Slappy the Dummy

Slappy the Dummy is a recurring villain in the Goosebumps franchise. He is a living ventriloquist dummy that comes to life when the words "Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molonu Karrano" are read aloud; the words mean "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 with Night of the Living Dummy, Slappy has become the most popular villain and character in the Goosebumps franchise, appearing in more books and media than any other character. He received his own book series in 2017, with the release of Goosebumps SlappyWorld. He has also appeared in four episodes of the Goosebumps TV series and appeared as the main antagonist in the Goosebumps film, and its sequel Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween.

History

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

Background
As revealed in Bride of the Living Dummy, Slappy's Nightmare, Revenge of the Living Dummy, and Son of Slappy, 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 gets a crate with Wally and a set of instructions inside.

Character influences
Slappy the Dummy was inspired by multiple characters and pieces of media.
 * 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.
 * 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. 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.

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

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.

Voice actors

 * Ron Stefaniuk (Night of the Living Dummy II and Bride of the Living Dummy)
 * Cathal J. Dodd (Night of the Living Dummy III only)
 * Annick Obonsawin (High-pitched voice)
 * Jack Black (2015 film)
 * Avery Jones (Promotional Footage)
 * Mick Wingert (2018 film)
 * Joe Fria (Goosebumps SlappyWorld Audiobooks)

Puppeteers

 * Avery Jones (2015 film puppeteer)

Quotes

 * For a fuller list of quotes from Slappy, please see Slappy the Dummy/Quotes.

TV Show
"Hey, Amy. Guess who?"

- Slappy (Night of the Living Dummy II)

Film
"Oh, Papa. There's no escaping from us."

- Slappy

Gallery

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

Trivia

 * Jimmy O'James and Mr. Wood are the only characters to appear in more than one of the Slappy books.
 * Jimmy O'James appears in Bride of the Living Dummy and Slappy's Nightmare, and Mr. Wood appears in Night of the Living Dummy and I Am Slappy's Evil Twin.
 * Slappy's voice is used in the intro for Ultimate Goosebumps. His laugh can be heard near the beginning of the intro, and he says "Viewer beware, you're in for a scare!" at the end of the intro.
 * 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.
 * 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 find himself either dreaming or going insane.
 * In the Classic Goosebumps reprint of Night of the Living Dummy, part of the bonus material included is a short bio, called 'Fright Gallery' of Slappy the Dummy, including his 'Splat Stats', which are as follows: Strength: 6/10 Intelligence: 9/10 Speed: 6/10 Attack Skills: 6/10 Humor: 10/10 Evil: 9/10.
 * Cathal J. Dodd, who provided the voice of Slappy in Night of the Living Dummy III, also provided the voice of Wolverine in the 1990s X-Men animated series, another series that aired on the Fox Kids block.