Warning: This article discusses the topic of rape.

Randall Flagg is a staple of theStephen Kinguniverse, and these theories involving the villain will totally change how you see the King of Horror’s books and stories.Stephen King’s booksare full of appearances and references to the quasi-immortal sorcerer. From his debut inThe Standto his seeming death inThe Dark Towerseries, Randall Flagg has shaped Stephen King’s fictional world.

Randall Flagg’s appearances in Stephen King’s booksare plentiful, and considering the antagonist’s ability to change forms and take on multiple new aliases, readers can never rule his involvement out.As he has gone by various names and guises in King’s interconnected universe, he’s spawned numerous fan theories. Some are quite fascinating and recontextualize the story.

Alexander Skarsgard as Randall Flagg around neon lights in The Stand

4Flagg Is Carrie White’s Father

Is King’s Villain Actually Ralph White?

Thetheory that Randall Flagg is Carrie White’s fatheris an interesting one.When the titular character is introduced inCarrie, the teenage girl is being raised alone by her overly religious, abusive mother.While there are a few mentions of Carrie’s father, Ralph, they paint him in an awful light. Ralph believes Margaret is sinful for wanting intercourse, but Carrie’s conception is a result of a rape. Ralph dies before Carrie is born, but it’s always implied that her powers come from her father’s side of the family.

Stephen King Has So Many Great Villains, But These 5 Randall Flagg Moments Prove He’s The Best One

The King of Horror’s villains are some of the best in literature overall, but Stephen King’s Randall Flagg is by far the best, and I can prove why.

King has said his poem “The Dark Man” served as the genesis for Flagg.The titular character in the poem confesses to dark acts, including murder and rape. In a dream, Carrie white sees her mother battling a “Black Man” who arrives on her doorstep, and it’s implied he defiles Margaret. Although the two monikers aren’t exactly the same, they’re similar enough to suggest a connection. She chases the man away, who has “Cloven feet striking red sparks on the cement,” which many interpret as Flagg’s notable red cowboy boots.

Collage of Stephen King and The Mist movie

Her odd abilities are strangely familiar to those of Flagg’s.

Carrie’s mysterious powers lack a full backstory, and there are several connections between her and other elements of Stephen King’s fictional universe, but her odd abilities are strangely familiar to those of Flagg’s.Randall Flagg has many aliases, so it wouldn’t be surprising if one of those were Ralph White or if he had been working through Ralph White on the night of Carrie’s conception.

3Flagg & Pennywise Are The Same Person

Could Flagg Actually Be Derry’s Most Fearful Clown?

IT’s Pennywise and Randall Flagg are two ofStephen King’s best book villains, but there is evidence to suggest that the two characters are actually one. Pennywise is a known shapeshifter, just as Flagg is. The horrifying creature that mainly features as a clown originates from outside the reality we know, and the fact that it’s unclear whether Flagg is a human, a demon, or something in between supports the argument that he and Pennywise are the same character.

No matter who Flagg is in each of King’s stories, he is always charismatic enough to manipulate those around him and take control quickly. In a now-deleted post from social media,Stephen King directly acknowledgedScreen Rant’s question about who the better villain is and asked if we have considered the other question: whether the two are “the same entity” (viaTwitter).It’s a great question from the King of Horror that everyone needs to ponder. It seems too obvious that two of King’s most harrowing villains are one and the same, but at the same time, it makes total sense thatFlagg and Pennywise are the same entityin different forms.

Headshot Of Stephen King

2Flagg Is Responsible For The Events Of The Mist

Is Mrs. Carmody’s Theory Actually Correct?

InThe Mist, Mrs. Carmody may be one ofStephen King’s best human villains, undoubtedly a horrible and malevolent person. Still, one theory about Randall Flagg may prove she was actually right. In the book, Mrs. Carmody believes a human sacrifice is necessary to end the titular threat, but she is killed before she can convince anyone.While the ending ofThe Mistis left ambiguous, it’s clear that the survivors aren’t at the end of their journey either.

The Mist Ending: Controversial Book-To-Movie Changes Explained

The Mist has one of the most divisive endings in the history of Stephen King movie adaptations, and it’s time to take a closer look at it.

It’s theorized that the monsters that come from the mist are from todash space, and Flagg is the one to rip the hole in space that allows their arrival. Considering Flagg’s actions inThe Dark Tower, this makes a lot of sense, especially as his powers are often perceived as being otherworldly.While there isn’t a huge amount of evidence for thetheory that Randall Flagg causes the events ofThe Mist, there are some strange parallels worth analyzing.

Hypothetically, it would fit exactly with Flagg’s character that he would love a human sacrifice to be made to him.Flagg is power-hungry and manipulative, and this wouldn’t be the first time he warped the minds of an entire group of people. For example, Marten Broadcloak inWizard and Glass, the second ofThe Dark Towerbooks, and his stronghold of Las Vegas inThe Stand. There’s no doubt stranger things that happen in King’s universe, but this theory holds some gravitas.

1Flagg Is He Who Walks Behind The Rows

Is Flagg Children Of The Corn’s Petrifying Villain, Too?

Thetheory that Flagg is He Who Walks Behind The Rowsis another one that seems obvious at first. However, there’s more to it than the fact they are both iconic Stephen King villains. He Who Walks Behind the Rows is an erratic god who the titular children worship, and he demands that everyone is eventually sacrificed at a certain age, a twisted form of worship that, again, dovetails with Flagg’s long history of being a cult-like leader in the books.

InThe Stand, it’s maybe not a coincidence that Flagg often appears from the cornfield when visiting Mother Abigail and others, manipulating them from between the rows.The very specific similarity of the images is a connection. While this is only a small detail, Flagg proves in other King stories that details of his past play a part in creating his later aliases. He Who Walks Behind the Rows has dominion over his own little community, just like Flagg inThe Stand.

It would make sense that Flagg would take on a new identity and recreate the attempts he makes inThe Standto run society, and who would be easier to manipulate than children? While not everything about these two characters is identical, there’s no doubt thatStephen Kinglayers his villains with similarities, and it’s always worth considering whether Randall Flagg is hiding behind a new guise in every story.