Victor Frankenstein

Baron Victor Frakenstein is an Italian-Swiss scientist living in Bavaria, Germany, in the 1790s. After studying chemical processes and the decay of living beings, gains an insight into the creation of life and gives life to his own creature, often referred to as Frankenstein's Monster, or often simply "Frankenstein". Victor later regrets meddling with nature through his creation, as he inadvertently endangers his own life, as well as the lives of his family and friends, when the creature seeks revenge against him.

Frankenstein is often referred as Doctor (Dr.) Frankenstein, although he's an amateur scientist who was not in possession of a doctorate. Victor Frankenstein was born in Naples, Italy and raised in Geneva with his German-Swiss family. He's the son of Alphonse Frankenstein and Caroline Beaufort, who died of scarlet fever when Victor was 17. He describes his ancestry thus: "I am by birth a Genevese; and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic. My ancestors had been for many years counsellors and syndics; and my father had filled several public situations with honour and reputation." Frankenstein has two younger brothers—William, the youngest, and Ernest, the middle child.

As a boy, Frankenstein is interested in the works of alchemists such as Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus, and he longs to discover the fabled elixir of life. He loses interest in both these pursuits and in science as a whole after seeing the remains of a tree struck by lightning; however, at the University of Ingolstadt in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, Frankenstein develops a fondness for chemistry, and becomes obsessed with the idea of creating life in inanimate matter through artificial means, pursuing this goal for two years.

He's a fifty-year old white man who's distinguished-looking and lean but not completely. Frakenstein has a more aged face, bearing slight wrinkles and somewhat defined cheekbones. His nose is aquiline but not hooked exactly, more angled and sharp. Victor has blue eyes, a widow's peak, sideburns that doesn't go past his jaw and black hair with a few gray strands. He wears a black suit vest with a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves with a shirt collar. He has a dark blue tie with white polka dots, black pants and short black gloves and black dress shoes.

At a young age, he has the initiative to study natural philosophy and mathematics. As an adult, he attributes his accomplishments in chemistry to the effort he put into the discipline, rather than his intelligence. Frankenstein also has great curiosity about the world, and even recalls that some of his earliest memories were his realizations about the laws of nature. It is his curiosity about the cause of life that leads him to creating the monster.

Vctor built the creature over a two-year period with a ambiguous method based on a scientific principle he discovered, in the attic of his boarding house in Ingolstadt after discovering a scientific principle which allows him to create life from non-living matter. Once his monster rose, Frankenstein was disgusted by his creation, however, and flees from it in horror.

Obsession plays a major role with Frakenstein. First, as a child, he is obsessed with reading books on alchemy, astrology, and other pseudo-sciences. Later, as a older man, he often spends the entire night working in his laboratory. He then becomes enthralled with the study of life sciences – mainly dealing with death and the reanimation of corpses. Finally, after the monster is created, Frankenstein is consumed with guilt, despair, and regret, leading him to obsess over the nature of his creation.