Frankenstein's Monster

Frankenstein's Monster
	;
Real Name	Unknown
First Appearance	Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, vol. 1 (1818)
Original Publisher	Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones
Created by	Mary Shelley

Origin[]

Frankenstein houseofhorror — From Chamber of Chills #22.

Frankenstein's Monster was created by the scientist, Dr. Victor Frankenstein sometime in the early 19th century. Frankenstein gave life to the creature using a secret method that combined modern science with medieval alchemy. Upon the successful completion of his experiment, Frankenstein became horrified by his own creation and quickly abandons it. Alone, frightened and unaware of it's own origin, the monster began wandering the wilderness.

At first the monster managed to find some small peace while secretly living in the woodshed of a remote cottage belonging to a peasant family. While they were unaware of his existence, he studied them very carefully eventually learning speech through observation. Over time the monster comes to think of them as a sort of surrogate family and eventually works up the courage to reveal himself to the family's blind father. Because the father cannot see the monsters true nature he becomes the first (and last) human being to treat him with kindness or respect. Things take a turn for the worst however when the blind father's children return and drive the monster off in a fit of terror. The monster later saves a young girl from drowning only to be shot in the shoulder by one of the local peasants. Enraged and embittered, the monster curses all humanity and swears vengeance on his creator; Victor Frankenstein.

While seeking it's creator the monster's fate once again crossed that of Dr. Frankenstein, first by inadvertently killing Victor's younger brother William then by framing the Frankensteins' family maid for the crime. The monster later confronted its creator in the mountains and asks Victor to create a female mate for it. In exchange, the monster promised to take its new bride somewhere far from civilization and never trouble Victor or humanity again. Victor agreed to this at first but as he neared completion of his second creation he began to have doubts. Fearing that the two creatures might breed a new race of monsters, Victor destroyed the incomplete female. Now filled with unbridled hatred for it's creator, the monster swore to destroy everything Victor loved. The monster's final words before fleeing were "I will be with you on your wedding night!".

The monster made good on it's promise, murdering not only Victor's best friend Henry Clerval but also Victor's own bride Elizabeth Lavenza. Afterwards, Victor dedicated the last years of his life to hunting down the monster, eventually tracking him to the Arctic Circle. The hunt eventually came to an end when Victor lost control of his dog sled and fell into the freezing waters of the Arctic Ocean. Victor was later rescued by an exploration ship captained by one Robert Walton, but by that time he had already contracted severe pneumonia and was not long for this world.

Realizing his end was at hand, Victor confessed everything to the Captain before passing away. At first Captain Walton believed Victor had merely been delusional, but was forced to accept the horrific truth when the monster boarded his ship seeking final vengeance on it's creator. Upon finding Victor dead however, the monster was overcome with grief, having lost the closest thing to a father it had ever known. The monster vowed to travel to "the Northernmost extremity of the globe" and cremate itself upon a funeral pyre so that none may ever again learn the secret of creating life. The monster then leapt from the boat, never to be seen again.

Public Domain Appearances[]

All published appearances of Frankenstein's Monster from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.

Some notable appearances are listed below:

Public Domain Literary Appearances[]

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (novel), by Mary Shelley, 1818, significantly revised 1831.

Public Domain Stage Appearances[]

Presumption; or, The Fate of Frankenstein (play), by Richard Brinsley Peake, 1823.
The Man and the Monster; or The Fate of Frankenstein (play), by Henry M. Milner, 1826.
Le Monstre et le magicien (1826)
Frankensten, or, The Model Man (1849)
Frankenstein, or The Vampire’s Victim (burlesque), by Richard Henry (pseudonym of Richard Butler and Henry Chance Newton), music by Meyer Lutz, 1887.
Frankenstein: An Adventure in the Macabre (1927)

From the 1910 movie adaptation.

Public Domain Film Appearances[]

Frankenstein (1910)
Life Without Soul (1915)
Il Mostro di Frankenstein (1921)
Have You Got Any Castles (1938)
Tales of Tomorrow: Frankenstein (1952)

Public Domain Animated Appearances[]

Have You Got Any Castles? (1938)

Public Domain Comic Appearances[]

Ghost Rider #10
Forbidden Worlds #94, 110, 114, 116, 119
Psycho #3-6, 10, 22
Nightmare #13
Scream #6-7
The 1974 Psycho Yearbook
Herbie #14
Chamber of Chills #2, 6:
- Chamber of Chills #6: Victor Frankenstein's son attempted to merge the Monster with the Wolf Man, but failed tragically. Years later, his grandson Richard returned to the castle to resume the experiments. During a confrontation in the dungeons, he killed the werewolf - only to be bitten and inherit the curse, becoming the new incarnation of the monster.

Public Domain Comic Appearances Inspired by Frankenstein's Monster[]

Challenge of the Unknown #6, Web of Mystery #21: A dying scientist transfers his brain into the body of a criminal, but gangsters resurrect the corpse's brutal instincts to hunt for treasure. After a bloody chase, the monster kills his tormentors and the genius reasserts control - now condemned to life as a nefarious scientific hermit. The reanimated body physically resembles Frankenstein's monster.
Adventures Into the Unknown issues #5-6, 8-10, 12, 16: A feature called "Spirit of Frankenstein", Dr. Daniel Warren creates an advanced robot and implants the brain of the late Professor Pardway, who seeks revenge from beyond the grave. The robot takes on a life of its own, blending technology with supernatural forces. Possessed by the spirit of an Egyptian sorcerer, the robot becomes uncontrollable. Warren faces his creation in a final battle, using science to contain the supernatural. Despite the victory, the robot remains a latent threat. The story warns about the limits of science and the danger of defying the laws of nature.
Black Cat Mystery #39:Dr. Payn is a hunchbacked scientist (like Igor), who idolizes Dr. Frankenstein but distorts his work into a macabre project: creating a perfect bride using the parts of murdered women, the Frankenstein's Monster flickers behind him in a delusion cameo. Rejected by his deformity, he desperately seeks love through his monstrous creation, but is ultimately destroyed by his own obsession.
Tomb of Terror #4: Simon Lorens, a deformed and rejected man, plots a meticulous revenge against his enemies: he poisons Carl, pushes Villano off a bridge, and sabotages Marlin's carriage. Taking advantage of Dr. Rather's natural death, Simon steals the bodies and builds a grotesque monster from his victims' parts. However, the corpses rise again of their own accord, each manifesting supernatural abilities related to their missing parts. Relentlessly pursued by his own creations, Simon is finally defeated when the dead rip out his heart.
Weird Chills 2: A comic book writer creates horror stories, including one about Dr. Dante—a scientist who reanimates corpses. When his monster comes to life, it revolts and kills the doctor, ripping out his brain.
Fantastic Giants 24: Hans Leiter creates Adam, a human-like robot, and uses his own creation to kidnap troubled minds. The plan is to transfer their knowledge into Adam's synthetic brain, but the experiment fails when the robot absorbs the victims' fears and traumas. Now terrified, Adam flees to the mountains, confusing hunter and prey. His agony ends when his metallic body attracts a lightning bolt, destroying him in a tragic conclusion about the risks of technology merging with human emotion.

Notes[]

While not given a name in the novel, the monster calls himself the "Adam of your labours" when talking to his creator. The book also calls him the "creature," "fiend," "the demon," "wretch," "devil," "thing," "being," and "ogre."
The novel never specifies exactly how the creature was brought to life, but it does state that Victor became fascinated with electricity, galvanism, and alchemy. There are passages suggesting that he desecrated graves and ossuaries in search of body parts. The 1931 film adaptation combined these elements, portraying the monster as being assembled from corpses and brought to life through electricity.
The introduction to the 1831 edition, written by Shelley, says: Many and long were the conversations between Lord Byron and Shelley, to which I was a devout but nearly silent listener. During one of these, various philosophical doctrines were discussed, and among others the nature of the principle of life, and whether there was any probability of its ever being discovered and communicated. They talked of the experiments of Dr. Darwin, (I speak not of what the Doctor really did, or said that he did, but, as more to my purpose, of what was then spoken of as having been done by him,) who preserved a piece of vermicelli in a glass case, till by some extraordinary means it began to move with voluntary motion. Not thus, after all, would life be given. Perhaps a corpse would be re-animated; galvanism had given token of such things: perhaps the component parts of a creature might be manufactured, brought together, and endued with vital warmth.
In the 1910 silent adaptation by Edison Studios, Frankenstein’s creation emerges as a haunting figure, conjured through alchemical experiments in a bubbling vat.
Isaac Asimov coined the term Frankenstein Complex to describe the human fear that robots would rebel against their creators, inspired by the revolt of Frankenstein's creature in Mary Shelley's work.