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".
King decided for IT to predominantly take the shape of Pennywise the Dancing Clown because he believes "clowns scare children more than anything else in the world." IT influences the adults of Derry to passively ignore it and not interfere with his attacks on Derry's children.
This incarnation of It/Pennywise is the icon of the Pure Evil Wiki. While every version of It easily qualifies as Pure Evil, it is arguable which version of him is the evilest incarnation of the character.
It's primary goal is to feed on humans, generally preferring children over adults since they were easier to scare and manipulate.
It feasts on the flesh of humans simply because our fears are easy to manifest and they make us taste better. According to It, when humans got scared, "all the chemicals of fear flooded the body and salted the meat".
Stephen King's 'IT' introduced readers to a one-of-a-kind creature that can take any form, the most common one being Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and as menacing as it is, this creature has one big enemy it's truly scared of: Maturin, the turtle.
The character is an ancient, trans-dimensional evil entity which preys upon the children (and sometimes adults) of Derry, Maine, roughly every 27 years, using a variety of powers that include the ability to shapeshift, manipulate reality, and go unnoticed by adults.
It's weaknesses are courage and heart. For the sake of spoilers, I won't go too much into the Ritual of Chüd, but suffice it to say that if you want to defeat It, you've got to have the two traits listed above.
Every 27 years, a shape-shifting entity known as IT crawls out of the sewers to prey on the children of Derry, Maine. IT plasters himself with an unnatural grin, takes on the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and wreaks havoc.
In the novel, It's origins are nebulous. He took the form of a clown most frequently, Mr. Bob Gray or Pennywise, but his true form is an ancient eldritch entity from another universe who landed in the town that would become Derry by way of an asteroid and first awoke in 1715.
Pennywise's origins are briefly explored in both the book and It: Chapter Two, where it's revealed that he is a being that crash-landed on Earth from another dimension hundreds of years ago.
The spider-clown shrinks as the Losers hurl taunts at It, until it's tiny and weak enough that they pluck out its heart and squash it into nothingness. In the end, they defeat Pennywise by, uh, making him feel really bad about himself.
“It” is an evil entity that usually takes the form of a clown named Pennywise (played by Bill Skarsgård) and returns to Derry, Maine every 27 years to terrorize the town. The red balloon is a harbinger that It is watching you.
It also known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown was the titular main antagonist of the Stephen King novel and miniseries of the same former name. He was an evil and demonic entity who would almost always disguise himself as a clown to attract children so he can capture and kill them as they are an easier target.
So throughout the book (and movie) Pennywise's whole M.O. Is to use fear to salt the meat of his victims. But the beginning doesn't fit this motive at all. He is super friendly to Georgie to basically lure him for attack.
Stephen King's IT featured an evil entity that can take any shape and feeds off fear, but even this creature has fears, and it's scared of The Turtle.
In Stephen King's IT, readers are introduced to a one-of-a-kind creature that can take any form, the most popular of which is Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and as terrifying as it is, this creature has one major foe: Maturin, the turtle.
Throughout Stephen King's It, Pennywise is referred to as a male, but author Stephen King pulled a fast one on readers in the It book ending by revealing the creature's true form was a pregnant spider, implying that it is, in fact, biologically female.
With Derry, Maine as the main setting, IT follows the Losers as they come across an evil entity living in the sewers which wakes up every 27 years to feed, and to make it worse, the creature feeds off the fear of its victims and it can take any shape it desires.
Though it is just before the next twenty-seven year IT cycle, this is our first glimpse of Pennywise in IT Chapter One. In the opening scene of the film, young Georgie Denbrough playing with a paper boat made for him by his brother Bill. He loses the boat down the sewer and faces Pennywise when he tries to get it back.
Pennywise's Kills Add Up Over Time
The number is then multiplied by the number of times Pennywise has awakened -- once every 27 years throughout the 270-year history of Derry, equaling ten times -- to come up with a final tally of between 12,000 and 18,000 dead.
Young kids fear "pretend" things.
They fear what might be under their bed or in the closet. Many are afraid of the dark and at bedtime. Some are afraid of scary dreams. Young kids may also be afraid of loud noises, like thunder or fireworks.