Monika (DDLC)

Hey, hold up! This page may contain a lot of **spoilers.**
It's recommended you play the game first before you read the article.

## Monika

*For her appearance in Plus, go here.*
*To see all of her dialogue during Act 3, go here.*
**Monika** *(モニカ)* is a main character and the poster girl of *Doki Doki Literature Club!*. She is the President of the Literature Club and is the game's driving force, directing club members to write poems until the club festival, which enables and develops the characters and story.

## Appearance

Monika has thigh length coral brown hair that she keeps tied up in a high ponytail that is tied back with a large white bow, curled slightly at the ends. Like the other female characters, she has two prominent strands of hair beside her bangs that reach slightly past her chest. Her eyes are emerald green. She is of average height and believed to be the second tallest character behind either Yuri or the protagonist.

She wears the standard issue female school uniform consisting of a warm gray blazer fully buttoned and untucked, brown sweater vest, white shirt fully buttoned and tucked, red ribbon, dark blue pleated skirt, black thigh-high socks and white uwabaki slippers with pink tips.

## Personality

The other characters describe Monika as intelligent, confident, and athletic. She is not as talkative as the other girls, but it is hinted that this is not by choice. Monika is also known to be highly popular, which makes the protagonist admire her. She is always depicted as mature and hardworking, with a serene, compassionate expression on her face.

Monika had previously been a part of the Debate Club but left due to all the inner politics and drama, highlighting a desire for order, freedom of topics and friendliness. The Literature Club, which she founded after leaving the Debate Club, is very important to her. She aspires for the Literature Club to be a place to showcase and grow everyone's passion for literature. She also has a passion for piano, which she practices frequently after school.

Monika was originally a very considerate and kind person who was always thinking about the needs of other people. She openly displays care and concern for her club mates, praising each member's writing style and even comparing them to famous authors and poets. However, it is later revealed that at some time before the start of the game, she underwent an epiphany which made her discover that she was in a game and also granted her the ability to edit the game's variables, changing her attitude towards the other girls because she knew they were not "real". She begins taking drastic measures when the other girls prevented the player from being able to spend time with her during the scene in Act 1 where the player has to choose a girl to help for the festival.

In desperation, Monika begins trying to make the other girls unlikable by altering their traits, as she only had the ability to edit variables within the game and did not want to delete/kill the other girls right away because of her lingering attachment to them. She starts with Sayori as she viewed her as the largest threat because she was the main character's childhood friend. Monika's alterations backfire because Sayori's increased depression level causes her to confess her love to the main character in an attempt to find happiness, then commit suicide the next day, regardless of the choice the player made. Monika then decides to delete Sayori's character file because "she is the one who's making this so difficult."

From Act 2 onward, she becomes even more manipulative than before. As the time goes by, she resents more and more having no romantic role in the game, as that meant there was no happy ending coded for her. She also makes her infatuation with the player more obvious and urges them to spend more time with her. Her desire and ambition lead her to become obsessive in this goal, highlighted by the fact that all of her poems are about the player or her epiphany. She also starts to disregard the other characters and amplifies their traits due to the fact of them not being "real". Ultimately, Monika's attempt to make the other girls unlikable led to her accidentally driving Yuri to suicide due to alterations to her personality, then finally to her simply deleting Natsuki in order to be able to spend time with the player alone in Act 3, creating her own "happy ending."

Despite Monika's upbeat attitude in the Literature Club, it becomes increasingly obvious that she is actually sad and lonely, as a result of being aware that her whole world is just a simulation. The worst part is that she can't even achieve what is considered "happiness", since her route can never be completed. She is fixated on obtaining the love of the player because they're the only "real" thing in her life. Monika's actions are also motivated by her desire to escape the torture she endures whenever someone quits the game, as when that happens Monika is trapped in a hellish void of noise, lights, colors, and screams, unable to move or even think. This is mentioned during Monika's Talk in Act 3.

After deleting Yuri and Natsuki's files, Act 3 will happen, where she creates a world for her and the player, she will explain her motivations about her love towards the player. She will state that the main character does not exist, and that she only loves the player themselves. She will also explain how she amplified the other girls' undesirable traits to make them less likely to confess their love towards the protagonist. This includes Sayori's depression, Yuri's obsessiveness, and Natsuki's harshness. Monika will open the poem mini-game once more, except only distorted words of Monika's name are available, and only Monika's sticker sprite is present, with a loud ambience playing in the background. The background is now red with black glitches, different from the original desk background during the mini-game. After giving the poem to Monika, she will believe that the player wrote the poem specifically for her, and she calls the player sweet.

At this point in the game, the player will be able to read Monika's Talk where she talks directly to the player, albeit in a somewhat nihilistic manner, instead of the protagonist. It is shown that nothing about Monika's apparent kindness and politeness is an act, and she even offers the player some genuinely good advice from time to time.

If the player then decides to delete Monika's character file, she will immediately vanish, and search for her file in a panic. When she finds out the player deleted her, she will be mad at the player and tell them that they "completely, truly make me sick." After a small pause, Monika tells the player that she still loves them. She will then feel the weight of her actions, realize the horrible things she has done to the other girls, and state that even though she knew they were not real people, she still saw them as her friends. Monika then restores the game, saying that if she really loves the player, she will bring back what they would have wanted. Monika is then absent for the rest of the game, until the final part of the normal ending.

If the normal ending is achieved, Sayori becomes self-aware, and glitches the game back to the room Monika stayed in on Act 3 for only the main character and herself. Monika will then delete Sayori's file, saying “No...I won't let you hurt him.” Monika states that there is no happiness in the Literature Club, and then deletes the entire game. The song "Your Reality" will play while the credits roll, which is inferred to be the song Monika wrote for the player. The game's CGs will be deleted during the credits, and a bittersweet letter from Monika will be shown, thanking the player for joining the Literature Club. The game will now be rendered unplayable until it is re-installed or the "firstrun" file is deleted.

If the good ending is achieved by playing through every girl's run via the save and load feature, Sayori will thank the player for spending time with all of the girls. Monika will still delete the game, but the CG's will not be deleted, and a letter from Dan Salvato thanking the player for playing his game will show instead.

## Abilities

"Don't worry. I probably know a lot more than you think."
*~ Monika hinting towards her omniscience.*

Over the course of the game, it is revealed that Monika is self-aware, a result of her position as the president of the Literature Club.

This position grants her numerous abilities, which are listed below:

* Monika is aware that she is a character in a game.
* Monika is aware that the protagonist is a separate entity from the player.
* Monika is aware when the game has been turned on or off.
* Monika can edit the other character's files and thus influence their actions or personality.
* Monika can continue to exist even when her files have been deleted, however, she will only be able to speak through text boxes.
* Monika can see if you're using Steam or another similar application to play the game.
* If the player is recording the game while playing, Monika will be aware of this and attempt to jump-scare anyone watching.
* Monika can learn the name of the administrator on the computer in an attempt to find your real name, and can read your Steam account name.
* Monika can delete and add files such as "hxppy thxughts.png", "have a nice weekend!" and "iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.txt".
* Monika can detect if the player adds her character file back when she resets the game.
* Monika can precede the game's UI, such as the dialog box.

## Writing Tips of the Day

* "Sometimes when you're writing a poem - or a story - your brain gets too fixated on a specific point... If you try so hard to make it perfect, then you'll never make any progress. Just force yourself to get something down on the paper, and tidy it up later! Another way to think about it is this: If you keep your pen in the same spot for too long, you'll just get a big dark puddle of ink. So just move your hand, and go with the flow!"
* "Sometimes you'll find yourself facing a difficult decision... When that happens, don't forget to save your game! You never know when you might change your mind... ..or when something unexpected may happen! Wait...is this tip even about writing? What am I even talking about? Ahaha! ...That's my advice for today! Thanks for listening~"
* "Are you ever too shy to share your writing because you're afraid it's not that good? It can be really disheartening to get a lukewarm response to something you put so much into. But if you find other people who enjoy writing, then sharing becomes a lot easier! Because instead of just telling you that your writing is good, or okay, or bad... They'll want to focus more on everything that went into it, and the things you can work on. It's much more encouraging that way, and it will make you want to keep improving. It's almost like having your own little Literature Club, don't you think? ...That's my advice for today! Thanks for listening~"
* "Sometimes you'll find yourself facing a difficult decision... When that happens, don't forget to save your game! You never know when...um... ...Who am I talking to? Can you hear me? Tell me you can hear me. Anything. Please help me ...That's my advice for today! Thanks for listening~"
* "Sometimes when I talk to people who are impressed by my writing, they say things like 'I could never do that'. It's really depressing, you know? As someone who loves more than anything else to share the joy of exploring your passions... ...it pains me when people think that being good just comes naturally. That's how it is with everything, not just writing. When you try something for the first time, you're probably going to suck at it. Sometimes, when you finish, you feel really proud of it and even want to share it with everyone. But maybe after a few weeks, you come back to it, and you realize it was never any good. That happens to me all the time. It can be pretty disheartening to put so much time and effort into something, and then you realize it sucks. But that tends to happen when you're always comparing yourself to the top professionals. When you reach for the stars, they're always gonna be out of your reach, you know? The truth is, you have to climb up there, step by step. And whenever you reach a milestone, first you look back and see how far you've gotten... And then you look ahead and realize how much more there is to go. So, sometimes it can help to set the bar a little lower... Try to find something you think is pretty good, but not world-class. And you can make that your own personal goal. It's also really important to understand the scope of what you're trying to do. If you jump right into a huge project and you're still amateur, you'll never get it done. So if we're talking about writing, a novel might be too much at first. Why not write some short stories? The great thing about short stories is that you can focus on just one thing that you want to do right. That goes for small projects in general - you can really focus on the one or two things. It's such a good learning experience and stepping stone. Oh, one more thing. Writing isn't something where you just reach into your heart and something beautiful comes out. Just like drawing or painting, it's a skill in itself to learn how to express what you have inside. That means there are methods and guides and basics to it! Reading up on that stuff can be super eye-opening. That sort of planning and organization will really help prevent you from getting overwhelmed and giving up. And before you know it... You start sucking less and less. Nothing comes naturally. Our society, our art, everything - it's built on thousands of years of human innovation. So as long as you start on that foundation, and take it step by step... You, too, can do amazing things."

## Quotes

**Act 1, Day 1**

As president of the Literature Club, it's my duty to make the club fun and exciting for everyone!

To be honest, I can't stand all of the politics around the major clubs. It feels like nothing but arguing about the budget and publicity and how to prepare for events... I'd much rather take something I personally enjoy and make something special out of it. And if it encourages others to get into literature, then I'm fulfilling that dream!

Not many people are very interested in putting out all the effort to start something brand new... Especially when it's something that doesn't grab your attention, like literature. You have to work hard to convince people that you're both fun and worthwhile. But it makes school events, like the festival, that much more important. I'm confident that we can all really grow this club before we graduate!

Plus, now that we have a new member, I think it will help us all get a little more comfortable with each other, and strengthen the bond of the club.

I think with that, we can officially end today's meeting on a good note.

**Act 1, Day 2**

"Well, I'm not sure if I know how to put it... I guess you could say that I had some kind of epiphany recently. It's been influencing my poems a bit."
"An epiphany?"
"Yeah, something like that. I'm kind of nervous to talk about deep stuff like that, because it's kind of coming on strongly... Maybe after everyone is better friends with each other."
*~ Monika discussing the inspiration behind "Hole in Wall"*

"You sound pretty confident for someone who claims to not be very good."
"Well... that's 'cause I have to sound confident. That doesn't mean I always feel that way, you know?"
*~ Monika on leadership*

"Okay, everyone!"
~ *Catchphrase*

"To be honest... I might come off as a good leader, and I can organize things... But I'm not very good with people... I couldn't even bring myself to interject. As President, that's kind of embarrassing of me. Ahaha..." *~ Revealing her insecurities to the protagonist should the player choose to ask Sayori to intervene in Yuri and Natsuki's argument.*

**Act 1, Day 3**

"Ahaha. Sometimes asking what a poem is about isn't the right question. A poem can be as abstract as a physical expression of a feeling. Or a conversation with the reader. So putting it that way, not every poem is *about* something." *~ Monika discussing the inspiration behind "Save Me"*

"We're the only ones responsible for the fate of this club. If we start the event and put on a good performance... Then it will inspire others to do the same! And the more people who perform, the better we'll be able to show everyone what literature is all about!"
"Yeah! It's about expressing your feelings... Being intimate with yourself... Finding new horizons... And having fun!"
"That's right! And it's those reasons that we're all in this club today. Don't you want to share that with others? To inspire them to find the same feelings that brought you here in the first place? I know you do. I know we all do. And if all it takes is standing in front of the room for two minutes and reciting a poem... Then I know you can do it!"
*~ Monika and Sayori motivating the club for the festival.*

**Act 1, Day 4**

"You must have a lot of determination. Starting this club, and now picking up piano..."
"Well, maybe not determination... But I guess passion. Remember that the club wouldn't be here if it wasn't for all of you."
*~ Yuri reflecting on Monika's drive.*

"If something bad happens, then it could end up damaging the club, too... And you wouldn't do that to me...right? Well...you're smart. I'm sure you'll do the right thing."
*~ Monika warning the protagonist about spending time with Natsuki.*

"I know how much you care about [Sayori]... It would be terrible if something bad happened to her, so keep an eye on her. Sayori's been acting so much happier ever since you joined the club. What could have happened all of a sudden...? ...Well, never mind. This really isn't the time to be talking about this..."
*~ Monika on Sayori*

"Just think of the club, okay?"
*~ Monika asking the protagonist to choose someone besides Sayori.*

**Act 1, Day 6**

Ahaha. You should take a little responsibility for [Sayori], (player name)! I mean, especially after your exchange with her yesterday... You kind of left her hanging this morning, you know?

"Don't worry. I probably know a lot more than you think."
*~ Monika 'explaining' how she knew what happened between the protagonist and Sayori.*

Oh jeez...I didn't break anything, did I? Hold on a sec, I can probably fix this...I think... Actually, you know what? This would probably be a lot easier if I just deleted her. She's the one who's making this so difficult. Ahaha! Well, here goes nothing.
*~ From the file "traceback".*

**Act 2, Day 1**

"Oh my goodness, I totally didn't expect to see you here!"
*~ Monika's first words to the protagonist*

I...guess I need to tell you the truth, (player name). The thing is... ...We don't have enough members yet to form an official club. We need four... And I've been trying really, really hard to find new members. And if we don't find one more before the festival...

"Oh my goodness, really? Do you really mean that, (player name)? [...] (player name), I'm so happy... We can become an official club now! Thank you so much for this. You're really amazing. I'll do everything I can to give you a great time, okay?"
*~ Monika thanking the protagonist for agreeing to join the Literature Club*

**Act 2, Day 2**

"Ahaha... Some president I am, right? I can't even confront my own club members properly... I just wish I was able to be a little more assertive sometimes. But I never have it in me to put my foot down against others... You understand, right? Anyway... If this makes you want to spend less time with the others, then that's fine. I'd be happy to spend time with you instead..." *~ Monika pulling the protagonist away from Yuri and Natsuki's argument.*

**Act 2, Day 3**

"Natsuki... I don't think you're looking at it the right way at all. Don't you want to share your passion with as many people as you can? To inspire them to find the same feelings that brought you here in the first place? The Literature Club should be a place where people can express themselves like they can't do anywhere else. It should be a place so intimate that you never want to leave. I know you feel that way, too. I know we all do! So that's why we should work hard and put something together for the festival...even if it's something small!"
*~ Monika summarizing the point of the literature club.*

"Sometimes it feels like you and I are the only real people here. You know what I mean? But it's weird, because in all the time you've been here, we've hardly gotten to spend any time together. Ah...I mean... I guess it's technically only been a couple days... Sorry, I didn't mean to say something weird! There are just some things I've been hoping to talk about with you... Things I know only you could understand. So that's why - Wait, not yet! No! Stop it!"
*~ Monika attempting to talk to the protagonist alone, before the screen fades to black and the poem mini-game starts*

**Act 2, Day 4**

"Don't say I didn't warn you, (player name)."
*~ Monika if the player writes three poems for Yuri. This quote will skip her poem.*

"Yay, you picked me! We can meet at your house this weekend. I promise it'll be fun. Is Sunday okay with you?"
~ *Monika after she forces the player to pick her when choosing between Yuri and Natsuki using a glitch*

**Act 2, Festival Day**

"...Oh...Oh... ... Ahahaha! Well, that's a shame. Wait, were you here the entire weekend, (player name)? Oh, jeez... I didn't realize the script was broken that badly. I'm super sorry! It must have been pretty boring... I'll make it up to you, okay? Just gimme a sec..."
*~ Monika finding Yuri's corpse, right before deleting Yuri and Natsuki*

## Trivia

* Monika is purposefully designed to be suspiciously out of place from the very moment the menu screen is introduced:
	+ Every girl wears white knee-highs except for Monika, who wears black thigh-highs.
	+ Every girl except Monika wears white and blue shoes, but Monika's are white and pink.
		- Furthermore on these two points, Monika is positioned so close on the Title Screen that her legs up to the black thigh-highs don't even make it into the frame and cannot be seen at all, hiding her differences at first. This could be a form of foreshadowing.
	+ Every girl's name except Monika's ends with an "i" and is explicitly the rōmaji anglicization of transcriptions which originate in the Japanese language.
	+ All of the girl's sprites have them facing slightly sideways, but Monika's primarily used sprite has her looking directly frontward at the protagonist. Only one of Monika's sprites faces away from the fourth wall.
	+ Monika is the only one of the girls to never be shown outside of school or in a casual outfit. She later states that she knows this and is jealous of the other girls for having them, as well as wishing she could have "worn some cute clothes for you."
	+ Monika is the only person to talk to the player for a little while before reading their poem. Unlike the other girls who would immediately read the player's poem after choosing them.
	+ Monika is the only character in the game to have her voice connected explicitly to the credited individual for the vocals, Jillian Ashcraft, because of direct dialog presented before and during the credits.
	+ While every other character's illustration in the main menu has them doing a pose of some sort, Monika's illustration has her extending out her hand. This could be seen as a welcoming gesture for new players into her club, however it could also possibly be her reaching out to the player.
	+ Monika is the only girl to hold a pen in the main menu. This could symbolize her being the only girl to be able to write and alter the game's script.
	+ Monika is the only girl to have a natural hair color, coral brown, while the other girls have an unnatural hair color, with coral pink for Sayori, pastel pink for Natsuki, and dark purple for Yuri.
	+ Monika is the only girl with a white hair accessory while the others have a colored hair accessory. She is also the only girl with fully tied hair, since Sayori and Yuri's hair are loose while Natsuki's hair only has small sections tied.
	+ It has been noted that Monika has a bow accessory like Sayori, extensively long hair like Yuri, and tied hair like Natsuki.
* Monika and Sayori, the only girls who experience becoming Club President and therefore becoming sentient, are also the only two girls to smile on the Title Screen and to have a natural eye color. Monika's eyes are emerald green and Sayori's eyes are sky blue.
* Monika's version of the song "Okay, Everyone!" debuts only the piano, fitting for her character as she plays the piano.
* Monika is the one who authored the game's description on Steam. This is revealed to the player during Act 3.
* Monika's birthday is the same day *Doki Doki Literature Club!* was officially released, which is September 22, 2017.
* As early as Act 1, Monika has a tendency to "accidentally" interrupt whenever the protagonist is getting close to another one of the girls - such as when the protagonist feeds Yuri chocolate or is reading manga with Natsuki. In Act 2, Monika starts to interrupt whenever the game glitches due to her interference.
* In one of the Special Poems, specifically Special Poem 4, an unknown writer cuts themselves, saying they understand how an omitted person feels now after doing it. The writer is implied to be Monika, with the omitted other person being Yuri. Dan Salvato later confirmed this in the 1st year anniversary for DDLC, stating: "This poem was written from the perspective of Monika, because– this is around the time where Monika is really starting to experiment with mortality in her universe. And, you know, she's so casual about the whole thing, because at this point she feels so detached from [...] the universe that she's in, that it's almost like it doesn't even matter to her anymore. [...] The feeling of her [...] feeling physical pain– or doing that sort of thing to herself– she describes it as exhilarating because it's something that is allowing her to feel something in this universe that has become so incredibly meaningless to her."
* Monika exhibits some hypocrisy, besides telling on a sarcastic manner, for designating Yuri to be the stereotypical yandere character archetype despite showcasing the common actions a yandere would do, which is to remove competition by any means necessary and force the player into a situation that they cannot deny to keep them captive by Monika intentionally until the end of existence. What separates Monika from being an real yandere however is her acceptance of being rejected and allowing the player to live life without her and with the possibility of partnering with another.
* Monika's description of what she experiences when the game is closed is due to deallocation of her memory by the operating system. When a program is no longer active, it frees the memory to be used by other programs, which will eventually overwrite parts of or all of the newly freed memory.
* Monika has an official Twitter account under the alias lilmonix3.
* Monika's favorite color is emerald green because she feels a "special connection" to the color of her eyes serving as part of her identity, which could be a reference of the expression "green with envy."
* Monika's favorite day of the year is Valentine's Day, February 14th.
* Monika is a vegetarian because she wants to contribute to lowering the carbon footprint of the planet, which is usually caused by meat factories and other industrial markets.
* Although she can find out the device's administrator name, she will not reveal this name if the player is actively recording on certain streaming programs.
	+ This does not apply if the user is running on MacOS or Linux, as the list of programs the game checks for is hard-coded specifically for "exe" files. As these two OSs don't use "exe" files, the game doesn't detect them.
* Monika states that she does not know much about the player, including whether they are a boy or a girl. Despite that, she still calls herself their girlfriend, an inconsistency interpreted as hinting ambiguous bisexuality or pansexuality. She calls the player her "boyfriend" in the same act afterward, however, another inconsistency conflicting the previously stated and hinting more toward a preference to heterosexuals. This could mean two things:
	+ Monika has preferences, but they are second to being the player's perfect girlfriend no matter the conflicts.
	+ Monika's interest originates from the fact for what the player represents as a real-world entity with infinite choices in life, rather than an autonomous programmable capable of only a finite set. Dan Salvato hints that Monika tries to love the player as they are, and her love depends if the player loves her or not.
* Monika stated that she would have deleted herself from the game if the player had not shown up. Soon after, when talking about introverts she says she can be "anything the player needs her to be", understands people really well, and "nothing would make her happier than being the perfect girlfriend for you."
* She repeatedly mentions the phrase "Just Monika" through another character or by making the game itself omit the phrase via a text box or dialog box in an attempt to limit the player's choices or at first convince the player Monika is the better person to focus on.
* Technically, the player doesn't have to delete Monika to progress. Cutting and pasting the character file into another folder outside the game directory will have the same effect.
* If Monika's character file is backed up before the player deletes it and adds it back at any point before starting a new game in Act 4, a text box will pop up when the player starts Act 4 stating that the player is being cruel to her and that she does not want to exist anymore and will consequently delete her own file afterward.
	+ Despite being deleted, if the player attempts to load a save file from a previous act, Monika will still appear in order to prevent the player from cheating.

## References

1. ↑ Monika's birthdate the same as game release date, appearing before such date but "in beta", and the statement by Dan Salvato on subreddit Discord (now deleted)
2. ↑ Concept height and statement on canon height
3. ↑ Satchely (DDLC's character artist)'s tweet about Monika and Sayori's hair colors
4. ↑ "It's not like Monika is a horrible person. I think she is a very considerate person and is always thinking about other people. When those people are not real and it's just a game and she's effectively being tortured by being trapped in the game and she begins taking drastic measures and that what gets to her." -Dan Salvato, twitch.tv
5. ↑ Monika tweeting on her favorite day of the year here, here, and here
6. ↑ `$ stream_list = ["obs32.exe", "obs64.exe", "obs.exe", "xsplit.core.exe", "livehime.exe", "pandatool.exe", "yymixer.exe", "douyutool.exe", "huomaotool.exe"]`
7. ↑ If you are the sort of person who strives to be someone deserving of Monika's love, then that's what she loves about you. Only someone who has lost all hope in themselves is the one condemning Monika to her own sad, unfulfilled fantasy. If you believe Monika loves you, then you've found it in you to love yourself a little bit, and that's what she would want more than anything.
– DDLC Reddit AMA
8. ↑ https://youtu.be/dcKKakVAsFo?t=1169