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. In his works, Stephen King has told a variety of horror scenarios, with villains ranging from supernatural beings to humans who embody evil. In 1986, Stephen King’s novel IT examined some of the deepest and most common anxieties through an evil, shapeshifting creature known simply as “IT.”
IT
IT alternates between 1957 and 1985 to tell the narrative of a group of kids known as “The Losers Club,” following the Losers as children and adults. The Losers, set in Derry, Maine (as in many other King books), come upon an evil thing living in the sewers that awakens every 27 years to feed and can take whatever shape it wants. This entity, known as “IT,” assumes the form of its victims’ worst fears as it feeds on their terror, but its preferred shape is Pennywise. IT’s origins are confusing since it connects to the macroverse and the turtle Maturin, who turns out to be the only being IT is afraid of, but I King left enough of the story untold to leave a lot of questions about it.
Macroverse
The macroverse, a void including and surrounding the cosmos and home to IT and a turtle named Maturin, is one of Stephen King’s many conceptions. IT’s true shape can only be seen in an inter-dimensional world known as “deadlights,” and the closest human minds can get to comprehending it is a big female spider. Those who have seen the deadlights go insane almost immediately, with just a few surviving such an experience.
Maturin
Maturin, on the other hand, is a huge turtle that is kind, smart, peaceful, and compassionate by nature, and who retreats behind his shell on a regular basis. He had a stomach ache and vomited out the mainstream universe on one of the rare occasions that he came out, and he went back into his shell immediately.
Is IT really afraid of Maturin?
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. They are diametrically opposed. Because they are both interdimensional entities with equal powers, the turtle could kill IT if it wanted to, therefore it’s understandable that IT is terrified of it.
The Stephen King universe is more intricate than it appears, as it is literally a universe unto itself, complete with deep mythology and various beings and creatures with various purposes, many of whose stories have been purposefully kept a mystery. IT established that the title villain is afraid of Maturin, but it didn’t go into detail about their relationship or what may happen if they had to fight at some point.
