HENRY CLERVAL
HENRY CLERVAL
Real Name: Henry Clerval
Identity/Class: Human;
citizen of Switzerland;
18th century
Occupation:
Group Membership:
Affiliations: Alphonse Frankenstein, Caroline Frankenstein, Elizabeth Lavenza, Victor Frankenstein, William Frankenstein;
Enemies: Frankenstein's monster;
Known Relatives: Unidentified father
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly Geneva, Switzerland;
First Appearance: Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818);
(Marvel) (The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (January, 1973)
Powers/Abilities: Henry Clerval had no superhuman powers.
He was a compassionate, optimistic and kind man, with a love for literature.
History:
(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus) - An only child growing up in Geneva, Henry Clerval was considered to be like a brother to Victor Frankenstein.
While Victor planned to study science in college,
Henry’s father attempted to discourage Henry from furthering his education
because he wanted Henry to remain a businessman for him.
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#1
(fb)) - As Victor prepared to depart for the University of Geneva (see comments),
his best friend, Henry Clerval, was present alongside his family. After
Victor's departure, Henry noted that Victor would do well,
if ambition did not block his path.
(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus) - After much
convincing (of his father), Henry set out to Ingolstadt, where Victor studied, to pursue his
dream of furthering his education.
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#1
(fb) - BTS) <Approximately 3 years and 6 months after Victor started
college> - Victor created the creature that would become known as
the Frankenstein monster, but its monstrous appearance behavior caused
Victor to believe that the creature must be destroyed, and he rejected
it before fleeing into the rainy night and collapsing from exhaustion.
Victor was eventually found by Henry Clerval, who
brought the delirious Victor to his hotel room; hovering on the brink
of death for many weeks, Victor was cared for by Clerval until
eventually reviving.
(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus) – The monster traveled to the village
of the Frankenstein’s home using details from a combination of Victor's journal
and geography lessons gleaned from books he had used to learn to read. There,
the monster chanced upon William, Victor's much younger brother, whom he ultimately...
(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus / (The Monster of) Frankenstein#1
(fb) - BTS / (The Monster of) Frankenstein#2
(fb) - BTS) - ...killed to spite
Victor. The monster then took William's locket/pendant and placed it into the dress of
the sleeping Justine, incriminating her as the murderer.
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#1
(fb) - BTS) - "Many weeks" later, Elizabeth sent Henry Clerval a letter, informing him of
William having been murdered and Justine having been charged with the
murder.
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#1
(fb) - BTS) - Victor
revived. Henry told Victor that the ordeal was over and that a full
recovery was assured.
Henry then regretfully informed Victor about the
information in Elizabeth's letter.
Correctly suspecting the monster as
the true culprit, Victor kept this secret and informed Henry that he
must return home to Geneva and his father.
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#2 (fb) - BTS) - Coerced by the monster, Victor created a similarly-constructed mate for his first creation in a laboratory in the vicinity of the Swiss Alps, but upon seeing it come to life, he slew it and then fled.
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#2
(fb)) - As the monster discovered what Victor had done to his mate,
Henry Clerval entered the room to check on Victor, and the monster took
its rage out on him, crushing his back and then hurling him to the
ground.
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#2
(fb) - BTS) - The monster then departed, taking with him the corpse of his would-be mate.
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#2
(fb)) - Returning to the laboratory, Victor was devastated to find Henry's corpse, and h
e considered it to be another death for which he was ultimately to blame.
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#2
(fb) - BTS) - After Victor had sat beside Henry's corpse for over an
hour, the police arrived alongside the landlady who had seen Victor
leave earlier that morning and identified him as having done so.
The police took Victor away, and
he was charged with murder. So stunned by Clerval's death, Victor spoke
not a word in his own defense. He further considered that it may be
just for him to die for his creation's crimes.
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#3
(fb) - BTS) - At Victor's hearing, he still was unable to defend
himself. As he was bound over for trial, he went mad and admitted to
the murder and demanded they hang him immediately.
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#3 (fb) - BTS) - After Victor had been imprisoned for some time, Alphonse spoke with the woman who had testified that she had seen Victor leaving the laboratory in which Henry had been found. The woman admitted that she had seen another leave the laboratory, and Alphonse wrote a letter detailing this.
Comments: Created by Created by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.
adapted by Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog.
This regular test is mostly
limited to that which has been included in Marvel stories. As I have
not read the Frankenstein novel, I have supplemented the Marvel
information from the original stories in italics, based on checking a
few websites, such as study.com, the Mary Shelley Wiki and Wikipedia.
If you have read the novel and can provide any corrections or supplemental information, please share.
It is important to note that if it
was not included in the Marvel stories, it is not confirmed as having
happened in Reality-616.
You can get more detail from reading the original novel
The cover of comics says "The Monster of Frankenstein," but the indicia says only "Frankenstein," so that is the actual title of the comic.
Henry Clerval's involvement in the
Marvel Adaptation is somewhat different than the original novel, and
I'll include that information below, but it is apparently not how
things went on Earth-616.
Courtesy of Wikipedia and the Mary Shelley Wiki:
While wandering the streets the day after he had created and fled from the monster, Victor met his childhood friend, Henry Clerval, learning that Henry is just beginning school at Ingolstadt. Victor took Henry back to his apartment, fearful of Henry's reaction if he saw the monster. However, when Victor returned to his laboratory, the Creature was gone.
Victor became mentally and physically ill (a nervous fever) from the experience and was cared for by Henry during the entire winter, neglected his own studies to care for his friend. While with Victor, Henry wrote letters to Victor’s family because Victor was unable to do so. However, he did not inform them of Victor’s illness because it would only worry them and his father would not be able to make the journey.
After recovering, Victor forgot about the Creature and went into Henry's study of Oriental languages, which he considered the happiest time of his academic career. This was cut short when Victor received a letter from his father notifying him of the murder of his brother William.
The Creature demanded that Victor create a female companion like
himself, arguing that as a living being, he had a right to happiness.
The Creature promises that he and his mate would vanish into the South American wilderness,
never to reappear, if Victor granted his request. If Victor refused,
the Creature threatened to kill Victor's remaining friends and loved
ones and not stop until he completely ruined him. Fearing for his
family, Victor reluctantly agreed.
Henry accompanied Victor to England, but they separated, at Victor's insistence, at Perth, in Scotland, after which Victor traveled to Orkney to build the second creature,
Victor ultimately tore apart the unfinished female creature after he saw the Creature watching through a window and smiling. The Creature immediately burst through the door to confront Victor and demanded he repair his destruction and resume work, but Victor refused. The Creature left, but gave a final threat: "I will be with you on your wedding night." Victor interpreted this as a threat upon his life, believing that the Creature would kill him after he finally becomes happy.
Victor sailed out to sea to dispose of his instruments, and he fell asleep in the boat. He awakened some time later, unable to return to shore due to a change in the wind, and fell unconscious, drifting to Ireland. When Victor awakened, he was arrested for murder. Victor is acquitted when eyewitness testimony confirmed that he was in Orkney at the time the murder took place. However, when shown the murder victim, Victor was horrified to see it was Henry, whom the Creature has strangled. Victor suffered another mental breakdown and after recovering, he returned home with his father.
Henry Clerval previously had a sub-profile in the von Frankenstein family profile, originally posted 01/06/2002
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Henry Clerval should be distinguished from:
First posted: 12/31/2024
Last updated: 12/31/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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