The Igor: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|''It'th a pleathure to be commanded in a clear, firm, authoritative voithe, mithtreth.''

 

{{quote|''Welcome to my secret lair on Skullcrusher Mountain.

|'''[[Jonathan Coulton]]''', "Skullcrusher Mountain"}}

 

 

Igor can't fight (usually), and if encountered by the hero in a combat situation, will high-tail it out along with his master, unless the master tries to sacrifice him to enhance his own chances. [[I Have You Now, My Pretty|Abduction of young screaming ladies]], however, is within Igor's power.

 

{{examples}}

* Jaken, Sesshomaru's servant in ''[[Inuyasha]]''.

* Nemu Kurotsuchi, Mayuri Kurotsuchi's servant in ''[[Bleach]]'', though she lacks many of the physical traits specified above and calls Mayuri by his name with a -sama honorific (which is often used by servants to their masters).

 

* Toad plays the Igor role to Magneto in early ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' comics.

* In ''[[Little Gloomy]]'', [[Mad Scientist]] and jilted boyfriend Simon von Simon employs the hunchback Boris as his assistant. Boris, however, bears no real allegiance to Simon and only works for him because, as a hunchback, he doesn't have any other job opportunities. Boris is also somewhat explicitly much more sensible if not in fact smarter than Simon.

* ''[[Godland]]'' features Eghad, the simple assistant to criminal mastermind Friedrich Nickelhead. Eghad's intelligence is extremely lacking, and he knows little but undying loyalty to his master. Unusually for this trope, he's also Nickelhead's bodyguard and packs a frankly ridiculous amount of power in his tiny frame.

 

 

* The trope makers were Fritz, Frankenstein's sidekick in Universal's ''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)|Frankenstein]]'' and [[Bela Lugosi|Ygor]], the [[The Man They Couldn't Hang|broken-necked]] character from the sequel, ''[[Son of Frankenstein]]''.

* Parodied in ''[[Young Frankenstein]]'' by Marty Feldman as "Igor" ([[It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY"|pronounced "Eye-gore"]]).

* Krull of ''[[Mr. Sardonicus]]'' is more well-spoken and normal looking than your typical Igor, but is still a good fit. He's Sardonicus' main servant/doer of dirty work, and has a deformity in having an eye missing (because Sardonicus [[Eye Scream|ripped it out]]). While Sardonicus is the more villainous of the two, Krull is shown to be fairly sadistic himself, and ultimately gets revenge in a cruel [[The Dog Bites Back]] moment.

 

* Literary example: Terry Pratchett's [[Discworld]] distills the trope by featuring an entire clan of these types, all named Igor (except female Igors, who are named Igora or Igorina). They all have their own unique pattern of scars and deformities (except for the female Igors, who are oddly enough [[Cute Monster Girl|very attractive]], although they usually keep a stitch somewhere as a sign), and all of them incredibly skilled surgeons, chemists and inventors. When they work for [[Our Vampires Are Different|Vampires]], [[Our Werewolves Are Different|Werewolves]] and [[Mad Scientist]]s, they often double as a butler. They also have a tendency to replace parts of their own bodies with bits from other people which are no longer in use by their former owners. Often an Igor will accept as payment for a surgery a promise that they can help themselves to the patient's body (for themselves and other patients) when they eventually die—a promise they take very seriously. They also hand down useful organs; when an Igor says "I have my grandfather's hands", he is NOT being metaphorical.

** Furthermore, they rarely have any qualms about who they work for—they don't work for Vampires and Werewolves and [[Mad Scientist]]s because [[Evil Feels Good]], but because "Insanity gets the job done." An Igor would never do to another living person something that they wouldn't be willing to try first on themselves, though that doesn't necessarily narrow it down much. Even (relatively) sane and non-evil organisations (such as the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, The Free Hospital and a bank) recognise the value of an Igor and employ one or more.

*** [[Planet of Steves|Knowing exactly which Igor]] you're talking about.

*** [[A Storm Is Coming|Knowing when a lightning storm is coming]], and using said lightning to power whatever mad invention they've been asked to create.

*** [[Fell Off the Back of a Truck|"Acquiring"]] materials for their master's latest deranged scheme.

*** [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here|Quietly exiting]] just before [[Torches and Pitchforks|the angry mob]] arrives.

* Subverted in James Blaylock's ''Homunculus'', where the hunchback creeping around the spooky laboratory actually '''is''' the [[Mad Scientist]], Ignacio Narbondo.

* Played for humorous effect (along with everything else) in ''[[Bring Me The Head Of Prince Charming]]''. The demon Azzie Elbub is aided in his plan by his hunchbacked assistant Frike, who proves himself the man for the job by slaying ([[Offstage Villainy|off-stage]]) the other applicants for the job. Frike is quite a good Igor, except for his habit of breaking into Azzie's alchemical supplies [[Fantastic Drug|in order to get drunk or high on them]].

* In the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], Onimi is the Igor to Supreme Overlord Shimrra, the leader of the Yuuzhan Vong. {{spoiler|The very last book reveals however, that Onimi is actually the mastermind behind the Yuuzhan Vong invasion and that Shimrra was actually a puppet being telepathically controlled by Onimi.}}

 

* ''[[Good Eats]]'' recently introduced the dungeon under AB's kitchen, wherein his toadying Dungeon Master (The Igor in all but name) supplies him with painful kitchen appliances, such as a steak cuber and tortilla press. Yes, it's a cooking show; it's just not a normal cooking show.

* Amusingly parodied on ''[[SCTV]]'' with actor Woody Tobias, Jr., who actually was an ugly hunchback and thus was pretty much confined to this role (named "Bruno") as sidekick to 3-D filmmaker Dr. Tongue, who usually played [[Mad Scientist]] roles. Both were "serious" actors, to the point they attempted a remake of ''[[Midnight Cowboy]]'' in 3-D, but they didn't have much range...

* Both Jesse and Gale act as Igors to "Heisenberg" on ''[[Breaking Bad]]''.

* Condo to [[Mad Scientist]] Dr Solon in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S13/E05 The Brain of Morbius|The Brain of Morbius]]".

 

== Music ==

* The evil genius of [[Jonathan Coulton]]'s "Skullcrusher Mountain" has his assistant Scarface, whose description is pretty much textbook Igor.

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

* The Igor appears in a few ''[[The Far Side|Far Side]]'' cartoons. In one of them, the Doctor is scowling at him for having brought the wrong size wrench.

 

* ''[[The World Domination Hour]]'' [http://worlddominationhour.podbean.com/ found here], broadcast from Emerson College, features the villainous Baron and his resentful assistant Freegor, whose duties include being [[The Woobie|beaten, tormented, and harassed]] on a regular basis.

 

* The roleplaying game ''[[My Life with Master]]'' casts all the players as Igors.

* In the fan-made [[New World of Darkness]] gameline ''[[Genius: The Transgression]]'', Beholden fill this role. Beholden are otherwise ordinary people who see the world exactly as the [[Mad Scientist|Genius]] sees it and thus can handle [[Weird Science|Wonders]] without wrecking them, help build them, and do all sorts of dirty work for their masters. In fact, "Igor" is a slang term for a Beholden. It's not very pleasant being one. Beholden lose their ability to form any beliefs or meaningful opinions beyond copying those of a Genius, and if they're without a master for too long, they either go mad or die. They also have a tendency to experience a Breakthrough in certain conditions and become a Genius themselves.

* Dr. Mordenheim is ''[[Ravenloft]]''{{'}}s [[Expy]] of Dr. Frankenstein, so naturally he has an Igor: a hunchback named Horg, whom he's re-created via cloning each time his assistant gets killed. Robbing graves in Ravenloft isn't the safest vocation, so he's on his third or fourth Horg by now.

 

* Vican, a mutated [[Little People|Matoran]], fills this role for Mutran in ''[[Bionicle]]''.

 

* In the game ''[[Psychonauts]]'', Sheegor is a [[Distaff Counterpart|female Igor]] [[Engineer Exploited For Evil|forced to work]] for [[Depraved Dentist|Dr. Loboto]] to save her captured pet turtle Mr. Pokeylope. She switches over to your side when you retrieve him; she's scary at first, but actually sort of a [[The Woobie|Woobie]].

* The game ''[[Brain Dead 13]]'' has Fritz (most likely named as a [[Shout-Out]] to Universal's ''Frankenstein''), an imp with hooks for both hands who pursues the protagonist throughout the game.

* Igor makes an appearance in ''[[Castlevania]]'' as an invincible fleaman that assists Frankenstein's monster in battle in the first game, thus subverting the usual idea that Igor doesn't participate in combat.

 

* This trope has actually been reversed in ''[[Annyseed]]'' where our hero's are greeted at the door by a cute, defiant little Monkey.

* [[Web Comics|Webcomic]] example: Doctor Germahn of ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' has an Igor of identical function but vastly different flavor. Her name is Amanda, and she's [[The Ditz|quite blonde]].

* ''[[Nosfera]]'' has the adorible Iggy, the man-flea.

 

* [[Doctor Steel]]'s robot servants are all hunchbacks.

* [[The Cinema Snob]] notes in some of his reviews that he wants to know how the hunchbacked assistant ended up with the doctor. At least one, ''Blood-Sucking Freaks'', explains that Ralphus is just a sadist who does it for free.

 

* ''[[ReBoot]]'': In later seasons, [[Mad Scientist]] "Herr Doktor" is Megabyte's top man. The doc has an unnamed assistant who is a heavily disfigured "one" binome.

* In the ''[[Timon and Pumbaa]]'' series, the local [[Mad Scientist]] instead has "Shegor" because he's an equal opportunity employer.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Servant Tropes]]

[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Villains]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Igor, The}}