👻 The Invisible Man
A scientist who discovers the secret of invisibility
Also known as Invisible Man, Griffin, Jack Griffin
📺 "Tonight's guest insisted on coming to the studio, and I think he's here. Somewhere. If you feel a draught, that's probably him."
💀 Facts
- Griffin must go naked to be fully invisible, even in an English winter
- Snow, rain, fog and smoke reveal his outline
- Food he eats stays visible until it is digested
- Claude Rains's face appears only in the final moments of the 1933 film
- John P. Fulton used black velvet and mattes to make Rains vanish on screen
- Wells's Griffin has no first name; the film called him Jack
- Plato told of an invisibility ring, the Ring of Gyges, over 2,000 years earlier
📜 Legend
Invisibility is an ancient fantasy. In Plato's Republic, the shepherd Gyges finds a ring that makes him unseen and uses it to seduce a queen and seize a throne, and Plato asks whether anyone would stay honest if no one could watch. Wells gave that question a scientific costume: his student Griffin changes his body's refractive index until light passes straight through him, then discovers that being unseen is lonely, cold and maddening.
🎬 The Film
| Title | The Invisible Man (1933) |
|---|---|
| Studio | Universal |
| Director | James Whale |
| Starring | Claude Rains |
| Makeup | Jack Pierce |
| Released | 1933-11-13 |
🎞️ Visual effects by John P. Fulton, who used black velvet and optical mattes to make Rains disappear.
🎭 Myth vs Movie
True or false? Make your guess, then click a card (or press r) for the verdict.
Griffin can become visible again whenever he likes.
✘ FALSE
He never finds a cure. His body only becomes visible again as he dies.
Food the Invisible Man eats stays visible until it's digested.
✔ TRUE
In the novel Griffin explains he must hide after meals, because undigested food shows inside him.
Claude Rains's face is seen through most of the 1933 film.
✘ FALSE
His face appears only in the last moments. For the rest he is bandages, goggles and that famous voice.
In the film, a drug called monocane drives Griffin mad.
✔ TRUE
The screenplay added monocane as the cause of his madness. Wells's Griffin was already bitter and cruel.
🕯️ Quotes
“The stranger came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow.”
“An invisible man is a man of power.”
Lines come only from public-domain texts.
🃏 Stat Card
⚡ Powers
- Total invisibility
- Silent movement
- Brilliant scientific mind
- Free run of any locked room
🧄 Weaknesses
- Footprints in snow
- Rain, fog and smoke
- The winter cold
- His own arrogance
Stats power the Monster Mash: terminal-of-terror mash invisible-man
🎞️ Legacy
- The Invisible Man Returns (1940), with Vincent Price
- The Invisible Woman (1940)
- Invisible Agent (1942)
- The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
- Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
- The Invisible Man (2020)
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