Bill Denbrough and Eddie Kaspbrak

Bill Denbrough and Eddie Kaspbrak's friendship is forged in the summer of 1958, when Bill, recovering from the murder of his brother George, and Eddie, a boy crippled by his mother's hypochondria and his own asthma, find each other in the Barrens. Bill, despite his severe stutter, possesses a natural authority and a quiet courage that Eddie, who lives in constant fear of illness and bullies, desperately admires. Eddie thinks of Bill as "Big Bill," a figure of strength and certainty, and confesses that he would have died for him if asked. This devotion is rooted in Bill's consistent kindness: he never makes fun of Eddie's asthma, never calls him a sissy, and always treats him as an equal. When Eddie's aspirator runs out after Henry Bowers bloodies his nose, it is Bill who rides his bike, Silver, at breakneck speed to the Center Street Drug to get a refill, a journey that cements Eddie's loyalty. Bill, in turn, relies on Eddie's uncanny sense of direction, a skill that proves vital when the Losers navigate the labyrinthine sewers under Derry. Bill tells the others that Eddie has a "compass in his head," and Eddie treasures this recognition of his unique value. Their bond is tested and deepened through shared ordeals: building the dam in the Barrens, enduring the apocalyptic rockfight, and confronting the leper under the porch on Neibolt Street. When Eddie's arm is broken by Henry Bowers, Bill insists he still come along on the expedition to the house on Neibolt Street, promising to keep an eye on him. Eddie, in turn, uses his aspirator as a weapon against the Crawling Eye, pretending it is battery acid, and saves Bill from being pulled into the creature's mass. This act of imaginative defiance is a direct result of Bill's influence, teaching Eddie that belief itself can be a weapon. The friendship culminates in the final battle with It in 1985. When Bill is lost in the macroverse, locked in a psychic struggle with the Spider, Eddie runs forward, triggering his aspirator into the creature's eye and down its throat. The Spider's jaws close, ripping Eddie's arm off. As he dies in Bill's arms, Eddie's last words are a gentle rebuke to Richie: "Don't call me Eds." His final act is one of pure, selfless love for his friend, a sacrifice that allows Bill to strike the killing blow. Bill carries the weight of this loss, but Eddie's courage becomes a permanent part of the Losers' shared history, a testament to a friendship that transformed a frightened, asthmatic boy into a hero.