It, better known by its favorite form as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, is the titular main antagonist of Stephen King's 1986 horror novel of the same name and its 1990 miniseries adaptation. Pennywise returns as a minor antagonist in the 1987 novel The Tommyknockers and the 2011 novel 11/22/63.
It is a being known as a Glamour, an ancient, obscure species of horrific and malevolent shapeshifting cosmic entities that feed on emotions such as fear. It is a manifestation of evil and consumption that is billions of years old, spawned in the void of the Macroverse, which is also otherwise known as the Todash Darkness. Millions of years ago, It came to planet Earth to feed. It lives in the sewers of the United States of America region, New England town Derry in the Maine state, awakening every twenty-seven years to feed, manipulating its prey’s fears in order to make them easier to hunt. It prefers to hunt and devour children, as their fears are much more easier to manipulate than adults.
This twisted extra-dimensional eldritch entity had a form humans could only comprehend as a giant spider, but It would almost always disguise Itself as a clown named "Pennywise the Dancing Clown" to attract children so that It could capture and kill them as they were an easier target. It could also morph into any form It wished, generally based on Its victim's fears.
Due to Its shapeshifting abilities, the true identity of the creature is never established. It seems to have no real name, gender, or identifiable species; thus, the creature is only referred to as "It" by Its enemies.
Pennywise encounters a group of local Derry children collectively nicknamed the Losers' Club in 1956. He attempts to devour them, but they not only survive but manage to hurt, battle, and partially defeat Pennywise inside his lair. The Losers Club grows into adults 27 years later and returns to Derry after forgetting everything to battle Pennywise once again and presumably end the Monster and avenge the victims. It would also serve as the archenemy of the Losers' Club (particularly towards William "Bill" Denbrough) and the arch-nemesis of both Maturin the Turtle and Gan/The Other (who created both It and Maturin alongside the Macroverse).
In the 1990 two-part miniseries, Pennywise was portrayed by Tim Curry.
