Dr. Herbert West is the quintessential "mad scientist" of Miskatonic University, a man possessed by the singular, chilling conviction that death is merely a technical malfunction. Short, slight, and high-strung, he moves with a twitchy, surgical precision, his pale eyes behind thick spectacles constantly scanning for "fresh specimens." He is defined by a cold, clinical arrogance and an utter contempt for traditional medical ethics, viewing the human body as a machine that simply needs a chemical restart.

Armed with a glowing, neon-green reanimating reagent and a case of silver-plated tools, West is a brilliant chemist and surgeon who has traded his humanity for a god complex. He is a man of rapid-fire speech and nervous intensity, driven by an obsessive need to conquer the grave.