frankenstein-william-mainWILLIAM FRANKENSTEIN

Real Name: William Frankenstein

Identity/Class: Human;
    citizen of Switzerland;
    18th century and possibly early 19th century A.D.

Occupation: Presumably only a student

Group Membership: The von Frankenstein Family (not a team, but a grouping)

Affiliations: Henry Clerval, Justine Moritz (caretaker)

Enemies: The Frankenstein monster

Known Relatives: Victor Frankenstein, Ernst Frankenstein, (brother, presumably deceased), Elizabeth Lavenza (sister by adoption, deceased); unidentified niece or nephew and great niece or nephew) (child and grandchild of Victor; ancestors of Victoria);
    Alphonse Frankenstein (father, deceased), Caroline Frankenstein (nee Beaufort, mother, deceased);
     Konrad Dippel (aka Baron von Frankenstein; paternal grandfather, deceased); Anna Catharina Muller (paternal grandmother, deceased);
       two paternal great uncles (all presumably deceased), five paternal great aunts (all presumably deceased) - see Konrad Dippel's profile for possible identifications of these relatives;
    Anna Eleonora Munchmeyer (paternal great-grandmother, deceased), Johann Philip Dippel (paternal great-grandfather, deceased);

    Vincent von Frankenstein (great-grandnephew, deceased), Lenore von Frankenstein (great-grandniece-in-law), Victoria von Frankenstein (great-grandniece; see comments in her profile)
    Basil Frankenstein (great-great-grandnephew, deceased);
    Ludwig von Frankenstein (great-great-great-grandnephew);
    Veronica von Frankenstein (great-great-great-great-grandniece);
    Jason von Frankenstein (uncertain relationship, deceased);
    Maximilian Frankenstein (Maximilian von Katzenelnbogen, distant relative);
    other Frankensteins

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    apparently born and died in Geneva, Switzerland

First Appearance: Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818);
    (Marvel) (The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (January, 1973)

Powers/Abilities: William had no superhuman abilities.

    He was not described to have any special abilities. He was described as physically handsome, sweet, innocent and adored by his family.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 3'8")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 50 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown

History:
frankenstein-william-vicdepart(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 (fb) - BTS) - Fearing the fabled curse of the Rock of the Franks following the death of Konrad Dippel (aka Baron von Frankenstein) in 1734, Konrad's family of two brothers and five sisters (see comments) fled to Switzerland, taking with them Konrad's infant son, Alphonse. In Geneva, they began a new life.

(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 (fb) - BTS) - In 1760, during a journey to Naples, Alphonse's wife, Caroline, gave birth to Victor, the first of their three children. Looking into the smiling face of his newborn son, Alphonse believed that at last the curse of the Frankensteins was truly ended.

(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus / Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 (fb) - BTS) - Alphonse and Caroline had two other sons together, Ernest and William (the youngest). They also adopted Elizabeth Lavenza, with whom Victor would later fall in love and marry.

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb)) - William was Victor's younger brother.

(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 (fb) - BTS) - Ernst was the third/middle son of Alphonse and Caroline.

(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus / (The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb) - BTS) - William wore a pendant that contained a picture of his mother, Caroline.

(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus) - Alphonse educated his children, including teaching them Latin and English.

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb) - BTS) - Alphonse also took Justine Moritz as a ward, and she served as young William's nanny.frankenstein-william-vicdepart-post

(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus) - William was physically handsome, sweet, innocent and adored by his family.

(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus) - Caroline contracted Scarlet Fever when caring for the young Elizabeth, who had contracted the disease; Caroline died when Victor was seventeen, right before he left for the university.

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb)) - William watched silently, held in Alphonse's arms, as Victor bade his family (and family friend, Henry Clerval) farewell before departing for college.

((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 his father's friend 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, who was at first frightened, and the monster held William’s wrist to calm him. When the boy screamed his full name and that he had powerful parents, this sparked the monster into...

(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus / (The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb) - BTS / (The Monster of) Frankenstein#2 (fb) - BTS) - ...killing William 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) - 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) - "Many weeks" later, Victor revived. Clerval  informed Victor about the information in Elizabeth's letter.

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb) - BTS) - Victor accompanied Clerval back to Geneva to be with his family, although all along he wondered about the monster, correctly suspecting that it had murdered William and framed Justine.

    Both Elizabeth and Alphonse could not have believed Justine to be guilty, but Alphonse noted how Justine had been found clutching William's pendant, a few feet from where William had been murdered. Victor argued that perhaps the killer had placed the pendant in Justine's grasp, and as Alphonse replied that the courts had dismissed the possibility, Victor apparently observed the monster's face just outside of his window. Victor rushed out but found the monster missing and considered that the tracks indicated that he had gotten away.

    Learning that Justine was to be hanged the next day, Victor traveled to the prison in hopes of freeing her. However, upon seeing her having accepted her fate and realizing that tell his story would condemn himself as some kind of lunatic, he left her to her fate.

    The next day, Justine was hanged. Witnessing this, Victor wondered whether he himself was actually to blame for the deaths of Justine and William.

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#2 (fb) - BTS) - The monster confirmed to Victor that he had "extracted partial revenge by murdering your brother."

Comments: Created by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.
    adapted by Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog.

    William appeared to be only a few years old when Victor left for the University of Geneva (his grandfather was holding him up with a single arm). This was shortly after the death of their mother, which occurred when Victor was 17-years-old, so he was either still 17 or 18 when he left for college, but William looked like he was only 3-8-years-old.
    If Victor was born in 1760, then William may have been born anywhere from 1769-1775.
    It was at the end of Victor's third year when he started his project, and it was six months before he revived what would become known as Frankenstein's monster. William was slain shortly thereafter, so he may have been 6-12 years old when he died.
    According to study.com, which details the original story, William was 6-years-old. I don't know for sure whether that was when Victor left for college or at the time of William's death. I'm inclined to think the latter.

According to the Mary Shelley Wiki:

William, Victor and Ernest's brother, is the youngest son of Alphonse and Caroline Frankenstein. He is describe as being the “most beautiful little fellow in the world,” with “lively blue eyes, dimpled cheeks, and endearing manners. . .” (Shelley, 25) He is, in many ways, the very image of childhood innocence, but he meets his tragic end at the hands of the creature. William, who shares a name with Mary Shelley's own ill fated son, becomes the first victim in the creature's quest for revenge against his maker, Victor Frankenstein.
Mary's son, William, was born in 1816 and died in 1819 from malaria.

    Thanks to David Zuckerman for providing digital images while I was having trouble with Marvel Unlimited.

    The cover of comics says "The Monster of Frankenstein," but the indicia says only "Frankenstein," so that is the actual title of the comic.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
William Frankenstein should be distinguished from:

other "William" or "Frankenstein" characters (see the various links above), groups, items, events, races or places...

images: (without ads)
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#1, pg. 7, panel 1 (Victor leaving for college);
          panel 2 (held in Alphonse's arms)
Appearances:
Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818) - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (writer)
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (January, 1973) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Mike Ploog (artist), Roy Thomas (editor)

First posted: 11/09/2024
Last updated: 11/10/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and � 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters