Momo

Mackenzie Johnson

Instructor Bosstick

English 212

14 Mar 2023

**Momo**

Summary:

Commonly mistaken as a mythical creature, “Momo” is a very famous face known for being uncannily scary. As of course the internet always does, this figure was turned into a symbol for fear, coercion, and even violence. Originally created as a sculpture, Momo was never meant to be scary or intended to have evil motives. However, as of the current folklore, Momo is based on the “ubume,” a Japanese legend. This legend details a creature who represents the spirit of a woman who died while giving birth. This ubume will search for people who pass by and give them her baby as she disappears. The odd part, if not all of it being odd, is that the “baby” in theory is really a blanket full of leaves, sticks, and rocks. Unlike most folklore legends, Momo isn’t a “real” or “unreal” case; she is both! She exists because she is a physical figure, however, she isn’t the nightmare that people have made her out to be.

History:

Created by Keisuke Aiso, Momo is the nickname that was given to a sculpture. This sculpture has features that include a pale frame, bird legs, long black hair, and large protruding eyes. In 2016, the sculptor created this figure with the name “Geisha Bird” and “Tiger Bird.” In that same year, Keisuke gave his work to an art gallery in Tokyo named *The Ghost Gallery*. Three years later, people on the internet started to steal images of Momo, creating that name. With the sculpture being known for its scary features, people online took it a step further by conjuring the story that this young woman sets children and teens out to do tasks that would include harming themselves. People were reportedly “contacting” Momo, which would lead to the sculpture demanding they follow her orders; this leads to many children falling victim to Momo, even leading to the death of those who were involved.

Legends:

One encounter that stuck out to me the most was a Reddit post called “My son did the Momo challenge, and how he’s dead. And I know who’s responsible.” This was posted by user Dead Canary, and it goes like this: (TRIGGER WARNING: SELF-HARM) The user walked in on his son covered in his own blood, wrists slit, and with blood and lipstick covered on the walls in gibberish. After going through their son’s phone, they found out that he was in contact with someone named Momo, who was sending him commands that needed to be done or they would release very private information about them. After researching who Momo was, the father found out that she was no more than a statue, and the actual person who made their son do that to himself was just someone who was evil enough to troll an innocent child to death. Since the police weren’t much help, the father took it upon himself to find the person responsible for it all, and what he found was eyebrow-raising. He caught the perpetrator, a college-age man, who was shaken up and screaming in fear that Momo was making *him* do this to people. Without remorse, the father locked the young man in the basement of the house he was lured into, and as the pained father was leaving, he saw a figure with those same building eyes, terrifying grin, and pale figure as the image that started it all. He tried to convince himself that it wasn’t real, but he can’t shake the feeling after receiving a message on his phone from what may or may not be Momo.

Adaptations:

As of right now, there are not any other adaptations of Momo, as it is only discussed on websites and forums like Reddit and Creepypasta, but it still remains just as popular and viral as if it had more ways of being told. I tried to find movies, to which there are rumors of a movie adaptations but none that are reputable. Same with books and documentaries. They do have Momo merch, though! I understand why it probably doesn’t have much publicity that can be accessed immediately, it was such a terrifying figure! And not only that, but the tragic deaths that are associated with this statue. The number of children and teens who have lost their lives because of this sick joke deserve to have privacy and be respected, so having them plastered all over the internet in detail for ruthless people behind a screen to tear apart would not be a good idea at all.

Analysis:

Since there are no adaptations that I could find, I would like to express what I would do if I could make an adaptation of Momo! I love films, so it would be a horror film that would combine both the aspect of Momo being a statue with her being a scary monster that terrorizes people. Since most of her victims in real life are children and teens, I think I would change that simply because it was heartbreaking and I would hate to showcase that just for a movie. Instead of killing, I would just say that she would stalk and haunt people so I could keep the story as close as possible. The basic plot sequence would go as following: The artist who sculpted Momo would start the movie by presenting her at the exhibit, proud of his work. Then, someone would take a quick photo and upload it to Twitter, where it goes viral. It makes its way to Reddit where people conjure the story of Momo that we know of today—where she commands people to do dangerous things, or she makes them suffer. The artist will then come forward on the biggest Japanese news channel and explain that she is merely a statue and she can not harm people; however, after that aired, the statue was nowhere to be found in the museum. Police work hard to find out who “stole” her, until they realize that all of the Reddit stories were slowly coming true.

And that would be the adaptation. Sounds interesting, right?

References

*Momo*. (n.d.). The Creepypasta Universe Wiki. Retrieved March 14, 2023, from https://cpuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Momo#Miscellaneous\_Information

*The MOMO Challenge - Creepypasta*. (2020, April 14). https://www.creepypasta.com/the-momo-challenge/

(2023). Reddit.com. https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/avyzl3/my\_son\_did\_the\_momo\_challenge\_and\_now\_hes\_dead/