Shiren:Monster
Monsters (Japanese: モンスター) is a catch-all term applied to a wide variety of creatures in the Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer series. They range from Oni to machines, animal-plant hybrids, animals, etc. Monsters are primarily found in Dungeons, and nearly all are hostile, attacking Shiren and his Adventure Allies on sight. Though some are friendly and some can even speak to and work with Humans, it should be noted that these are far from the norm.
It's not entirely clear what differentiates a monster such as a hostile Shopkeeper, Sheriff, or Guard Dog, from Nfu the Demon Puppy, which isn't considered an enemy. Shopkeepers aren't hostile until stolen from or provoked, in which cases they're not considered monsters. But hostility can't be used as a barometer, as there are numerous instances of "friendly monsters" throughout the series.
Monster Families
Monsters are organized into Monster Families (Japanese: モンスター系) or Types, as they're called in Japanese, and the English translation of Shiren 1 DS. For the purposes of simplicity, we've opted to ignore the official name for monster families, which is type' such as "Pacorepkin-type", as it can easily cause confusion. Such as with the Dragon-type monsters and the Dragon Family, which would also otherwise be called the "Dragon-type". See the full article Monster-types.
A monster family generally consists of 1 - 4 monsters, though in some cases more monsters. For example, the Mamel Family consists of the Mamel > Pit Mamel > Cave Mamel > Gitan Mamel. Monsters level-up or down into each other. So using a Staff of Happiness on a Cave Mamel will turn it into a Gitan Mamel and a Staff of Misfortune will turn it back into a Cave Mamel. In some instances, monster families may turn into another family; examples include the Bowboy Family which levels up into the Baby Tank Family, and then the Popster Tank Family. When members of the Evil Soldier Family are killed, they'll resurrect as members of the Dead Soldier Family and the Great Hen Family will turn into the Hen Family at when at low HP.
Several monster families with unique leveling mechanics are the Inferno Family, Evil Tree Family, Chimera Family, Kigny Family, and (in some games), the N'Duba Family which can level up to 99, changing color pallets along the way.
Some monsters are still considered part of the same family, even if they don't level into each other, such as the Elder Mamel,
Borg Mamel, and the Antipode Mamel being considered part of the Mamel Family. Or the King of the Kigny being part of the Kigny Family, and Tainted Soldiers and the Tainted Queen being part of the Tainted Insect family.
Night Monsters
Shiren 4 DS added Night Monster families, which was continued into Shiren 5, and abandoned for Shiren 6. They're generally stronger, dark counterparts to normal monsters, that appear in some dungeons. Due to concerns regarding balance, Monster Meat was retired as a mechanic during that time but made a cameo appearance in Tower of Slumber. See the full article Monster Meat.
Monster Houses
Monster Houses are rooms full of Traps, Items and hostile monsters. While extremely dangerous, they also often represent great opportunities for gathering loot and Experience during gameplay. A monster house is depicted in the Manga Increasingly Less Motivated to Work Squad Shi-Ranger GB. Different types of monster houses exist, such as Pop-up Monster Houses, One-Room Monster Houses, and themed monster houses, such as a Thief House; a monster houses full of Thief-type monsters.
Monster Meat
Monster Meat is an edible food item carved from monsters using the Bufu's Cleaver, or from the blast of a Bufu's Staff. When consumed, monster meat allows the consumer to turn into the monster the meat was for. The mechanics differ between games, such as whether or not it can become cooked, rotten, or whether or not the player can pick up items while playing as a monster.
Monster Meat can be one of the most broken items/mechanics in the series, as the player can use Mecharoid Meat to create Pitfall Traps to repeatedly loot the Underground Stream Village in Shiren 1, easily obtain Soaked Scrolls in Shiren 3, which when dried, will turn into Blank Scrolls or steal from shops by turning into a Pacorepkin and traveling through walls. A common strategy to defeat the Tainted Insect for beginners in Shiren 1 DS is to purchase Mamel Meat, and to throw it at the Tainted Insect, instantly defeating it in the process.
Monster-types
Monster-types are a gameplay mechanic in the series that applies to all monsters in every game. Every monster has at minimum 1 type but they often have 2. In some extremely rare instances, monsters may belong to 3 different types. In short, Monster-types determine the characteristics of each monster; such as how items interact with monsters, dealing extra damage, nullifying their special abilities, or how they interact with their environment. Water-type monsters recover HP in water, Thief-type monsters are unable to steal if the player or ally has a Walrus Shield equipped and Karakuri-types rust when splashed with water from a Water Jar, and so on.
Elemental Abilities
Not to be confused with Monster-types, elemental abilities are a gameplay mechanic added in Shiren 3 Wii and only returned in its PSP port. Each monster has an additional ability such as Nature, which nullifies staff charges, and Water making attacks miss.
Special Abilities
Some monster families, most in fact, are capable of using special abilities. The Piggy Family throws Stones or Piggy Stones, the Soldier Ant Family can tunnel through walls, Mixers can swallow items and Fuse them together and Pacorepkins can travel through walls. While there are far too many to list here, and they differ between games, each monster's special ability (if any) can be found on their lore pages.
Monster Zoo
The Monster Zoo is an area in Shiren 2 unlocked after clearing Onigashima and reaching the credits. It's linked to a dungeon that starts Shiren out with a Monster Pot, which allows the player to capture monsters. When clearing a dungeon, or escaping from one using an Escape Scroll, the player can then take monster pots to the Monster Zoo to be registered. When registered, they remain safely with the zookeeper, unless the player wishes to take them out. Registered monsters can be found in the different sections of Monster Zoo, vaguely grouped by Monster-type or other attributes.
Appearances
For more about monsters in specific media, see the following articles:
Games
| Shiren 1 | Save Surala | Moonlight Village | Shiren 2 | Magic Castle | Asuka | Shiren 3 | Shiren 4 | Shiren 5 | Tower of Slumber |
Shiren 6 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFC | DS | SP | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | GB | PC | PCI | SP | GBC | DS | DC | PC | Wii | PSP | DS | PSP | DS | Vita | 2020 | SP | ||||
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Manga
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Spin-offs
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In Other Media
AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative
The Monsters are mentioned in AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative when checking a computer in Kumakura Office on February 12, during the free move investigation segment.[1]
- Aiba: (I hacked into it.)
- Aiba: (There is one item in the search history: "How to defeat Mamel.")
- Mizuki: (Oh, they play Shiren...)
- Mizuki: (Wait, how do you need help beating Mamel?)
Another piece of dialogue also references Mamels in Sejima Residence on February 15, during the 4:10 PM investigation segment.[2] In this instance, the name "Subterrean Mamul" is used, which is a reference to the Shiren 1 SFC English Unofficial Translation.
- Tama: (It's a giant Subterranean Mamul!)
- Ryuki: (It's a topiary! Now's not the time to be messing around!)
- Tama: (S-Sorry...)
Gallery
(2006)
Chintala The secondary mascot of the series.
(2006)
Mamel The primary mascot of the series.
(2013)
Mamel and Chintala appear on the Shiren Pachinko machine.
Humans, Monsters, and Animals in the Moonlight Village.
In Other Languages
| Language | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| English | Monsters | |
| Japanese | モンスター | |
See Also
| Shiren the Wanderer (series) - Monsters | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Original Monster Families ( Shiren 1 SFC) • Second Batch (  Shiren 2) • Fourth Batch (  Asuka the Swordswoman DC) • Sixth Batch ( Shiren 1 DS) • Seventh Batch ( Magic Castle DS) • Eighth Batch ( Shiren 3 Wii) • Ninth Batch ( Shiren 4 DS) • Tenth Batch ( Shiren 5 DS) • Eleventh Batch ( / Shiren 6)
Monster-types (List) — Aquatic-type • Boss-type • Curse-type • Cyclops-type • Dragon-type • Drain-type • Exploding-type • Floating-type • Ghost-type • Hypnotic-type • Karakuri-type • Magic-type • Metal-type • Normal-type • Oni-type • Plant-type • Poison Herb-type • Rust-type • Shop-based-type • Staff Attack-type • Thief-type • NETA (投げ物系 • アイテム変化系) | |||