Editing Homunculus (section)

==In popular culture==
{{Further|Alchemy in art and entertainment}}

===Early literature===
[[File:Faust image 19thcentury.jpg|thumb|upright|19th-century engraving of Wagner and Homunculus from Goethe's ''Faust II'']]
Homunculi can be found in centuries worth of literature. These fictions are primarily centred around imaginative speculations on the quest for artificial life associated with [[Paracelsianism|Paracelsian]] alchemy. One of the very earliest literary references occurs in [[Thomas Browne]]'s ''[[Religio Medici]]'' (1643), in which the author states:
{{blockquote|I am not of Paracelsus minde that boldly delivers a receipt to make a man without conjunction,&nbsp;...<ref>Thomas Browne. ''Religio Medici''. 1643. Part&nbsp;1: 35</ref>}}
The fable of the alchemically-created homunculus may have been central in [[Mary Shelley]]'s novel ''[[Frankenstein]]'' (1818). Professor [[Radu Florescu]] suggests that [[Johann Konrad Dippel]], an alchemist born in [[Frankenstein Castle]], might have been the inspiration for Victor Frankenstein. German playwright [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]'s ''[[Faust, Part Two]]'' (1832) famously features an alchemically-created homunculus.<ref>See ''Poet lore; a quarterly of world literature'' 1889 p. 269ff [https://archive.org/stream/poetlorequarterl13bost#page/268/mode/2up  ''A Faust Problem: What was the Homunculus?''] and Faust by Goethe [https://archive.org/stream/fausttragedytran00goetuoft#page/352/mode/2up/search/Homunculus Faust p. 350ff]</ref> Here, the character of Homunculus embodies the quest of a pure spirit to be born into a mortal form, contrasting Faust's desire to shed his mortal body to become pure spirit. The alchemical idea that the soul is not imprisoned in the body, but instead may find its brightest state as it passes through the material plane, is central to the character.<ref>{{cite journal|last = Latimer|first = Dan|title = Homunculus as Symbol: Semantic and Dramatic Functions of the Figure in Goethe's Faust|publisher = The Johns Hopkins University Press|journal = MLN|volume = 89|issue = 5|year = 1974|pages=814|doi=10.2307/2907086|jstor = 2907086}}</ref>
[[William Makepeace Thackeray]] wrote under the pen name of Homunculus.<ref>[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011984771 John Bull and his wonderful lamp: a new reading of an old tale] by Homunculus.</ref>

===Contemporary literature===
The homunculus legend, ''Frankenstein'' and ''Faust'' have continued to influence works in the twentieth and twenty-first century.  The theme has been used not only in [[fantasy literature]], but also to illuminate social topics. For instance, the British children's writers [[Mary Norton (author)|Mary Norton]] and [[Rumer Godden]] used homunculus motifs in their work, expressing various post-war anxieties about refugees, persecution of minorities in war, and the adaptation of these minorities to a "big" world.<ref>{{cite journal|hdl=1959.14/76602  |title=Post-war place and displacement in Rumer Godden's "The Doll's house" and Mary Norton's "The Borrowers"|last=Dubosarsky |first=Ursula|journal=CREArTA |volume=6 |issue=Special Issue |pages=103–107|year=2006 }}</ref> [[W. Somerset Maugham]]'s 1908 novel [[The Magician (Maugham novel)|''The Magician'']] utilises the concept of the homunculus as an important plot element. [[David H. Keller]]'s short story "A Twentieth-Century Homunculus" (1930) describes the creation of homunculi on an industrial scale by a pair of [[misogynists]]. Likewise, [[Sven Delblanc]]'s ''The Homunculus: A Magic Tale'' (1965) addresses alleged [[misogyny]] and the Cold War industrial-military complexes of the Soviet Union and [[NATO]]. In German children's author [[Cornelia Funke]]'s book, ''[[Dragon Rider (novel)|Dragon Rider]]'', the protagonists meet and are aided by a homunculus created by an alchemist. The homunculus, and [[alchemy]] broadly, is seen as more of a [[Magic in fiction|magical]] phenomenon in the story, however, rather than necessarily having a symbolic meaning.

===Other media===
Homunculi appear in fantasy based television, film, and games in a manner consistent with literature. Examples can be found in numerous media, such as the podcast ''[[Hello from the Magic Tavern|Hello From The Magic Tavern]],'' the films ''[[Homunculus (film)|Homunculus]]'' (1916), ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'' (1935), ''[[The Golden Voyage of Sinbad]]'' (1973), ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode ''[[The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]'' (1977), the made-for-television movie ''[[Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973 film)|Don't Be Afraid of the Dark]]'' (1973) and [[Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010 film)|its theatrical remake]] (2011), ''[[Being John Malkovich]]'' (1999), Guillermo del Toro's ''[[The Devil's Backbone]]'' (2001), Shane Acker's ''[[9 (2009 animated film)|9]]'' (2009), Philipp Humm's ''[[The Last Faust]]'' (2019), Yorgos Lanthimos' ''[[Poor Things (film)|Poor Things]]'' (2023), television shows (such as ''Bloodfeast'', ''[[American Dad]]'', ''[[Rick and Morty]]'' (season 2, episode 1) (2015), ''[[Smiling Friends]]'' (season 1, episode 5) (season 2, episode 5), and ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' ((season 3, episode 3), played by [[Johnny Galecki]]), fantasy role-playing games (such as ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''), [[video game]]s (such as ''[[Ragnarok Online]]'', ''[[Valkyrie Profile]]'', '' [[Shadow of Memories]]'', ''[[The Legend of Heroes]]'' series, ''[[Cabals: Magic & Battle Cards]]'', ''[[Genshin Impact]]'', ''[[Bayonetta 3]]'', ''[[Master Detective Archives: Rain Code]]''), and the [[Metroidvania]] [[Dead Cells]], books (such as ''[[The Secret Series]]'' and ''[[Sword of Destiny]]'' or ''[[Seventy-Two Letters]]'' by Ted Chiang), graphic novels (such as ''[[Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense]]'') and manga (such as ''[[Cyber Team in Akihabara|Akihabara Dennō Gumi]]'', ''[[Homunculus (manga)|Homunculus]]'', ''[[Stone Ocean]]'', ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', ''[[Sorcerous Stabber Orphen]]'',<ref name="Mizuno2019">{{cite book|last=Mizuno|first=Ryou|title=Sorcerous Stabber Orphen Anthology. Commentary|year=2019| language=ja |publisher=TO Books|isbn= 9784864728799|pages=237}}</ref> ''[[Fate/Zero]]'', and ''[[Gosick]]'').