| The Monster | |
|---|---|
| |
| Also Known as | Frankenstein's Monster The Creature Big Ed (animated) |
| Appeared in | Series 1 Super Scary Howlers 2006 Series The Video Game The Big Scream Monster in My Pocket Comic |
| Number | 13 |
| Point Value | 15 |
The Monster is monster #13 from the Series 1 figures, with a points value of fifteen. The Monster was also one of the characters redesigned for the 2006 series, and featured in the Super Scary Howlers range.
Legend of The Monster
The Monster first appeared in an anonymous 1818 novel called Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. The book was a series of letters written by Robert Walton, a sea captain trying to be the first to the North Pole, to his beloved sister, Mrs. Margaret Saville. Robert longs greatly for a friend. His crew dislike him, and eventually turn mutinous when things get dangerous. Robert is startled by an enormous form at the helm of a tea of sled dogs. Not much later he takes aboard a young man named Victor Frankenstein. Soon after they begin talking, he believes his prayers have been answered with this man with a foreign-sounding accent. Unfortunately, Victor is dying. Even if he were not, Victor believes that such a thing would be impossible, that meaningful friendships begin only in childhood. He had that and lost it.
Victor was born in Geneva, Switzerland, the son of Alphonse Frankenstein and Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein. He had two brothers, Ernest and William, and a best friend from school, Henry Clerval. In addition, his mother found a beautiful blond-haired blue-eyed girl amongst a very poor family all too willing to give her up for adoption. Her name was Elizabeth Lavenza. Although they encountered tragedies (Alphonse became a great comforter to Caroline after the death of her father, M. Beaufort), they were a very happy family until Elizabeth contracted scarlet fever. Caroline tended to her constantly, getting the disease herself. While Elizabeth recovered, Caroline succumbed. The shock was like a bolt of lightning that struck down a tree on the family's estate when Victor was a boy of twelve.
Also as a boy, Victor discovered a old text of alchemy by Cornelius Agrippa, and was quickly fascinated. Very proud of himself, he showed his father, who dismissed it as "sad trash" (Shelley, 44). As a sort of forbidden fruit, soon he was looking insatiably at the work of other alchemists like Albertus Magnus and Paracelsus. His father sent him away to Ingolstadt University, where his two primary professors were M. Krempe and M. Waldman. Krempe was worse than his father in regard to his examination of alchemical texts, but M. Waldman said that the work of alchemists was the basis of modern science, and thus of certain interest. Victor thought if he had been told that before his life would have gone in a completely different direction, but instead, after attending university for a few semesters, he figured he had all the chemistry knowledge he needed, and dropped out of school to begin his project.
His project was, of course, the creation of the Monster. While he repeatedly tells Robert he will tell him how he did it, he never does, though he does detail its assemblage. He collected "bones from charnel-houses; and disturbed, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame...The dissecting room and the slaughter-house furnished many of my materials; and often did my human nature turn with loathing from my occupation, whilst, still urged on by an eagerness which perpetually increased, I brought my work near conclusion," (Shelley, 56). He even neglected correspondence with his father, which his father had said would be proof of neglect of other responsibilities, as he toiled away in the upper room of the house where he was staying. Eventually, he brought his creation to life. Although a great set-piece in dramatisations of the novel, Victor only hints at how he achieved it, mentioning, for example, that "the rain pattered dismally against the panes." The Monster, whom he frequently called "demon," but never named, was complete. "His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful--Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of his muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips," (Shelley, 58). This is the most extensive description we ever get of the Monster, and Victor reacts to it in outright horror, feeing immediately when the Monster wakes him from a dream of embracing Elizabeth to have her die in his arms. Victor returns to Ingolstadt to study "Oriental" languages (old western Asian languages like Persian and Sanskrit) with Henry Clerval, just to have something to do with his best friend.
Two years later, he is summoned home. The family maid and governess, Justine Moritz, has been accused of murdering William Frankenstein. Instantly he knows who the true murderer is, but allows Justine to hang anyway, all the while feeling guilty for himself. Alphonse Frankenstein soon dies from health problems worsened at their vacation home in Belrive--their Geneva home become "irksome" after Justine's execution. Victor pursues the Monster on horseback, then by mule as the terrain gets rough. Soon he finds the Monster hiding in a cave in the Alps. Victor spews insults at him. The Monster, he discovers, though disbelieves, loathes killing. The Monster lunged at him, but Victor easily dodged. "Oh, Frankenstein," he said, "be not equitable to every other, and trample on me alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy clemency and affection is most due. Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather thy fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy from no misdeed. Every where I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery make me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous." Victor dismisses his request, which is more specifically that he can have a mate as ugly as he, and flee with her to South America.
It took a great deal to make The Monster a killer. First, his creator fled at the sight of him. The Monster stole his cloak and he fled into the wilderness, where people reacted to him with nothing but fear, and the Monster was able to acquire more clothing as he fled. At one point he saved a girl from drowning, and her father repaid him with a shot in the arm, thinking, based only on his horrid appearance, that he meant her harm. The bullet was never removed. Eventually he sought shelter in a hovel near the cottage of a blind man named De Lacey, who lived with his son, Felix, and daughter, Agatha. Later the son brought a girlfriend from the Middle East named Safie, who was much slower at picking up the French language than was The Monster, who had no first language to work against. Once when looking for food in the forest, he stumbled upon a portmanteau containing three books, all written in French. They were John Milton's Paradise Lost, Plutarch's Lives, and Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe's The Sorrows of Werter. These he eagerly read, and became the basis for his whole philosophy of living. When he finally revealed himself to Lacey, with whom he had been an invisible benefactor, providing firewood and food, he was accepted, but Felix arrived as he was establishing contact and drove him away.
Finally, the Monster determined that his life had been ruined by the one who created him, and sought to ruin his creator's life as well. Though he loathed every moment of it, he was the one who had killed little William Frankenstein. Feeling threatened by the Monster, Victor set to work on a mate as the Monster had requested of him. She changed his mind before bringing the new creation to life and destroyed it. Enraged, the Monster told him he would be with him on his wedding night. Victor and Henry fled to England, but the Monster killed Henry while there. On Victor's wedding night, he was not killed, as he expected, but rather Elizabeth. Victor fled again, through Scandinavia and farther and farther North. The Monster pursued. While Victor was able to use money to aid in escape, the Monster stole a shotgun and some pistols, and used them to frighten some villagers into giving up a dog sled. By the time Victor was taken aboard Robert's ship, there was little hope for survival, and eventually, he passed away aboard ship.
The Monster eventually came aboard the ship to see the Victor was indeed dead. Robert found his "colour and apparent texture like that of a mummy." The Monster, now speaking English, explained to Robert that indeed it was agonizing for him to commit the murders. While he felt his retribution was just he pitied Victor (and though he used the familiar "thou" and "thy" with him, referred to him only by surname), and explained "I was the slave, not the master, of an impulse, which I detested, yet could not disobey." Robert initially took pity on him, but then the Monster revealed that he no longer felt this way when he killed Elizabeth, for he had grafted this evil to his own nature, since he had willingly chosen it. Robert, having been informed by Victor of the Monster's eloquence, was not moved, calling him "wretch," and calling his evils innate.
The Monster acknowledges that he is a wretch, but admonishes Robert for not thinking the same of Felix, or the rustic who had shot the Monster. "Nay," the Monster said, "these are virtuous and immaculate beings. I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on. Even now my blood boils at the recollection of this injustice," (184). The Monster believes, even upon leaving Robert that his sufferings were far greater than Victor's. Robert makes no response, either verbally to the Monster or in the text. The Monster declares that he will destroy himself upon a funeral pyre, and the last Robert sees him, he is riding on a block of ice presumably to meet that fate of his own doing.
Readers in 1918 found this text understandably shocking, but they were further shocked still when Mary Shelley reissued the book in a revised form with an introduction in 1931, taking credit for the first time, telling of the alleged impetus for the story, and including a note from her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, who revised the manuscript in order to make it more ornate. No one of the time could believe it had been a woman who had written the novel, but Mary Shelley's background makes its writing hardly surprising.
Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was the scion of two very progressive writers, William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. Wollstonecraft died in 1797, ten day's after her daughter's birth, from a puerperal infection, and Godwin alone raised her, along with his stepdaughter, Fanny, until 1801. Godwin felt incompetent at raising two daughters, and his marriage to Mary Jane Clairmont did not help things, since Clairmont more highly valued her own daughter, Jane (who would later call herself Claire). Mary knew her mother from her wriitngs, which included such radical concepts as daring to suggest that a man should value his wife as a friend and companion, rather than simply a sexual plaything. Certainly Shelley acts on these beliefs in Frankenstein, including the death of a parent, the betrayal of a child by the parent, and Victor's long friendship with Elizabeth.
The Monster's name
Frankenstein's creation was never named in the course of the novel. It is most commonly referred to in the text as 'the Creature,' although 'monster,' 'figure,' 'demon,' 'fiend,' 'wretch,' 'thing,' 'being' and 'ogre' are all used. The character's name is most certainly NOT Frankenstein, which is the name of its creator; nonetheless, this has become a so common misconception that the spanish mexican version of "The monster" card is just named Frankenstein. The term 'Frankenstein's Monster' is commonly used to identify the character and distinguish it from other nameless monsters.
The Monster in cinema
Boris Karloff as the Monster, in 1935's Bride of Frankenstein.
Following the novel's 1831 publication, numerous stage adaptations were produced, which in turn led to various motion picture version following the advent of cinema. The very first was a twenty-minute silent film produced in 1910 by Thomas Edison, which starred Charles Ogle in the monster role. This Monster was protrayed with a shock of wild black hair and long, pointed fingers. The most famous image of the Monster remains the version portrayed by Boris Karloff in the 1931 Universal movie, (see image attached). This bulky, grotesque figure, with visible scarring and stitching and bolted neck, has become the most commonly referenced image, and was the basis for various other film versions, including the various Hammer Horror attempts, which began in 1957 with The Curse of Frankenstein starring Christopher Lee as the Monster.
Series 1 figurine
The Series One figurine follows the classic movie interpretation of the monster, although it has the bolts through the head rather than the neck, a variation that has become common since the late 20th century. The figure has huge boots, long arms and a shaggy garment over its torso, secured by a chain. The figurine was available in red and green, and all four Series 1 neon shades.
Trading card text
Species: Reanimated Corpse
Created: At Geneva in 1818
Habitat: He lives in europeans towns
"In 1818, a young chemist named Victor Frankenstein attempted to build a 'perfect' human using parts from dead bodies. Unfortunately, his final creation was far from perfect - the monster received the brain of a murderer by mistake, making him very violent. He was quite ugly, couldn't talk, and had bad manners to boot! A bolt of lightning brought this monster to life, giving him superhuman strength. He had a hard time making friends and was often chased and stoned by the villagers. When Victor refused to build him a girlfriend, he becaem angry, killed several people and left to lead a life alone in the Arctic wastelands. This is definitely a moody guy!"
Trading card front
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Konami video game
In the Konami video game, the Monster was one of two playable characters, the other being Vampire.
Comic series
In the Monster in My Pocket comic series, the Monster was one of the good monsters allied to Vampire. He was depicted with pale purple skin, and spoke in a slow, deliberate manner. He was referred to in the comic as the Frankenstein Monster or simply Frankenstein.
Animated series
In the pilot episode of the animated series, The Big Scream, the Monster, known here as 'Big Ed,' is one of the good monsters, loyal to The Invisible Man.
2006 series
The version of the Monster for the 2006 relaunch series was heavily redesigned, but was still recognisable as a classic interpretation of the Monster. It retained the shaggy covering, long arms, boots and chain, but was far bulkier. The figurine was painted with a pale, deathly skin tone. The Mosnter is included in the group The Humanoids. The website and collectable game card give the Monster a total points value of 179, and the following description:
"This monster has been put together with pieces from different bodies. He has a square head and pegs sticking out of his forehead to hold his brain together. This humanoid is extremely strong and uses heavy iron chains and huge wooden clubs as weapons."
External link
Article on Frankenstein's Monster on Wikipedia.
See also:
Frank the Stone
Franken Ninja
Gallery
