Frankenstein's Monster is a fictional character based on the character in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The character has been adapted often in the comic book medium. This version is that published by Marvel Comics.

Biography

Frankenstein's Monster was built from human corpses by a scientist named Victor Frankenstein, in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, in the late 18th century. His efforts to fit in with regular humanity were futile due to his horrific form, and he was infuriated. Victor Frankenstein created and subsequently killed a mate for the Monster, who killed Frankenstein's bride Elizabeth in retaliation. After killing several people, the Monster fled to the Arctic. His creator pursued him, but died due to the cold. The Monster, anguished, tried to kill himself but only went into a state of suspended animation from the cold.

In the 1890s, heat revived the Monster and he wandered again. He searched for the descendant of Victor Frankenstein and finally ended up in Transylvania. The Monster clashed with Dracula, and his vocal cords were injured. Vincent Frankenstein finally found him and tried to give him a new brain, dying in the process as he was shot by an angry maidservant before the Monster could kill him. Frustrated, the Monster returned to a state of suspended animation.

At some point, the Monster was temporarily pulled out of time to serve in Kang the Conqueror's Legion of the Unliving to fight the Avengers.

The Monster eventually emerged from suspended animation in a glacier to the modern world. He was aided by Victoria Frankenstein, a distant relative of his creator. This woman was kindly, and repaired his vocal cords. The Monster joined Victoria Von Frankenstein and her mutant charges, the Children of the Damned, beings who were mutated by Basil and Ludwig Von Frankenstein's failed human experiments. The Monster allied with Spider-Man against the Monster Maker, Baron Von Shtupf and his pawn the Man-Wolf.

Victoria discovered the man who would become the Dreadknight while he was dying in the wilderness. While under her care, he gained a variety of weapons and took possession of the flying mutant horse employed by the original criminal Black Knight. He attempted to force more resources from Victoria and attacked the new Castle Frankenstein, but was defeated by the Monster, Iron Man and the Children. The Dreadknight, left a wounded shell at the finale of the battle, was returned to Victoria's custody though he later escaped with his steed and personal weaponry.

The Monster later departed from Victoria's company.

Ulysses Bloodstone later befriended the Monster, who came to occasionally stay at his mansion, eventually acting as its caretaker. The Monster, sometimes using the name Adam, accompanied Bloodstone on missions. Bloodstone trusted Adam to give his daughter Elsa a fragment of the Bloodgem in the Bloodstone choker when she was old enough.

When exploring Bloodstone House, an adult Elsa discovers a secret chamber in which she encounters Adam who tells Elsa about her father. Adam gives her the Bloodstone Choker, which attaches itself to her neck. Adam later designs a costume for Elsa, patterned after her father's. The two have a number of adventures together, encountering beings such as Dracula and N'Kantu, the Living Mummy. Elsa lives in Bloodstone Manor with her mother and ally Adam the Frankenstein Monster, while pursuing a monster-hunting occupation.

At some point, an intelligent clone of the monster, simply named Frankenstein, was created. The clone became a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Paranormal Containment Unit, nicknamed the Howling Commandos.

During the 2011 "Fear Itself" storyline, Frankenstein's Monster, Howard the Duck, Nighthawk, and She-Hulk come together as the Fearsome Four when Man-Thing is driven on a rampage. They later discover a plot by Psycho-Man to use Man-Thing's volatile empathy to create a weapon.

The Hellfire Club sent an army of Frankenstein Monsters (created by Victor Frankenstein's contemporary descendant Baron Maximilian von Katzenelnbogen) to attack the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, but they were defeated by the X-Men. Learning of the existence of a Frankenstein descendant, the Monster comes to exact his vengeance on the Hellfire Club.

Frankenstein's Monster is later recruited by Phil Coulson to join his incarnation of the Howling Commandos in order to combat Dormammu's Mindless Plague.