Mewmans are a race of humanoids that inhabit the Kingdom of Mewni.
History[]
The first Mewmans were a small group of pilgrim humans who discovered a well underneath what is now Britta's Tacos in Echo Creek, California.[1][2] They entered through the well into the Realm of Magic.[2] They lost their memories due to exposure to the Realm of Magic before they washed up on Mewni, through another well that is now surrounded by the Magic Sanctuary.[1]
Soon after they arrived, Glossaryck, who was time-traveling with Meteora, arrived and told them of who they were to be, bestowing one of them with the Royal Magic Wand, establishing the rule of the Butterfly Kingdom. He told them to huddle around a stump for shelter from an oncoming storm, an event now celebrated yearly as Stump Day.[1]
The Mewmans then went on to settle and colonize Mewni. The Monsters, indigenous to Mewni, attempted to claim back the land being stolen from them. The Queen at the time used her magic to transform the Mewman peasants into a powerful army, and they drove the monsters away in an event now celebrated as "Mewnipendence Day" or "the Great Monster Massacre".[3] The Monster-Mewman conflict has continued ever since, with the Mewmans continuing to wield the power of magic to colonize Mewni, displacing and oppressing the Monsters.
In "Cleaved", Star Butterfly destroys magic, ending the Age of Magic and the monarchy.[4]
Physical attributes[]
Mewmans for the most part are indistinguishable from humans, but a rare few of them may have some unique characteristics that make them stand out. Typically these distinguishing traits are unique marks on their cheeks and the ability to transform to have multiple arms and butterfly wings.
Some Mewmans, such as Star Butterfly and Moon Butterfly, have marks on their cheeks that change depending on their mood. These marks appear to be magical in nature as they may glow when a Mewman uses large amounts of magical power. The only known Mewmans with these marks on their cheeks are either members of the original Butterfly family bloodline and the family descending from Festivia. The non-Mewman Human boy Marco temporarily exhibits these cheek marks when he uses the royal magic wand. After magic is destroyed, the cheek marks disappear.
At the age humans usually go through puberty, female Mewmans go through mewberty, a metamorphic phase that lasts for several hours. This phase causes the individual to adopt insect-like attributes such as wings and additional arms. The only known exception to this is Dirhhennia Butterfly. In adulthood, Mewmans may transform back and forth between their normal and mewberty appearances, such as Moon Butterfly. Mewmans to exhibit this trait include at least Crescenta Butterfly, Star Butterfly, Moon Butterfly, and Meteora Butterfly.
Cultural attributes[]
The Mewmans of Mewni are governed by a monarchy, ruled by the Butterfly family up until the end of the Age of Magic after the events of "Cleaved". Though they are aware of Earth, most Mewmans have a limited understanding of Earth culture, including school tests and plumbing. There is also a considerable divide between the upper and lower classes, as the Mewnian upper class consists of several levels of castles and the lower class lives in poverty.
According to Star and Marco's Guide to Mastering Every Dimension, the royal lineage of Mewni is "matrilineal", meaning the queen holds more authority than the king, and the throne is handed down from the queen to her firstborn daughter (the only known exception being Festivia Butterfly handing the throne to her second-born daughter Crescenta). As a result, King River Butterfly (born River Johansen) took his wife's last name upon their marriage.
Mewman civilization appears to be as developed as 15th or 16th century Europe. Warnicorns and manticore-drawn carriages are used for transportation, and pig-goats are used as livestock. However, some parts of Mewni have access to advanced technologies like vending machines, indicating that the Mewman's society is mixture of ancient and modern society.
The Mewmans have a low tolerance of monsters; in "On the Job", King Butterfly attempts to stop some from stealing his corn by catapulting fireballs at them. It was however seen that they tried to make peace with them before as shown in "Moon the Undaunted" when they proposed signing a peace treaty with them before Toffee went rogue and took half of a monster army to do what he pleased, including murdering the then-queen Comet Butterfly. In "Butterfly Follies", it is revealed that most Mewmans despise Star for giving the throne back to Eclipsa, due to Eclipsa forbidding them from harming monsters. In later episodes, Mewmans start to have an improved relationship with monsters, but the older generations of Mewmans retain some discrimination, as seen in "Cornball!".
Most Mewmans share a deep love of corn. During the Butterfly-Johansen reunion seen in "Game of Flags", corn is the only foodstuff served, and all the guests eat plenty of it. Also, the only food supplies held in the Magic Sanctuary's vending machine, as seen in "Return to Mewni ," are various forms of corn, suggesting their main diet consists primarily of corn.
As explained in "Face the Music", each Mewman princess is assigned a "Song Day", on which the royal songstrel writes a song about the princess to serve as their official introduction as future queen of Mewni.
The majority of Mewmans speak English as their primary speaking language. A few female royal members, such as Eclipsa Butterfly, can use Low-Mewnian, a language passed down from mothers to daughters.
Known Mewmans[]
- Butterfly family
- Manfred
- Sir Scarsguard
- Mina Loveberry
- Ruberiot
- Foolduke
- Mime Girl
- Johansen family
- King Shastacan
- Dave Lucitor
- Higgs
- Lady Whosits
- Sir Lavabo
- Pie King
- Pie Folk
- Spiderbite family
- Eddie
- Count Mildrew
- Lazlo Marmalade
- Alphonse the Worthy
- Azul Saint
- Gem-robin
Trivia[]
- According to Star vs. the Forces of Evil: The Magic Book of Spells, female Mewmans are also called "Mew-women".
- The book also states that Mewmans in general are fearful of change. This is why they enjoyed the reign of Estrella Butterfly, who did very little during her time as Queen.
- Despite access to modern and advanced technologies, it seems these technologies are not evenly distributed throughout the kingdom. It is possible that Mewmans managed to gain these technologies through the use of dimensional scissors.
- As shown in "Down by the River", most Mewmans are so used to their rulers watching over them that they are almost completely incapable of taking care of themselves.
- Despite Mewmans harboring deep resentment toward monsters, Eclipsa Butterfly and the Size-Shifter Globgor demonstrate that Mewmans and monsters can court one another and procreate.