An illustration by Martin van Maële of the mummy from "Lot No. 249" an 1892 Gothic horror short story by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle.

Mummies are commonly featured in horror genres as undead creatures wrapped in bandages. Similar undead include skeletons and zombies.

History

The mummy genre has its origins in the 19th century when Egypt was being colonized by France and, subsequently, by Victorian Britain. The first living mummies in fiction were mostly female, and they were presented in a romantic and sexual light, often as love interests for the protagonist; this metaphorically represented the sexualized Orientalism and the colonial romanticization of the East. Notable examples of this trend include The Mummy's Foot by Théophile Gautier, The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker, The Ring of Thoth by Arthur Conan Doyle, She: A History of Adventure and Smith and the Pharaohs by H. Rider Haggard, My New Year's Eve Among the Mummies by Grant Allen, The Unseen Man's Story by Julian Hawthorne, and Iras: A Mystery by H. D. Everett; the latter actually has the protagonist marry a mummy which takes on the form of a beautiful woman.[1][2][3]

Starting from the 1930s, the "romantic mummy" was supplanted by the "monster mummy", pioneered by Boris Karloff in the 1932 movie The Mummy; mummies thus joined the pantheon of 19th century Gothic monsters, alongside Count Dracula and Frankenstein's monster.[1]

However, the end of the 20th century saw the revival of interest in the "romantic mummy" archetype, starting with the 1989 novel The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice, which involved a sexual relationship between a benevolent male mummy and a female archaeologist.[1] The trend intensified throughout the late 1990s, the 2000s, and the 2010s: modern works of fiction featuring romanticized living mummies include the 1997 horror fiction novella Don't Tell Mummy by Tom B. Stone,[4] the Inca Mummy Girl episode of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the 2006 fantasy novel Freaks: Alive on the Inside by Annette Curtis Klause, and the 2011 video game The Next Big Thing by Pendulo Studios.[5]

Literature

Television

  • In 1966, Mummy Man was a revived ancient creature that attacked a research facility. His demise led to the summoning of Dodongo in episode 12 of Ultraman.
  • The two 1970-71 TV series Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Groovie Goolies feature a character named Mummy (voiced by Howard Morris impersonating Ed Wynn) who is one of the Groovie Goolies.
  • Robot mummies were featured in the Doctor Who serial Pyramids of Mars (1975), which was influenced by the mummy films from the Hammer Horror series.[7]
  • The 1980 TV series Drak Pack features a super-strong mummy named Mummyman (voiced by Chuck McCann) who is a member of the evil organization OGRE.
  • The 1985 version of Thundercats features a mummified demonic sorcerer named Mumm-Ra (voiced by Earl Hammond and Robin Atkin Downes) as the series' primary antagonist.
  • The 1990 TV series Gravedale High features mummy characters like Cleofatra (voiced by Ricki Lake) and Mr. Tutner (voiced by Tim Curry).
  • In Big Bad Beetleborgs, the character Mums is a mummy that resides at Hillhurst.
  • Mummies Alive!, a 1997 animated series, featured a group of heroic mummies.
  • The anime franchise for Digimon features Mummymon.
  • The main protagonist of the 2003-2008 TV series Tutenstein is a re-awakened mummy.
  • In the Ben 10 franchise, there is a race of alien mummies called Thep Khufans. Ben Tennyson's alien form Snare-oh (originally called Benmummy) is a Thep Khufan.
  • Some Mummy Monsters appeared in Super Sentai:
  • In Ugly Americans, there are mummies living in Manhattan. One Mummy is revealed to be the mother of Francis Grimes as seen in "Mummy Dearest."
  • The Jim Henson Company's "Henson Alternative" banner had different mummy characters:
    • In Late Night Liars, the character William A. Mummy (performed by Brian Clark) is one of the main characters. He is a flamboyant mummy who Shelley Oceans' ex-wife and a parody of Paul Lynde.
    • In No, You Shut Up!, Andy Al-Jizah (also performed by Brian Clark) is a mummy who is the President of the AAMRP (short for American Association of Mummified and/or Retired People).
  • In Jake and the Neverland Pirates, some people believe that the crook and flail has the power to bring mummies to life.
  • The anime series Monster Musume features Mummies where they are depicted as a subspecies of the Zombies. As the desert environments have made their skin dry, the Mummies must take long baths to replenish their fluids and even do this by sucking the life force out of humans to supplement their beauty as a placebo.
  • The TV series OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes features the character Ms. Mummy (voiced by Ashly Burch) who is a regular of the Lake Plaza Turbo where she lives behind "Gar's Hero Supply & Bodega."

Film

During the 20th century, horror films and other mass media popularized the notion of a curse associated with mummies (see Curse of the pharaohs). The 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by archaeologist Howard Carter brought mummies into the mainstream.

Video games

  • In the PlayStation and PC versions of Breakout, a Mummy is the boss of the Egyptian Lair as Bouncer must rescue one of his friends from the Mummy.
  • The Kirby series features the recurring mummy-based enemy Mumbies. It appears to be a floating ball of bandages who follows the player character when he or she looks the opposite direction. The series later has another mummy enemy named Mummbon in Kirby Mass Attack.
  • The Mario franchise has different mummies:
    • The video games Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and Luigi's Mansion 3 have mummies that are enemies. They are depicted as ghosts who are wrapped in mummy tape. The ghost Serpci in Luigi's Mansion 3 is the mummy of an ancient pharaoh.
  • The video game Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker features mummy versions of Toads called Mummy-Me.
  • In the Age of Mythology video games, the Mummies are part of the Egyptian faction's Myth Units and are associated with Osiris.
  • The Warcraft franchise have mummies that are part of the Scourge. These mummies are mummified versions of creatures from other races that are reanimated through necromancy. The Trolls and the nerubians are known to mummify their dead.
  • The video game Moe Chronicle features an unnamed female mummy.
  • In the game MediEvil, mummies are enemies that Sir Dan must kill. In its sequel MediEvil 2, there is a blue-skinned mummy named Princess Kiya who is Dan's love interest.
  • In the fighting game Killer Instinct, there is an immortal mummy named Kan-Ra.
  • The Legend of Zelda features recurrent mummy-like enemies called Gibdo. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess featured an enemy known as a ReDead Knight, which combined features from Gibdo and ReDeads (another undead enemy from the series).
  • Mummified versions of different humanoid races, such as humans, dwarves and elves, appear as enemies in NetHack.
  • In Minecraft, there is a mummy-related zombie known as the "husk".
  • In Heroes of Might and Magic 3, Mummies are neutral creatures.

Games and toys

  • In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, there are Mummies that are undead creatures and sometimes playable characters throughout its editions[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] and come in various types like Bog Mummies, Clay Mummies, Greater Mummies, Hunefers, Ice Mummies, Mummy Lords, and Salt Mummies. They are based on the creature from Gothic fiction, and are a typical denizen of the Ravenloft setting.[24]
  • In the Warhammer tabletop game, the Tomb Kings were the mummified rulers of Nehekhara, the Land of the Dead, who commanded vast armies of skeletons and constructs.
  • Lego is shown to have different Mummy minifigures:
    • Lego Minifigures is shown to have a Mummy as part of its series three. This Mummy later appeared in The Lego Movie. He is among the Master Builders that meet in Cloud Cuckoo Land.
    • Lego Monster Fighters features The Mummy who roams the desert roads of the Monster Realm at night on his chariot pulled by fire-eyed skeleton horse. This Mummy later appeared in The Lego Batman Movie. He alongside Lord Vampyre and the Swamp Creature appear as inmates of the Phantom Zone.
    • Lego Pharaoh's Quest features the Mummy of Amset-Ra, a Mummy Warrior, a Flying Mummy, and a Snake Charmer Mummy. The minifigures for the Mummy of Amset-Ra and a Mummy Warrior have double-sided heads.
  • In the Monster High franchise, Cleo de Nile and Nefera de Nile are known mummies who are the daughters of the mummy Ramses de Nile.
  • In the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline, there is a mummy villain named Wrap Trap who is enthralled to the Evil Horde.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Corriou, Nolwenn (July 21, 2015). "'A Woman is a Woman, if She had been Dead Five Thousand Centuries!': Mummy Fiction, Imperialism and the Politics of Gender". Miranda (11). doi:10.4000/miranda.6899. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  2. ↑ Deane, Bradley (May 29, 2014). Masculinity and the New Imperialism: Rewriting Manhood in British Popular Literature, 1870–1914. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107066076.
  3. ↑ Daly, Nicholas (February 10, 2000). Modernism, Romance and the Fin de Siècle: Popular Fiction and British Culture. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139426039.
  4. ↑ Don't Tell Mummy recap by Point Horror
  5. ↑ Blockfort: Top 10 Best Egyptian Video Game Characters!
  6. ↑ Doyle, Arthur Conan (2010), McGregor, Rafe (ed.), The Conan Doyle Weirdbook, 56 Leyton Road, Birmingham: Theaker's Paperback Library, p. 67, ISBN 978-0-9561533-2-6{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  7. ↑ "Pyramids of Mars". BBC Online. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  8. ↑ catmom-2 (7 May 1999). "The Mummy (1999)". IMDb. Retrieved 22 November 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson. Dungeons & Dragons (3-Volume Set) (TSR, 1974)
  10. ↑ Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977)
  11. ↑ Turnbull, Don (August–September 1978). "Open Box". White Dwarf (8): 16–17.
  12. ↑ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by J. Eric Holmes. Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (TSR, 1977)
  13. ↑ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by Dave Cook. Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set (TSR, 1981)
  14. ↑ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by Frank Mentzer. Dungeons & Dragons Set 2: Expert Rules (TSR, 1983)
  15. ↑ Allston, Aaron, Steven E. Schend, Jon Pickens, and Dori Watry. Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (TSR, 1991)
  16. ↑ Cook, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Volume One (TSR, 1989)
  17. ↑ Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual (TSR, 1993)
  18. ↑ Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)
  19. ↑ Edwards, Terry. "Shrouded In Death: The Ecology of the Mummy." Dragon #300 (Paizo Publishing, 2002)
  20. ↑ Eckelberry, David, Rich Redman, and Jennifer Clarke Wilkes. Savage Species (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)
  21. ↑ Collins, Andy and Bruce R Cordell. Libris Mortis (Wizards of the Coast, 2004)
  22. ↑ Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)
  23. ↑ Perkins, Christopher, Mike Mearls, and Jeremy Crawford. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2014)
  24. ↑ Rangel Jiménez, Mauricio (2021). Lanzando los dados: aproximaciones académicas a los juegos de rol (in Spanish). Universidad Iberoamericana. ISBN 978-607-417-763-3.
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