Ludwig Frankenstein is a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

who appears in the 1942

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

The Ghost of Frankenstein ''The Ghost of Frankenstein'' is a 1942 American horror film directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Cedric Hardwicke, Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi. It is the fourth film in the ''Frankenstein'' series by Universal Pictures, and the follow-up t ...

''. He is played by Sir

Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and ...

History

Ludwig was the son of

Henry Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character and the main protagonist and title character in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''.. He is an Italian-Swiss scientist (born in Naples, Italy) who, after studying ch ...

and older brother of

Wolf Frankenstein Baron Wolf von Frankenstein is a fictional character who appears in the 1939 Universal Studios, Universal film ''Son of Frankenstein''. He is played by Basil Rathbone. History Wolf Frankenstein is the younger son of Victor Frankenstein, Henry Fr ...

. Living in the town of Visaria with his daughter, Elsa, he is a medical doctor who specialized in

brain surgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

: specifically, in treating the mentally ill with the help of his colleagues Dr. Bohmer (Ludwig's mentor who was demoted to Ludwig's assistant following a tragic surgical mistake) and Dr. Kettering. Following the apparent deaths of Ygor and

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...

at the hands of Wolf Frankenstein in ''

Son of Frankenstein ''Son of Frankenstein'' is a 1939 American horror film that was directed by Rowland V. Lee and stars Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The film is the third in Universal Pictures' ''Frankenstein'' series and is the follow-up to the ...

'', Wolf gave to Ludwig both his own

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

notes as well as those of their father. Not wanting the people of Visaria, much less his daughter, to know about the unsavory history of his family, Ludwig kept the medical records of his father and brother Wolf locked away, determined not to let the sins of his father and brother haunt him. But Ludwig did not know that Ygor and the Monster were still alive. By some unrevealed act, Ygor becomes aware of Ludwig Frankenstein and his apparent success as a medical doctor which he reasons could help heal the Monster. The two arrive Visaria, Ygor demanded that Ludwig use his special talents to heal the Monster's sick brain, or else he informs the townspeople of the doctor's secret of being the actual son of the infamous monster-making Frankenstein. Initially, Ludwig agreed. After the Monster killed Dr. Kettering in an unprovoked fit of violence and tried to abduct Elsa, he angrily changed his mind and planned to destroy the creature by dissecting the creature. However, the spirit of Henry Frankenstein (also played by Hardwicke without a moustache since

Colin Clive Colin Clive (born Colin Glenn Clive-Greig; 20 January 1900 – 25 June 1937) was a British stage and screen actor. His most memorable role was Henry Frankenstein, the creator of the monster, in the 1931 film ''Frankenstein'' and its 1935 sequel ...

had died in 1937) appeared before his son and implored him to reconsider, persuading Ludwig to use his talent at brain surgery to simply give the Monster another brain to replace the abnormal criminal one. Perhaps Ludwig was merely

hallucinating A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...

. In any case, he was properly inspired to do what his father wished. He made plans to remove the Monster's brain and replace it with that of Dr. Kettering, whom both he and Dr. Bohmer viewed as a model citizen. In so doing, Ludwig hoped that he would end the threat of the Monster forever and clear the Frankenstein family's name. Ygor persuaded Bohmer (who was secretly jealous of his former student's success) to put ''his'' brain into the Monster's head and not Kettering's. When Ludwig tried to stop the Monster, Ludwig ends up mortally wounded. But when the Monster's body went blind, it calls for Bohmer where he finds that he can hear and feel him while not being able to see him. The wounded Ludwig states to Bohmer that the Monster's blood is actually the same as Kettering's blood and not the same as Ygor's blood. It won't feed the sensory nerves. The creature went berserk, killed Bohmer upon claiming that he was tricked, and destroyed Ludwig's

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...

while causing a fire...supposedly destroying itself, as well. Ludwig was killed in the resulting fire as recounted by his daughter in the succeeding film ''

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man ''Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. This was the first of a series of later called "monster rallie ...

''.

History

References

Further reading