Characters / Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom

Monster Boy himself

Jin and his many forms.

In general

• Cop Killer: Jin will have to defend himself from the royal guard when he is in the castle area, which forces him to kill them. Surprisingly, the cops generally do not bother him when he is not in the castle or prison areas except for when Pig-Jin first arrives in Lupia, when Mysticat first orders the penguins to arrest Jin after he admitted to being related to Nabu. Since being related to a criminal is generally not a crime, this counts as a case of Police Brutality.
• Cursed with Awesome: Aside from some initial dissatisfaction with the pig form, Jin is more concerned with saving his uncle than turning back into a human. In fact, when his forms are stolen from him, leaving him in human form and thus technically cured of the curse, Jin starts to miss having all of his forms.
• Expy: Each form in an expy of a form from Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, and they're even obtained in the same order:
  • Human is of course one of "Hu-Man": the protagonist's original form, playable at the beginning of the game, then lost.
  • Pig is one of Lizard-Man: this is the shape with which the protagonist is originally cursed, unable to equip any gear other than a bracelet (although in this game, the Snake also has this trait), and the only one that is not used in the final area outside of getting an optional chest.
  • Snake is one of Mouse-Man: smaller than the rest and able to move freely on special walls.
  • Frog is one of Piranha-Man: the water-based form, the most capable swimmer, and its walking (or rather, hopping) animation is even reminiscent of Piranha-Man's walking sprite.
  • Lion is one of Lion-Man: in addition to retaining the animal, this form also has techniques based on directional attacks, although this Lion's attacks are much more dynamic.
  • Dragon is one of Hawk-Man: the flying form.
• Forced Transformation: Gets turned into a pig soon after his adventure starts.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: ...and reflect the enemy's projectiles back at them, depending on which type of shield is equipped.
• Sword Plant: Two of the forms that can use weapons have this move.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Unlike Bocke, Jin quickly learns to shapeshift at will, though his human form remains impossible to change into until the very end of the game.

Human

• Badass Cape: Jin wears one in this form.
• Battle Boomerang: This is one of his spells near the end of the game. He can reuse it by catching it.
• Flash Step: Jin's 11th-Hour Superpower.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Jin eats his first super fire truffle as a human in a cut scene in the first area. However, you cannot make him eat any truffles as a human beyond that cut scene. Jin only eats truffles in his pig form after that cut scene.
• Magic Knight: He's as good with his magic as he is wielding a sword.
• Sword Plant: He can do this from mid-air.

Pig

• Battle Boomerang: This is one of his spells. He can reuse it by catching it.
• Black Mage: The only non-human form capable of using magic, which makes him the only form capable of using magic for most of the game.
• Combos: His base attacks are weak, but sometimes fast enough to hit the enemy while it is stunned from the previous hit.
• Gasshole: Each time that Jin eats a truffle, he farts with a Visible Odor coming out from behind him.
• Glass Cannon: He can deal lots of damage with his magic. He can't take much damage since he is too fat to wear his armor.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: If the Pig is out of magic, then all he can do are fast but weak melee attacks or stronger but slower butt stomps.
• Ground Pound: One of his moves showcased in the trailer (it replaces the Sword Plant, since the Pig cannot handle weapons) .
• Legacy Character: Obviously is not the same Pig-man from The Dragon's Trap.
• Mythology Gag: Once the game became Monster Boy, this form gained an eyepatch and a striped shirt, just like pig men from The Dragon's Trap. Pig also used to smoke during idle animations early in the game's development, but that was removed.
• The Nose Knows: Pig's most useful feature is its snout that can uncover secrets. Some of the hidden doors need to be sniffed out by the Pig before they can be opened.
• Pig Man: It is an anthropomorphic pig.
• Squishy Wizard: As he's one of only two forms that can't wear armor or equipment other than a bracelet, and one of two forms that can use more diverse magic than flames, he becomes this. This trope is justified because his pig form is too fat for most of his armor to fit.
• Three-Strike Combo: Attacking while holding forward results in two punches with his trotters and then a third hit delivered by his belly.
• Took a Level in Badass: In Flying Hamster 2, it was described more or less as The Load. In the final game, even though it can't equip most of his gear outside of his bracelet, it is capable of using magic and its acute sense of smell is used to discover secrets, some of which are mandatory to sniff out as the Pig before they can be exploited.

Snake

• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: This little snake can play a part in defeating a giant frog, smash stone blocks with its head, spit acid, and stand up to one phase of the Final Boss.
• Super Spit: Or rather, Acid spit.
• Use Your Head: Can learn to charge into stone blocks, breaking them with its head.
• Tail Slap: The Snake can do a weak slap to enemies with its tiny tail. At least it is fast enough to perform Combos.
• Wall Crawl: Is able to freely slither along walls covered in green moss. Can even attack while doing so.
  • Ceiling Cling: Ditto for ceilings.

Frog

• Frog Men: He is one of these.
• Overly-Long Tongue: Used as a grappling hook. And to heal by eating non-elemental mosquitoes.
• You Have Researched Breathing: This is the first class you get that allows you to have the basic ability to wear armor and carry weapons. It only took fighting through 2 map areas and 4 bosses to do so.
• Super Not-Drowning Skills: Does not need to breathe underwater, but still needs to come back for air when it's in the mud.

Lion

• Cat Folk: He is one of these, being a humanoid lion.
• Dash Attack: His signature move. He can dash and bash enemies and rocks.
• Lightning Bruiser: Can dash very fast and break through rocks with ease.
• Race Lift: This form was originally a bear form when the game was previously known as Flying Hamster II: Knight of the Golden Seed.
• Sword Plant: He can do this from mid-air.
• Walk on Water: Or, rather, run on water thanks to its dash attack.

Dragon

• Breath Weapon: This form can breathe fire.
• Flight: Has this power. Limited until the Dragon Talisman is earned. Then the dragon can fly as long as he wants.
• More Dakka: With a full gauge of flame, Jin can shoot up to 8 fireballs in rapid succession. Compare this to the Fire Blade which can only shoot 2 fireballs (the fireballs all do the same amount of damage, the Fire Blade's advantage is its fireballs travel faster and are bigger so it's harder to avoid).
• Our Dragons Are Different: He is a dragon.
• Playing with Fire: The Dragon can use fire magic. It's the only magic he can use, but is better at that than the Pig or Human.
• Race Lift: This form was originally a flying hamster form when the game was previously known as Flying Hamster II: Knight of the Golden Seed and was previously the protagonist's true form in that game.
• A Taste of Power: Starts with the talisman granting it unlimited flight and fire to spit, but loses it soon enough and needs to get it back.
• Token Flyer: The Dragon Form is the only one of Jin's forms that is able to fly. That it is also very powerful makes it quite a versatile form to take, offering excellent mobility and strong attacks.
• Unexpected Shmup Level: Several of the levels and bosses faced while in this form use this format.
• Video Game Flamethrowers Suck: Mostly averted. Once Jin gets his talisman, he can choose to breathe a stream of flame instead of using fireballs. It can quickly kill mooks as the flames come out in a constant flow. It's not so good against firepower-oriented bosses like the Masquerade Carp as the range is poor.

Other Characters

Zeke

• Actual Pacifist: Is really helpful but doesn't fight.
• Badass Pacifist: If Jin is cornered, Zeke will drop hearts to aid him, and also free the hero from his cage in the final fight.
• Breath Weapon: He uses his fire breath to free Jin from Lord Xaros's cage.
• Cursed with Awesome: Appreciates being turned into a monster that can fly especially after seeing Jin get transformed into a seemingly much less versatile, obese pig man
• Our Dragons Are Different: He is turned into a tiny winged dragon.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Turns into a cute little dragon due to Nabu.

Uncle Nabu

• Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: The game kicks off when Jin's bewitched uncle gets his hands on a magic wand and a lot of booze, and starts flying around randomly transforming people for the lulz. The key to defeating him in the penultimate dungeon is to sober him up.
• Antagonist Title: The original title of Monster Boy included "The Wizard of Booze".
• Brainwashed and Crazy: He is bewitched into turning people into monsters for Mysticat.
• Court Jester: This is his occupation.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: He is silly, alcoholic and funny. He also puts up a much better fight against Jin than Mysticat, who brainwashed him in the first place, and even distracts the Big Bad by throwing bottles at him.
• Make My Monster Grow: Does it to a squid and makes a challenging first boss.
• The Scapegoat: How Mysticat intends to use him for the havoc he caused in the kingdom. And he did have a good case, as he brainwashed Nabu to cause all the mayhem for him.
• "Wanted!" Poster: You can find wanted posters for this person in weapons shops on the lower parts of the clerk's desk.

Mysticat

• Cat Folk: He is one of these.
• Cats Are Mean: Exaggerated. He's secretly serving the real Big Bad and has zero issues with all the chaos he's caused or that he's making your bewitched uncle shoulder the blame for all the chaos he's responsible for.
• The Dragon: He serves Xaros, the Big Bad.
• Evil Chancellor: He is the king's counselor, and is betraying the Monster World Kingdom for Xaros.
• Forced Transformation: He is turned into a literal ball of fur by Xaros, the Big Bad.
• Laser-Guided Karma: He brainwashed Nabu and made him transform Jin and Zeke, and betrayed the kingdom he served to Xaros. So, Xaros gives him exactly what he deserves. Namely, he betrays him and turns him into a weak furball.
• Taken for Granite: After Jin defeated Nabu, Mysticat turns Zeke, Jin, and Nabu to stone when stealing the Great Orbs
• Treacherous Advisor: He gives Jin advice on finding the orbs because he plans on stealing them to allow Lord Xaros into Monster World.
• The Unfought: He is turned into a ball of fur who can only roll around by Xaros, the Big Bad, before he has a chance at fighting Jin.

Xaros

• Bad Boss: This demon turns Mysticat into a literal ball of fur due to seeing Mysticat as having no more use.
• Big Bad: This is the demon who plans on invading Monster World Kingdom.
• Final Boss: This is the final boss, who tests all the forms of Jin except for the pig form.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: This demon has glowing red eyes and is a total bastard.
• Hopeless Boss Fight: Part of his fight has him locking you in a cage and beating you up until your friends save you.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: This demon has glowing red eyes, fitting his evil.

Foximus

• Fox Folk: He is a fox man.
• Ultimate Blacksmith: He is the most skilled blacksmith in the game, and considers metals other than gold beneath his skill level.