Igor (character)

Igor is a stock character in adaptations of the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Normally, he’s a hunchbacked sidekick to either Victor Frankenstein or another mad scientist.

Original book

In the book, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein works alone when he creates Frankenstein’s monster and then abandons him. After that Victor has a nervous breakdown and starts to have hallucinations of the Monster and to suffer from “delirium” so Victor’s friend Henry Clerval takes care of Victor when Victor can’t take care of himself and nurses him back to health. But Clerval has nothing to do with creating Frankenstein’s monster and doesn’t know that The Monster exists until The Monster kills him to get revenge against Victor.

Play

In the 1823 play Presumption or the Fate of Frankenstein, Henry Clerval is worried about Victor Frankenstein’s mental health so he pays Fritz, Victor’s servant to tell him what is going on and Fritz tells Clerval that Victor is creating Frankenstein’s monster.

Thomas Edison’s Frankenstein

Fritz doesn’t appear in Thomas Edison’s movie Frankenstein (1910).

Universal’s Frankenstein

Fritz is in the 1931 movie Frankenstein made by Universal Studios. In it, Victor Frankenstein, renamed Henry Frankenstein, sends Fritz to steal a healthy brain from his professor but Fritz accidentally damages it so he instead steals the brain of a dead criminal. When the Monster is scared by sunlight, Henry and Fritz lock him in a dungeon where Fritz scares the Monster by using fire so the Monster kills Fritz by strangling him to death.

Bride of Frankenstein

In the movie Bride of Frankenstein, Dwight Frye, who played Fritz, plays a man named Karl who is the sidekick to an evil mad scientist named Dr. Pretorius.

Son of Frankenstein

In the movie Son of Frankenstein, Bela Lugosi plays a blacksmith named Ygor who has a broken neck from when he was hanged but survived. And when Wolf Frankenstein brings The Monster back to life, the Monster only listens to what Ygor says. Ygor uses the Monster to kill the people on the jury that sentenced him to death for grave robbery and frames Wolf. So Wolf shoots Ygor.

Ghost of Frankenstein

In the sequel Ghost of Frankenstein, it turns out that Ygor is alive and wants to get revenge. So Ygor gets Wolf’s brother Ludwig to switch his brain with the Monster’s.

House of Frankenstein

In the movie, House of Frankenstein, the mad scientist, Dr. Niemann has a hunchbacked sidekick named Daniel.

Revenge of Frankenstein

In the movie, Revenge of Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein has a hunchbacked sidekick named Karl.

The Incredible Hulk

In the first ever Hulk comic book, which Stan Lee said was inspired by Frankenstein, Dr. Bruce Banner has an assistant named Igor who turns out to be a Soviet spy.

The Monster Mash

In the song The Monster Mash, Frankenstein's monster, Igor and a lot of monsters in Transylvania get together to do a dance called the Monster Mash. The same people who made that song also made a song called Irresistible Igor.

Mad Mad Monsters

In the Cartoon Mad Mad Monsters, Dr. Frankenstein has a hunchbacked sidekick named Igor.

Young Frankenstein

In the movie Young Frankenstein, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, whose grandfather was Victor Frankenstein gets an assistant named Igor, who says his name is actually pronounced Eye-Gore, and whose grandfather worked for Victor Frankenstein. Igor has a hump on his back.

Discworld

In the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett, every mad scientist has a hunchbacked sidekick named Igor and all Igors are actually related to each other. Every man in their family is named Igor and every woman is named Igorina. They all lisp when they speak.

Van Helsing

In the movie Van Helsing, Victor Frankenstein has a hunchbacked sidekick named Igor who leaves him to work for Count Dracula.

Igor (2008)

The 2008 animated movie, Igor starring John Cusack is set in a world where every mad scientist has a hunchbacked sidekick named Igor.

Once Upon a Time

In the tv show Once Upon a Time, Victor Frankenstein works with an assistant named Igor.

Victor Frankenstein

In the movie Victor Frankenstein, Igor is played by Daniel Radcliffe. The movie gives Igor an origin story.

Other websites

• Discussion of the popular 'Igor' idea
• Igor (2008) on IMDb
• The writing studio the art of writing and making films original innovation Van Helsing