Annabelle the doll is a creepy doll from the Conjuring franchise. It serves as a conduit for Malthus the demon.
Physical features[]
As shown in the film sequels, Annabelle is well-known as an eighteen-inch-tall porcelain doll modeled after a girl.
History[]
Annabelle Mullins, (whose nickname was Bee), was the daughter of a man named Samuel Mullins. Mr. Mullins created a porcelain doll modeled after a girl. He named the doll Annabelle after his daughter. Sadly, Annabelle Mullins died when hit by a car. Sam kept the Annabelle doll, for memory of his daughter. Devastated, Sam and his wife Esther Mullins would do anything, even invite unholy spirits, if it means bringing their daughter back. This attracted the attention of the malevolent demon named Malthus, who escaped the fires of Hell and needed an object to use as a conduit for remaining on Earth. Taking the form of the ghost of Bee, Malthus tricked the Mullins into making him tie himself to the Annabelle doll. Malthus successfully tied himself with the doll, and used it as a conduit to remain in the physical world. The Mullins realized that their daughter`s ghost was actually a demon, but Malthus attacked them. Malthus gouged out the left eye of Esther. The Mullins, frightened, locked the Annabelle doll in their daughters closet, covering the walls in Bible pages, before reaching out to the church to bless the household.
Annabelle and Malthus would remain dormant until 12 years later in 1957 when the Mullins couple opens their home to provide shelter for Sister Charlotte and the orphans of St. Eustace after the closing of their orphanage. When night falls, Janice, a young girl crippled by polio and one of the orphans, is awakened by a noise. She decides to investigate where the noise came from, and discovers a note, saying "Find me.". Janice sneaks into Bee's room, which has somehow been unlocked, despite Samuel's warning to not enter. Janice finds a key within a dollhouse, and unlocks Bee's closet, unintentionally freeing Malthus. Janice, creeped out by the doll, shuts the closet, only for it to open again. Janice then locks the closet again, locking it this time, but Bee's closet opens again. She then throws a bed sheet over the doll, as Janice sees Samuel coming home from the window. Annabelle gets up from her chair and coming closer to Janice. The girl sees the bed sheet slips off, revealing nothing underneath. Janice looks out the windows and runs back to the room, after seeing Samuel about to reenter the house. Annabelle, now released from Bee's closet, begins terrorizing the girls throughout their stay at the Mullins farmhouse, primarily focusing on Janice.
On the second night, when Carol and Nancy stay up to gossip and tell stories about Esther in the girls' bedroom, they hear her bell ringing for Samuel's assistance. As Esther's bell continues to ring, Carol and Nancy wonder why Samuel does not answer her. After their flashlight shuts off, they see Annabelle through their blanket, as a shadowy figure representing their interpretation of Esther's appearance in their stories. Malthus appears then attacks the girls, grabbing Carol's face, before the demon disappears when Kate turns on the light.
On the third night, Janice hears "You Are My Sunshine" playing on the gramophone in Bee's room. After Janice turns it off, her best friend, and another one of the orphans, Linda enters the room. Janice tells her about Bee, and Linda accidentally shoots Annabelle with a toy gun, resulting in the doll glaring at her ominously. After Linda leaves the room and goes back to bed, Janice reads Bee's diary, and the door shuts. Malthus then appears to Janice in Bee's form, and Janice asks Annabelle what she wants. Malthus turns around with a demonic face, and declares that he wants "her soul." In complete fear, Janice attempts to flee from Malthus via a stairwell, only for the latter to catch her and throw her down from the second-floor landing to the first floor, confining her to a wheelchair.
On the fourth night, Linda, after comforting Janice, opens the door to Bee's room and notices that Annabelle is absent from her chair. Linda waits in her and Janice's bedroom, anticipating Annabelle to appear. Linda uses Bee's toy gun to detect the demon's presence by shooting its ball into the darkness. The demon grabs the ball and snatches the toy gun away from Linda. Badly frightening the girl. When Malthus starts to approach her rapidly, Linda frantically runs to her bed and hides under her covers. After the lamp shuts off, Linda sees inhuman footprints leading to her bed. She checks the left side of her bed and sees the doll looking at her before it is grabbed by Malthus.
The day after, when Sister Charlotte brings Janice outside for some sunlight, Janice is pushed into a barn by a figure posing as a nun (who is actually Malthus) after Charlotte leaves. Janice struggles to get to her wheelchair, only for it to be destroyed and is possessed by Malthus (posing as Bee again) when she vomits black ectoplasm out of her mouth. Linda notices changes in her behavior and tells Samuel that Janice had gone into Bee's room. Shortly after this, Samuel enters the dining room and finds Annabelle sitting in one of the chairs. Samuel is then approached by Janice, who then contorts into Malthus`s demonic form. Samuel attempts to repel her with a handmade crucifix, but Malthus telekinetically snaps his fingers backward, forcing him to drop it, before mercilessly killing him off-screen as the camera pans towards the doll Annabelle. Sister Charlotte hears his screams, and rushes to his aid, horrified upon finding his corpse.
At night, Linda takes Annabelle away from Janice when she's asleep and goes outside to dispose of the doll. Charlotte sees Linda from her bedroom window and follows her. Linda opens the well, and Sister Charlotte asks what she's doing. Linda tells her what she plans to do, and drops Annabelle down the well. When Linda and Charlotte start walking back, Linda hears whispering coming from the well, and Malthus attempts to pull her down the well with what appears to be human hands. Charlotte grabs Linda and pulls her away from the well, before closing it. Linda and Charlotte run back to the household, only to find the doll in Janice's place on the couch in the living room.
Charlotte tells the girls to find Janice, while she takes the doll with her. Sister Charlotte speaks with Esther, who wears a porcelain mask to hide her scars from Malthus's attack on her, and the latter informs Sister Charlotte of the evil doll's origins. Carol, Nancy, and Tierney find Janice and the Annabelle doll that somehow got in Bee's room. Janice cuts Nancy's left arm, and the girls run downstairs to Charlotte for help. Charlotte tells Carol to call for help, and the girls call the police. Afterward, they run over to Esther's room to help her escape with them, only to find the bisected upper half of her corpse crucified onto the wall. Charlotte finds Linda and Kate in the girls' bedroom, and Janice enters behind her. Charlotte utters a Latin incantation, as Janice levitates her and slams her against a mirror, rendering her unconscious. Linda and Kate run from Janice, but the former trips and is dragged across the corridor.
At Linda's request, Kate runs to get help, while Janice searches for Linda, who attempts to escape via the dumbwaiter. Meanwhile, the other girls run to the barn, with the door shutting in front of Nancy, Kate, and Tierney, separating Carol from the other girls. The demon then emerges from the scarecrow inside, and it begins to destroy the light bulbs, one by one, with Carol struggling to keep the last one intact. When Malthus destroys the last light, Carol runs into the room where Samuel makes his dolls. Nancy comes to rescue her through the windows and the two of them escape unharmed.
Linda exits the dumbwaiter and enters the Mullins couple's bedroom, where Malthus briefly possesses Esther's corpse to scare her. Linda runs back to the dumbwaiter and uses it to go back up, but it abruptly stops. Linda glances down to see Janice chasing her below before the demon's hands attempt to pull the dumbwaiter down. Linda uses the rope attached to get back into the room and sees Janice downstairs. When Janice resumes pursuing Linda, she runs into Bee's room and hides in the closet. Janice finds her and throws her outside the closet, and attempts to stab her with a knife. Sister Charlotte arrives to save Linda, locking the possessed Janice/Annabelle and the doll inside the closet.
The next day, after Sister Charlotte and the orphans have vacated the house, police arrive to investigate and find the Annabelle doll in the closet, which they remove as evidence, while Janice had escaped through a hole in the closet wall the night before, and relocated to St. Joachim, another orphanage in Santa Monica. When the Higgins family adopts her, the still-possessed Janice introduces herself as "Annabelle". 12 years later, Annabelle has formed a cult known as The Disciples of The Ram, devoted followers to Malthus and kills her adoptive parents. A pregnant Mia Form is awakened by the screams of the Higgins couple next door, and her husband, John], goes to investigate, setting the events of the first Annabelle film into motion.