Monā
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Monā (モナー) is the most well-known Shift JIS art character in Japan. His name comes from his favorite phrase, "omae mo nā!", which is best rendered in English as "You too!" or "So do you!" (This is equivalent to 4chan's catchphrase "NO U."). He is considered to be one of the mascots of 2channel.
Monā is distinguished by his pointed ears, and a face consisting of the universal quantifier symbol (upside-down capital "A") for a mouth, flanked by an apostrophe and grave accent for eyes. When rendered from behind, he has a small, round tail.
Monā was invented very early on in the history of 2channel. An Internet troll constructed the Monā character with his keyboard and had him say a standard complaint about Internet forums: "You people have too much free time". The first post following up to this simply copied and pasted the artwork and said, "You too!" This became an instant catchphrase and Monā was put to use across the forum.
[edit] Variants
There is also a taller variant, known as Hattoushin Monā (literally, "eight heads high Monā"), or simply Hattoushin, frequently spelled "8toushin". He is frequently depicted in mock-homoerotic poses, or pursuing >>1-san, originally with murderous but more recently lustful intent.
A variant with dots (in Shift_JIS art, the katakana middle dot) for eyes, rather than the apostrophe and backtick, has been named Morara (モララー, sometimes spelled "Moraler" or "Moralar") or Matāri (マターリ, also spelled "Matterly" or "Mattarly") and is considered a separate character. He sometimes characterized as being more sensible than the whimsical Monā, but in many cases they are interchangeable.
[edit] Avex
In fall 2005, Avex Group Holdings has come under fire from fans and supporters of Monā and the variants for promoting and commercialising their own Shift-JIS art character, named Noma neko, which probably first appeared in the music video for "Koi no Maiahi", a Japanese release of the Moldovan band O-Zone's "Dragostea Din Tei". Avex claimed that Noma neko was an adaptation of Monā, but denied that they were using the online popularity of Monā to increase sales. Due to pressure from 2channel fans, Avex ceased distribution of Noma neko merchandise and cancelled plans to obtain rights for the character.
However, 2channel fans say that Noma neko goods are still sold, and that the problem is not solved. (see ja:のまネコ問題—Noma neko problem, in Japanese)
