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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (character)

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Dr. Henry Jekyll
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde characters
Created byRobert Louis Stevenson
In-universe information
NicknameEdward Hyde (or Mr. Hyde or Hyde)
GenderMale

Dr. Henry Jekyll and his alternative personality, Mr. Edward Hyde, is a fictional character in Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Fictional character biography

Dr. Henry Jekyll is a "large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty with something of a slyish cast", who occasionally feels he is battling between the good and evil within himself, thus leading to the struggle between his dual personalities of Jekyll and Edward Hyde. He has spent a great part of his life trying to repress evil urges that were not fitting for a man of his stature. He creates a serum, or potion, in an attempt to mask this hidden evil within his personality. However, in doing so, Jekyll transforms into Mr. Hyde, a hideous, evil creature without compassion or remorse. Jekyll has many friends and has a friendly personality, but as Hyde, he becomes mysterious and violent. As time goes by, Hyde grows in power. After taking the potion repetitively, he no longer relies upon it to unleash his inner demon i.e., his alter ego. Eventually, Hyde grows to be stronger than Jekyll.

Stevenson never says exactly what Hyde takes pleasure in on his nightly forays, generally saying that it is something of an evil and lustful nature. Thus, in the context of the times, it is abhorrent to Victorian religious morality. Hyde may have been reveling in activities that were not appropriate to a man of Jekyll's stature, such as engaging with prostitutes or burglary. However, it is Hyde's violent activities that seem to give him the most thrills, driving him to attack and murder Sir Danvers Carew without apparent reason, making him a hunted outlaw throughout England.

A lawyer named Gabriel Utterson and Dr. Jekyll's butler Mr. Poole end up breaking into Dr. Jekyll's lab. Inside, they find the body of Hyde wearing Jekyll's clothes and apparently dead from suicide. They find also a letter from Jekyll to Utterson promising to explain the entire mystery. Utterson takes the document home where he first reads Lanyon’s letter and then Jekyll's. The first reveals that Lanyon’s deterioration and eventual death resulted from the shock of seeing Mr. Hyde drinking a serum or potion and as a result of doing so, turning into Dr. Jekyll. The second letter explains that Jekyll, having previously indulged unstated vices (and with it the fear that discovery would lead to his losing his social position) found a way to transform himself and thereby indulge his vices without fear of detection. But Dr. Jekyll's transformed personality Mr. Hyde was effectively a sociopath — evil, self-indulgent, and utterly uncaring to anyone but himself. Initially, Jekyll was able to control the transformations, but eventually he would become Hyde involuntarily in his sleep.

At this point, Dr. Jekyll resolved to cease becoming Mr. Hyde. One night, however, the urge gripped him too strongly, and after the transformation he immediately rushed out and violently killed Sir Danvers Carew. Horrified, Dr. Jekyll tried more adamantly to stop the transformations, and for a time he proved successful by engaging in philanthropic work. One day, at a park, he considered how good a person that he had become as a result of his deeds (in comparison to others), believing himself redeemed. However, before he completed his line of thought, he looked down at his hands and realized that he had suddenly transformed once again into Mr. Hyde. This was the first time that an involuntary metamorphosis had happened in waking hours. Far from his laboratory and hunted by the police as a murderer, Mr. Hyde needed help to avoid being caught. He wrote to Lanyon (in Dr. Jekyll's hand), asking his friend to retrieve the contents of a cabinet in his laboratory and to meet him at midnight at Hastie Lanyon's home in Cavendish Square. In Lanyon's presence, Mr. Hyde mixed the potion and transformed back to Dr. Jekyll. The shock of the sight instigated Lanyon's deterioration and death. Meanwhile, Jekyll returned to his home only to find himself ever more helpless and trapped as the transformations increased in frequency and necessitated even larger doses of potion in order to reverse them. It was the onset of one of these spontaneous metamorphoses that caused Dr. Jekyll to slam his laboratory window shut in the middle of his conversation with Enfield and Utterson.

Eventually, the stock of ingredients from which Dr. Jekyll had been preparing the potion ran low, and subsequent batches prepared by Dr. Jekyll from renewed stocks failed to produce the transformation. Dr. Jekyll speculated that the one essential ingredient that made the original potion work (a salt) must have itself been contaminated. After sending Poole to one chemist after another to purchase the salt that was running low only to find it wouldn't work, he assumed that subsequent supplies all lacked the essential ingredient that made the potion successful for his experiments. His ability to change back from Mr. Hyde into Dr. Jekyll had slowly vanished in consequence. Jekyll wrote that even as he composed his letter, he knew that he would soon become Mr. Hyde permanently, having used the last of this salt and he wondered if Mr. Hyde would face execution for his crimes or choose to kill himself. Jekyll noted that, in either case, the end of his letter marked the end of the life of Dr. Jekyll. He ended the letter saying "I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end". With these words, both the document and the novella come to a close.

The original pronunciation of Jekyll was "Jeekul" which was the pronunciation used in Stevenson's native Scotland. This is also the pronunciation of Gertrude Jekyll.

Other versions

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume One and Volume II by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, Henry Jekyll is a scientist who is the lesser half of Edward Hyde and member of the Victorian League. During the Martian invasion, he developed a strong respect for Mina Murray and sacrificed himself to stop Martian tripods from crossing London Bridge. His self-sacrifice was honored in having Serpentine Park named into Hyde Park and a statue of Mr. Hyde is seen in the park in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier and throughout The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century. This incarnation of Jekyll and Hyde imagines that eventually Jekyll found that he would transform into Hyde under stress, much like Bruce Banner and the Hulk from Marvel Comics, and that Hyde had become progressively taller than Jekyll while Jekyll became shorter.

Adaptions

While there are adaptions of the book series, the section depicts the different portrayals in different media appearances:

Television

  • Dr. Jekyll appeared in some of Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts.
    • In Hyde and Hare, Dr. Jekyll (voiced by Mel Blanc) brings Bugs Bunny to his apartment. When Dr. Jekyll drinks his formula, he becomes Mr. Hyde who is depicted with green skin and red eyes. Around the end of the cartoon, Bugs Bunny drinks the formula and starts to turn into a Hyde-like rabbit.
    • In Hyde and Go Tweet, Dr. Jekyll drinks a formula that turns himself into Mr. Hyde with the commotion waking Sylvester up until he sees Dr. Jekyll back to his normal self. Tweety later exposes himself to Dr. Jekyll's formula where he becomes a Hyde-like canary.
    • The episode Dr. Jerkyl's Hide features Sylvester turning into a Hyde-like cat upon ingesting the formula which he mistook for soda pop where he attacks Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier.
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in "CBS's live CLIMAX!" drama episode "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde". Hosted by Bill Lundigan, this episode was originally aired on 28 July 1955 (Season 1 Episode 34). The story was adapted for television by Gore Vidal.[1]
  • The Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Enemy With" explores the age old inner conflict between good and evil within one man. In this episode Captain Kirk is duplicated by a transporter beam accident thus creating the dual personalities without developing rather than a medical serum for the plot device. Upon arrival on the ship, a good but passive captain, practically incapable of being dominant and thus commanding as a captain must be is assumed by all to be the only Captain Kirk. Shortly thereafter, his evil or 'other' duplicate arrives seeking pleasure, drink, women, and command. The duality of each captain, one displaying excessive passivity and the other extreme violence, will ultimately end in the destruction of each unless they are reintegrated into one captain. In the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde the Victorian era exploration of Christianity's inner conflict of good and evil results in Dr. Jekyll succumbing to man's inner evil and becoming Mr. Hyde in the end. In Star Trek's Enemy Within retelling, it is the negative or evil side that is portrayed as the source of strength and leadership necessary for effective command. By combining the positive aspects of man's dual inner nature, a holistic view of the future is presented that draws on man's deep past as written in the Book of Job.
  • In the Scooby-Doo, Where are You! episode "Nowhere to Hyde," it features the Ghost of Mr. Hyde who is committing jewelry store robberies and one of the suspects is a descendant of Dr. Jekyll. The Ghost of Mr. Hyde later made a cameo in Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King as a patron in a monster bar.
  • In the Dynomutt, Dog Wonder episode "Nowhere to Hyde," the criminal Willie the Weasel (voiced by Henry Corden) creates a similar formula (which is related to Dr. Jekyll's formula) that turns him into Mr. Hyde.
  • In the Gravedale High episode "Fear of Flying," there is a medical version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (voiced by Frank Welker) that works as a doctor for the monsters. Mr. Hyde serves as Dr. Jekyll's "partner" where Dr. Jekyll would turn into him for any second opinions of anyone's medical problems.
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in the Animaniacs episode "Brain Meets Brawn" voiced by Jeff Bennett. Dr. Jekyll was seen taking a serum that turns him into Mr. Hyde where is then attacked by the police. They take a break in the conflict when tea time occurs. Afterwards, the police subdue Mr. Hyde and take him away to the police station. Dr. Jekyll's serum inspires brain to take it so that he can break Big Ben in this monster form whenever Brian gets angered.
  • The 2007 TV serial Jekyll aired in the UK from 16 June 2007 where it starred James Nesbitt as Tom Jackman, a modern Jekyll whose Hyde persona wreaks havoc in modern London.
  • NBC's Do No Harm is a modern retelling of the Jekyll and Hyde story featuring a renamed Jekyll-like character named Dr. Jason Cole (played by Steven Pasquale) trying to stop his drug-addicted, sociopathic, Hyde-like counterpart named Ian Price from ruining his professional and private life. Unlike the original story, the main character is a highly respected neurosurgeon who is able to keep his alter-ego in check through the use of an experimental sedative. Also, Jason suffers from dissociative identity disorder instead of developing a serum that separates the good and evil in a person.
  • The Phineas and Ferb episode "The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein" features the villain Dr. Jekyll Doofenshmirtz drinking a potion to turn himself into a monster.
  • The Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero episode "Rip-Penn" features Penn as Dr. Barzelby (inspired by Dr. Jekyll) who accidentally drinks a potion that turns him into a monster version of Penn's nemesis Rippen.
  • SBS (Korea) TV series "Hyde, Jekyll, Me" portrays a man, Goo Seo Jin, who is in line as a successor of the conglomerate group his family owns but has dissociative identity disorder. His other personality, Robin, is the opposite of his usual cold, cynical self; Robin is kind, gentle and has a savior complex.

Film

  • John Barrymore played Jekyll and Hyde in the 1920 silent movie adaptation of the novel.
  • Fredric March played Jekyll and Hyde in the 1931 film adaptation of the novel, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
  • Spencer Tracy played Jekyll and Hyde in the 1941 film adaptation of the novel.
  • John Malkovich played Jekyll and Hyde in the 1996 film adaption of the novel, "Mary Reilly."
  • John Hannah played Jekyll and Hyde in the 2003 film adaptation of the novel.
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde played by Boris Karloff.
  • In the Hammer Horror film, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Dr. Jekyll (Ralph Bates), rather than transforming into an ugly, deformed monster, transforms into a beautiful yet malicious femme fatale (Martin Beswick).
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in Mad Monster Party? voiced by Allen Swift. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear as guests at a party thrown by Baron Boris von Frankenstein at his castle on the Isle of Evil. Dr. Jekyll keeps his elixir in his cane whenever he wants to turn into Mr. Hyde. Also, Dr. Jekyll's cane doubles as an umbrella as seen when Mr. Hyde uses it to keep the sleeping Creature from spewing water onto him at night.
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in Mad Mad Mad Monsters (a "prequel of sorts" of Mad Monster Party?) voiced again by Allen Swift. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are among the monsters invited by Baron Henry von Frankenstein to attend the wedding of Frankenstein's Monster and its mate at the Transylvania Astoria Hotel.
  • Mr. Hyde appears in The Nightmare Before Christmas voiced by Randy Crenshaw. Mr. Hyde appears as one of the citizens of Halloween Town. Only seen in his "Hyde" form, he keeps two smaller versions of himself underneath his hat.
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in The Pagemaster voiced by Leonard Nimoy.
  • The film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (adapted from Alan Moore's comic book series) features Jason Flemyng as both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (the latter using prosthetic makeup). Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are employed by The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to combat The Fantom.
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in Van Helsing with Dr. Jekyll portrayed by Stephen Fisher while Robbie Coltrane provides the voice of the CGI animated Mr. Hyde. Like the version that was seen in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Mr. Hyde is also portrayed as a large, hulking brute. Van Helsing has pursued Hyde to Paris, France after having failed to capture him in an earlier confrontation in London, England. He is superhumanly strong and displays agility comparable to that of a great ape. While not invulnerable, he's extremely tough and sustains severe injuries that ultimately do little to impede or slow him down to any appreciable degree. Upon exchanging banter, they begin fighting in the bell tower of Notre Dame Cathedral with Van Helsing initially gaining the advantage by severing Hyde's left arm at the biceps, which regresses to a normal form after landing on the floor. Hyde rallies and assaults Van Helsing, using his right arm to hurl him through the roof of the cathedral. He then gloats before tossing Van Helsing off the roof only for Van Helsing to fire a grappling gun that sends the hook & line through the center of Hyde's body, which Van Helsing uses to stop his fall. He attempts to pull Hyde off the roof, only for Hyde to begin pulling him upward, seemingly unfazed by the large hole in his body. Hyde trips over the edge of the roof, his falling weight pulling Van Helsing up to the roof before the line breaks. As it breaks, the momentum swings Hyde through the Rose Window of the cathedral and, while he falls, Hyde transforms back into the form of Henry Jekyll and dies from the fall. A police officer spots Van Helsing on top of the cathedral and holds him accountable for Dr. Jekyll's death. The novelization of the film portrays Hyde as not only a murderer, but a cannibal as well. The novel says the body of the murdered woman Van Helsing discovers on the streets of Paris as partially devoured while the same scene in the film shows the woman's body intact. However, the film does suggest that Hyde is cannibalistic when he encounters Van Helsing in Notre Dame and tells him "You're a big one. You'll be hard to digest."
  • A creature that might be Mr. Hyde appears in Hotel Transylvania. He is seen around the end of the movie when everyone is singing "The Zing".
  • The Dynomutt version of Mr. Hyde appeared in Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon voiced by John DiMaggio.

Comics

Music

Miscellaneous

  • The Lego Minifigures theme has a character in Series 9 named Mr. Good and Evil who is based on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
  • In Monster High, there are characters named Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde who are the sons of Dr. Jekyll. They are voiced by Cindy Robinson in the webisodes and TV specials.
  • In Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Blue & Silver, a light novel series based on the original drafts of Fate/stay night, Dr. Jekyll appears as the Servant of the Berserker class, portrayed as a gentle and good looking young man. His Noble Phantasm allows him to transform into Mr. Hyde.

References

  1. ^ "Climax - Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1955)". Retrieved 31 January 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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