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Hmm, I am probably missing something, but isn't Igor from Mary Shelley (Frankensteins assistant)?

by seivan 13y ago

Udo 13y ago
From the article: "This really reminds me of Terry Pratchett’s Igor clan. I discovered this amiable race in The Fifth Elephant. Igors are a people inspired from the typical hunchbacked Igor archetype, but in Discworld, they are also self-modifiers. Their bodies consist of mixed and matched and patched and swapped body parts among other members of their clan, of scars and self-adjustements. They are infinitely self-improving, self-experimenting. They might end up with a botched job and have to hobble around for a few days, but in the end it’s always fixable. And they lisp."
ColinWright 13y ago
Yes, you're missing something. You need to read some Terry Pratchett. There are several entry points to the canon, some better suited than others to different readers. The Igors first arrive in The Fifth Elephat, or possibly Thief Of Time. As an entry point (but without the Igors (yet)) I recommend "Guards! Guards!", YMMV.
- rbobby 13y ago
  Small Gods is also a fun place to start.
InclinedPlane 13y ago
"Igor" as Dr. Frankenstein's assistant achieved prominence through Bela Lugosi's portrayal of the character "Ygor" in the film "The Ghost of Frankenstein". (No character named "Igor" appears in Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus".) "Igors" are a community of folks within the fictional "Discworld" universe created by author Terry Pratchet. Dr. Frankenstein's assistant is merely a lab assistant. Igors on Discworld are folks who remake themselves by way of transplants, as described in the article.
masklinn 13y ago
> Hmm, I am probably missing something You seem to have never read Pratchett, and should definitely fix that. Pratchett often takes existing tropes, settings, historical and fictional characters, etc… and breaks, rearranges and/or reinvents them to make things more interesting and/or funnier. In this case, he took Shelley's Igor (and hunchbacked assistants of a thousand films of the line) and made him into a clan, all called Igor. They're a clan of assistants, surgeons, bio-engineers and self-improvers, they're patched up because "what goeth around cometh around"[0], and with Igor it's parts. They'll exchange limbs, they'll replace eyes, etc… others and theirs both. They lithp for tradition and people's expectation (some of them regularly forget to lisp, or just can't seem to get the trick right) and have highly apparent stitches as something akin to clan markings (they've got dexterity enough for those not to be needed on patients). The traditional funerals and wake of an Igor consist in other Igor swinging by and leaving with loot bags, with parts of the deceased inside (they'll generally make their parts's destinations known beforehand). [0] the clan's full motto is "What goeth around, cometh around... or thtopth.": they will help anyone anytime at no charge, but if they have helped and provided a new spleen or replacement eyes they will come by and "rummage around" for healthy organs when the person dies. If they are turned around they will not make a fuss, but no Igor will come by the village ever again.

Hmm, I am probably missing something, but isn't Igor from Mary Shelley (Frankensteins assistant)?

by seivan 13y ago

Hmm, I am probably missing something, but isn't Igor from Mary Shelley (Frankensteins assistant)?

Udo 13y ago

From the article: "This really reminds me of Terry Pratchett’s Igor clan. I discovered this amiable race in The Fifth Elephant. Igors are a people inspired from the typical hunchbacked Igor archetype, but in Discworld, they are also self-modifiers. Their bodies consist of mixed and matched and patched and swapped body parts among other members of their clan, of scars and self-adjustements. They are infinitely self-improving, self-experimenting. They might end up with a botched job and have to hobble around for a few days, but in the end it’s always fixable. And they lisp."

ColinWright 13y ago

Yes, you're missing something. You need to read some Terry Pratchett. There are several entry points to the canon, some better suited than others to different readers. The Igors first arrive in The Fifth Elephat, or possibly Thief Of Time. As an entry point (but without the Igors (yet)) I recommend "Guards! Guards!", YMMV.

rbobby 13y ago
Small Gods is also a fun place to start.

InclinedPlane 13y ago

"Igor" as Dr. Frankenstein's assistant achieved prominence through Bela Lugosi's portrayal of the character "Ygor" in the film "The Ghost of Frankenstein". (No character named "Igor" appears in Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus".) "Igors" are a community of folks within the fictional "Discworld" universe created by author Terry Pratchet. Dr. Frankenstein's assistant is merely a lab assistant. Igors on Discworld are folks who remake themselves by way of transplants, as described in the article.

masklinn 13y ago

> Hmm, I am probably missing something You seem to have never read Pratchett, and should definitely fix that. Pratchett often takes existing tropes, settings, historical and fictional characters, etc… and breaks, rearranges and/or reinvents them to make things more interesting and/or funnier. In this case, he took Shelley's Igor (and hunchbacked assistants of a thousand films of the line) and made him into a clan, all called Igor. They're a clan of assistants, surgeons, bio-engineers and self-improvers, they're patched up because "what goeth around cometh around"[0], and with Igor it's parts. They'll exchange limbs, they'll replace eyes, etc… others and theirs both. They lithp for tradition and people's expectation (some of them regularly forget to lisp, or just can't seem to get the trick right) and have highly apparent stitches as something akin to clan markings (they've got dexterity enough for those not to be needed on patients). The traditional funerals and wake of an Igor consist in other Igor swinging by and leaving with loot bags, with parts of the deceased inside (they'll generally make their parts's destinations known beforehand). [0] the clan's full motto is "What goeth around, cometh around... or thtopth.": they will help anyone anytime at no charge, but if they have helped and provided a new spleen or replacement eyes they will come by and "rummage around" for healthy organs when the person dies. If they are turned around they will not make a fuss, but no Igor will come by the village ever again.