Created by Maurício de Sousa | Gender Female Played by Marli Bortoletto | |
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Family Mrs. Luísa (Mother), Mr. Souza (Father). And her hyperactive dog, ditto. First appearance Removable Newspaper strips of 1963 Similar | ||
Monica is the main character of Monica's Gang (Turma da Mônica) comic strips. She was created in 1963. Mauricio de Sousa based the character on his own daughter, who is also named Monica. Monica's hair is influenced by a haircut his older daughter Mariângela gave her once when she was a kid. In 2007, Monica became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.
Contents
Concept and creation
Monica was based on Mauricio de Sousa's daughter in childhood. The reason for her creation was due to a complaint of the lack of female characters in Mauricio comics. At that time, newspaper strips of Blu and Jimmy Five were produced. When Monica made his first appearance was in a strip of Jimmy Five in 1963, first as a secondary rival of main character. However Monica went on to appear with ever more emphasis over the years later taking the main character position of Jimmy Five.
In the first strips Monica was a younger and little girl, she had an angry face and her hair was different, but Mauricio improved his visual over the years giving to Monica a cute and friendly appearance. Since 1970 she has been considered the main character among all comics created by Mauricio de Sousa, hence the title, "Monica's Gang".
The real life Monica graduated in industrial design at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie in São Paulo and works as executive director at her father's company.
Characteristics
Monica is a 7-year-old, strong and decisive girl, who does not tolerate impertinence, but at the same time, has her moments of femininity. She lives with her parents, has a little dog called Ditto (Monicão), and does not let go of her blue stuffed rabbit called Samson (Sansão). This rabbit, which she loves so dearly, is also a weapon against boys. Especially Jimmy Five (Cebolinha) and Smudge (Cascão), who are always teasing her and calling her roly-poly, toothy, and shorty. She is described as possessing powerful (usually even superhuman) strength, which she uses to beat up boys who tease her, or to defend herself and her friends. She is known by the other characters as the "ruler of the street". She is often at odds with Jimmy Five (Cebolinha), but backs him up whenever he gets into trouble. Monica's best friend is Maggy (Magali). Monica's also very shy to date boys, and she often causes trouble when she tries to talk or impress them. Her buckteeth (more precisely the maxillary central incisor) are her trademark, but also the main reason for people to call her toothy.
Relatives and friends
Monica Teen
Monica is one of the main protagonists of the spin-off Monica Teen, published since 2008 by MSP and Panini Comics. In this Japanese-style comic-manga Monica and her friends are now 15 years old and go to school at Limoeiro High (Lemon Tree High?). The very first edition shows a drastic change in Monica and her friends since childhood when they were 7 years old. Monica is brave and no longer tormented by the boys in Limoeiro even though she is still strong and temperamental. On the other hand, her buckteeth and hair stay the same. She develops a passion for Jimmy Five that ends up with them dating over the comics with many fights and jealousy in high-comedy misadventures. Despite having changed in some ways, she still has an adventurous spirit and continues to use her super strength to stop the enemies that appear.
Later on, she joins her friends in a crossover with characters by Osamu Tezuka such as Princess Sapphire, Astro Boy and Kimba.
Video games
Monica starred in a series of games for Master System and Sega Genesis developed by TecToy. The games were based on the Wonder Boy franchise, and their adaptations were exclusive to Brazil. In the adaptations of these games, Monica and her friends replace the protagonists.
In 2014, Monica was added by publisher Nurigo Games as a playable character in the Brazilian edition of massive multiplayer online race game Tales Runner.