<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section possibly contains original research . Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . Statements consisting only of original research should be removed . (April 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section possibly contains original research . Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . Statements consisting only of original research should be removed . (April 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Losers' Club is a group of seven misfit eleven - year - old children who are united by their unhappy lives . They share the same misery and torment from being the victims of a gang of local bullies led by the increasingly sociopathic Henry Bowers, and band together as they struggle to overcome It . Seven children who find themselves caught up in a nefarious situation and they cannot quite comprehend but against which they must fight . </P> <Dl> <Dt> William "Bill" Denbrough </Dt> <Dd> Bill is the leader and most self - assured member of the Losers' Club as well as the main protagonist of the story . He wants to get revenge on the monster for the death of his younger brother, George . He feels partly responsible for his death as it was he who made George the boat and sent him outside to play with it during a rainstorm . In addition, his parents have become cold and withdrawn towards him after the loss of their youngest son, and he secretly hopes the death of the murderer will awaken his parents to his presence again . He has a bad stuttering issue, which his mother attributes to a car accident that occurred when he was three years old, and which earned him the nickname "Stuttering Bill". However, the issue got worse after George's death and it is implied to be psychosomatic rather than physical . He is the most determined and resourceful of the Losers and is the one who, both in 1958 and 1985, confronts It in the Ritual of Chüd and eventually destroys It . As an adult, he becomes a successful writer and marries film star Audra Phillips, who bears a strong resemblance to Beverly . </Dd> <Dt> Benjamin "Ben" Hanscom </Dt> <Dd> Known as "Haystack", Ben is a highly intelligent boy who, before joining the Losers' Club, often spent his free time reading books at the public library . He is also obese, and due to this has become a favorite victim of Henry Bowers . His mechanical skills become useful to the Losers, from making two silver slugs to building an underground clubhouse . He develops a crush on Beverly Marsh and the two leave Derry together after the 1985 defeat of It . As he grows up, he sheds his excess weight and becomes an internationally renowned architect . </Dd> <Dt> Beverly "Bev" Marsh (later Rogan) </Dt> <Dd> The only girl in the group, she is an attractive and tomboyish redhead on whom each of the boys has a secret crush at some point during the story . She is from the poorest part of Derry, and is frequently abused by her father, Alvin, while her mother, Elfrida is out working . In 1958, she develops a crush on Bill Denbrough . Her skill with a slingshot is a key factor in battling It . As an adult, she becomes a successful fashion designer in Chicago, but endures several abusive relationships, culminating in her marriage to Tom Rogan, who sees her as a sex object and disapproves of her cigarette smoking, using it as an excuse to beat her . She departs Derry with Ben following the destruction of It . </Dd> <Dt> Richard "Richie" Tozier </Dt> <Dd> Known as "Trashmouth", Richie is the Losers' most lighthearted member, always cracking jokes and doing impersonations or "Voices", which prove very powerful weapons against It . He is "too intelligent for his own good" and channels his boredom in hyper - active wisecracking, to the point of getting into trouble . His flippant remark to Henry Bowers leads to almost getting beaten up by Henry and his friends . He is the most devoted to keeping the group together as he sees seven as a magical number and believes the group should have no more, no less . In adulthood, he is a successful disc jockey in Los Angeles . As the DJ, he uses his once - annoying and unrealistic voices as one of his main attractions . He has bad eyesight and wears thick glasses as a child, but changes to contact lenses as an adult . Although it is unclear if he was the basis of the character's name and occupation, Maine Public Radio has a music program hosted by a Rich Tozier . </Dd> <Dt> Edward "Eddie" Kaspbrak </Dt> <Dd> Eddie is a frail and asthmatic hypochondriac, who carries his inhaler with him everywhere . His father died when he was very young, and his mother is domineering and constantly worries about his health . Later in the story, it is revealed that Eddie's asthma is psychosomatic: the pharmacist has been all along giving him water instead of medicine in his inhaler . The root of Eddie's problems is his mother, who has Munchausen syndrome by proxy . Her constant worrying about his health has been a way to manipulate him into caring for her . When Henry and his friends break his arm and his mother tries to prevent the Losers from visiting Eddie in the hospital, he finally stands up to his mother and tells her that he is no longer the helpless kid she thinks he is . As an adult, he runs a successful limousine business in New York City, but is married to a woman, Myra, who is very similar to his mother . He also finds the strength to defend himself from Henry Bowers, eventually killing him in self - defense with a broken bottle, even though in the fight his arm is re-broken in the same spot Henry broke it in a scuffle when they were kids . He bleeds to death in the sewers after his arm is bitten off by It, ultimately dying in his friends' arms . </Dd> <Dt> Michael "Mike" Hanlon </Dt> <Dd> Mike is the last to join the Losers . He is the only African - American in the group and lives with his parents on a large farm . He goes to a different school from the other kids due to his Baptist faith . Mike is racially persecuted by Henry Bowers, whose father holds a long - standing grudge against Mike's father . Mike meets The Losers when they help him fight back against Bowers in a massive rock fight . His father kept an album filled with photos that were important to Derry's history, including several of Pennywise the Dancing Clown . He is the only one of the Losers to stay behind in Derry (and thus the only one to retain his memory of the events of 1958) and becomes the town librarian . He researches Derry history and It, and is the one who beckons the others back when the killings begin again in 1985 . Though he survives, Mike is seriously wounded by Henry and is unable to join the remaining Losers (Bill, Ben, Bev, Eddie, and Richie) in the final battle against It . He later recovers from his wounds but like the others starts to lose his memory of the experience . It was later revealed in Insomnia that Mike continued as a librarian and was the boss of one of that book's primary characters in 1993 . </Dd> <Dt> Stanley "Stan" Uris </Dt> <Dd> Stan is the most skeptical member of the Club . He is Jewish and is persecuted by Henry Bowers for this reason . Logic, order, and cleanliness are deeply ingrained in his psyche . He relies on logic more than anything else and is the least willing to accept that It actually exists . As an adult, he becomes a partner in a large Atlanta - based accounting firm and marries Patty Blum, a teacher . However, upon receiving Mike's phone call in 1985, he commits suicide by slitting his wrists in the bathtub and writing "IT" in his blood on the wall . In addition, it is heavily implied that Stan was the only one aware that It was not only female but was also pregnant, hence he chose death over returning to Derry to face the ancient terror despite being the one to slice the Losers' palms in a blood oath . It is also implied in the book that Stan remembers more about the children's encounters with It than the others do, sometimes commenting about the Turtle and other events from his time in Derry, though he claims that he doesn't remember what those phrases mean . It can be implied throughout the story that he was psychic to a mild degree (accurately predicting which job his wife should apply for, a higher sensitivity to Its activities, frequent references from the other losers to his "ordered mind"). Besides blaming It for George's death, Bill also blames It for Stan's death . </Dd> </Dl>

When does it take place in the book