Goosebumps Ending Explained: Who was Slappy before becoming a puppet?

The main characters of Goosebumps by Disney+ have gone through the wringer when it comes to Slappy’s grand evil plan. As the series is based on R.L. Stine’s infamous antagonist, it gave Slappy a much bigger and more detailed backstory than imaginable.

Margot, Lucas, James, Isabella, Isaiah, and Nora thought the worst was over when they threw Slappy off a snowy mountain. But Mr. Bratt returns to being the invisible person he once was. Now trying to return to his roots as a writer, he tries to come up with a worthwhile story worth millions.

Die-hard R.L. Stine fans know Slappy was one of the books’ most formidable villains in the book series. He first appeared in 1993 at the end of Night of the Living Dummy. His backstory includes a ventriloquist named Franz Maher. His partner was an evil sorcerer named Kanduu who would bring the puppets to life.

Slappy was carved using wood from a coffin, and when Kanduu died, he transferred his soul into Slappy. He would wait for the day someone would say the incantation to bring him back to life. But Disney+’s Goosebumps adds a bit of flare and an even darker story to Slappy and who he was as a human. Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Slappy was a human soldier in Goosebumps

Disney+

Before becoming the evil Slappy, he was a human Lieutenant soldier in the year 1879. Goosebumps sticks to R.L. Stine’s origin story of Kanduu meeting ventriloquist Franz Maher.

In the year 1879, Kanduu was a soldier on the frontlines of a war. While under attack, he is gravely wounded in the stomach before falling into a hidden chamber underground. He lets some gunpowder that reveals inscriptions on the walls. They glow and he’s able to read them out loud. In the blink of an eye, mystical powers become his and his wound heals.

Fast forward to New York City in 1885 as Kanduu ventures to a circus looking for a puppet maker. He soon meets Franz Maher who recognizes Kanduu as a magician. But Kanduu is quick to dispel that he’s a simple magic act and showcases his true magical powers. He promises to make Franz’s circus a success but must build something for him.

Over a year, Franz realizes Kanduu has evil intentions when witnessing him use a spell to turn humans into puppets. All so that Franz can become a real puppet master. Franz gifts Kanduu his own puppet, aka Slappy, and begins to say an incantation. Kanduu plunges his knife into him hoping to make him stop. But Franz finishes the words – trapping Kanduu’s soul within the puppet.

Later in the Goosebumps finale, Kanduu is resurrected by Bratt in return for a worthy story for a novel. Kanduu reveals himself to the main characters and explains he and the soldiers were fighting a war they didn’t belong in. The locals had taught them their language and this is the reason why Kanduu was able to read the inscriptions.

His goal? To unleash all the monsters and horrors imaginable with the help of the spells. He believes that humans need monsters to avoid becoming them themselves. Harold Biddle was proven to be a simple pawn. Goosebumps has given Kanduu an interesting backstory as the original books give no information on who he is before meeting Franz.

Read more TV & Movies new from Dexerto here, insight into Margot’s story from the Goosebumps producers here, and their thoughts on The Conjuring here.