Penny Dreadful: Every Monster In The Original Series – Screen Rant

The original Penny Dreadful series had many monsters, and often blurred the lines of good and evil by placing its characters in a constant battle between temptation and redemption. This horror series adapted gothic and Victorian tales, bringing back to the screen characters of the era such as Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and even the seductive Dorian Gray. The show also offered new dimensions to these famous creatures, and, although its series finale was controversial, it remains one of the best examples of how to modernize classic horror stories.

Created in 2014 by John Logan, who worked as a writer on Oscar-nominated projects such as Gladiator and The Aviator, Penny Dreadful was a stylish, dark, and occasionally over-the-top show. It ran for three seasons on Showtime, and later inspired the spinoff Penny Dreadful: City of Angels and a comic book series that continues the story after the original ending. With the right mix of Victorian gothic and modern sensibilities, it tackled the occult and supernatural without falling into clichs and maintained multifaceted storylines.

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In Penny Dreadful, not all monsters are monstrous, and humans are just as capable of evil. While Eva Green as Vanessa Ives was the highlight of the show, the rest of the cast was just as intriguing and complex. For three seasons, these flawed supernatural creatures fought against vampires, demons, and, ultimately, themselves. The show is, without a doubt, full of monsters, but sometimes true terror comes from within. Here are all the monsters and creatures featured in the original Penny Dreadful.

Witches on the show fall into two categories: daywalkers or nightcomers. Daywalkers are witches who use magic to stop evil and protect humanity. They can divine the future, use their knowledge of herbs for medicine, channel spirits and banish demons and nightwalkers. Vanessa Ives trained with a daywalker, the Cut-Wife (Patti LuPone), becoming incredibly powerful in the process. Daywalkers also know the Verbis Diablo, or the Devils tongue, but use the language to fight against fallen angels and demons.

Meanwhile, nightcomers are witches who fell and became servants of the Devil and other Dark Gods. Because of their connection with evil, they are bald, their bodies are covered in scars, and their eyes are yellow. However, they have the power to transform back into their human forms to blend in with normal society. Along with their daywalker abilities, they can also move objects with their minds and blend in with their surroundings. They are terrifying opponents and relentless in their pursuit of Vanessa, with Madame Kali as their coven leader in season 2. Madame Kali is also a necromancer, performing ritual human sacrifices to keep her powers and longevity.

Unlike zombies, Penny Dreadfuls reanimated humans are not mindless or cannibalistic. Instead, they are a creation of Dr. Frankensteins scientific research. In the show, Frankenstein created three "monsters" with his first being Caliban (Rory Kinnear), then Proteus, and finally Lily. Before they were brought back by the doctor, these dying humans were chosen for his experiments. The process of reanimation was not perfect, and Frankensteins creations suffered from varying degrees of memory loss and psychotic breaks. This was especially true for Caliban, who was built from various body parts and woke up in a rage, most likely fueled by incredible physical pain. Awoken without any memories and incapable of fitting in with the society of his time, he turned bitter.

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Reanimated humans are immortal, have enhanced strength, and can survive most wounds, but can be killed with a bullet to the brain. Their bodies are also extremely cold. Due to mood swings, they can turn dangerous and unpredictable, unleashing their rage on the living. For example, Frankensteins third creation, Lily (Billie Piper), brutally killed unfaithful men, and Caliban was prone to fits of rage when rejected. Their violent tendencies might be a consequence of the reanimation process, although Proteus didnt manifest them.

The first vampire was a fallen angel and Lucifers brother. Cast out of Heaven and sent to Earth, Dracula was cursed to feed on the blood of the living. He then began to create other vampires, who also infected more people. Vampires are attracted by death, and appear to move in small packs, with a master guiding its creations. They are nocturnal, but its unclear if sunlight hurts them or if they avoid the day to remain hidden from humans.

The older they get, the less human they appear the oldest vampires have a thick exoskeleton, blood-shot red eyes, mouths full of sharp fangs, and clawed hands. Dracula seems to be the exception, as he can hide his true form and walk in the sunlight. Overall, vampires have incredible strength, endurance, and speed. Not only immortal, they are also capable of turning humans into enslaved familiars, making them addicted to blood and completely mind-controlled by their masters. The only way to kill a vampire is to either wound their head or heart, but the crucifix does repel them.

Much like the classic version of this creature, Penny Dreadfuls werewolves transform during the full moon and lose total control of themselves. Animalistic in their behavior, they can slaughter anyone indiscriminately. When transformed, however, they dont entirely turn into wolves and retain most of their human features while gaining wolf-like ears, claws, and fangs. These hybrids have incredible strength, agility, and resistance, with silver weapons being one of the few ways to injury them. Their claws can rip flesh, and their canine fangs are capable of crushing bones.

Related: Penny Dreadful: Why City Of Angels' Setting Change Was A Good Decision

The show doesnt elaborate on how someone can become a werewolf, but its implied to be something involving blood transfusion. Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett), the shows main werewolf character, refuses to give blood to others for this reason. Ethan is also known as the Lupus Dei, or Wolf of God, and the only one capable of stopping Dracula, but its unclear if this title couldve been given to any lycanthrope. Apart from Ethan, the only other werewolf character introduced was Ethans creator and surrogate father, Kaetenay (Wes Studi).

Demons in Penny Dreadful were originally angels, but cast out of Heaven for rebelling against God. Although they cant force humans to do their will, they can tempt, trick, and manipulate people into being possessed. Those chosen by demons are haunted by visions and bombarded by temptations until they finally give in. Possession is not a permanent state, but is triggered by sin, especially sexual behavior. Those possessed by demons have flashing milky-white eyes, display incredible strength and agility, can manipulate objects with their minds and levitate. Even without a human host, demons can turn invisible, manipulate fire, shapeshift, and read a persons soul to learn their sins and regrets. An exorcism is required to free a human from demonic possession, but the process is arduous and painful for the host.

A demon is a vengeful, hateful creature that wants to destroy humanity and seeks revenge for being thrown out of Heaven. The most infamous demonic being in the show was Lucifer, the first fallen angel and leader of the nightcomers. His goal was to possess Vanessa and use her powers to invade and conquer Heaven. While he was never fully shown physically in the show, his dark influence was constant and overwhelming, especially in the first season. He was responsible for many of the events that led to Vanessas eventual isolation and possession inPenny Dreadful.

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Priscila Santa Rosa is an avid TV and movie fan. She covers entertainment news.

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Penny Dreadful: Every Monster In The Original Series - Screen Rant

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