Minimonsters/Heartwarming

Minimonsters, among all the Comedic Sociopathy, Toilet Humor and Crosses the Line Twice, is a story about the adventures of a group of True Companions, and as such, there's large moments that warm the reader's heart:

El Veneno de Porcelana (The Porcelain Poison)

When Victor moves to Villa Susto at the beginning of the first album, Piruja greets him (and falls for him right off the bat), enthusiastically telling him they'll be inseparable friends. Victor is unhappy about it, of course, but it's adorable seeing her like this.
- Even more heartwarming is when you take into account Piruja is the only character to be constantly kind and friendly to him when everybody else understandably didn't care or hated his guts (Even Frank had ulterior motives in befriending him and told him point blank he's The Friend Nobody Likes)
Even taking into account his ulterior motives and gadfly demeanor, Frank trying to be friendly to Victor and getting him into his gang despite them (Lupo in particular) going against the idea is this. He even went to the town's sewers to help him, and affectionately pets his head when he cries, mistakenly believing he was moved. Even the Break the Haughty challenges were a form of Tough Love, a fact he spells out to him when he gets fed up with Victor's ungratefulness:

Frank: Look, Von Pijo, if I helped you is because, upon seeing you, I realized that, just as you were, you wouldn't be friends with anybody in school. Everything, from the bet to the challenges, I made it so my gang would meet you and you'd fit in, you idiot. Don't you see that if you stay alone, you'll be the bullies' favourite victim?!

When he hears of Rattus Sapiens' Evil Plan, Victor doesn't care if Villa Susto in its entirety gets poisoned, but gets extremely concerned when he realizes his family will drink the poisoned water, so he tries to get out of the sewers to alert them. Given his otherwise strained relationship with them, it's quite the Pet the Dog moment.
Frank's friends, Lupo in particular, express disapproval over Victor joining the gang, yet they go along with it regardless, since Frank is their friend and leader. It helps he gives Victor challenges to take him down a peg, which they happily join.
In Victor and Frank's conversation in the sewers, Frank tells him to come back and search for Piruja, so he finally could be part of the Gang. This leads to an hilarious (and adorable) moment from Victor, as described here:

Victor: *to Frank* So annoying! Don't you see I don't wanna find her?
*Piruja's croacs sound in the sewers*
Victor: *overjoyed* YAY, I FOUND HER!!!
*beat*
Victor: Ahem! I mean... Ugh, I found her...

The album ends with the gang celebrating Victor's official admission, cheering for him and for not seeing toilet bowls again. Considering all his perils throughout the album, this surely counts as heartwarming. Too bad they unknowingly drink the poison, and end up in the bathroom with a bad case of the runs. Yank the Dog's Chain, indeed.

El Perfeccionator (The Perfeccionator)

The comic's book cover features Frank protecting Henrietta from a very evil-looking Miss Hit. Especially moving considering both girls' true relationship.
- The back cover is even better: It features Frank showing his heart-shaped brain to Henrietta, and her being flattered by it. It's Better Than It Sounds.
- And if that doesn't convince you they're an Official Couple, this image features Henrietta clearly fawning at Frank. Isn't it adorable?
Throughout the entire album, it's shown how amazingly embarrasing Frank's parents are. Yet, for all this, they're ultimately well-intentioned and caring, doing their best to cheer their son up, fully aware of his self-esteem issues.
Seeing Frank in love with Henrietta is downright adorable. In fact, this love is part of the reason he makes the Perfeccionator: He wants to improve his physical appearance to attract her attention and feel good about himself. Consequently, it's heartbreaking seeing him suffer for love, and even more so when he turns into Miss Hit's Unwitting Pawn.
Billy trying to cheer up Frank after being cruelly rejected by Miss Hit pretending to be Henrietta. It doesn't work, but it shows how much of a sweet kid Billy is behind his smell issues.
When Frank has an emotional breakdown over the aforementioned rejection, both Lupo and Momses quickly go to comfort him, and defend him when Morty's gang laugh at him for this.
Frank and Gus' brotherly relationship is one of the most heartwarming in the entire comic, and it shows there at full force. Gus adores and idolizes Frank greatly, enthusiastically telling Miss Hit how much of an honor is sitting with him in class while complimenting him. When Victor tries to take over as leader, Gus is the most outraged at this, and immediately joins Frank in investigating the disappearances. It goes around the other way, too: Is pretty much stated Gus is Frank's best friend and, rather than putting him in danger, tells Gus to call the police and stay away from the conflict to protect him while the rest of the Gang goes to stop Miss Hit personally. Seriously, these two really care for one another.
Frank, despite being annoyed at Lupo's constant sleepiness, shows he cares a lot for him when he made him a security belt for his narcolepsy as a school project. This gets even more heartwarming when at the end Lupo was the only one who managed to pass the assignment, and gave him Victor's truth mirror as thanks. Lupo's Batman Gambit against Victor was partially motivated by him considering Frank the gang's true leader, and happily calls him such when he comes back after (accidentally) defeating Quasim in Victor's place.
Victor has spent the entirety of the album being a jackass starscream-wannabe. After the reveal of the whole Henrietta/Miss Hit trainwreck, you would think he would just go back home and get out of this, especially after being utterly humiliated. Instead, he joins Frank, Lupo and Piruja in stopping Miss Hit and rescue everyone. Granted, he's still abrasive as always, but the fact he willingly joined to help his disliked friends to save people he doesn't give a crap for no reason whatsoever, it's an incredibly powerful Pet the Dog moment. Maybe he's not so bad after all...
- This is even more heartwarming considering he usually has no compunctions over putting Villa Susto and its citizens in danger (though only to go back to Miedópolis), but in this album he reluctantly but willingly tries to save them from Miss Hit's machinations, showing some common decency when things are tough.
At the end of the album, after Frank saves her, Henrietta sends him a photo of her as thanks. Frank himself tried to give her a gift: A Perfeccionator-ized butterfly. Aaaww...
- Sadly, it's rejected by her dad due to her Ill Girl status, but his sister Francesca (whom they've spent bickering all this time) compensates by giving him a photo of her brother. While snarky about it, it's nice to see her caring for her little brother.
- And what does Frank with the butterfly? He gives it to Piruja to compensate for using her potion (which was her project) to save Henrietta. Again: Aaaww...
The ending. Just... the ending. After going through a particularly exhausting Break the Cutie process, Frank ultimately saves Henrietta and the others from Miss Hit, getting compensation for it. Most importantly, he manages to accept himself thanks to the truth mirror Lupo gave him. The Tears of Joy he sheds upon seeing the mirror not breaking by his reflection is something to behold. It definitely counts as this trope, especially considering the previous album's hilarious Cruel Twist Ending.
- It's not just him, really. Henrietta has spent her entire life as an Ill Girl secluded in her house, dealing with Miss Hit getting out of control. This left her a Broken Bird who drove people away in fear of her evil self hurting them. Thanks to Frank's intervention, she not only has better control of her other self, but has gained friends (and a possible boyfriend) along the way. She still has to deal with her problems, but her life is way happier than it used to be.

Historias para no Dormir (Sleepless Stories)

In "El Cómic" (The Comic), Gus puts all his friends as the main characters in his Sherlock Holmes-esque story. And it's adorable to see.
- Also, he was kind enough to put Victor in the story (as the victim, but that's another story), considering he almost always treats him like shit.
In the "¡Vaya Perro!" (What a Dog!) story, Chopped enthusiastically trying to get Victor to play with him.
In "Surfeando" (Surfing), Momses teaching Frank how to surf.
In "Los Sustitutos the Chopped" (Chopped's Replacements), the Frank's Gang playing with Chopped at the beginning.
In "Lupo y sus Hermanos" (Lupo's Siblings), Momses goes to Lupo's house to play outside, only to find out he can't due to him taking care of his younger siblings. What does he do? He helps him with it, of course!
- Also, his younger siblings wanting to play with Momses. The fact they're cute little wolves only makes this more adorable.
- Also, seeing Lupo acting like a responsible older brother with them. Of course, he falls asleep soon afterwards, and his little siblings have to take care of him instead. It's heartwarming regardless.
In "Los Inventos de Frank" (Frank's Inventions), we get a brief one when Lupo kindly tells Victor to relax and take things more calmly like him. It's heartwarming because, unlike most of his interactions with him, this one is neither making cutting remarks at his expense nor being hostile towards him.
- And as expected, you can guess what happens next.
In "Maldita Claus ha venido, y a todos regalos nos ha traído" (Santa Curse has come, with presents for everyone), it's both funny and adorable to see the kids' happily with their Christmas presents. Even moreso seeing both Frank and Morty's gangs getting along with each other for once.
In "De Visita" (The Visit), Frank going to Henrietta's house and trying to give her a gift for Valentine's Day, in his full Adorkable glory.
- Later, he tries to find a game they could play together. Too bad she doesn't make it easy due to her ridiculously low health. Miss Hit just makes it worse.
Almost the entire "¿Cuál es tu lugar favorito de Villa Susto?" (Where is your favorite place in Villa Susto?) story, in which Frank, Piruja, Gus, Lupo, Quasim, Billy and Momses happily discuss where's their favorite place in there. Oh, and there's Victor, who instead says he hates the town.
- This is repeated in a later story involving them playing with LocoRocos.
In "Cambio Radical" (Wild Makeover), Guillotine helping Piruja in flirting with Victor by giving her a makeover. It fails, though.
- Hell, their relationship in general is this. They're completely different girls who each are members of rival gangs, yet none of this prevents them from being friends. Plus, it also shows Guillotine's nicer side.
In "La Niña Invisible" (Invisible Girl), Morty's Gang's member Mienai awkwardly begs Lupo for help to find his little sister. After much reluctance, Lupo accepts. Cue his little siblings happily telling him how kind is their older brother and how much he cares for others. Pity Lupo blows this up by falling asleep, as usual.
- During the entire story, Mienai is shown to be actually a nice and friendly guy when left to his own, which heavily implies he has a Jerkass Facade caused by his asshat "friends". At the end, he even thanks Lupo for it.
In "Una Velada con los Von Piro" (Dinner with the Von Piros), despite being largely about the weird meeting of the Von Piros and the Einsteins, it shows there's barely any resentment between the families. In particular, the Von Piros are shown, despite their eccentricities, to be very friendly and courteous with the Einsteins, while other rich families would have criticized them for their lower status. Also, it shows them having something in common: They're embarrassing as hell.
- Also, there's Frank's older sister Francesca playing with Victor's dog Chopped. It's about one of the rare occassions she smiles and has a fun time, considering her usual behavior.
In "La Prima de Victor" (Victor's Cousin), at the end, we see Quasim being friendly with Victor's cousin Dayana after seeing her Stylistic Suck drawings. You can pick your jaw over the floor now.
In "Colgado por Piruja" (Crazy over Piruja), Guillotine helps Piruja again to get Victor to invite her to the school dance. In this case, though, she does this a bit more differently. As in "tying Victor to a tree with a horde of hungry alligators waiting" kind of differently. It's the thought that counts, after all.

El Gran Partido de Calabacesto (The Great Pumpkinball Match)

When Victor shows up to the gang, Gus enthusiastically gives him the Fresita (Strawberry) Team uniform, clearly considering him part of the team. Unfortunately, Victor rejects it, gleefully stating he's on the "Muerte Chunga" (Morty's Gang) side now.
The moment previous to the big match, Morty decides the bet's conditions. If he wins? He gets Frank's brains. If Frank wins? Victor comes back to his gang. After a brief discussion, Frank's Gang end up agreeing with it. Victor may be a jerk, but is their jerk all the way.
Billy welcoming Morty's Gang into his home (the town dump). We even get to see him with his younger sister Milly happily leaving to classify the dirt! Which makes what happens to him all the more heartbreaking.
Frank shutting Skin up for insulting Lupo's Sleepyhead behavior.
Frank's Gang considering Billy The Reliable One to act as Victor's replacement on the team.
When personally making their fifth member, Gus and Momses make the doll to be a girl, being perfectly happy with a girl on their team. Making this more heartwarming is Piruja arriving just in time to join the gang.
Frank reacting with utter joy when Piruja comes back to serve as the team's fifth member.
When Morty smugly brags to Frank about how soon he'll eat his brains, Gus wastes no time in trying to protect him, saying his brains must taste terrible to dissuade him.
Piruja's mom is an Extreme Omnisexual, which causes problems to her and especially Piruja. But when her spider boyfriend Arrmando el Arraña goes nuts and tries to eat Piruja, she wastes no time in kicking his ass to save her daughter. That's Mama Bear at its finest.
While Mrs. Einstein constantly kissing Frank is hilarious, it shows how much she loves her son. She even tells him she's proud of him when she sees him trying to intervene between Víctor, Lupo and Momses while the latter two confront the former about his betrayal.
- The first time she does this, she asks him if she's the best mom in the world. Frank, while deeply embarrassed, agrees.
When Mr. Abra's giant bunny finally appears in a Big Damn Heroes against Arrmando, he happily glomps her.
As the bunnies go back inside Mr. Abra's hat, Mienai happily imitates their bouncing. It's both funny and cute.
After winning the match, Frank offers Gus to carry the trophy by calling him "the best Torch Captain ever".
The final photo is equal parts funny and sweet, symbolizing Frank's gang first pumpkinball victory.
After that, there's a cute little moment when Mr. Abra gives Gus an Affectionate Gesture to the Head with a smile on his face.
The whole match shows how much Frank's Gang (Fresita Team) and Morty's Gang (Muerte Chunga Team) contrast with each other. The latter may seem cool on the surface, but in reality they're a mess due to inward tensions and overall stupidity, only managing to score by cheating. The former, while seemingly embarrassing in appearance, manage to work incredibly well together via teamwork. Hell, which team do you think ultimately won the match?

Cazador de Monstruos (The Monster Hunter)

At the beginning, seeing Piruja and Henrietta form a Romantic Two-Girl Friendship is incredibly sweet.
Frank may be Out of Focus in this album, but his appearances show how much he cares for his friends.
- He's willing to help Victor deal with Chopped despite his dickishness and previous betrayal, even if said help backfires as usual.
- He's incredibly patient and understanding of Lupo's sleep issues, making him a special alarm clock and sweetly waking him up when he falls asleep again.
- Finally, he makes a special skateboard for Momses, and doesn't get angry when Momses purposefully breaks his invention to make Victor suffer (Possibly due to knowing his friends have a right to be resentful at Victor).
Why did Lupo get mad at Nieve? She stole his little sister's doll. Aw...
Nieve proves to be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold when she saves Piruja and Henrietta from Flan Helsing's clutches.
Piruja shows herself to be an avid shipper, squeeing at Frank/Henrietta and Lupo/Nieve as the adventure goes on.
A cute Running Gag is Gus hugging Victor whenever he transforms, much to the latter's annoyance.
- Also worth noticing, when he notices his first transformation, he calls him "our (Frank's Gang)" Victor.
After falling into the cave, Víctor has to calm Gus down. Appreciating this, Gus returns the favor with help from Chopped and Buena Suerte when he hears Víctor screaming. True, he wasn't actually freaking out, but it's the thought that counts.
Piruja, Lupo, and Nieve teaming up to stop Flan Helsing. Piruja and Nieve even do a high-five!
Chopped and Buena Suerte completely slam the dog-cat rivalry stereotype by having the former save the latter without second thoughts.
Lupo and Nieve's relationship development is this in itself. Thanks to their adventure, they go from hating each other's guts to having a crush on the other. Especially at the end, when Nieve promises to visit them and Lupo compliments her for her smell, with her being weirded out yet flattered over it.
Related to the pets, the album shows their Undying Loyalty to their owners. Chopped is devoted to Victor despite the latter's awful treatment, with the main plot happening due to Chopped wanting to help him do his homework. Meanwhile, Buena Suerte spends the album worried about Piruja, constantly punishes Victor for trying to prevent her rescue and general shitty treatment of her, and is elated to see her alive and well at the end.
When told about the Snow Mandrake, Henrietta wants to use it to stop transforming into Miss Hit. Why? Because she wants to stop accidentally hurting the guy she likes (ie. Frank). If there was any doubt she reciprocated Frank's feelings, this pretty much should dispel all of them.
- At the end, Henrietta is sad because she couldn't use the mandrake. Frank tells her not to worry, since he has started to like Miss Hit a bit too. Aaww...
Miss Hit has come a long way since her debut. She goes Leeroy Jenkins on Flan Helsing's ass while calling the Frank's Gang her friends (while she previously tried to brainwash them), and has gone from hating Frank to sharing Henrietta's crush on him, to the point of getting offended when he said he only liked her just a bit. Not bad from the series' first Knight of Cerebus.
After seeing that Lupe has lost her doll, Piruja gives her the Snow Mandrake as a replacement.

"Todo Minimonsters" Extras

In "Chica Nueva en Clase" ("New Girl in Class"), Billy tries to be nice to Henrietta after the two are paired up. Given he's The Pig Pen, though, his methods are hilariously inappropriate, a fact not helped by Henrietta being an extremely Ill Girl.
- Even though she's clearly discomforted by it, she patiently and politely deals with it, knowing he is just being friendly to her, at least until she has enough. Even so, she didn't snap into Miss Hit at him, which means a lot.
- Hell, the fact that Henrietta goes to school is heartwarming in itself. She's no longer the Broken Bird we saw at the beginning of "El Perfeccionator": She's now a cheerful young girl ecstatic about being in class with her newfound friends and Love Interest, who are clearly happy to see her.
Why did Caca Einstein come to life? Frank wanted a pet like his friends Victor and Piruja. Pity it wasn't the kind of pet he wanted, though.
At the start of the "Little Big Planet" story, we see Frank's Gang playing Pumpkinball. In a twist, it shows Victor actually enjoying playing with his friends, to the point of being just as excited as Gus.
The story that started the series, "Neewollah!", there's Frank's Gang enthusiastically dressing themselves to have fun in the human world. And who came up with the idea? Victor. Yes, that Victor.
While he did spend Victor's money to buy some sandwiches, Lupo tells him he would have offered him some if not for the fact they're garlic sandwiches (something Victor learns too late).
The "Todo Minimonsters"'s cover features the cast doing a race around Villa Susto. It's both incredibly hilarious and adorable seeing them having so much fun together.
- On special note goes to Victor in the front cover. Sure, he's mocking Frank, but he's actually smiling while doing so, clearly being playful instead of his actual hostile self. Adding the fact Frank grins at him in return, and it becomes incredibly clear that despite their constant arguments and hostility, these two are good friends deep down.
A Christmas-themed drawing used to announce a ¡Dibus! toy features Victor, Frank and Piruja in their Christmas costumes happily playing with it. Bonus points for Victor proving again he truly is capable of smiling and having fun with his friends.
The "Todo Minimonsters"'s extra drawings frequently portray Frank's Gang in usually weird situations. While always hilarious, it's adorable seeing all the six characters (Victor, Frank, Piruja, Lupo, Gus and Momses) together as a group. This image in particular shows the whole group as close-knit friends who no matter what happens, they'll always stay together.
- If there was any doubt Frank's Gang are True Companions, David Ramírez's twitter describes them as "inseparable friends".

Meta examples

When "Minimonsters" ran on the ¡Dibus! magazine, the creator, David Ramirez, has always been shown to be very close to his fanbase. Some of the things introduced at the comics where their fans' ideas, both characters and stories.
- Even better, there's a lot of his fans who post his signatures with drawings of the characters in it. Heartwarming indeed.
Why did the "Todo Minimonsters" compilatory album came to life? The author wanted to both appeal to the nostalgic fans and attract a new generation of kids.

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