Frankenstein's monster, sometimes known as Frankenstein, is a fictional character whose fictional creator was Victor Frankenstein. The monster first appeared, without any name, in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Shelley's title thus compares Victor Frankenstein to the mythological character Prometheus who fashioned humans out of clay and gave them fire. Although nameless in Shelley's novel, the creature took on the name "Frankenstein" in later years.