In the film series, he is depicted as an African-American man who was brutally murdered for a forbidden 19th-century interracial love affair; he returns as an urban legend, and kills anyone who summons him by saying his name five times in front of a mirror.

The story was partially inspired by a cautionary tale Barker's grandmother told him when he was six to teach him to be careful of strangers, about a hook-handed man who cut off a boy's genitals.

[2] Fantasy Tales[clarification needed] artist John Stewart's own image in the book's illustration deviates from the author's words – depicting a beastly man in silhouette with wild hair and a far more elaborate hook hand than was shown in the later films – but in the pages, Candyman is described thus: He was bright to the point of gaudiness: His flesh was a waxy yellow.

Although Candyman was described as a mysterious Caucasian male having long blonde hair with an unruly red beard, incredibly pale skin that is yellow, and a brightly multicolored patchwork suit, his race, name, place of origin, and backstory are never mentioned; doubting his existence is enough to summon him.

Set in the present, the film follows Helen Lyle, a graduate student in Chicago, who investigates him as the central figure of an urban legend connected to a series of murders at the Cabrini–Green Homes.

The Candyman before Anthony was a mentally disabled man named Sherman Fields, who was accused of placing razor blades in children's candy before being beaten to death by the police for it, although he turned out to be innocent.

Other characters depicted as part of the Candyman hive include Anthony Crawford, William Bell, Samuel Evans, George Stinney, Helen Lyle, James Byrd, Jr., and (in deleted scenes) Gil Cartwright.

Cutting his right painting hand off with a rusty blade, the lynch mob then covers his naked body with honey, cheering as he's stung to death by bees.When Tony Todd and co-star Virginia Madsen were cast as Candyman and Helen, original Candyman director Bernard Rose gave them free rein to flesh out their characters' backstories as part of the creative process.

He called his character "Granville T. Candyman", who has a forbidden love affair with a white woman whose portrait he paints (leading to his lynching).

Todd also compared his character to the Phantom of the Opera and the Hunchback of Notre Dame; all are "monsters" who use tenderness and terror in an unsuccessful attempt to win the love of a female protagonist.

His image cannot be captured by individuals who don't believe as well as not seen physically to the naked eye through surveillance systems but may be seen through reflections to the affected subject.

He often uses the ability to possess an individual by hypnosis placing them in a trance with his dark poetic voice, making attempts at mind control on his subjects to surrender to him and become immortal.

In Candyman (2021), he appears both in standing form and floating levitation with bees following him; it is also in this film that he is able to be a vessel within his main subject in the reflection.

Megan Thee Stallion was another rapper to mention him in her song titled "Scary" featuring Rico Nasty rapping, "Say my name like Candyman, and bitch, you know I'm there".

[23][24] The character was often parodied or mentioned in many television, movies and media ranging from The Simpsons, South Park, The Chappelle Show and Key & Peele.

It features him dressed in his painter's overall jumpsuit wearing the honey colored Trench coat with bees surrounding his honeycomb like face.