I hate smiley. But why was he so popular

Watching him last episode especially literally ruin any possibility of hope and literally RUN?? LIKE don't u have ethics- didn't yall decide to only walk. But I wonder why he was shown the most out of all the monsters throughout the series. "The one who ran" "the one who stopped the person that could have ended this hell". Good riddance to smiley 🤬

I wish later seasons we get to see the backstory of all the popular monsters- the old lady, the nurse girl, cowboy hat guy. I somehow feel like they all must have secret roles to play and powers 🫠 (like run, guard the tree) ...

Edit: also why is no one talking about how they let Boyd go being sus as hell. If the whole theory of smiley (monsters? getting scared they'll lose n that's why he ran to kill miranda (instead of walk), then monsters would sure as hell jump at opportunity to finally end boyd, cause he is the one who eventually figures stuff out right & is most successful at protecting the folks who figure stuff out.