more forms than the film depicts, including werewolves, bats, leeches, and sharks. Anything a child is afraid of, It could become.

Also in the novel, It is only able to be stopped when Bill performs the Ritual of Chüd, which results in a cataclysmic earthquake that destroys half of Derry, Maine.

It apparently originated in a void containing and surrounding the Universe, a place referred to in the novel as the "Macroverse" (a concept similar to the later established "Todash Darkness" of the Dark Tower novels). At several points in the novel, It claims its true name is "Robert Gray", and is christened "It" by the group of children who later confront it. Throughout the book, It is generally referred to as male; however, late in the book, the protagonists come to believe that It may be female (due to It's manifestation as a large female spider). In addition, upon seeing It's true form Audra Denbrough thinks "Oh dear Jesus It is female." Despite this, It's true form is never truly comprehended. It's final physical body is that of an enormous spider; this is, however, the closest the human mind can get to approximating its actual form and is not precisely what the children are actually seeing. It's natural form exists in a realm beyond the physical, which It calls the "deadlights". Bill Denbrough comes dangerously close to seeing the deadlights, but successfully defeats It before this happens. As such, the deadlights are never seen, and It's true form outside the physical realm is never revealed, only described as writhing, destroying orange lights. Coming face to face with the deadlights drives any living being instantly insane (a common Lovecraftian device). The only known person to face the deadlights and survive is Bill's wife Audra Phillips, although she is rendered catatonic by the experience.

It's natural enemy is the "Turtle," another ancient Macroverse dweller who, eons ago, created our Universe and possibly others. The Turtle shows up again in King's series The Dark Tower. The book suggests that It, along with the Turtle, are themselves creations of a separate, omnipotent creator referred to as "The Other". The Turtle and It are eternal enemies (creation versus consumption). It may in fact be either a 'twinner' of or the actual one of the six greater demon elementals mentioned by Mia in Song of Susannah, as the Spider is not one of the Beam Guardians. It arrived in our world during prehistoric times in a massive, cataclysmic event similar to an asteroid impact, in the place that would, in time, become Derry, Maine.

Throughout the novel It, some events are described through It's point of view, through which It describes himself as the "superior" being, with the Turtle as someone "close to his superiority" and humans as mere "toys". It describes that it prefers to kill and devour children, not by nature, rather because children's fears are easier to interpret in a physical form and thus children are easier to fill with terror, which It says is akin to marinating the meat. It is continually surprised by the children's victories over It and near the end, it begins to question if It is not as superior as It had once thought. However, It never believes that the individual children are strong enough to defeat It, only through "the Other" working through them as a group.

In film and television

In the 1990 television adaptation, Pennywise The Clown is portrayed by English actor Tim Curry.

In the upcoming 2017 film adaptation, Pennywise will be portrayed by Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård. He will be depicted as being similar in age to the children he preys upon, making him more childlike both in his appearance and personality. Will Poulter was originally cast as Pennywise, with Curry describing the role as a "wonderful part" and wished Poulter the best of luck. Poulter later dropped out of the production. On June 3, 2016, it was announced that the role had been recast to Skarsgård. Spanish actor Javier Botet was cast as the Leper and Tatum Lee will portray Judith, who is an original form invented for the film.

Reception and legacy

Several media outlets such as The Guardian have remarked on the character, ranking it as one of the scariest clowns in film or pop culture. The Atlantic commented on the character, writing that "The scariest thing about Pennywise, though, is how he preys on children's deepest fears, manifesting the monsters they're most petrified by (something J.K. Rowling would later emulate with boggarts)." British scholar Mikita Brottman has also commented on Pennywise, stating that it was "one of the most frightening of evil clowns to appear on the small screen" and that it "reflects every social and familial horror known to contemporary America". Critics such as Mark Dery have drawn between the character of Pennywise and serial killer John Wayne Gacy, and Dery has stated that the character "[embodied] our primal fears in a sociopathic Ronald McDonald who oozes honeyed guile".

The American punk rock band Pennywise took its name from the character.

The character has also been cited as a possible inspiration for two separate incidents of people dressing up as creepy clowns in Northampton and Staten Island. In 2016, several reports of random appearances by "evil clowns" were reported by the media, including seven people in Alabama charged with "clown-related activity". Several newspaper reports cited the character of Pennywise as an influence for the outbreak, which led to King tweeting that people should calm down and not take his work seriously.