A world inhabited by superpowered monsters and where humans
can partner up with them; for some, living in a world like this would be a
dream come true, while for others, it would be a living nightmare.
With series on both sides of this spectrum, mon series
have been a very popular subgenre of fantasy with their use of creative monster
designs and concepts and the storylines built around them. Battles between
monsters, while a common theme, are not present in all these series and while
some are about rising through the ranks to become the best battler in the
world, some are about an adventure to stop an evil force from threatening the
world, and others are even about just helping regular people. Now, we're here to look at the ten best offerings from this genre.
For this list, we’re looking at ten series in TV and video
games that feature large rosters of creatures with special powers that interact
and partner themselves with the humans of the setting. While many of these series have card games or toys
associated with them, series that place more emphasis on the game itself than
the monsters within it don’t count as mon series and won’t be included. This
leaves
out series like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Chaotic, Beyblade, and the original version of Duel
Masters.
10. Mega Man Battle Network
Mega Man as a mon series? This may need some explaining.
Mega Man Battle Network is a sub-series of Capcom's Mega Man franchise, including a series of action RPGs for handheld consoles, an anime, and a manga. The story takes place in an alternate timeline where large technological advancements were made in computer networking, instead of robotics like in the main series. In this world, the Internet has become so vast and complex over the years that the only way that people can utilize it is with the help of personalized AI partners called Net Navigators, or NetNavis for short. The story focuses on a young boy named Lan Hikari and his NetNavi, MegaMan.EXE, as they foil the plots of the cyber-crime organization World Three.
While not a regular mon series in the sense that you could be best friends with a dragon or a werewolf, everyone in this series has their own NetNavi to help with computer and Internet related tasks, since so much about this world is connected to the Internet somehow. NetNavis can even battle against each other in competitions, with their human partners able to use Battle Chips to give them different weapons and abilities, which can also be used for battling computer viruses and hackers. And for some shout-outs to Mega Man fans, a lot of the NetNavis are based on Mega Man characters from the main series.
9. Zatch Bell
The story of this mon series revolves around a supernatural fighting tournament of interdimensional proportions. Every thousand years, 100 supernatural creatures called Mamodo come from their world to Earth to battle each other to see who will be crowned as the new Mamodo King. Each Mamodo has their powerful magical abilities sealed by a spell book that can only be read by one particular human on Earth, so the Mamodos have to find their chosen partner, and work together to defeat or outlast the other 99 in order to win the crown.
The main characters here are the lightning magic Mamodo, Zatch Bell, and his human partner, teenage genius Kiyo Takamine, with Zatch determined to win, so that he can end the Mamodo battles once and for all, having seen too many nice people suffer because of them since coming to Earth. The Mamodos have a very wide range of powers and personalities and while some, like Zatch, look like regular humans, apart from maybe one or two odd features, others look anything but human. As for the human spell book holders, they can come from just about any country in the world and from any walk of life. This can make for some interesting, quirky, and sometimes dangerous team-ups when the Mamodos find their partners.
First appearing as a manga in 2001 then adapted as an anime in 2003, this series takes the tournament set-up familiar to this
genre and layers on development for different characters and several other
subplots. Viewers watch as Zatch and Kiyo make new allies, rivals, and enemies, save lives, stop criminals, and foil worldwide plots, all on the way to make Zatch the Mamodo King.
Remember when I said that the original version of Duel
Masters, while good, didn’t count as a mon series? The Duel Masters remake Kaijudo does
count, and for an American remake of a Japanese show, it's surprisingly high
quality.
Ray Pierce-Okamoto, a boy living in the town of San Campion, California, learns he has the ability to summon creatures from another dimension which attracts the attention of an evil force known as The Choten, who intends to enslave the creatures of this realm to conquer both it and Earth. After an attack on his home, Ray and his friends Allie and Gabe are saved and brought to the Kaijudo Duel Masters, who the three join forces with to stop the Choten.
Airing on the Hub Network, best known for its modern remake of the My Little Pony series, Kaijudo featured quality story writing and character development, as well as creative monster designs and portrayal of the different environments and civilizations of the world the monsters live in, which are so different, they almost seem like separate worlds. It only lasted for two seasons however, before being ended prematurely, placing it among the ranks of shows like Young Justice and Thundercats 2011, as animated action series that were ended too soon.
7. Lilo & Stitch: The Series
The only western animated series not based on a Japanese property on this list, this proves that the genre isn't strictly a Japanese thing.
Based on the Disney animated movie of the same title, Lilo & Stitch picks up where the movie and its direct to DVD sequel left off, with Hawaiian girl Lilo now enjoying life with her new pet/alien best friend Stitch. As explained in the movie, Stitch is Experiment #626 of the alien mad scientist Jumba Jookiba, and in the sequel, it is revealed that he keeps the other 625 experiments dormant in small dehydrated balls. It's shown that after coming into contact with moisture, the experiments come back to life and wreak havoc, and at the end of the second movie, all the experiment balls are spread across Hawaii.
The series picks up directly afterwards, as Lilo, Stitch, and their extended family try to find the experiments to stop whatever chaos they are causing, make sure their powers don't fall into the wrong hands, and find a place where they can use their abilities for good instead. The series aired for 65 episodes starting in 2003 and proved to be very popular. It even featured character guest appearances from other popular Disney Channel shows like Recess, The Proud Family, American Dragon: Jake Long, and Kim Possible.
As the most recent major addition to the genre, Yo-Kai Watch proves that it can still produce some original ideas.
In this growing franchise of a video game series, a boy named Nate (or Keita in the Japanese version) comes to own a Yo-Kai Watch, a device that lets him see spirit creatures called yo-kai, who like to haunt and possess people and generally cause mischief. Joined by the ghost yo-kai Whisper and the cat yo-kai Jibanyan, Nate goes around his town to take care of the problems that yo-kai are causing, as well as battling the more malicious ones. Interaction with the yo-kai focuses on a mix of battling and befriending them, they seem to be all around the world hidden from regular people, and getting possessed by a yo-kai can seriously change a person's behavior for better or worse, usually worse.
This series has become a large phenomenon, particularly in Japan. Only one game in the series has been released worldwide so far, but in Japan, several games have been released, along with an anime, manga, toys, and smartphone apps. The character Jibanyan has even reached a level of mascot recognition comparable to Pikachu from Pokemon.
5. Monster Rancher
This video game series for several consoles, starting with the PlayStation 1 in 1997, is a series of virtual pet games set in an alternate world. Here, humans uncovered old magical disc stones, that when activated would unlock a monster trapped inside. Players take the role of monster breeders, raising monsters to fight in tournament battles. Differing from games like Pokemon, breeders focus less on battling and more on raising the creatures, including feeding them, making sure they stay healthy, and exercising them.
The anime based on the series followed a more adventure-oriented format, similar to Digimon. In the anime, a boy named Genki, who actually plays the Monster Rancher video games, wins a special game disk in a Monster Rancher tournament, but upon putting it in his console and turning it on, he finds himself transported into the world of the game. There, he meets a girl named Holly, who is on a quest to find the disc stone of the legendary Phoenix, who is thought to be able to free the land from the evil tyrant Moo. Genki decides to join Holly on his quest and along the way, they meet several other characters to aid their cause.
While not widely popular, Monster Rancher did have its fair share of fans, and debuted around the same time as Pokemon and Digimon to help establish the genre in the West. However, the series is currently dormant, as the most recent game in the series was released in 2011.
4. Shadow Star/Narutaru
Originally running as a manga from 1998 to 2003 before being adapted as an anime, this story revolves around a 12-year old girl named Shiina, who bonds with a starfish shaped shadow dragon that she names Hoshimaru and meets with other young people who have bonded with dragons of their own.
Expecting a cute, friendly kids show, given what you've heard so far? Well, prepare for a huge shock.
While it starts off looking cute and innocent, as the story progresses, it quickly grows darker and more disturbing, displaying several scenes of death, gore, and sexual violence. Working as a deconstruction of the mon series, Shadow Star drives the point home that if the wrong people were given control of ultra-powerful monsters, they would use that power to lay waste to everything around them, spreading death and destruction everywhere. It turned out to be so graphic that certain scenes were edited out of the English and German versions of the series.
The show's intro may look bright and cheerful, but this is perhaps the darkest entry on the list.
At least, this series is honest and upfront about how dark it is.
Introduced in the NES era, therefore predating Pokemon, Shin Megami Tensei is a series of
Japanese RPGs, that include several creatures (referred to in the series as demons) from mythology and
religion as summonable creatures to combat enemies. Instead of using an item to
capture a monster after weakening it, players would try to win them over to
joining their team through negotiation, even using items or money to try to
bribe them. Two or three monsters can even be fused together to create new ones.
The stories of the games vary on the details from entry to entry, but there are recurring themes between each of them. Basically, there is a war between the forces of Law and Chaos and the humans of the modern era are caught in the middle. At some point, a small group of humans that can direct demons in combat become the deciding factors in this battle. Whether they ultimately decide to side with Law, side with Chaos, or choose neither side affects how the story plays out. Also, keep in mind that neither side is presented as completely good or completely evil.
Shin Megami Tensei is a cult classic series, known for its moral dilemmas and the different branches in its stories. It has also received several spin-off series like Devil
Survivor, Demi-Kids, and Persona, the last of which has gone on to become a mega-hit series in its own right.
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At this point, it’s kind of obvious which two series have
made the top two spots and revealing Number Two right now will spoil Number One. So, before revealing the top two picks, here are a few honorable mentions.
-Magi-Nation - Another series based on a card game, the result is another good adventure series with bright and creative creature designs. The humans even have powers to fight alongside the monsters.
-Alien Dice - Another deconstruction of the genre (though not as graphic as Shadow Star), this webcomic takes a look at the dangers faced by the people embarking on these kinds of adventures.
-Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers - This offbeat take on Marvel Comics' superhero characters shows established heroes in a new and interesting way.
-MedaBots - This classic series shows robots as the mons and, along with other series, helped establish the conventions of the genre.
-Jewelpet - A series that some people would describe as "for girls", this focuses on cute creatures making friends with nice girls without compromising on story development.
And one dishonorable mention…
-Fighting Foodons - With a strange concept and comedy that induces groans instead of laughs, this is a series best left in obscurity.
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The top two mon series in no particular order (yet) are
Pokemon and Digimon. When a lot of people think about mon series, these two are
usually the first ones they think of.
As one of Nintendo’s most well-known series, saying Pokemon is a
large franchise would be a huge understatement. With six generations (and a seventh coming soon as of this writing), several
spin-off games, a TV series still running since its start in the late 90s,
manga series, a trading card game, several kinds of merchandise, and over 700
different creatures, Pokemon has done a lot since it got started. While the main
series revolves around a rookie trainer traveling their region and challenging
Pokemon Gym Leaders to become the champion of the Pokemon League, there are
also sub-plots involving villainous teams and legendary Pokemon. Some of the spin-off games like Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and Pokemon Ranger even expand on the universe and offer different, sometimes deeper, stories.
On the other side, we have Digimon, one of Toei Animation’s
biggest franchises, and what Pokemon is to video games, Digimon is to anime.
Each season of the show follows a new story and a different cast of main
characters, but recurring themes are kept consistent with each incarnation.
Namely, when an evil force threatens the Digital World, and eventually, the
human world, a group of humans (usually children or young teens) are chosen to
enter the Digital World, receive a Digimon partner and a Digivice, and go on an adventure to
save both worlds. Aside from the anime, Digimon also has several video games
and manga series, a movie infamous for its bad English dub by Fox Kids, a card game, and different kinds of
merchandise. While not as big as Pokemon, it is still regarded as a large and
successful franchise and offers more story depth and character growth for those looking for a deeper experience with their monster battles.
So, which of these series takes number one?
1. Pokemon
While Digimon may have deeper stories, more complex
characters, and as some have proven, more powerful monsters, Pokemon's simpler approach seems to make it accessible to more people. The series has reached a level of cultural ubiquity that few series period can lay claim to. Even people
that don’t play video games or watch anime have at least heard of Pokemon at
some point. Both achieved mainstream popularity around the same time in the
late 90s, but Pokemon has managed to hang on to that mainstream popularity over the years,
while Digimon’s popularity today is mostly limited to anime fans.
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What did you think about this list? What is your favorite mon series? Let me know in the comments below and thanks for coming.
