Monster Clown
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Basic Information

Clowns are supposed to be funny. However, there is often something somewhat disturbing about them - and the Monster Clown trope distorts this into the grotesque by making the clown into a villain or even monster.

See Also

Sources

  • Probably the most famous monster clown out there: Pennywise, favourite avatar of the eldritch abomination that sometimes calls itself "Mr Grey", from Stephen King's IT.
  • The Momus aka. The Jack of Tears - a clownlike (or at least harlequinesque) power of the land from sword and sorcery press's Scarred Lands setting.
  • Speaking of which, the various interpretations of Harleigh Quinn and The Joker from the various Batman narratives are both clownish and monstrous, despite being merely deviant humans.
  • The creepy MC from Cabaret is not exactly a clown, or that much of a monster, but could easily be redeveloped onto the edges of this trope.

Game and Story Use


Building This Character

(assuming that it is, after all, a character and not a monster)

Attributes

Skills

Special Abilities

  • The power to induce Fear, or a bonus modifier to your Intimidation rolls for the creepiness.
    • Logically, the Monster Clown should be immune to the creepiness of other Monster Clowns.
  • General Slasher-related powers are helpful as well. You want to be able to appear out of nowhere, get back up after having been given a lethal wound, etc. Look at Ax Crazy, Psycho Killer, Serial Killer, etc, for ideas. In the "clown car" theme the ability to vanish into impossibly small spaces might also be a thing.
  • In a game where Cantrips and similar minor Magic and Powers are cheap and readily available, they can help the Monster Clown entertain crowds, and then the same powers can become creepy little affectations when you're hunting a victim.
  • An really good glamour would be useful, so that they are hard to tell from all the other clowns (or whatever they are using as cover) until it is too late. Traditionally children and animals see through these things, but are ignored by adults. Use a few false alarms - one dog, for example, just doesn't like clowns at all, a clown smells bad because he has been feeding knacker's meat to the lions, there is an entirely mundane criminal or two amongst the clowns which makes them act suspiciously and resist investigators (it is not unknown for any given carnival to have more than its fair share of pickpockets, conmen and what have you)… all of these mask the fact that there is an anthropophagous monster either amongst them or using them as cover.

Combat Role

  • Solo Monster or The DPSer, depending on whether he operates alone or in a group.
    • Though I suppose if the Fear and Horror rules are potent enough, you might serve as The Mezzer.

Variants

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