The concept of a homunculus (Latin for "little man", plural "homunculi"; the diminutive of homo, "man") is often used to illustrate the functioning of a system. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. In the scientific sense of an unknowable prime actor, it can be viewed as an entity or agent.

“Preformationism,” a theory of heredity, claimed either the egg or the sperm (exactly which was a contentious issue) contained a complete preformed individual called a homunculus. Preformationism is the theory that all Organisms were created at the same time and that succeeding generations grow from homunculi, Animalcules or other Development was therefore a matter of enlarging this into a fully formed being. In the days of preformationism, genetic disease was variously interpreted: sometimes as a manifestation of the wrath of God or the mischief of demons and devils; sometimes as evidence of either an excess of or a deficit of the father's “seed”; sometimes as the result of “wicked thoughts” on the part of the mother during pregnancy. Preformationism is the theory that all Organisms were created at the same time and that succeeding generations grow from homunculi, Animalcules or other .

Contents 1 Homunculus of alchemy 2 Homunculus of spermists 3 Sensory and motor homunculi 4 Homunculus argument or fallacy in the philosophy of mind 5 Early literary representations 5.1 Contemporary literary representations 6 Film and pop culture 6.1 Film, Television and Literature 6.2 Video Games, Board Games, and Trading Card Games 6.3 Unsorted uses of the term "Homunculus" 7 See also 8 References

Homunculus of alchemy

In Carl Jung's studies of Alchemy, he believed the first record of a homunculus in alchemical literature appeared in the Visions of Zosimos, written in the third century AD, although the actual word "homunculus" was never used. Zosimos of Panopolis was an Egyptian alchemist and Gnostic mystic from the end of the 3rd century and beginning of the 4th In the visions, Zosimos mentions encountering a man who impales him with a sword, and then undergoes "unendurable torment," his eyes become blood, he spews forth his flesh, and changes into "the opposite of himself, into a mutilated anthroparion, and he tore his flesh with his own teeth, and sank into himself," which is a rather grotesque personification of the ouroboros, the dragon that bites its own tail, which represents the dyophysite nature in alchemy: the balance of two principles. The Ouroboros (Greek grc Ουροβόρος from grc ουροβόρος όφις "tail-devouring snake" also spelled Ourorboros, Oroborus, Uroboros Dyophysite ( Greek: el δυοφυσῖται is a theological term used in understanding how the divine and human related in the person of Jesus Christ, an area of Zosimos later encounters several other homunculi, named as the Brazen Man, the Leaden Man, and so forth. Commonly, the homunculi "submit themselves to unendurable torment" and undergo alchemical transformation. Zosimos made no mention of actually creating an artificial human, but rather used the concept of personifying inanimate metals to further explore alchemy. ^[1]

There are also variants cited by other alchemists. One such variant involved the use of the mandrake. Popular belief held that this plant grew where semen ejaculated by hanged men (during the last convulsive spasms before death) fell to the ground, and its roots vaguely resemble a human form to varying degrees. The root was to be picked before dawn on a Friday morning by a black dog, then washed and "fed" with milk and honey and, in some prescriptions, blood, whereupon it would fully develop into a miniature human which would guard and protect its owner. Yet a third method, cited by Dr. David Christianus at the University of Giessen during the 18th century, was to take an egg laid by a black hen, poke a tiny hole through the shell, replace a bean-sized portion of the white with human semen, seal the opening with virgin parchment, and bury the egg in dung on the first day of the March lunar cycle. The University of Gießen (German Universität Gießen) is officially called Justus Liebig-Universität Gießen after its most famous member A miniature humanoid would emerge from the egg after thirty days, which would help and protect its creator in return for a steady diet of lavender seeds and earthworms. The Lavenders Lavandula are a Genus of about 25–30 species of Flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean Earthworm is the usual name for the largest members of Oligochaeta (which is either a class or subclass depending on the author in the phylum Annelida In classical

Homunculus of spermists

The term homunculus was later used in the discussion of conception and birth. In 1694, Nicolas Hartsoeker discovered "animalcules" in the semen of humans and other animals. Nicolaas Hartsoeker ( 26 March 1656, Gouda - 10 December 1725, Utrecht) was a Dutch Mathematician Animalcule ("little animal" from Latin animal + the diminutive suffix -culum) is an older term for a microscopic Animal or protozoan This was the beginning of spermists' theory, who held the belief that the sperm was in fact a "little man" (homunculus) that was placed inside a woman for growth into a child. This seemed to them to neatly explain many of the mysteries of conception. It was later pointed out that if the sperm was a homunculus, identical in all but size to an adult, then the homunculus may have sperm of its own. This led to a reductio ad absurdum, with a chain of homunculi "all the way down". Reductio ad absurdum ( Latin for "reduction to the absurd" also known as an apagogical argument, reductio ad impossibile "Turtles all the way down" refers to an Infinite regression Belief about Cosmology, the nature of the Universe. This was not necessarily considered by spermists a fatal objection however, as it neatly explained how it was that "in Adam" all had sinned: the whole of humanity was already contained in his loins. Original sin is according to a doctrine in Catholic theology, humanity's state of Sin resulting from the Fall of Man. The spermists' theory also failed to explain why children tend to resemble their mothers as well as their fathers, though some spermists believed that the growing homunculus assimilated maternal characteristics from the womb environment in which they grew. ^[2]

Sensory and motor homunculi

Main article: Cortical homunculus

The homunculus is also commonly used to describe the distorted human figure drawn to reflect the relative space our body parts occupy on the somatosensory cortex (sensory homunculus) and the motor cortex (motor homunculus). A cortical homunculus is a physical representation of the Primary motor cortex, i The lateral postcentral gyrus is a prominent structure in the Parietal lobe of the human Brain and an important landmark Motor cortex is a term that describes regions of the Cerebral cortex involved in the planning control and execution of voluntary motor functions The lips, hands, feet and sex organs have more sensory neurons than other parts of the body, so the homunculus has correspondingly distortedly large lips, hands, feet, and genitals. Well known in the field of neurology, this is also commonly called 'the little man inside the brain. '

Homunculus argument or fallacy in the philosophy of mind

A Homunculus argument accounts for a phenomenon in terms of the very phenomenon that it is supposed to explain (Richard Gregory (1987)). Homunculus arguments are always fallacious. The homunculus argument is a Fallacy arising most commonly in the theory of vision. In the psychology and philosophy of mind 'homunculus arguments' are extremely useful for detecting where theories of mind fail or are incomplete.

Homunculus arguments are common in the theory of vision. Imagine a person watching a movie. He sees the images as something separate from himself, projected on the screen. How is this done? A simple theory might propose that the light from the screen forms an image on the retinas in the eyes and something in the brain looks at these as if they are the screen. The Homunculus Argument shows this is not a full explanation because all that has been done is to place an entire person, or homunculus, behind the eye who gazes at the retinas. A more sophisticated argument might propose that the images on the retinas are transferred to the visual cortex where it is scanned. Again this cannot be a full explanation because all that has been done is to place a little person in the brain behind the cortex. In the theory of vision the Homunculus Argument invalidates theories that do not explain 'projection', the experience that the viewing point is separate from the things that are seen. (Adapted from Gregory (1987), (1990)).

Very few people would propose that there actually is a little man in the brain looking at brain activity. However, this proposal has been used as a 'straw man' in theories of mind. A straw man argument is an Informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position Gilbert Ryle (1949) proposed that the human mind is known by its intelligent acts. (see Ryle's Regress). In Philosophy, Ryle's regress is a classic argument against cognitivist theories and concludes that such theories are essentially meaningless as they do not explain He argued that if there is an inner being inside the brain that could steer its own thoughts then this would lead to an absurd repetitive cycle or "regress" before a thought could occur:

"According to the legend, whenever an agent does anything intelligently, his act is preceded and steered by another internal act of considering a regulative proposition appropriate to his practical problem. . . . Must we then say that for the agent's . . . reflections how to act to be intelligent he must first reflect how best to reflect how to act? The endlessness of this implied regress shows that the application of the appropriateness does not entail the occurrence of a process of considering this criterion. " Ryle 1949.

Ryle's theory is that intelligent acts cannot be a property of an inner being or mind, if such a thing were to exist.

The homunculus argument and the regress argument are often considered to be the same but this is not the case. The homunculus argument says that if there is a need for a 'little man' to complete a theory then the theory is false or incomplete. The regress argument says that an intelligent agent would need to think before it could have a thought.

Early literary representations

The idea of the homunculus has proven to be fruitful inspiration. Homunculi can be found in centuries' worth of literature. These literary references have spawned references in modern times in film, animation, video and card games.

• One of the very earliest literary references to the homunculus which also hints of its origination occurs in Thomas Browne's Religio Medici (1643) in which the author states-

I am not of Paracelsus minde that boldly delivers a receipt to make a man without conjunction. Sir Thomas Browne ( October 19, 1605 &ndash October 19, 1682) was an English author of varied works which disclose his wide learning Religio Medici ( The Religion of a Doctor) is a book by Sir Thomas Browne, which sets out his spiritual testament as well as being an early psychological . . . , (Part 1:36)

• The alchemical connection also occurs in the German playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's rendition of Faust, Part 2 which has that famed sorcerer's former student, Wagner, create a homunculus, who then carries out extended conversations with Mephistopheles. ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfgaŋ fɔn ˈgøːtə (in English generally ˈgɝːtə 28 August 1749 22 March 1832 was a German writer Faust Part Two is the second part of Goethe's Faust. It was published in 1832 the year of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 's death Mephistopheles (also Mephistophilus Mephistophilis Mephostopheles Mephisto and variants is a name often given to one representation of The devil or Satan

• In his source study of Englishwoman Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, Prof. Mary Shelley ( Née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin; 30 August Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, generally known as Frankenstein, is a Novel written by the British author Mary Shelley Radu Florescu notes that her father, William Godwin, and her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley were both quite familiar with the lives and works of alchemists like Paracelsus and others. Radu Florescu (born 23 October, 1925) is a Romanian academic who holds the position of Emeritus Professor of History William Godwin ( 3 March 1756 &ndash 7 April 1836) was an English journalist political philosopher and Novelist Percy Bysshe Shelley (August 4 1792 – July 8 1822 ˈpɝːsɪ ˈbɪʃ ˈʃɛlɪ was one of the major English Romantic poets and is widely considered to be among Paracelsus (11 November or 17 December 1493 in Einsiedeln Switzerland – 24 September 1541 in Salzburg, Austria) was an alchemist, Florescu also suggests that Johann Conrad Dippel, an alchemist born in Castle Frankenstein whom he believes may have been the inspiration for Dr. Johann Konrad Dippel ( August 10 1673 - April 25 1734) was a German Pietist theologian alchemist and physician Frankenstein, was a student of Dr. David Christianus.

• In Laurence Sterne´s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, Volume I, Chapter II , there is a reference to the homunculus: "(. Laurence Sterne ( November 24, 1713 &ndash March 18, 1768) was an Irish -born English Novelist and an Anglican The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman (or more briefly Tristram Shandy) is a novel by Laurence Sterne. . . ) the animal spirits, whose business it was to have escorted and gone hand-in-hand with the homunculus, and conducted him safe to the place destined for his reception. "

• Writing on the purely superficial westernization of Russian intellectuals in his travel journalism Winter Notes on Summer Impressions, Dostoevsky writes: 'There is no soil, we say, and no people, nationality is nothing but a certain system of taxation, the soul is a tabula rasa, a small piece of wax out of which you can readily mould a real man, a world man or a homunculus – all that must be done is to apply the fruits of European civilisation and read two or three books’

Contemporary literary representations

• In the twentieth century Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, has several references to a homunculus, particularly detailed in a chapter dealing with druidic rites performed at a party in the country estate (castle) of a wealthy Rosicrucian. Umberto Eco (born 5 January 1932 is an Italian Medievalist, semiotician, Philosopher, literary critic and Novelist, best Foucault's Pendulum (original title Il pendolo di Foucault) is a Novel by Italian Novelist and Philosopher Umberto A druid was a member of the priestly and learned class in the ancient Celtic societies The term Rosicrucian (symbol the Rose Cross) describes a secret society of mystics allegedly formed in late mediaeval Germany, holding a doctrine "built on After a series of sensually stimulating occult acts are played out for the small audience, several homunculi appear to be created, but the main character, Casaubon, cannot decide if they are wax or indeed authentic magic. The concept of a homunculus ( Latin for "little man" plural "homunculi" the diminutive of homo, "man" is often used to illustrate

• German horror writer Hanns Heinz Ewers used the mandrake method for creating a homunculus as the inspiration for his 1911 novel Alraune, in which a prostitute is impregnated with semen from a hanged murderer to create a woman devoid of morals or conscience. Hanns Heinz Ewers ( November 3, 1871, Düsseldorf - June 12, 1943, Berlin) was a German Actor, Alraune (German for Mandrake) is a novel by German novelist Hanns Heinz Ewers published in 1911 Several cinematic adaptations of Alraune have been made over the years, the most recent in 1952 with Erich von Stroheim. Erich von Stroheim ( September 22, 1885 &ndash May 12, 1957) was an Austrian star of the silent film age lauded for his directorial The 1995 film Species also appears to draw some inspiration from this variation on the homunculus legend. Species is a 1995 Science fiction thriller by Roger Donaldson.

• In her tribute to the painter Jules Pascin, English poet Mina Loy penned the following stanza:

"Silence bleeds/ from his slashed wrists/ the dim homunculus/ within/ cries for the unbirth"

• The English 'Prince of Story Tellers' Dennis Wheatley's novel 'The Satanist' Hutchinson 1960. As part of the plot a Satanist using Homunculus as part of his Occult ritual to create air breathing creatures. The Homunculus were created and stored in large fluid filled jars from a previous ritual. The ultimate transformation required a 21-year-old virgin to be sacrificed and her blood fed to the Homunculus. The virgin had previously been christened to Satan at birth by her father for occult favours and riches, unknown to herself. This book reflects Dennis Wheatley's remarkable detail for Occult happenings which includes a warning for those who might dabble in this area.

• In English novelist W. Somerset Maugham's 1908 work The Magician, Oliver Haddo, a character based on British occultist Aleister Crowley, is obsessed with the creation of homunculi. William Somerset Maugham, CH ( January 25 1874 &ndash December 16 1965) was an English Playwright, The Magician is an early W Somerset Maugham novel originally published in 1908 Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley (ˈkroʊli (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947 was a British Occultist Writer, mountaineer

• In English novelist Peter Ackroyd's novel The House of Doctor Dee, John Dee, the Elizabethean mathematician, astrologer, philosopher and magus, attempts and succeeds in creating a homunculus. John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609 was a noted English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, occultist

• American author David H. Keller, M. David H Keller ( December 23 1880 – July 13 1966) David Henry Keller (most often published as David H D. , wrote two pieces featuring homunculi. One was a short story, "A Twentieth-Century Homunculus," published in Amazing Stories in 1930, which describes the creation of homunculi on an industrial scale by a pair of misogynists. Amazing Stories was an American Science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback 's Experimenter Publishing. Misogyny (mɪˈsɒdʒɪni is hatred (or contemptof women Misogyny is parallel to Misandry — the hatred of men In the other, a novel called The Homunculus, published in 1949 by Prime Press of Philadelphia, retired Colonel Horatio Bumble creates such a being. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə

• Also examining the misogynistic tendencies of the creators of homunculi, Swedish novelist Sven Delblanc lampoons both his homunculus' creator and the Cold War industrial-military complexes of the Soviet Union and NATO in his novel The Homunculus: A Magic Tale. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The North Atlantic Treaty

• A homunculus called Twigleg is one of the main characters of the 1997 children's novel Dragon Rider by German author Cornelia Funke. Dragon Rider ( Drachenreiter) is a 1997 German novel by Cornelia Funke. Cornelia Caroline Funke (FOON-ka (kuh means "spark'" in German) was born December 10, 1958, in Dorsten, North Rhine-Westphalia This homunculus is created by combining artificial ingredients and a small living creature (probably a small insect or spider). Insects ( Class Insecta) are a major group of Arthropods and the most diverse group of Animals on the Earth with over a million described Spiders are Predatory Invertebrate Animals that have two body segments, eight legs no chewing mouth parts and no wings He is also referred to as a "manikin".

• In Jane R Goodall's 2004 mystery novel "The Walkers" (Hodder Headline ISBN 0-7336-1897-9), ancient secrets pertaining to the creation of the alchemical homunculus are central to a plot involving murders based on Hogarth's prints and set in "Swinging London". The creation of homunculi, together with the search for the philosopher's stone, was a central aim of alchemy. Implicit in the novel is the uneasy speculation that the original experiment succeeded and this evil being may indeed move through history.

• In Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses "homunculus" is used to describe the cuchillero who tries to murder John Grady Cole in the prison.

• In Sean Williams' Books of the Cataclysm one of the central characters is a homunculus containing the consciousnesses of the Mirror Twins Seth & Hadrian Callisto.

• In "Doctor Illuminatus" (Alchemist's Son Trilogy) by Martin Booth, Pierre de Loudéac persists to create a homunculus and succeeds. Martin Booth ( September 7, 1944, Lancashire - February 12, 2004, Devon) was a prolific British Novelist and Also mentioned in the sequel "Soul Stealer". Martin Booth passed away before the trilogy was completed.

• In Hugh Paxton's 2006 novel Homunculus (MacMillan New Writing ISBN-13: 978-0230007369), alchemy is harnessed for modern military purposes. Homunculi created from human body parts and powered by moonshine are used as bioweapons in war-torn Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa.

• In Nobel Prize winner Johannes Vilhelm Jensen's novel The Fall of the King (published in Danish 1900-01), a homunculus is featured. Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, in Denmark always called Johannes V Jensen, ( January 20, 1873 — November 25, 1950) was a Danish The Fall of the King (Kongens Fald by Johannes V Jensen is a novel published in three parts from 1900-01 It is eventually burned at the stake.

• In James P. Blaylock's novel Homunculus, published in 1986, a homunculus is much sought after by several of the book's characters because of its powerful magical abilities. James Paul Blaylock (born September 20, 1950) is an American fantasy author

• In Judd Trichter's online story, "Praise Monkey," a homunculus literally and symbolically becomes the prime mover behind a government employee's career advancement.

Film and pop culture

Film, Television and Literature

• The homunculus' likely first appearance in film was the six-part 1916 German serial Homunculus.

• "Homunculus," a fictitious rapper, is mentioned in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. 30 Rock is an American Television comedy Series created by Tina Fey.

• In the classic horror film Bride of Frankenstein, Dr. Horror films are Movies that strive to elicit Fear, Horror and terror responses from viewers Bride of Frankenstein (advertised as The Bride of Frankenstein) is a science fiction / Horror film. Frankenstein's old teacher, Dr. Praetorius, shows him his own creations, a series of miniature humanoids kept in specimen jars, including a bishop, a king, a queen, a ballerina, a mermaid, and a devil. A mermaid is a Mythological aquatic creature that is half human half aquatic creature (e The Devil is the These are clearly intended to be homunculi, based on those creatures described by Emil Besetzny's Sphinx, as translated and presented in Franz Hartmann's Life of Paracelsus. Frankenstein's monster is technically the same type of Homunculi as Lillith from Animamundi.

• In the King of the Cats series of the alternative press comic book Finder, there appeared a monkey-like cartoon character named "Munky" whose name was short for "homunculus. Alternative Press (or commonly referred to on the website and in the magazine as AP) is an American music magazine based in Cleveland Ohio which primarily A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative Finder is a Science fiction Comic book series written drawn and published by Carla Speed McNeil since 1996, currently appearing A monkey is any member of either the New World monkeys or Old World monkeys two of the three groupings of Simian Primates the third group being " Munky's cartoonishly distorted extremities were said to represent those of a cortical homunculus, thus making him educational for children. A caricature is either a Portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness or in literature a description A cortical homunculus is a physical representation of the Primary motor cortex, i

• In Sylvia Plath's poem Cut she refers to a Homunculus as a cut thumb in the lines

'O my Homunculus, I am ill. Sylvia Plath (October 27 1932 &ndash February 11 1963 was an American Poet, Novelist and Short story Writer. ' From her poetry collection of Ariel

• In the American film The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974), the homunculus is portrayed as a miniature winged gargoyle creature, who is the nemesis of Sinbad. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is a Fantasy film released in 1974 and starring John Phillip Law as Sinbad. In Architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone Grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building

• In Woody Allen's 1979 cinema classic "Manhattan", Allen's character Isaac refers to his portly, balding rival Jeremiah as a homunculus. Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; December 1 1935 is an American Film director, Writer, Actor, Comedian, and Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York

• In the Doctor Who story The Talons of Weng-Chiang there was a homicidal cyborg from the 51st century with the cerebral cortex of a pig, called the Peking Homunculus. Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The Talons of Weng-Chiang is a serial in the British Science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast The cerebral cortex is a structure within the Brain that plays a key role in Memory, Attention, perceptual Awareness, Thought, Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times This is a list of henchmen, Fictional characters serving villains and/or monsters and aliens in the long-running British science

• In the anime version of Fullmetal Alchemist, the main character Edward Elric battles supernatural enemies, the homunculi, who are created when an attempt is made to create/revive a human using Alchemy. (anime in Japanese, commonly abbreviated as FMA or Hagaren, is an ongoing Japanese Manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. commonly abbreviated as FMA or Hagaren, is an ongoing Japanese Manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. Each homunculi shown in the series resembles one of the seven deadly sins. The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, are a classification of Vices that were originally used in early Christian The manga version of Fullmetal Alchemist has the homunculi as artificial human beings, with the Philosopher's Stone for the core, instead of the heart. ˈmɑŋgə is the Japanese word for Comics (sometimes called komikku コミック and print Cartoons In their modern form manga date from shortly commonly abbreviated as FMA or Hagaren, is an ongoing Japanese Manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. The philosopher's stone (lapis philosophorum Greek: Chrysopoeia) is a Legendary substance supposedly capable of turning inexpensive Metals 'Father', the creator of the homunculi, controls them to carry out his various orders and to find 'suitable sacrifices'.

• Another anime that made use of the homunculus concept is Cyberteam in Akihabara. is an Anime series created by Tsukasa Kotobuki and Satoru Akahori. The homunculi are the first line of attack of Jun Goutokuji (in her guise of Blood Falcon) when she confronts Hibari Hanakoganei in the first episode.

• A homunculus named Roger is a supporting character in many of the Hellboy and B.P.R.D. comic books published by Dark Horse. Roger the Homunculus is a Fictional character featured in the Hellboy and Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense Comic Hellboy is a Fictional character, created by writer-artist Mike Mignola, that first appeared in Comic books published by Dark Horse Comics The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (the BPRD or BPRD) is a Fictional organization in the Comic book work of Mike Mignola A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative Dark Horse Comics is one of the largest independent American Comic book publishers behind dominant publishers Marvel Comics and DC Comics However, Roger is human-sized, which is unusually large for a homunculus; other than the method by which he was created, he seems to have more in common with a golem. In Jewish folklore, a golem (גולם sometimes as in Yiddish, pronounced goilem) is an animated being created entirely from inanimate matter Roger's size is commented upon at length during B. P. R. D. : The Universal Machine, where Roger is described as one of only two man-sized homunculi ever created.

• In the 2005 comedy film The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse a homunculus is created in a subplot called "The King's Evil. Comedy film is a genre of Film in which the main emphasis is on humor. The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse is a Film spin-off from the popular British Television comedy series The League of Gentlemen " The character Geoff Tipps is reading the script of "The King's Evil" and asks, "What is a homunculus?" Later, after writing himself into the script, he is being interrogated, during which he is asked, "How do you know of the homunculus?" to which he responds in exasperation, "What IS a homunculus?"

• A homunculus linked up with the Quester Jet Over to wreak havoc and was piloted by the Ashu Questers on GoGo Sentai Boukenger. is a Japanese Tokusatsu television series The series is produced by Toei, and is the thirtieth installment in their Super Sentai series

• In the third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean, At World's End, Captain Jack Sparrow refers to Pintel as a "homunculus" while making a deal with Cutler Beckett. Pirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a theme park ride a series of films Captain Jack Sparrow is a Fictional character from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise who is portrayed by Johnny Depp.

• In the avant-garde anime Serial Experiments Lain, the main character, a 13-year old-girl named Lain Iwakura, is referred to as a "homunculus made out of artificial rhibozome" by Eiri Masami, a character that could be considered the series' villain, implying that she was artificially created, probably by Masami himself. Avant-garde (avɑ̃gaʁd in French) means "advance guard" or "vanguard (anime in Japanese, Serial Experiments Lain is an Anime series directed by Ryutaro Nakamura, original character design by Yoshitoshi ABe, screenplay written

• The Homunculus is a false body that can be inhabited by a willing mind in Sean Williams' book series The Books of the Cataclysm, once a soul has entered the homunculus it will morph to appear as that person, but is stronger and more durable than a normal human body. Sean Llewellyn Williams (born 23rd May 1967) is a New York Times best selling Science fiction Author who lives in Adelaide,

• Glen Phillips created a homunculus in the video for "Everything But You"

• In Season 1 Episode 8 of the Dilbert (TV series), The Little People, Dilbert's computer has been compromised by The Little People and one of the websites in the history of his computer is Hot Homunculi. Glen Phillips (born December 29, 1970) is a songwriter lyricist singer and guitarist Dilbert is an Animated television series Spin-off of the comic strip of the same name. He also receives a magazine in his mail called Hot Homonculi.

• In the manga Buso Renkin, a homunculus is an artificial life form that eats humans, created by the science of alchemy. is a Manga series written and drawn by Nobuhiro Watsuki, the creator of Rurouni Kenshin. Just as with Paracelsus's original recipe, most homunculi are created as human/animal (or occasionally human/plant) hybrids. In this case, the hybridization deranges the human's mind so that it more closely resembles the animal's.

Video Games, Board Games, and Trading Card Games

• In the Guilty Gear series of Fighting games, the character A. subtitled The Missing Link, is the first game of the ''Guilty Gear'' series developed by Arc System Works. B. A. is a homunculus.

• In the Game Boy Advance video game Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken, the main villain Nergal uses henchmen of humanlike appearance but inhuman disposition and talent created by means of forbidden magic called morphs, whose means of creation resemble that of Homunculi. The Game Boy Advance (often shortened to GBA) is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. Fire Emblem, released in Japan as, is a Japanese Tactical role-playing game for the Game Boy Advance, developed by Intelligent Systems and published The name Nergal (or Nirgal, Nirgali) refers to a Deity in Babylonia with the main seat

• The Homonculus is a monster in NetHack. NetHack is a single-player Roguelike computer game originally released in 1987. In non-graphical versions, it appears as the symbol i (Imps and minor demons). The monster is low level, easy to defeat, and is classified as size tiny. If eaten, it (sometimes) grants the player an intrinsic poison resistance.

• In the video game Shadow of Memories (also known as Shadow of Destiny), Homonculus is the name of one of the major characters, who is a true homonunculus, with roots in the age of the alchemists. A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. As the game progresses, more is known about his past and his intentions.

• In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, a spellcaster with the appropriate feats may create a special type of construct made of, among other things, a quart of the creator's blood dependant upon the type of Homunculus. Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a Fantasy Role-playing game (RPG originally designed by A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. The Artificer class (which focuses on magic item crafting and was introduced in the Eberron campaign setting) has the ability to make Homunculi from bonus feats and is a common creator of them. Wizards, Hexblades and Sorcerers or any character with the Obtain Familiar feat may summon a familiar which in past editions resembled a Homunculus but now owes more to the witches familiar.

• In the Magic: The Gathering card game, three creatures exist with "homunculus" in their name (one is also a Homunculus by classification; the two older ones are merely "Illusions"). This article is somewhat over-complete Please do not add significant new content without first discussing it on the talk page All three are blue creatures, blue being the color of artificial creation and illusion, among other things.

• The homunculus appears in the card game Yu-Gi-Oh!. is a Japanese Manga created by Kazuki Takahashi, which has spawned a franchise including multiple Anime series a trading card game and numerous video There are two creatures, one named "Homunculus The Alchemic Being", and one named "Golden Homunculus".

• In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Lyman Banner (Daitokuji) created a homunculus in his own image as means of prolonging his life. is an Anime Spin-off, and Sequel of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise Lyman Banner, known as in the original Japanese language version is a Fictional character in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Anime series

• In the Enix console role-playing game Valkyrie Profile, the alchemist Lezard Valeth experiments with homonculi. The was a company that produced Japanese Video games and Manga. A console role-playing game is a video game genre that has its origin rooted in Video game consoles and includes game mechanics and frequently settings derived is a Console role-playing game (RPG developed by Tri-Ace and published by Enix (now Square Enix) for the PlayStation Among them are his minion Bellion, and numerous female forms kept in large glass tubes. Lezard's homonculi were half-human/half-elves.

• In the MMORPG Ragnarok Online, a Homunculus is a creature that is created by Alchemist-class characters using various ingredients gathered from the fabled Yggdrasil Tree. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game ( MMORPG) is a genre of Computer role-playing games (CRPGs in which a large number of players interact with Ragnarok Online (라그나로크 온라인 often referred to as RO, is a Massively multiplayer online role-playing game or MMORPG created by Once raised by an Alchemist, the Homunculus follows and assists the player.

• The Survival Horror game Haunting Ground by Capcom includes four homunculi as antagonists that relentlessly pursues the player character Fiona Belli. Haunting Ground known in Japan as Demento (デメント is a Survival horror Video game developed by Capcom Production For the original NASA meaning see capsule communicator. is a leading Japanese International developer Haunting Ground known in Japan as Demento (デメント is a Survival horror Video game developed by Capcom Production

• RuneScape uses a homunculus in the quest "Tower of Life" when a group of alchemists incarnates a homunculus via magic, despising its existence it scares away the alchemists. RuneScape is a Java -based MMORPG ( Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) operated by Jagex Ltd (Post-Quest) It resides in the basement of the Tower. ^[3][4]

• The Hirameki sim novel for PC from Japan Animamundi has the main character researching how to create the perfect Homunculus host body to save his sister Lillith's still living head. Hirameki International Group Inc was an American company founded in March 2000 which specialized in translating Visual novels from Japan and releasing them

• In Harry Potter, Voldemort's new body is an alchemical Homunculus. Harry Potter is a series of seven Fantasy novels written by British author J Lord Voldemort (ˈvoʊldəmɔrt or ˈvoʊldəmɔr is a Fictional character and the main antagonist in the Harry Potter novel series written

• In Diablo II: Lord of Destruction the Homunculus is a sought after necromancer class specific item. Diablo II Lord of Destruction (commonly abbreviated LoD) is an Expansion pack for the Hack and slash Action role-playing Necromancy ( Greek νεκρομαντία nekromantía) is a form of Divination in which the practitioner seeks to summon "operative spirits"

• In World of Warcraft, Homunculi appear as small minion-like demons under the control of warlocks before the pulls of Illhoof in Karazhan. World of Warcraft (commonly acronymed as WoW) is a Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG

• The Homunculus is an enemy creature in the video game Mysterium. This page is about the convention for fans of the game Myst. For other uses of the term see Mysterium (disambiguation Mysterium is an annual

Unsorted uses of the term "Homunculus"

• Hideo Yamamoto's manga Homunculus is about a successful, maverick insurance analyst whose world plunged into chaos after he underwent trepanation. is a Japanese manga artist. Yamamoto made his professional debut in 1989 by drawing the manga Sheep, written by Masahiko Takasho. ˈmɑŋgə is the Japanese word for Comics (sometimes called komikku コミック and print Cartoons In their modern form manga date from shortly is a Japanese Manga by Hideo Yamamoto, intended for the Seinen audience Trepanation (also known as trepanning, trephination, trephining or burr hole) is surgery in which a hole is Drilled or scraped into

• The Homumculus appears occasionally in the folklore of Eastern Europe as a construct made from natural materials such as dirt, roots, insects, feces, and other substances. In these stories the creature is revived through incantation and acts as a vehicle for the astrally projected mind of a sorcerer.

• In the Nintendo DS game Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, a Homonculus is portrayed as an aquatic, human-like creature with a greyish-greenish body and a purple face, and is attached to a pink umbilical cord. The is a dual-screen Handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. is an Action-adventure game developed and published by Konami. It is located in a laboratory-themed area, possibly connecting it to the artificial human theme. It attacks by flailing its arms around violently, and can be destroyed by attacking it after it shows its face. It can also be destroyed if you let it come after you and leave the screen (at this point the cord should break and it should eventually drown. ) The power gained from its soul allows the player to throw a little Homonculus (based on the actual origins of the term, possibly) that damages enemies.

• In the computer game Diablo II (specifically the expansion pack Lord of Destruction), a Homunculus is a unique shield used by the Necromancer class of characters. Diablo II, sequel to the game Diablo, is a Dark fantasy -themed Action role-playing game in a Hack and slash and " An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing Role-playing game, Tabletop game or Video game. Diablo II Lord of Destruction (commonly abbreviated LoD) is an Expansion pack for the Hack and slash Action role-playing A shield is a protective device meant to intercept attacks The term often refers to a device that is held in the hand as opposed to Armour or a Bullet proof vest Necromancy ( Greek νεκρομαντία nekromantía) is a form of Divination in which the practitioner seeks to summon "operative spirits" It is a shrunken demon head and is the unique version of an "Hierophant Trophy", but no direct information concerning the relation of Homunculus the shield to the literal meaning of Homunculus is given. The role of the hierophant in religion is to bring the congregants into the presence of that which is deemed holy

• In the MMORPG Computer game Lineage II, The Homunculus is a unique mystics sword used commonly by Mages in the game, later in the game, Large, One Eyed monsters High level monsters named Homunculus, and given Monster Ranks. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game ( MMORPG) is a genre of Computer role-playing games (CRPGs in which a large number of players interact with Lineage II The Chaotic Throne (리니지 2 is a Fantasy Massive multiplayer online role-playing game ( MMORPG) for the PC and a

• In the rare cult film Moonchild (1974), there is a homunculus who is a servant to a manager in a mission hotel, and a young art student is tormented by strange flashbacks and hallucinations. [1]

• In The Talons of Weng-Chiang, a 1977 serial from the British television series Doctor Who, the Peking Homunculus is the proper name given to an animated ventriloquist's dummy known as Mr. The Talons of Weng-Chiang is a serial in the British Science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A television program (US television programme (UK or television show (U Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Sin. The dummy was really an android from the future, with the cerebral cortex of a pig. An android is a Robot designed to resemble a human usually both in appearance and behavior The cerebral cortex is a structure within the Brain that plays a key role in Memory, Attention, perceptual Awareness, Thought, Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times

• In the Sam Keith comic book The Maxx, the small white and blue creatures called Isz (iz in the singular) are referred to as Homunculi by the villain Mr. The Maxx is an American Comic book and Character created by Sam Kieth and published by Image Comics. Gone.

• In the film Manhattan, Woody Allen refers to his girlfriend's former lover as a homunculus. Manhattan is a 1979 Romantic comedy film about Isaac Davis ( Woody Allen) a twice-divorced 42-year-old comedy writer dating a 17-year-old Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; December 1 1935 is an American Film director, Writer, Actor, Comedian, and

• The RPG Star Ocean: Till the End of Time has a mechanical ability where the players can create elemental based homunculus which can be worked into weapons to give the weapons that element. is the third main game in the Star Ocean Video game series The game was developed by Tri-Ace and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation The game describes the homunculus as artificial, while the appearance is that of a fairy, giving "living" traits.

• In the Visual Novel name Animamundi: Dark Alchemist The character Bruno Glending created an army of Homunculus in secret by claiming they are clones, the main character Georik Zaberisk also creates one using pure water, semen, horse dung, and either his own or another character's blood. This page refers to the Irish town For other uses see Clones (disambiguation, or Clone Clones (Cluain Eois &ndash ˈkloʊnɪs

• Laurie Schneider Adams, in "A History of Western Art", makes several references to a practice in the Middle Ages of depicting Christ as a homunculus. She states, "This depiction of Christ as a child-man, partly a reference to his miraculous nature, is a convention of Christian art before 1300". It is speculative, but Romanesque artists, often sculptors, may have been translating the infant Jesus in this way out of respect for his Divine nature, as a metaphor for his Divinity. Similarly, though stylistically very different, Michelangelo depicts David, the giant slayer, as a giant.

• In the video game Lands of Lore III (1999) by Westwood Studios, the main character Copper can acquire a cynistic, wise-cracking, female homunculus named Griselda as a familiar.

• Bibliometrics research has uncovered the "bibliohomunculus" within the word patterns of texts. Bibliometrics is a set of methods used to study or measure texts and information

• The supernatural thriller Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry features a homunculus as a servant of the vampire overlord Ubel Griswold. Jonathan Maberry (born May 18 1958 is the multiple Bram Stoker Award -winning author of Ghost Road Blues, the first of the Pine Deep Trilogy

• They Might Be Giants have a song called "Homunculous. They Might Be Giants (commonly abbreviated to TMBG) is an American Alternative rock band which began as a duo of John Flansburgh and John "

• In the video game "Shadow of Destiny", The main character must go back in time to identify his killer and prevent various events from occurring in the future that would lead to his death. Once dead, the main character is brought to the "realm of the homunculus", The small, faint sounding man, the homunculus, helps the main character by offering advice.
• San Jose farcical/ironic comedy performers Xiu Xiu have a song called "Homonculus"
• In the 1998 computer game Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire, Homonculi are winged monkey-esque creatures that can be fought in the wilderness. Xiu Xiu (ʃuː ʃuː shoe-shoe) is an experimental indie band originally from and currently based in Oakland California, with time often Quest for Glory is a series of hybrid role-playing / adventure Computer games designed by Corey and Lori Ann Cole.
• A Homunculus was formed in Gogo Sentai Boukenger when three Precious were merged in a fourth. is a Japanese Tokusatsu television series The series is produced by Toei, and is the thirtieth installment in their Super Sentai series This Homunculus, contrary to the idea of a homunculus, is a gorilla-like giant which could fire orange beams out of its mouth.
• In the game Guilty Gear, a character called A. subtitled The Missing Link, is the first game of the ''Guilty Gear'' series developed by Arc System Works. B. A. is referred to as a homunculus by another character called Order Sol. A. B. A. is an artificial being created via science; she is human-like in appearance and is abnormally tall for a homunculus. She wields a key-shaped axe weapon called Paracelsus, after the alchemist who first used the term 'homunculus'.
• In the game Descent 3 on level 6 (Noctis Labryinthis), the player must battle the Homunculus, a boss robot constructed from scrap metal by the nomads of the planet. Descent 3 is the third and final game in the line of Descent computer games well known for the use of Six degrees of freedom and true 3D rendering
• On the Queens Crap blog site, Congressman Joseph Crowley has been referred to as the Homunculus because of his appointment to his Congressional seat by his late predecessor and Queens County Boss, Thomas Manton.
• In Dr Ten's manga, Map of Tokyo Savage, Homunculi were artificial poltergeists. ˈmɑŋgə is the Japanese word for Comics (sometimes called komikku コミック and print Cartoons In their modern form manga date from shortly
• The music video for the song 'Dig', by the band Incubus, features a homunculus looking through the eyes of his host and falling in love with a woman, who later rescues him from the confines of the host's skull.
• In the 1985 text-adventure game "Brainscape!", by Lynne Ostergren and W. Jeffrey Wilson, in which the player must navigate his way out of his own brain, the Homonculus is a mischievous imp that occasionally interacts with the player.
• In the video game Grim Grimoire, Homunculi can be summoned as familiars as part of Alchemy magic. GrimGrimoire (グリムグリモア is a Real-time strategy Video game from Vanillaware and Nippon Ichi for the PlayStation
• In the Playstation 2 video game Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, an item called "Homunculus" is used to shield the main character from an instant death attack by sacrificing itself in the main character's place.
• In Sylvia Plath's 1962 poem "Cut," she refers to a homunculus inside her cut finger.
• In the 2006 book "Keeper of the Waters" the second book in the Daughter of Destiny Series, an enemy that the main character occurs is a homunculus.
• In her February 21, 2008 syndicated column, Ann Coulter referred to 2008 American presidential candidate Arizona Senator John McCain as the "the head homunculus. Ann Hart Coulter (born December 8 1961 is an American Political commentator, Syndicated columnist, and best-selling Author. The State of Arizona ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. A senate is a Deliberative body, often the Upper house or chamber of a Legislature or Parliament. "^[5]
• In a parody of a video released of Bill O'Reilly bursting out in an angry tirade at the set of Inside Edition, the show producer refers to O'Reilly at one point as a "troglodyte homunculus". William James O'Reilly Jr (born September 10 1949 is an American television / radio host, Author, Syndicated columnist, and Inside Edition is a syndicated news program on the air since January 9, 1989.

See also

• Golem
• Tulpa

References

• Weiss JR, Burgess JB, Kaplan KJ. Fetiform teratoma (homunculus). Arch Pathol Lab Med 2006;130(10):1552-1556.
• Watson JD, Berry A. DNA: The Secret of Life. New York, NY: Random House; 2003.
• Abbott TM, Hermann WJ, Scully RE. Ovarian fetiform teratoma (homunculus) in a 9-year-old girl. Int J Gynecol Pathol 1984;2:392–402.
• Kuno N, Kadomatsu K, Nakamura M, Miwa-Fukuchi T, Hirabayashi N, Ishizuka T. Mature ovarian cystic teratoma with a highly differentiated homunculus: a case report. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol 2004;70:40–46.
• Florescu, Radu (1975). Radu Florescu (born 23 October, 1925) is a Romanian academic who holds the position of Emeritus Professor of History In Search of Frankenstein. Boston: New York Graphic Society. ISBN 0-8212-0614-1.  
• Gregory, Richard L. (1990). Richard Langton Gregory CBE, MA DSc FRSE, FRS (born July 24[[ 923]] is a British psychologist and Emeritus Professor Eye and Brain: The Psychology of Seeing, 4th ed. , Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02456-1.  
• Gregory, Richard L. (ed. ) (1987). The Oxford Companion to the Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866124-X.  
• Maconius, S. (1980). The Lore of the Homunculus. Red Lion Publications.  
• Ryle, Gilbert [1949] (1984). Gilbert Ryle ( 19 August 1900 - 6 October 1976) was a British Philosopher, and a representative of the generation of The Concept of Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-73295-9.  
• Waite, Arthur Edward (ed.) [1894] (1976). Arthur Edward Waite ( October 2, 1857 - May 19, 1942) was a scholarly Mystic who wrote extensively on Occult and The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Aureolus Philippus Theophrastus Bombast, of Hohenheim, Called Paracelsus the Great, 2 vols. , Berkeley: Shambhala. ISBN 0-87773-082-2.  

16th Century Homunculus Lore Book written by Chasin The Great

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