Somewhere just past what can be seen, measured,
and quantified by human eyes and brains is another place, a place of shapes beyond the
shapes. Described as the void which surrounds and
encapsulates our own universe, this Macroverse is home to things the human mind cannot comprehend
for their forms and minds have no basis in our own reality. We have no comparison for these shapeless
void-things in our prime material existence, and cannot hope to ever comprehend the truth
of these exo-cosmic horrors. Pennywise the Dancing Clown is one of these
horrors, a being as ancient as pre-creation, who existed possibly as long as Gan, or the
'other', who is widely believed to be the creator of all things in this world and all
others. Passing from the uncreation of the Macroverse
to the creation of our own universe, It is incomprehensibly ancient, and has wandered
the cosmos feasting on all life it encounters like a universal parasite. Recently it found its way to earth taking
up residence in Derry, Maine, although some believe that it arrived long ago in a massive
cataclysmic event similar to an asteroid impact, and seeing a young world full of the promise
of life, settled in for a long sleep, awaiting for the inevitable rise of its favorite prey:
intelligent life. Suppose that one day you found yourself on
a road trip through beautiful Maine, enjoying its famous lobster bisque and gorgeous coastal
vistas- when suddenly you stop for an overnight stay in the quiet town of Derry. The people are pleasant enough, but as you
stroll through town you can't help but notice all the posters for missing children. Doing a little more research you are stunned
to discover that great catastrophes, and large numbers of missing children, seem to come
in predictable cycles to this unfortunate town, every 27-30 years. With growing horror you realize that it's
now officially been 27 years since the last bout of missing children- and that's when
you see it... a figure watching you from the treeline, it looks like a clown with brightly
colored pants and shirt, tufts of red hair, and stark white face with pouty red lips. You blink and suddenly it's gone, and realization
breeds a terrible fear inside you as you understand that you are now It's new prey. So, you're being stalked and terrorized by
an interdimensional being who feasts on humans- how can you defeat it? First let's take a look at what you're up
against. Pennywise's true origins are unknown past
that it comes from the space beyond space, a region known as the Macroverse that exists
outside our own reality. This place might also be the 'deadlights',
a place that Pennywise sometimes exiles the souls of its victims to, leaving their bodies
as empty shells. However, the deadlights and the macroverse
may be two completely separate locations, but what is known is that the human mind risks
insanity if it ever catches a glimpse of either. Formless voids that defy the orderly nature
of our own existence, a human brain effectively shuts down if its exposed to either the deadlights
or the macroverse, bringing on instant lunacy. Pennywise's origin from within this formless
void forces him- or more accurately It- to adopt a physical shape for as long as it exists
in our reality. That gives Pennywise incredible powers of
shapeshifting, able to take on the form of any person or object. However It is bound to the rules of our universe's
physics, meaning that if it takes on the shape of a bird for instance, then it must fly like
one and cannot defy the laws of physics. This obedience to the rules of our universe
means that Pennywise's shapeshifting can leave it temporarily vulnerable, if it shape shifts
into a cabinet and you set it on fire, it'll burn. However Pennywise also has incredible resistance
to physical damage and near-invulnerability, even being shot in the head won't stop Pennywise
for long, or even give it much pause. If you've seen our previous episodes then
you know that we here at The Infographics Show abide by one belief: problem-solving
through superior firepower. In this case however, no amount of firepower
is going to put a dent in Pennywise... at least not until you overcome its psychic defenses
first. As a creature with psychic abilities, Pennywise
uses its abilities to manipulate its victims into greatly fearing it, stating that “fear
salts the meat”. In fact, Pennywise refuses to eat people unless
they are good and properly terrified, having grown a taste for scared children. Complete invulnerability to physical damage,
an immortal lifespan, and the ability to escape into the deadlights... this time you are up
against a formidable challenge indeed. Luckily though, Pennywise does have one glaring
weakness: its narcissism. A being of superior power, Pennywise believes
that humans are far beneath it, and centuries of preying on hapless people have given it
a serious ego boost. Yet powerful as Pennywise is, that staggering
ego is a crippling Achille's heel, for it is completely incapable of believing that
it could ever be resisted, let alone overcome by a mere human. When a group of children forced it to retreat
in the 1950s during one of its feeding cycles, Pennywise awoke three decades later and for
the first time questioned its own power and abilities. A being as ancient as the universe, and likely
even more, tasted defeat for the first time, and left it with crippling self-doubt. Pennywise's self-doubt is going to be the
vulnerability you're going to exploit, but first you have to be able to resist it's fear-based
attacks against you. That means you're going to have to learn to
control your own fear, as when Pennywise can't terrify its prey it clearly loses power over
them, and that even translates to growing physically weaker in our own universe, becoming
vulnerable to damage that it would normally shrug off without a second thought. So, we're not going to do as usual and recommend
this weapon or that, or this trap or that trap- rather, the first thing we're going
to recommend is that you take some yoga classes immediately. Pick up meditation habits and make it a routine
to center yourself and empty your mind. Pennywise will try to flood you with fear,
and it will be important that you're able to push those fears out of your mind. Move to West Hollywood and take up classes
in a local yoga studio, maybe start eating Kale for every meal and start going to obscure
indie band concerts- you need to get as spiritual as any LA hipster and prepare for the ultimate
confrontation. Once you've started saying Namaste instead
of hello and goodbye in every conversation you're ready for your confrontation- but beware
because Pennywise will prey on your deepest personal fears. It won't be enough to simply push fear out
of your mind through superior meditative powers- you'll need to have physically faced those
deepest fears you have and overcome them, because you can be sure that in any fight
against Pennywise he's going to summon them against you. Pennywise's power to create illusions is so
strong that they can even physically hurt people, so if you're afraid of swimming in
the ocean because of great white sharks, you better be ready to face down a few great white
sharks because that's exactly what Pennywise is going to be throwing at you. Psychologists recommend exposure therapy to
get over severe phobias, and we recommend the same for preparing in your fight against
Pennywise. Gradual exposure to deep fears can help overcome
them by putting them in perspective, and by slowly acclimating to the fear inside you
until it becomes normal. Go swim in the ocean if you're afraid of sharks,
and once you're accustomed to that step it up a notch and maybe fly to a tropical island
or somewhere with a program that lets you swim with live sharks. Once you've done that, go swimming with sharks
while tying bloody steaks to your body. If you survive that, then you're ready to
face Pennywise. Assuming you weren't bitten in two by a great
white shark because you decided to turn yourself into a meat popsicle, your actual confrontation
with Pennywise will be quite brief. It will try to taunt you, summon your deepest
fears and launch them at you- to which you'll simply laugh and shrug them away. At this point fear will grow inside Pennywise,
as it realizes that it has no power over you. Cornering the sniveling clown, it'll likely
beg for its life and make all sorts of promises if you just let it go- everything from bringing
dead relatives back to life to making you nearly immortal yourself. Don't listen to it, just take your preferred
weapon of choice, or even a simple children's baseball bat, and finish the job. Without the power to terrify you, Pennywise's
physical powers diminish as well, and though it's never certain if it can ever truly die,
you'll at least have liberated the town of Derry for another thirty years. Just beware that Pennywise typically reverts
to its true form when close to defeat, and the closest approximation in our universe
to its true form is that of a giant spider. So while we personally don't find spiders
particularly terrifying, the sudden appearance of a spider the size of a house would no doubt
be terrifying to anyone, so try not to be suddenly scared to death of a mega-sized arachnid
when you're so close to victory... although if you were, honestly, we wouldn't blame you. Even if that means Pennywise likely bit your
head off in the end. How would you defeat Pennywise? What's your deepest fear and how would you
prepare yourself to face it? Oh, and check out our other video, You vs
Chucky! See you next time!
