Dr. Herbert West is the main character in H. P. Lovecraft’s short story "Herbert West--Reanimator" as well as the Re-Animator series of films and comics.
Appearance[]
Herbert West is 'a small, slender, spectacled youth with delicate features, yellow hair, pale blue eyes, and a soft voice'. He is a highly intelligent, unconventional and ruthless man. (HPL: "Herbert West--Reanimator") According to more recent accounts, he has brown hair. (EXP: Re-Animator)
History[]
Lovecraft's Work[]
West is a scientist who creates a formula capable of animating unliving bodies, although his ultimate aim is to bring living creatures back to life, complete with all of their faculties.
Expanded Mythos Works[]
"Atonement"[]
Ron Shiflet's tale "Atonement" sees West survive the events of Lovecraft's story and set up shop to continue his experiments in small-town Illinois. Although once again dragged off by his creations, the ending is left, like the original, somewhat ambiguous.
Feeders from Within[]
In Peter J. Evans' novel Feeders from Within, West unexpectedly appears at Arkham Asylum and conducts an unspecified procedure on recently-admitted inmate Diana Stanley; this results in her developing a multiple-personality disorder.
Alan Moore's Providence[]
In this account, he is the literary equivalent of Dr. Hector North, in a gay couple with James Montague. (Providence)
Reanimator franchise[]
In the Reanimator franchise, he is an acquaintance of Dr. Daniel Cain and is portrayed by Jeffrey Combs in a modern setting. (Re-Animator, Bride of Re-Animator, Beyond Re-Animator)
Demonbane franchise[]
In the Demonbane franchise, Doctor West is a guitar-wielding mad scientist who is a member of the Black Lodge. He primarily creates Destroyer Robots to attack Arkham city and tries to collect the missing pages of Al Azif for his leader Master Therion. However, Doctor West eventually leaves the Black Lodge and fights against them after he was offended by them trying to use the power of Cthulhu to take over the world instead of his inventions. After the death of Al Azif, Doctor West reprogrammed Demonbane to be able to function without a grimoire, with his robot girl Elsa being Daijūji Kurou's new copilot until Al Azif's resurrection.
"The Thing from the Trenches"[]
Robert M. Price's short story "The Thing from the Trenches" describes an incident during West's time serving on the Western Front with the narrator. The two unsuccessfully experiment with building a conglomerate warrior from the remains of a French and a German soldier.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Herbert West/Gallery