Frankenstein vs. The Wolfman: Who Would Win (& Why)

Frankenstein and The Wolf Man have met on the big screen once before in Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943), but the fight between the two of them, for the most part, didn’t declare a clear winner.

Given the resurrection of Universal’s “dark universe”, modern audiences will soon see these beloved monsters on the big screen once more. Since they all exist in the same world, it would be very possible to, at some point, explore actual crossovers as has been done in the past with the franchise. With the popularity of crossover films like Freddy vs. Jason and ensemble films like Infinity War, these crossovers could do really well and fans typically possess some sort of interest in exploring which of their favorite characters would best each other in a fight to the death.

Frankenstein vs The Wolf Man has been a popular idea before, most recently being used as a theme maze at the Hollywood Horror Nights and Halloween Horror Nights celebrations at Universal Studios in both Hollywood, California and Orlando, Florida. The concept was executed incredibly, but again, no clear victor was declared. So, in a grudge match between Frankenstein and The Wolf Man, who would win?

Frankenstein: Powers And Abilities

Frankenstein was originated in the novel of the same name in 1818 by Mary Shelley. His character was named after his creator, Dr. Victor Frankenstein and was given the title of “Frankenstein’s monster”. Dr. Frankenstein was an ambitious medical student who was trying to figure out how to reanimate the dead. The doctor’s mysterious lab employed a dubious mix of chemistry and alchemy to perform his experiments, so the secret to Frankenstein’s birth is unknown, leaving his general powers and abilities slightly vague. The final ingredient that brought him to life was when he was struck with lightning during a massive thunderstorm.

His reanimated status allows for him to be hardy and difficult to kill. Longevity wise, Frankenstein is immortal. He is composed of different human body parts, and it could be argued that, based on his composition, these parts would be susceptible to physical damage, though would still prove difficult due to his superhuman strength and durability. Frankenstein also possesses an incredible capacity for intelligence, which he demonstrated in the novel when he learned two languages fluently and could read and write at the age of six weeks. The novel also addresses that he’s remarkably agile for his size and faster than a normal human, possessing the ability to swim the English Channel. His senses are keener than a human’s. Also, while he does have some regenerative ability, it is slower. For example, if he was shot by a gun, he could heal on his own, but it would take weeks without medical attention.

The Wolf Man: Powers And Abilities

The Wolf Man is based off werewolf tales of old, where a scratch or bite from a wolf can turn a man into a blend of human and wolf that is controlled by the full moon. The original film follows Larry Talbot, who gets bitten during an unexpected attack. Prior to this, Talbot obtained a walking stick with a decorative silver head from an antique shop, and learns about werewolves from his love interest, Gwen. After his attack, Talbot seeks out answers from a gypsy fortune teller when he suspects the folklore may be real, and learns that the wolf who attacked him was, in a fact, a werewolf and the gypsy woman’s son.

Traditionally, werewolves have the obvious animal instincts associated with wolves: keen senses, speed, the ability to hunt and track, and sharp teeth and claws. Werewolves add to these abilities by bestowing the cursed with beyond average strength and speed, stronger than man and wolf. They are also more resilient than traditional wolves, being able to regenerate quickly from injury so long as they aren’t done with silver, as this will injure them greatly and has the potential to kill when done so in a fatal blow. In the original film, he was killed with his walking stick. Since wolves are cursed by the full moon, once they’ve transformed, they lack the humanity they have the rest of the time, and the animal instincts take over. This is why, typically speaking, those afflicted hate being werewolves because they typically have no memory of what happened while they were a wolf.

And The Winner Is…

The ending of Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man was actually considered to be weak because it didn’t declare a victor. A reviewer from The New York Times said that the film was “a great disappointment” since the fight was done sort of as an afterthought and had no conclusion. He also suggested that Universal should consider this mash-up again in the future. Given the statistics on both monsters, The Wolf Man is the winner, but situationally, this fight could go either way. Overall, the werewolf’s primary advantage over Frankenstein’s monster is that he possesses animal instincts that would aid him and allow him to attack with abandon, where Frankenstein has humanity, reason, and would certainly defend himself against a creature, but might not be as aggressive in the fight.

Also, Frankenstein is composed of human parts, and since he was stitched together, the Wolf Man’s teeth and claws could likely shred him with relative ease. Frankenstein could kill the Wolf Man if he had the proper tools for the job, which, given his intelligence, he could obtain and use, but if he was unprepared for the fight, it wouldn’t go in his favor.

About The Author

Jack Wilhelmi
(581 Articles Published)

Jack Wilhelmi is the horror features editor at Screen Rant, and has been with the site since 2019. He is a lifelong fan of the horror genre, and loves any excuse to discuss genre-related topics, since none of his friends dare challenge him in horror trivia. He has been published on the independent horror blog Morbidly Beautiful, and has covered major genre film festivals such as Cinepocalypse in Chicago. He has also served as a judge for the Ax Wound Film Festival.

In his free time, he is a devoted dog dad to a high-spirited rescue pup named Peter Quill and enjoys volunteering with various animal rescue organizations. Jack likes to travel and explore dark tourism-related and other various haunted locations. He enjoys studying psychology, the paranormal, and will watch literally any schlocky B-movie on the planet for a laugh.

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