Goosebumps Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Slappy the Dummy is the mascot of the Goosebumps franchise and the main antagonist of the Night of the Living Dummy saga. He is a living ventriloquist dummy that comes to life when the words "Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molonu Karrano" are read aloud; which translates to "You and I are one now," and they can be found on a sheet of paper in Slappy's dress jacket pocket. After coming to life, Slappy will try to make the person who brought him back to life serve him as a slave.

Since his debut in 1993 at the end of Night of the Living Dummy, Slappy has become the most popular villain and the mascot of the Goosebumps franchise, appearing in more books and media than any other Goosebumps character. He received his own book series in 2017, with the title of Goosebumps SlappyWorld. He has also appeared in three episodes of the Goosebumps TV series and appeared as the main antagonist in the Goosebumps film, as well as its sequel Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween. He also serves as the main antagonist of the 2023 TV series.

History

For a more comprehensive overview of Slappy's history, detailing his many appearances, please visit the subpage Slappy the Dummy/History.

Background

As stated in I Am Slappy's Evil Twin, long ago, a man named Franz Maher lived in England until he decided to move to America in the 1920s and became a ventriloquist star due to the realistic dummies he made. He learned a lot of magic from an evil sorcerer named Kanduu, who was also his colleague, Kanduu used his magic to bring his dummy's to life so they wouldn't feel so lonely.

As revealed in Bride of the Living Dummy, Slappy was carved out of coffin wood by an ancient sorcerer. When the sorcerer died, he placed his soul inside of the dummy. He waits for the day someone will say the magic words written on a card kept in Slappy's pocket, "Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molonu Karrano," which will awaken him again. Slappy's Nightmare reveals that Slappy has a twin brother named Wally carved from the same coffin. However, this is only viewed as a dream until Jimmy O'James gets a crate with Wally and a set of instructions inside.

However, in Slappy, Beware!, the origin is changed once more as in this story, Slappy was built by a man named Ephraim Darkwell, also known as Darkwell the Magician, 200 years before the events of the book. Despite a different name, Darkwell's origins are similar to that of Franz Mahar in that he created living dummies to do his evil deeds, but soon the village rebels against him.

General information

Character influences

Slappy the Dummy was inspired by multiple characters and pieces of media, as well as memories of R.L. Stine's own childhood.

  • In the book It Came from Ohio!, R.L. Stine stated that the idea of Slappy came from his childhood experiences with the original story of Pinocchio since it scared him so much as a kid.
  • In the Goosebumps Official Collector's Caps Book, Stine mentions that one of the inspirations for Slappy came from when he was a kid and would use his ventriloquist dummy to scare his brother.
  • The 1945 British anthology horror film Dead of Night is also mentioned in interviews as an inspiration for Slappy.
  • Slappy may have been at least partially inspired by Chucky from the "Child's Play" horror films.
    • For instance, both have similar-sounding names, and both are living dolls. In his television appearance, Slappy has orange/red hair—like Chuck. Additionally, in the Night of the Living Dummy II TV episode, Slappy says "Wanna play?", which is Chucky's catchphrase.
  • Slappy may be based on Willie, a ventriloquist's dummy from Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone. R.L. Stine has stated that he views Serling was an inspirational figure.

Physical appearance

In his early appearances, Slappy has brown hair and blue eyes. His lips are painted bright red, which curl in a sinister smile. There is also a chip on his lower lip. He wears a gray suit over a white collar and red bow tie. The collar has been stapled as his body is just painted white.

However, Slappy's appearance is changed for television and film. While he has wavy dark brown hair and cold and realistic blue eyes in the books, he is a curly-haired redhead in the television episodes, and his skin is made a bit lighter. In the film, his appearance is based more closely on his original depiction but with brown eyes.

Personality

Slappy the Dummy constantly insists he is not a "dummy" or a fool...he insists you are! He's evil and even sadistic. One of his primary objectives is to enslave humans to serve his bidding. Slappy has a cutting sense of humor, and he takes pleasure in slewing insults. A recurring theme in his books is him roasting various people to get his owner in trouble during ventriloquist performances, as everyone believes the performer is making the offensive remarks. Slappy is a cruel prankster, often making a terrible mess wherever he goes. Typically, he allows others to take the blame for his misdoings. Slappy also loves bragging about himself, usually boasting about how smart and awesome he is. This is mostly present in the introductions and interruptions in Goosebumps SlappyWorld.

Slappy is well aware of the fact that he is evil and goes out of his way to make others miserable because he enjoys it. He finds the act of doing a good deed repulsive. One of his most recognized traits is his rudeness. Slappy is very mean-spirited and constantly insults people over things such as their weight. While mostly a malicious prankster and bully, Slappy has also attempted to murder people throughout the books, such as attempting to decapitate two children in Slappy New Year. Slappy is also a confirmed pedophile, as he tried to force a young girl to be his bride in Bride of the Living Dummy.

In the 1990s television show, Slappy is shown to be the same sadistic control freak he is in the books, and in some ways is even more dangerous. In his debut episode, Slappy set out to ruin his new owner Amy's life by framing her for a series of escalating misdeeds, from breaking a child's hand to sneaking into her parents' room to smash a guitar over them for fun. Slappy brought a dummy named Rocky to life in his second appearance as part of his scheme to take the household and convert the family into his slaves. For amusement, Slappy transforms the protagonists' cousin into a helpless dummy aware of his current state but unable to do anything about it. In his final appearance, Slappy targets another pair of sisters after striking a deal with a failing ventriloquist. Around that time, Slappy entertains himself with murdering other sapient dummies and keeping their shards as trophies. He then tries to make the protagonist's younger sister his bride and, upon being destroyed, latches himself onto the protagonist's younger brother.

However, Slappy is presented as an anti-hero in Slappy's Nightmare, The Streets of Panic Park and The Dummy Meets the Mummy. In Slappy's Nightmare, he even does good deeds for his own self-preservation.

Powers

The powers Slappy has are inconsistent and vary greatly. In the original trilogy, he does not seem to have any however though, media outside of the original series depicts Slappy as having supernatural powers.

  • Animation: In the television adaptation of Night of the Living Dummy III, he can bring other dummies to life. This power is greatly expanded upon in Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween as he brings Sonny Quinn's two Street Fighter figures to life, as well as several Halloween decorations and costumes by using the magic words that brings him to life. This power would also appear in The Dummy Meets the Mummy! when he brings a dinosaur skeleton to life in order fend off Arragotus. This backfires however as Arragotus defeats it with a few powerful punches. In Slappy, Beware!, he uses these powers to bring the Mister Wood dummies to life.
  • Transmutation: Slappy has demonstrated the ability to turn others into dummies such as in The Streets of Panic Park, using a spell he learned from The Menace. He could also do this in Haunted Halloween by saying his chant backwards as well as by breathing on people in the TV series. Slappy also learned a spell to turn beings into rats after reading Goldie's spellbook.
  • Mind Control: In Son of Slappy, Slappy can control other people through a chirping sound, and he uses this power to force Jackson Stander to commit evil actions. This power would be used yet again in my My Friend Slappy though not through a chirping sound.
  • Laser Vision: In The Dummy Meets the Mummy, Slappy has laser vision and he uses this power to fight Arragotus.
  • Inanimation: In Diary of a Dummy, he can freeze people in place.
  • Electrokinesis: In My Friend Slappy, Slappy uses electric zaps.
  • Teleportation: This power is commonly used in the first Goosebumps film by Slappy in order to get to some places, though it is used only a few times in Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween as Slappy is mainly seen walking in the film.
  • Telekinesis: This power is introduced in Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, and is first used by Slappy when he uses a hose to knock both Tommy Madigan and his gang off their bikes, it is used once more when Slappy controls a pen and writes down all the answers for Sonny's Algebra homework. Slappy later uses this power to be unlock Sarah Quinn's locker, and to knock Tyler Mitchell off the ladder he was on. The last time this power is used is to prevent Sarah from opening up a Frankenstein book, which he had presumed was the Haunted Halloween manuscript.
  • Boiling Fluids: As demonstrated in various books such as Slappy Birthday to You, Slappy has boiling hot green vomit and nasal fluid that he can shoot out of his mouth and nose on command. Mr. Wood, another dummy brought to life by the same magic as Slappy, demonstrated a similar ability, though his fluid was not boiling.
  • Sound Manipulation: In Slappy's Nightmare, he displayed the ability to whistle so loudly that it literally felt like being stabbed in the ears with knives.
  • Ghost Form: As seen in Bride of the Living Dummy and The Ghost of Slappy, if Slappy is destroyed, he can come back as a ghost. As a ghost, he can fly, possess others, and is intangible. It has been stated that his soul is indestructible, meaning that his ghost form cannot be destroyed. Repairing his dummy body will bring him back to life and stop him from using this form. Strangely, in Night of the Living Dummy 2, he did not take this form after his body was destroyed, causing a continuity error between the books.
  • Immortality: Slappy has an unexplained ability to return from what should be permanent defeat/death. In the TV series, after having his body destroyed in part 3, he is back in one piece in Bride with no explanation. Similarly, despite Slappy Birthday to You ending with him having been put to sleep by his chant, his body headless, and the paper with the words to his chant torn up, following books have both him and the paper back in one piece like nothing happened. His wooden body also appears to be immune to decay, as he has lasted for hundreds of years without chipping away.
  • Dream Manipulation: This power was given to Slappy when he was hooked up to the dream machine in Slappy in Dreamland. Slappy's spirit was able to enter people's dreams and change them into nightmares. He also gains the power of mind control, manipulating the person whose mind he occupies to do bad deeds.
  • Freeze Magic: In Slappy, Beware!, one of Slappy's first acts allows him to freeze the village in place in a sort of time stop.

Weaknesses

Slappy is considered to be one of the most dangerous villains in the series, as he seemingly dies and comes back to life numerous times. The ancient words that bring Slappy to life can be used to put him back to sleep temporarily, but Slappy's biggest fear is that someone will find a way to put him back to sleep for good. It is also mentioned in the Monster Survival Guide that one of Slappy's other weaknesses is termites. Slappy, Beware! reveals that if Slappy were to ever hear someone say the words to bring him to life or put him to sleep in reverse order ("Karrano Molonu Loma Odonna Marri Karru"), it would permanently put him to sleep so he could never be awoken again. The book also reveals that for the spell to work, Slappy needs to hear it, which means if he covers his ears, the spell doesn't work.

List of appearances

Title Role Date Series Type
Night of the Living Dummy Side antagonist 1993 Goosebumps Book
Night of the Living Dummy II Main antagonist 1995
Escape from the Carnival of Horrors Cameo Give Yourself Goosebumps
"Night of the Living Dummy II" Main antagonist 1996 Goosebumps (TV series) TV episode
Night of the Living Dummy III Goosebumps Book
"Night of the Living Dummy III" 1997 Goosebumps (TV series) TV episode
Bride of the Living Dummy 1998 Goosebumps Series 2000 Book
"Bride of the Living Dummy" Goosebumps (TV series) TV episode
Goosebumps Live on Stage: Screams in the Night Side antagonist Goosebumps live events Stage play
Slappy's Nightmare Main protagonist 1999 Goosebumps Series 2000 Book
Revenge of the Living Dummy Main antagonist 2008 Goosebumps HorrorLand
Dr. Maniac vs. Robby Schwartz Side antagonist
Goosebumps HorrorLand Cameo Goosebumps (video game series) Video game
Enter HorrorLand Boss
Say Cheese — and Die Screaming! Cameo 2009 Goosebumps HorrorLand Book
The Streets of Panic Park Side antagonist/ Anti-hero
Welcome to HorrorLand: A Survival Guide Mentioned/Cameo
How to Draw Goosebumps Cameo Standalone
Slappy New Year! Main antagonist 2010 Goosebumps HorrorLand
The Horror at Chiller House Mentioned/cover only 2011
Son of Slappy Main antagonist 2013 Goosebumps Most Wanted
Goosebumps Movie Novel 2015 Goosebumps The Movie
Night of the Living Monsters
Slappy's Revenge Narrator
Monster Survival Guide Monster subject
Goosebumps Activity Book Cameo
Slappy's Tales of Horror Side antagonist and narrator Goosebumps Graphix Graphic novel
Goosebumps Night of Scares Main antagonist Goosebumps (video game series) Video game
Goosebumps: The Game
Goosebumps Goosebumps (film series) Film
Slappy Birthday to You Main antagonist and narrator 2017 Goosebumps SlappyWorld Book
Attack of the Jack Narrator
I Am Slappy's Evil Twin Side antagonist and narrator
Monsters at Midnight Main antagonist Goosebumps (comic series) Comic book
Goosebumps HorrorTown Character Goosebumps (video game series) Video game
Please Do Not Feed the Weirdo Narrator 2018 Goosebumps SlappyWorld Book
Download and Die! Main antagonist Goosebumps (comic series) Comic book
Escape from Shudder Mansion Narrator Goosebumps SlappyWorld Book
The Ghost of Slappy Main antagonist and narrator'
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween Movie Novel Main antagonist Goosebumps The Movie
Slappy's Return
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween Goosebumps (film series) Film
It's Alive! It's Alive! Narrator 2019 Goosebumps SlappyWorld Book
The Dummy Meets the Mummy! Narrator and protagonist
Revenge of the Invisible Boy Narrator
Diary of a Dummy Main antagonist and narrator 2020
Goosebumps Dead of Night Main antagonist Goosebumps (video game series) Video game
They Call Me the Night Howler! Narrator Goosebumps SlappyWorld Book
My Friend Slappy Main antagonist and narrator
Monster Blood Is Back Narrator 2021
Fifth-Grade Zombies
Judy and the Beast
Slappy in Dreamland Main antagonist and narrator 2022 Goosebumps SlappyWorld Book
Haunting With The Stars Narrator 2022 Goosebumps SlappyWorld Book
Slappy, Beware! Main antagonist, protagonist and narrator 2022 Goosebumps Slappyworld Book
Night of the Squawker Narrator 2023 Goosebumps SlappyWorld Book
Friiight Night

Actors

Voice actors

Puppeteers

  • Avery Jones (film primary puppeteer)
  • Ron Stefaniuk (series puppeteer)
  • Jake McKinnon (2015 film assistant puppeteer)
  • Rick Galinson (Haunted Halloween assistant puppeteer)
  • Ted Haines (Haunted Halloween assistant puppeteer)
  • BJ Guyer (Haunted Halloween assistant puppeteer)

Quotes

For a fuller list of quotes from Slappy, please see Slappy the Dummy/Quotes.
"Hey, Amy. Guess who?"
―Slappy (Night of the Living Dummy II, TV episode)
"Oh, Papa. There's no escaping from us."
―Slappy (Goosebumps film)

Gallery

To see the full image gallery, please view Slappy the Dummy/Gallery.

Trivia

  • During a Q&A at the Macaulay Honors College building on November 13, 2012, R.L. Stine mentioned that Slappy was his favorite character from the Goosebumps books.
  • He is the first Goosebumps villain to be an anti-hero in Slappy's Nightmare.
  • Slappy appears in the short story Gaslighted: Slappy the Ventriloquist Dummy vs. Aloysius Pendergast. In the story, Aloysius encounters Slappy in Stony Mountain Sanatorium and finds himself either dreaming or going insane.
  • YouTube channel Watchmojo placed Slappy in 7th place in their "Top 20 Scariest Dolls in Horror Movies" list.
    • They also placed him in 4th place in their "Top 10 Evil Toys in Movies" list.
  • Slappy was one of the inspirations for the ventriloquist dummies seen in Toy Story 4.
  • According to Ron Stefaniuk, Slappy's appearance in the episodes differed from his appearance on the covers because the show sometimes allowed them a certain amount of creative freedom over the design elements. They would typically come up with a few different drawings for each creature, with one being selected by the higher ups for the final design.
Advertisement