# Erma (webtoon)

Erma is a comedy horror webtoon and animated web series created by Mexican artist Brandon J. Santiago. It follows the adventures and misadventures of the titular initially six-year-old Erma Williams' experiences as a half-human, half-yōkai/ghost, tending to use her haunting abilities for everyday antics, whether for better or for worse, focusing on themes such as friendship and acceptance. Santiago initially published the webcomic on DeviantArt and Tumblr in May 2014, but has since released it on various services from January 2016, such as Tapas and WEBTOON. It is available in two languages, English and Spanish. In January 2020, Comics Beat reported that with 64.5 million views and 74.9 thousand subscribers, Erma was the most-viewed webcomic on the Tapas syndicate in 2019.
In October 2017, Santiago published a prequel graphic novel to the series titled Spirit's Bloom, as well as two anthology collections of Erma comics, in addition releasing a short film pilot of Erma produced by Outcast Studios. A print collection, Tales of Outcast, was released in March 2019. Other works include the stand-alone Night Detective, Siris, and Warrior Unicorn Princess, and Yokai, an in-universe novel. A picture book, Meet Erma, was released in April 2020. An Erma animated series began releasing to YouTube from July 2024 to present.

## Overview

Erma follows the adventures and misadventures of Erma Williams, a child who lives in the suburbs of the fictional town Blairwood and has supernatural abilities. Santiago also focuses on Erma's supernatural life and friendships with her best friends, Amy, Terry and Connor, as well as her babysitter Felicia and fellow Warrior Unicorn Princess fan Sidney. She also deals with her maternal family issues and other people that threaten her and her loved ones.
Spirit's Bloom is a prequel graphic novel that focuses on Erma's parents Sam and Emiko in their younger years and how they met and fall in love as well as Erma's birth.
Tales of the Outcast is an anthology series that focuses on other notable characters from Erma's world in small side stores.

## Characters

* Erma Williams: The titular protagonist of the series, she is a half-human/half-yokai hybrid.
* Emiko Williams: Erma's mother. Fourth child and third daughter of the Yureimoto clan. She is an Onryō
* Samuel Williams: Erma's father and novelist.
* Amy: One of Erma's friends.
* Felicia: Erma's current babysitter.
* Terry: One of Erma's friends.
* Sylvia: One of Erma's friends.
* Connor: One of Erma's friends, he has a crush on her and the feeling is mutual.
* Siris: Erma's undead pet dog who is the reincarnation of Osiris.
* Wallace: A demonic dummy who is the first major villain in the series.
* The Invisible Man: The main antagonist of Spirit Bloom and a recurring character in the main series.
* Sidney: A human-rat hybrid girl who becomes Erma's friend.
* Jordan: One of Erma's friends.
* Miko: One of Erma's friends.
* Nancy: Connor's Sister and Erma's former babysitter who was haunted by Erma.
* Osamu Yureimoto: The patriarch of the Yureimoto clan and the father of Emiko, Fumiko, Yori, Rin, Kentaro, Ena, and Mayumi.
* Amayu Yureimoto: Osamu's wife and the mother of Emiko, Fumiko, Yori, Rin, Kentaro, Ena, and Mayumi.
* Yokai Trio: A pair of villainous yokais.
* Yokai Kids: Bullied kids who want revenge against the Yureimoto clan.
* Fumiko: The second child and the eldest daughter of the Yureimoto clan. She is a harionago.
* Yori: The third child and the second daughter of the Yureimoto clan. She is a rokurokubi.
* Rin: The fifth child and fourth daughter of the Yureimoto clan. She is a nurei-onna.
* Kentaro: The first child and the only boy of the Yureimoto clan. He is an oni.
* Ena: The sixth child and the fifth daughter of the Yureimoto clan. She is a nukekubi.
* Mayumi: The seventh and the youngest daughter of the Yureimoto clan. She is a noppera-bo.
* Mitsu & Momo: The daughters of Yori, granddaughters of Osamu and Amayu, and Erma's mischievous cousins. They are zashiki-warashis.

## Development

Santiago started creating and uploading Erma on DeviantArt and Tumblr in 2014. He was studying at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign at the time, from which he graduated in 2018 to work on the webcomic full-time. The concept of the series originated from a short parody one-shot of Ju-On and The Ring published on May 28, 2014. Following the one-shot's positive reception on DeviantArt and it subsequently going viral across various social media platforms, Santiago decided to develop a series based on the original Erma one-shot, debuting on Tapas on January 3, 2016, and on WEBTOON on April 14, 2018. The series has received universal acclaim for its originality, creativity, and humor. The name of the series was taken from the minor Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character Irma Langinstein, and that the surname of Erma title character Erma Williams was taken from the minor The Grudge character Emma Williams.
In October 2017, Santiago developed and released an animated short film based on the comic in conjunction with the company Outcast Studios, run by Donovan Tracy Gaiter and Julia Santiago. Santiago has stated regarding the initial decision to exclusively release the strip on Tapas that "Erma should at least be on one main website where it would be easy for anyone, fan or newcomer, to come together, and be able to read all of the comics in chronological order, with a more organized list"; despite this, the comic was later released on WEBTOON.