With Nicholas Cage taking on the mantle of Dracula in the Renfield movie, it's safe to say that the Universal Monsters are still as popular now as they were back in the '30s. Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy, and so on have all held a heavy sway on the horror genre since the industry began.
One of the greatest motifs created by classic monster movies is that of the reluctant monster or tragic villain. From ghostly artists to misunderstood creatures of the night, some of the genre's most complex and compelling characters were found in these sympathetic cinematic monsters.
Dr. Henry Jekyll (Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde)
To be clear, it's Jekyll that's truly the suffering party, but it's at the hands of a monster he created. The conflict of man vs. self is a tale as old as time, and there is no finer or more literal example than Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Mr. Hyde is the antithesis of Jekyll in every way. Where Jekyll is pure, Hyde is tainted. Hyde is everything Jekyll is not, every impure action and fiendish thought all made flesh. After a certain point in his experiments, he loses complete control and succumbs to his darker half.
Imhotep/The Mummy (The Mummy)
The gold standard of mummy actor performances has to be the Boris Karloff original, and it's easy to see why. Though he didn't exactly have the most honorable of methods, so many forget that Imhotep's motives are driven by the love of the soul of his dead princess.
Of course, he does venture into the realms of sorcery to accomplish his goal. Meddling with the forces of life and death is never a good idea, but it's not like he was doing it for personal gain. Imhotep is suffering from a broken heart, and in love with a woman beyond his station only to have her torn away by death, which is a scenario that will drive any magician to desperate measures.
Kharis (The Mummy Sequels)
Although Imhotep was the original mummy called forth from beyond the grave, Kharis was the one that took his place in the litany of sequels. Similar to Imhotep, Kharis was also in love with an Egyptian princess, but he was condemned to protect the tomb of his beloved even beyond death.
This condemnation has rendered him into a lumbering, deathless, shambling corpse with no free will of his own. All Kharis knows is to rise, kill, and slumber for movie after movie.
Larry Talbot (The Wolf Man)
Similar to the case of Jekyll and Hyde, Larry Talbot also has a beastly persona lying underneath. However, it's not as articulate or cunning as Edward Hyde but it's just as dangerous. Talbot suffers from a severe case of lycanthropy that renders him into a hideous snarling monster when he steps into the moonlight.
Like Jekyll, and some of the best werewolf movies for that matter, Talbot cannot control his werewolf form, and it often results in the deaths of those close to him. The inability to separate man from the monster is what makes him a tragic figure of classic horror.
Frankenstein’s Monster (The Bride Of Frankenstein)
In the first film, there are glimpses of the Monster's innocence and wish to learn and be loved. In the Universal Monster sequel, Bride of Frankenstein, this is taken even further as the monster learns how to speak and more about human emotions, including love, from a kind elderly blind man.
He might not be the most verbose, but he still has a heart. Rejected by an undead bride made for him, feared, and hated by the world, the monster truly goes through some emotional hurdles throughout his reanimated existence.
Maria Zaleska (Dracula’s Daughter)
As her film might indicate to the more perceptive viewers, Countess Maria Zaleska is the daughter of the infamous Count Dracula in this sequel to the Bela Lugosi original. This monster movie is brilliantly gothic, but it paints the countess not as a bloodthirsty and seductive vampire like her father before her, but as a reluctant creature of the night who laments her vampiric nature.
The film is the only direct sequel to the original Dracula in the Universal Monsters series, and it certainly has that familiar gothic air. The countess wishes to reverse her vampirism and live as a human woman, only to succumb to every typical vampire's fate with a pierced heart and agonistic death.
Quasimodo (The Hunchback Of Notre Dame)
A common theme in many classic monster movies is that of the kind soul living with a misunderstood condition, and Quasimodo of Notre Dame is one of the first examples that many fans think of. Before Disney brought their version to life, Lon Chaney originated the role in the 1923 production in a performance that was equal parts heartbreaking and grotesque.
Although it's a very loose adaptation of Hugo's novel, Quasimodo is still depicted as a suffering character, forced into becoming a pawn for the wicked Jehan (one of this version's imaginings of Frollo). Like in many versions of the story, Quasimodo swings from the cathedral and rescues Esmeralda, but ultimately meets his fate as the bells ring overhead.
The Phantom (The Phantom Of The Opera)
"If I am the Phantom, it is because man's hatred of me has made me so." No words have better described a more sympathetic monster. Whether it's Lon Chaney, Claude Raines, Herbert Lom, or even Gerard Butler, the Phantom of the Opera is one of cinema's most tragic horror characters.
A scarred musician in love with a brilliant young ingénue, Christine Daae, the Phantom lives deep down in the catacombs of the Paris Opera House, scorned by the world for his appearance. Despite his disfigured face, the Opera Ghost is simply a sad, lonely, and confused man who simply longs to be loved.
Gwynplaine (The Man Who Laughs)
While he might bare a striking resemblance to the Joker, there is nothing funny about Gwynplaine from The Man Who Laughs. A circus performer who had his mouth sliced open into a permanent rictus grin, Gwynplaine goes from rags to riches and finds true love in this silent production based on Victor Hugo's novel.
What earns Gwynplaine a mention is simply how graphic and unsettling his permanent grin makes him. The skull-like grin and the black and white cinematography only serve to make the tragic hero leap right off the screen. In spite of his cruel twists of fate, the performer is able to rise from ridicule, serve as a lord, and even run away to England with his true love.
