Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley is a classic novel that many fantasy novel writers have looked upon for inspiration. In the book, a legendary creature commonly known as Frankenstein is created. He is a metaphoric depiction of breaking the rules of nature to bring a corpse back to life. The result is a being half monster for its unnatural creation and half human for the corpse that brought it to life. Many inspiring authors have been inspired by the legendary spooky tale of Frankenstein and have incorporated versions of the character into many popular stories. Some of these examples include the manga Soul Eater with the character Dr. Stein and Frankiestein from the Monster High novel series. No matter what way Frankenstein has been interpreted over the years, he remains a legend in the realms of horror and fantasy.
However, there is a common misconception that has plagued the iconic character for many years. That misconception, the main idea of this editorial, is that the monster's name is Frankenstein at all. In truth, Frankenstein is not the monster's name but rather the last name of his creator, Doctor Victor Frankenstein. This weird mix up is a strange result of the book's title, which is most commonly referred to as simply Frankenstein. That is only half true. If you looked at the beginning of the editorial, you may have noticed the addition of The Modern Prometheus in the book's title. Thus, the full name of the book is truly Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus. This confusion has caused a similar effect to the confusion of calling Link the princess's name Zelda in the popular video game series The Legend of Zelda. Due to the name being on the cover, we assume it to be the name of the main character.
So if the monster's name is not Frankenstein, what is it? Believe it or not, the monster has no true name. Throughout the iconic novel, the being is referred to as monster, demon, abortion, creature, fiend, and it. Not even the crazy doctor who created him had a proper name to call this iconic figure. In Doctor Victor Frankenstein's mind, the being was just the result of an ambitious experiment. He does not even see the end result as even human.
Many will argue that Frankenstein is an appropriate name for the monster. After all, since he has no name, why not given him the title of his creator? In my opinion, this still is not right. When Mary Shelley wrote the novel, she had no intention for the monster to be named this. Instead, it was simply a symbol for reaching seemingly immoral ground in science. If anything, the being should be called Prometheus, as the legend of the Greek figure was what primarily inspired Mary Shelley to write her novel. Calling the monster Frankenstein is an wrongful cliché that needs to die out.
You might be thinking as to why I would hit controversial waters in order to cover my opinions on the name of a legendary monster. This editorial is about clichés that truly need to be written out or more adjusted to make better fantasy novels. Does this part not fly in the entire purpose of this editorial? The answer is surprisingly no. Labeling the monster Frankenstein is a misconception, which if widespread enough can be counted as a cliché. Misconceptions are also what lead to certain clichés such as cultural stereotypes, the friendly mermaid, the innocent fairy, guns being seen as the right weapon for the zombie outbreak, and shape shifters being confused for regular werewolves. Labeling Mary Shelley's monster Frankenstein is no different.
The monster of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus needs to be remedied of this cliché. If you ever want to depict the monster in any potential fantasy novel of yours, do not simply call it Frankenstein. Instead, go with something such as Prometheus, or a name that references any inspiration for the legendary monster. We do not need another Link and Zelda incident.