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.
His name was Maturin, he was wise and compassionate, and he stepped in to help humanity from time to time, including the brave band of children that dared to stand up to Pennywise. Also, he just happens to be a turtle. Yes, a turtle.
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.
Its natural enemy is the "Space Turtle" or "Maturin", another ancient dweller of King's "Macroverse" who, eons ago, created the known universe and possibly others by vomiting them out as the result of a stomachache. The Turtle appears again in King's The Dark Tower series.
The only other being in that empty, dead space is Maturin: a giant, benevolent turtle that ends up helping the losers' club in their fight against It.
Biography. A Turtle of massive size with an ancient appearance, Maturin existed long before the creation of the mainstream universe in Stephen King's novels. By nature, Maturin was kind, wise, loving, gentle, compassionate, benevolent, and had a very grandfather-like demeanor when he spoke to humans.
This proves to be its undoing; Eddie nearly chokes it when it takes the form of a leper and is small enough for him to do that. When sufficiently weakened, the Losers kill It by crushing the heart it must have in the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
According to It, when humans got scared, "all the chemicals of fear flooded the body and salted the meat". This is why he prefers to feast on children -- their fears are simple, pure, and powerful compared to the complex, pathological fears of adults. Basically, children are delicious.
Kersh is Pennywise's daughter.
As well as having his right arm bitten off, Georgie is trying to crawl away but he was dragged into the sewers and devoured by Pennywise, with an unnamed older woman and her cat being the sole witnesses of the horrific scene, including before Georgie lost his arm.
Considered the most powerful warrior in the multiverse, Son Goku would handily defeat Pennywise in a tussle.
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.
Many people may find it strange that a creature like IT is terrified of a figure like Maturin, but what happens is that these two beings are natural opponents and opposites, yet they have equal power. The turtle is a force of benevolence and is guided by compassion, whereas IT represents chaos, evil, and fear.
In their final battle, the Losers' Club was able to kill Pennywise by reducing him to a child-like form as they overcame their fears.
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.
That is, when Pennywise morphs into a werewolf, he is subject to the same weaknesses as a werewolf, including silver slugs. In both the original novel and made-for-television adaptation, Pennywise is weakened using silver bullets melted down from earrings.
Image via Warner Bros. Finally, Pennywise is beaten into submission. He scurries away, utters the word "fear," and partially disintegrates before falling into the void. It's a powerful defeat of a powerful monster, and it's satisfaction enough were IT to remain a single film.
IT thrives on chaos; an exact 27-year pattern is way too predictable for a being of pure evil. Rather, IT wakes up roughly every three decades, and stays away for a different period of time.
So basically, in the book, Bill heeds the advice of the gigantic, wise turtle god, completes the Ritual of Chüd, and defeats It using the tongue twister that's meant to help his stutter: "He thrusts his fists against the post, but still insists he sees the ghost." And don't even get us started on what happens the ...
It Is Actually An Ancient Cosmic Force Of Destruction
It is the real monster behind the monster. If you want to get technical, It is an alien, but It's origin goes well beyond that. It is actually an ancient cosmic deity. A god of destruction, not just of our world, but of multiple worlds and even multiple universes.
He is the oldest of the seven members of The Losers' Club, and the only member Pennywise is afraid of.
In the book, the adult Losers' Club teams up with Maturin (a cosmic space turtle, yes seriously) to defeat Pennywise. Sadly for any tortoise fans out there, Maturin was written out of It: Chapter Two, which also changes the movie's villain from a primordial evil energy into some sort of nefarious alien.