Griffin (The Invisible Man)

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Griffin is a fictional character, the eponymous individual of H.G. Wells' science fiction novel, The Invisible Man.

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[edit] Biographical summary

He was a young albino and a brilliant medical student who studied optical density whilst at university. Griffin believed he was on the verge of a great scientific discovery, but felt unconfortable working under the eyes of his professor, so to ensure he would take the credit for himself, he left college and took up residence in a cheap dingy apartment where he could continue his experiments in solitude.

In order to finance his experiments, Griffin robbed his own father (whose money was apparently stolen anyway), who committed suicide immediately after. (Little was mentioned of Griffin's family background, but it was clearly dysfunctional.) Working reclusively in his flat, he invented a formula to bend light and reduce the refractive index of physical objects, thus making them invisible. He intended from the start to perform the process on himself, but was forced to rush his experiments due to persistent intrusions from his landlord, who was suspicious of his activities. He processed himself in order to hide from his landlord, setting fire to the building to cover his tracks. He wound up alone, invisibly wandering the streets of London, struggling to survive out in the open while unseen by those around him. Intending to make himself visible again, he stole some clothes from a dingy backstreet theatre shop, including a trenchcoat and hat, wrapping his head in bandages to conceal his invisibility, his eyes covered by large dark goggles. He took up residence in the Coach and Horses Inn (Lions Head in the movie)in the village of Iping to reverse his experiment in a quiet environment, but complications arose with the locals, who were unnerved by his appearance, his progress was slowed down and he was left without sufficient money to satisfy the pub's owners. In order to pay his bill, Griffin burgled the home of Reverend Bunting, causing the police to come after him, at which point he revealed his invisibility to all by throwing off his clothes and escaping.

By now driven to insanity by his inability to reverse the experiment, Griffin sought the assistance of a tramp named Thomas Marvel to carry money for him, but Marvel ran away with the money. Griffin pursued him to the town of Port Burdock, and there ran into his old schoolmate Dr. Kemp. Griffin "recruited" Kemp to be his visible partner, but rather than assist the crazed Invisible Man Kemp alerted Colonel Adye of the Port Burdock police.

Furious and still entertaining thoughts of world domination, Griffin vowed to kill Kemp "as an example." He ultimately failed when Kemp rallied the people of Port Burdock, who mobbed the Invisible Man as soon as they had deduced his location, and Griffin was killed. The effects of the invisibility formula wore off in death, and Griffin's body became visible again.

[edit] Film, TV or theatrical portraits

(see Wikipedia article, The Invisible Man (1933 film))

(see Wikipedia article, The Invisible Man Returns)

(see Wikipedia article, Invisible Agent)

(see Wikipedia article, The Invisible Man's Revenge)

(see Wikipedia article, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man)

aka The Invisible Man in Istanbul

(see Wikipedia article, Gemini Man)

aka The Invisible Man

(see Wikipedia article, The Invisible Man (BBC serial))

Source: H.G. Wells at the Internet Movie Database.

[edit] 1933 Universal Studios version

In the 1933 film version of The Invisible Man, he was given the first name Jack (Wells does not state if "Griffin" is his first or last name). He was played by Claude Rains.

Jack Griffin worked for Dr. Cranley, assisting him in his food preservation experiments alongside his friend Arthur Kemp. Griffin was deeply in love with Cranley's daughter, Flora, and the two planned to marry. Griffin was afraid that he had nothing to offer her, however, and so began experimenting with an obscure and dangerous drug called monocane in hopes that his work would make him rich and famous, and therefore a worthwhile husband for Flora.

Griffin discovered that when combined with other chemicals, monocane made a formula capable of rendering a person invisible. Too excited by his discovery to think clearly, Griffin injected himself with the formula over the course of a month, and became invisible. It was only after Griffin had attained invisibility that he realized he hadn't thought of how to turn himself visible again.

Panicking, Griffin knew he had to get away from Kemp and the Cranleys, and so went to the remote town of Iping and got a room in the Lion's Head Inn, where he began trying to create a formula to turn himself visible again. During this time, he rendered himself visible by wrapping his head in bandages and wearing dark goggles.

The prying eyes of curious locals, combined with the maddening side-effects of monocane and the frustration that came as a result from his repeated failed tests, drove Griffin insane. After assaulting Jenny Hall and severely injuring her husband, Herbert, Griffin shed his clothing, becoming totally invisible, and eluded the police. He sought help from Kemp, but by now the monocane had driven him so over the edge he was seriously entertaining thoughts of world domination, and wanted Kemp to be his visible partner and assistant.

Not even a visit from Flora and her father helped ease Griffin's mounting insanity. He vowed to kill Kemp after his old friend had alerted Inspector Lane to his whereabouts, and despite intensive police protection surrounding Kemp, Griffin eventually made good on his threats. After killing Kemp, he sought refuge from the cold in a farmer's barn. The farmer summoned the police, who set fire to the barn. As Griffin fled the burning structure, he was shot by Inspector Lane, who could see his footprints in the snow.

Griffin died from the gunshot wounds in the hospital, apologizing for his crimes with the immortal line, "I meddled in things man must leave alone." The effects of the invisibility formula wore off in death, and Griffin's body became visible again. He was survived by his brother, Frank, and, according to the comedy Amazon Women on the Moon, he also had a son, Griffin.

Griffin had a son, also called Griffin who is played by Ed Begley, Jr. He appears in the segment Son of the Invisible Man.

His first name unknown, Griffin tried to repeat his father's experiments, and rented a room in the Lion's Head Inn the same as his father had, and "injected himself with every drug known to man" trying to figure out what drug was the key ingredient in his father's formula.

By the time Griffin summoned his friend Trent to the Lion's Head, he had deluded himself into believing all the drugs worked and that he was now invisible. He would run about naked (to be "totally invisible") and play pranks on the inn's patrons, all of whom humored him and pretty much just left him to his own devices. Trent was not so lenient, and called the police on Griffin, who arrested him for indecent exposure.

[edit] See also

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