What makes a good monster evolution story?

[rain-090]

It's all in the title, what makes a good monster evolution story?

 

[RepresentingCaution]

Lots of scenes where Mommy Monster is giving birth or laying eggs.
If your monsters are mammals, lots of nursing scenes.

 

[vish]

What excites me most in these kinds of stories is the constant power ups of the mc. Its level growth should be constant not abrupt, i.e, if you are aiming for a weak to strong MC. New abilities that the mc gains have its own charm but I like it more when all the previous abilities are not forgotten or there is only one favourite skill of the mc.
I also love the humans reaction when encountered with the OP version of the mc still in monster form. That spider anime did it good but its manga did it much better.( haven't read the novel,yet.)

 

[Cipiteca396]

For me, the appeal is the transhuman themes. Humans are heavily flawed creatures. Monsters are flawed too, but at least they can improve on their weaknesses and advance their strengths through Evolution and Leveling.

Hmm. I still have a lot of problems with the genre though, mostly because it's tucked in under the umbrella of LitRPG. I don't hate either of those things, but it can feel a bit... Well, who cares.

The answer you want is the whole weak-to-strong, underestimated OP MC power fantasy thing. That's the thing that draws the readers in. Also maybe the fact that not being human creates lots of conflict and denies peaceful solutions that would make the story less dramatic.

 

[rain-090]

What excites me most in these kinds of stories is the constant power ups of the mc. Its level growth should be constant not abrupt, i.e, if you are aiming for a weak to strong MC. New abilities that the mc gains have its own charm but I like it more when all the previous abilities are not forgotten or there is only one favourite skill of the mc.
I also love the humans reaction when encountered with the OP version of the mc still in monster form. That spider anime did it good but its manga did it much better.( haven't read the novel,yet.)

You mean Kumo Desu Ga Nani Ka?
So I'm a spider so what?

If so, you should definitely read the novels, it is transcendent compared to the Manga and anime

 

[Armored99]

Well for a large number of monster evo stories, it's the underdog theme. What's the lowest possible starting point we can give someone? Well make them an animal. Which are normally accepted as being beneath humans, further exaggerating how much of an underdog they are. Of course this is but only one line of thinking.

Another one is defamiliarization. A writer can take well known things and by showing them through a different perspective cause them to be perceived as more alien. Which means a writer can be more unoriginal, but trick the reader into not realizing it.

On the opposite side is that the perspective of something non-human is more original than a human perspective and does give opportunities for unique events to happen that a human would never be able to experience,



Also

Lots of scenes where Mommy Monster is giving birth or laying eggs.
If your monsters are mammals, lots of nursing scenes.

"Tell me you have a mommy fetish without telling me you have a mommy fetish"

 

[RepresentingCaution]

"Tell me you have a mommy fetish without telling me you have a mommy fetish"

Is it still a fetish if I am the mommy? ?

 

[Armored99]

Is it still a fetish if I am the mommy? ?

yes

 

[SakeVision]

loss of humanity literally and metaphorically, despair, mental degradation, body dysmorphia, self hatred which leads to ultimate self destruction

the monster should lose traits commonly associated with humanity, such as empathy or even intelligence, and then strive to evolve to regain them, or keep losing them further with every power-up

there aren't many stories that do it like that

 

[vish]

loss of humanity literally and metaphorically, despair, mental degradation, body dysmorphia, self hatred which leads to ultimate self destruction

the monster should lose traits commonly associated with humanity, such as empathy or even intelligence, and then strive to evolve to regain them, or keep losing them further with every power-up

there aren't many stories that do it like that

I think the novel called devourer that is in trending these days quite fulfills your demands.

 

[Zirrboy]

Lots of scenes where Mommy Monster is giving birth or laying eggs.
If your monsters are mammals, lots of nursing scenes.

For anyone considering to have children: This is a more or less inevitable side effect