It is possible to make friends with most of the monsters in the game so that they will join your party and fight alongside you. How to do that varies wildly from one monster to another, however. How exactly to befriend a particular monster is likely the most commonly asked question in the game. I'll give short answers here, but for more detailed answers, you can consult the wiki:

https://monstergirlsandthemysteriousadventure.fandom.com/wiki/Monsters

I break this guide into sections for groups of monsters. The names of groups are my own names, and sometimes pick the name of one of the monsters in the group. In the original game, monsters typically came in groups of 3-4 that were recolorings of the same model, and each monster in a group was substantially similar to the others.

There are four basic types of ways to befriend a monster. I'll label them below with a number by recruitment type.

(1) Give her a particular item. You must first be adjacent to her, then talk to her and invite her to join you. She'll request that you give her an item, often in a vague enough way that it isn't completely obvious what she wants. If you give her the item she wants, then you lose the item but she'll join your party. If you give her the wrong item, then she'll reject it and not join you. Giving her the item as a gift without first inviting her and having her request an item will not work.

(2) Make some condition happen in combat, which will cause her to get a yellow star over her head. If you try to invite her to your party before she has a yellow star, she'll reject you. After she has a yellow star, she'll accept.

(3) Make some condition happen in combat, which will cause her to talk to you and ask to join your party. This is similar to (2), but is generally used when the condition would make it impossible for you to talk to her.

(4) Win some mini-game to prove your value. If you invite her to your party, she'll ask you to play the game. If you win, she'll join you. If you lose, she won't let you try again, and you'll have to find some other monster to recruit.

For all four types, you can only recruit monsters with a like level of at least three hearts. If a monster has two hearts, you can bring her up to three by giving her gifts and then recruiting her. A handful of monsters require you to give her gifts until you max her like level.

Sections are in the same order as in the in-game Monster Book. You can find a particular monster that you're looking for by Ctrl+F. This guide is complete as of when it was written in early access, but more monsters will be added later.

In some cases, it may help to make your other friends stay away, or even send them home to get them out of the way. You don't want to go through all the work of doing something complicated to recruit a new friend, only to have one of your other friends kill her before you joins you.

All monsters currently available in permanent dungeons up through Route Fog Origin are listed below. Monsters only available in the Mysterious Adventure dungeon are not yet listed as of this writing.

Unverified monsters are marked with an asterisk. If the in-game description is clear enough, I'll just say what it takes to make friends anyway. In some cases, it is left vague until I can verify it.

Slime, Yellow Slime, Poison Slime, Pink Slime*

(2) For Slime or Yellow Slime, you must let her attack you twice without attacking her back.

(2) For Poison Slime, you must let her poison you. Being poisoned by other means (e.g., eating a Poison Fruit) while standing next to her may also work, but it's easier to just let her poison you.

Pink Slime probably requires having (blue) Slime with you at the level cap, but I haven't tested it yet.

Queen Slime, Honey Slime, Venom Slime

(4) She will grab you and drain MP from you until either she drains all that you had or you tell her to stop. If she drains enough MP from you at once, she'll join you. It takes 30 MP for Queen Slime, 50 for Honey Slime, or 70 for Venom Slime.

Were Rat, Kaso, Dormouse*

(1) For Were Rat and Kaso, give her Sake.

(1) For Dormouse, give her Garlic.

Fairy, Periwinkle, Flame Lily

(2) For Fairy or Periwinkle, let her attack you twice without attacking her back.

(2) For Flame Lily, you have to freeze her, such as with an Ice Grimoire or Ice Pillar Staff.

Were Wolf, Fenrir, Red Fang

(2) Damage each other in combat such that both your health and hers are simultaneously low.

Were Cat, Nekomata, Cait Sith

(1) Give her a Natural Silver Vine.

Aery, Sylph, Tempest*

(2) For Aery and Sylph, maximize her like level by giving her gifts.

For Tempest, you need to be as fast as she is. This is probably the same as the original game, in which case, it means that you must simultaneously make her slow and yourself swift. You cannot slow her by throwing a slow fruit at her due to her Wind Blessing skill, as the fruit will miss. A should work, though.

Alraune, Delphine, Nemophila

(1) Give her a Revival Fruit.

Bee, Slow Bee

(1) Give her some money. This technically isn't an item from your inventory, but if you invite her to join you, she'll ask for payment. Bee demands 3000, while Slow Bee demands 5000.

Myconide, Beniteng

(3) Eat a fruit that causes a condition and become afflicted by that condition when you are next to her. It takes a Seal Fruit for Myconide or a Poison Fruit for Beniteng. The in-game description that says that you must be sealed to recruit Beniteng is incorrect.

Lamia, Medusa

(1) Give her a fox item. A Fox, Fox 2tails, Fox 3tails, or Fox 4tails will commonly spawn as an item on the ground rather than a normal monster. You have to get that item into your inventory. When a lamia asks for an item, if you give her an item that is really a disguised fox, she'll join you.

An item that was not in a room the first time you visit, then spawns later, is likely to be a fox item. Fox items only spawn on floors where foxes do. You can consult the wiki for the complete list of which foxes spawn on which floors of which dungeons.

If you plan on using a fox item as a gift, do not put it inside of a Magic Pouch, as the act of taking it out of the bag will make the fox jump out to attack you. If you aren't certain whether such an item is actually a fox, you can check its info page, which will say "It smells like a beast…" for a disguised fox item.

It is possible to get a Fox or Fox 2tails item into your inventory, though it is more difficult because they jump out to attack when you step on the item. To do this, you have to get a friend to stand on the item, then trade places with her, as neither of those steps will make the fox jump out to attack. That allows you to pick up the item while standing on it.

It is easier to get a Fox 3tails or Fox 4tails item into your inventory, as those foxes will not jump out and attack if you merely walk over and step on the item. They will end their disguise and attack if you attempt to use the item, throw the item, or take it out of a Magic Pouch. But you can get it into your inventory by walking over and stepping on it to pick it up as you would with any normal item.

Lizard, Blue Lizard, Red Lizard*

(1) Give her a sword or shield with enough distinct colors of marks on it. It takes two colors for Lizard, three colors for Blue Lizard, or four for Red Lizard. They must be distinct colors, not just distinct marks. Purple marks count as a color, too.

Trainee Elf, Elf, Dark Elf

(3) For Dark Elf, read an Explosion Grimoire when adjacent to her, so that she is caught in the explosion.

(1) For other elves, give her a particular type of bread. Trainee Elf wants Big Bread, while Elf wants Magic Bread.

Forest Slug, Moutain Slug [sic], Freelance Slug*

(1) Give her a sword or shield that has been sufficiently enhanced. It takes +3 for Forest Slug, +5 for Moutain Slug, or +7 for Freelance Slug

Scorpion, Shaula*

(3) After a floor has fog on it, give items to her until you maximize her like level.

One way to make fog appear is simply by waiting 800 turns. The first fog level doesn't make monsters any stronger, which gives you 100 turns to safely find her, recruit her, and head for the exit. After 900 turns, the second fog level makes monsters much stronger than before. After 1000 turns, the third fog level makes monsters extremely strong, which is very dangerous. Alternatively, if you find a scorpion near the exit, you could use a Jealousy Grimoire to instantly bring the third fog level, recruit her, and head for the exit before you get attacked.

Centor, Faxy

(3) If you defeat her while adjacent to her, she has a small chance of asking to join you.

Cancer, Protecter

(1) Give her a Manicure Package.

Sahagin, Dagon

(4) Win her Quick Draw mini-game. You have to wait until an icon appears on the screen and then react quickly enough. From the text description, it sounds as if Dagon gives you less time to react than Sahagin.

Harpy, Maya Sibayu, Jabberwock

(1) Give her a sufficiently valuable bracelet. For Harpy or Maya Sibayu, any bracelet will do. For Jabberwock, it must have a value of at least 5000 gold.

Griffin, Cockatrice, Quetzalcoatl*

(1) Give her a Manicure Package.

Mandragora, Digitalis

(3) Let her absorb a positive condition from you repeatedly. She can also absorb conditions from your friends, but I'm not sure if this counts. The easiest way to do this is to bring a way to repeatedly apply a positive condition to yourself, such as Immunity Grimoires. Mandragora wants to absorb three conditions, while Digitalis wants four.

Naughty, Imp*, Brownie

(1) Give her a sufficiently valuable item stolen from Tanukichi's shop on the same floor, so that it still has a price tag. For Naughty, any item will do. Imp requires an item worth at least 1000 gold, while Brownie requires one worth at least 5000 gold.

In order to steal an item, you must pick up an item that Tanukichi regards as belonging to her, then leave her shop without paying for it. She ordinary blocks your exit until you pay. You can avoid this by warping (e.g., eating a Teleport Fruit), digging a hole through a wall (e.g., with a Tunnel Staff), or using a Pass Bracelet to cross water if that forms part of the boundary of her shop. You cannot recruit imps from a floor where Tanukichi has not set up her shop.

When you steal an item from Tanukichi, she will leave her shop to attack you. If her shop has two exits, the part-time employee there will also leave to come attack you. Tanukichi is strong in combat (and stronger than in the original game), and a part-time employee will be extremely strong. Furthermore, conditions will wear off of Tanukichi in a single turn, so you can't cripple her with conditions as you can most other monsters.

In addition, before leaving her shop, Tanukichi will employ some other countermeasures. Tanukichi will cause the floor to be flooded with traps, making it far more difficult to move around and escape. She will also disable the use of a Return Grimoire for the remainder of the floor, so that you must reach the exit rather than merely warping home. Attempting to use that grimoire will merely remove it from your inventory but not return you to Hope Village.

If you steal at least 1000 gold worth of items, then Tanukichi will summon many monsters to the floor. These were normal monsters in the original game and also in the sequel at the launch of early access, but were more recently changed to be extremely high level monsters. That behavior may be a bug, but regardless of whether it is intended, it means that you can't wander through rooms where monsters could spawn after stealing an item.

If you steal an item worth at least 5000 gold worth of items, then Tanukichi will also summon two rows of white crystals to surround the floor exit. This forces you to take some turns to destroy those crystals rather than exiting the floor as soon as you reach the exit area, which can get you killed if you have powerful monsters chasing closely behind you. Nevertheless, if you're going to steal at least 1000 gold worth of items, making it go over 5000 to make the crystals appear can actually be helpful, as explained below.

One approach that is fairly reliable is to bring a Light Grimoire, a Telegnosis Grimoire, a Jump Staff, a Tunnel Staff, a Postpone Staff, and a Swap Staff. When you enter a floor where Naughty, Imp, or Brownie spawns, use the two books and check the map to see if Tanukichi also spawned. If not, then close the game, launch it again, and try again.

Once Tanukichi's shop spawns, dismiss your friends and use the Tunnel Staff to dig a tunnel from Tanukichi's shop to the floor exit. It is easier if both the shop and the exit are along the perimeter of the map, as this lets you dig a long tunnel around the perimeter that other monsters cannot enter except at the ends. This will be your escape route for stolen goods. Tanukichi's Increase Traps skill only creates traps in rooms and not in hallways between rooms, so it won't create traps in the tunnels you dig. If you have to pass through normal rooms, you'll also need a Trap Remove Grimoire to remove the traps after Tanukichi creates them.

Next, search through the level for a monster that you wish to recruit with a like level of at least three hearts. If you find one with a like level of two hearts, you can give her gifts to bring it up to three. Once you have found your target, use the Postpone Staff on her, which will teleport her to the dungeon exit and paralyze her there. Next, you may wish to clear any monsters from your tunnel if any have entered, as it will be easier to get away with nothing blocking you.

After this, go to Tanukichi's shop and pick up the item(s) you wish to steal. Stand at the entrance to your tunnel and the Jump Staff to put some distance between you and Tanukichi. Depending on the shape of your tunnel, you may wish to use it multiple times to get away quickly. Don't hit your future friend with the staff, however, as this will damage her and end her paralysis. If any other monsters are blocking your way in the tunnel, you can use a Swap Staff to trade places with them and thus get past them. It is better to use the staff while you are far away from the monster.

Once you reach the paralyzed monster at the exit, talk to her to end her paralysis and invite her to join your party. She'll ask for a stolen item from your inventory. Give her the item you stole and she'll join you. At this point, you should be right next to the exit, so you can readily step on the exit tile on your very next turn and get away.

If you steal at least 5000 gold worth of items, then the row of crystals around the exit tile will seal one end of your tunnel. This ensures that no monsters can get into the tunnel as you run away, which leaves you a clear path to escape, and thus makes the Swap Staff unnecessary. When you reach the crystals, break through them, being careful not to also kill your future friend in the process. Once you reach her, talk to her, ask her to join, give her the stolen item when she requests it, and leave the floor.

Another approach is to attack Tanukichi and defeat her in combat. This worked in the original game, but I haven't tried it in the sequel. If you throw damaging items at her three times, then after the third one, she'll attack you. If you defeat her, you can then loot her shop and befriend monsters at your leisure, and without her deploying countermeasures to stop thieves.

Succubus, Empusa, Hekate*

(2) Make her Charm Kiss skill not work on you. The easiest way to do this depends on which dungeon you're in, but is likely to be either by wearing an Anti-Charm Bracelet or reading an Immunity Grimoire.

Hekate's Upper Succubus skill says that it makes her charm stronger. I haven't tested this, but it's likely the same effect as in the original game. If so, then an Anti-Charm bracelet won't protect you from her charm, but standing next to any of the fairies with the Spirit Blessing skill will. That's just speculation, however.

Were Rabbit, Amazones, Zulur*

(1) Give her an Iron Spear. The spear must be enhanced to +3 or higher for Amazones or +5 for Zulur.

Minotaur, Holstein, Atlas*

(1) Give her a Minotaur Axe that is sufficiently enhanced. For Minotaur, any axe will do, but for Holstein, it must be +5 or better, and for Atlas, +10 or better.

Mermaid, Mellow, Lorelei*

(1) For Mermaid or Mellow, give her Smooth Conditioner.

(1) For Lorelei, give her Sake.

Scylla, Tentacles

(2) Max her like level while you are alone. This is mostly easily done by finding one that you wish to recruit, then sending your friends back to your house before you recruit her.

It isn't entirely clear by what time you must be alone in order to recruit her. It may require sending your friends home before she sees you or even before she spawns. Sending your other friends home before you enter the floor will certainly work. It is also possible to have friends, send them home, and then recruit her on that same floor.

Dryad, Trent*, Gaokerena*

(3) Read a Rain Grimoire while standing next to her.

Owl, Quiet, Dark Owl

(3) Give her an item when your HP is very low. The threshold is probably 1/4 of your max HP. It does not matter what the item is, but only that your health is low when you give it to her.

Were Bat, Bleeding Bat

(3) Read a Dispel Grimoire while standing next to her. Only bats that have been summoned by vampires will be your friends. Were Bat is summoned by Vampire, while Bleeding Bat is summoned by Rich.

Dolls, Automaton

(1) Give her a Small Gear. It is only obtainable by crafting, but the materials to craft it are readily available in the Route Great Fairy Place dungeon. You can craft a Small Gear there and then take it to another dungeon to recruit Dolls.

Gargoyle, Guardian

(3) If you defeat her while adjacent to her, there is a small chance that she will ask to join you.

Kiki Mora, Bloom Maid

(2) Read a Trap Remove Grimoire while you are adjacent to her.

Blue Witch, Purple Witch

(1) Give her a staff with enough charges. This requires synthesizing together multiple copies of the same staff to add their charges, either using a Synthesis Pouch or with help from Pot Fairy. Blue Witch wants 10 charges, while Purple Witch wants 15.

Goblin, Hob Goblin, Goblin Hero

(1) Give her Sake.

Ogre, Ogre Head, Yasha*

(4) Win her power contest. You will have to press up, down, left, or right in the correct order within some amount of time in order to win. The list of directions chosen is random every time to prevent you from just memorizing it and cheating.

The number of direction arrows is determined by the difference between your power and her power. The higher your power and the lower her power, the fewer arrows you'll have to match. Your time limit is determined by your stamina. The higher your stamina, the more time you'll have.

If you're having trouble, then you can make it easier by increasing your power, decreasing her power, and/or increasing your stamina. The easiest way to increase your power is with a Strength Bracelet. You can synthesize together two of them for +6 power. You can also put three of the bracelet marks on a Beautiful Bracelet for +9 power from a single bracelet. You can increase your power by eating Power Fruit, eating Depower Fruit to reset your power to maximum, or putting POW Increase marks on your sword or shield.

You can decrease her power by shooting her with a Depower Arrow. You can also use a Recovery Arrow or throw various Heal Fruits at her to avoid killing her if you need to shoot her with several Depower Arrows successively.

You can refill your own stamina by eating any type of bread, though you should avoid Mold Bread, as that reduces your power. You can increase your maximum stamina by eating Large Bread.

Yukinoko, Yuki Onna

(2) Max her like level and then run into her on your turn. The latter can be done by hitting her with a Pull Staff or Jump Staff. Getting knocked into her not on your turn (e.g., kicked by a Were Wolf or thrown by an Ogre) does not count.

Ghost, Banshee, Spectre*

(1) Give her Cacao Sweets.

Moth, Artemis, Oberon

(1) Give her a sufficiently valuable bracelet. Moth and Artemis require it to be worth at least 5000, while Oberon requires 10000.

Alkeny, Casa, Agnis*

(3) Step in her spider webs enough times and then give her an item. It doesn't matter which item you give her. She seems to want to know that you like her after getting tangled in her webs. It takes two webs for Alkeny, three for Casa, or four for Agnis. It isn't necessary to actually be affected by the webs, so it can be easier to recruit her if you read an Immunity Grimoire first.

Zombies, Ghouls, Draugr*

(2) Attack her without a weapon equipped. Each attack has a relatively small chance of making the yellow star appear, so you might have to defeat several while unarmed before it finally appears for one.

Pot Fairy, Item Eater*

(1) Give her an Elixir. This is currently only available from crafting.

Vampire, Rich*

(4) Let her drain enough health from you. It takes 100 HP for Vampire or 200 HP for Rich.

Seere, Buer*

(1) Give her Smooth Conditioner.

Wyvern, Fafnir*

(2) Bring her health level below 1/4 of its maximum, then make her fall asleep, such as by using a Sleep Grimoire, Sleep Staff, or Sleep Fruit.

I've verified that this works at 20% health (13/65) but not at 40% health (26/65). I'm guessing that 25% health is the threshold, as the game usually uses either 25% or 50% health as the threshold for being low.

Bringing her health very low without killing her is delicate. You may need to unequip your weapon to reduce the damage that you deal. You can also reduce your damage by waiting until she charges her Rushing skill, which causes her to only take 1/3 as much damage as normal.

Dragon, Blue Dragon

(4) Win her power contest. This is the same mini-game as for ogres.

Shi no Tsukai

(2) Improve your reputation to [Very Good] and then max her like level.

In order to improve your reputation, you must persuade monsters to leave without fighting you. If you talk to one and give her enough gifts to improve her like level to five hearts, then you can persuade her to leave without fighting. You have to do this with four monsters to increase your reputation to [Good], and then four more for [Very Good]. Your reputation will slowly decay back to [Normal], however, so you'll need to improve it near the floor where you hope to recruit her.

Fox, Fox 2tails, Fox 3tails, Fox 4tails, Fox 5tails, Fox 6tails*, Fox 7tails

(1) Give her an Epic Aburaage for foxes up to four tails, or Legendary Aburaage for Fox 5tails or Fox 6tails. Legendary Aburaage probably also works for the foxes with fewer tails, but I haven't tried it.

(1) For Fox 7tails or higher, give her a Magic Ball. It doesn't matter which skill the ball grants the monster; any magic ball will do.