Monica (Monica's Gang)

Monica
Monica's Gang character
Monica with her blue stuffed rabbit, Samson
First appearance	Removable Newspaper strips of 1963
Created by	Maurício de Sousa
Information
Gender	Female
Family	Mrs. Luísa (Mother) Mr. Souza (Father) Ditto (pet dog)

Monica (Mônica) is the main protagonist and title character Monica's Gang (Turma da Mônica) franchise. She was created in 1963 by Mauricio de Sousa based the character on his own daughter, who is also named Monica.^[1][2] The character made her first appearance in the Jimmy Five comic strips as a support character, but with her popularity she eventually became the main character years later. Since her introduction the character has appeared in numerous comics published since 1970, as well animated shows, film, and several forms of merchandise.

In 2007, Monica became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.^[3]

Concept and creation

Concept art of Monica is based on the daughter of Mauricio de Sousa

Monica was based on Mauricio de Sousa's daughter in childhood.^[4] The reason for her creation was due to a complaint of the lack of female characters in Mauricio comics.^[5] At that time, newspaper strips of Blu and Jimmy Five were produced. When Monica made her first appearance was in a strip of Jimmy Five in 1963, first as a secondary rival of main character.^[6] However Monica went on to appear with ever more emphasis over the years later taking the main character position of Jimmy Five.

In the very first strips, Monica appeared as a 4-year-old little girl (who was sometimes considered Specs' younger sister), she had an aggressive behavior and a kinda bully, she wore shoes and had a angry face. But Mauricio improved her visual over the years giving to Monica a cute and friendly appearance and making her more naive and kind.^[7] However her characteristic of beating the boys (mainly Jimmy Five) with her rabbit was maintained, only reversing the roles making the boys act as antagonists to Monica often creating plans to defeat her. Since 1970 she has been considered the main character among all comics created by Mauricio de Sousa, hence the title, "Monica's Gang".^[8] Monica's hair is influenced by a haircut her older daughter Mariângela gave her once when she was a kid.^[9]

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.^[10]

Characteristics

Monica is a 12-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.^[11] 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

• Dona Luísa (Mrs. Luísa) – Monica's mother. Works as a designer for pieces of furniture.
• Seu Souza (Mr. Souza) – Monica's father. He is based on Mauricio de Sousa himself, although the surnames are slightly different (Souza and Sousa). He works in a business company.

• Samson (Sansão) – Monica's blue rabbit toy. He is not only Monica's favorite toy but also the "weapon" that she uses on whoever calls her by names she doesn't like. Samson is a constant victim of Jimmy Five, Smudge or other boys who love to tie his ears in knots. Initially, he didn't have a name, "Samson" was suggested by Roberta Carpi, in 1983.^[12] It was based on a yellow toy rabbit stuffed with straw that the real Monica had when she was 2 years old. Originally in the very first strips Samson was also yellow, but was later changed to blue to match the new rabbit plush that Mauricio's daughter won in place of the old one in a TV show in her 7 years.^[13] In the first comic strips that appeared constantly was used as a weapon to beat and scare the boys of the neighborhood (mainly Jimmy Five). In a strip from the same time it was revealed that the reason boys were afraid of the rabbit was because Monica carried a brick inside him to beat them,^[14] but this idea was dropped over time when Monica went on to demonstrate super strength. In some old stories is also revealed that inside him lives a elf-like imp.^[15] The character also has a female pink counterpart called Dalila (lit. Delilah), who rarely appears in comics and is used more in marketing. The real-life Samson was exposed in 2013 in a museum in honor of Monica's 50th birthday.^[16]

• Ditto (Monicão – a portmanteau of "Mônica" and "cão", dog in Portuguese, which can also mean Big Mônica)) – Ditto is Monica's pet. He was a gift from Jimmy and Smudge, who didn't remember to bring one to Monica's party. Ditto looks so much like her (including the Banana-like hair and the prominent teeth) that the boys decided to buy it with the initial purpose of mocking her as soon as they saw the pooch on a pet shop window. However, their plan backfired, as both Ditto and Monica got along immediately and now stick together. Among the pets of Monica's Gang, Ditto is the most active.^[17] He is sometimes portrayed as having super strength, which often leads him or Monica to get into troublesome situations.

Other appearances

References

External links

• Official Monica’s Gang website
• Monica at Mônica’s Gang official website (in English)