History Main / FateOfTheFrankensteins

* ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'': Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, Dr. Victor's grandson, is initially ashamed of his grandfather's claim to fame; having become a famous surgeon in England, he states that he works on serious science instead of chasing superstitions, describes his grandfather as a cuckoo, and insists that his surname is actually pronounced "Fronkensteen". However, after being left the family's ancestral castle per his great-grandfather's will, he returns to Transylvania, becomes increasingly drawn to the idea of creating life from lifeless matter, and ultimately chooses to embrace his family legacy and continue his experiments anyway. [[spoiler:In a twist on the matter, this is one of the few ''positive'' versions, where Frederick manages to avoid the tragedy that affected his ancestor by treating his creation with kindness and decency...[[HilarityEnsues though not without copious amounts of silly shenanigans and near misses in the process.]]]]

Most often this trope is used because the writers have a character similar to Frankenstein and wanted to [[CharacterTitle use his name in the title]] but either due to it being set after the Victorian Era or because the characters were too different from Victor for the audience to accept, they simply made their own deranged doctor a descendant of him. It's no coincidence most of these examples come after [[Film/HammerHorror Hammer Studio's]] Frankenstein series of the '60s and '70s reinvented Victor as a DarkerAndEdgier VillainProtagonist.

** ''ComicBook/TheInvadersMarvelComics'': Vincent's son Basil became a Nazi scientist during World War II, creating his own monster in hopes of building an army for the Axis Powers. The monster, when freed, goes on to kill his creator.

** Subverted with Veronica von Frankenstein, great-granddaughter of Victor (Ludwig's daughter), who become a scientist, but not a mad one -- she gives the Frankenstein Monster an operation so he can have a normal speaking voice.
** Downplayed with Baroness Victoria von Frankenstein, Veronica's elder sister. While she has used science to slow down her aging and is known to experiment on the dead, she has tried to take care of her ancestors' creations, however strange.
** An issue of ''[[ComicBook/DrStrange Dr. Strange: Sorcerer Supreme]]'' reviews the entire history of the Frankensteins as they appear in the Marvel universe.
* In ''Comicbook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'' #17, a Pig-Iron solo story, "House of Frankenswine", features Hector Frankenswine, "descendent of Victor's younger brother", who has recreated Frankenswine's Monster. He is very surprised to learn that the monster didn't ''want'' to be recreated, and immediately [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters tries to kill him]]. The monster also implies he had previously killed all of Victor's ''direct'' descendents for precisely the same reason.

* ''Toys/MonsterHigh'': Victor Frankenstein was an orphan in this continuity and just wanted to create a family. Frankenstein's monster and his bride created their daughter, Frankie Stein. She, in turn, created her younger sister, boyfriend and pet.

A subtrope of SpinOffspring specifically for relatives of the MadScientist [[DrFrankenstein Victor Frankenstein]] (or Henry Frankenstein in a case of AdaptationalNameChange in the ''Franchise/UniversalHorror'' series), sometimes referred to only with titles like Dr. Frankenstein or Baron Frankenstein. It does not refer to just any relative of him featured in a story, but specifically those that have also chosen a career in CreatingLife or continuing experiments on the original FrankensteinsMonster.

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* ''Film/FrankensteinsArmy'': Viktor Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein's nonspecific deranged descendant makes Zombots for the nazis during the end of world war 2.

Most often this trope is used because the writers have a character similar to Frankenstein and wanted to [[CharacterTitle use his name in the title]] but either due to it being set after the Victorian Era or because the characters were too different from Victor for the audience to accept, they simply made their own deranged doctor a descendant of him. It's no coincidence most of these examples come after [[Film/HammerHorror Hammer Studio's]] Frankenstein series of the 60's and 70's reinvented Victor as a DarkerAndEdgier VillainProtagonist.

[[folder: Web Video]]
* Youtuber Dark Corner Pictures attempted to make a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdtrtnEjcCM Frankenstein Family tree]], which became convoluted once examples of this trope started popping up. He sums up this trope quite well:

-->-- '''Henry Frankenstein''', ''Son of Frankenstein''

Youtuber Dark Corner Pictures attempted to make a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdtrtnEjcCM Frankenstein Family tree]], which became convoluted once examples of this trope started popping up. He sums up this trope quite well:

Youtuber Dark Corner Pictures attempted to make a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdtrtnEjcCM Frankenstein Family tree]], which became convoluted once examples of this trope started popping up. He sums up this trope quite well:

-->''"For generations, the Frankensteins have gone into the family business of stitching together the dead, electrifying them, and being killed by the result. Never letting the lack of any real success or high mortality rate stand in their way. But the truth is, as horror fans, we appreciate their boneheaded and pointless self sacrifice. Where would horror be without the clan of Frankenstein, at once so smart and yet so apocalyptically dumb. Never learning from their mistakes, each new generation charging in, with contempt for their forebears and misplaced optimism as they commit what amounts to needlessly elaborate suicide in the name of our entertainment."''

* In ''Comicbook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'' #17, a Pig-Iron solo story, "House of Frankenswine", features Hector Frankenswine, "descendent of Victor's younger brother", who has recreated Frankenswine's Monster. He is very surprised to learn that the monster didn't ''want'' to be recreated, and immediately [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters tries to kill him]], implying he had previously killed all of Victor's ''direct'' descendents for precisely the same reason.

* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooFrankenCreepy'': Velma is revealed to be a descendent of a monster making mad scientist in the vein of Frankenstein. [[spoiler:She ends up nearly following in his footsteps thanks to some hypnosis, ready to cut out Scooby and Shaggy's brains for a monster]].

* ''Film/KingKongVsFrankenstein'': This unmade movie that got turned into ''Film/KingKongVsGodzilla'' had Frankenstein's grandson make a Kaiju out of animal parts that tour's alongside Carl Denham's king kong.

Most often this trope is used because the writers have a character similar to Frankenstein and wanted to [[CharacterTitle use his name in the title]] but either due to it being set after the Victorian Era or because the characters were too different from Victor for the audience to accept, they simply made their own deranged doctor a descendant of him. It's no coincidence most of these examples come after ''Film/HammerHorror'''s Frankenstein series of the 60's and 70's reinvented Victor as a DarkerAndEdgier VillainProtagonist.

A subtrope of SpinOffspring specifically for relatives of the MadScientist [[DrFrankenstein Victor Frankenstein]] (or Henry Frankenstein in a case of AdaptationalNameChange in the ''Franchise/UniversalHorror'' series) sometimes referred to only with titles like Dr. Frankenstein or Baron Frankenstein. It does not refer to just any relative of him featured in a story, but specifically those that have also chosen a career in CreatingLife or continuing experiments on the original FrankensteinsMonster.

* ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'': Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, Dr. Victor's grandson, is initially ashamed of his grandfather's claim to fame; having become a famous surgeon in England, he states that he works on serious science instead of chasing superstitions, describes his grandfather as a cuckoo, and insists that his surname is actually pronounced "Fronkensteen". However, after being left the family's ancestral castle per his great-grandfather's will, he returns to Transylvania, becomes increasingly drawn to the idea of creating life from lifeless matter, and ultimately chooses to embrace his family legacy and continue his experiments anyway. [[spoiler: In a twist on the matter, this is one of the few ''positive'' versions, where Frederick manages to avoid the tragedy that affected his ancestor by treating his creation with kindness and decency...[[HilarityEnsues though not without copious amounts of silly shenanigans and near misses in the process.]]]]

* ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'': Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, Dr. Victor's grandson, is initially ashamed of his grandfather's claim to fame; having become a famous surgeon in England, he states that he works on serious science instead of chasing superstitions, describes his grandfather as a cuckoo, and insists that his surname is actually pronounced "Fronkensteen". However, after being left the family's ancestral castle per his great-grandfather's will, he returns to Transylvania, becomes increasingly drawn to the idea of creating life from lifeless matter, and ultimately chooses to embrace his family legacy and continue his experiments anyway.

** Downplayed with Baroness Victoria von Frankenstein, another great-granddaughter [[note]]She is either Veronica's older sister or her cousin, but which is unclear in the text.[[/note]] While she has used science to slow down her aging and is known to experiment on the dead, she has tried to take care of her ancestors' creations, however strange