mh g3 , witches + more
i will address deuce , manny , iris , cupid , casta fierce and spelldon to make the following analysis
so , a few things to dissect (tw : discussions of greek myths , including mentions of rape , bestiality)
In “Nightmare Nightmore” Deuce and Manny are leaving at the start of the episode , chanting “party like the greek gods”. Their mere existence indicates that greek myths are more than just tales, that there are greek gods in the mh world (we know this). However , egyptian gods and christian supernatural beings (heath’s dad) are too present in the mh canon , posing the existence of egregors , and i personally interpret this through the lens of absurdism . Anyways , these gods clearly do interact in a tangible manner with the “solid world” , be it due to devotion or whatnot , deuce and manny and iris are proof of how tangible these gods’ actions can be. However , these are the children of cursed (for lack of a better word) entities in greek mythology :
the origin of medusa varies, whether she was a priestess who was raped by poseidon and cursed by athena afterwards (as a case of victim-blaming , though some interpret this as a gift rather than a curse , giving her the power to liberate herself from her victimhood) as per Ovid (though depictions of her as a “beautiful maiden” predate the poet) , medusa is otherwise one of three gorgon sisters , daughters of Phorcys and Ceto (otherwise Gorgon and Ceto as per Hyginus) , daughters of two (or even just one) sea god[s] , they have god lineage. Assuming Deuce’s origins are that of the latter interpretation , he is at the very least a demigod ;
the minotaur is too a creature that resulted from poseidon’s involvement , he who gifted a snow white bull to Minus , who was to sacrifice the bull to honour the god , but decided instead to keep him , and so poseidon made Pasiphaë (minus’ wife) to fall in love with the bull , and mate … resulting in the minotaur who had no source of nourishment and so devoured humans for sustenance. Minus had Daedalus, per Delphi’s advice, build a labyrinth to hold the minotaur. In mh lore , g1 and g3 , minotaurs are good at mazes , though g1 manny isn’t , g3 Manny is exceptionally good at them. In any case , they both allude to this whole godly dispute that resulted in their kind ;
the cyclops has some godly lineage , being descendants of uranus and gaia , two of the “greek primordial deities” , who “produced eighteen children” , three of whom were cyclopes , who , alongside their siblings were imprisoned deep within gaia by uranus who despised his monstrous children, but cronus castrated him and became the ruler of the cosmos , however he did not release his brothers , and as gaia foretold , he was overthrown by his children , who he kept imprisoned in his belly , except for zeus who rhea managed to protect and who “forced his father to vomit his siblings” and too released the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires. The Cyclopes’ great weapon was the thunderbolt, and they gave it to zeus to aid in overthrowing the titans. So , theoretically , Iris too has god lineage and her kind has been at the mercy of godlike creatures ;
this is to say , all their individual lineages have dealt with affairs with the gods , though arguably Manny stands out , being the one without godly lineage , what they all have in common is that they are all the kids of entities that have been antagonised, vilified and outright defined as monstrous, thus making them monsters. So , i wonder , is this what separates them from the kids of other gods , or does their godlike status add to their monster status ? do gods inherently hold monstrous attributes ? or is this a distinction amongst them ?
I ask this , to pose the question: how does Cupid fit into the picture ? and subsequently , how does Casta and Spelldon fit into the picture as the kids of Circe ?
These are characters that are yet to appear in g3 , however they fit in just well in g1 Monster High , and their existence overlapped with Ever After High (ie. C.A. Cupid) , regardless , one could argue that the public perception of their being plays a role in whether they’re seen as monsters or not , so why and how is Cupid a monster ? And what exactly makes Casta and Spelldon monsters ? In g1 , they had monstrous aesthetics , however , in g3 , magic can be practiced my humans and monsters , their status is interstitial and i wonder if their monstrous nature stems from them having godly lineage ? And is their monstrous nature the result of public perception ? If so , again , how and why is Cupid a monster ?
Cupid , daughter of Eros , god of love and its various forms , otherwise a primordial god and personification of love. Eros was celebrated and worshipped throughout history , so what exactly grants Cupid her monster status ? Is it simply the fact that she isn’t human ? She is the adopted daughter of Eros , so one could argue , given mh lore , considering she doesn’t know her biological roots , that she is a monster who follows “her adoptive father's footsteps as an arbiter of love and is specialized in the dealings of relationships”. This poses the question whether these gods are their own kind of entities or if their actions are what grant them their status . Cupid’s story also demystifies these gods , as she was “found on the doorsteps of the Cupid household as a baby” which frames them as much more integrated to common folk society. And as for whether gods are their own kind of entities or not , and whether their powers are inherent to godlike entities or not , considering Cupid possesses the ability to “analyse the powers of other love derived monsters , such as emotional vampires”, as well as love related powers she can wield without her arrow but with her hands alone (as seen in Ever After High) , one could argue it is about the actions and not so much what kind of creature they are. However an Ever After High narrator referred to her as a cherub , perhaps loosely , though it could indicate what kind of creature she is , and once again rehash the question , what makes her a monster ? and is her monster nature derived from her not being a human ? also , she is a bone elemental , at least to some extent , and this is possibly derived from eros becoming phanes , prompting whether she was granted these powers through supernatural means and she doesn’t innately hone these abilities , and if so , what kind of creature is she ? or is she in actuality a bone elemental who was granted the rest of the previously mentioned powers as heritage from her adoptive family ?
Casta and Spelldon, children of Circe , an enchantress and goddess. G3 poses magic as something anyone could practice , though witchcraft is more popular amongst humans, , it is a universal craft , and so her only non-human attribute would be her god status , once again hashing the question , is a godly status innately monstrous ? Is it enough to be considered a monster , or is it an interstitial state that is neither human or monster ? Does that state lean into monster nature ? If their god status is but a rank , then how would g3 interpret their monster nature ? The thing is , as previously mentioned , the reason Deuce , Manny and Iris are monsters is because thats what their lineage has been dubbed out to be , because no average child of a god has attended monster high , Cupid being an exception considering her uncertain origins , but its only the children of those creatures that have been vilified in history that are in monster high. So is public perception what makes Casta and Spelldon monsters ? And does their godly status or lineage aesthetically morph them into monster-like creatures ?
Let me know what you think , im seriously curious how g3’s iteration of Casta and Spelldon will look like , and whether their god lineage will be addressed directly , and if they are to have a monstrous aesthetic , i wonder if its going to be attributed to the other parent .
