They grew up!
Monica Adventures (originally Turma da Mônica Jovem, also know in English as Monica Teen) is a Brazilian comic book featuring teenage versions of Monica and Friends' characters. Started in 2008, the comic was launched as a response to manga's popularity in Brazil, and has a mangaesque artstyle, to the point of being in black & white.Similarly to its source material, the comic features a Genre Roulette, with different issues and arcs being Slice of Life, Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and more, usually in close succession to each other. However, unlike Monica and Friends' Negative Continuity, Adventures has a consistent continuity, though writers still strive to make every arc welcoming to newcomers.
After reaching issue #100 in 2016, the comic was relaunched from #1 with a 2nd series. In 2021, the 2nd series ended with issue #52 and was replaced by a 3rd series. Aside from the main series, Monica Adventures has also spawned various special issues in color, along with educational and PSA tie-ins. It's sucess also led to the creation of Chico Bento Moço, a similar spin-off of Chuck Billy N' Folks, though with college-aged characters rather than teenagers.
The comic has been adapted into a failed 2015 animated pilot adapting the ninth issue, a 2019 animated series and a 2023 live-action film. Its versions of the characters have appeared in the original comic various times, and it has since become a major component of the franchise.
Provides examples of:
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Tropes A-M
- Aborted Arc:
- The "End of the World Saga" was put on an indefinite hiatus in 2016, when Emerson Abreu left the writing staff of the teen spin-off. Though the writer has continuously teased the series' return since then, no further stories have been published.
- Wagner Bonilla's "Savert Saga" was the focus of four issues of Chuck Billy's book in 2015, but the plotline was dropped afterwards. Though it seemed to be making a comeback in 2021 with the "Village of Nightmares" arc, the manga was cancelled immediately afterwards, leaving it with no official ending.
- The Alcoholic: According to Bia, Cumulus smells like alcohol and has a serious drinking problem, which fuels his psychopathic behaviour.
- All According to Plan: When the possessed Smudge declares that he will shroud the Earth in darkness in preparation for the Serpent's arrival, Denise objects that the Serpent cannot be alive, since the heroes exploded her homeworld a while ago. However, the villain smugly reveals that planet Tomb wasn't his master's homeworld, but her prison, and the heroes were lured there specifically so they would destroy it and set the monster free.
- Alternate Universe:
- While the manga itself is considered one to the kids' gang (even according to
Word of God), its issue #36 adds in another AU, a Crapsack World in which Jimmy, who didn't care about getting better from his speech impediment, does indeed rule the street by being a gigantic asshole to everybody, asserting his authority through threats of exposing their secrets. Even the teachers at the school don't get any respect from him. He only grows out of it when the rest of the gang decides to not care about the blackmail and come clean with each other, thus breaking the hold he had over them. Plus, when Smudge's uncle (a powerless, Corrupt Corporate Executive version of Captain Fray) tried to get a hold of Franklin's world domination machine, built at Jimmy's behest, he was sent to an uninhabited planet because, since it was built in such a hurry, there was nothing in it to specify which world the user wanted to rule. Seeing it could have happened to him, Jimmy loses his jerkiness. The reason for all this? Monica had moved away from the neighborhood while they were still children, essentially leaving a vacuum in her friends' lives. When she came back all grown up, no one recognized her. - Other differences in this AU: Maggy didn't learn to put her appetite in check, so she grew fat; Bucky is shy and insecure, while Sunny is more outgoing and confident; Franklin is a nebbish geek who can't find it in him to approach Marina; Nutty Ned is still a teacher, but has a lot more composure (despite being apparently aware of the AU), and he's the target of Maggy's juvenile crush; Nimbus is a failure at magic; and Sunny's sister didn't make the cut for the space program, working at a fast food joint instead.
- Another AU gets created in the "Flying Donkey" arc, where the main four are possessed and taken over by evil entities under the Flying Donkey's bidding, Maggy's latent magic saves her, Monica and Smudge, but Jim decides to keep the entitie within himself because of the powers it gave him, to use them for his ambitions. The 3 turn on him and warn the others against him, but Jim convinces most of the boys to join him with the promise of making a better world, Smudge obtains Captain Fray's powers and turns evil, Maggy isolates herself out of fear people are only using her for her magic, leaving Monica, Sunny, Denise and the rest to lead a resistance against them after Jim takes over the world with Franklin's help and turns everything into a Crapsack World.
- The twist of "The Portal of Darkness" is that the dark world to which the heroes' souls had been sent is actually identical to the main reality, but their version of Smudge succumbed to the Malevolence's influence and became its messiah.
- While the manga itself is considered one to the kids' gang (even according to
- And I Must Scream: Penha's first defeat results in a brain injury that leaves her in a coma. It's later revealed that she was conscious the whole time and spent an entire year as a prisoner of her own body, abandoned in a hospital bed with only Sofia to keep her company. Jim himself expresses pity for her, and Maggy casts a spell in the hopes of helping her regain mobility eventually.
- Angst? What Angst?: Invoked In-Universe in "The Reverse Tower", when Stavros asks how the gang can remain calm and crack jokes despite them being stuck in a haunted hospital. The heroes collectivelly shrug and explain that they are used to dealing with supernatural horrors: Penha says her best friend is a Living Shadow, Maggy is the heir of the Coven of Hecate, Denise has an Imaginary Enemy, and Jimmy has a scar that renders him immortal.
- Animate Dead: The Widow can raise the dead and place them under her control, making her one of the most dangerous members of the Umbra Chidren.
- Animated Adaptation: A first attempt was made in 2015 with only 1 episode along with some promotional videos, but due to how the animation was too non-anime, an actual version was made, which was released in 2019.
- Arc Words: "The Serpent is coming back" is said by multiple characters during the "End of the World Saga", foreshadowing the arrival of a creature that is said to bring about the apocalypse.
- Art Evolution: Compare the covers of the manga version to the inside. Has gotten more consistent lately, but the difference is still pretty glaring.
- Art Shift: During comedic moments, the series ditches the highly-detailed manga art style and depicts the characters with simplistic physical features, such as lipless mouths for the girls, Black Bead Eyes and noseless faces.
- Atrocious Alias:
- The adult version of Angel originally went by "Céuboy"note . In response to fan backlash, he changes his name to Angelo at the end of the first arc, but not before Denise mercilessly mocks his alias.
- Captain Fray changes his codename to Dark Dust in the first arc. When he returns as the main antagonist of "The Reversed Tower", he embraces his original designation, acknowledges that "Dark Dust" was an overly edgy name, and blames this poor decision on him having a middle-age crisis.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Denise represses her love for Future Sunny by frequently abusing him. At one point, she kicks him in the face for being "too perfect".
- Big Good: Creuzodete and Future Denise both act as the main forces of good during the "End of the World Saga", since they are some of the few characters who are aware of the Serpent's imminent return and have actually devised plans to counter the creature.
- Bittersweet Ending: The conclusion to "The Reversed Tower" has Monica being brought back to normal and everyone escaping the Nine Circles alive. However, Smudge is unable to prevent his uncle from becoming Captain Fray, Dr. Stavros is left traumatized by the visions of his sister, and Maggy loses her powers.
- Bloody Murder: Sangria can transform water into blood, which she can then manipulate at will.
- Body Horror:
- When the fake Nick Nope succumbs to the Serpent's influence, a pair of insect legs erupts from his back as he mutates into his combat form.
- The Horseman of Pestilence can manipulate organic matter, producing grotesque results.
- He is the host of the Serpent's insects, which crawl under his skin.
- Though he initially looks like a feeble old man, he shapeshifts into a centipede-like monster. When Sofia tears his body in two, he reorganizes his cells into the shape of a giant cockroach.
- One of his first actions is to transform the lower half of Monica's body into a slug.
- To grant himself protection against Penha's dominating sneer, the Horseman removes his own eyes, leaving two lumps of skin where his eye sockets were supposed to be.
- Breather Episode: Issue #88 is a light episode featuring the classic gang's misadventures on Comic Book Experience 2015 (a stand-in for the Comic Con Experience in São Paulo).
- Brought Down to Normal: Maggy loses her magic powers at the end of "The Reversed Tower", as the possessed Smudge uses his newfound biokinetic abilities to mess with her brain cells and transform her into a regular human.
- The Cameo: Gregory House as a school doctor. He does look fairly older than Hugh Laurie, but everything else is still there.
- Call-Back: The Tombanian that impersonated Nick Nope calls its species a group of "shadows from the past", which is a reference to the first arc of the "End of the World Saga".
- Calling Your Attacks: Denise's flying kick to Future Sunny's crotch is punctuated by her screaming "Superattack! Omelette of Terror!"
- Canon Foreigner: Several minor characters, including the Hot Teacher whom Maggy has a crush on and the weight-conscious Maria Mello.
- Cerebus Retcon: The "Tomba" aliens, the "flying donkey" and several elements from the classic series (up to and including Captain Fray's origins) are painted here on a much, much darker light.
- Cerebus Syndrome: Pretty much any story written by Emerson de Abreu.
- The "Flying Donkey" arc introduces us to the biggest horrors in this series' history, Jim stayed dead for most of it, Sunny's Future self comes back to the present timeline to stop Jim from turning the world into a Crapsack World as he did in Future Sunny's original timeline. By exorcising the spirit of the Flying Donkey, the protagonists may have played Unwitting Pawn to the Children of Umbra that they thought were victims at first but are hinted to have become evil after 20 years in limbo, and if Future Denise's words at the end of Issue #79 are any indication, it's not over yet.
- The Reversed Tower arc (#90-92) is this as well, by making Captain Fray an agent of the pestilence which threatens to corrode the world and reshape it to their own notion of order. The gang has to resort to Maggy's innate magic to guide them, but it falls upon Smudge, the closest person to Captain Fray, to save everyone from the growing madness of the titular place - a series of underground levels designed in the fashion of Dante's Inferno by an elite group to assume control over humankind, and upon which an orphanage was built as a front, to which a child Fray was sent after his parents died from a landslide. It turns out that he made a pact with the Serpent, the leader of the insects, to have his life saved in the event, and in return they gave him powers that cause corrosion and decay. Once he reaches adulthood, the Serpent comes to demand he becomes the bearer of the Curse of Pestilence, for if he refuses, it will pass on to the person he loves the most - his nephew, Smudge. And that is how he became the Captain Fray we know.
- Characterization Marches On: Bucky's first appearance in this spin-off was about his break-up with Isabel because all Isabel wanted to do was go out and party, while Bucky needed to prepare for the inter-school baseball tournament. After that Bucky starts acting like a controlling jealous boyfriend.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Berenice is introduced in a brief comedic scene in "Shadows from the Past", but doesn't play any significant role until the Umbra arc, where she turns out to be one of the two components of the Pale Horse of Death.
- Continuity Nod: In the "Threshold Rising" arc from season 3, one of the portals to the afterlife depicts the Umbra, a major location from the eponymous arc from season 1.
- Continuity Snarl: The Flying Donkey is reimagined as a vindictive practitioner of black magic who has murdered many children, and her status as a benevolent ghost is established to be just a marketing ploy designed to sell toys. However, this contradicts the events of the original comics, in which the children have many positive interactions with the spirit.
- Cool Teacher: Nutty Ned of all people. He's still a nutjob (don't let him hear you say that, though), but damn if he isn't awesome.
- The Corruption: The black liquid from planet Tomb transforms whoever comes into contact with it into one of the Serpent's followers. Shub-Sogoth refers to it as the Serpent's blood, a physical manifestation of the pain and suffering of the living.
- Crossover:
- Issues #43 and #44 cross the characters over with many Osamu Tezuka characters. Mauricio and Tezuka had been close friends when the latter was alive, and the idea had been in the works for quite some time, even before Tezuka's passing.
- Like their kids' version, the teens cross over with the Justice League (issues #25 and #26 of Volume 2) However, unlike the stories in the kids' books which are akin to Silver Age stories, this one plays more like a conventional Crisis Crossover, with the Legion of Doom using a "Sisterbox" (a modified Motherbox) to dump the heroes (and Harley Quinn) in the Teen Gang's universe, just as the Gang's own Rogues Gallery starts attacking the city. The second issue takes place in an Alternate Continuity where the Gang and the Justice League coexist, only this time it's Monica and friends who are sent into famous locations from the DC Universe thanks to one of Franklin's teleporters. They end up helping the superheroes fight off a gigantic creature made of ocean garbage, result of a battle between Superman and Captain Fray.
- Darker and Edgier: Emerson de Abreu's "End of the World Saga" is an outright horror story, with explicit violence, death and references to the occult. As such, even if it still has moments of the author's trademark humour, it's considerably more frightening and depressing than both the original comics and the other issues of the manga.
- Deal with the Devil:
- The Flying Donkey sells her soul to the Serpent in exchange for a spell designed to bring her daughter back to life.
- After the child who would become Captain Fray is trapped under rubble, he agrees to be saved by the Serpent, though he is cursed into becoming the Horseman of Pestilence in return.
- Demonic Possession:
- Spokesperson can take over other people's bodies, although his powers have three limitations: he cannot take over more than one person at once; his victims' faces are replaced with his own mask; and he cannot influence those whose magic powers are more advanced than his. By the end of the "Umbra" arc, the first restriction turns out to be a lie, since he successfully places the entire city of Sococó da Ema under his control.
- The liquid shadows take over whoever makes contact with the substance. At the end of "The Reversed Tower", they forcefully possess Smudge, turning him into Captain Fray's successor. Though Cumulus manages to purify the boy, he too is overwhelmed by the fluid, going mad due to hearing "voices in his head" and flying away screaming in agony.
- Downer Ending: The "Umbra" arc ends with the gang losing their trust in Jim, especially Monica, who stops talking to him altogether. Also, although the Big Bad is defeated, it's implied that the heroes unleashed something far worse in the process.
- Easter Egg: In the "End of the World Saga", car plates make direct references to Bible verses that allude to the Apocalypse or are relevant to the current issue's themes. For example, in the "Heirs of the Earth" storyline, which is about aliens plotting to return the Earth to its original lightless state, a vehicle's registration number is shown to be GEN0102, whose corresponding Bible verse states "the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep".
- Evil Versus Evil: "The Reversed Tower" storyline culminates in a final battle between Cumulus, who is a lecherous, megalomaniacal criminal; and Smudge, who has been corrupted into serving the Serpent.
- Expy: In "The Reversed Tower", the nurse that is transformed into the Cerberus is clearly based on Miss Meany from Woody Woodpecker, more specifically her appearance from the episode "Calling dr. Woodpecker". She is even introduced saying "Calling Dr. Strudeldunker!", her first line in said episode.
- Face–Heel Turn: Out of the four main characters, Monica is the only one who does not become a supervillain in the Bad Future seen in "Shadows from the Future".
- Jim embraces the curse placed on him by the Flying Donkey and becomes an undead, megalomaniacal tyrant. He converts the male members of the gang into a robotic army and, with Franklin's help, develops a computer virus that puts all electronics under his control as part of his quest for world domination.
- Smudge becomes Captain Fray's successor, an agent of pestilence who plots to pollute the Earth.
- Maggy loses her sanity after being overwhelmed by her latent magic powers. Paranoid that the rest of the world intends to exploit her, she isolates herself in a tower and violently attacks anyone who intrudes her domain.
- Fanservice:
- In the first issue of his teen spinoff, Chuck Billy spends three gratuitous panels shirtless after jumping into a creek to escape a swarm of bees.
- Sunny's future self is muscular, has Manly Facial Hair and is a Walking Shirtless Scene for most of his second appearance. All these characteristics are further emphasized by the characters pointing out how attractive he looks compared to his wimpy counterpart from the present.
- The "Vacation at the Beach" arc contains many moments in which the characters admire each other's bodies. In particular, the very first panel shows Denise from the back while she is wearing a revealing bikini.
- In "The Portal of Darkness", Sunny has a seizure and starts accidentally scratching and bruising himself. In response, Denise tears Jeremias' shirt apart so she can have something to tie Sunny's arms with, leaving the boy's muscular torso exposed for the rest of the arc. Lampshaded when Jeremias complains that the readers will have to see his chest until the story ends, to which Denise replies that nobody is going to mind.
- Forced Transformation: Anyone who enters the House Outside of Time is doomed to transform into a cuckoo bird, though the spell can be broken by living 7 years in the outside world, drinking a glass of water inside the House, or by touching a sufficiently powerful magic user.
- Fusion Dance: The Flying Donkey fuses with her own daughter to become the Horseman of Death.
- Future Badass: Sunny is a scrawny teenager with terrible luck, but his alternate self from a Bad Future is a muscular, courageous hero.
- Glamour: The Flying Donkey's bottom half is replaced with a pair of horse legs after she makes a pact with the Serpent. She is able to disguise her true appearance with a simple glamour spell, though Madam Creuzodete is able to immediately see through it.
- Good All Along: Played with in "Umbra". The seven ghost children are originally stated to be evil spirits that haunt the city of Sococó da Ema. Then it's revealed that this was all a lie, and they were actually trying to protect everyone from the real Big Bad. After the gang succeeds in bringing them back to life, Smudge starts finding flaws in their backstory, causing him to speculate that maybe they really were evil after all. His theory is correct, as the seven children start using their powers to take over the city as soon as the heroes leave.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Serpent is a primordial being of pure evil. Its presence is felt in each chapter of the "End of the World Saga", as it preys on the other antagonists' negative emotions:
- Though not outright stated, Agnes made a pact with the Serpent shortly after her death in order to become one of the Shadow People. This is subtly suggested when Rosie is corrupted into a form similar to Agnes' ghost in "Heirs of the Earth", and confirmed by Emerson Abreu.
- It exploits the Flying Donkey's grief to teach her how to perform black magic, setting the events of "Umbra" in motion.
- In "Heirs of the Earth", it manipulates the heroes into destroying planet Tomb, thus setting it free from its prison.
- It takes advantage of Captain Fray's despair to give him the power to control pollution, leading to the events of "The Reversed Tower".
- Though not outright stated, Agnes made a pact with the Serpent shortly after her death in order to become one of the Shadow People. This is subtly suggested when Rosie is corrupted into a form similar to Agnes' ghost in "Heirs of the Earth", and confirmed by
- Groin Attack: Denise delivers a flying kick to Future Sunny's crotch when she believes he is flirting with Bia, as a reminder that he is already in a committed relationship. The next few panels show him pressing his groin with an ice bag as he complains that she got too carried away with her jealousy.
- Hate Sink: Gene grew up from a Spoiled Brat to a Smug Snake Dirty Coward who got an american girl pregnant during his time in the United States and refused to take responsibility for the child when she came to him with the news, tried to get Fran drunk for his own amusement, faked his death to search for a treasure and outright refuses to be a responsible, decent human being and blows off every opportunity and responsiblity his father gives him to serve his own interests.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: In "The Reversed Tower", Penha is considerably nicer to the heroes and actively helps them defeat the Horseman of Pestilence. However, she never stops being a morally repugnant person, and the fact she is one of the Horsemen of Apocalypse herself casts some doubt on whether she is really becoming an ally or only helped the gang for her own personal ends.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: The Tombanian who replaces Nick Nope assimilates some of the boy's personality traits and becomes genuinely friendly. However, when he is taken back to his homeworld, he succumbs to the Serpent's influence and tries to kill the heroes once more. Though Franklin begs him to remember his good side, the alien is too far gone and has to be incinerated by Astronaut.
- Heel–Face Turn: Sofia was originally a declared enemy of Monica's gang. When she returns in "Shadows from the Past", she becomes an ally of the heroes after Maggy and Denise show her kindness for the first time in her life. The fact that her former friend Penha has devolved into an abusive Alpha Bitch also helps.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Carmem. Alpha Bitch Spoiled Brat by every definition who, in gratitude to Dustine for the grade she got for both of them allowing Carmem to pass the semester, helped her fix her relationship with Smudge through a very elaborate plan. Monica put it best:Monica: Carmen. Thanks for what you did for them. Looks like you're not mean or dumb all the time. Just mostly.Carmem: (Beat) ...Bite me.
- Bucky. Of course, it requires a DEEP digging through the crust that is formed by his sexism and massive ego. But despite these bad qualities, this was the guy that was willing to help Irene make friends with the gang and willingly put his relationship with Isabel at risk when she found out the mesasges Irene left him because he didn't want her to get in trouble because of his mistake.
- Hypocrite:
- Monica hates when people tell her what to do, yet she's the bossiest character in the series.
- Played for laughs when Denise berates Zé Beto and Crispiano for leaving her at the end of a previous arc. Halfway through her speech, she concludes that, given the circumstances, she would have done the same thing.Denise: You abandoned me! You abandoned me for fame, success, money... Wait, I would have done the same thing! We're cool now.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Irene. All she wants is to be part of the gang, but Monica is an absolute bitch to her all because she is friends with Jim. And the only reason she's always interacting with Jim in the first place, or any boy for that matter, is because Monica won't let anyone else befriend her.
- In Medias Res: The prelude to "The Portal of Darkness" shows Smudge jumping from a skyscrapper to save Monica. This only happens at the very end of the following issue.
- Intercontinuity Crossover: In 2012, the series had a two-part crossover with Tezuka Productions where the cast befriended Astro Boy, Kimba/Leo, and Sapphire for Issue #43 and Issue #44.
- The Infested: The heroes visit a hospital and find a mysterious old man with unusual symptoms. He believes his symptoms are due to an infestation of bugs crawling under his skin, and tries to back up his claim by showing them a live cockroach, which he apparently ripped from one of his blisters. His theory is later proven to be correct: He turns out to be the White Horse of Pestilence, and the bugs are working on his master's behalf to monitor the man's activities.
- Inspector Javert: Monica to Irene. No matter how good intentioned Irene is about anything, Monica will always think the worst of her. All because Jim is the only person that talks to her because Monica won't let anyone else befriend her because she thinks Irene is a temptress, all because her first appearance was asking Jim to help her with english.
- Informed Attribute: Maggy is often regarded as the sweetest, kindest person there is and the embodiment of purity by many people, but anyone who reads the manga will be able to notice that it's definitely not that way, seeing how she became a Stalker with a Crush towards Rubens and continues to crush on him, sometimes in front of her actual boyfriend without thinking of the consequences and thinks it's totally ok to do so despite how much trouble it caused her and how it's going beyond an actual crush, didn't bother telling Smudge on issue #49 why everyone was always busy and avoiding him and very cowardly backed out of the conversation after he saved her life and how quickly she is to point out the boys' flaws but ignore the girls' fault at any given situation, aside from one occasion on Issue #59.
- Irredentism: The Aliens from the Planet Tomb are a group of Ultraterrestrials who believe they have a right to conquer Planet Earth because they lived here long before mankind evolved, hence why the Monica Teen story that features them is titled Inheritors of the Earth.
- It's All About Me: Bucky and Jim are prime examples, but Monica really stands out. To name one instance, when Jim was late to a rehearsal with her for the school play because he was busy with a school project whose deadline was the day afterwards and he needed to hand out a part of his projects at the same day of the rehearsal, Monica says that what he did was thinking only of himself. Because being a good student is absolutely selfish, isn't it?
- Jerkass:
- Even in that continuity Jimmy still has his moments. In issue #47, where the gang travels to Japan, Jimmy behaves like a total tool, complaining all the time and voluntarily getting himself lost because he was tired of being told what to do.
- Although he pales in comparison to Toni. To put in perspective, Jim never plotted to crush Monica's heart for a decade just because he got beaten up by her and made fun of by it. And Toni goes as low as bullying Luca and saying that not bullying him just because he's crippled would be "special treatment" and "prejudice".
- Denise also sometimes displays an appalling lack of tact, openly making fun of everyone around her.
- Konami Code: Rosie finds an Incan artifact adorned with gemstones that act as buttons. She fidgets with it, saying she is going to press the stones in an "up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, red stone, yellow stone" pattern, which ends up activating the device.
- Lighter and Softer:
- The teen spin-off was originally conceived as a means to combine the franchise's signature comedy with adventures that had higher stakes, typical teen drama, and occasionally some horror elements. However, the second season drops most of these ideas in favour of mundane stories that appeal to a much younger demographic, as exemplified by an issue which focuses entirely on Nick Nope's bad odor. The only exception to this Tone Shift is the "Portal of Darkness" two-parter, a horror story that is about as dark as the first season's "End of the World Saga".
- In-Universe, the legend of the Flying Donkey was sugarcoated in order to turn it into a profittable brand. She is not a benevolent spirit who guards over children, but an insane old woman who killed several innocents in a ritual designed to bring her daughter Back from the Dead.
- Magitek: In "The Portal of Darkness", the spirit of light who assists Smudge manifests into the human world through an app in the protagonist's phone.
- Making a Splash: Cumulus, the human cloud, can manipulate any liquid at will, an ability which he mainly uses to conjure up wicked tempests.
- Mark of the Beast: The runic letter ior
is the symbol of the Serpent and represents the inevitability of evil. Jim is branded with it during the "Umbra" arc, suggesting that the evil entity intends to use him for its own ends at some point in the future. - Manchild: Zé Beto and Crispiano are mischievous, immature pranksters, even in their teenage years. Future Sunny annoyedly remarks that they haven't grown at all since the last time he met them.
- Manipulative Bitch:
- Penha sends the ghost of Agnes to terrorize Monica, who responds by breaking into the spirit's house. Penha records the protagonist's actions and shows it to Jim, threatening to get Monica arrested for invasion and property damage unless he agrees to date her. Finally, she convinces Sofia to spy on Monica, to ensure that the heroine's heart has been broken.
- Madam Creuzodete refers to the Lake Girl as the most manipulative and dangerous spirit in the city of Sococó da Ema, since its only goal is to fool someone into setting it free from the afterlife so it can bring about the end of the world.
- Future Denise approaches the mentally unstable Maggy with the specific purpose of obtaining a spell capable of saving the world, though she comes to sympathize with the latter. Regardless, when the mission is concluded, Maggy feels used and betrayed, developing a deep hatred for her former friend.
- Master of Illusion: The Ballerina can create incredibly realistic illusions, which she uses to make her foes "dance between madness and sanity".
- Meaningful Name: Maggy's original name, Magali, contains the word "maga", meaning "witch". She is later revealed to descend from a long lineage of witches and possess incredible powers herself.
- Mind Virus: According to the Silent, all the robots in Future Jim's army are actually normal men in cybernetic suits. Their consciousnesses are subsumed by a computer virus, which spread through the internet and put all electronics under the tyrant's control.
- Mood Whiplash: Bathos is frequently employed during the "End of the World Saga" to provide some levity to otherwise serious moments, most often by having Denise blurt out something irrelevant while others are faced with the prospect of imminent danger. In "Heirs of the Earth", the reveal of Rosie's monstrous corrupted form is followed up by Denise geeking out over the villainess' goth-inspired dress.
- Mr. Fanservice: Chuck is shown shirtless in several panels during the "Heirs of the Earth" arc, be it when he is plowing the field, swimming or changing into a space suit. Denise lampshades his muscled appearance by calling him a "hot bumpkin".
- My God, What Have I Done?: Jim has a spetacular one in issue #69. He tells Monica that they had nothing special and that he didn't care if she kissed Nick Nope and is seeing him. He does so because he thought it was all a plan Monica crafted to make him crawl back to her and wanted to turn the tables on her because he believed their relationship was set in stone...Only it wasn't a plan. At all. And then the following takes place:Maggy: We tried to help you all get together. Tried to do everything to help you. You could have apologized. Could have tried being with her. But you messed everything up. Again. Because are only ''plans'' on that hard head of yours. You thought Monica was acting, faking, and said a lot of stupid things to her. I'm sorry Jim...I really am. But Monica deserves more. Someone that doesn't only think about playing, compete, win. Someone that makes her happy. Someone that-Jim: It wasn't a plan...Maggy: Jim?Jim: I said...I said to Monica...I said that..that I don't care about her...that there's nothing special between us! I...I...I DUMPED MONICA! And now she's with Nick Nope...she is with him for real! It wasn't a plan!Maggy: Jim...so...finally, you understand...but it's too late!Jim: How could I not notice? How could I be so stupid!? I lost Monica! Forever!
Tropes N-Z
- Naked People Are Funny: Chuck, Zé Beto and Crispiano were raised in the interior region of Brazil, where Skinny Dipping is seen as mundane. Unaware that public nudity is a taboo in the big cities, they inadvertently cause the other characters to feel uncomfortable when they undress to go swimming.
- Narrating the Obvious: Played for Laughs in a panel whose upper left caption explains that "Mônica was perplexed by the situation", while Monica herself says "I'm perplexed!" in a speech bubble, and another caption in the lower right states "Said Mônica, perplexed."
- The Nicknamer: If one of Denise's girl friends has a name that she deems as "too common", she will give them a new one. Sofia, Bia and Rosie are addressed to as Maitê, Rayssa and Juliana, respectively.
- Older Than They Look: Agnes looks like a teenager, but is implied to be as old as Captain Fray, who is a middle-aged man.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. Sofia is the name of Monica's childhood bully, who is introduced in "Shadows from the Past", and of a major character in Chuck Billy's "Contagion Zone" arc.
- Out-Gambitted: In issue #35, Jim somehow managed to outgambit himself, by creating another persona to attend to a costume party held by 3 rich people (One of them being Carmen's aunt), so he could spend a romantic night with Monica without needing to defeat her first. Naturally this creates a 5th competition for Monica's affections. May double as a case of Love Makes You Dumb. However, said persona is never brought up again.
- Playing with Fire:
- Wormwood is a pyrokinetic who has an asteroid for a head. He commonly fights by igniting the planetoid and launching it at his foes.
- Future Denise specializes in flame spells, which she perfected while working as a fire breather in a carnival.
- Plot Hole: It's a major plot point in "Shadows from the Past" that spirits cannot be caught on tape. However, in "Umbra", which follows up on the events of said arc, the gang is only able to see the ghosts and other mystical elements by watching them through the lens of a camera.
- Power Incontinence: Maggy gains access to her ancestors' vast magic powers when she hears the sentence "The Moon cries tonight". However, all this information overwhelms her brain and causes her great agony. Smudge compares Maggy's condition to someone trying to contain an entire ocean within a dropper.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: Monica can sometimes act like a self-centered harpy in a way that Bella could never achieve to be, and a bully on top of that, as her treatment of Irene and Sofia shows, and she never accepts anyone disagreeing with her. ever. But she somehow ends up always being in the right, not being called out on any of her bad deeds or getting away with it with nothing but a slap-on-the-wrist.
- Race Lift: In Emerson Abreu's blog, he comments that he always envisioned Madam Creuzodete as a Black woman, and expresses annoyance that the art crew started depicting her as Caucasian past her first appearance.
- Red Herring: The Horseman of Pestilence is initially identified as Samir, which is a reference to an obscure, One-Shot Character who only appeared in a 2008 Smudge comic book. This is meant to dissuade the reader from figuring out the villain's true identity: He is a horrifically mutated Captain Fray.
- Remember the New Guy?: Milena, a character introduced on Monica and Friends in 2018, initially had her absence on Adventures explained by her having moved out of the neighborhood between both comics' timeframe. However, after a Cosmic Retcon in the end of the 2nd series, Milena is introduced during the 3rd series as having always been around . This is confirmed and elaborated in issue #15 of the 3rd series, in which Nutty Ned (who is a Fourth-Wall Observer, though filtered in-universe by his craziness) confronts Milena about it, with the same issue also retroactively adding Milena to many events of the 1st series or, in the case of "Umbra", justifying her absence.
- Scare Chord: Cumulus making his move on Maggy is punctuated by a close-up on his eyes and the onomatopoeia "DOOM".
- Sdrawkcab Name: Wagner Bonilla's "Savert Saga" is about the eponymous evil corporation, whose name is "trevas" ("darkness") written backwards
- Seers:
- Madam Creuzodete, the "famous yet obscure" seer the heroes used to visit when they were younger, returns as a major ally in the "End of the World Saga", providing them with cryptic clues that ultimately prove vital in their battles against the Horsemen of Apocalypse.
- The Violinist is the Umbra Child who can see into the future. The fact he abstains from sharing his knowledge for most of the "Umbra" arc is what makes Smudge realize that the seven ghosts are not as benign as they appear to be.
- Self-Deprecation:
- Captain Fray is ashamed of his portrayal in the first story arc and flies into a rage whenever someone brings up that he used to go by Dark Dust.
- In "Contagion Zone", Chuck takes care of a young girl, who requests him to tell her a bedtime story. He recounts how he saved a horse called Brave in a previous story arc, so she asks him if the horse was given that name due to its personality. After Chuck confirms it, the girl disdainfully groans "Urgh, that's so cliché!", much to his annoyance.
- Self-Imposed Exile: In the Bad Future seen in "Shadows from the Future", Maggy's magic powers are unlocked and drive her insane. When Nena, Viviane and Ramona try to help her, she accidentally disintegrates them. Consumed by guilt, Maggy isolates herself in the Tower of the North Wind.
- Serious Business: Smudge with his hobbies, Monica with the school play that took place on Issue #9.
- Ship Tease: In "The Reversed Tower", Penha and Sofia begin to ship Jim and Denise after noticing their similar personalities, namely in terms of their ambition and cunning. Later on, the two heroes surprisingly fall for each other and start making out in front of everyone. However, their unusual behaviour is then explained to be due to the Nine Circles' corrupting influence, which amplified the duo's lust. As soon as Jim and Denise leave the Reversed Tower, their passion vanishes, with them awkwardly agreeing to forget what happened and go back to being just friends.
- Shout-Out:
- Manga Issue #35 had a lot of them. A costume party with the characters dressed as many famous figures such as: Franklin as Sherlock Holmes, Sunny as Kratos, Todd as Mario, Marina as Dorothy from Oz, Jeremiah as Mace Windu, Tikara as Samurai Jack, Denise as Harley Quinn (a character she has come to be strongly associated with) and many others.
- There was also a two-issue story that was entirely a shoutout to Death Note.
- The "Id Monsters" saga is about the main quartet facing their dark side and once they're overcome, they're trapped within cards that gives them powers when activated. Does that sound familiar?
- There's also an issue which Jim plays Chess with Death. Just like The Seventh Seal.
- Each of the flying pigs in the "Shadows from the Past" arc borrows design elements from certain Pokémon.
- The "Shadows From the Future" arc borrows some plot elements from Days of Future Past (1981), since it deals with characters going back in time to prevent a dystopic future where the world has been devastated by a robotic army. One of the chapters even pays homage to said comic, being titled "Nights of Future Past".
- The aliens from "Heirs of the Earth" identify themselves as "Engineers", are an old species that was worshipped by many ancient human cultures, and aim to destroy all life on Earth with a black fluid that corrupts and mutates whoever comes into contact with it. All these elements are straight references to the main antagonist of Prometheus.
- In "The Reversed Tower", Stavros forbids Penha from leaving the hospital without going through some exams first. She responds by throwing a temper tantrum, saying he can't keep her there and yelling "Wanna know why? Because I'm rich! I'm rich!" This is a famous quote from the 2008 Brazilian telenovela Beleza Pura, which became a meme in the country due to actress Carolina Ferraz's dramatic delivery.
- "The Haunted Carnival" has homages both to Five Nights at Freddy's, since it takes place in an abandoned facility overrun by violent, defective animatronics; and Pokémon GO, since Sunny and Denise are obsessed with a fictional app called "Bilumon Go".
- Sinister Deer Skull: Played with in the "Umbra" arc from the Teen spin-off. The main antagonist is the Pale Horse of Death◊, a malevolent Eldritch Abomination with a donkey skull for a head. However, the tree branches attached to the sides of its cranium resemble a pair of antlers, invoking the image of an undead deer.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Subverted. When the future versions of Sunny and Denise travel to the current timeline, they are separated in the time stream, with the latter being flung seventeen years into the past. When they finally reunite, Denise confesses that she no longer loves him and ends their relationship, though this is really a lie and she is actually trying to protect him from an undisclosed threat.
- Stepford Smiler: In "Vacation at the Beach", when Denise excuses herself to go to the bathroom, Big Sunny and Monica discuss how much they admire her for her optimism and constant good mood. However, once Denise finds herself alone in the bathroom, her smile vanishes and she breaks down crying due to her Unresolved Sexual Tension with Sunny.
- Taking You with Me: Future Marina creates a portal to redirect Crematorium's flamethrower to the villain's fuel tank. He tries to take her out in the imminent explosion alongside him, but she manages to teleport away just in time.
- Tattooed Crook: The Wave Guy has the kanji for "water" tattooed on his right arm. It's prominently displayed during his introduction and serves to foreshadow his role as that story's main antagonist.
- Thinking Up Portals: Future Marina can create portals to any location of her choosing by using the magic pencil attached to her staff.
- Time Skip: A good chunk of issue #50 of Monica Teen took place ten years into the future, showing, among other things, Jimmy and Monica's wedding and married life. The Manga itself counts as a whole.
- Toilet Humour: Denise falls sick after gorging herself with expired candy in "The Haunted Carnival". She spends the majority of the comic loudly farting, which grosses Sunny out.
- Token Evil Teammate:
- Jim. His ambition to prove his worth and change the world not only leads to TWO Bad Future timelines as well as an Alternate Universe where he controls the whole street through being a gigantic douche and blackmailing people with their secrets, but it also leads him to be a direct cause of Monica, Smudge and Maggy's deaths in the Flying Donkey arc.
- Penha accompanies the heroes as they journey through the Nine Circles in "The Reversed Tower" and plays a pivotal role helping them defeat the Horseman of Pestilence. However, she is still an abhorrent person whom the others openly despise, as they make it clear that they still haven't forgiven her for her previous crimes.
- Took a Level in Badass:
- Jim grows a backbone and starts to call out Monica on her violent tendencies and bossy attitude.
- In issues #23 and #24, which have a Whole-Plot Reference to Death Note, Jim takes on the identity of "The Great Clown", who can send people into laughing fits by writing their names into his magical "Laughter Note". Smudge says that, since Monica is so hotheaded, she could be a potential target of the Clown. When Monica protests that she doesn't deserve to have a laughing attack, Jim angrily tells her that he's had enough of her constant bad mood.
Jim: You know what, Monica? Smiling wouldn't kill you! It's a pain in the ass to put up with someone who is always stressed! You may feel comfortable with that big temper of yours... But we're the ones who suffer to put up with your fretfulness!- In issue #26, where two brothers who are professional rollerbladers, note are bullying everyone around their city and acting like colossal pricks, Monica gets fed up with their attitude, challenges them to a rollerblading contest, and forces Maggy, Smudge and Jim to participate alongside her despite none of them knowing how to skate. After she repeatedly berates Jim for his lack of skill and accuses him of not putting enough effort into this training, he retaliates with a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
Jim: So you want to know if you can count on me? I NEVER said I knew how to skate! I don't! And still, I'm here! Wearing this stupid outfit! Scraping my hutt on the floor! And all because someone made a rollerblading challenge, when said person doesn't even know how to skate! And still, she got her friends on a stupid contest! Without even asking them! And NOW you wanna know if you can count on me? - Captain Fray becomes quite The Chessmaster in the later issues, as his powers have evolved, making him able to cause erosion. It is later revealed that these powers came from a Deal with the Devil in return from being saved from a landslide that demolished his home and killed his parents.
- Todd, who grew some major cajones not only as he grew up, but as the manga itself progressed. Unlike most of the male cast (save for minor exceptions, such as Nick Nope), Todd takes none of the girls' Double Standard bullcrap, often pointing out that he doesn't take well to Maggy's crush on the science teacher and yet getting fussy when he looks at other girls with the faintest hint of interest. There's also the way he handled his bullying in later issues, with no need whatsoever to get violent, and still coming out on top.
- Maggy has incredible magical powers as a descendant of the Coven of Hecate, but they needed to be sealed inside her mind due to their highly destructive potential and the eventual toll it would take on her sanity. As such, they can only be triggered through a code phrase, and locked again with another. It is implied that she loses these powers for good at the end of the Reversed Tower arc.
- Humberto is deaf and mute, which often led others to ignore him when he was a child. In the Bad Future seen in "Shadows from the Future", Jim takes advantage of how silent Humberto is to transform him into a fearsome spy.
- Jim grows a backbone and starts to call out Monica on her violent tendencies and bossy attitude.
- Too Much Information: Future Sunny tells Denise he started dating her future self after they shared a kiss on the beach and returned home to have "the most romantic night of their lives". She responds by beating him up out of sheer embarrassment, all while screaming to spare her of such details.
- Took a Level in Jerkass:
- Monica, who is basically a Brazilian Bella Swan. In #94, the character jumps to disgusting levels of jerkassery, especially in the ending.
- Bucky became a massive sexist, controlling asshat, even after his break-up with Isabel.
- Jimmy, whose ambition led him to basically become the Token Evil Teammate. He's starting to mellow out though, especially after he unwittingly nearly causes Monica to become Ret-Gone due to his sorrow over losing her to Nick Nope.
- In the original comics, Penha was just a snobbish Spoiled Brat; but her teenage self is considerably more dangerous, as she devises a complex plot to get Monica arrested. When that fails, she personally tries to kill the protagonist by running her over with Angelo's sword. Her ruthlessness ultimately transforms her into one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, representing War.
- Zeca in the original comics was just an average city boy who had difficulty adjusting to the rural lifestyle. His teen version is a pretentious show-off who cannot go six months without asking his parents for a new car. His sexist comments drive Denise up the wall, and Monica herself calls him an insufferable person.
- Uncertain Doom: Cumulus' fate at the end of "The Reversed Tower" is ambiguous. Though he supposedly died after absorbing the liquid shadows and being exposed to sunlight, Rosie went through the same ordeal in a previous arc and survived without any lingering ailments.
- The Unfair Sex:
- While Jim was a Jerkass and had problems, both personal and in his relationship with Monica, In #69 he's shown as the only one responsible for their relationship going wrong. It didn't show Monica responsible or commissioned for it at any point, despite that clearly she was equally wrong in many of their arguments over the long run and, if anything, slowly changing for the worse.
- Bucky was flanderized into a sexist, controlling, bitter ex to make Isabel's empowering Character Development more positive (Compare to his manga debut where they broke up because she wanted to do nothing but party but Bucky wanted to dedicate himself to his baseball career), the following chapters after "Shadows of the Past" treat Jimmy's forced relationship with Penha as intentional two-timing when he was actually being blackmailed into going out with her and even Monica seemed to regard that as such at the end of the arc, Maggy thinks it's totally fine to droll over the Hot Teacher in front of her boyfriend but she won't accept people calling her out on it or Todd glancing at another girl with the faintest hint of interest, although Todd at least calls her out on it herself and she's upset... Because he found out and didn't think he had noticed.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Tombanians are living shadows and can take on the appearance of whatever they desire. One of them perfectly poses as Nick Nope for two issues, though the species as a whole tend to favour arthropodous forms for most occasions.
- Voodoo Doll: Wooden Leg is described as a living voodoo doll, since any pain he feels is redirected to his enemies and amplified.
- Weakened by the Light: The Tombanians are made from solid shadows and instantly combust when exposed to the Sun's ultraviolet radiation. They have taken measures to circumvent this weakness, such as developing suits that shield them from the light, invading Earth only at night, or trying to shroud the planet in clouds of darkness with the aid of the Horseman of Pestilence.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Monica refuses to talk with Sofia and forbids the rest of the gang from befriending her. Maggy eventually gets fed up with Monica's stubborn behaviour, calls her shallow for mistreating the new girl due to a childhood rivalry, and ultimately leaves her friend to sit by Sofia's side in the classroom. Thankfully, this causes Monica to acknowledge she was the villain of the story and prompts her to make an effort to help Sofia feel included.
- Would Hit a Girl: Zeca has no problem getting into a fight with Denise, as the two are shown repeatedly going at each other's throats due to Unresolved Sexual Tension, their conflicting political opinions, and his sexist remarks.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Lake Girl died while pulling a malicious prank on the city children. Her mother, blinded by grief, blamed the innocent kids for the accident and sold her soul for a magic spell meant to bring her daughter back to life. To perform it, she drugs seven children, kidnaps them and sacrifices them in a satanic ritual.
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