Pennywise (1990 Miniseries)

• Quote 1
• Quote 2
• Quote 3

“	"Kill"? Me? Oh, you are priceless, brat. I am eternal, child. I am the eater of worlds, and of children. And you are next.	„
	~ Pennywise to the Losers Club, before their first confrontation

“	Silly boy. You still think you can see... me. You'll never see me. You'll see only what your little mind can allow. Go! Now...for if you stay, you'll lose your little mind in my Deadlights, like all the others... Like all the others	„
	~ Pennywise to the Losers Club before their final confrontation

“	Excuse me, sir. Do you have Prince Albert in a can? You do? Well, you better let the poor guy out.	„
	~ Pennywise while messing with Richie, before his amazing laugh.

Summary

Pennywise the Dancing Clown, also known as IT, is a mysterious, supernatural entity that has been around since the early to mid 1700s. Once every 30 years, it wakes up to feast upon the residence of Derry (Primarily children) and cause horrific tragedies. It usually shapeshifts into people's worst fears in order to inspire as much fear as possible before devouring any unfortunate soul that comes across IT.

Pennywise serves as the main villain of the IT Miniseries, played by Tim Curry.

Powers and Stats

Tier: At least 9-C, likely 9-B

Name: Unknown true name (The real identity of this creature is unknown, so it usually goes by aliases), Pennywise the Dancing Clown, IT (Frequently alluded to as "IT" by the Losers), The Eater of Worlds (Self-proclaimed).

Origin: IT (1990 Miniseries)

Gender: Genderless, varies via shapeshifting

Age: Over 200 years (The earliest documented depiction of Pennywise is believed to have come from the early to mid 1700s), varies physically via shapeshifting

Classification: Supernatural Shapeshifting Monster

Powers and Abilities:

• Superhuman Strength and Durability
• Immortality (Type 1 - Has been around for at least 200 years without end. Described itself as eternal. Type 2 - Survived having a hole smashed into his head, revealing the Deadlights underneath. Type 3 - See Regeneration for explanation)
  • Regeneration (Low-Godly - Pennywise is capable of creating physical forms for itself when it is the Deadlights. Recovered from having a hole in his head, albeit off-screen. Implied to have survived/recovered from the events of the story, with his laugh being audible at the very end of the miniseries. Beforehand, Pennywise had his chest smashed open, and his heart was torn out)
  • Avatar Creation
• Shapeshifting (The main ability of Pennywise is its capability of transforming itself, reshaping its body into anything it wants. IT usually does this to transform into the worst fears of its victims. Pennywise isn't limited to changing its whole body, but can shapeshift individual parts of his being)
  • Bodily Weaponry (Type 1 - Can give itself claws and sharp teeth)
  • Size Manipulation (Can change his physical size at will, both small and big; In one scene, Pennywise turned into George to Beverly's father. While disguised as an old lady, Pennywise changed his height, from being relative to Beverly to towering over Beverly. At the end of the series, IT changed into a giant spider)
  • Biological Manipulation (Can change his physical gender, being able to change from male to female at will)
  • Age Manipulation (Pennywise can change his physical age, being able to change into small children, middle-aged adults, and senior citizens at will)
  • Vocal Mimicry (Can mimic the voices of others)
  • Enhanced Senses (Pennywise can shapeshift into animals to gain their enhanced senses, such as dogs)
  • Large Size (Type 0)
  • Immortality (Type 7 - Can shapeshift into undead beings, like mummies, zombies, and skeletons)
  • Self-Sustenance (At least Type 1 - Can shapeshift into things that don't need air, such as an organless skeleton)
  • Body Control (Can change the color of his eyes, usually when he attacks someone. Can squeeze himself down small spaces like drain holes)
  • Web Generation (In his spider form, he can create vast amounts of spider webs, and even wrap people up in them)
• Extrasensory Perception (Can taste fear)
• Illusion Creation (The other ability Pennywise is most known for is his realistic illusions. Pennywise can make his victims see or hear anything he wants, such as but not limited to; The voices of previous victims, his face on the moon, balloons, severed body parts, animals, insects like cockroaches, etc. Pennywise's illusions can be very elaborate, as he was able to make it look like Beverly's childhood home was clean and occupied, when in actuality it was boarded up and abandoned. Made a picture of George wink at Bill, and similarly made a still picture move, like a movie. Even gave it color, and made sound emit from it)
• Creation (Can create swarms of balloons, blood, etc)
• Perception Manipulation and Invisibility (Pennywise can manipulate the perception of others, being able to choose who can see what, and who can see Pennywise itself; Made blood start flowing from George's photo album, blood that only Bill can see while his parents are completely oblivious. Caused a balloon full of blood to explode, covering Beverly and the sink she was using, yet her father was entirely unable to see it. Pennywise went entirely unnoticed by a passing cab driver, despite standing right on the side of the right in broad daylight. The best example of this ability would be when he created a horde of balloons across the library he was in, where they all loudly popped, spewing out blood. Despite several people getting soaked in this blood, and Pennywise loudly yelling at Richie, Richie was the only one to notice and feel anything)
• Social Influencing (In its clown form, Pennywise has been able to lure in unsuspecting children by charming them, such as George. IT left such a terrifying and lasting impression on the Losers Club, where 30 years later, it caused Ben to consider suicide, caused Stan to actually commit suicide, and made Richie puke. Convinced Henry Bowers to hunt down and attempt to kill the Losers Club)
• Incorporeality (Pennywise's true form is the Deadlights, which are lights. Fighting Pennywise is described as fighting smoke)
• Mind Manipulation, Morality Manipulation, Empathic Manipulation, and Memory Manipulation (Pennywise is constantly manipulating the minds of those in Derry, so it can more easily get away with its heinous crimes, and to further torment his victims; Bill describes Pennywise's control over the Derry residence as the entire town being part of It in some way. Beverly follows this statement up by saying that getting the town and the police involved is a bad idea, as something bad can happen to them. Made the parents of the Losers Club aggressive and/or negligent, this extends to the rest of the town, to the point they ignore blatant suspicious activity like Beverly getting creeped on by Henry and his gang. Induced amnesia into the Losers Club members that left Derry, causing them to forget their childhoods, even to the extent that they can't recall anything at all. The Deadlights have a variety of effects on the mind upon being looked at. They can either lock others into a catatonic state, completely halting the movement of the inflicted. The Deadlights can also potentially absorb minds into itself, with Pennywise itself stating that people lose their mind when they look into his Deadlights. This is implied earlier on, with Stan possibly being trapped inside the Deadlights after dying. The Deadlights, upon a glance, can also make people want to be inside them)
• Status Effect Inducement and Paralysis Inducement (The Deadlights, upon visual contact, can lock the viewer into a catatonic state, unable to move or do anything)
• Telepathy and Clairvoyance (Knew the names of all his victims before actually meeting them, and seemed to have known where the Losers Club were at all times. Is believed to be capable of reading minds, which is how it learns of the fears and vulnerabilities of his target. Telepathically communicated with Henry Bowers)
• Telekinesis (Pennywise can move and lift things with his mind; On two occasions, Pennywise used this ability to flip through the pages of photo albums. Telekinetically lifted Belch, folded him in half, and sucked him into a pipe so he can absorb him as the Deadlights. Completely trashed Mike's library with this ability; Slamming doors, breaking windows, throwing books off the shelves while ripping them apart, emulating gusts of wind to send stuff flying, typing on a typewriter, simultaneously and all without touching anything)
• Teleportation (As seen here, and here)
• Technology Manipulation (Momentarily caused a power outage in Mike's library)
• Possession (Took over the body of Mr. Keene to warn Eddie)
• Weather Manipulation (Caused a storm within Mike's library. Pennywise can also create mist)
• Acrobatics (Fitting as a clown, Pennywise is capable of performing acrobatic tricks like cartwheels and flips with ease)
• Light Manipulation (Can channel the Deadlights through his eyes, and other openings in his body)
• Biological Manipulation, Blood Manipulation, and Hair Manipulation (Can create currents of blood. Caused Henry's hair to stand up and turn white with the Deadlights)
• Immersion (Can enter and leave photographs)
• Transmutation (Turned tea into blood)
• Probability Manipulation (Every time it is awake between its 30 year hibernation periods, it causes a big disaster that ends up killing a lot of people, such as the Ironworks explosion of 1930, and the massacre at Drake's Creek in 1900)
• Absorption (Seemingly absorbed Belch into the Deadlights, with his body being no longer visible after being enveloped by them. The Deadlights can absorb minds into its non-corporeal mass)

Attack Potency: At least Street level, likely Wall level (Has been responsible for countless killings, maimings, and disappearances across Derry's history. Tore George's arm off, with such ease it is compared to pulling the wing off a fly. Casually tore open a large hole in a school shower floor in order to reach Eddie. Pennywise's spider form could be this level from size alone, but it was also able to easily kill Eddie by seemingly squeezing him. Has presumably decapitated people before, given the amount of severed heads that lead to his lair. This would require him to either tear their heads off, or slash them off. Was easily able to restrain Eddie when he was an adult, while possessing the body of an old man. Violently broke open a large pipe). Some of Pennywise's powers bypass conventional durability.

Speed: Athletic Human physically (Pennywise, despite his looks, is actually quite athletic, and is capable of pulling acrobatic tricks like flips and cartwheels with ease). Speed of Light attack speed via Deadlights (IT's true form, the Deadlights, are actual lights, and their effects comes through the beams they emit)

Lifting Strength: At least Class 5 (Can presumably rip the heads off of people, given the amount of severed skulls around IT's lair), possibly Class 25 (Tore George's arm off)

Striking Strength: At least Street level, likely Wall level

Durability: At least Street level, likely Wall level. Regeneration and Immortality makes Pennywise a lot harder to kill.

Stamina: Superhuman (In between its periods of dormancy, Pennywise is active for an entire year, which he spends the entirety of stalking his victims, murdering, eating, and scheming restlessly. Can casually perform athletic moves like cartwheels and flips without breaking a sweat. After having a hole bashed into his head, and his face being burned by acid, Pennywise was still able to escape the Losers Club by flipping over them)

Range: Varies from Below Standard Melee Range to Extended Melee Range physically. Kilometers with powers (It's influence spreads across all of Derry. Pennywise's control over Derry is so thorough, it is described as all of Derry being Pennywise)

Intelligence: Gifted (This version of Pennywise has been around for over 200 years, and has spent that time terrorizing Derry in-between its periods of hibernation. Thanks to this experience, Pennywise is skilled in trickery, being able to play with the minds of humans, all with the goal of inspiring fear within his victims. He actively uses his arsenal of abilities to accomplish this, particularly with his shapeshifting, which he uses to transform into the greatest fears of others. Pennywise is also quite the manipulative schemer, using his charisma to lure in children like George, and convinced Henry to hunt down and attempt to kill the Losers Club. Meticulously controls the residence of Derry, Maine, making so it can easily get away with its heinous actions with little to no intervention from authorities).

Weaknesses:

• Arrogance.
  • Pennywise is incredibly arrogant, and is overconfident with itself. Believing that it is drastically superior to the "little minds" of humans. Thanks to this, he underestimates humans, which was what lead to his original downfall by the Losers Club when they were kids.
  • His cockiness is to the extent, that the idea of him dying is completely laughable to him.
  • Also gives itself titles like "the Eater of Worlds".
• Belief.
  • Across the series, strong enough belief has shown to be extremely effective against Pennywise.
  • Simply believing that something can harm Pennywise, will actually cause it to harm Pennywise. This is exemplified twice in the miniseries; Eddie, by believing that his inhaler shoots out battery acid, was able to melt Pennywise's face. Similarly, Beverly was able to critically harm Pennywise by shooting at it with silver earrings with a slingshot. Without the belief behind these, these things were otherwise useless at harming IT.
  • This weakness to belief extends to the point that, if the opponent believes that Pennywise isn't there, Pennywise would be incapable of harming them.
    • However, this could be as a result of external help. Time and time again, it is implied and shown that the Losers Club are being benefited by an external force, even to the point that they became unnaturally successful in their adulthoods.
• Hibernation.
  • Pennywise has a hibernation cycle that lasts for 30 years, and during this time, it is vulnerable.
• Love.
• Love from another person can break those under the effects of the Deadlights free. This is used by Ben, freeing his wife Audra by giving her a joyride around Derry.
• Fear.
  • Pennywise rarely goes for the kill straight away. This is because it wants to scare his victims first, as fear makes his victims taste a lot better to it.

Respect Threads

• Pennywise (1990 Miniseries)/Gewsbumpz dude

Notable Matchups

Victories:

Losses:

Winchester Brothers (Supernatural) Sam & Dean's Profiles (Sam was with Dean, they had Limited prior knowledge, 4 bullets of The Colt and 3 days of limit to find and finish Pennywise)

Inconclusive:

Discussions

Discussion threads involving Pennywise (1990 Miniseries)