History Main / Mon

[[caption-width:250:Probably not the [[{{Pokemon}} example you're]] [[{{Digimon}} possibly thinking of.]]

* ''{{Bakugan}}'', the spiritual successor to Beyblade and the less successful B-Daman

* Let's not forget ''Pokethulu''. It's what it says on the box.

[[caption-width:250:Probably not the [[{{Pokemon}} example you're]] [[{{Digimon}} possibly thinking of]].

[[caption-width:250:Not the [[{{Pokemon}} example you're]] [[{{Digimon}} possibly thinking of,]] but it's a more [[{{DarkerAndEdgier}} badass one.]]]]

* In the JimButcher series ''CodexAlera'', Furies serve a somewhat similar role to Mons. Inded, he admitted he was inspired by Pokemon in writing it (though as more as a bad example). Only earth and fire furies manifest physically most of the time though, and it is truly SeriousBusiness since the entire world's technology and culture has evolved around the use of Furies.

* ''UltraSeven'' from the [[UltraSeries Ultra Series]] was often unable to transform because his [[TransformationTrinket Transformation Trinket]] had been stolen, so in order to fend off the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monster of the Week]], he would pull out a small capsule and release a giant monster to do the fighting. This was all done nearly thirty years before Pokemon was released.

*** Which, [[{{Understatement}} to the chagrin of]] ''Digimon'' and ''Monster Rancher'' fans the world over, [[MisBlamed caused the others to be thought of as "Pokemon knockoffs"]].

** ''{{Pokemon}}'' itself was inspired by the Japanese hobby of catching or breeding horned beetles (also known as rhinoceros beetles) and pitting them in battles against other beetles. Both beetles are placed on a log, lock horns, and the first to fall off the log loses. This hobby dates back to the 6th century, and people across Japan, especially in the Ryukyu Islands, have been known to even bet money on these insect fights. (Hence the practice of trainers giving each other money when they lose a battle.) Incidentally, beetle fighting was the boyhood hobby of ''{{Pokemon}}'' creator Satoshi Tajiri, and the game pays homage to this with the Pokemon Heracross, as well as (in later games) the ability to slather honey on trees (which is the most popular way of catching real-life horned beetles).

** One of the newest entries into the franchise, ''DevilSurvivor'', offers a much more scathing and [[NightmareFuel horrific]] direct {{Deconstruction}} of Pokemon and other games of its LighterAndSofter ilk that sprang up in the wake of SMT; it features all the trappings of those games (digital device to store mons, teens as the player group, unquestioning mon loyalty, etc) and then goes on to demonstrate how kids (and adults) being able to call deadly creatures out of handheld devices would lead to ''chaos and death''. Sure, there's a [[XanatosRoulette good bit more]] contributing to the chaos, but many of the game's [[TearJerker most heartwrenching scenes]] stem from the simple fact that young people have access to creatures that can kill others with practically a flick of the wrist.
** On the other side of the coin, the earlier ''Devil Children/[=DemiKids=]'' games were SMT games cut from the same cloth as Pokemon, intended to be LighterAndSofter for kids to discover the franchise {with the exception of a few [[NightmareFuel adult themes]]}, such a [[{{Persona3}} shooting themselves in the head.]]
*** Also, the Japanese-only Red & Black Books (two versions of the same game, a la Pokemon) and their sequel, White Book, had stories that were more-or-less about angels turning human children into soulless killing machines to wage war against the demons.

* Even ''DragonQuest'' got into the {{Mon}} craze by releasing the Game Boy games known as ''DragonQuest / Warrior Monsters'', where one can capture and raise many of the enemies in the game, including an entire family based on the Slime... although even before this -- and before ''Pokemon'' -- ''Dragon Quest V'' and ''VI'' let you recruit and train monsters.

* Oddly enough, ''{{Bomberman}}'' also did this with Charaboms, creatures that many claim are too similar to Pokemon simply because... well... they are. Started in the Game Boy Color games called ''Bomberman Max''.

* The TooGoodToLast / mismarketed franchise, ''MagiNation'', which was more or less [[XMeetsY Lord of the Rings / Magic the Gathering meets Pokemon]].
* ''[[TalesOfSymphonia Tales Of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World]]'' includes a monster-pact system which is pretty much [[XMeetsY Tales of Symphonia meets Pokemon.]] Thankfully, the cast of the previous game shows up often enough that there are really only a few bosses and dungeons where you have to make use of the system, if you don't like it.

* The semi-obscure RPG series {{Robopon}} is like ''Pokemon,'' [[AC:[[RecycledInSpace but with robots!]]]] And unlike ''Pokemon,'' it's NintendoHard.

* ''Touhou Puppet Play'' (also known as ''Touhoumon''), a ''{{Touhou}}'' ROMHack of ''{{Pokemon}}'', has you using the girls of the Touhou series much like Pokemon.
* ''KeitaiDenjuTelefang'' was a GameBoyColor/GameBoyAdvance release loosely based off Pokemon, although it has some Digimon elements to it.

* About a hundred years before ''Pokemon'', Japanese kids played with "obake karuta", cards with folklore monsters ("obake" being a rough synonym for "yokai").

* The Tabletop RPG [[MonstersandOtherChildishThings Monsters and Other Childish Things]] presents a Mon setting in which the mon are things like dark and malevolent forgotten gods and [[CosmicHorror Lovecraftian]] abominations against the order of our reality.

* The Tabletop RPG [[Monsters and Other Childish Things]] presents a Mon setting in which the mon are things like dark and malevolent forgotten gods and [[CosmicHorror Lovecraftian]] abominations against the order of our reality.

* The Tabletop RPG ''Monsters and Other Childish Things'' presents a Mon setting in which the mon are things like dark and malevolent forgotten gods and [[CosmicHorror Lovecraftian]] abominations against the order of our reality.

* [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And]] ''{{Legendz}}''.

** The Tabletop RPG ''Monsters and Other Childish Things'' presents a Mon setting in which the mon are things like dark and malevolent forgotten gods and [[CosmicHorror Lovecraftian]] abominations against the order of our reality.
*** Let's not forget ''Pokethulu''. It's what it says on the box.

** On the other side of the coin, the earlier ''Devil Children/[=DemiKids=]'' games were SMT games cut from the same cloth as Pokemon, intended to be LighterAndSofter for kids to discover the franchise. [[{{Persona3}} And then shoot themselves in the head.]]
*** This Troper has played DemiKids, and some parts of it are NOT 'Lighter and Softer'; Two of your Friends Are EXECUTED in the game for one reason and one reason only; They Knew You. Not in front of you to make you suffer, no announcement to draw you out or trap. Practically the same day they were caught.

* Started with ''Digital Devil Story: MegamiTensei'' back in 1987.

* May have started with the {{Tamagotchi}} electronic "pocket pet".
** Tamagotchi itself may be traced back to the Pet Rock, a 1970s parody of people who think pets are SeriousBusiness.
** Tamagotchi dates [[SarcasmMode all the way back]] to ''[[NewerThanTheyThink 1991]]'', the same year as Digimon. I think this secures the gold medal for [[ShinMegamiTensei Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei]] in 1987.

** According to TheOtherWiki, Tamagotchi dates [[SarcasmMode all the way back]] to ''[[NewerThanTheyThink 1996]]'', the same year as Pokémon. I think this secures the gold medal for [[ShinMegamiTensei Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei]] in 1987.

** The ''BigEyesSmallMouth'' supplement ''Cute and Fuzzy Cockfighting Seizure Monsters'' is another TabletopGames treatment of the genre, presented (as can be inferred from the title) as something of an AffectionateParody.

* May have started with the {{Tamagotchi}} electronic "pocket pet".
** Tamagotchi itself may be traced back to the Pet Rock, a 1970s parody of people who think pets are SeriousBusiness.
** According to TheOtherWiki, Tamagotchi dates [[SarcasmMode all the way back]] to ''[[NewerThanTheyThink 1996]]'', the same year as Pokémon. I think this secures the gold medal for [[ShinMegamiTensei Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei]] in 1987.
* ''{{Pokémon}}'', ''{{Digimon}}'' and ''MonsterRancher'' are the flagship Mon series, because all were licensed and released around the same time in North America and all have "mon" in their name (not to mention have/had their own [[TheAnimeOfTheGame Anime]]). Comparing the three shows the diversity of the genre.
** Of course, ''{{Pokemon}}'' came out the victor in terms of popularity.
*** Which, [[{{Understatement}} to the chagrin of]] ''Digimon'' and ''Monster Rancher'' fans the world over, [[MisBlamed caused the others to be thought of as "Pokemon knockoffs"]].

* In the ''[[ShinMegamiTensei Megami Tensei]]'' series of [=JRPGs=], the main character usually can't use magic directly, so depends on recruiting demons, angels, and other monsters to fight alongside him. It was also the first video game to use the concept. The "mons" range from pixies and goblins to [[CosmicHorror Cthulu]] and {{Satan}}.
** The ''Persona'' spinoff games use many of the same mons, as well as the mechanic of leveling them up to gain powers... except now they're ''inside your head''.
** One of the newest entries into the franchise, ''DevilSurvivor'', offers a much more scathing and [[NightmareFuel horrific]] direct {{Deconstruction}} of Pokemon and other games of its LighterAndSofter ilk that sprang up in the wake of SMT; it features all the trappings of those games (digital device to store mons, teens as the player group, unquestioning mon loyalty, etc) and then goes on to demonstrate how kids (and adults) being able to call deadly creatures out of handheld devices would lead to ''chaos and death''. Sure, there's a [[XanatosRoulette good bit more]] contributing to the chaos, but many of the game's [[TearJerker most heartwrenching scenes]] stem from the simple fact that young people have access to creatures that can kill others with practically a flick of the wrist.
** On the other side of the coin, the earlier ''Devil Children/[=DemiKids=]'' games were SMT games cut from the same cloth as Pokemon, intended to be LighterAndSofter for kids to discover the franchise. [[{{Persona3}} And then shoot themselves in the head.]]
*** This Troper has played DemiKids, and some parts of it are NOT 'Lighter and Softer'; Two of your Friends Are EXECUTED in the game for one reason and one reason only; They Knew You. Not in front of you to make you suffer, no announcement to draw you out or trap. Practically the same day they were caught.
*** Also, the Japanese-only Red & Black Books (two versions of the same game, a la Pokemon) and their sequel, White Book, had stories that were more-or-less about angels turning human children into soulless killing machines to wage war against the demons.
**** Another older example of the franchise is ShinMegamiTenseiIf... which involved high school students wreaking havok on each other with demons and spirits after a certain JerkAss sends them all to Hell.

* The Summons in the various ''FinalFantasy'' games occasionally resemble Mons, particularily in VIII and XIII where GFs/Eidolons are both closely tied to the characters and play a notable role in plot.

* ''[[FateStayNight Fate/stay night]]'' is a VisualNovel set in the {{Nasuverse}} where the main characters get control of "Servants." (The souls of former heroes, now in various RPG-esque classes.)

* Arguably, ''Spore'' also falls in this genre, but most of the mon is, when online, are custom creations.
* {{Bogleech}}'s [[http://bogleech.com/mortasheen.htm Mortasheen]]is this, combined with copious amounts of NightmareFuel.

* ''{{Medabots}}'' and ''{{CustomRobo}}'' are both Robot versions of the standard Mon design. Medabots anime and games being a cross between {{Yu-Gi-Oh}} and {{Pokemon}} when it comes to making fighting Robots for Children {{Serious Business}}.
** Medabots somewhat [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] it (or HandWave it, YMMV) as the Medabots are [[MyLittlePanzer ARMED WITH ACTUAL ARMATURE]], especially the Game and the Manga.
** The Anime {{Bowdlerise}}d it by eliminating the bullets in favor of FrickinLaserBeams, but actual homing missile, flamethrower, or bombs still exist.
* ''{{Azure Dreams}}'' is a game where a human takes monsters with him to fight other monsters in a tower. You need monsters as your stats reset every time you return to Town. It is a more hands on form of this genre.
* Although it's not a Mon series, per se, both ''SummonNight'' and its spinoff ''Swordcraft Story'' have elements of it, as in the setting, humans can't use magic directly, and have to rely on various summoned creatures to provide it.
* The Cyber-Elf gathering and utilization system introduced in the ''MegaManZero'' series had this sort of feel to it.
* TabletopGames example: small-scale games of [[IronKingdoms Privateer Press's WARMACHINE and HORDES]] tend to be duels between two opposing magic users and a handful of either steam-powered robots or giant angry monsters on each side. As the games scale up, though, the robots and monsters stop being Mon so much as units in a larger military force.
** The Tabletop RPG ''Monsters and Other Childish Things'' presents a Mon setting in which the mon are things like dark and malevolent forgotten gods and [[CosmicHorror Lovecraftian]] abominations against the order of our reality.
*** Let's not forget ''Pokethulu''. It's what it says on the box.
** The ''BigEyesSmallMouth'' supplement ''Cute and Fuzzy Cockfighting Seizure Monsters'' is another TabletopGames treatment of the genre, presented (as can be inferred from the title) as something of an AffectionateParody.
* Depending on the writer, Johnny (and Jakeem) Thunder's Thunderbolt is more Mon than magical servant, though the distinction is subtle.
* The ''daemons'' from PhilipPullman's ''HisDarkMaterials'' trilogy (the first book has been [[TheMovie filmed]] as ''TheGoldenCompass''). In addition, the protagonist of the first volume befriends an intelligent, armored bear, who, while not magical in nature, could be connected to this trope.
** In fact, ''Daemon''' is a Greek word used by Socrates with quite the same meaning as "Soul", Pullman keeps this meaning in his book so, even though they have the suffix -mon in their name, there may be little connection with this trope.
* The ''MegaManBattleNetwork'' series went a step further--not only do Navis do all the fighting, they are also relied upon for using the internet and fixing or utilizing all manner of electronic equipment.
** OTOH, you're not collection the Navis themselves, instead you're collecting battle chips to use for virus busting and netbattles.
** In the third installment, however, you ''do'' collect viruses which you can use to battle with...
** All of this was later continued in ''MegaManStarForce''.
* This may well have roots leading to an "[[OldestOnesInTheBook Oldest One In The Book]]", in that ''{{Pokemon}}'', for one, has strong stylistic overtones of shamanism.
** ''{{Pokemon}}'' itself was inspired by the Japanese hobby of catching or breeding horned beetles (also known as rhinoceros beetles) and pitting them in battles against other beetles. Both beetles are placed on a log, lock horns, and the first to fall off the log loses. This hobby dates back to the 6th century, and people across Japan, especially in the Ryukyu Islands, have been known to even bet money on these insect fights. (Hence the practice of trainers giving each other money when they lose a battle.) Incidentally, beetle fighting was the boyhood hobby of ''{{Pokemon}}'' creator Satoshi Tajiri, and the game pays homage to this with the Pokemon Heracross, as well as (in later games) the ability to slather honey on trees (which is the most popular way of catching real-life horned beetles).
* Even ''DragonQuest'' got into the {{Mon}} craze by releasing the Game Boy games known as ''DragonQuest / Warrior Monsters'', where one can capture and raise many of the enemies in the game, including an entire family based on the Slime... although even before this -- and before ''Pokemon'' -- ''Dragon Quest V'' and ''VI'' let you recruit and train monsters.
* ''{{PhantasyStar}}'' Online Episodes I and II sort of has this with the mag. Mags are a race of [[RobotBuddy living computers]] that are freely distributed to [[AnAdventurerIsYou new hunters/rangers/forces]], but more can be found in other places such as [[RandomlyDrops the mines in Ragol]]. When they are new, all mags share [[PaletteSwap the exact same form except for their color]] (which they have a handful of options), and are [[MagikarpPower almost widely useless]] for anything except to [[InventoryManagementPuzzle use up extra mates/fluids when they take up too much space in your pack]]. The mon part? If you feed them certain [[HealingPotion mates/fluids/cures/etc]]. or a combination of them that typical mag can [[UnstableGeneticCode quickly change its form into many other different and unique models]] (sometimes even changing back to a previous form, not including the infant model) and learn different combinations of photon blasts (up to three). Their transformations are based around their levels, their stats and a few other tricks (such as the owner's Section ID or other [[LostForever rare]] event items), and if the stats are [[GuideDangIt tweaked the right way]] by the time they [[LevelGrinding cap their level]], they can make a permanent change into a very rare model of mag. While they aren't used to directly fight in battle (unless you count some of the photon blasts) and while the player has few reasons to go out hunting extra mags, some of the rarer mags can perform valuable techs aside from the photons, including [[AutoRevive reviving their owner if they die]] or [[StatusBuff temporarily boosting their attack and defense]]. Not to mention that their stats directly affects the players and also adds significant boosts to them for as long as that model is equipped (which can [[GameBreaker really shoot high]] with some more [[GuideDangIt clever]] [[TrialAndErrorGameplay tweaking]]). They also have [[PetInterface intelligence and feelings to watch for as well as a damage meter]], the two formers of which are affected by their "food", such as if they like it or if it's good for them, or (for synch) whether or not you give them [[HealingPotion mates/fluids/cures/so on]] [[WizardNeedsFoodBadly quick enough when they're hungry]] (the latter charges up energy for the photon blast the [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential more hits you/they take]]). Ironically, although the game also makes an effort in a few missions to make it clear how mags are living creatures that try to protect and serve you well in exchange for care, and they made it also clear that every Hunter (and Ranger and Force) gets one upon becoming hunters (part of the Hunter's Guild/government on Pioneer 2, not just the class), there are only a small number of characters (besides player made ones) whom have one or were seen with one (Elenor comes to mind and supposedly Ult).
* In ''{{Chaotic}}'', the creature scans don't possess sentience, but players do use them to become the creatures for the match and battle with them. Creatures in Perm are not animals but beings that form distinct societies and, of course, wage wars.
* ''DinosaurKing'' is this with Dinosaurs.
** Ditto ''FossilFighters''.
* Series involving {{Animorphism}} sometimes loosely fit this trope.

* Oddly enough, ''{{Bomberman}}'' also did this with Charaboms, creatures that many claim are too similar to Pokemon simply because... well... they are. Started in the Game Boy Color games called ''Bomberman Max''.
* Very creepily used in ''And The Ass Saw The Angel'', a novel written by Nick Cave, when Euchrid [[spoiler: starts collecting wild animals in cages and teaching them to fight. He eventually unleashes them on the town, killing many.]]

* ''Grand Chase'' has the "pets" who get to attack with you during dungeons and pvp
* ''{{Pokegirls}}''.
* ''Folklore'', where the captured Mons are actually forest spirits.
* ''JadeCocoon'', which was partially designed by Studio Ghibli artists.
* The little remembered ''{{Dokapon}}'', which had a SoBadItsHorrible [[BlindIdiotTranslation translation]] but was kind of interesting. When the series was [[TheRevival revived]] on the Wii/DS, though, it came back as a mon-free RPG with PartyGame elements.
* ''Dragon Seed'', a FollowTheLeader version of Monster Rancher/Farm. Most of the monsters didn't look anything like dragons, with some being animated coffins, shakōkidogū, or owlmen. Monsters were created by scanning other PlayStation save files.
* The TooGoodToLast / mismarketed franchise, ''MagiNation'', which was more or less [[XMeetsY Lord of the Rings / Magic the Gathering meets Pokemon]].
* ''[[TalesOfSymphonia Tales Of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World]]'' includes a monster-pact system which is pretty much [[XMeetsY Tales of Symphonia meets Pokemon.]] Thankfully, the cast of the previous game shows up often enough that there are really only a few bosses and dungeons where you have to make use of the system, if you don't like it.
* ''AlienDice'' is a webcomic that advertises itself as being {{Pokemon}} [[AC: {{In Space}}]], but it's actually a deconstruction, showing the brutal side effects of having evolving monsters, [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman self aware sentient creatures as slaves]], and the side affects being captured and imprisoned in an itty-bitty dice would have on your body and your psyche. It's particularly {{anvilicious}} since the main character ''is'' a Dice.
* ''{{Geneforge}}''. Shaping your own army of creatures, from cute mascot-like tiny dragons to acid-spitting worms to lightning coatl to full-fledged drakes and giants. Almost every character type depends on them in some way or another, and the few types that are designed for operate solo can still make use of them. They can develop along with the character, augmented with more essence, or have their essence reclaimed to build stronger monster types. Under certain circumstances they may go rogue. Different factions have their own ideology regarding their rights to life and freedom, but they never really demonstrate any personality of their own (as of Geneforge 4.)
* The semi-obscure RPG series {{Robopon}} is like ''Pokemon,'' [[AC:[[RecycledInSpace but with robots!]]]] And unlike ''Pokemon,'' it's NintendoHard.
* ''EnchantedArms'' has golems you can collect by finding and defeating PreexistingEncounters. All the game's random enemies and some of the bosses are acquireable. Unfortunately the ArbitraryHeadcountLimit makes the golems more or less useless as soon as all four human party members have joined.
* Titans from ''{{Huntik}}''. They're summoned from amulets using the summoner's own [[{{Mana}} magical energy]]. Some are unique, like [[{{golem}} Metagolem]] or Garghoul, while others are common, like Hoplites (lion-centaur-Spartan things) or the Redcaps and Mindrones the Organization {{mooks}} use.
* In the JimButcher series ''CodexAlera'', Furies serve a somewhat similar role to Mons. Inded, he admitted he was inspired by Pokemon in writing it (though as more as a bad example). Only earth and fire furies manifest physically most of the time though, and it is truly SeriousBusiness since the entire world's technology and culture has evolved around the use of Furies.
* ''Touhou Puppet Play'' (also known as ''Touhoumon''), a ''{{Touhou}}'' ROMHack of ''{{Pokemon}}'', has you using the girls of the Touhou series much like Pokemon.

* Ling-ling of ''DrawnTogether'' is a parody of Pikachu who was apparently abused by his trainer considerably, among other things said trainer: captured him using a bear trap, turned him into a sociopathic killing machine, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking took his dance shoes]].

* A bit of a stretch on this one, but the "demons" featured in the Bartimaeus Trilogy of books perform in a similar manner to most mons: Various shapes and sizes, perform given tasks, different levels that can range from lowly imp to raging monstrosity, and the person who can summon the largest or most powerful demon is considered the strongest.
* In MagicKnightRayearth, there's Ascot who can summon all kinds of Mons he calls his friends.
* KeitaiDenjuTelefang was a GameBoyColor/GameBoyAdvance release loosely based off Pokemon, although it has some Digimon elements to it.
* ''KamenRider'' series, starting with ''[[KamenRiderRyuki Ryuki]]'', use this in varying degrees. In some, the heroes draw power from a contracted (''Ryuki'') or sealed (''[[KamenRiderBlade Blade]]'') MonsterOfTheWeek to use their unique traits. ''[[KamenRiderHibiki Hibiki]]'' has the Disc Animals, which mostly play the trope straight. ''[[{{KamenRiderDen-O}} Den-O]]'' and ''[[KamenRiderKiva Kiva]]'' have the interesting spin of having the "Mons" (the good-guy Imagin and the Arms Monsters, respectively) being regular characters in their own right who can merge with the Riders to power them up, [[SharingABody taking control of the body]] to boot.
* {{Culdcept}} is one of the few mon games/manga where the humans fight just as hard as the monsters.

* About a hundred years before Pokemon, Japanese kids played with "obake karuta", cards with folklore monsters ("obake" being a rough synonym for "yokai").
* {{Disgaea}} has elements of mon games, in that you are able to create monster units if you've killed at least one of that type.

* {{Jojos Bizarre Adventure}} becomes a sort of Mon series from Part 3 and onward, with many characters having their own creature that is basically a manifestation of their soul which they control.

<<|OurMonstersAreDifferent|>>

->''This doesn't make sense! Are these supposed to be animals or robots or what!?

May overlap with OurMonstersAreWeird if the roster of creatures is big enough. Also a type of LivingWeapon.

** According to TheOtherWiki, Tamagotchi dates [[SarcasmMode all the way back]] to ''[[NewerThanTheyThink 1996]]'', the same year as Pokémon. I think this secures the gold metal for [[ShinMegamiTensei Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei]] in 1987.
* ''{{Pokemon}}'', ''{{Digimon}}'' and ''MonsterRancher'' are the flagship Mon series, because all were licensed and released around the same time in North America and all have "mon" in their name (not to mention have/had their own [[TheAnimeOfTheGame Anime]]). Comparing the three shows the diversity of the genre.

* ''{{Pokemon}}'', ''{{Digimon}}'' and ''MonsterRancher'' are the flagship Mon series, because all were licensed and released around the same time in North America and all have "mon" in their name (Not to mention had their own [[TheAnimeOfTheGame Anime]]). Comparing the three shows the diversity of the genre.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_Seven Ultra Seven]] from the [[UltraSeries Ultra Series]] was often unable to transform because his [[TransformationTrinket Transformation Trinket]] had been stolen, so in order to fend off the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monster of the Week]], he would pull out a small capsule and release a giant monster to do the fighting. This was all done nearly thirty years before Pokemon was released.

* About a hundred years before Pokemon, Japanese kids played with "obake karuta", cards with folklore monsters ("obake" being a rough synonym for "yokai"), complete with battle stats.

Not to be confused with Japanese family crests, the Belgian town, the portion of the female anatomy, the race of [[strike:[[PleaseSelectNewCityName Burmese]]]]Myanmarian natives, or the shield volcano on Mars.