<P> King stated in a 2013 interview that he came up with the idea for Pennywise after asking himself what scared children "more than anything else in the world". He felt that the answer was clowns . King thought of a troll like the one in the children's tale "Three Billy Goats Gruff", who inhabited a sewer system . </P> <P> The character was portrayed in its Pennywise form by Tim Curry in the 1990 television adaptation and by Bill Skarsgård in the 2017 film adaptation, who will reprise the role in It: Chapter Two, which is scheduled to release on September 6, 2019 . </P> <P> In the novel, It is an eternal entity . After arriving on Earth, It would sleep for approximately 27 to 30 years at a time, then awaken to wreak chaos and feed (primarily on children's fear). It is able to take many more forms than the film adaptations depict, including werewolves, bats, leeches, and sharks . It could embody any of a child's worst fears . </P> <P> It apparently originated in a void containing and surrounding the Universe, a place referred to in the novel as the "Macroverse" (a concept similar to the later established "Todash Darkness" of the Dark Tower novels). At several points in the novel, It claims its true name is "Bob Gray", and is named "It" by the group of children who later confront it . Throughout the book, It is generally referred to as male; however, late in the book, the children come to believe It may be female (due to It's manifestation as a large female spider). In addition, upon seeing its true form Audra Denbrough says "Oh dear Jesus, It is female ." Despite this, the true form of It is never truly known . The final physical form It takes is that of an enormous spider, but this is the closest the human mind can understand . It's actual form is not precisely what the children actually see . Instead, the natural form of It exists in an inter-dimensional realm referred to by It as the "deadlights". Bill Denbrough comes dangerously close to seeing the deadlights, but successfully defeats It before this happens . The deadlights are never seen, and their true form outside the physical realm is never revealed, only described as writhing, destroying orange lights . Coming face to face with the deadlights drives any living being instantly insane (a common Lovecraftian device). The only known person to face the deadlights and survive is Bill's wife Audra Phillips, although she is rendered catatonic by the experience . </P>

What's the backstory of pennywise the dancing clown