"Every twenty-third spring for twenty three days it gets to...eat."
| the Creepers character | |
|---|---|
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| The Creeper | |
| Race: | Demon |
| Gender: | Male |
| Height: | 6"3 |
| Weight: | 168 pounds |
| Sleep/Awaken | Every 23 years for 23 days. |
| Location | Central Florida |
| Death toll | Over 1,000 |
| Main Song | |
| Film(s) | Jeepers Creepers Jeepers Creepers II Jeepers Creepers 3: Cathedral |
Creeper is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 2001 horror film Jeepers Creepers and its 2003 sequel Jeepers Creepers II. It is an ancient, mysterious demon who viciously feeds on the flesh and bones of many human beings for 23 days every 23rd spring. In all but one of his appearances, he is portrayed by Jonathan Breck.
Jeepers Creepers
A week before the start of his hibernation, the Creeper went out on a hunt in his signature rusty old truck. After having fed he was returning to his church hideout with the body of a victim wrapped in a sheet in the back of the vehicle. As he drove along the highway on East 9 in rural central Florida he came across Trish and Darry. He came behind Trish's car, and sounded his horn, ignoring the space Darry offered him to pass. He pursued led to the basement of his church. The Creeper had possibly forgotten about the Jenners, but just as he was tossing another body down the pipe in broad daylight, he saw them pass by, looking at what he was doing. Knowing very well that they had seen him, he got back in his truck and gave chase. The Creeper did not take long to catch up to them, and rammed the cattle catcher in the front of his truck at the rear of their car. He did this repeatedly sounding his horn, until the final blow that sent their car off the road. The Creeper drove off, and left the Jenners where they were. It is unknown why he spared their lives, as he could easily have stopped to kill them. Perhaps he was marking them.
The Creeper had been gone for a while, probably to hunt, and returned when Darry and Trish were parked outside a gas station. He still ignored them and instead sped back to the church with all haste. Back at the church, he found evidence that someone had been there while he was away, and smelled Darry's scent as Darry was scared when he saw all the bodies. Knowing that the only people that came snooping in his lair were the pair he crossed roads with earlier, the Creeper sprang his wings and flew heading for the Gas Station. It was then dark when he found their car. He went through the laundry he found at the backseat of the car, sniffing it, confirming his suspicions that Darry was inside his lair. The Creeper then ran off as some people in the diner had seen him. A minute later, he flew over the gas station, and saw Darry and Trish were with police. He flew back to his church, and knowing that his hideout was no longer safe, he disposed off the evidence by setting it on fire, along with the basement and his workshop. Then he went to deal with the police and the two siblings.
The Creeper flew to Darry, Trish and the two cops. He first eliminated the bigger threat; the two cops. He landed on the police car, which was behind that of the oblivious Jenner sibling's vehicle, pulled the female cop out of the car window by grabbing her head, and penetrated the top of the car right above the driver's seat with his hand, dragged the male cop's head through the hole, and beheaded him with a battle-axe. He threw the head at Trish's wind shield, alarming the siblings and causing them to stop. Through all that confusion the Creeper was able to slide inside the police car and sit in it waiting. As the terrified brother and sister watched, he came out seconds later, whistling his favorite song Jeepers Creepers, he walked over to the cop's head, and pulled its tongue out with his teeth. Trish sped madly from the scene, leaving The Creeper loading the headless body, into the back of his truck followed by the male cop's head. He then resumed his hunt for Darry and Trish He landed inside an old woman's yard, impersonating one of her scarecrow. He dismantled the electricity, and darkness followed. The old woman stood in front of Darry and Trish and threatened the Creeper with a rifle to leave. She fired, only for her to blast her scarecrow to pieces as The Creeper got out of the way. With lightning speed the Creeper leaped on top of her house, traumatizing her cats. The old woman followed the Creeper, but was mortally wounded after firing twice at him. The Creeper held her upright by her spine, finally revealing his non-human face to Darry and Trish. The Jenners fled, while The Creeper followed. They got in their car and returned to the road, but The Creeper landed on the hood of their car, flipped back and landed firmly as they reversed. Trish drove the car forwards and backwards, trying to hit him, seemingly playing a game amusing to The Creeper himself. The Creeper soon got tired of the game and moved in for the kill, but Trish caught him off-guard, and hit him square. She later ran the car backwards and forwards, breaking his feet and his hand. The Creeper tried to get up to fly away, but its badly hurt body denied him. He passed out just as Trish ran over him one last time before she drove off with Darry.
The Creeper did get up in the end, and walked to its truck on the open ends of his legs, and drove after the Jenners, as he wanted to know which Jenner had the part he wanted to eat, and to avenge the trouble they had caused him. He found their car parked at the police station. He quietly broke into the station, into the cells and killed and ate some prisoners. He ate their hearts, two feet, and he was caught just as he was swallowing a hand. He killed the cops that were going down to the cells to capture him, escaped, and proceeded to look for Darry and Trish in the station.
He found them cornered with Jezzelle, a woman physic. The Creeper moved in as Darry and Trish ran up the stairs to hide. He sniffed Jezzelle, but since she did not have any fear of him, he let her be, and went for Darry and Trish. The Creeper found them, annoyed as he could not sniff Trish, who stood a few inched away from him, but with a one-way-view window between them, of which Trish was unable to see she was face to face with him. The Creeper broke the window just as Darry was leading Trish out of the room, and finally captured them. He sniffed them both for a while and even tasted them until he finally found that Trish had nothing he wanted. He threw her away, after sniffing Darry some more, he found that he wanted Darry's eyes that had seen his lair. The Police came charging into the room, but could not shoot as The Creeper shielded himself with a horrified Darry holding a tight grip around his neck. Trish then asked The Creeper to take her instead of Darry. She claimed to have everything the same inside her body that Darry had. The Creeper unleashed his wings ready to fly. Trish begged him, and it looked as if he was going to consider it, but decided he would rather keep Darry ignoring trish' pleas. The Creeper turned and with his strong arms around Darry, he flew through a window that was behind him, leaving the cops aiming into the trees outside the station. Trish followed him crying out her brother's name but the creeper soon flew out of sight leaving trish very sad at the tragic events.
The Creeper flew away with Darry, and knew he could not return to the burned church. He flew to an abandoned meat packing factory, and locked Darry in his new lair. It is unknown what happened during the course of the night, but judging from the bodies that The Creeper had in the new lair, he must have hunted again during the night and began decorating his new Lair.
It is clear that The Creeper did not begin to work on Darry's head immediately when it got to its lair in the night, for Darry's torture happened during the day. The Creeper did not want to inflict any damage on Darry's eyes, which would have happened had Darry's eyes been taken out from the front (probably sparing his life). The Creeper played the Jeepers Creepers song, and proceeded to work on Darry. He penetrated his skull at the back of his head, which was the main cause of Darry's terrible screaming. Darry died when The Creeper tempered and destroyed his brain and the insides of the head and taking the eyes. The Creeper then tied Darry's eyeless naked corpse to the ceiling.
The Creeper sat for sometime removing its own eyes, and ate Darry's eyes, which then became his eyes. He is seen holding a long needle in his hand which it was obvious that he was going to sew the back of Darry's head back on. Sometime later The Creeper removed Darry's bellybutton, attracted by the rose tattoo and later turned it into a throwing weapon. In the post-credits scene, he is seen driving his truck, honking the horn.
The Taggarts
While searching for new victims, The Creeper began snooping around Jack Taggarts house, and was messing around with Jack's postpuncher. He succeeded into taking down one of his scarecrows, and crucifying himself like one of them, which made him impossible to distinguish from others.
Three days after Darry's torture and death, The Creeper was disguised as a scarecrow, just as Billy Taggart was strapping and tightening the bonds on the scarecrows. Somehow, the family dog got scent of him and started barking at the cornfield. The Creeper's cover was blown when his head moved trying to see where Billy was, but Billy sees him too as The Creeper tries to maintain his scarecrow disguise. Billy moves in for a closer look, and seeing that the "scarecrow" was not bound to the stake upon which it stood, and it had feet with long claws. Billy sees one toe twitch, and his suspicions are confirmed.
With all speed, Billy flees from The Creeper, and seeing just how frightened he was, The Creeper moves in to sniff him. The Creeper jumps from the scarecrow stake, springs its wings and flies over the field. He scares Billy some more by making his shadow pass over him. Then he dived on him, making his muffled cries alert Jack Sr. and Jack Jr.
The Creeper sniffs Billy as he struggles against his firm grip, and finds him suitable. Then he grabs him by the hair and sprints along the field as Jack Sr. and Jack Jr. give chase. The two catching up on him as Billy screams from the agonizing pain of being dragged by his hair. Just before his father can get to him, The Creeper jumps aloft, still holding onto Billy by his hair, and unleashes his wings and flies away. Billy is still heard as The Creeper distances himself from the two who watch with grief as Billy is taken back to The Creepers new lair.
The Bus
Tearing off his damaged head, the Creeper pulled Dante's head out of his chest, transforming it into his new head. He took off and waited for the teens to exit the bus. He chased them into the fields, killing two of them while they scattered. He returned to the bus later, attempting to get Bucky, but was attacked by the Taggarts. Harpooned twice, he shed his disguise and flew off to find the other teens before midnight.
He found Rhonda, Izzy and Double D driving the vehicle of an exterminator that had become a victim to him. He tried getting the third teen in the back of the truck, but was hit in the face by a flare. Following them, he chased through there truck's window when Izzy slammed on the breaks, losing his wings and two of his limbs. He chased after Double D to eat his limbs to replace his own. However, the Taggarts returned for him and harpooned him through the head and then stabbed in the chest 31 times by Jack Sr. Though it initially appeared to succumb to its wounds, the Creeper instead glared at Jack as its face wings closed over its head, signifying that its next 23 years of hibernation had finally come.
Bat out of Hell
The Taggarts took his body and tied it up in their barn, using the Creeper as a side attraction called the Bat out of Hell; they re-attached his limbs as well. Fearing something may happen if they touched it during it's hibernation in the following decades, the Taggarts made a rule to never touch the Creeper. Jack Sr. has the harpoons ready for the Day of Waking. Four days before the 23rd Spring since the Creeper's attack on the bus, three teens come to look at him. He remains asleep, but withered down to nothing but skin and bones.
Overview and Appearance
The Creeper is an ancient, mysterious being implied to be a MONSTER of some sort, though the details of his origin are never elaborated on. He appears as a fairly masculine, humanoid figure, and usually wears a tattered, 19th century duster, wide-brimmed stetson and tattered trousers to pass for human. This disguise is effective at a distance, but fails the moment his face comes into view. In the first movie, he wore heavy boots, but shed them for the sequel, revealing prehensile, bird-like talons. The Creeper's skin is covered in thick, dark-green scales, while his digits end in hookHis face has no prominent jowls, framing a set of needle-like teeth. The majority of his head is bald, save for a patch of bushy, white hair around the back of his head. A third nostril sits upon his nose, but perhaps his most distinctive feature is his "hood". While normally lying flat against his head, the Creeper is able to expand a wide fringe of webbed, insect-like appendages as a threat display.
A set of bat-like wings lie folded against his back, nearly invisible under his duster, but capable of propelling him through the air with astounding force.
The Creeper wearing cloth.
While the Creeper's activities are largely focused on hunting, he is shown to have a twisted sense of aesthetics, and sets aside time from his short 23 day span of awake time to focus on creative endeavors. He makes grotesque art by sewing skin and bodies together, placing them on the walls and ceiling of his "home" as a form of decoration. He also carves pictures into the handles of his knives or attaches skin and teeth to his weapons in an attempt to decorate them. He also seems to possess a somewhat crude knowledge of human biology and medical practice as he is able to preserve human bodies in perfect form, by some unknown method, for centuries. He can cut out the organs of humans, sew them up and keep them alive in the process. The Creeper apparently has some level of mechanical skill, being implied to have "souped up" the rusted truck he drives, and even sporting a custom license plate reading "BEATINGU"(Be eating you).
Abilities
The Creeper has the ability to regenerate any part of his body by devouring a similar part from a victim. In this manner, he has survived for centuries, replenishing his deteriorated body by feeding on humans for replacement parts. The ability also works as a form of healing factor, as the Creeper can discard injured or maimed body parts after ingesting a replacement version. In addition to his regenerative powers, the Creeper is quite resilient. In the second film, it is impaled with harpoons multiple times yet retains the ability to move, including several head wounds. The Creeper only stops moving when it reaches its hibernation period.
The Creeper's tallons
Physiologically, the Creeper is a humanoid figure. His skin is dark green and yet scaly, and he has razor sharp claws and teeth. Hidden under his black duster coat are a pair of enormous bat like wings strong enough to lift himself and at least one adult human. In the second film, the Creeper is shown to throttle a pick-up truck off the ground while in flight. The speed at which he can fly is undetermined, but he is seen to match a speeding automobile with little difficulty. The Creeper possesses a third nostril on the bridge of his nose which allows him to smell specific organs in his victims. This second sense of smell can only detect essential parts when the being is in a state of fear.
The Creeper is a sort of a Chimera. The human body parts are backed up by a second, almost indestructible creature that does not seem to be the product of any Earthly line of evolution. This second creature forms the wings and clawed hood structures behind the humanoid head of the Creeper.
The Creeper.
The clawed hood in both movies to date can flare out to intimidate/frighten the Creeper's prey. At the end of the second film the clawed hood engulfs the Creeper's head as the creature returns to a 23 year hibernation. In Jeepers Creepers II, the creature is seen to discard and replace his head with one from a fresh victim, but the clawed hood remains part of the original torso. Therefore, the clawed hood/wing structures appear to be the actual Creeper and the human body parts appear to be additions. It's unknown if the Creeper can get memories or knowledge from a freshly absorbed human head. (However, this possibly be how the Creeper knows how to maintain and drive his truck; in the second film, this may be what made him decide to let the teens make stupid moves like leaving the bus, as he would have Dante's memories of the group.)
The Creeper has superhuman strength and speed. He is strong enough to tear apart automobile frames and rip parts from the human body barehanded. He can also climb on walls like a spider, and is well-versed in physical combat, including using melee and throwing weapons. While the Creeper does not talk in either of the films, a deleted scene from the first film has him speaking a line in an American accent saying, "She don't smell too good... Darius.". He is also known to whistle the Jeepers Creepers song. The Creeper in the first film has an old phonograph in his new lair, and seems to like early 20th Century music and songs, hence the film's title Jeepers Creepers.
Tools
The daggers of the Creeper.
The Creeper employs a variety of weapons in his pursuit for food. He commonly carries daggers and throwing stars made from the flesh and bones of his victims. He also uses a medieval battle axe in the first film, which was destroyed after Trish hit him with her car. The weapons he creates are shown to move of their own accord (or perhaps return to their master) in the second film, where a knife flies across a room under its own power, traveling through a leather lamp before embedding into a nearby wall (a possible sign that they travel towards flesh). In theory, it could be that the creeper has some sort of psychic connection with his weapons (more specifically this knife). Additionally, the father strategically decides to use it as a tip to his harpoon to hunt the creeper. Perhaps another fine example of the Creeper's weapons and obsession with his victims would be a small razor-disk like object that he used to flatten the school buses tires in Jeepers Creepers 2, which appeared to have been crafted out of Darry's flesh as it had his belly-button and rose tattoo on it. The blades themselves are likely to be Darry's bones (it is unknown that they are). Another example of his attachment to victims can be shown with Billy Taggart. In the scene where Jack Taggart Sr. appears to be sharpening a knife to use for the harpoon, notice the previously mentioned knife that "mysteriously flew" across the room. On the handle, there is cryptic, free-hand drawing of the creeper pursuing a frightened Billy inside the cornfields.
The Creeper also drives a very large, old-fashioned, rusted-looking delivery truck which he uses to transport bodies and scare victims to get a scent from their fear.
Personality
In both films the Creeper is shown to have a rather twisted personality. He seems to enjoy toying with his victims before killing them. By doing this he is not only able to amuse himself but it also works well in igniting more fear in his victims. However, once his time on earth nears its end, the Creeper can be ruthless and merciless and he will continue to pursue his victims even when severely injured. In the first film the Creeper displayed more of a laid back, almost human, personality. He even uses some of the little time he has on earth to make grotesque art work from the bodies of his victims while listening to music. However, once his time draws to a close in the second film, the Creeper begins to puts his full power to use. Instead of playing road games with his victims and blending into human society he cuts right to the chase and ruthlessly hunts down his victims stopping only when he wants to "pick them out".
Despite being mostly animal like and seemingly incapable of speech the Creeper does display human emotions and intelligence. He is shown to understand emotions such as amusement, anger, pain, and fear and at one brief moment it is hinted that he may understand compassion. When Trish begs him to take her instead of Darry the Creeper does actually listen to her and seems to give her offer some thought rather than just immediately flying away. Nonetheless, the Creeper shows no empathy for his victims and even goes so far as to turn their bodies into macabre art pieces which he then hangs on his wall like a hunting trophy. Despite being hundreds of years old the Creeper seems to possess a very advanced understanding of modern human technology, weapons, and anatomy. He is able to drive a truck with no difficulty at all and has even found a way to make it travel at speeds that it normally would not be capable of. He also seems to understand the process of taxidermy as he is able keep human bodies perfectly preserved for centuries and even uses left-over body parts to craft his weapons.
The Creeper is also shown to be incredibly shrewd and calculating when pursing his victims. He does not go full force on his victims unless they prove to be a challenge or if his time is short. Instead, he seems to prefer studying his victims from a distance by either donning a disguise or disabling their vehicles. By doing this he can decide which ones would be the best candidates for him to pursue and strategically figure out how to catch them with the least difficulty. It's possible that he took out the adults on the bus in the second film first, since they could calm, or at least anger the teenagers enough that their fear would be drowned out.
Another strange thing to add is that, despite being somewhat merciless and evil, the creeper does not seem to kill people indiscriminately, only going after the people he chooses, and sparing the rest. This might be due to the fact that he does not have time to do so or that he simply doesn't like to kill unnecessarily. This last idea, although less probable, can indicate that he does not kill people out of pleasure, but out of necessity, despite showing a degree of amusement when hunting his victims.
The creeper does not seem to discriminate between the victims he chooses going so far as killing children in order to continue surviving. An evidence of this is the fact that there were missing children posters displayed in the Poho police department, to which we can assume the creeper is responsible for.
According to Jezelle from the first film, once the Creeper has the scent of something it likes, it can't stop hunting its prey down until it gets what it came for.
According to Darry from the second film, the Creeper knows no mercy and consumes everything
Relationships
Darry Jenner
The Creeper did not think much of Darry in the beginning, only because he and his sister had caught him in broad daylight dumping bodies down a pipe, did he scare them a little, just to let them know not to mess with him any further. However, the Creeper developed an interest when he caught Darry's scent in his lair, although he did not know for sure who it belonged to, but suspected the siblings no doubt. In the end, the Creeper captured Darry, where he still showed he considered sparring him at Trish's request. But it chose to keep Darry, knowing the police would act if it let go, and thus immediately putting Trish out of mind when he flies of in the night with Darry. The Creeper goes to his new hideout, an abandoned factory, ripping Darry's body and he preserves the body for decoration. Trish later returns home to her mother alerting her of Darry's death.
Trish Jenner
The Creeper was torn between Trish and Darry. In the end, it had almost come to terms with her reasoning, but chose to keep Darry than to lose it prey. In Jeepers Creepers 3: Cathedral, the two are said to still come to blows when it is Trish's son whom the Creeper will be after.
Jezzelle
Apart from Minxie, Jezzelle knew much about The Creeper from her psychic abilities, even though the two characters have seen one another once. Unlike most, Jezzelle does not fear The Creeper, but constantly tries to thwart his plans to capture Darry. The two met in the police station, where The Creeper sniffs her but does not find anything of interest and lets her be.
Minxie
Unlike the older and wiser Jezzelle, this psychic was one of The Creeper's victims on the bus. The Creeper shows her a smile, probably as a signal that she already knows something about him.
Jack Taggart (Sr)
Jack Taggart Sr and The Creeper.
After his youngest son was taken by The Creeper, Jack seeks his revenge by hunting down the demon himself. When the two finally meet, they have a brief moment of staring at one another as their battle was about to begin. When the fight ensues, The Creeper was too resilient and too strong. He even tried to kill Jack by throwing the harpoon shot at him back at Jack, nearly succeeding in skewering Jack Jr. Then in a final attempt to outmaneuver Jack Taggart, The Creeper tried to fly through the bus windows to catch Jack unawares, but was struck square and painfully with another harpoon shot which Jack uses to stab him in the head repeatedly. When he finally goes into hibernation, he stares intently at Jack Taggart, marking him as his mortal enemy for the next time they meet.
Gallery
Trivia
- The Creeper and Darry are the only characters that appear in both movies with their primary roles.
- The Creeper is shown to have talons instead of shoes in Jeepers Creepers 2.
- On the final scene of Jeepers Creepers 1, Justin Long, not Jonathan Breck, was dressed in the Creeper costume so as for the Creeper and Darry's eyes to match.
- He is able to survive for at least a while without a head
- Conventional means appear to only temporarily impede the Creeper, such as being run over, repeatedly shot, stabbed, etc. The loss of limbs lessens the threat the Creeper poses; if he has a single arm and leg, he can hop at a remarkably fast pace.
- The Creeper abandons his disguise near the finale of each film. It appears to be for practical reasons, as it the first film, he didn't want obstructions when his foot and hand regrew; in the second, it's suggested the cloth impedes his flight abilities as he had trouble with being harpooned until he shed his clothing. Adding to this is that he tore open his shirt before regrowing his head, which rose out of his chest.
- The Creeper can scream or screech, and whistle. In a deleted scene from the first movie, he does speak. Making it obvious that he is, in fact, intelligent. He has a old west style accent, hinting at maybe some origin. (Deleted scene here: Creepers Voice)
- It's unknown if the Creeper can read.
- With the above said, the Creeper likely doesn't know how to tell time, and has never been seen to have a watch of some kind, to warn when he should go hide before Day 23 is up.
- Victor Salva mentioned in the commentary of the movies that the Creeper is compulsive - it will NOT stop hunting prey no matter what happens to it.
- If the Creeper does accumulate knowledge from the heads he eats, he could theoretically be a technological genius. It's possible that he could've created some kind of jamming device to prevent cell phones from working, as noted throughout the second film, no-one's phone was working.