The trope of using "Franken-" as a prefix to any other word, to indicate an unnatural abomination of the same. Particularly (but not always) one that involves re-animation of dead X, recycling of body parts from dead X, or combining parts of X and Y in a way that is considered wrong. May imply
Science Is Bad.
Some blame the creators of the work for not realizing (
I Am Not Shazam) that
Frankenstein is the name of the creator/scientist who created the monster, said monster's name being Adam. Others see "
Franken X" as meaning X combined in a manner like that used by Frankenstein.
No, this trope does not mean that "Frankenstein" is actually an unnatural abomination of lidded drink mugs.
Examples:
- The very early Tim Burton film Frankenweenie
- Frankenhooker
- "Frankenfood", a term used to describe genetically modified food. Guess which side of the debate coined it.
- Franken Fran
- The Sponge Bob Square Pants episode "Frankendoodle" (although the character it refers to is called "DoodleBob").
- Franken Fish from the Sci Fi Channel.
- Frankenstrat, Eddie Van Halen's custom-made guitar.
- Limone's sewn-together plush in Simoun earned the Fan Nickname "Frankenplush" for its appearance.
- Dr. Frank-N-Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a rare case that avoids I Am Not Shazam. Frank is the mad scientist, Rocky Horror is his creation.
- Veggie Tales once featured a horror movie called "Franken-Celery" that caused Jr. Asparagus to lose sleep.
- Frankenchokey in Invader Zim, although only briefly mentioned in passing. The Paranormal Investigator Dib was paired with for Career Day claimed he was "a real Franken-thingie."
- Frankenbike: a bicycle constructed from found and/or scavenged parts mainly so one has something to ride.
- Frankenputer: similar to Frankenbike, a computer made up of spare parts from dead computers and/or leftovers from upgrades of other computers. Often found in a Hacker Cave.
- Frankentetris: nickname for Tetris: The Grand Master ACE, whose rules are a mix of traditional TGM rules and the Super Rotation System rules that TGM fans consider to be Executive Meddling.
- FrankenBill. A mixture of Frank and Bill found in the zombie island DLC.
- Mikey calls Baxter Stockman "Dr. Stockman-stein" after seeing his attempt to reassemble himself.
- Franken-Castle. That is, until he was resurrected, after all, Status Quo Is God.
- The Dead Kennedys album Frankenchrist.
- The Angry Video Game Nerd once created Frankennerd for a Halloween Special. Eventually, the shitty games made him go crazy.
- Frankengirl, Justin Russo's self-built robot roommate.
- Frankenbite: a sound bite created through Quote Mining.
