History SoYouWantTo / WriteAMonSeries

Let's have a little history lesson. While heroes have made use of monsters as assistants throughout storytelling history, the Mons series as we know it today really began with the original Megaten game. The UrExample series is likely ''VideoGame/TheBardsTale'', where you could enlist monsters to join your party if you left a few slots open. The TropeMaker is ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei'' for the NES, where you could enlist monsters (read as demons) you face down in battle to join your side. The TropeCodifier, [[CashCowFranchise through and through]], is ''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]] [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Red and Green]]'', originally released on the Game Boy in 1996.

* The majority of the story's focus will be [[ABoyAndHisX The Player And Their Mon]] and the training of said mon(s) to reach their fullest potential and be the strongest (either strong enough to overcome whatever goal their is or the strongest ever). Depending on the mechanics you have behind it that define how much of the mon's stats you monitor and grow or what you do with them, you can potentially expand on the relationship you, the player, have with the mon, your partner. The most common theme is friendship, especially if your character and/or mon are the good-hearted type, and depending how much you integrate your mon's affection to your tamers in-game or story-wise, [[ThePowerOfFriendship you can work with a sub-plot that shows that a strong bond with your mon enables you to tap into your greatest strengths]]. For the reverse, you can also [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruct the idea]] of why [[FridgeLogic a mon would mindlessly follow a trainer who]] [[DefeatMeansFriendship horribly pounded the crap out of them on-sight when they first met]] by showing the trainer [[LevelGrinding strengthen their mon through grinding]] while ignoring [[UnfortunateImplications the underlying problems]] with this training regimen, ending with either the mon [[StockholmSyndrome giving in to this treatment]] to mindlessly stick with this trainer (for better or worse) or [[TheDogBitesBack get fed up enough and turn on them.]]

** [[BandWagonTechnique The mons are part of some popular game or the latest fad]] and the trainer is either [[NewMeat a newbie who lived under a rock of the whole thing]] [[VeteranUnit or a notable veteran]]. [[TheChosenOne Perhaps the trainer is destined for great things that unravel as the story goes on]], or perhaps they uncover an underlying, sinister plan underneath the fanfare. Perhaps the mons are used by corrupt trainers for their evil schemes. Or perhaps there was something dark behind the origins of the mons themselves.
** The mons are a powerful force otherwise unknown to the world, and when an equally powerful force causes mayhem to the human world, the trainer-to-be stumbles on the mons to fight back. It could be that this force was a dark entity, or it could also be that this force were [[NotSoDifferent other trainers who are otherwise no different from the main character, who had found their own mons]] [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity but misused them by forgetting the simple fact massively-godly-powered-beasts trained to kill are not toys]].
** Either the main character or someone the main character meets happens to be someone who holds great importance over the mons and/or origins of them and may or may not necessarily realize it [[LaserGuidedAmnesia for]] [[MissedTheCall various]] [[TheChosenOne reasons]], and the usage of these mons will unlock their true purpose somehow.

* In some cases, a mon may be designed to have an appearance very similar to a human if not exactly so. In other cases, all mons could be very human-like in general (as opposed to just some of them). It is important that you make a human-like mon's appearance very unique to that of a true human to set off the difference between the two (not including if you intend for a human-like mon to masquerade themselves as a human). [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman Otherwise, the line drawn between people who are mons who look human and people who ARE human]] [[RubberForeheadAliens can get a little blurred]].

* Besides the attacks themselves, there is also the matter of whether your mons should [[CallingYourAttacks call their attacks]], or simply attack. There are many reasons for and against this that many of the titles may either ignore or [[LampshadeHanging call attention to for lulz]]. On the pro side, you can think of creative names for the abilities your mons can use that better define the attacks, whereas it would've caused abilities like that awesome Calypso's Wrath attack be known by a general description like "that one watery move that causes the sea to crash onto you", or cause named attacks to be [[AllThereInTheManual only known by the few, proud, dedicated of fans you have]] otherwise if they weren't named. It can also help identify your mons better through their signature attacks if their names and appearances weren't memoriable enough. On the con side, however, if it takes particularly long for the character to charge up and launch the attack simply because [[TransformationSequence the obligatory move-intro scene of awesome or the reciting of the attack name]] [[RuleOfCool made it so]], it can be annoying ( [[{{Narm}} or hammy]]) otherwise, and in some cases the timing involved from naming an attack to ''actually doing it'' can bring up questions such as "[[FridgeLogic If my opponent is announcing they will stab me with a sword as The Poke of Doom, why don't I use that to my advantage and just shoot him from a distance?]]" or "[[TalkingIsAFreeAction Why don't I attack them while they're showing off?]]"

Let's have a little history lesson. While heroes have made use of monsters as assistants throughout storytelling history, the Mons series as we know it today really began with the original Megaten game. The UrExample series is likely ''VideoGame/TheBardsTale'', where you could enlist monsters to join your party if you left a few slots open. The TropeMaker is ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei'' for the NES, where you could enlist monsters (read as demons) you face down in battle to join your side. The TropeCodifier, [[CashCowFranchise through and through]], is ''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]] [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Red]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Green]]'', originally released on the Game Boy in 1996.

As for single- or multiplayer, this is a harder question than it looks. At first shy it seems that multiplayer would be the obvious choice. Then you must realize that you will have to test every monster you come up with twice as much, once for balance in the game itself, and once for against human players whose tactics are far, far different than an AI's. Just look at ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Pokémon Diamond]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Pearl]]'' -- Stealth Rock is situationally-useful in the main game and ''game-defining'' in multiplayer. Wanna bet that's due to insufficient testing? Likewise, a multiplayer component demands a wider variety of moves and abilities in order to make tactical decisions more involved, difficult, and thus interesting. If this is your first go on the game-design ride, you might wanna play it safe.

* ToBeAMaster: An obvious starting point, but much like "[[GoodMorningCrono someone wakes you up]]" in {{Eastern RPG}}s, "[[YouAllMeetInAnInn you all meet at a tavern]]" in {{Tabletop RPG}}s, and "your new co-workers are barely-legal bunny girls in heat" in hentai games, it's [[{{Cliche}} so very, very overdone it's basically a steak briquette at this point]]. That said, it ''is'' a useful starting point, and common enough that much like "I'm gonna fight crime" for superheroes, nobody bats an eye at collectabeast games having a protagonist who wants to be the very best, like no one ever was.

* Nearly every mon series to exist had played around with motifs, sometimes following every motif of the book for different groups of mons. Nearly any motif can be used on a mon, be it for the story behind a particular group of mons, or for the mon designs themselves. Some can cover every mon in the book, such as Manga/FightingFoodons which is relatively mon-like where the mons are all some form of food, or ''Manga/DragonDrive'' where every mon are some form of dragon. Franchise/{{Pokemon}} and Franchise/{{Digimon}} are examples of covering a huge variety of different motifs, such as Digimon's devas being based on the [[EasternZodiac chinese zodiac]] and their bosses, the sovereigns, being based on [[TheFourGods the four directional gods]], or Pokemon's legendaries being based around grouped themes like the creation trio Dialga, Palkia and Giratina (who are embodiments of space, time and antimatter respectively), the elemental bird trio Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres (who not only represent ice, electric and fire, but are all [[CaptainObvious flying types and follow a spanish-number-in-name theme]]), or the lake trio Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf (who [[CaptainObvious not only are found in Sinnoh's lakes]], but represent knowledge, emotion and willpower respectively and their ability to take such away if mishandled).

** ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' is THE HotBlooded contender, with more modern, MagicFromTechnology setting, with SavingTheWorld [[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld ALWAYS]] became the focus. However it didn't start as a normal videogame, instead a SpearCounterpart to Franchise/{{Tamagotchi}}

Maybe you've played enough ''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]]''[[note]][[{{Pun}} So You Want To Be A Master?!]][[/note]] and think it's about time somebody made the next one. Maybe ''ShinMegamiTensei'' captured your imagination and you want to write your own story about brave protagonists facing down impossible odds with the aid of supernatural beings. Maybe the idea of collectabeasts tickles your fancy, but what you really wanna do is [[{{Deconstruction}} tear 'em all down to show people what they're really made of.]] Now you wanna write a {{Mon}} series, and this guide's here to help you do that.

Let's have a little history lesson. While heroes have made use of monsters as assistants throughout storytelling history, the Mons series as we know it today really began with the original Megaten game. The UrExample series is likely ''VideoGame/TheBardsTale'', where you could enlist monsters to join your party if you left a few slots open. The TropeMaker is ''ShinMegamiTensei'' for the NES, where you could enlist monsters (read as demons) you face down in battle to join your side. The TropeCodifier, [[CashCowFranchise through and through]], is ''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]] [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Red]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Green]]'', originally released on the Game Boy in 1996.

* PowerOfFriendship/[[PowerOfLove Love]]/[[PowerOfTrust Trust]]: The overwhelming popularity of Franchise/{{Digimon}} and Franchise/{{Pokemon}} have made the stereotypical mons series very kid-friendly, but series like Manga/{{Narutaru}} and Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei, the latter of which is the ''TropeMaker'', have proven that it's not impossible for these series to take a turn for the worse later on, or to have a darker depiction of what would happen when people are given full control of monsters with immense destructive power.

** In cases like Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei 's spin-off VideoGame/DevilSurvivor it can also be a case where the trainers live in a setting much like our own reality, but the mons invaded or appeared into the setting in a world ''not'' accustomed to seeing monsters roaming around, and so the player takes on the role of learning of and controlling these beasts.

* ''Manga/{{Narutaru}}'', when you need horrifying {{Deconstruct|ion}}ive {{Mon}} series, [[MohiroKitoh you know the man]].

The ''Pokémon'' approach is the safest for games in part because it lends itself very easily to Crowning Moments of Awesome--leading an unlikely team of aberrations to victory is perhaps an inherently wonderful feeling. It also allows you to be more experimental, including a few "weird" beasts that might be intolerable in a one-monster-at-a-time game. The Monster Rancher approach has its benefits, though, such as having a much more intense connection to the monsters you raise, and room for much greater depth in monster stats and growth. The Battle Network style is rare and may be a borderline case of Mondom, but being able to raise a single monster like a WesternRPG character has a certain untapped potential.

As for single- or multiplayer, this is a harder question than it looks. At first shy it seems that multiplayer would be the obvious choice. Then you must realize that you will have to test every monster you come up with twice as much, once for balance in the game itself, and once for against human players whose tactics are far, far different than an AI's. Just look at ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Pokémon Diamond]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Pearl]]''--Stealth Rock is situationally-useful in the main game and ''game-defining'' in multiplayer. Wanna bet that's due to insufficient testing? Likewise, a multiplayer component demands a wider variety of moves and abilities in order to make tactical decisions more involved, difficult, and thus interesting. If this is your first go on the game-design ride, you might wanna play it safe.

** Note that you could excise character levels or stat growth entirely, in which case your game will resemble ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' or other collectible card games. It might be really cool to see a game where Com Mons are as important as Olympus Mons for the sake of victory--you need the former to bide time to send out or protect the latter, and Com Mons may even be more useful than Olympus Mons in some situations. Consider this, game designers of the future!

** Franchise/{{Digimon}}, especially in its earlier seasons, for instance, star a handful of kid tamers whom each only get one mon partner in a world populated by over hundreds of variant species. It does not hinder them should these digidestined stick solely to their one digimon partner, and by sticking with that one mon, they grow stronger with them and keep in mind their strengths and weaknesses to better strategize. However, how closely you should follow or avert this trope depends on how effective your mons are in combat both singularly or in numbers. Going back to the Franchise/{{Digimon}} example, a digimon as seen in the series can be quite effective on its own depending on how well it is trained and bonded with its tamer.

* Nearly every mon series to exist had played around with motifs, sometimes following every motif of the book for different groups of mons. Nearly any motif can be used on a mon, be it for the story behind a particular group of mons, or for the mon designs themselves. Some can cover every mon in the book, such as Manga/FightingFoodons whom is relatively mon-like where the mons are all some form of food, or ''Manga/DragonDrive'' where every mon are some form of dragon. Franchise/{{Pokemon}} and Franchise/{{Digimon}} are examples of covering a huge variety of different motifs, such as Digimon's devas being based on the [[EasternZodiac chinese zodiac]] and their bosses, the sovereigns, being based on [[TheFourGods the four directional gods]], or Pokemon's legendaries being based around grouped themes like the creation trio Dialga, Palkia and Giratina (who are embodiments of space, time and antimatter respectively), the elemental bird trio Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres (who not only represent ice, electric and fire, but are all [[CaptainObvious flying types and follow a spanish-number-in-name theme]]), or the lake trio Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf (who [[CaptainObvious not only are found in Sinnoh's lakes]], but represent knowledge, emotion and willpower respectively and their ability to take such away if mishandled).

** Digimon is an example of unique moves having priority over universal moves as the majority of the digimon have signature abilities as their main attacks and very few instances a mon shares an attack that can be used by another mon. In fact they are so exclusive that a digimon adopts an entirely new set of signature moves when it digivolves while losing (or revamping) its old ones, and some mons that are inherently the same may adopt different variations of the same move if not new moves entirely. For instance, Patamon, a cute rodent-like critter with wings for ears, has the signature attack Boom Bubble, which is only unique to itself, so unique that when it digivolves to the angelic man Angemon, he loses the Boom Bubble attack and gains the new signature attack Hand Of Fate. An example of a move upgraded from one form to another includes Agumon, an orange dino digimon who learns Pepper Breath, an ember-shooting attack, that grows bigger and powerful when Agumon digivolves to the even bigger dino Greymon in the form of Nova Blast. There are only a few number of moves shared among different digimon, most of them being shared because the species are expies of each other (Agumon has a dark expy known as [[PaletteSwap BlackAgumon]], both of whom learn Pepper Breath), but there are some exceptions even among expies (The Agumon from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' who is Tai's partner, for instance, learns a different set of signature moves from the Agumon of ''Digimon World Data Squad'', who is Marcus's partner (although in the anime he learns more or less the same moves plus extras Tai's Agumon doesn't use)). One example of the rare shared moves includes Bubble Blow, a move universal to most In-Training level digimon.
** VieoGame/MonsterRancher is another example that plays the exclusive move factor much more straight, as every species learn a list of signature moves unique only to their species or the subspecies whom their own species is dominant of. For example, a Tiger who is a hybrid of a Naga learns the same moves as a pure Tiger because they're both primarily Tigers. The exception include rare cases or systems involving a monster fighting alongside or in place of another monster as aid, allowing the primary fighter to temporarily use an attack that was exclusive to their aid.

Maybe you've played enough ''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]]''[[note]][[IncrediblyLamePun So You Want To Be A Master?!]][[/note]] and think it's about time somebody made the next one. Maybe ''ShinMegamiTensei'' captured your imagination and you want to write your own story about brave protagonists facing down impossible odds with the aid of supernatural beings. Maybe the idea of collectabeasts tickles your fancy, but what you really wanna do is [[{{Deconstruction}} tear 'em all down to show people what they're really made of.]] Now you wanna write a {{Mon}} series, and this guide's here to help you do that.

Let's have a little history lesson. While heroes have made use of monsters as assistants throughout storytelling history, the Mons series as we know it today really began with the original Megaten game. The UrExample series is likely ''TheBardsTale'', where you could enlist monsters to join your party if you left a few slots open. The TropeMaker is ''ShinMegamiTensei'' for the NES, where you could enlist monsters (read as demons) you face down in battle to join your side. The TropeCodifier, [[CashCowFranchise through and through]], is ''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]] [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Red]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Green]]'', originally released on the Game Boy in 1996.

** Note that you could excise character levels or stat growth entirely, in which case your game will resemble ''MagicTheGathering'' or other collectible card games. It might be really cool to see a game where Com Mons are as important as Olympus Mons for the sake of victory--you need the former to bide time to send out or protect the latter, and Com Mons may even be more useful than Olympus Mons in some situations. Consider this, game designers of the future!

* Depending on if a mon comes first or their location does, their design should reflect the same vibes as their home world, even if only subtly. If your mons are a collection of robots, for instance, they may reflect a theme that makes it clear they are some form of artificial life, and may be more understandable that they live in equally artificial locations than not. If mons are portrayed like embodiments of the elements, however, they may live in more natural areas where there are hardly any signs of artificial "eyesores" that exist, and usually have hubs themed after each element that exists among the mons (example, a dark shadow and a dark part of the world, or a fire imp and a volcano). If your mons include both of these types and more, their world may be just as varied as they are. In the end you decide what's right for your mons, and if you decide a mon expy of [[{{Transformers}} Optimus Prime]] thrives in a homeworld set in a forest where there isn't another robot or computer in sight, then go for it.

** ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' is THE HotBlooded contender, with more modern, MagicFromTechnology setting, with SavingTheWorld [[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld ALWAYS]] became the focus. However it didn't start as a normal videogame, instead a SpearCounterpart to {{Tamagotchi}}

* ''NaruTaru'', when you need horrifying {{Deconstruct|ion}}ive {{Mon}} series, [[MohiroKitoh you know the man]].

* Nearly every mon series to exist had played around with motifs, sometimes following every motif of the book for different groups of mons. Nearly any motif can be used on a mon, be it for the story behind a particular group of mons, or for the mon designs themselves. Some can cover every mon in the book, such as FightingFoodons whom is relatively mon-like where the mons are all some form of food, or ''Manga/DragonDrive'' where every mon are some form of dragon. Franchise/{{Pokemon}} and Franchise/{{Digimon}} are examples of covering a huge variety of different motifs, such as Digimon's devas being based on the [[EasternZodiac chinese zodiac]] and their bosses, the sovereigns, being based on [[TheFourGods the four directional gods]], or Pokemon's legendaries being based around grouped themes like the creation trio Dialga, Palkia and Giratina (who are embodiments of space, time and antimatter respectively), the elemental bird trio Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres (who not only represent ice, electric and fire, but are all [[CaptainObvious flying types and follow a spanish-number-in-name theme]]), or the lake trio Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf (who [[CaptainObvious not only are found in Sinnoh's lakes]], but represent knowledge, emotion and willpower respectively and their ability to take such away if mishandled).

** A series like Franchise/{{Digimon}}, DragonDrive or VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork is set in a normal earth-like world for the human trainers and a digital world where the mons live. In the former two cases, the physical representation of the digital worlds alter themselves into general elemental hubs that fit with the mons who live there (so you'll see things such as an urban city, volcanoes, a vast ocean, a jungle, etc, that may be programmed inside it), while in the latter case, the net navis live inside a world that appears very artificial and bizarre, constantly reminding you that you are inside the internet.

* Nearly every mon series to exist had played around with motifs, sometimes following every motif of the book for different groups of mons. Nearly any motif can be used on a mon, be it for the story behind a particular group of mons, or for the mon designs themselves. Some can cover every mon in the book, such as FightingFoodons whom is relatively mon-like where the mons are all some form of food, or DragonDrive where every mon are some form of dragon. Franchise/{{Pokemon}} and Franchise/{{Digimon}} are examples of covering a huge variety of different motifs, such as Digimon's devas being based on the [[EasternZodiac chinese zodiac]] and their bosses, the sovereigns, being based on [[TheFourGods the four directional gods]], or Pokemon's legendaries being based around grouped themes like the creation trio Dialga, Palkia and Giratina (who are embodiments of space, time and antimatter respectively), the elemental bird trio Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres (who not only represent ice, electric and fire, but are all [[CaptainObvious flying types and follow a spanish-number-in-name theme]]), or the lake trio Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf (who [[CaptainObvious not only are found in Sinnoh's lakes]], but represent knowledge, emotion and willpower respectively and their ability to take such away if mishandled).

Broadly speaking, there are three common types of Mon games and two ways to do them. There's the ''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]]'' approach, where you assemble a team of monsters and train them all at once, often swapping on the fly. There's the ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher'' approach, where you train one or a very small number of monsters at a time, and switching focus is more difficult or disadvantageous. And there's the ''MegaManBattleNetwork'' approach, where collecting new monsters is almost an afterthought, but ''customizing'' the monster you've got is paramount. Last, you'll have to decide if your game will be single-player focused or multiplayer focused. More on that in a moment.

** A series like Franchise/{{Digimon}}, DragonDrive or MegaManBattleNetwork is set in a normal earth-like world for the human trainers and a digital world where the mons live. In the former two cases, the physical representation of the digital worlds alter themselves into general elemental hubs that fit with the mons who live there (so you'll see things such as an urban city, volcanoes, a vast ocean, a jungle, etc, that may be programmed inside it), while in the latter case, the net navis live inside a world that appears very artificial and bizarre, constantly reminding you that you are inside the internet.

** MegaManBattleNetwork is a rare instance of balancing the number of exclusive moves with the number of shared ones, not by the true amount, but by the way the attacks work with the navis. Every navi has relatively equal potentials and skills (stats notwithstanding), but also have their own signature attacks. However, these signature attacks can be taken and copied in the form of chips, which can then be installed into another navi, teaching them that move.

Broadly speaking, there are three common types of Mon games and two ways to do them. There's the ''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]]'' approach, where you assemble a team of monsters and train them all at once, often swapping on the fly. There's the ''MonsterRancher'' approach, where you train one or a very small number of monsters at a time, and switching focus is more difficult or disadvantageous. And there's the ''MegaManBattleNetwork'' approach, where collecting new monsters is almost an afterthought, but ''customizing'' the monster you've got is paramount. Last, you'll have to decide if your game will be single-player focused or multiplayer focused. More on that in a moment.

** Even outside of [[ElementalRockPaperScissors the elemental balance]], there could also be other factors that encourage you to diversify on your mon collection, such as in MonsterRancher where the cute monster girl succubi, Pixie, are very intelligent and excell in their abilities and move-point-drainage of the opponents, [[GlassCannon but are scared silly at having their frail bodies get hit]], parallelling the bulky Golems who high defenses and power allow them to pound opposing mons into next Tuesday with narly a scratch, but are about as fast as a snail stuck on frozen molasses and thus are outsped by the majority of other mons.

** A series like Franchise/{{Pokemon}} or MonsterRancher are set in a world where the mons live in unison with the trainers, and the humans not only have grown accustomed to the sight of these mons running around outside their backyards (or if they themselves are a trainer, inside their house) but utlize a mon's abilities to assist in the daily duties of life.

* [[RuleOfCool Mons have awesome powers the majority of the time]]. The more powerful the mon is, the more awesome their abilities usually are. Or so the unspoken rule goes among many mon-oritented titles. A mon typically has very flashy abilities sometimes drawn from their power, and other times caused by amplified parts of their body (such as their claws that release power beams reflecting their slash markings they leave). The choices of what kind of abilities the mon should have and in what manner they should use it vary between mons, but it always tends to reflect some aspect of them. For example, a mecha mon may primarily use abilities shot out of its cannons or guns, while a mermaid mon may manipulate or call on water to attack. This doesn't necessarily stop you from breaking this trend, however, such as with [[MonsterRancher Monster Rancher's Doodle]], [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin an animated doodle of a stick figure man]], who is so random that it rides around on a rooster-cycle, shoots its head at people, and [[MindScrew summons a ginormous woman's foot wearing a stiletto to step on people]].

** MonsterRancher is another example that plays the exclusive move factor much more straight, as every species learn a list of signature moves unique only to their species or the subspecies whom their own species is dominant of. For example, a Tiger who is a hybrid of a Naga learns the same moves as a pure Tiger because they're both primarily Tigers. The exception include rare cases or systems involving a monster fighting alongside or in place of another monster as aid, allowing the primary fighter to temporarily use an attack that was exclusive to their aid.

** ''MonsterRancher'' is the modest contender of all three, it was largely set on a world of MedievalEuropeanFantasy and basically a SliceOfLife example of the {{Mon}} genre.

* OneGameForThePriceOfTwo: This is one you should probably be avoiding. ''VideoGame/{{Robopon}}'' had only one edition released outside of Japan, leaving the game incomplete. Further, wireless trading and other internet-enabled trading has basically erased version differences beyond what you can catch on your own. Stay away from this one and you'll look like a more sound investment.

** ''MonsterRancher'' is the modest contender of all three, it was largely set on a world of MedievalEuropeanFantasy and basically a SliceOfLife [[XMeetsY meets]] {{Mon}} genre.

* ''KamenRiderRyuki'', is {{Toku}} series with some aspect of {{Mon}}. The {{Henshin Hero}}es become stronger after get their contact monsters, can use their body parts as equipments, and summon them. It's deconstruction, the monsters have no loyalty to their masters and will ''eat them'' should the contact card is destroyed. The same thing would occur if the monsters aren't well-fed, meaning you must continue fighting to feed your mons, even if you want to quit - and more mons you have, it's just harder to feed them all. Oh, there's another way to get around this, the mons also [[ImAHumanitarian eat humans]]. At least one Rider is more than happy to lets his mon eat random people, it help cover his murder anyway.

* OneGameForThePriceOfTwo: This is one you should probably be avoiding. ''{{Robopon}}'' had only one edition released outside of Japan, leaving the game incomplete. Further, wireless trading and other internet-enabled trading has basically erased version differences beyond what you can catch on your own. Stay away from this one and you'll look like a more sound investment.

* PowerOfFriendship/[[PowerOfLove Love]]/[[PowerOfTrust Trust]]: The overwhelming popularity of Franchise/{{Digimon}} and Franchise/{{Pokemon}} have made the stereotypical mons series very kid-friendly, but series like Manga/{{Narutaru}} and Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei, the latter of which is the ''TropeMaker'', have proven that it's not impossible for these series to take a turn for the worse later on, or to be flat-out realistic depiction of what would happen when people are given full control of monsters with immense destructive power.

* '''MonsterCompendium''': It isn't essential, but if you want to use GottaCatchEmAll, it is a must. Unless you're satified with TheHero having access to every Mons at all time (which can turn the Mons menu into navigation hell near the end of the game), with only short description for each of them.

* '''MonsterCompendium''': It isn't essential, but if you want to use GottaCatchEmAll, it is a must. Unless you're satified with TheHero has access to every Mons at all time (which can turn Mons menu into navigation hell near the end of the game), with only short description for each of them.

** ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' is THE HotBlooded contender, with more modern, MagicFromTechnology setting, with SavingTheWorld [[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld ALWAYS]] became the focus. However they aren't started as a normal videogame, instead a SpearCounterpart to {{Tamagotchi}}

* ''NaruTaru'', when you need NightmareFuel-filled {{Deconstruction}} {{Mon}} series, [[MohiroKitoh you know the man]].

* TheKidWithTheLeash: What happens if the mons don't want to fight? Or they can't be controlled? Or if the mons want to cause havoc and the leash's ability to hold them is limited.

* TheKidWithTheLeash: What happens if the mons don't want to fight? Or they can't be controlled?

* PowerOfFriendship/[[PowerOfLove Love]]/[[PowerOfTrust Trust]]: The overwhelming popularity of Franchise/{{Digimon}} and Franchise/{{Pokemon}} have made the stereotypical mons series very kid-friendly, but series like Manga/{{Narutaru}} and Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei, the latter of which is the ''TropeMaker'', have proven that it's not impossible for these series to take a turn for the worse later on, or to be flat-out be a realistic depiction of what would happen when people are given full control of monsters with immense destructive power.

** If the mons are treated more like chess pieces in a large game, such as the case with {{Yugioh}}, you can also show this aesop in the form of a character's strategy clashing with another's instead of just their treatment of them, such as one character being so used to owning and using only immediately powerful monsters and/or monsters of a particular theme, only to clash with another character who uses "puny" monsters who didn't neglect the fact [[MagikarpPower said puny monsters have game-shaking abilities that wipe the floor with the power-player]], or otherwise has easily-obtainable abilities that nulls the single-minded grouping, disarming them. If not making a complete U-turn of their strategy, it could still at least ease or somewhat alter a character's way of play to show [[CharacterDevelopment they're learning]].

** And in yet another case where the usage of these mons is like a game, as with {{Yugioh}}, it could be that the mons don't have a home world shown to us (if it even exists) unless the player specifically calls forth that environment or morphs their immediate surroundings to its alikeness (in Yugioh's case, the various field cards temporarily transform the immediate surroundings of the duelists to match the card's environment, among other cards, for as long as the duel lasts).

** {{Digimon}}, especially in its earlier seasons, for instance, star a handful of kid tamers whom each only get one mon partner in a world populated by over hundreds of variant species. It does not hinder them should these digidestined stick solely to their one digimon partner, and by sticking with that one mon, they grow stronger with them and keep in mind their strengths and weaknesses to better strategize. However, how closely you should follow or avert this trope depends on how effective your mons are in combat both singularly or in numbers. Going back to the {{Digimon}} example, a digimon as seen in the series can be quite effective on its own depending on how well it is trained and bonded with its tamer.

** A series like {{Digimon}}, DragonDrive or MegaManBattleNetwork is set in a normal earth-like world for the human trainers and a digital world where the mons live. In the former two cases, the physical representation of the digital worlds alter themselves into general elemental hubs that fit with the mons who live there (so you'll see things such as an urban city, volcanoes, a vast ocean, a jungle, etc, that may be programmed inside it), while in the latter case, the net navis live inside a world that appears very artificial and bizarre, constantly reminding you that you are inside the internet.

** Digimon is an example of unique moves having priority over universal moves as the majority of the digimon have signature abilities as their main attacks and very few instances a mon shares an attack that can be used by another mon. In fact they are so exclusive that a digimon adopts an entirely new set of signature moves when it digivolves while losing (or revamping) its old ones, and some mons that are inherently the same may adopt different variations of the same move if not new moves entirely. For instance, Patamon, a cute rodent-like critter with wings for ears, has the signature attack Boom Bubble, which is only unique to itself, so unique that when it digivolves to the angelic man Angemon, he loses the Boom Bubble attack and gains the new signature attack Hand Of Fate. An example of a move upgraded from one form to another includes Agumon, an orange dino digimon who learns Pepper Breath, an ember-shooting attack, that grows bigger and powerful when Agumon digivolves to the even bigger dino Greymon in the form of Nova Blast. There are only a few number of moves shared among different digimon, most of them being shared because the species are expies of each other (Agumon has a dark expy known as [[PaletteSwap BlackAgumon]], both of whom learn Pepper Breath), but there are some exceptions even among expies (The Agumon from Digimon Adventure who is Tai's partner, for instance, learns a different set of signature moves from the Agumon of Digimon World Data Squad, who is Marcus's partner (although in the anime he learns more or less the same moves plus extras Tai's Agumon doesn't use)). One example of the rare shared moves includes Bubble Blow, a move universal to most In-Training level digimon.

* '''GottaCatchEmAll''': Type A or C inevitably, type B often used for plots. No two ways about it. Part of the appeal of Mons is gradually accumulating a panoply of monsters who answer to your beck and call. Note that catching 'em all isn't ''mandatory,'' and shouldn't be, but being ''able'' to is always good.