A key feature in the universe of the Children of the Corn franchise is that each film's antagonist takes the role of the preacher who receives their orders from "He who walks behind the rows" The list below details the circumstances of their role as leader.
Contents |
(John Franklin) Isaac Chroner was a boy preacher who came to Gatlin. According to the script, when he was twelve years old he led the children of the town in a massacre of all the adults and then resumed a place as leader of the remaining orphans. Who Walks Behind The Rows, in order to fulfill the prophecy (see below). Over a period of time, he authored THE BOOK OF DIVINE ENLIGHTENMENT. Eventually, the children completely converted to his way of thinking, and murdered their own parents at his will. It was around this time that he made the prophecy that He Who Walks Behind the Rows will awaken when the daughter of the original chosen and the son of the original chosen provide a new generation of the chosen children. However, by the end of Children of the Corn Isaac becomes power-hungry, and is struck down by his own God. After the events of the first film, the children of Gatlin manage to bring him into hiding, while preserving his status in critical care. When diagnosed, it was found that he had suffered two fractures to the head which required stitching, that his ankles and wrists were severely bruised, his arm joints were torn, and he'd shifted two plates in his back. He fell into a coma and woke up nineteen years later. He was determined to resurrect the forgotten religion, but couldn't successfully pull off all that was required of him, being weak and unwilling to meet the harsher demands of He Who Walks Behind The Rows. When he challenged He Who Walk Behind The Rows' demands, he was killed. In the 2009 version, Isaac is nine years old.
NOTE: in Stephen King's original short story (featured in his collection Night Shift), Isaac is nine years old and has no last name as boy-preacher. His birth name, however, was William Renfrew.
Foretold was that a leader would come from the corn and rebuild the cult. This leader was Micah. What is known of Micah before the events of Gatlin is that he was constantly beaten by his father for 'sinning', only to then find his father engaging in an affair. Micah was a different case to Isaac. While Isaac obeyed He Who Walks Behind The Rows of his own free will, Micah was initially a shy and jumpy figure who was then turned evil by He Who Walks Behind The Rows. Taking over Micah's body destroyed the good within him, and replaced it with evil in its purest form. Sly and careful, Micah changed into a persuasive and charismatic preacher. Obsessed with completing his mission, he'd let nothing stand in his way. Micah brought the children of Hemmingford to his will and cunningly waited for a town gathering to trap them in and then burn them to death. Micah's existence came to an end when a corn harvester caught the hem of his robes. He Who Walks Behind the Rows forced himself out of Micah's body, leaving Micah to be sucked into the corn harvester and ripped to pieces.
Elia was a preacher from Gatlin that move to Chicago with his older brother. Elia was the one that brought he who walked behind the rows to Chicago. He ended up killing his foster's parents, their dad back from Gatlin, and the principal. He ends up getting killed by his older brother when the older brother stab the book that contains part of the preacher's soul. Elia was known as one of the most dangerous and was almost unstoppable to beat.
Josiah was a boy preacher when he was alive. His mother abandoned him at a very young age, and he was taken in by a band of traveling preachers. Through some strange way, he learned to preach as though it were in his blood. People came to hear him, and the preachers made money off of him. But they knew that to keep the money coming, Josiah had to look as young as possible. So they didn't let him sleep, they fed him poison, and did everything to keep him young. Through all this torture Josiah became insane. The preachers finally decided to sell his soul in return for his youth. Not able to take it anymore, Josiah hacked them to death. But people found out, dragged him out into the cornfields, and burned him alive. Josiah came back to life to avenge his death, and get back his soul. He was obsessed with regaining his life, but the only way to get it back was to find a child who was abandoned and lied to like he was. There isn't any mention of He Who Walks Behind The Rows but it is heavily implied that Josiah may be him.
Ezekiel was, like Micah, possessed by He Who Walks Behind The Rows, after seeing a bright green fire. He, and a small group of children, live on the farm of a man named Luke Enright. The cult is made up of children who have been forgotten, or abandoned, and are willing to devote their lives to He Who Walks Behind The Rows. Ezekiel is extremely fanatical, and a psychopathic, tolerating no blasphemy, and killing all of those who get in his way. Ezekiel commands all of his followers jump into a flaming corn silo when they turn 19. Ezekiel is killed when he is pushed into the silo.
Gabriel was the sixth preacher of the children of the corn. An absolute sociopath, Gabriel shows no emotion whatsoever, and is extremely dangerous. Gabriel has very strong powers of mind control, such as when he got a person who was holding a gun on him, to turn it on themself and fire. Gabriel is the fulfiller of the prophecy, that the first child of the original Children of the Corn will be He Who walks Behind The Rows, and father a new group. Isaac tries to deny Gabriel his birthright, when Gabriel reveals he is He Who Walks Behind The Rows, kills Isaac and is then himself killed by Rachel Colby with a scythe.
(Sean Smith)
Abel was the seventh leader of the children of the corn. In actuality, he led the group years before Isaac. He and his followers were unable to kill the adults, so to escape them, they burned themselves alive in a tent, all except for one. The one who escaped, had children, and eventually a granddaughter named Jamie. Abel is possessed, and resurrected by He Who Walks Behind The Rows, to kill Jamie. Despite being dead, Abel is extremely strong, and almost impossible to kill.