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| “ | Let me light his hair, like Michael Jackson! | „ |
| ~ Patrick's most famous quote in the 2017 film. |
Patrick Hockstetter is a major antagonist in Stephen King's book It as well as the 2017-2019 film series of the same name. He is a member of the Bowers Gang and is often cited as the most dangerous member of said group.
He was portrayed by Owen Teague in the films, who also played Harold Lauder in the 2020 The Stand miniseries.
Biography[]
Novel[]
Background[]
Patrick was a deeply disturbed young man who fell under the illusion that he was the only real human being in the world (solipsism). He expresses this delusion when he kills his baby brother, Avery, at the age of 5 out of the fear of being replaced.
As a child, Patrick and his family go swimming in a lake, and he develops a fear of leeches after several of them attach themselves to him.
As a student attending Derry Elementary School, Patrick develops a reputation for being creepy due to his habit of keeping dead flies in his pencil box, and female students stop sitting in front of him due to his tendency of groping them.
Late 1957[]
Patrick, deeply sadistic, kept the corpses of animals he killed in a refrigerator down at the junkyard, the animals being strays or pets stolen from people's homes that he starved to death in the fridge for both his own amusement and sexual gratification.
It is implied that Pennywise uses his powers to prevent people from discovering the fridge, as the day Patrick found it in the town junkyard was the day Georgie Denbrough was killed by Pennywise.
Some time before the events of the July of 1958, Henry Bowers finds out about the fridge and the animals.
Summer of 1958[]
Patrick is present when Henry breaks Eddie Kaspbrak's arm, and he spits in the latter's face when he is on the ground in pain.
Later, Patrick and the rest of the Bowers Gang wind up in the junkyard lighting their farts on fire for fun. After a while, Vic and Belch both leave to tend to different responsibilities, and shortly afterward, Patrick gives Henry Bowers a hand-job. Henry is receptive, and Patrick and offers to give him oral sex, but Henry suddenly punches him in the face out of embarrassment. Henry then threatens to tell the police about Patrick's animals if the latter tells anyone about their sexual encounter and leaves.
Patrick, now spooked that Henry may really get the cops after him, goes down to the fridge to dispose of the animals and clean it out, but is attacked by Pennywise in the form of flying leeches once he opens the fridge, his worst (and likely only) fear.
Because of the attack, Patrick passes out from blood loss, and he wakes up in the sewers, the last thing he sees being Pennywise eating him.
When the Losers Club enters the sewers, they find what was left of Patrick's corpse.
Summer of 1985[]
In 1985, Patrick Hockstetter appears as one of Pennywise's manifestations to frighten Eddie Kaspbrak. When the Losers Club enters the sewers again, they find Patrick's corpse for the second time.
It (2017)[]
In the 2017 film, Patrick Hockstetter's character is considerably changed from the source material. He is not nearly as malevolent as he is in the novel as we see none of his heinous actions. except for licking his lips when the Losers walk by him in school. His homosexual tendencies and attraction to Henry are absent.
Patrick Hockstetter is seen harassing several of the Losers Club with the rest of the Bowers Gang, including throwing Stan Uris’ hat through the window of a moving bus. He is also present when the gang attempts to run Mike Hanlon over with Belch’s car (though plays no part in harassing Mike), and again when Henry attempts to carve his own name onto Ben Hanscom's stomach, intimidating the latter with a makeshift flamethrower.
After Ben Hanscom escapes into the Barrens and the bullies give chase, Henry orders Patrick and Belch to go after him while Vic Criss helps him find his knife. During this time, Patrick orders Belch to search the forested area of the Barrens whilst he searches along the river. While still hunting for Ben, Patrick enters a sewer, thinking that Ben is in there. However, he suddenly walks into a group of dead people walking to him in the dark. As Patrick sprays fire for light to see who they are, it is revealed to be Pennywise as zombie children to frighten Patrick, otherwise known as the dead kids in the sewer. This causes Patrick to run. While running, Patrick trips and falls into the sewer water, getting blood on his face, but Patrick gets back up and keeps running. However, Pennywise traps Patrick in a dead-end of the sewers. He looks back and hears the zombie children far away from the sewer, and finds something to defend himself. While doing that, he spots a red balloon from nowhere, with the phrase "I ❤️ DERRY." Shortly after, the balloon pops, revealing Pennywise with a bloody mouth. Patrick screams as Pennywise immediately sprints to him and devours him. A missing person's poster is seen for Patrick on a telephone pole in Derry shortly after as the Losers Club goes to Ben’s house.
Sometime later, Pennywise uses Patrick's voice as one of the many voices calling up to Beverly Marsh from her apartment's bathroom sink. Patrick is mentioned in a deleted scene where Belch mentions Patrick's dad hasn't heard anything but Henry claims he doesn't care.
It: Chapter Two[]
| “ | Hockstetter?! | „ |
| ~ Henry's surprise and relief upon seeing Patrick again for the first time in years |
In the second part to the 2017 film duology Patrick makes a few appearances as one of It's forms.
He appears first as Pennywise summons him to a mental institution where an aged and now almost completely insane Henry Bowers is being held after being convicted for the murders of his father as well as Belch and Vic. Patrick appears as a decaying but still recognizable corpse of himself and presents himself before Henry who recognizes him quite quickly, he then gifts Henry with his old switchblade and helps him escape from the mental institution.
After Henry successfully escaped Patrick came to his aid once again by driving him back to Derry and continued acting as a chauffeur of sorts towards him until the latter's death at the hands of Richie Tozier.
Patrick made no further appearances in the film.
Personality[]
Book[]
Patrick was a very insane, deeply disturbed, and psychopathic person who had a solipsistic worldview and believed himself to be the only "real" being, considering everything except him to not be real, explaining why he does not feel any fear or pain (the only exception being leeches, which he feared from an early age, and for which he harbors an instinctive revulsion below the level of conscious thought). He was willing to kill his baby brother out of fear of being replaced, which clearly broadened Patrick's likeness for cruelty and murder, slowly but surely molding him into the psychopath we see him as.
Despite thinking that "real" does not exist apart from himself, he does have a vague concept of the rules and breaking them. Although for Patrick, the only thing wrong about breaking the rules is getting caught while doing so.
He is also a provocative and sexual sadist who draws excitation from torturing and killing animals and insects. Patrick would use his fridge to torture animals and strays all for the sake of his twisted gratification. He would also frequently attempt to grope his female peers. He performs other perverted sexual acts such as giving Henry a hand-job, and offers him oral sex. His report cards show him as being a temperamental, emotionless, and apathetic student, and though his IQ tests show him to have an intelligence slightly under the average, he is described as "far more clever than his lackluster IQ results indicated". Stephen King also takes note that Patrick's psychopathic behavior would have been picked up on if he had been born in a later era.
Movie[]
In the movie Patrick has completely changed from the book. Patrick shows no signs of psychopathy or solipsism if he had been visited by a doctor they would only have diagnosed him with conduct disorder with unemotional callous features. However, he seems to show strong signs of pyromania and sadism also here Patrick, contrary to the book, is very tall and weighs 127lbs (57Kg). The disturbing sexual tendencies of his personality from the book are not evident.
Relationships[]
Henry Bowers[]
Henry Bowers was a childhood friend of Patrick's due to their sadistic personalities. They begin their friendship in 1958, with Beverly suspecting that he was Peter Gordon's replacement (he either left the gang or was killed by Pennywise). They are only seen together a couple of times, but Henry does seem to have an ounce of respect for Patrick. He encourages him to assault hypochondriac Eddie Kaspbrak and laughs when he spits on him. Later he's seen in the junkyard with Patrick lighting their farts on fire along with Vic and Belch. After the latter two leave, but while Patrick and Henry still have their pants down, Beverly witnesses Patrick begin to masturbate Henry as well as himself. Henry is visibly aroused and permits Patrick to continue, and is even described as appearing to be in a trance. However, when Patrick offers to give him oral sex, Henry, ashamed at his arousal, punches him and calls him several homophobic slurs. He goes on to try to blackmail Patrick. Patrick mocks him back, saying that he knows Henry enjoyed being masturbated. Later, Patrick is killed by Pennywise near the sewers. His disappearance and death are not mentioned by Henry or one of his friends, but Henry may have only done this out of anger and humiliation.
In the movie, the two are closer and seem to get along much better, with Henry seeing Patrick as more of a friend than just some extra muscle. There is also no sexual encounter or fight between them. They are first seen together staring down Richie Tozier in the hallways, and then they beat him, Stan Uris, Eddie Kasbrak and Bill Denbrough a few minutes later. They also hunt down Mike Hanlon. Patrick is present when Henry assaults Ben, and he threatens to set his hair on fire. He watches Ben be cut by Henry with pleasure, but when he gets away Henry sends him to get him. Patrick is killed by Pennywise, and despite their closer friendship, Henry says that he doesn't care when Belch mentions his disappearance in a deleted scene. This may have been out of anger rather than Henry's actual feelings though. In the Chapter 2 movie, a zombified Patrick gives the older Henry his knife and using Belch's old car to escape for his revenge on the Losers Club. Henry seems a little happy to see Patrick.
Appearance[]
Book[]
In the book Patrick's physical appearance is not discussed in much detail, however, he is described as being chubby and short with pale skin. Beverly states that Patrick looks more clay more than a human; his hair is not described.
Film[]
In the film adaptation, Patrick's appearance differed drastically from the book.
He was a towering figure to everyone around him and had a slender physique with pale skin and thick, long dark hair flicked upwards. His moment prominent outfit in the film featured him wearing dark grey jeans tucked into black combat boots, a yellow T-shirt with red piping depicting the titular cat from Tom & Jerry sticking his tongue out and several studded bracelets on his left hand.
Quotes[]
| “ | Nice frisbee flamer! Fucking loser! | „ |
| ~ Patrick bullying Stanley by throwing his yarmulke hat through an open school bus window. |
| “ | I hear ya, tits. Don't think you can stay down here all damn day now. | „ |
| ~ Patrick looking for Ben in the Barrens. |
| “ | Ah! Ah! FUCK! | „ |
| ~ Patrick's last words before being cornered and devoured by Pennywise. |
Gallery[]
.jpg "PatrickHockstetter(2017).jpg (47 KB)")
.png "Patrick Hockstetter ghost (Chapter Two).png (292 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Patrick Hockstetter is considered to be the most cruel and evil member of the Bowers Gang. Even Henry Bowers, the gang's leader, who is already a murderous sociopath himself by the end of the story, has some moral standards as he is shown to have disgust for Patrick and his actions. He is even sometimes called "Pennywise Jr." by Stephen King fans.
- Patrick had a smaller role in the 2017 film adaptation and was less malevolent than he was in the book.
- Patrick did not appear in the 1990 miniseries (although the character Victor Criss, another bully, is mistakenly named "Patrick" in the credits), but he appears in the 2017 film adaptation. In spite of that, however, his role is drastically reduced in the film. This is likely because of the controversial and mature nature of Patrick's actions throughout the novel which likely would be met with criticism if shown on screen.
- Henry Bowers' sociopathy is the result of his father's abuse and violent personality. He is also driven by rage rather than cruelty. Patrick Hockstetter, on the other hand, is a psychopathic sexual sadist who enjoys causing chaos for absolutely no reason other than his own amusement and pleasure.
- When Pennywise is attacking Patrick Hockstetter in the form of flying leeches, a humanoid figure (also Pennywise) appears, and the face of the creature is constantly bubbling and morphing, as if deciding what he wanted to be. This suggests that due to Patrick's solipsistic worldview, he has little to no experience with fear and thus would not have many forms that Pennywise could take to feed off of him.
- A character of the same name appears in another Stephen King story, namely Firestarter. However, both the two characters are not the same due to Patrick in It dying as a child in 1958, so the name is just recycled.
- Patrick Hockstetter seems to fit two of the three criteria of the Macdonald triad (three traits shared by 95% of all serial killers), "cruelty to animals" being the most obvious and "arson" is implied when Patrick seems to be hypnotized by the flame of a lighter.
- In the same chapter that explores the character of Patrick, Beverly, who is hiding in a car, is tortured by her bladder. Ironically "Enuresis" is the third criteria of the triad.
