Trope Transplant (New Crowner 2.12): The Renfield

Guess The Trope: who or what is this Renfield from the trope The Renfield?

Well, he's a minor character from the novel Dracula, but, as the trope points out, he is actually Not An Example in that book. Aside from that, Google shows there's dozens of other, and arguably more well-known, people called Renfield, such as a character from soap series Santa Barbara, a personal assistant of Alice Cooper, a church in the UK, and even a character from Peggle. And, of course, this has the usual issue with Trope Namer Syndrome.

Unsurprisingly, the trope has only 50 inbounds, so the name isn't really working. So I think it's time for a rename.

edited 21st Dec '11 4:30:48 AM by Spark9

Weak Willed Servant

The bigger issue is that the definition of the page has changed. It used to be about vampiric servants. The ones that were humans but submissive to vampires.

If that was the case, it would be the proper terminology. It's what's used by horror writers for the characters. It's even used In-Universe a good chunk of the time. The Anita Blake series is one of them that calls them Renfields. The only other commonly used term for that character type is ghoul.

It looks like at some point someone broadened it and lost the trope so the name doesn't work any more. Do we still have the other trope?

That would be Our Ghouls Are Creepier, I think.

The Dresden Files also names the trope "Renfields"

Nope, that one is about the monster ghoul. Not the human magically bound to a vampire ghoul.

Yes, that trope should have this name. This trope which is just any weak willed servant, should not have this name.

edited 21st Dec '11 9:50:39 AM by shimaspawn

So, another Missing Supertrope?

No, there isn't actually a supertrope. Not all Renfields are weak willed. It's more of someone badly redefined a trope at some point to another valid trope that didn't have much to do with the name.

What shimaspawn said. Basically someone just messed it up. Course of action would probably be to fix this one back to the original meaning and YKTTW the definition it has now under a new name.

Wait a sec - even if this trope is supposed to be something else, then it's still named after an obscure old character that fails the One Mario Limit. It would be better named as The Ghoul or something like that.

I'd expect The Ghoul to be about Ghouls. (As in the mythical kind. Ie: graveyard-living, human flesh eating undead.)

As pointed out, "Renfield" used a term to refer to a vampire's human servant is not unique to us.

edited 21st Dec '11 4:26:46 PM by Ghilz

I've never actually heard them called 'ghouls' unless they were undead zombie-like servants, whereas The Renfield is human and alive.

Shima said they were also called ghouls, up in post #2.

It has been asserted that it's an established term, but it would help if people show some evidence thereof.

Read me and Shima's posts. We both pointed to works who do. If you don't believe us, Pick up the books. Read them. Then come back.

edited 21st Dec '11 4:56:46 PM by Ghilz

We have shown evidence, I can back Shima up in saying that these are called Renfields in Anita Blake, also the manga Blood Alone uses it for the same thing, and someone also mentioned that The Dresden Files also use it that way.

I know what shima said, and I'm disagreeing there on the ghouls thing. I've only ever heard the word 'ghouls' refer to something undead. Renfields are human, sometimes they get special powers given to them by the vampires they serve, but they are still human, not undead.

edited 21st Dec '11 4:57:27 PM by NoirGrimoir

The only work that uses ghoul is Vampire The Masquerade and it's reboot Vampire The Requiem. Everywhere else they're called Renfields if they're called anything at all. Why that was the term people settled on, I don't know. Anita Blake and the Dresden Files are two that I know off the top of my head use the term for certain.

Only work I know that calls them Ghouls is World Of Darkness. and even there, Ghouls are no longer human followers, but humans who have been fed vampire blood.

^Vampire The Masquerade Ghouls aren't really humans though. Kind of like Human+

edited 21st Dec '11 4:59:36 PM by Ghilz

I know the Hellsing manga calls them ghouls, but they're undead, not alive.

edited 21st Dec '11 5:03:01 PM by NoirGrimoir

Hellsing isn't talking about Renfields. Hellsing has traditional ghouls. They just work for vampires.

Yeah, basically.

While there may be a case against this being a character-named trope, I have to disagree that it's all that obscure, Fan Myopia be damned.

Salems Lot also uses the term Renfield when it refers to a human servant of the main vampire. 'So and so is his Renfield.' Can't remember the guy's name.

Even if this is an established term for vampire henchmen in the genre, though, the trope is broader then that.

It's not supposed to be though. Unless you mean it could be the slavish servant of just some normal guy.

The trope wasn't originally, though, that's the point.