Monsta X

RPF Fandom
Name(s):	Monsta X, MONSTA X, 몬스타엑스
Scope/Focus:	K-Pop
Date(s):	2015-present
See also:	Wonho, Y Teen, #GUN, Sistar, K.Will, Boyfriend, UNIQ, Cosmic Girls, Cravity, IVE, Starship Planet, K-Drama
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Monsta X is a South Korean boy group signed to Starship Entertainment and formed through the survival show "No.Mercy" on Mnet in early 2015. Out of thirteen trainees seven were chosen to debut half by artists of the entertainment like K.Will, Sistar or Mad Clown and half by fans. The final debut line was Shownu (Son Hyunwoo; 손현우), Wonho (Shin Hoseok; 신호석), Minhyuk (Lee Minhyuk; 이민혁), Kihyun (Yoo Kihyun; 유기현), Hyungwon (Chae Hyungwon; 채형원), Jooheon (Lee Jooheon; 이주헌) and I.M (Lim Changkyun; 임창균) while participants like #GUN or VAV's Ayno didn't make it. Wonho has since left the band in October 2019 due to controversies and started his solo career, but continues to be on good terms with the members. The band made their official debut on May 14, 2015 with the release of their first extended play "Trespass". They later received the "Next Generation Asian Artist" award at the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards. In 2016 the new variety show "MONSTA X's Right Now" launched. Additional to their two extended plays in 2015 the band released another two followed by their first solo concert. Monsta X's first studio album (and the final part of "The Clan series") "The Clan Pt. 2.5: The Final Chapter" was released in 2017. The title track "Beautiful" debuted at No. 4 on Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart. Shortly after (May) the band made their Japanese debut with their single "Hero". In June Monsta X released the extended version of their album called "Shine Forever", in July they published the summer song "Newton". Also in 2017 they held their first world tour called "The First World Tour - Monsta X Beautiful" which included cities of the US (e.g. New York or Los Angeles) as well as Europe (Paris, Berlin and Moscow). On January 13, 2018, they served as torchbearers on the first day for the Seoul leg of the Olympic torch relay for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. They continued with their promotions in Japan. In March 2019, Monsta X collaborated with music producer Steve Aoki for the track "Play It Cool" and its English version. Jooheon had eralier announced that he changed his stage name for English activities to Joohoney. In April 2019, their agency Starship Entertainment, announced their third world tour "We Are Here" with twelve countries and eighteen cities, making it their largest to date. On May 28, Monsta X signed with Epic Records for their English language recordings and distribution outside South Korea. On June 14, Monsta X released a new English single titled "Who Do U Love?" featuring French Montana. On January 11, 2020, Joohoney announced that he would take a break from the group due to anxiety to focus on his mental health. On February 14, 2020, Monsta X released their sixth studio album and first all-English album All About Luv including titles like "You Can't Hold My Heart". The album debuted and peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200 and at number seven on the US Rolling Stone Top 200. An unexpected Snoop Dogg collaboration called "How We Do" followed for the soundtrack of the Spongebob movie. Their fourth world tour was delayed due to Covid 19. On July 22, 2021 Shownu enlisted for his mandatory military service and served as public service worker due to previous surgery for left eye retinal detachment. The rest of the members continued to promote until they enlisted in 2023 except for I.M who continued to establish himself further as a solo artist.

Shownu X Hyungwon is the first official sub-unit of South Korean boy group Monsta X formed in 2023.

The band seemed to experience infinite growth and global achievements in 2020 and the USA. Additionally, Monsta X was said to be the singer that continues the myth of the "Original Beast Idol" Shinhwa and had obtained the modifier of "Next Generation Beast Idol"..

All About Luv is the first all-English album released by a K-pop group in more than a decade — the last one was from trio JYJ in 2010. The new album quickly accomplished an impressive feat, ranking fifth on the Billboard 200 albums chart, making Monsta X only the third K-pop group, after BTS and SuperM, to break the top 10.

Their rise in popularity in South Korea has been slow and steady. It's why they're called the "golden turtles". Every single comeback has done just slightly better than the one before.

Fandom

The fandom name was revealed by the band on Naver V App in 2015: "Monbebe". The word Monbebe is French and a combination of two words; "mon" & "bebe". The word "mon" means "my" & "bebe" means "baby". The band themselves have said that the fandom name is the equivalent of, "my baby", "my darling", "my lover", "my soulmate". The members themselves had supposedly came up with this name. The fandom has three official fan colors. Pantone 2221 C also known as "lost", Pantone Dark Blue C also known as "guilty", and Pantone 2405 C also known as "beautiful".

good relationship with Carats

the fandom being its own worst enemy

Popular ships are I.M x Kihyun, I.M x Wonho or I.M x Jooheon (Rapper line) (or I.M x basically everyone), Kihyun x Shownu since they are considered as the mum and dad of the band, after this video went viral Minhyuk x Jooheon was shipped increasingly, but Hyungwon x Wonho, Shownu x Minhyuk or Hyungwon x Minhyuk are also famous. Ships that aren't as popular are Shownu x Wonho (the two oldest take care of the others), Minhyuk x Kihyun (they do a lot of activities together), Hyungwon x I.M (the Gwangju boys) and Wonho x Kihyun (subtle moments between these two), but you still see people ship them. Everything else is kind of less popular.

Rather popular ships are within the members of No.Mercy. Especially Jooheon x #GUN gained the recognition of fans since they were best friends who wanted to debut together. Sometimes couples like Kihyun x Suga of BTS are mentioned as they are also good friends. Generally is the band shipped with bands who are also from their generation as the band is known to be quite sociable and especially close to Seventeen and Got7 (They are shipped with BTS, Seventeen (friendship since basketball), GOT7 (former label mates of Shownu),…) or girl groups like that (Girl’s Day, Twice,…)). Surprisingly label mates like Sistar, Cosmic Girls, Cravity or IVE are rather rarely mentioned.

Controversies

No.Mercy

Since No.Mercy already was a very cruel survival show to begin with (addressing the participants only with rank etc.) fans were especially upset when I.M was added in episode eight (the show only had ten so it was nearly the end). Starship reasoned that they needed four rappers for the next debut mission, but one got already eliminated. That's why they had to add I.M. For the fans as well as for the participating trainees it felt unfair for Kwangji (the eliminated rapper). Their behaviour towards I.M was portrayed to be pretty cruel, even though many fans are thinking now rationally and are positive that the whole show was scripted and that he was welcomed more than was led on in the show many fans are heartbroken when they watch it nowadays. Back then I.M had only few fans, he was really surprised that he came in the final line-up and felt that he had to prove himself. After that international fans expressed disdain via facebook, not only towards I.M, but also towards Minhyuk or Hyungwon since they thought that they can't sing properly (they accused Starship to only go for looks and not talent). Fans also hated on Mad Clown for being biased against one of their favourites, #GUN (to soothe the fans he eventually got his debut in 2016, almost everyone hated the fact that he got eliminated), some also thought that I.M stole his place since #GUN was the second best rapper before and Starship needed rappers for the hip hop based image of Monsta X. These days I.M is especially loved, newer fans often claim that he and his deep voice got them into the fandom and Minhyuk and Hyungwon are also really appreciated.

Wonho

Weeks after Monsta X's debut netizens dug out Wonho's scandalous past as ulzzang under the name Shin Hoseok (his original name is Lee Hoseok). He went to night clubs, drank and smoked before his debut. Comments like "I hate this;; I didn't like him before but now I hate him for sure","Yeah, this is why I'm hesitant to like him" or "I don't even know how he's going to clarify this" were often found, but many fans also protected him with e.g. pointing out that some other idols aren't angels either. On top of that it was also revealed that he dated his fellow ulzzang Jung Da Eun who is now after transitioning a man. Because of that he was rumoured to be gay and stuff (especially after that), he later claimed that he dated Da Eun to protect her/him.

MBC's mistreatment

In July 2016 Monsta X created a special choreography (the dance break) for Super Junior's Sorry Sorry for MBC's Korea Music Wave in Japan. Fans had to watch it through fancams since the entire segment was edited out. However, at MBC's 2016 DMC Festival BTS, GFriend, Twice and Leetuek performed Sorry Sorry and copied the dance break without Monsta X's permission. Later they simply told Monsta X that the choreography was cool so they handed it off. The incident grew, fans were furious at MBC (not at the performing groups though) and a Monsta X defending Twitter tag was created. Instead of apologizing or giving credit MBC tried to delete all related articles and videos. Fans got furious.

Wonho's departure

People made it seem like he made fun of the MeToo movement

The second part is a bit more complicated. If you aren't an iKONIC or a VIP, I don’t think Han Seo Hee's name will be familiar - she's an ex YG-trainee and a chaebol kid, that’s going after male idols, namely T.O.P, Hanbin, and Wonho. She has also admitted to actually selling people drugs, but goes untouched to the extent she can travel, because she's of a chaebol family.

She's dating Wonho's ex, who out of the blue started claiming that WH owes them money and that he was sent to juvenile detention. I’m by no means saying that any of these idols are saints, but this girl is not a credible person, that gets quite aggressive if called out on shit: she straight up called a male model who called her out on her accusations a rapist.

Wonho left the band. cleared of drug charges

First reaction: Wonho wasn’t kicked out of Monsta X, he decided to leave, in what seems like a rash decision, according to information he decided this without discussing it with the members. Wonho’s contract with Starship has not been terminated, and he’s still on MX’s official website too. Starship will be taking legal action against malicious individuals. Wonho, Kihyun and Jooheon were online on fancafé multiple times, likely reading monbebes messages. Monbebes gathered at Starship’s building leaving post-it notes on the wall - Starship staff took these down and collected them to (possibly) give it to Wonho and the rest of the members. Multiple supportive hashtags trended for almost 10hours worldwide, with nearly 2 million tweets Monbebe is organizing a peaceful protest at Starship’s building tomorrow in support of all seven member The petition to keep Wonho in Monsta X has reached 200k signatures.

Wonho made a solo debut.

Fans were worried about the future of the band

Wonho left the group due to multiple scandals. He was cleared of all DRUG charges, but he left the group because of his other scandals (before the drug accusations came out). He left the group in order to seperate himself from the group so that his scandals do not distract everyone from MX's activities and everything they're achieving.

The fandom originally wanted him back into the group, but now most (I hope) respect that they're two separate acts and treat them as such. MX has mentioned that they would like to move forward and that they're six members.

Essentially there was a group of people who were trying to sabotage Monsta X, specifically during their comebacks. I won’t mention which comebacks and what scandals because we do not need to bring up debunked rumours and open wounds. BUT! The point is wonho was accused of multiple things during one comeback and the Korean media turned it into a frenzy. Starship was unable to handle the situation and terminated their contract with him overnight. The other members continued promoting as six and wonho went into a hiatus. Cut to 2020 and wonho signs with Starship’s subsidiary Highline ent and is now releasing music as a solo act.

Since wonho’s departure many fans had petitioned to starship to reinstate him, as all he was cleared off all the charges and accusations. In fact the person who helped trying to dirty his name went to jail not too long ago (unrelated). The point is, wonho’s departure really divided the fans. Many kmbb were appalled that he would “tarnish” Monsta X’s reputation. While imbb really wanted him reinstated. Starship never acted on this and the group has been promoting as a sextet since.

The problem is Monsta X’s fanbase has grown a lot since 2019, and many fans do not know who wonho was as a member of Mx. It is also starship’s fault for strategically editing wonho out of past videos and photos of MX7. A lot of nee kmbb hate wonho (for what reason I do not know) but get very annoyed any time the members have interacted with him.

For instances after his contract was terminated, someone spotted all 7 boys having dinner together and many Korean fans were really angry at the members. Not too long ago kihyun and IM went on a trip to jeju and it was alleged that wonho was there with them. A TON of kmbb started cursing out kihyun and IM on their fancafe so much so that kihyun apologised (to his members) for causing a scene.

There’s still a huge divide in the fandom especially between new and old mbb on the topic of wonho. It’s really sad, but all of this could have been avoided if starship was not so reactionary and had just cleared his name before terminating his contract and damaging the image of all seven boys

Example Fanworks

Fanfiction

• Rain by Akira93 on asianfanfics: (no pairing) Changkyun's shoulder slumped and he too went to his bedroom to sleep forgetting about waiting for his turn to shower. He was already wet from the rain earlier. 'That can do' he thought. He lied on his bed and willed himself to sleep, but not without feeling how stupid he is. 'I should've controlled myself better. I promise that I won't make any trouble or being a burden anymore.' Well, I felt like doing a little angst for Changkyunie haha
• WHO AM I by JoeKyun on AO3 (unfinished): How did I.M feel when he watched No.Mercy from afar? How did he take the news of joining No.Mecy in the 8th ep? What was the behind story of the deokspatch cams. They all look smiley and happy but just how much of that is true? It was so hard for him...

Inside Jokes

• Baksu (Jooheon became a temporary trainer for Produce X 101 in 2019 for the contestants' first elimination battle. There he tried to teach Starship trainee Ham Won-jin (16th) the proper introduction ("Baksu") to Seventeen's song "Clap". The clip went viral, a lot of people wanted a lesson as well and Seventeen and the rest of the members began to clown him. Ever since, "Baksu" has become a joke within the fandom)
• Hyungwon's Starbucks meme
• I.M's PPAP having its own fandom

Accounts

• official website account: http://www.monstax-e.com/
• official YouTube account: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq97QVSGzGPxUdPD591gnOd3fHB4ITkOu
• official Twitter account: https://twitter.com/officialmonstax
• official facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialMonstaX
• official Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/official_monsta_x/?hl=de
• official Weibo account: http://www.weibo.com/monstax
• Daum Fan Cafe: http://cafe.daum.net/monsta-x
• personal Weibo accounts: found here

Fanfiction

• Fanfiction on the Archive of Our Own
• Fanfiction on Asianfanfics
• monsta-x on Livejournal - fanworks community

Resources

• Wikipedia
• Monsta X at Soompi
• Monsta X at Allkpop
• The "Monbebe bible" (an updated spreadsheet about everything the band has done by Twitter user @minbebenation)