| Homunculus | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Homunculus |
|
First Appearance |
De homunculis (1529–1532) |
|
Created by |
Paracelsus |
Origin[]
19th-century engraving of Wagner and Homunculus from Goethe's Faust II.
A homunculus is a small human being. Popularized in 16th-century alchemy and 19th-century fiction, it has historically referred to the creation of a miniature, fully formed human. The concept has roots in preformationism as well as earlier folklore and alchemic traditions.
During medieval and early modern times, it was thought that homunculus, an artificial humanlike being, could be created through alchemy. The homunculus first appears by name in alchemical writings attributed to Paracelsus (1493–1541). De natura rerum (1537) outlines his method for creating homunculi.
The fully grown homunculus was supposedly greatly skilled in "art" and can create giants, dwarves, and other marvels, as "Through art they are born, and therefore art is embodied and inborn in them, and they need learn it from no one."
References to the homunculus do not appear prior to sixteenth-century alchemical writings but alchemists may have been influenced by earlier folk traditions. The mandragora, known in German as Alreona, Alraun or Alraune.
The homunculus has also been compared to the golem of Jewish folklore. Though the specifics outlining the creation of the golem and homunculus are very different, the concepts both metaphorically relate man to the divine, in his construction of life in his own image.
The fable of the alchemically-created homunculus may have been central in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein (1818). Johann Konrad Dippel, an alchemist born in the real-life Frankenstein Castle, might have been the inspiration for Victor Frankenstein.
German playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part Two (1832) famously features an alchemically-created homunculus. Here, the character of Homunculus embodies the quest of a pure spirit to be born into a mortal form, contrasting Faust's desire to shed his mortal body to become pure spirit. The alchemical idea that the soul is not imprisoned in the body, but instead may find its brightest state as it passes through the material plane, is central to the character.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of the Homunculus from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- De homunculis (1529–1532)
- De natura rerum (1537)
- Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz (1616)
- Religio Medici (1643)
- Faust Part Two (1832)
- The Magician (1908)
Public Domain Film Appearances[]
- Homunculus (1916)
Notes[]
- Homunculi appear in fantasy based television, film, and games in a manner consistent with literature. Examples can be found in fantasy role-playing games (such as Dungeons & Dragons), video games (such as Ragnarok Online, Valkyrie Profile, Shadow of Memories, The Legend of Heroes series, Cabals: Magic & Battle Cards, Genshin Impact, Bayonetta 3, Master Detective Archives: Rain Code), and the Metroidvania Dead Cells, books (such as The Secret Series and Sword of Destiny or Seventy-Two Letters by Ted Chiang), graphic novels (such as Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) and manga (such as Akihabara Dennō Gumi, Homunculus, Stone Ocean, Fullmetal Alchemist, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, Fate/Zero, and Gosick).