The honor and valor of a knight is hard to find nowadays. Even amongst comics now today its hard to find that Lancelot type character. The one that is honorable, a person of integrity and respect. Its hard to find that type of character in a day and age where the people wanna see a witty and cunning hero on the big screen. But there is one hero that keeps a quite literal meaning to “Chivalry is dead”, his name is Frankenstein.
First let me just address anyone reading this article who is bound to say “What is this guy an idiot? It’s Dr. Frankenstein and then its Frankenstein’s monster”. Although this is true in Mary Shelley’s original novel Frankenstein, and yes This Frankenstein has an identical history to that novel, there is one slight change. So his origin starts off exactly like the book (Warning Spoiler from the novel) he’s created by Dr. Frankenstein and is rejected because he is hideous. Through having a childs mind and having the body of a full grown, 7ft tall, man accidentally kills some of his creators family until ultimately beginning a quest for vengeance against his master for not accepting him or creating him a bride. The two eventually end up at the north pole where Frankenstein (the Monster) kills his creator and feels nothing but remorse for killing his “Father”. He agrees to kill himself and the book ends with the monster floating of on an ice raft where he “dies”. This is where the comic begins, it turns out since Frankenstein was never “alive” he can’t die, so he falls beneath the arctic circle and is frozen there until World War II. Unfrozen, and finding his world torn apart by war, he wants to redeem himself of his sins against his creator, taking on his name to bring it honor. He sides with the Americans to combat what he considers “Abominations of man’s worst sins” (a.k.a the Nazis). He eventually meets an entity known as Father Time, who has taken many life forms throughout time. He enlists Frankenstein to a program called Super Human Advanced Defence Executive or S.H.A.D.E. Within S.H.A.D.E he quickly rises through the ranks and becomes a senior officer teaming up with the Creature Commandos, Seven Soldiers, Justice League Dark, and a woman named The Bride (this is his wife revived by S.H.A.D.E, sometime after Dr. Frankenstein destroyed her). Throughout time Frankenstein participated in every American War and has gone on countless secret missions. Today his comic has sent Frankenstein through trials that have tested every aspect of his heroism. Throughout fighting his own son, the son of Satan, one of his best friends, the Leviathan, and the army of the undead, he still keeps a vigil and honorable standpoint, always taking the high road and doing what is right for mankind and not himself.
The best part about Frankenstein is not the adventures he goes on but more to the fact that of what he brings to the table. Lets start off with his natural power set. He has Rottling physiology which basically means he’s a zombie, but he can be killed with a simple shot to the head, the only way to really kill Frankenstein is to either dismember him or hit him with an electric bolt at the exact same frequency he was brought to life with. He doesn’t require sustenance or rest, he can constantly keep moving forward as in a relentless onslaught. Through the bolts in his head he can pick up electric signals and track them with ease, he has also discovered he has mild abilities of telekinesis, although he usually uses this power to call his gun to him or his sword, nothing really more. Being an agent of S.H.A.D.E he was given cybernetic enhancements which can allow him to hack into computer systems just by thinking about it. Throughout living through 4 different wars, and going on secret missions in between Frankenstein has always chosen his two favorite weapons, the sword of Michael (Michael the Archangel’s actual sword) and his Steam Pistol (a modified and enhanced pistol that runs off steam power not gunpower). Being alive for so long and having access to S.H.A.D.E’s resources he has become a master fighter in hand-to-hand combat and use of all of his weapons.
However, besides Frankensteins long list of traits, or villains he has fought, nothing compares to the personality that he brings to the table. He always speaks in perfect english and is respectful of all of his allies. He is never condescending nor is he quick to blame others for their failures. He cares and cherishes human life and will do anything to protect it. In fact during the events of “Rot World”, an alternate timeline where the world has been over run by an undead army and 99% earths heroes were killed, Frankenstein was chosen to be the new Green Lantern purely because of his indomitable will and refusal to ever give up fighting for the human race.
At the end of the day Frankenstein is a hero not just because he can kick a lot of ass, but its because is a tortured soul trying to redeem himself. He can never take back his sins, he can only atone from them. He was born in a baptism of fire and will never stop fighting for what he believes in and what he cherishes most, and that’s the life of all living things.
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