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Igor, or sometimesYgor, is astock character, as a sometimeshunch-backed laboratory assistant to many types ofGothic villains or as a fiendish character who assists only himself, the latter most prominently portrayed byBela Lugosi inSon of Frankenstein (1939) andThe Ghost of Frankenstein (1942). He is familiar from manyhorror films and horror filmparodies. He is traditionally associated withmad scientists, particularlyVictor Frankenstein, although Frankenstein has neither a lab assistant nor any association with a character named Igor inthe original Mary Shelley novel. The Igor of popular parlance is acomposite character, based on characters created for theplays and forUniversal Studios film franchise. The 1823 play gave Victor Frankenstein asidekick named Fritz. In the first UniversalFrankenstein film (1931),Fritz served the same role; in the sequels, a different physically deformed character,Ygor, is featured, though Ygor is not an assistant in those films. Many Igor-type characters are also portrayed with a voice similar to that of actorPeter Lorre.
Dwight Frye's hunchbacked lab assistant inthe first film of theFrankenstein series (1931) is the main source for the "Igor" ofpublic imagination, though this character is actually named Fritz. Fritz did not originate from theFrankenstein novel, but from the earliest recorded play adaptationPresumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein (1823) where he was played byRobert Keeley.[1][2] Beyond his iconic role as Fritz inFrankenstein (1931), Dwight Frye shaped Universal's horror legacy asRenfield, Count Dracula's insane servant inDracula (1931), and Karl,Doctor Septimus Pretorius's deranged henchman inBride of Frankenstein (1935).[3]
In the horror filmMystery of the Wax Museum (1933), Ivan Igor is the name of the mad wax museum curator. The film was remade asHouse of Wax (1953), but the name Igor was given to the curator's henchman (Charles Bronson) rather than the curator himself. This character is deaf and mute, rather than a hunchback.
The second and third sequel filmsSon of Frankenstein (1939) andThe Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) feature a character named Ygor, portrayed by Bela Lugosi. This character is neither a hunchback nor a lab assistant, but ablacksmith with a broken neck and twisted back as the result of a botched hanging. He reanimates the Monster as an instrument of vengeance against the townspeople who hanged him for grave robbing. He survives a gunshot wound and appears in the next film, in which his brain is placed in the Monster's body, but the body is rendered blind because Ygor's blood is not compatible with the Monster's blood.
Universal Studios actively cemented the idea of the hunchbacked assistant to the "mad scientist" inHouse of Frankenstein (1944), withJ. Carrol Naish playing a hunchbacked lab assistant named Daniel, who serves the exiled Dr. Gustav Niemann (Boris Karloff). Niemann, after escaping from prison, attempts to replicate Dr. Frankenstein's experiments, continuing his macabre legacy of monster creation. He is similar toQuasimodo in that he falls for aRomani dancer, but she loses interest in him when she meetsLawrence Talbot.
The comedy filmYoung Frankenstein (1974) features the character Igor (portrayed byMarty Feldman and pronounced EYE-gore), a crazy eyed hunchback who becomes the assistant of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (portrayed byGene Wilder), both their grandfathers having coincidentally worked together. The duo begin working on creating the monster from the corpse of a hanged criminal. Igor is tasked to steal the brain ofHans Delbrück, however he drops it and finds another one labelled abnormal (which he mistakenly reads "Abby Normal") and takes it, resulting in the monster (portrayed byPeter Boyle) becoming unpredictable and running rampant near the village.
While not named, an Igor-type hunchback was seen inThe Transformers episode "Autobot Spike" voiced byMichael Bell. He was seen in a Frankenstein film that was on television.
Sir Terry Pratchett heavily lampooned the stereotype in hisDiscworld book series by creating a humanoid race — created from and made up of donated interchangeable body parts and organs from other Igors and their patients, that are handed down through the generations — of highly skilled surgical assistants to vampires and mad scientists in the country ofÜberwald calledIgors, who are all named Igor or Igorina.
Another Igor appears inVan Helsing (2004), portrayed byKevin J. O'Connor, who now becomes loyal toCount Dracula and betrays Dr. Frankenstein.
The animated comedy filmIgor (2008) features an assortment of Igors who are servants to multiple mad scientists in the fictional kingdom of Malaria, where they assist their masters to create evil inventions so they can blackmail the world to pay the country billions or they will unleash their monstrosities across the globe. One Igor (voiced byJohn Cusack) is the assistant of Dr. Glickenstein (voiced byJohn Cleese) who dreams of becoming a mad scientist himself by creating a monster with the help of his creations Scamper and Brain (voiced bySteve Buscemi andSean Hayes). However, the monster Eva (voiced byMolly Shannon) develops a sweet gentle personality and desires to become an actress.
The filmVictor Frankenstein (2015) features its version of Igor (portrayed byDaniel Radcliffe) whose abnormality is caused by acyst on his back that Victor Frankenstein drains.
TheUniversal Epic Universe theme park has a "Dark Universe" section that features an Igor-type character that also named Ygor. He is a normal human who works for Henry Frankenstein's great-great-granddaughter Victoria Frankenstein.
Mary Shelley'sFrankenstein was adapted for the stage many times, and the first of these interpretations was Richard Brinsley Peake'sPresumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein (1823), which dramatized key scenes from the novel and added Frankenstein's assistant, Fritz, to the mix.