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Frankenstein's Monster, also known as John Clare and Caliban, is a major antagonist in the horror/drama TV series Penny Dreadful. He is an undead creature created by Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who grows increasingly violent and obsessive as he haunts his creator to get him to create an undead mate for him.

He was portrayed by Rory Kinnear, who also portrayed Iago in a London production of Othello.

Early life[]

The monster was once an orderly at a sanitarium who died in an unspecified manner, leaving behind a wife, Marjorie, and a son, Jack. Shortly before his death, he treated series protagonist Vanessa Ives, who was institutionalized for "hysteria" that was in fact clairvoyance and sensitivity to supernatural forces. During her institutionalization, he is possessed by Lucifer and Dracula, who both try to seduce her into their service.

After his death, he is reanimated by Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who educates him and teaches him to love poetry and literature, particularly the work of John Clare. The monster grows increasingly violent and aggressive, however, and a terrified Frankenstein abandons him.

Appearances[]

Season 1[]

The monster stalks Frankenstein and his new creation, Proteus, and eventually kills the latter by literally tearing him apart. He then threatens to kill Frankenstein's entire family unless he creates a female mate for him.

Meanwhile, the monster finds work at the Grand Guignol Theatre as a stagehand, though he yearns to be an actor and star in Shakespearean drama; he is particularly drawn to the role of Caliban in The Tempest, feeling a kinship with the character as a fellow outcast. One of the theater's actresses, Maud Gunneson, shows him kindness that he misinterprets as attraction, and he declares his love for her. When a repulsed Maud rejects his advances, the monster flies into a rage and attacks her, resulting in the theater's owner firing him.

The monster swears revenge on Frankenstein for bringing him into a world that hates him, but cannot bring himself to kill the only father he has ever known. He declares that his physical ugliness has taken over his soul, and begs Frankenstein to put him out of his misery. Frankenstein cannot bear to destroy his creation, however, and finally agrees to create a mate for him.

Season 2[]

Frankenstein reanimates the recently deceased prostitute Brona Croft and presenting her to the monster as "Lily Frankenstein". The monster is overjoyed, but she is repelled by his disfigurement and possessiveness; Frankenstein, meanwhile, falls in love with her, and takes her away from his Creature. Brona/Lily ultimately rejects both of them, however, declaring that she will avenge the abuse visited on her and all other women by men like them.

The monster takes refuge in a hospital for plague victims. There, he befriends Vanessa Ives, who is volunteering as a nurse; it is left open to interpretation whether they recognize each other.

Season 3[]

The Monster eventually regains the memory of his former life, and seeks out his wife and young son, who are so happy to have him back that they overlook his disfigurements. His happiness is short-lived, however, as his son soon dies of the plague. His wife begs him to use Frankenstein's science to revive the boy, but the Monster refuses to condemn his son to the life of freakish misery that he has known. His wife disowns him, and he resigns himself to an eternity alone.