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"Monster Musume" (JP), also known as "Monster Girl", is a term for a beautiful young female character who shares traits with a monster. It is a form of moe anthropomorphism, which takes monsters and turns them into cute moe human girls. They can be considered a cross between a monster and a bishoujo human, since they have aspects of monsters and a beautiful human face.
Male versions of this archetype are called monster danshi.
Etymology
Meaning of the Term
Monster musume (モンスター娘) comes from the English word "monster" (モンスター) and the Japanese word "musume" (娘), which means "daughter".[3][4]
Although the word "musume" literally translates to "daughter" it can also be used in a more general sense to refer to any "young unmarried girl" (i.e, the daughter of a household). As such, monster characters who are not young (at least appearance-wise) do not fall under this archetype.
Origin
The term "monster musume" was coined in 2007 by Okayado. Okayado began posting adult-themed one-page manga series about monster girls on a Monster Musume thread on PINK Channel's 2chan forum some time in 2007. As fan interest in his series increased, it transitioned to commercial publication as a one-shot manga adaptation in the anthology comic Kemono in 2011 and as a fully serialized series in Monthly Comic Ryuu in 2012 under the name Monster Musume: Everyday Life With Monster Girls (JP).[2][5]
Everyday Life With Monster Girls is harem romance series that follows a guy named Kimihito Kurusu and his everyday life of his interacting and living with a wide variety of monster girls.[1][6]
The series gained widespread popularity leading to the creation of an entire genre of monster girl works inspired by it.
Alternate Name
Monster musume is commonly abbreviated to simply monmusu (モン娘).[7]
It also sometimes alternatively known as "mamono musume" (魔物娘), using the kanji form of "monster" (魔物) instead of the katakana version of the English word, though this is less common.[8]
Localization
The official Japanese romanized name is "monster girl".[1]
History
Early Inspirations
The first instances of monster musume can be found in fantasy and RPG games. While male monsters were depicted as being large, deadly and terrifying, female monsters were depicted as bewitching, charming, and human-like in order to captivate the player. The first notable instance of this comes from the Touhou Project series started in 1998, which depicted various yokai in the form of cute girls.
From this, a trend emerged in the 2000s of creating cute girls with monster traits as a form of "moe anthropomorphism", which takes non-human objects and turns them into cute moe human girls.
Official Media
Monster musume is extremely popular in anime, manga, light novels, and visual novels.[9]
Characteristics
Appearance
Monster musume are cute young female characters who share traits with monsters, often described as a bishoujo (beautiful girl) mixed with a monster. This is usually in the form of being half-human/half-monster, such as having a human upper torso and monster legs, or being entirely human and having wings or horns. However, it can also apply to characters who are almost entirely monsters as long as they are still human in appearance and have a human face.
Personality
The personality traits of monster musume can differ widely depending on the species the character is based on. The more simple creatures are typically depicted as having traits of deredere, dandere or tsundere. In contrast, characters who are based on darker creatures may share traits of S dere, kamidere or onidere. Because of the medium monster musume are often depicted in, it's also not uncommon to have traits of kichidere, mayadere (Western), or even teasedere.
Monster musume are often insecure about the fact they are part monsters, sometimes choosing to hide themselves away from the fear of being judged. Once they find someone who accepts them for who they are they will open up and become more loving.
Sub-Types
There are many different sub-types of monster girls, but the most common types are listed below:
Beast Creatures
Monster Musume that are inspired by real creatures, most of which originate from mythology.
🕷️ Arachne
Rachnera Arachnera from Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou
"Arachne" (JP) are half-human, half-spider girls. They have the upper torso of a human and the lower body of a spider, with some also having eight eyes.[10][11][12]
They are usually depicted as being very feared and misunderstood due to people fearing their spider-like appearance. They like to hide away in secluded places, but may come out if they find someone they can trust.
🐎 Centaur
Centorea Shianus from Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou
"Centaur Musume" (JP) are half-human, half-horse girls. They have the upper torso of a human and the lower body of a horse.[13]
Centaur girls are usually depicted as being majestic.
- Subspecies
- Bicorn (JP): A centaur girl subspecies that has two large horns on the side of their head.[14]
- Pegasus (JP): A centaur girl subspecies that have large wings attached to the sides of their body which gives them the ability to fly. They are said to be truly noble and morally strong so they serve only those who are of the same character.[15]
- Unicorn (JP): A centaur girl subspecies that has a large horn on their forehead. They are said to be exceptionally pure so only pure maidens can ride them. It is also said that their horns are able to cure all diseases.[16]
🪶 Harpy
Papi from Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou
"Harpy Musume" (JP) are half-human, half-bird girls. They have huge bird wings for arms and scales with sharp bird claws for legs. Some may also have feathers on their heads in place of their ears.[17]
🐜 Insect
"Mushi Musume" (JP) are girls who share traits with an insect. Depending on the type of insect they are based on they may have wings, antennas, claws , fangs, stingers, or even insect lower bodies.[18][19]
- Subspecies
- Bee (JP): An insect girl subspecies that shares traits with a bee. They have an antenna and bee wings. They also commonly have a stinger tail.[20]
- Centipede (JP): An insect girl subspecies that shares traits with a centipede. Their entire lower body is a long insect torso in place of their legs. They also posses fangs and antenna.[21]
🐍 Lamia
Miia from Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou
"Lamia Musume" (JP) are half-human, half-snake girls. They have the upper torso of a human and the lower body of a snake, with smaller scales scattered throughout the rest of their bodies as well. They also have large scaly ears, or sometimes even horns, and possess a long snake-like tongue.[22]
They love wrapping their bodies around their love interest when they cuddle with them.
- Subspecies
- Echidna (JP): A lamia girl subspecies that has more of their body covered in scales, including their arms.[23]
- Gorgon (JP): A lamia girl subspecies that have long hair that resembles snakes.[24]
- Melusine (JP): A lamia girl subspecies with dragon wings on their backs.[25]
- Sea Serpent (JP): A lamia girl subspecies that has the lower body of a sea snake. They live in aquatic habitats and while they resemble mermaids in design, they do not possess gills and therefore must resurface regularly to breathe air.
- Jormungand (JP): A lamia girl subspecies that are gigantic. They have exceptionally long snake-like bodies and two large horns on their head.
🧜♀️ Mermaid
Meroune Lorelei from Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou
"Mermaids" (JP) or "Ningyou" (JP) are half-human, half-fish girls. They will typically have both a mermaid form and a normal human form that they turn into when they are no longer in contact with water, though some may only have a mermaid form. In their mermaid forms they have the upper torso of a human and the lower body of a fish.[26][27]
Mermaids are typically presented as being the kindest and most beautiful type of monster girls. They usually live in or at least near the ocean and are excellent swimmers, with some even having the ability to manipulate water.
- Subspecies
- Syclla (JP): A mermaid subspecies that has the lower body of an octopus or other tentacle-based sea creatures. They will often have darker personalities when compared to the kind nature of regular mermaids. They are also sometimes called octomaids.[28]
🐺 Werewolf
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Felicia from Vampire: The Night Warriors
"Werewolf Musume" (JP) are girls who share traits with a werewolf. They will have wolf-like arms, legs, and ears, while otherwise looking like a normal human. In contrast, to werewolf-based juujin they are not entirely animal in appearance and still have a human face.
It's also common to see girls based on other types of werebeasts, such as werecats, werefoxes, or wererabbits.
In addition to their animalistic humanoid form, werewolves girls are also often capable of transforming into a full wolf form.
🦇 Vampire
Krul Tepes from Owari No Seraph
"Vampire Musume" (JP) are half-human, half-bat girls. They will often have both a normal human form and a vampire form that they can transform into, though many only have a vampire form. Common traits include having fangs, red-colored eyes, pale skin, and bat wings or ears. Vampire girls drink human blood as their main source of nutrients.[29]
Legendary Creatures
Monster Musume that are inspired by fictional creatures from legends or folklore.
👽 Alien
Mina Ashido from My Hero Academia
Alien Musume or Jingai Musume (JP) are monster girls inspired by aliens. Due to the vagueness of what an alien looks like, this can differ greatly in appearance depending on the character. In most cases, if the creature the character is based on is unindentifiable then it likely falls under this category.[30]
👁️ Cyclops
Memé Redon from Doctor for Monster Girls
"Cyclops" (JP), also known as "Monoeye (JP) or "Tangan Musume" (JP), are human girls that have a single large eye on their face, as opposed to having two regular-sized eyes. They will also sometimes have a single horn on their head.[31][32][33][34]
A common variation of this is "Tagan Musume" (JP), which are human girls with more than two eyes. The most common is the mitsume (JP) or triclops who have three eyes; two in the normal position and a third on their forehead. This third eye is often associated with enlightenment and as such triclops girls are often highly intelligent.[35]
Cyclops girls are usually depicted as being very self-conscious of their eyes, which is often a result of being called "ugly" or "freaks" by other people while growing up. It's not uncommon for a cyclops girl to breakdown crying from happiness over someone complimenting their eye for the first time.
😈 Demon
Golden Darkness from To LOVE-Ru
"Demon Musume" (JP) are demonic girls that comes from the underworld. There are a wide variety of different species including devils, succubuses, shinigami, and other fiendish creatures. Most demon girls will have a tail, horns, and wings, with their wings being retractible. More fiendish demons will typically have red or blue skin, while others will look more human-like.[36]
Small petite demon girls are referred to as Koakuma (JP) or Little Devils.[37]
Demon girls are presented as being the most evil and sadistic, as well as the strongest kind of monster girl. They possess extremely powerful magic and will often find pleasure in harming and tormenting others due to thinking they are beneath them.
Succubus (JP) demon girls are the most lewd and erotic kind of monster girl. They will use their charm and beauty to seduce men into sleeping with them for the purposes of draining their life force. This is often paired with putting them under a love spell that makes them only attracted to them. They also possess the ability to shape-shift in order to become the ideal girl to attract their potential victims.[38]
Shinigami demon girls are gods of death responsible for guiding the souls of the dead to the afterlife.
🐉 Dragon
Mink from Dragon Half
"Dragon Musume" (JP) or "Ryuu Musume" (JP) are half-human, half-dragon girls. The term "dragon musume" is more often used when referring to Western-style dragons, while "ryuu musume" is more often used when referring to Oriental-style dragons.[39][40][41][42]
They are almost always capable on taking on a full dragon form in addition to their humanoid form. In their humanoid form they will typically only have the horns, tails and wings from a dragon, with their wings sometimes being retractible.
Dragon girls are usually presented as being one of the most powerful kinds of monster girl, possessing very powerful magic. They are usually able to breathe fire from their mouths and fly, but they may also have other abilities depending on their element. They are also often very wise due to typically having long lifespans.
👻 Ghost
Yuuna Yunohana from Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san
Ghost Musume (JP) or Yuurei Onna (JP) are the spirits of deceased girls. There are a wide variety of different species including ghosts, dullahans, grim reapers, and other spirit creatures. They are a pale white in appearance and may be surrounded by a ghastly aura, with some even being transparent.[43][44]
Ghost girls are usually not capable of interacting with objects and as such will simply pass right through them.
Dullahan ghost girls are capable of removing their heads at will and will often be seen carrying them around in their arms.
🦖 Kaiju
"Kaiju Musume" (JP) are girls who share traits with a kaiju, giant creatures from Japanese monster movies.[45][46][47]
👹 Ogre
Yamato from ONE PIECE
"Ogre Musume" (JP) are girls who share traits with an ogre. They will typically have either one large horn on their forehead or two small horns on the side of their heads. They not only possess great size, but also phenomenal strength.[48][49]
- Subspecies
- Gigantesu (JP): An incredibly large subspecies of ogre girls. They on average reach heights over ten meters tall.
- Oni (JP): A smaller subspecies of ogre girls. They will most commonly wear tiger print clothing. In some cases they may also have reddish or pink skin.[50][51]
- Troll (JP): A very muscular subspecies of ogre girls. They are larger than regular ogres, and are most often over three meters tal. They have a greenish brown skin and one or two short, thick horns on their head.
❄️ Yokai
"Yokai Musume" (JP) are monster girls inspired from Japanese folklore and urban legends. They are usually depicted as being a type of spirit or dark deity. There are a wide variety of distinct species, but the most common are the Yuki-onna (snow woman), tengu (bird monster), and kirin (deer/dragon/lion chimera).
🧟♀️ Zombie
Zombina from Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou
"Zombie Musume" (JP) are the living corpses of dead girls. They typically have a grayish pale skin while otherwise looking like a normal human. Due to being dead, they possess no pulse and are immune to pain, making them effectively immortal.[52]
- Subspecies
- Mummy (JP): A zombie girl subspecies from dry desert areas. They are wrapped in bandages and typically have dark tan skin, as common for Egyptians. Since many mummies were ancient royalty or nobility in life, they often have difficult personalities.[53]
- Frankenstein's Monster (JP): A zombie girl subspecies that are made from parts of different corpses sewn together.[54]
- Jiang Shi (JP): A zombie girl subspecies that are corpses reanimated by magical talismans. They have a more monstrous look to them, usually having blue or pale white skin, and wear traditional Chinese attire. They are also unable to bend their joints due to have a very stiff rigor mortis. They are commonly known as the "Chinese hopping vampire" due to being a cross between a zombie and a vampire, however, they do not drink blood as their main source of nutrients like a typical vampire would, rather they drain the life force from people directly.[55]
Non-Creatures
Monster Musume that are inspired by plants or other non-living things.
🌹 Alraune
"Alraune" (JP) or "Shokubutsu Musume" (JP) are humanoid girls made out of plants. They have green skin and various different plants or flowers growing off of them.[56][57]
They are usually presented as being nature spirits or guardians of a forest.
💧 Slime
Juno from Omega Strikers
"Slime Musume" (JP) are humanoid girls made out of slime. Their bodies are completely see-through and they are capable of taking on any shape due to the flexibility of their slime.[58]
They are typically entirely monochromatic, but having multiple different colors to differentiate between their hair and body is not uncommon. Their appearance can differ in color depending on the individual species, but the most common colors are blue, green and purple.
Differences From Other Archetypes
Monster musume are similar to kemonomimi. The difference is that monster musume have elements of fictitious or mythological creatures, while kemonomimi are based on real animals. Kemonomimi are also mostly human in appearance aside from their ears and tails, while monster musume often have over half of their body as monster parts.
Similar Archetypes
- Gijinka: A term for a turning a non-human object into a cute human character.
- Kemonomimi: A term for a human character who has animal ears.
- Maou: A term for a character who is a demon king.
- Monster Danshi: A term for a beautiful male character who shares traits with a monster girl.
- Shindere: A term for a character who has died and become lovestruck after returning to life. This is very often in the form of returning as a ghost.
- Zondere: A term for a zombie character who is lovestruck.
List of Characters
Gallery
 Aya Rindo from Undead Girl Murder Farce  Albedo from Overlord  Lily Hoshikawa from Zombie Land Saga  Tohru from Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon  Yuuna Yunohana from Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san .png "Alice (Monster Girl Quest).png (226 KB)") Alipheese Fateburn XVI from Monmusu Quest! |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou. MonMusu (2015/07/08). “Everyday Life With Monster Girls. Due to a misunderstanding, Kimihito Kurusu ends up hosting a group of international students from another race, and ends up living with a lamia girl named Miia. ♡ Touched by Kimihito's kindness at first sight, Miia begins to make extreme advances on him every day, but sex with other races is strictly prohibited under the Inter-Species Interaction Act!? Miia is excited about her first date with Kimihito. ♡ After getting into a fight with a delinquent couple, she finds herself exposed to the curious gazes of passersby. Kimihito takes Miia to a secluded spot, but they end up in a love hotel. As Kimihito becomes flustered, Miia painfully asks him why he's being so kind to her...”
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Interview: Okayado, The Father of Monster Musume. AnimeNewsNetwork (2016/08/03). “Monster Musume is basically a harem comedy with a twist: thanks to a bureaucratic mix-up, a hapless 20-something guy gets a girl from another country assigned to live with him as part of a cultural exchange program. The catch? The girl is not just from another country, but she's from a completely different species. Kimihito Kurusu's new houseguest is Miia, a half-girl/half-snake Lamia who just happens to be very busty and very crazy about him. Soon after that, even more monster girls take up residence at the Kurusu household, including a harpy and a centaur. Later, even more monster girls enter the picture, including a zombie, a headless dullahan, mermaids and spider women, making Kimihito's life anything but ordinary.
Okayado: So as I mentioned earlier, I started out by creating a one-page manga that just put it up on the Internet randomly. I started putting images up on 2chan. Then when I got several pages done, I started posting them on pixiv. At the same time, I was working as an assistant for another mangaka.” - ↑ What is Monster Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Monster Musume. Nico Nico Encyclopedia (2013/10/10).
- ↑ Everyday Life With Monster Girls. Wikipedia JP. “The manga is based on a one-page manga for adults that Okayado had been posting to a Monster Musume thread on the PINK Channel's 2chan since around 2007. As the manga's popularity grew, a one-shot version of the work was published in the second volume of the anthology comic "Kemono" in 2011, marking its entry into commercial publications. It then began publishing in "Monthly Comic Ryu" in 2012."”
- ↑ The Strange Success of Monster Musume. Shark Puppet (2014).
- ↑ What is Monmusu. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Mamono Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Monster Musume TD Wiki. Monmusu TD (2023/12/07).
- ↑ Arachne Musume. Bangumi.
- ↑ What is Arachne. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Kumo Onna. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Centaur Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Bicorn. Mamono Girl Lover.
- ↑ What is Pegasus Musume. As her title suggests, she's a Pegasus monster girl..
- ↑ Unicorn. Mamono Girl Lover.
- ↑ What is Harpy. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Mushi Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia (Mushi Musume).
- ↑ Mushi no Kanojo to: with your Insect Girl. Kurage Bunch (2022/09/16).
- ↑ What is Hachi Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Mukade Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Lamia. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Echidna. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Gorgon. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Melusine. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Ningyou. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Mermaid. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Syclla. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Vampire Girl Falls in Love with Garlic Chef!. Amazon (2022/06/15).
- ↑ What is Alien Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Mon Musume Ecological Encyclopedia (Cyclops Edition). V-Storage (2020/09/11).
- ↑ Monoeye. Daily Life With a Monster Girl.
- ↑ Kyoufu! Tangan Musume. Amazon (2022/06/03).
- ↑ What is Tangan. Pixiv Encyclopedia (2023/12/07).
- ↑ What is Multi-Eyed Girl. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Demon Girl. Monmusu TD.
- ↑ What is Koakuma. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Succubus. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Dragon Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia. “A type of monster girl, a girl with dragon elements. Compared to the "ryuu musume", she has a Western-style dragon motif.”
- ↑ What is Ryuu Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia. “A girl who is an anthropomorphized dragon motif. This tag is used for illustrations depicting girls who are half human and half dragon, as in the old characters. If the character is based on the Chinese zodiac sign "dragon", it is also called "tatsu musume". Dinosaur girls, whose characters are similar, are not included in dragon girls. This is because dragons refer to lizards or snakes, and dinosaurs are birds, so strictly speaking, dinosaurs are not dragons.”
- ↑ What is Ryuu Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia. “A variation in the spelling of "ryuu musume", or specifically a girl who has elements of an oriental dragon. A girl with dragon elements. This is the old style of writing for "ryuu musume", but in creative circles, "ryuu" (竜) can easily mean dragon or dinosaur, while "ryuu" (龍) is more often used to refer to an oriental dragon, so there may be a similar difference in meaning. In the case of the dragon as the animal corresponding to "dragon" in the Chinese zodiac, it is also called "tatsu musume".”
- ↑ What is Tatsu Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia. “A tatsu musume is a girl who is the personification or motif of the dragon, which is associated with the Chinese zodiac. A type of zodiac girl, a girl with a dragon motif as the "dragon" of the Chinese zodiac. If you were simply saying "a girl with a dragon motif," you would use "ryuu musume", but if you write "tatsu musume", it is differentiated from the characters related to the Chinese zodiac, such as in New Year's cards in the Year of the Dragon.”
- ↑ What is Ghost. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Ghost Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Kaiju Musume. Ultra Kaiju Gijinka Project.
- ↑ What is Kaiju Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Kaiju Girls. Crunchyroll (2017/09/27).
- ↑ Ogre. Everydar Life With Monster Girls.
- ↑ What is Ogre Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia. “A female ogre, a monster that appears in Western folklore. In fact, the feminine form of the "ogre" has existed for a long time, but it doesn't seem to have taken root in Japan. This is because ogres as a species are ambiguous beings, monsters with no specific name, and the female form that originated from them made it even more difficult to establish them as characters. In recent years in Japan, the image of "ogre = (Western) oni" has become more established, and with that, they have been appearing more frequently in various media. In Japan, due to the reasons mentioned above, no particular distinction is made between ogre girls and oni girls, and in a broad sense they tend to be treated the same.”
- ↑ What is Oni Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia. “An oni that takes the form of a daughter. This tag is attached to illustrations of oni girls and young girls. When you think of oni girls, you think of horns, but there are two types of horns: those that grow from the head, and those that grow from the forehead (temples). The former was more common in the past, but the latter has become more common in recent years.”
- ↑ What is Onikko. Pixiv Encyclopedia. “Attribute almost synonymous with oni musume.”
- ↑ What is Zombie Daughter. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Mummy Daughter. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Franken Daughter. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Jiang Shi Daughter. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Alraune. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Shokubutsu Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Slime Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
| v • eHybrid Archetypes | ||
|---|---|---|
| Animal |
Juujin ♡ Kemono ♡ Kemonomimi ♡ Tsuno Musume | |
| Machine | ||
| Monster |
Monster Musume (Danshi) | |
| Other | ||