Pennywise

This article is about the Stephen King antagonist. For the Addams Family character, see Cousin Itt. For other uses, see Pennywise (disambiguation).

Pennywise
Stephen King character
Top: Tim Curry as Pennywise in the 1990 miniseries Bottom: Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise in the 2017 film
First appearance	It (1986)
Last appearance	It: Welcome to Derry (2025)
Created by	Stephen King
Portrayed by	Tim Curry (1990 miniseries)[1] Bill Skarsgård (2017 film, 2019 sequel, and 2025 prequel series)[2][3][4]
Motion capture	Various, including Javier Botet[5][6]
In-universe information
Full name	Unknown (possibly nameless)
Aliases	It (sometimes capitalized as "IT") Pennywise the Dancing Clown Robert "Bob" Gray The Derry Disease Eater of Worlds The Deadlights (and more)
Species	Trans-dimensional alien
Gender	Female Male (as Pennywise)
Relatives	The Other (creator)
Origin	The Macroverse

It, commonly known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown or simply Pennywise, is the titular main antagonist of Stephen King's 1986 horror novel It. The character is an ancient, trans-dimensional malevolent entity who preys upon the children (and sometimes adults) of Derry, Maine, roughly every 27 years, using a variety of supernatural powers that include the abilities to shapeshift and manipulate reality. Over the course of the story, It primarily appears in the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. A group of Derry children who call themselves the "Losers Club" becomes aware of Its presence after it kills Bill Denbrough's little brother, Georgie, after which they decide to hunt it down and kill it. Pennywise was portrayed by Tim Curry in the 1990 television adaptation and by Bill Skarsgård in the 2017 film adaptation, its 2019 sequel It Chapter Two and the upcoming HBO Max series It: Welcome to Derry.

Inspired by fairytale trolls, King conceived of a shapeshifting entity living in the sewers that could embody whatever frightened its target most. Pennywise became the central form It used to lure children — appearing to be a harmless clown. Scholars and critics have noted the effectiveness of this design as clowns are commonly viewed as uncanny (both in the sense of coulrophobia and in the form of the uncanny valley).

Across the various adaptations of It, Pennywise's visual performance evolution reinforced coulrophobia. Curry's performance in the 1990 miniseries emphasized charm masking a hidden evil, while Skarsgård's version leaned into overt horror with twitchy movements and an inhuman stare. Critics praised Skarsgård's performance as sadistic and alien. Scholars also note how its various forms channeled classic childhood fears while also reflecting deeper social issues.

Concept

See also: It (miniseries) § Pennywise, and It (2017 film) § Costume design

Novel

King stated in a 2013 interview that he came up with the idea for Pennywise after determining that what children feared "more than anything else in the world" was clowns.^[7][8] After finishing The Stand, King was walking across a bridge in Colorado when he imagined a troll like the one in the children's tale "Three Billy Goats Gruff",^[9][10] though he imagined it living in a sewer system rather than under a bridge. He said the whole story "just bounced" into his head; in particular the fact that It could shapeshift.^[10][11] In 1985, while publishing Skeleton Crew, a book of short fiction, King conceived of the character as a "final exam on horror" featuring various childhood monsters, resulting in a shapeshifting creature that embodies fear.^[12] He said he thought he was done writing about monsters, and wanted to "bring on all the monsters one last time…and call it "It".^[13]

In the novel, the Losers believe the creature to be a taelus, a Himalayan creature that reads minds and assumes the shape of whatever its target fears most, similar to a boggart. It scares its victims first because it feeds on their fear, especially that of children.^[14] Commentators have thus noted that It is a Lovecraftian horror dwelling beneath Derry.^[15]

Miniseries and films

In the 1990 miniseries, Pennywise is portrayed by English actor Tim Curry.^[16] Curry's Pennywise was designed to initially look like a regular circus clown. Special effects artist Bart Mixon avoided making Pennywise look like a monster at first glance, saying "90% of the time he's suckering kids in."^[17][18] He began drawing concepts for how Pennywise would look before Curry was cast, researching the looks of most other clowns for inspiration.^[19] Original storyboards for Pennywise featured exaggerated cheekbones, a sharp chin, and a bulbous forehead.^[20] There are no overtly inhuman features apparent in Curry's Pennywise until It attacks. Curry and his team found it most effective to let Curry's facial expressions carry the horror instead.^[17]

English actor Will Poulter was originally cast as Pennywise in the 2017 film, with Curry describing the role as a "wonderful part" and wishing Poulter the best of luck, but the latter dropped out of the production due to scheduling conflicts and the first film's original director Cary Fukunaga leaving the project.^[21] After Poulter's departure, the role ultimately went to Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård, who portrayed the character in the 2017 film adaptation, It, its 2019 sequel It Chapter Two, and its prequel television series It – Welcome to Derry.^[22][23]

In the films, director Andy Muschietti chose a new interpretation of the character's look and feel. He said that he wanted to stay true to the character's essence, and that Skarsgård caught his attention.^[24] Skarsgård's Pennywise is more overtly creepy, less humorous, and stands out more. Muschietti said he wanted Pennywise to look older than a typical 20th-century clown, since the creature had existed for thousands of years. He felt that modern clowns looked "cheap" and were too tied to social events and circuses, saying he preferred the look of 19th-century clowns.^[25] Thus, he and his sister Barbara (the film's producer) decided to use the 1800s and earlier periods as an inspiration.^[26][27] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, costume designer Janie Bryant explained that Pennywise's suit was inspired by various historical eras, including the Medieval, Renaissance, Elizabethan, and Victorian periods.^[28] Bryant said she wanted Pennywise to feel more organic, drawing on King's description of him wearing a silvery-gray clown suit.^[29]

Muschietti often kept Pennywise hidden in shadows or out of the camera's focus; a critic observed that Pennywise was a "jittering, twitching mess of a monster" whose form is constantly unsettling and unpredictable.^[30] One of Pennywise's eyes subtly drifts off into another direction, giving him a not-quite-human stare.^[31] One analysis noted that Skarsgård's Pennywise was a "sadistic predator" who took pleasure from killing.^[30]

Skarsgård's Pennywise appears as a background character in the 2021 family-friendly film Space Jam: A New Legacy, which is also distributed by Warner Bros.^[32] In 2023, it was originally announced that Skarsgård would not be participating in the prequel series It – Welcome to Derry because he wanted to leave the character behind and focus on other roles,^[33][4] but by 2025 he had changed his mind.^[3]

Shapeshifting abilities

It can shapeshift and takes many forms throughout the novel, though its most iconic form is Pennywise the Dancing Clown — described as wearing a silvery suit with orange pom-poms, big white gloves, red hair, and a big clown smile painted over his mouth.^[34][35] Other forms It takes include Georgie (as well as his rotting corpse),^[36] a leper,^[37] a mummy,^[35][38] and a witch.^[35][39][a] It is also seen impersonating various children and adults (both living and dead) from Derry in order to scare, taunt, or manipulate its prey, particularly the Losers.^[35][40]

Its true form, however, is unknown. It is said that the closest the human mind can come to perceiving It is the "deadlights," which are capable of hypnotizing or killing anyone who stares into them.^[41][36][42] The only person to survive the ordeal is Bill's wife Audra, although she is rendered temporarily catatonic by the experience. In the films, it captures Beverly Marsh and shows her the deadlights, causing her to float and temporarily lose consciousness. In It Chapter Two, it is revealed that this experience resulted in Beverly having visions of the future. Losers' Club member Ben Hanscom comes dangerously close to seeing the deadlights and the shape behind the lights for a brief moment. He described it as an endless, crawling, hairy creature made of orange light.^[36] The final physical form It is seen in during the Losers' final battle is that of a monstrous giant spider that lays eggs.^[36]

Throughout the novel, It is generally referred to as male, even by itself, calling itself "Mr. Bob Gray" and taking a male form as Pennywise the Clown. However, when confronting its spider form, the characters find out that the creature is most likely female, due to its final form in the physical realm being that of a giant female spider that was also pregnant.^[14][36]

Appearances

Appearances in the novel

In the novel, Pennywise is described as a cross between Ronald McDonald, Bozo, and Clarabell the Clown.

In the novel, It is a shapeshifting alien billions of years old who usually takes the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, originating in a void containing and surrounding the universe — a place referred to in the novel as the "macroverse". Bill believes that It, along with the Turtle (Its benevolent equivalent), was created by an entity known as the "Other" (a mysterious, benevolent force beyond both It and the Turtle).^[36] It came to Earth in an asteroid crash and settled beneath the area that would become Derry.^[42] It slept for millions of years, then woke when humans arrived. It began a year-long or two years-long cycle of feeding on fear, taking the form of whatever its victims feared most. After feeding, It would go back into hibernation for about twenty-seven years before reappearing. It prefers to feed on children because their fears are easier to understand, and adults are harder to scare.^[14] It can control weak-minded people, either making them ignore the horrors around them or turning them into accomplices.^[14] In the novel, It uses the name Robert "Bob" Gray, but is often referred to in the book as "It" with a capital I.^[43][b]

Its hibernation periods begin and end with horrific events, such as the disappearance of all 340 settlers from Derry Township from 1740–43 (in which the settlers mysteriously disappeared without a trace) or the ironworks explosion in 1906 It returns to hibernation when the Kitchener Ironworks explode, killing 108 people, 88 of whom were children at an Easter Egg hunt. It woke during a major storm that flooded part of Derry in October 1957. Bill Denbrough's younger brother Georgie was the first of many victims that year. Bill and his friends, known collectively as the Loser's Club, investigate the disappearances and note that they all had something to do with Derry's sewer system; using this information, they deduce correctly that It uses a well house as its lair. Through the use of a Native American-style smoke-hole ceremony, it is revealed that the creature came from outer space.^[44] The children go to the house and are attacked by It in the form of a werewolf. Beverly shoots a slug from a slingshot at the creature, injuring it and causing it to flee back into the sewers.^[45] The narrative then briefly switches to Its point of view, where It sees itself as superior and considers the Turtle an equal and humans mere "toys." It also confirms that it chooses to prey on children because they are easier to fool and scare. It believes their fears are easier to interpret in a physical manner, which It claims is similar to "salting the meat", as frightened flesh tastes better to It.^[42] Bill establishes a telepathic connection with It through the Ritual of Chüd. The Ritual of Chüd is a psychic and spiritual battle of wills between Bill and It. Bill metaphorically "bites down" on Its tongue with humor and childish beliefs such as Santa Claus, and the two engage in a sort of mind-to-mind duel across the macroverse.^[36] It is surprised by the children's victory in battle and near the end of the book, it begins to question its preconceived notions of superiority. However, It never believes that the individual children are strong enough to defeat it, only through the Other working through them as a group could they have won in battle.^[14] After the battle, the Losers Club get lost in the sewers until Beverly has sexual intercourse with all the boys to bring unity back to the group. The Losers then swear a blood oath to return to Derry should It reawaken.^[46] The Losers eventually all drift apart and go their separate ways in life, and except for Mike who remembers everything, they forget about Derry and about each other in the process.^[47]

It reawakens in 1984 after Adrian Mellon, a gay man, is murdered by a group of homophobes at a festival. It then causes a string of child murders in Derry, causing an adult Mike Hanlon to call his fellow Losers back to town to defeat it once again. Stan Uris, one of the Losers who participated in the battle against Pennywise as a child, commits suicide, afraid of facing It again.^[48] After catching up over some lunch, the remaining Losers agree that this time they will make sure to kill It once and for all. The Losers split up and explore different parts of Derry to restore their memories. It manipulates Beverly's husband Tom Rogan to capture Audra and bring her to its lair in an attempt to use her as bait for the Losers.^[49][14] Bill, Ben, Beverly, and fellow Losers Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak learn that Mike is near death after a confrontation with Henry Bowers, and realize they are being forced into another fight against It. The adult Losers finally reach Its lair and find It has taken the form of a giant spider. Bill and Richie enter Its mind through the Ritual of Chüd, but they get lost in it after Bill fails to "bite down" on Its tongue. To distract It and bring Bill and Richie back, Eddie runs towards It and uses his aspirator to spray medicine in Its eye and down Its throat. Although he is successful in hurting It, It bites off Eddie's arm, and Eddie quickly bleeds to death. It runs away to tend to its injuries, but Bill, Richie, and Ben chase after it and find that it has laid eggs.^[14][36] Ben stays behind to destroy the eggs, while Bill and Richie head toward their final confrontation with It. Bill fights his way inside Its body, locates Its heart and crushes it between his hands, killing It once and for all. The group meets up to head out of Its lair, and although they try to bring Audra and Eddie's bodies with them, they are forced to leave Eddie behind. They make it to the surface and realize that the scars on their hands from when they were children have disappeared, indicating that their ordeal is finally over forever. At the same time that It was killed, an enormous storm swept through Derry.^[46][50] The Losers plan to return to their homes and gradually begin to forget about It, Derry, and each other once again.^[51]

Differences between the book and films

Main articles: It (miniseries), It (2017 film), and It Chapter Two

See also: It (miniseries) § Changes from the novel

In the 1990 miniseries, the story is split into two episodes covering the Losers' childhood in 1960 and their adulthood in the 1980s-90s. The narrative structure is similar to the novel, using flashbacks to show the children's encounters with It as the adult Losers recollect their past.^[52] In the miniseries, It fulfills a largely identical role to that of the novel, preying on children before entering a long cycle of hibernation.^[53] The most notable change is that Its resting period is extended from twenty-seven to thirty years.^[54]

IndieWire's Jamie Righetti says the most obvious difference between the book and the films is the time difference — the novel, for instance, has Georgie's death in 1957 and Its final defeat in 1985,^[55] but the films have these events in 1989 and 2016 respectively. Righetti also notes that in the film the characters do not manage to recover Georgie's body. The classic horror movie villains Pennywise shapeshifts into are also gone from the films.^[55] Similar to the novel and miniseries, It feeds on fear, targeting children because they are easier to scare. In the 2017 film, Pennywise says that fear is "tasty" and "beautiful", but does not go into much more detail than that in either film. ^[5][6] The cosmic angle of the story (the Other and the Turtle) is largely removed, although hints of Its unearthly origin remain.^[6]

The Ritual of Chud is completely absent in the first film, and the fight between the child Losers and It is a purely physical one. In It Chapter Two, the ritual is completely reimagined. In the film, Mike explains that he learned about the Ritual's existence from local Native American tribes. The Losers gather in the Neibolt Street house and summon It using artifacts from their childhood, which they collected during their exploration of Derry.^[6][56] The Ritual consists of burning these tokens in a vessel, which is supposed to trap It in its true form. The ritual fails to truly capture It, however, and the Losers are forced to fight It again. In It Chapter Two, Pennywise's final form changes from a giant spider to a clown-spider hybrid.^[6][56] The Losers defeat It by psychologically diminishing it using insults, confronting their fears and reducing Its image of itself to something small. They then reach into Its body and crush its heart with their hands.^[56] The storm that ensues after Pennywise's defeat is replaced with the destruction of the house where the battle took place.^[6]

Impact

Reception

Tim Curry (left) and Bill Skarsgard's (right) performances as Pennywise in the 1990 miniseries and the two-part film adaptations, respectively, received widespread critical acclaim.

A survey by the University of South Wales indicated that movie clowns such as Pennywise or the Joker contribute at least partially to some people's coulrophobia.^[57] While the creature takes many forms, critics such as Currie note that Pennywise is the most memorable.^[58] Some scholars suggest that Pennywise's shapeshifting reflects deep psychological anxieties,^[59][60][61] thus subverting the clown's traditional role as a figure of fun.^[58] The Atlantic said of the character: "The scariest thing about Pennywise, though, is how he preys on children's deepest fears, manifesting the monsters they're most petrified by."^[62] British scholar Mikita Brottman has also said of the miniseries version of Pennywise; "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".^[63]

Writer James Smythe wrote that Curry's performance as Pennywise largely contributed to the character's enduring fame.^[64] Sophie Gilbert of The Atlantic wrote that "the contrast between his comical yellow dungarees and his penchant for ripping off children’s limbs is fairly stark."^[62] Kristy Strouse called Curry's portrayal as "zany" yet disturbing, also noting the quality of the character's makeup, costumes, and practical effects.^[52] Reviewer John J. O'Connor of the New York Times also praised Curry's performance and described it as "lip-smacking".^[65]

Rolling Stone's David Fear praised Skarsgård's performance in 2019 as a "phobic masterpiece", adding that "onscreen, he feels like he's burrowing into your psyche".^[66] Fellow Rolling Stone reviewer Peter Travers describes Skarsgård's Pennywise as "all [the Losers'] fears rolled up into one creepy, dancing clown".^[67] Even Skarsgård and Stephen King themselves were scared by the character, with Skarsgård telling Entertainment Weekly that he started seeing the character in his dreams after filming^[68][69] and King saying in a Reddit post that he would not revisit the It story (and thus, Pennywise) because it was "too scary, even for me."^[70]

Audiences and critics reacted to the 2017 and 2019 film adaptations of It with a mix of fear and fascination; reviewer Katie Kilkenny of Pacific Standard felt that clowns "remain[ing] forever terrifying" was one of the key reasons for the 2017 film's success.^[71][58] Other reviewers offered more varied appraisals. Christopher Orr of The Atlantic says that Skarsgård's Pennywise was less "overtly clownlike" than Curry's was, and thus less memorable.^[72] The Chicago Sun-Times' Richard Roeper described Pennywise as "a little less frightening" in 2019 than in 2017, but also praised Skarsgård's performance as "disturbingly effective".^[73] Tom Russo of The Boston Globe called the character "supremely creepy" in his review of It Chapter Two.^[74]

Gompf's examining of Pennywise's appeal found that a subset of viewers expressed an attraction or affinity toward Skarsgård's Pennywise. She saw this as the result of either the actor himself or a broader pop-culture trend of romanticizing charismatic anti-heroes such as Loki or Hannibal Lecter.^[75] Gompf also noted that fans were debating the appeal of Pennywise's new design amongst themselves; early promotional images of Skarsgård in costume divided fans over whether the character was too frightening or not frightening enough.^[75] She said that in particular, Pennywise's visual aesthetic, facial expressions, and posture helped create a sense of dread in viewers.^[75]

Analysis

Several scholars have interpreted Pennywise as a cultural metaphor for real-world anxieties of the time the story takes place.^[59] Scholar Whitney S. May writes that Pennywise's return in the films reflects a broader resurgence of the "evil clown" figure in popular culture.^[76] Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns similarly sees the character as an embodiment of the 1980s moral panics, resurfacing once every generation to scare adults and children.^[59] Independent scholar Erin Giannini writes in an essay that Pennywise embodies the fear of stranger danger, a fear that spans generations and is not tied to a specific era.^[77] Academic Margaret J. Yankovich also interprets Pennywise as a representation of personal or historical trauma that must be confronted.^[78] Writer Keith Currie describes Pennywise's shapeshifting into iconic horror villains such as Count Dracula as "a dark love-letter to the genre" and considers Pennywise as one of King's most memorable creations.^[58][c]

Literary scholars have observed that It uses Pennywise to represent the collective evil of Derry. Stephen King scholar Tony Magistrale says that the novel shows how Derry "institutionalize[s] child abuse" so much that "Pennywise's actions merely reflect the town's general indifference towards its children."^[81] In this sense, the clown is a mirror to the town's worst impulses. Critic Adrian Daub of the Los Angeles Review of Books notes that King does not distinguish between the supernatural horrors committed by It and the everyday evils displayed by the town's residents, such as racism.^[82] These mundane cruelties are not simply caused by It, but are a replica of its nature; the novel frequently draws direct comparisons between Derry and the creature.^[34][83][84] University of Technology Sydney associate professor Penny Crofts writes that the Derry townspeople are somewhat complicit in Pennywise's crimes through their inaction and inability to stop the creature. She cites the homophobic murder of Adrian Mellon at the start of the book as an example.^[34][85] Crofts compares the case of Pennywise to real-life convicted sex offender Larry Nassar, writing that both Pennywise and Nassar were shielded by the people around them while they committed crimes "with seeming impunity".^[85]

Yankovich also interprets Pennywise as both the origin and embodiment of the recurring evil seen in Derry, symbolizing a primordial source of fear and death.^[78] This, she argues, is reinforced by the Losers' vision in the smoke-hole ceremony, where they witness It crash-landing in Derry.^[78][44] According to Falakata College assistant professor Diganta Roy, Pennywise and Derry act as mirrors of the hatred and psychotic rage of the Derry townspeople.^[50] Yankovich observes that Pennywise naturally takes the form of a child's worst fear; for example, It appears to Eddie (a germaphobe) in the form of a leper, a physical manifestation of contamination and disease, or in other words, abjection.^[78]

Hannah Lina Schneeberger and Maria Wiegel from the University of Cologne argue that although Stephen King never cited John Wayne Gacy as an influence for Pennywise, that the two of them reflect the 1980s American ethos.^[60] They point to the interconnectedness of Pennywise, Gacy, and the white middle-class suburb of Derry as a representation of broader American society. Derry is a homogeneous place that represses things which its townspeople see as undesirable using racism and bigotry; hence, according to them, Pennywise reflects the anxieties faced by its victims. Both Pennywise and Gacy's clown personas present the illusion of a friendly, everyday clown while concealing something far more sinister.^[60] They argue that Pennywise embodies not just Derry, but each of its neighborhoods and sub-communities.^[60] On a related note, Giannini believes that Pennywise embodies the fear of stranger danger.^[77] Pagnoni Berns concludes in his essay that Pennywise feeds from the fears of the people of Derry much like moral panics do throughout history.^[59]

Scholars have also explored deeper themes behind Pennywise's defeat. Roy also contends that Pennywise's defeat caries dual meaning; it portrays the Losers as child heroes that challenge the very social norms aimed to protect them, and it marks a turning point in the Losers' transition into adulthood. In this view, Pennywise is a coping mechanism to help the Losers find a sense of belonging.^[50] In It Chapter Two, the Losers confront the creature not with physical weapons but by standing up to It and mocking it, reducing it from a monstrous figure to a withered shell; Pennywise draws strength from fear and imagination, and is therefore weak against those who have overcome their fears.^[86]

Association with 2016 clown sightings

Main article: 2016 clown sightings

"I suspect it's a kind of low-level hysteria, like Slender Man, or the so-called Bunny Man, who purportedly lurked in Fairfax County, Virginia, wearing a white hood with long ears and attacking people with a hatchet or an axe. The clown furor will pass, as these things do, but it will come back, because under the right circumstances, clowns really can be terrifying."

—Stephen King's reaction to the recurring clown scare phenomenon.^[87]

The character was suggested as a possible motive for two incidents of people dressing up as clowns in Northampton, England and Staten Island, New York, US, both during 2014.^[7][88] In 2016, appearances of "evil clowns" were reported by the media, including nine people in Alabama, US arrested on suspicion of "clown-related activity".^[89] Several newspaper articles suggested that the character of Pennywise was an influence, which led to King commenting that people should react less hysterically to the sightings and not take his work seriously.^[88]

The first reported sighting of people dressed as evil clowns in Greenville, South Carolina, US was by a small boy who spoke to his mother about a pair of clowns that had attempted to lure him away.^[90] Additional creepy clown sightings were reported in other parts of South Carolina.^[91] Evil clowns were reported in several other U.S. states including North Carolina,^[92] Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming.^[93] Later, "clown sightings" were reported in Great Britain,^[94] Australia,^[95] Germany,^[96] Israel,^[97] and Latin America.^[98]

One hypothesis for the wave of 2016 clown sightings was a viral marketing campaign for Muschietti's 2017 It film.^[99][100] A spokesperson for New Line Cinema (the film's distributor) released a statement claiming that "New Line is absolutely not involved in the rash of clown sightings."^[101]

See also

• Apex predator
• Monster
• Pennywise (band)

Notes

1. In this form, It introduces Itself to Beverly Marsh as "Mrs. Kersh".
2. This is why the "I" in "It" is capitalized in this article when referring to the character.
3. Pennywise shapeshifts into several creatures from older horror stories that the Losers are familiar with, such as Count Dracula as well as the titular creature from Creature from the Black Lagoon, among others. ^[79][80]

References

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2. "IT: CHAPTER 2 Announces Its Release Date". Nerdist. September 26, 2017. Archived from the original on July 4, 2018. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
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External links

• It on IMDb