The Creeper (Jeepers Creepers)

The Creeper is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 2001 horror film "Jeepers Creepers" and its 2003 sequel "Jeepers Creepers II". He is an ancient demon who feeds on human beings for 23 days every 23rd spring. In all but one of his appearances, he is played by Jonathan Breck.

Appearance

The Creeper is an ancient creature, usually dressed in long, tattered duster and face-concealing stetson. In the first film, he also wears heavy boots. In the sequel he appears barefoot, revealing slightly bird-like talons which he uses to pick up his victims. The Creeper has mottled green and brown skin, and a pair of wing-like mandibles or skin flaps are located on each side of his face. He also has a huge pair of bat-like wings on his back, which fold up tightly enough that they are completely unnoticeable underneath his coat. The Creeper drives an old truck with a license plate that reads BEATNGU, which is first interpreted as "beating you," but later read as "be eating you" in the first movie. Facial appearance varies, since the creeper consumes the parts of people that he needs and takes on some characteristics of the consumed part, while retaining his original appearance.

History

The Creeper awakens the beginning of every 23rd Spring. Within this period, he has 23 days to eat. He is shown to only eat humans, although whether or not he eats other animals isn't revealed. The Creeper only consumes organs or organic material from a human for his use and nourishment. He then either uses the remaining body parts as tools for weapons or later nourishment for his survival. The Creeper uses a variety of weapons to hunt his prey. It is not clear where the Creeper sleeps or hibernates during his 23 years of dormancy, but in the first movie, the Creeper is seen in some sort of basement or cave located under a deserted church. At the end of the first movie, the creeper is seen to be in an old, deserted factory of sorts and might have claimed this as his new "home" because of the burning down of his original location. He is also seen posing as a scarecrow in various parts of the films.

Abilities

The Creeper has the unique ability to regenerate his own version of whatever body part he devours. He has survived throughout the ages since Biblical times using this ability, replenishing his deteriorated body by feeding on people for 23 days in 23 year cycles. 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. Also, even without regenerating lost limbs and organs, the Creeper appears to have amazing resilience. Such examples include being impaled in mid-air with a large harpoon and seeming near enough unharmed, tearing its own head off in order to regurgitate a stolen head from one of his victims after receiving a javelin through his eye, and being shot with a large harpoon gun through the head, and through all this it only stops because of hitting its hibernation period.

The Creeper appears to be some sort of chimera. Most of his body is of human origin, but the wings, and a sort of clawed and webbed structure on the back of his head actually seem to be a non-vertebrate animal that controls the human body parts. The non-human section does not seem to be from any terrestrial line of evolution. The clawed/webbed structure can also flare out in a threatening display.

The Creeper will eat humans to absorb replacement body parts when his own are too damaged for further use - picking his victim depending on what he needs, and hunting them without mercy.

Physiologically, the Creeper is a humanoid, but with green scaly skin and razor sharp claws and teeth. Hidden under his black duster coat are a pair of enormous bat-like wings which seem to be made of human-like arms. The wings seem to produce enough power not only to carry himself, but another human being as well. As depicted in the movie the wings are able to throttle a pick-up truck off the ground. The speed at which he can fly is undetermined, but is seen to easily be able to catch up to an automobile driving at full speed.

The Creeper possesses a second sense of smell. It has a third nostril which sits on the bridge of his nose, which allows him to smell the parts of a human that he needs such as eyes, hearts, and other organs. His second sense of smell can only detect essential parts when the being is in a state of fear.

The Creeper has superhuman strength and speed. He is strong enough to tear apart automobile frames and rip parts from the human body. The Creeper is not known to talk, but has the ability to do so as seen in a deleted scene from the first film, in which he speaks the line in an American accent. He is also known to whistle the jeepers creepers song. He can also climb on walls like a spider, and is well-versed in physical combat, including using melee and throwing weapons. The creeper seems to have a twisted sense of human characteristics. He creates grotesque art by sewing skin and bodies together and 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.

Tools

The Creeper employs a variety of weapons in his pursuit for food. Those seen in movie include an ancient battle axe, possibly collected from medieval times, a collection of daggers and throwing stars made from the flesh and bones of his victims, and his own body; since he possesses talon-like feet and super human strength. The weapons that he makes seem to have supernatural abilities. One particular weapon, a knife found by Jack Taggart Jr., depicts on its handle a person that appears to be chained to a wall, screaming. On the other side, there is a screaming child in a cornfield and a demonic creature in flight. When the knife is shown to Jack Taggart, Sr., the knife flies out of his hands, through a lamp and into a nearby wall. Two possible reasons for this could be that, The knife is somehow connected to the creeper and when separated, searches him out or possesses the ability to find organic flesh, as the lamp shade is made of leather. A separate occasion in the movie the knife is used as a weapon against the creeper. The knife is fired at the creeper and when the creeper removes it, the spear guides its way through a truck's wind shield, pinning Jack Jr.'s fleece jacket (which is backed by leather) to the car seat. This theory seems to be more supported by the movie, although this last example could simply be a display of the Creeper's expert skill and aim with projectile weapons. 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. The creeper seems to have some mechanical knowledge as the truck has been altered so that it can achieve speeds far greater than a vehicle of its size normally could. However, during the second film the creeper does not use the truck and mainly uses his wings to transport himself around. This is possibly because upon the authorities finding out about his existence and his "home", he needed to be more inconspicuous during his hunts for food.