Igor is the archetypal mad scientist's assistant. He is, to wit: short, ugly, hunchbacked and/or lame, and his main functions include flipping switches and retrieving organs, especially brains. Though these brains may sometimes need to be dug up, they are more usually suspended in glass jars filled with mysterious liquid.

Some of Igor's secondary characteristics, which may differ between individual incarnations, include, but are not limited to, a lisp, and obsequious manner, a seriously deformed face (perhaps made up of various human parts?) incredibly stupidity, incredible intelligence, an Eastern European accent, or epilepsy.