IT: Welcome to Derry has finally confirmed the truth about one of the characters in Stephen King's original IT novel. The HBO Max horror prequel, set 27 years before the events of It (2017), has been steadily filling in the blanks about Pennywise the Clown and its sinister presence in the town of Derry. In Episodes 6 and 7 of IT: Welcome to Derry, the show finally uncovered the truth about the mysterious character known as Bob Gray.
In King's novel, Robert "Bob" Gray was the human name that the evil force, known as It, occasionally chose to use. For years, it was unclear whether Bob Gray was a real person whom Pennywise adopted as a persona, or if he was the original human form that It created to assimilate among humans.
IT: Welcome to Derry has cleared up this mystery, confirming in the screen adaptation that Bob Gray was a real person. In 2019's It: Chapter Two (set in 2016), viewers learn of Bob Gray through his daughter, Ingrid Kersh, who tells Beverly Marsh that her father was part of the circus. When Beverly inspects a photo of Ingrid's father, she finds his face is identical to that of Pennywise.
In Episode 6 of IT: Welcome to Derry, the HBO series delved deeper into this lore. Ingrid reveals to Lilly that her father was "a carnival performer," who called himself Pennywise, but that he was "taken from [her]."
"My father was a carnival performer. He called himself 'Pennywise the Dancing Clown.' I adored him. And he was taken from me."
Ingrid reveals that she then encountered Pennywise in 1935 (which was a hint at what Season 2 of the show will cover), when it killed a young girl while in clown form. Pennywise then wiped away its makeup to reveal the face of Bob Gray, Ingrid's father, and told her, "It's me, Papa. Oh, how I've missed you all these years." Ingrid then went on to believe that a sinister "shadow" had infected her father and possessed him to kill children, but Ingrid thought she could free him from this force and get her father back.
Despite this added context, it was never quite clear what happened to the real Bob Gray, but IT: Welcome to Derry's seventh episode answers that question. In the opening scene set in 1908, a young Ingrid watches as Bob Gray performs his Pennywise the Dancing Clown act at the carnival. Also watching from a distance is the figure of a young boy.
Later, Ingrid shows her father her Periwinkle outfit, which he proudly proclaims will make them the "Pennywise and Periwinkle show," referring to Ingrid's mother's stage name.
One night before a performance, Bob Gray is shown drinking and smoking outside the carnival in his clown attire, when a young boy (the same one who had been watching his performance earlier) emerges from the bushes. The child asks for Gray's help to find his parents, at the same time that a bloodcurdling scream comes from within the forest behind him. The child tells Gray the scream was his mother's, and together they venture into the forest to investigate.
Later that night, all that the carnival can find of Gray is his bloodied handkerchief. They believe it to be wolves, but 27 years later, Ingrid learns it was the entity that was responsible for taking her father, and from then on, Pennywise became the entity's new preferred form.
Why Did the Entity Choose Pennywise as Its Main Form?
This backstory to Bob Gray confirms a long-standing mystery: Pennywise did indeed base his human alias on a real person, rather than fabricating one.
Episode 7 of IT: Welcome to Derry also confirms why the entity was interested in Bob Gray as a candidate. After witnessing the children's infatuation with Gray and his Pennywise the Dancing Clown act in the opener, the entity (in the form of the child) approaches Gray in the forest and says, "The children seem drawn to you."
It seems that the entity saw in Pennywise the potential for the clown to be a magnet for children, and by taking that form, it would provide the demon with many more willing souls to devour. This is why It then decides to kill Gray, so that it can take his place and use the Pennywise form as a way to attract children.
By doing this, the entity seemingly gained all of Gray's memories, so it knew exactly how to continue the clown's act and what to say to Ingrid to convince her it was her possessed father.
The entity's tactic proved to be effective in subsequent years, as the Pennywise form consistently succeeded in disarming young children, such as Georgie and the young girl in Juniper Hill, bringing them close enough for the monster to strike.
