| For the film, see The Invisible Man. |
- "Cecilia, although our relationship was far from perfect, I thought often you would talk to me rather than run away."
- ―Adrian Griffin in a letter to Cecilia Kass
Adrian Griffin was a wealthy and brilliant scientist who previously dated Cecilia Kass. After Cecilia ran away from him due to his abusive behavior, Adrian faked his death and left part of his fortune to Cecilia, but found a way to turn himself invisible and began to spite her.
Biography[]
Background[]
Adrian’s past remains unknown and mysterious in nature (though it can be assumed that he was an early sociopath in his early childhood), however the only information about him is that he is a successful optics engineer, and the abusive boyfriend of Cecilia Kass. it is merely implied that he might’ve had issues with his brother Tom Griffin because of the fact that they talk poorly of each other behind their backs, claiming that they controlled one another. Adrian met Cecilia at a party and they began a relationship together. Cecilia moves in to his house so that they could live together and in only time she started discovering his true colours. Cecilia became trapped in a violent, emotionally and physically abusive relationship with Adrian, who once told her that he would always be with her no matter where she went. Adrian also wanted to have a child with Cecilia, but she took birth control pills as having a child would keep her in Adrian's grasp.
Plot
It is revealed that Adrian is actually faking his death and has created a uniform comprised of several small cameras that make him appear to be invisible. With the suit, he psychologically tortures Cecilia to make her seem insane. He steals her work, causing an important job interview to end badly, and also drugs her into collapsing. Adrian then pretends to be her and sends an insulting email to Emily, causing a schism between them. When Sydney, James' daughter, tries to comfort the depressed Cecilia, Adrian slaps her, thus leading Sydney and James to believe that Cecilia did it.
She returns to Adrian's home to investigate and discovers one of the invisibility suits. She invites her sister to dinner to discuss the discovery only for Adrian to slit Emily's throat before placing the knife in Cecilia's hand. She is implicated in the murder and is remanded to a mental institution, where she learns that she is pregnant. Adrian's brother Tom pays her a visit and tells her that he is alive, and that he will make the murder charges go away if she comes back to him. He also reveals that Adrian tampered with her birth control so she would get pregnant.
That night, Cecilia fakes a suicide attempt by slitting her wrist with a pen, knowing Adrian will stop her. Once he grabs her hand, she stabs him with the pen, damaging his suit and causing it to glitch. Security guards arrive, but he incapacitates them before fleeing the hospital, with Cecilia in pursuit. Cecilia is able to escape the hospital, but not before Adrian tells her he plans to murder Sydney, spurring her to warn James. She goes over to James' house, where an invisible figure she believes to be Adrian is attacking Sydney, forcing Cecilia to shoot him dead.
When she removes the suit, however, she discovers that the figure is Tom, not Adrian. Police storm Adrian's house and find him alive, tied up and claiming that Tom held him prisoner. They conclude that Tom killed Emily, as well, but Cecilia realizes that Adrian set his brother up as the fall guy for his crimes. Cecilia returns to Adrian's house, where he has prepared a romantic dinner for two. To get Adrian's confession, she meets him at his house secretly wearing a wire tap while James listens in from a few blocks away. She agrees to mend their relationship, but only if he confesses to killing Emily.
Adrian insists that Tom was responsible, but claims that the experience changed his outlook on life and that he realizes that he mistreated her. When she starts crying, Adrian intentionally implies that he is the killer. Satisfied, Cecilia departs to use the restroom. Moments later, the security camera captures Adrian seemingly slitting his own throat. Cecilia returns and, apparently distraught, calls the police. Off the camera's sight, however, she taunts a dying Adrian, revealing that she had used the spare bodysuit to kill him. James later on states that Adrian committed suicide to get rid of him after what he did to him and his family.
Personality[]
- "Adrian's true genius was how he got in people's heads."
- ―Attorney
Adrian is a Complex and mysterious man with a multifaceted form of neurosis that can be subdivided into and explained by various personality traits that define his character. He is without a doubt a classic example of a narcissistic sociopath and text-book abuser: he is completely self-centered, has a disregard for the needs, rights and well-being of others, has violent outbursts and lacks a conscience or the ability to empathize with others and revels in the suffering of others without a shred of remorse. He is a petty, abusive, unjust and unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty, misogynistic, homicidal, fratricidal, megalomaniacal, sadistic and capriciously malevolent bully. Adrian is a completely unempathetic man, devoid of genuine humanity, prudence, compassion and remorse which explains why he has the audacity to mention how his relationship with his ex was “far from perfect” and that she should’ve talked to him instead of leaving although she did so for good reason.
His largest problem is his obsessive and paranoid nature as he developed the need to have Cecilia over anybody else throughout the course of their relationship. He resorts to frantic efforts to avoid being abandoned by Cecilia via installing cameras all around his house to keep tabs on her. Her leaving him wounds his fragile ego to the point that he violently attacks her while trying to get her out of her friends car in a frenzy but to no avail. This abandonment leaves Adrian resentful, angered and vengeful and out of spite resolves to destroy her life if he cannot have her. Being a skilled manipulator and controlling those weaker than him; he inflicts psychological and physical pain upon Cecilia, gaslighting and isolating her as well as hitting her. This also implies that not only is Adrian obsessed with her but is driven to control her life as he is a power/control oriented person. He turns Cecilia's friends and family against her, and even frames her for murder, all so she will have nothing and nobody unless she submits to him. Even his desire to have a child is born from this desire for control, as he believes that having his baby will bind her to him forever. Even his brother Tom, who claims to despise him, is completely under his sway; however it’s ambiguous as Adrian himself also claims to have been controlled by him.
As aforementioned he is quite sadistic, homicidal, violent, as he viciously slaughtered a group of guards in a psych ward and murdered one after mockingly saying the word “bang” when holding him at gunpoint after disarming him. He revels in the suffering of others and more so enjoys being in control of everything. This sadism also explains why he is comfortable with controlling Cecilia so much. He likes to control her and keeps her around as something to keep under his thumb. Whatever behavior that he perceives as one that defies his position of authority and control like a mere thought she seems to have that he dislikes, he will resort to hitting his Cecilia amongst other things. He wants to be served as a god with a slave by his side and whatever suffering he inflicts on others means nothing to him as he is above everyone. This cruelty even extends to his pet dog Zeus and everyone else Whereby he places a shock collar on his pet. He assaults her friends and murders his sister. He is also a child abuser since has no qualms with slapping a teenage girl’s face and effectively endangering his unborn child by harming Cecilia and he is also a cold-blooded murderer for killing Cecilia’s sister. Above all he is driven to recover Cecilia by ruining her life no matter who is hurt or killed in the process. Upon their “dining reunion” when Cecilia pleads to Adrian to confess his crimes, instead of doing so and expressing remorse, he does the opposite and attempts to gaslight her one more time but to no avail. His utter lack of remorse, arrogance and unrelenting cruelty that lead to his demise.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Invisibility: Through his work in Optics, Adrian was able to create a suit, which is covered in camera lenses and other unknown light-bending technologies. When active, the suit was capable of bending light waves, such that the wearer was rendered imperceptible to the naked eye.
- Superhuman Strength: Adrian's suit, combined with its stealth capabilities, grants him enhanced physical attributes that extend far from what the average human is capable of, as well as a surprisingly great amount of enhanced strength and agility. To prove this, Adrian grabbed Cecilia by her neck, strangled her, pulled her onto the ground and then threw her across a table with tons of force than any human is capable of.
Abilities[]
- Genius level intellect: Adrian was an incredibly intelligent scientist and inventor. A pioneer in the field of Optics, he used his resulting wealth to build a beachfront mansion which housed his private laboratory, which he used to create his crowning achievement: His Invisibility Suit.[2]
Relationships[]
Family[]
Allies[]To be added. |
Enemies[]
Appearances[]
Behind the Scenes[]Adrian Griffin was portrayed in The Invisible Man by Oliver Jackson-Cohen.[1] On playing Adrian Griffin, Jackson-Cohen remarked, "We've seen the villain so many times, so I think as an actor, you always want to try and think of the most interesting way. To me, it was a sort of a no-brainer when I read [the script] that I wanted to — these people who are narcissists and are so controlling in relationships, they are incredibly intelligent — make Adrian so good at performing, and pretending to be so charismatic and to fool people into a false sense of security. That's the direction we've gone with him, which I personally think is the right way to do it. It's been really good fun because we kind of want to mess with an audience as well, and mess with them going, 'Wait, but he's not... he didn't seem to be a bad guy. He seemed nice.' But then he does these horrific things."[3] Before Jackson-Cohen was cast, Universal's top choices for the role of Adrian Griffin were Armie Hammer and Alexander Skarsgård.[4] References[]
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