| Igor | |
|---|---|
 Igor from Cat-Man Comics #1 | |
|
Other Names |
Igor, Ygor, Egor |
|
First Appearance |
Presumption; or, The Fate of Frankenstein (play), by Richard Brinsley Peake (1823) (but named Fritz) |
|
Created by |
Richard Brinsley Peake |
Origin[]
Igor is the traditional stock character or cliché hunch-backed assistant or butler to many types of villain, such as Count Dracula or a mad scientist such as Dr. Frankenstein, familiar from many horror movies and horror movie parodies. Frankenstein has neither a lab assistant nor any association with a character named Igor in the original Mary Shelley novel, but a servant named Fritz is introduced in the 1823 play Presumption; or, The Fate of Frankenstein, apparently to allow Frankenstein to speak aloud to someone for the audience’s benefit. In the novel Dracula, the count is assisted by Renfield.
An early representation of Igor in film is the uncredited, hunch-backed dwarf laboratory assistant to mad scientist/alchemist Rotwang in the 1927 film Metropolis. In the 1933 horror classic Mystery of the Wax Museum "Ivan Igor" is the name of the mad wax museum curator.
The Igor of popular parlance is a composite character, based on characters created for the Universal Studios film franchise. In the first Frankenstein film (1931), Fritz served the role; in subsequent sequels, a different physically deformed character, Ygor, is featured, though Ygor is not an assistant in those films.
Public Domain Appearances[]
Theatrical Appearances[]
- Presumption; or, The Fate of Frankenstein, by Richard Brinsley Peake (1823) – Frankenstein’s servant is named Fritz.
Comics Appearances[]
- Cat-Man Comics #1 -2 : In issue 1, Black Widow deals with the Hag and her son Igor. In issue 2, Lance Rand comes into conflict with Dr. Igor, a bald, bespectacled scientist with facial hair who makes people into giants in his laboratory.
- Detective Eye #1 : Baron Blood, enemy of Dean Denton, has an assistant named Igor.
- Blue Bolt v1 #12 : The crew of the Phantom Sub assist the FBI in tracking down Igor and his fellow spy.
- Ding Dong #4 : Nightmare Noonan after using his dad's knight shaped cigar lighter and dreams of Knights of old. He encounters a fire breathing knight named Sir Lighter assisted by Igor.
- Planet Comics #41, 70 : Huldane the Pirate Queen has Igor assist her in creating plant women into slave labor for the asteroid mines. They are stopped by Flint Baker & Reef Ryan.
- Mystery Men Comics #30 : Lynx and Blackie the Mystery Boy stop an evil hypnotist name Igor who was using his victims to rob banks.
- Four Favorties #13 : Madame Death had an assistant named Igor who fought against Lash Lightning and Lighting Girl.
- Psycho #3: Victor Frankenstein's hunchback assistant Egor helps the Monster bring the doctor back to life using the same process that created it.
Notes[]
- In the United States, courts have determined that copyright protection cannot be extended to the characteristics of stock characters in a story, whether it be a book, play, or film. For more explanation see Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corporation.