Which It: Welcome to Derry Character Are You?

Learn More About IT: Welcome to Derry

IT: Welcome to Derry is HBO's prequel series to Andy Muschietti's It and It: Chapter Two, pulling the lens back to 1962, decades before Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise terrorized the Losers' Club. Developed by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs, the series digs into Derry, Maine's history of disappearances and violence, revealing that the town's evil has been resurfacing in cycles for generations, and that 1962 is simply the latest chapter in a much older story.

At the center of the season is the Hanlon family, newly arrived in Derry after Major Leroy Hanlon, played by Jovan Adepo, is stationed at the local Air Force base. His wife, Charlotte Hanlon, played by Taylour Paige, is a sharp-tongued civil rights activist who refuses to stay quiet about the racism and danger she senses in their new town, even as the people around her insist everything is fine. Their arrival in Derry sets off the season's central mystery, as the family becomes entangled in the town's history of missing children almost immediately.

Among the local kids caught up in the horror is Lilly Bainbridge, played by Clara Stack, a teenager nicknamed 'Loony' after a stint in the Juniper Hill Asylum following her father's death. Lilly experiences visions connected to a missing boy named Matty, and her only real ally at school is Marge, played by Matilda Lawler, who sticks by her despite the bullying and whispers that follow Lilly everywhere she goes.

One of the series' most striking connections to the wider Stephen King universe is Dick Hallorann, played by Chris Chalk, appearing here decades before his role in The Shining. In Welcome to Derry, Hallorann is a young soldier on the Air Force base whose telepathic gift, the 'shine,' is being studied and exploited by the U.S. government, giving longtime King readers a haunting look at how his abilities were shaped long before he ever met Danny Torrance.

Bill Skarsgard reprises Pennywise for a third time, and the show has leaned into a slow-burn reveal of the character, holding off on showing him in full clown makeup until several episodes into the season. That patience pays off: critics have praised the show for building dread methodically rather than relying on jump scares, treating Pennywise less like a slasher villain and more like an ancient, patient predator that feeds on an entire town's fear.

The series also expands Derry's cast of kids beyond the core mystery, including Ronnie Grogan, played by Amanda Christine, the daughter of a local family swept up in the same string of disappearances that drives the season's plot. Together, this new generation of Derry kids echoes the original Losers' Club dynamic while carving out its own distinct story, set against the paranoia of the Cold War-era Air Force base.

With its slow-building dread, deep King mythology connections, and a cast anchored by the Hanlon family, IT: Welcome to Derry has quickly established itself as one of HBO's most acclaimed horror series. Whether you relate most to Pennywise's ancient patience, Charlotte's fearless voice, or Lilly's haunted resilience, this quiz will help you find your place among Derry's residents.