Grandpa keeps a
laboratory in the
cellar of the house, and often refers to "going down to the lab." The potions and
magic spells he devises there are central to many of the show's stories. Many of his inventions are less than successful, but he never stops thinking up new ones. Grandpa can transform himself into a wolf or a bat, as per
Bram Stoker's
Dracula. In "Herman's Sorority Caper" and
Munster, Go Home! it is revealed that he takes special pills to turn himself into these creatures. In later episodes, however, and in all episodes of
The Munsters Today he changes to and from a bat simply at will. Grandpa has an extremely sarcastic personality, and often insults his son-in-law, Herman. Despite this, Grandpa and Herman are quite close; in one episode, Lily says that if not for Herman, Grandpa would be "living in a cave picking fleas out of his wings". Many episodes of
The Munsters revolve around the zany schemes Grandpa and Herman concoct, which either end successfully or result in Lily scolding the two for their failure. While Grandpa is generally considered the wisest member of the family, he also has a decidedly stubborn streak. If he feels he isn't getting his due respect, he will let everyone know it, and often sulk or go to extreme lengths to demonstrate his offense at a perceived slight. While generally a successful mad scientist and magician, his experiments tend to be comically absurd, in keeping with the genre. Grandpa is depicted as a goofish yet loveable mad scientist. He has a pet bat named Igor who "hangs around" in Grandpa's lab. And much like a bat, Grandpa sleeps hanging upside down from the ceiling: usually in the living room, the attic, or the lab (the interior of his bedroom was shown in the season one episode "My Fair Munster"; in the season two episode "Underground Munster", Grandpa was having breakfast in bed, which was a marble slab). In
The Munsters Today, Grandpa's companion was Leonard the skeleton, whom he met at college back in Transylvania. Flashbacks to the events at college and to how Leonard and Grandpa met are part of the storyline in
The Munsters Today episode "Never Say Die". Grandpa doesn't always display the traits that are commonly associated with vampires. For example, in one episode of
The Munsters, he looks in the mirror and casts a reflection. However, he does not cast a reflection in later incarnations, nor does he appear on film or in pictures. Traditionally, vampires (including
Sesame Street's
Count von Count) do not cast reflections. Additionally, Grandpa, as well as Lily, is seen several times outdoors during day light hours without the sunlight having any effect on him. Vampires in most lore only come out at night and usually perish when out in daylight. A running gag on the show, later adopted in
The Munsters Today, is Grandpa's attempts to bite someone on the arm which usually ends in failure. ==Other media==