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"Monster Musume" (JP), also known as "Monster Girl", is a term for a cute 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.
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".[1][2]
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.
Alternate Name
Monster musume is commonly abbreviated to simply monmusu (モン娘).[3]
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.[4]
In both cases, the official Japanese romanized name is "monster girl".
History
Early Inspirations
Early instances of monsters being depicted as beautiful human girls can be found in mythology, legends, and folklore. Some notable examples include Medusa who was depicted as a beautiful woman who had snakes for hair, or tales of half-woman/half-bird/fish sirens who would lure sailors to their death with their charm.
Creation
In modern times, 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.
Popularity of Everyday Life With Monster Girls
The archetype of monster musume gained widespread popularity in 2012 after the release of the romance manga series Monster Musume: Everyday Life With Monster Girls.[5] The series was about a guy named Kimihito Kurusu and followed his everyday life of his interacting and living with a wide variety of monster girls.
Following this series' release there was a huge boom in new manga and video games based around monster musume.[6]
Characteristics
Monster musume are cute young female characters that 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 that are almost entirely monsters as long as they are still human in appearance and have a human face.
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.
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 that 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 of Monster Musume
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.[7][8][9]
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.[10]
Centaur girls are usually depicted as being majestic.
🪶 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.[11]
🐜 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.[12][13]
The most common type is hachi musume (JP), which are insect girls who share traits with a bee.[14] Another common type is mukade musume (JP), which are insect girls who share traits with a centipede. Similarly to lamia, their entire lower body is a long insect torso in place of their legs. They also posses fangs and antenna.[15]
🐍 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.[16]
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.[17]
- Gorgon (JP): A lamia girl subspecies that have long hair that resembles snakes.[18]
- Melusine (JP): A lamia girl subspecies with dragon wings on their backs.[19]
- 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.[20][21]
Mermaids are typically presented as being the kindest and most beautiful type of monster girls, with them often being described as moe. They usually live in or at least near the ocean and are excellent swimmers, with some even having the ability to manipulate water.
Mermaids that possess beautiful singing voices that are capable of charming anyone who hears them sing are referred to as Sirens (JP).[22]
Mermaids that have the lower body of an octopus or other tentacle-based sea creatures are called Cecaelia (JP) or Syclla (JP). Cecaelia will often have darker personalities when compared to the moe nature of regular mermaids.[23]
🐺 Werewolf

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 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.[24]
Legendary Creatures
Monster Musume that are inspired by fictional creatures from legends or folklore.
👽 Alien

Mina Ashida 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.[25]
👁️ 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.[26][27][28][29]
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.[30]
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.[31]
Small petite demon girls are referred to as Koakuma (JP) or Little Devils.[32]
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.[33]
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 Ryumusume (JP) are half-human, half-dragon girls. 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.[34][35][36]
Dragon girls are usually presented as being one of the most powerful kinds of monster girl, possessing very powerful magic. They are also usually 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.[37][38]
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.[39][40][41]
👹 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.[42][43]
Smaller ogre girls are known as oni musume (JP), or sometimes as onikko (JP). They will most commonly wear tiger print clothing. In some cases they may also have reddish or pink skin.[44][45]
❄️ 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.[46]
- 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.[47]
- Frankenstein's Monster (JP): A zombie girl subspecies that are made from parts of different corpses sewn together.[48]
- 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.[49]
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.[50][51]
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.[52]
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.
Similar Japanese 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.
- Onidere: A term for a character with an oni complex who treats their love interest badly around other people to maintain a reputation of being feared.
- 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
References
- ↑ What is Monster Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Monster Musume. Nico Nico Encyclopedia (2013/10/10).
- ↑ What is Monmusu. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Mamono Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ The Strange Success of Monster Musume. Shark Puppet (2014).
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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 Siren 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.
- ↑ What is Ryumusume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Ryumusume (2). Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ What is Oni Musume. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ What is Onikko. Pixiv Encyclopedia.
- ↑ 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 | ||
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Juujin ♡ Kemono ♡ Kemonomimi | |
Machine | ||
Monster |
Monster Musume (Danshi) | |
Other |