The Clown

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Art debuted as a background character in Leone's directorial debut short film to test out different horror concepts. Audiences responded strongly to Art, leading Leone to develop the character into a recurring slasher villain over the next decade. Art became a pop culture figure and iconic evil clown after the critical and commercial success of Terrifier 2. The character's background remains ambiguous, although all of his appearances show him possessing supernatural abilities. His archenemy is the final girl Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera), with Leone writing Sienna and Art to reflect biblical undertones of good and evil. Leone's idea of Art originated from his concept of a woman getting off work and taking the city bus home, where a clown gets on and sits across from her, taunting her. He envisioned Art as a combination of being uncomfortable and comedic to viewers—but with the character becoming 'progressively more intimidating and aggressive.'

In Their Own Story

Art's first appearance was in the short film The 9th Circle (2008), where he abducts a young woman named Casey (Kayla Lian) in an empty train station on Halloween night, bringing her to a satanic cult for a sacrifice to Satan. His second appearance was in the short film Terrifier (2011), where he stalks and torments a young woman who witnesses one of his murders at a gas station. The character made his feature-film debut in All Hallows' Eve (2013), which incorporates the prior two short films as segments on VHS tapes; Art enters the real world and murders the children for a terrified babysitter to find. In Terrifier (2016), set on Halloween night in fictitious Miles County, New York, Art pursues partygoer Tara Heyes (Jenna Kanell), her younger sister Vicky (Samantha Scaffidi), and her best friend Dawn Emerson (Catherine Corcoran). After killing Tara and Dawn, Art targets Vicky; she fights against Art until he runs her over with a pickup truck and eats half of her face, leaving her disfigured. Before he can kill her, the police confront him at gunpoint; he shoots himself. In Terrifier 2 (2022), a sinister entity known as the Little Pale Girl (Amelie McLain) resurrects Art and accompanies him in his pursuit of Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) and Sienna's younger brother, Jonathan (Elliot Fullam). Sienna battles Art in an abandoned carnival; Art is defeated after Sienna decapitates him with her father's sword. However, he is brought back to life after Vicky Heyes, who is in a mental hospital, gives birth to his living head as his new mother, and is possessed by the Little Pale Girl. In Terrifier 3 (2024), Art's headless body reanimates and makes its way to Miles County's psychiatric hospital, where Art reattaches his head after helping the possessed Victoria tear apart a security guard. The duo escape to an abandoned mansion, then spend the next five years in hibernation. In December 2023, they reawaken and set off on another killing spree. They track down Sienna and invade her home, killing her aunt and uncle. Sienna fights against the spirit of the Little Pale Girl, and through a clever strategy from her cousin Gabbie (Antonella Rose), Sienna gains control of her sword, using it to kill Victoria and presumably the Little Pale Girl inside her. Art attacks Sienna with his chainsaw but is ultimately pinned to a wall. Vicky's corpse creates a portal to Hell and Sienna sees herself forced to abandon Art to save Gabbie, only for the younger girl to fall into the mysterious realm alongside the sword. Taking advantage of Sienna's distraction, Art escapes through a window and catches a bus, where he honks his horn at a woman as she reads a book called 'The 9th Circle.' Terrifier 4 is currently in the works and will feature Art's backstory within the first 15 minutes of the film according to Leone.

Reader's Guide

Art the Clown is a silent killer who is highly expressive and emotional, in contrast to silent killers such as Leatherface, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees. He uses weapons and wears makeup and clothes devoid of color. Leone aimed to make Art the opposite of Pennywise the Dancing Clown both in characterization and appearance; Art is bald, does not speak, uses weapons, and wears makeup and clothes devoid of color. David Howard Thornton, who portrays Art, saw a posting on the digital casting website Actors Access for a 'tall, skinny, comedic actor that had experience in clowning and comedy.' After improvising a kill scene during his audition, he got cast in the role. Leone describes the difference in casting as, 'Mike may as well have been a guy dressed as a clown, whereas David is a clown. If you know him in person, he is a walking cartoon. He is Roger Rabbit in real life, and you'd never believe that he's Art the Clown, but he knows how to flip the switch and bring it to a dark place.' Art appears in other media including a comic book adaptation of the 2016 film, a Christmas jumper from Terror Threads, the comedy series Bupkis, Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, a music video for Ice Nine Kills, A Very Special Terrifier Christmas, the video game Terrifier: The ARTcade Game, and as a playable killer in Fortnite. In 2026, Art was announced to be added as a playable character in Dead by Daylight for the game's tenth anniversary.

Did You Know?

• Art the Clown was created by Damien Leone and first appeared as a background character in the short film The 9th Circle (2008).
• The character was originally portrayed by Mike Giannelli, a friend of Leone, before his retirement from acting.
• David Howard Thornton was cast after improvising a kill scene during his audition, which he found through the website Actors Access.
• Art's archenemy is the final girl Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera), with Leone writing them to reflect biblical undertones of good and evil.
• In Terrifier 2, Art is resurrected by the Little Pale Girl and later brought back to life after Vicky Heyes gives birth to his living head.