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Stanley "Stan" Uris is a posthumous major protagonist of the Stephen King multiverse.

Serving as one of the main protagonists of the 1986 horror novel IT, its miniseries adaptation and the film adaptation IT: Chapter One, and a major character of IT: Chapter Two. He is also a mentioned character in 11/22/63.

He was the second youngest member of the Losers Club. He assists the other Losers in fighting It in 1958 but does not return to Derry in 1985 to help them a second time.

Physical Appearance[]

In the novel, Stanley is described as fastidious, wears formal clothes and has black hair. In the 1990 mini-series, his appearance is the same as the novel. In the film adaptation, he has curly light brown hair and still has the fastidious mannerisms the original Stanley Uris has.

1958[]

Stan was one of the only Jewish kids in the school, something which resulted in severe torment from Henry Bowers and his gang. Not only do the bullies berate Stan about his religion, but Richie constantly jokes and makes fun of it as well. Stan was a very methodical and mature child, particularly about always keeping clean and (in the 2017 Film) suffers from OCD. He is also the most skeptical and fearful of It, not being able to accept the happenings around him at first and terrified to believe that It is real. He has a very set way of approaching life, so the appearance of It in his life turns everything around and confuses and terrifies him. In the book, he is shown as having a strange sense of humor, telling jokes that the losers don’t understand, because he has an odd knowledge about the world. He is described as being in the grade lower than the other losers (the 4th grade.)

Stan's favorite hobby is bird watching. He can often be seen with his bird book (something that is later used to fight against It).

As a child, he was good friends with Bill Denbrough, Ben Hanscom, Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, Mike Hanlon and Beverly Marsh. He was said to “chum with” Bill, Richie, and Eddie on occasion, but he first joined the Losers' Club at the same time Richie did, helping Bill, Eddie, and Ben build the dam in the Barrens.

Family Life[]

In the novel, Stan's family is Jewish but they do not follow the practice very strictly (Stan did not even know what it meant to be kosher), attending the synagogue in Bangor only for high holidays like Yom Kippur. However, in the 2017 film, his father is a Rabbi. He appears to have a close relationship with his parents, although they seem to put a lot of pressure on him. Bill and Eddie state that it is typical for Jews to "have big noses and a lot of money", but that Stan "had a normal nose and never seemed to have enough money."

Encounter with It[]

Stan is reluctant to tell the others about his encounter with It until later when he is helping Beverly wash the blood-stained rags from her own encounter with It at the laundromat. Like Richie, he believed that his encounter had been a dream at first. He even told the Losers that he attempted to convince himself what he had seen had been an epileptic fit of some sort, as it was easier to come to terms with than the reality of what he had seen.

The appearance of It for Stan happens one day when he is bird watching in the park where the Standpipe was. When he looked at the Standpipe, he said that to him it had appeared to be floating. He then heard the door of the Standpipe open, and, curious as to how it could have opened on its own, he decided to venture and take a look. As he ascended the stairs into the Standpipe, he heard footsteps and then saw shadows above him. The door behind him slammed shut. A voice began to call to him, claiming that they were "the dead ones", as he later found out meant the children that had drowned in the Standpipe. Reaching for his bird book, he began to chant as many names of birds as he could remember, which resulted in the door opening as he chanted more, finally allowing him to go back out into the park. However, when he turned his back, he saw a hand devoid of fingerprints, beckoning for him to come to them.

Stan also has intense difficulty accepted the reality of It targeting the Losers when Mike brings his father's photo album of pictures of Derry throughout history. As the group looked through the pictures, the images inside came alive as they did when Bill and Richie had looked through Georgie's photo album, and Pennywise began to try to harass them. After the book was closed, Stan was unable to deal with what he had just seen. He repeatedly began saying "no" and denying what he had seen, until Bill told him that they had all seen it. Stan says, however, that he did not want to see it.

The Blood Oath[]

Stephen-King-s-IT-stephen-kings-it-28545609-500-320

While in the sewers, Stan was the most uncomfortable and terrified. He said that he could, in fact, deal with the fear he was experiencing. What he could not deal with was being dirty and not knowing where he was.

After the kids escape the sewers after defeating It for the first time, Stan leaves the group momentarily to retrieve a discarded Coca Cola bottle. He breaks it on a nearby rock and uses a shard of the glass to cut the palms of all the Losers. Stan makes a joke about cutting his wrists instead of his palm (a foreshadowing to his death as an adult), and Bill even considered trying to stop him as he was unsure whether Stan was joking or not. After all of the Losers' palms have been cut, they hold hands in a circle and Bill insisted they make a pact that they would all return to Derry to fight it once more and defeat it once and for all.

In the 2017 film adaptation, Bill Denbrough is the loser to start cut the rest of the group's hand and initiate the blood oath, rather than just making everyone swear after all their hands are cut. This is probably done because it would be difficult to translate the connection Stan and Bill share at this moment as a unit on screen.

1985[]

As an adult, Stan is in a happy marriage with his beautiful and loving wife Patricia. Stan has an extremely successful job as an accountant in Atlanta, Georgia and it is noted that Patricia is very proud of their large house. He also was a Woody Allen fan. Patricia and Stan had been trying to have children for a long time but to no avail. They went to many doctors to check if they had any problems or diseases, but it showed that they were both perfectly normal. In adult life, he is somewhat aware of his past experiences and attributes his abilities to know the right thing to do to the Turtle, in a near subconscious way. He also seems somewhat aware that what they had done as children was why he and his wife couldn't conceive.

When Mike calls Stan to tell him that It had returned to Derry and that they would all have to come back to fight it, Stan cannot comprehend this at first. His memories rush back almost right away, unlike the others. After the phone call, he tells his wife that he is going to take a bath. His wife, Patty, eventually finding it odd that he was taking a bath so late goes to see what was happening. There, she sees that he cut his wrists in the shape of 'T'. With his own blood, he writes the word 'IT' on the bathroom wall. It is possible that, like the other Losers later in the library, with the memories coming back his palms began to split open on their own, and he either continued it or without the other losers to hold hands with, he had no other choice.

When the Losers reunite in Derry, Stan is a no-show. Bill pays a visit to Georgie's grave, only to be taunted by Pennywise, who is digging graves. Pennywise teases Ben that he can take his pick of any of seven graves, but then corrects himself saying the seventh grave is already occupied, a likely reference to Stan. Later, when the group is together, Mike calls Atlanta, only to get news of Stan's death. Some time later when the Losers open a mini-fridge, Stan's severed head is inside, where he jokes about having no problems in the afterlife and they should simply accept defeat to It.

Prior to their 1985 confrontation with It, the group huddles for luck, with the exception of Mike, who has been hospitalized from being wounded from a murder attempt by Henry Bowers. Bill produces the two silver stones used to kill It in the 1958 attack, saying that one represents Mike the other represents Stan, who will be with them posthumously. After killing It, Bill is able to snap his wife Audra out of her catatonic state by taking her for a bike ride and impersonating the Lone Ranger, which is what he done to help Stan in a similar situation years earlier.

2016[]

In It: Chapter Two, Stan commits suicide upon hearing of It's return in 2016, much like in the novel and miniseries. It later tauntingly reveals this to the other Losers when they gather at a Chinese restaurant and Beverly reveals she has had nightmares of Stan's suicide for years. Stan still appears in flashbacks throughout the movie, in particular, one where he gives a speech about not being a man but a Loser while at church, the memory of which drives Richie Tozier to return in time to save Mike from Henry Bowers. At the end of the movie, the Losers all receive letters from Stan written before suicide that reveal that his actions had a greater purpose: Stan knew that he would be too scared to face It again and his presence would only hinder the other Losers so he took himself off the board to give the others a fighting chance. Stan urges his friends to live life to the fullest once It is gone.

Appearances[]

Quotes[]

IT 2017[]

"That's poison ivy. And that's poison ivy. And that's poison ivy."
―Stan to Eddie and Richie as he jokingly infers to them that the plants are poison ivy
"This is scary and disgusting."
―Stan
"YOU'RE NOT MY FRIENDS! YOU MADE ME GO INTO NEIBOLT!"
―Stan after being attacked by IT in the form of the creepy woman in the sewers after going down the well at Neibolt
"What happened in here?"
―Stan to Beverly after looking at Beverly's bathroom covered in blood
"They say they found part of his hand all chewed up near the standpipe."
―Stan to the Losers about Eddie Corcoran's death
"Is it ever gonna end?"
―Stan asking if the child murders would end
"Maybe it's like... what do you call it? Cicadas. You know the bugs that come out once every 17 years."
―Stan to the Losers about IT
"But it can't be one thing. We all saw something different."
―Stan to Mike about IT
"But you didn't. Because IT isn't real. None of this is. Not Eddie's Leper or Bill seeing Georgie or the woman that I keep seeing."
―Stan to the Losers' Club about IT
"No, Richie! She's not hot! Her face is all messed up!"
―Stan to Richie about the painting woman
"None of this makes any sense! They're all like bad dreams."
―Stan to the Losers' Club about what they're saw something by IT
"Drop dead, you Punks!"
―Stan to Bowers Gang during the Rock War
"It's in the house on Neibolt Street."
―Stan to the Losers about the Well House
"I can't imagine anything ever wanting to live there."
―Stan to the Losers about It living in the Well House

IT 2019[]

"I swear, Bill."
―Stan’s last words before he commits suicide in the bathtub by slitting his wrists
"Reflecting on the meaning of what I just read, the word "Leshanot" comes up a lot which means "to change, to transform." Which makes sense I guess, because today I'm supposed to become a man. It's funny, though. Everyone, I think, has some memories they're prouder of than others, right? And maybe that's why change is so scary. Cause the things we wish we could leave behind... the whispers we wish we could silence... the nightmares we most wanna wake up from... the memories we wish we could change... the secrets we feel like we have to keep... are the hardest to walk away from. The good stuff? The pictures in our mind that fade away the fastest? Those pieces of you it feels the easiest to lose. Maybe I don't want to forget. Maybe if that's what today is all about... forget it, right? Today I'm supposed to become a man, but I don't feel any different. I know I'm a Loser. And no matter what... I always fucking will be."
―Stanley's speech on change at his bar mitzva
"Dear Losers... I know what this must seem like... but this isn't a suicide note. You're probably wondering why I did what I did. It's because I knew I was too scared to go back. And I knew if weren't together... if all of us alive weren't united... I knew we'd all die. So, I made the only logical move. I took myself off the board. Did it work? Well, if you're reading this, you know the answer. I lived my whole life afraid. Afraid of what would come next. Afraid of what I might leave behind. Don't. Be who you want to be. Be proud. And if you find someone worth holding on to... never ever let them go. Follow your own path. Wherever that takes you. Think of this letter as a promise. A promise I'm asking you to make. To me. To each other. An oath. See the thing about being a Loser is you don't have anything to lose. So... Be true. Be brave. Stand. Believe. And don't ever forget... We're Losers... and we always will be."
―Stan's posthumous letter to the other Losers

Trivia[]

  • Was a strong baseball player.
  • Despite having 'jet black' hair, he is said to also have ginger pubic hair. This may be due to vitiligo affecting his scrotum.
  • Seemed largely unaffected by Richie's antisemitic jokes, even replying that his father had killed Jesus, not him.
  • Stan is one of the two members (alongside Eddie Kaspbrak) of the Losers Club to die, although Stan committed suicide due to his fear of Pennywise, while Eddie is killed by Pennywise.
  • Was upset with doctors for suggesting that he and Patricia were unable to conceive due to stress, and advising them to 'not think about conceiving' when having sex, as he said he "never thought about it during."
  • Was a fan of Paul Anka.
  • Stan is diagnosed with OCD (Obsessive Complusive Disorder).

Gallery[]

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