History Fridge / It

* Richie Tozier actually seems to serve a very useful function for The Loser's Club. As a child, he tends to be the one to ModeLock IT whenever IT appears. It was he who was convinced that IT was the Teenaged Werewolf, and he who saw IT as TheCrawlingEye. IT was locked into the form, and vulnerability, that Richie chose for IT. And as an adult, was still the most childlike of the Loser's Club, meaning that his immaturity allowed him to fight IT in the Ritual of Chud when Bill couldn't. Or, as Richie so eloquently put it when IT railed at him that the Losers were all too old to defeat IT, "Hey bitch, you're never too old to rock and roll."

* Bill's "magic stones" story in the miniseries. "They released the magic stones, defeated the dragon, and ran out of the cave". Eerily similar to how the movie ends - except the "magic stones" are silver earrings and the dragon is a GiantSpider, of course.

* In the TV Movie, the first person IT kills on screen is a little girl who sang Itsy Bitsy Spider. Later on it shows that IT's true physical form on earth is that of a giant Spider. IT took the song personally.

* Richie Tozier actually seems to serve a very useful function for The Loser's Club. As a child, he tends to be the one to ModeLock IT whenever IT appears. It was he who was convinced that IT was the Teenaged Werewolf, and he who saw IT as TheCrawlingEye. IT was locked into the form, and vulnerability, that Richie chose for IT. And as an adult, he was still the most childlike of the Loser's Club, meaning that his immaturity allowed him to fight IT in the Ritual of Chud when Bill couldn't. Or, as Richie so eloquently put it when IT railed at him that the Losers were all too old to defeat IT, "Hey bitch, you're never too old to rock and roll."

* Pennywise is a non-material entity from beyond the edges of this universe, merely projecting a body into this world. In what sense is a giant spider appropriate as its 'true' form? Because it's a creature that feeds on and draws strength from fear. What's the single most feared and reviled creature on Earth? Spiders are also famous for their webs. You know, natural traps to ensnare and devour insects. Considering WHY Pennywise has the clown guise in the first place, turning into a spider later seems to be a particularly appropriate choice, personality-wise.
** "What's the single most feared and reviled creature on Earth?" This is called "projection." I can't find any polls which suggest that, across the entire planet, spiders are the most reviled creature. Even in more limited polls, animals like snakes come out on top.
*** They may not be the most reviled creature on the planet, but spiders are one of the ancestral human fears, alongside snakes and other predators. As to why It chose the form of a spider specifically, it may just be a matter of personal preference. Also, the symbolism of a creature keeping food trapped in its web is definitely deliberate.

* It's only in the book, but Beverly's father chases her all over town when he means to finally kill her. But think about it; he's a man in his forties who works a fairly exhausting job, where does a man like that get the energy to chase a healthy, fairly athletic twelve-year-old? ''From IT''. Not only does IT crawl in behind the eyes of people you care about, it makes them ''stronger''.
** What's more, he was saying he wanted to see if she was "intact" when he was chasing her. If he had caught her, [[RapeByProxy would it have used Beverly's father as an instrument to rape her before killing her?]] [[FateWorseThanDeath Or, would IT have been satisfied that the]] ParentalIncest would have [[BrokenBird broken her enough that she wouldn't be a threat to IT any longer?]]
** There are a number of parallels drawn between Beverley's father and her husband. [[AbusiveParents What kind of father Tom would have been]] if he and Bev had children, especially a daughter.

* The titular character of ''Literature/RoseMadder'' was also a giant spider behind the illusion of a human form. And She also had a child. Is this creature It reaching out from the deadlights? Or is It not the only one of It's kind in the universe, and just the only one that fell to Earth?
** Even more horror sets in if you take this to its logical conclusion, IT is not IT, IT is the Deadlights, if Rose Madder is another part of IT, that means that they are both akin to something similar to "fingers and mouths" for the Deadlights, how many more "spiders" live in the world? that means the Losers Club only defeated possibly a tiny, tiny portion of the Deadlights (maybe even just giving the EldritchAbomination equivalant it a hangnail).

** You defeat many interdimensional horrors while at summer camp when you were twelve?

** Did you forget the couple who drove past a terrified kid surrounded by obviously aggressive teenagers with a knife? And then a balloon appeared in their backseat? [[ViewersAreGoldfish The old man isn't the only evidence of this effect at work]].

* [[AbusiveParents What kind of father Tom would have been]] if he and Bev had children, especially a daughter.

* The Losers didn't actually spend all that much time together--just a single summer, really, and in Mike's case, less than that. It is mentioned that they spent some time together after defeating IT the first time, but not long after they pretty much began leaving Derry one after another, and at no point were all seven back together again, including as adults. Sure, they had a strong bond for a time, but isn't this like missing a bunch of kids you knew at summer camp when you were twelve?
** You defeat many interdimensional horrors while at summer camp when you were twelve?

* [[EldritchAbomination What]] impregnated IT? [[ThereIsAnother And are there any other individuals of its kind around the world?]] If IT alone is a nearly unstoppable force, ''just imagine'' what would happen [[UpToEleven if say a few dozen just like it invading civilizations.]] [[BringMyBrownPants Trousers still dry?]]

* So, why now, 1957--1985? IT has been around for millions of years. Why has this mysterious "Other" drawn the Losers together to finally fight IT and take IT down? Because, at this time and no other, IT can't simply pack up and leave Derry--IT has its children to hatch and nurture. Derry has become ITs true haunt ("a feeding place for animals," plural), and the place where Its children will feed. ITs bond to its children is the perfect weapon to use against IT. And IT believes it can't be killed--even more reason that IT will stand and fight (and lose) instead of running away and getting away. IT is at its moment of greatest weakness, its moment of greatest fatness and complacency. So now is the perfect time. Any sooner would be ''too'' soon; any later would be too late (IT's children will hatch, feed and possibly [[FridgeHorror branch out]]. [[NothingIsScarier Imagine hundreds, thousands, millions of ITs.]] The entire world is their haunt. [[ApocalypseHow Goodbye, human race]]).

* The Losers didn't actually spend all that much time together--just a single summer, really, and in Mike's case, less than that. It is mentioned that they spent some time together after defeating It the first time, but not long after they pretty much began leaving Derry one after another, and at no point were all seven back together again, including as adults. Sure, they had a strong bond for a time, but isn't this like missing a bunch of kids you knew at summer camp when you were twelve?

* IT is the most ''Dark Tower'' of the non-''Dark Tower'' books. The Losers' club is a [[TrueCompanions Ka-Tet]] and their cyclic battle with IT is a prime example of how Ka[[labelnote: *]] the DT universe's form of fate [[/labelnote]] works; the same events have a tendency to recur during both their encounters in 1958 and 1985, they can feel the force of the [[BigGood White]] when they form the circle, they can share [[PsychicLink Khef]] when they are together, and towards the end they feel [[MarkedToDie Ka-Shume]]. IT itself is a creature from [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Todash space]] with its true form, [[EldritchAbomination the Deadlights]], circling the outside of the Tower.

* So, why now, 1957--1985? It has been around for millions of years. Why has this mysterious "Other" drawn the Losers together to finally fight It and take It down? Because, at this time and no other, It can't simply pack up and leave Derry--It has Its children to hatch and nurture. Derry has become Its true haunt ("a feeding place for animals," plural), and the place where Its children will feed. Its bond to Its children is the perfect weapon to use against It. And It believes It can't be killed--even more reason that It will stand and fight (and lose) instead of running away and getting away. It is at Its moment of greatest weakness, Its moment of greatest fatness and complacency. So now is the perfect time. Any sooner would be ''too'' soon; any later would be too late (It's children will hatch, feed and possibly [[FridgeHorror branch out]]. [[NothingIsScarier Imagine hundreds, thousands, millions of Its.]] The entire world is their haunt. [[ApocalypseHow Goodbye, human race]]).
* In the TV Movie, the first person It kills on screen is a little girl who sang Itsy Bitsy Spider. Later on it shows that It's true physical form on earth is that of a giant Spider. It took the song personally.

* Apart from mentioning that Moose Sadler is named after the character in ComicBook/ArchieComics, Stephen King also included Archie's main love interests as three of the 1957-1958 victims - Betty (Ripsom), Veronica (Grogan) and Cheryl (Lamonica).

* The Losers still had troubles after defeating IT as children. We know that Ben eventually managed to win his battle with obesity, but Beverly had been the subject of her father's [[Squick interest]] for some time, and was actively trying to escape him when IT was pulling his strings the day of that last childhood battle with IT.

* The Losers still had troubles after defeating IT as children. We know that Ben eventually managed to win his battle with obesity, but Beverly had been the subject of her father's [[IncestSquick interest]] for some time, and was actively trying to escape him when IT was pulling his strings the day of that last childhood battle with IT.

* Pennywise is a non-material entity from beyond the edges of this universe, merely projecting a body into this world. In what sense is a giant spider appropriate as its 'true' form? Because it's a creature that feeds on and draws strength from fear. What's the single most feared and reviled creature on Earth?
** You've got a twofer, here... spiders are also famous for their webs. You know, natural traps to ensnare and devour insects. Considering WHY Pennywise has the clown guise in the first place, turning into a spider later seems to be a particularly appropriate choice, personality-wise.

** Hell, this may even apply to ''IT''. The Losers are only able to beat her as completely as possible after she's laid her eggs; her mentality is very much that of a cosmically spoiled brat for most of her appearances. But at the end, she rushes back to directly engage the Losers, even knowing how they can beat her, because she can feel Ben crushing her spawn.
*** Most likely the reason why none of the Losers can have kids is that if they did having the responsibility of having a kid to raise would keep them from running off to Derry on a potential suicide mission to take out IT, and if even one of the Losers with the exception of Stan didn't go to kill it, the very specific set of circumstances that need to occur for IT to be killed once and for all couldn't happen.
*** Alternately, the subconscious realization of what would happen if [[AdultFear IT found out about the Losers' children.]]
*** And along with that, [[AbusiveParents what kind of father Tom would have been]] if he and Bev had children, especially a daughter.

** Or that It represents [[{{Satan}} the devil]], the "Other," {{God}}, and the Turtle, Jesus.

** [[FalseReassurance You are too much of a pessimist. Predators don't kill their food source.]] Humans will continue to live like always ...but in a world where crimes, rapes, incests, murders, tortures are ordinary and common acts, no worse or less frequent than saying the F-word. [[FateWorseThanDeath See, humanity won't die.]]
** Now is probably just the time that Maturin (the Turtle) got around to it. Until 1715, It was more or less hibernating under the ground waiting for humans to get there. That's when it started killing people, so it's only been 200-some years since then, in-universe. It was already established that the universe was just the result of Maturing getting sick and throwing up; it's that inconsequential to Him. Of course it takes Him that long to do anything about It.

** There's a line in the book that says Derry is named after a place in Ireland.

* [[EldritchAbomination What]] impregnated IT?
** Or... [[FridgeHorror who]]?
** [[ThereIsAnother And are there any other individuals of its kind around the world?]] If IT alone is a nearly unstoppable force, ''just imagine'' what would happen [[UpToEleven if say a few dozen just like it invading civilizations.]] [[BringMyBrownPants Trousers still dry?]]
** Maybe IT was asexual? Or born pregnant, like a Tribble.

** [[Literature/{{Dreamcatcher}} PENNYWISE LIVES]]

** It's heavily implied the Losers get LaserGuidedAmnesia quickly after leaving Derry, and Derry itself [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight downplays any odd deaths, if acknowledging them at all.]] Then there's the question of whether Eddie's wife [[NothingIsScarier would remember him, either.]]

** Well, to be fair, 'Georgie' is missing an arm. meaning It isn't 'Human-Georgie' but 'Ghost-Georgie' (That bill was earlier afraid he might comes to kill him.) ... How do you kill a ghost ?

** There's also a chance the real Al Marsh is the kind and caring guy Bev remembers from her childhood, before It turned him into a creep.

* It works by attacking people in the form of whatever it is that they fear most. But what happens when someone has a more abstract fear, like drowning, heights, or being buried alive? What form would It take then?
** This is actually addressed in the book. IT chooses to feed on children because they tend to have more definitive fears. Adults have fears as well, but tend to be more abstract, like not paying the bills, or getting fired from work, etc. In a sense, though IT could be feeding off of the latent fear of the adults. After all, IT is killing their children. [[AdultFear The fear that parents in Derry must have, quiet and lingering, as children begin disappearing or dying.]]
** It also doesn't need to be their GREATEST fear, just A fear. It appears to many of them as several things- for Richie alone, It disguises Itself as a werewolf, crawling eye, Paul Bunyan statue, and of course It's usual clown costume. It appears to Eddie Corcoran as his dead brother, but then as the Creature from the Black Lagoon- which Eddie doesn't believe in. Even as he's being killed, he's still looking for a zipper in a costume, because he doesn't believe it's really the Creature. Anything that freaks you out would work.

** [[FalseReassurance You are too much of a pessimist. Predators don't kill their food source.]] Humans will continue to live like always ...but in a world where crimes, rapes, incests, murders, tortures are ordinary and common acts, no worse or less frequent than saying the F-word. [[FateWorseThanDeath See, humanity won't ''die''.]]

** FalseReassurance You are too much pessimist. Predators don't kill their food source. Humans will continue to live like always ...but in a world crimes, rapes, incests, murders, tortures are ordinary and common acts not worse than saying the F-word. [[FalseReassurance See, humanity won't die.]]

* Apart from mentioning that Moose Sadler is named after the character in Franchise/ArchieComics, Stephen King also included Archie's main love interests as three of the 1957-1958 victims - Betty (Ripsom), Veronica (Grogan) and Cheryl (Lamonica).

* In TheMovie, when the Deadlights pass over the Losers in the first sewer scene, they glance up and see a grid of lights that later appears on the GiantSpider 's chest.