Where Did Frankenstein’s “Igor” Come From? And Why Is he Named Igor?

Zhanna Slor October 8, 2:41 pm

FRANKENSTEIN,1931, Boris Karloff, Colin Clive and Dwight Frye. — Everett Collection

In the original novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, there is no assistant named Igor. In fact, in the book, Dr. Frankenstein has no assistant at all.

Yet today, a hunchbacked assistant named Igor is considered an essential part of the Frankenstein story as the mad scientist or lumbering creature. So where did the idea for Dr. Frankenstein’s assistant, Igor, come from? And why is he named “Igor”?

How Frankenstein Got an Assistant

FRANKENSTEIN, from left: Boris Karloff, Dwight Frye on 1951 re-release lobbycard, 1931.

Everett Collection

Though there’s no assistant in the novel, when that book was adapted for the stage in 1823 by Richard Brinsley Peake, it included an assistant named Fritz. In the 1931 film Frankenstein, Fritz again appeared as Dr. Frankenstein’s devoted assistant.

The first character named “Igor” to show up in a Frankenstein-related film pops up in the the 1939 sequel film Son of Frankenstein. Portrayed by Bela Lugosi, this Igor (spelled Ygor in some places, but, either way, pronounced the same: Eee-gor) is neither a hunchback or an assistant but, rather, a blacksmith. He is also the film’s primary villain, rather than Dr. Frankenstein’s helper. Lugosi’s Ygor/Igor shows up again in 1942’s The Ghost of Frankenstein.

Everett Collection

Universal Studios created the idea of the hunchbacked assistant in The House of Frankenstein (1944) with J. Carrol Naish playing the lab assistant. However, this character is named Daniel, and is similar to the Hunchback of Notre Dame‘s Quasimodo in that he also falls for a Romani dancer.

Though a few other adaptations include assistant characters or characters named Igor, the first film to feature a character named Igor who is an actual hunchback assistant is the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy horror film Young Frankenstein.

> 5 Monstrous Facts About ‘Son of Frankenstein’ <

Why Is He Named “Igor”?

Why is Brooks’ spooky lab assistant named Igor, a very common Russian name that happens to also be the same as my father’s (a fact that made for a wonderful time in middle school)? It is likely because Young Frankenstein is set in Transylvania, which is now modern Romania, just west of Ukraine (where I was born, and where Igor is a very common name). The name itself has Russian roots and means warrior. It’s derived from the Norse name Ingvar. One of the first, if not the first, Russian Igors was Igor of Kiev, who was the prince of Kiev from 912 to 945.

Or, alternately, perhaps Brooks — whose parents were from Eastern Europe and who spent most of his life in Brooklyn, where there are many Russian immigrants — was simply familiar with the name and found it suitable for an odd creature like the deformed hunchback. It’s hard to say for sure!

Brooks’ Igor seems to be a composite character, based on various characters created for the Universal Studios film franchise. But future Frankenstein films seemed to be referencing that specific take on the character when they named a lab assistant Igor.

An Igor appears in Van Helsing (2004), portrayed by Kevin J. O’Connor. Here, Igor becomes loyal to Count Dracula and betrays Dr. Frankenstein.

MGM/courtesy Everett Collection

The 2008 animated film Igor features an assortment of Igors who are servants to various mad scientists in the fictional kingdom of Malaria. The titular Igor (voiced by John Cusack) is the assistant of Dr. Glickenstein (voiced by John Cleese), who dreams of becoming a mad scientist himself; however, the monster, now a female named Eva (voiced by Molly Shannon), wants to become an actress.

The 2015 film Victor Frankenstein features a version of Igor played by Daniel Radcliffe, whose abnormality is caused by a cyst on his back that Victor Frankenstein drains.

At this point, audiences expect Dr. Frankenstein to have an Igor — so he’s become as much a part of the story as the doctor or the monster, even if he wasn’t there to begin with. Which is fine, but maybe let’s not demonize this very common Russian name outside of these films!