Monster Rancher 1 unlocking guide
A complete guide to unlocking all ranch upgrades, Trainer ranks, hidden monsters, and full cocooning guide. This guide is valid for both the original 1997 Playstation version, and DX version of the game.
Committee Permission
Many monsters that can be created at the shrine are locked behind in-game events or accomplishments.When you see This CD has a very rare one. You must first get committee permission to breed it. Try Then. You have attempted to create a monster that is locked behind such an event. This guide explains each event to unlock a given monster
Starting Monsters:
The following Breeds are available from the beginning of the game:From the Market:
- Dino, Suezo, Tiger
From CD/CDDB:
- Dino, Disk, Gali, Golem, Hare, Jell, Monol, Naga, Plant, Pixie, Suezo, Tiger, Worm
Upgrades are prompted on May week 4 if you have the funds for the upgrade + a bit extra.
Stable Upgrade | Price | Breeder Rank | Effect |
---|---|---|---|
1st | 2,500 | 2nd | Less likely to run away |
2nd | 12,000 | 6th | -2 Stress each week. Can't be destroyed |
House Upgrade | Price | Breeder Rank | Inventory Slots |
---|---|---|---|
Start | - | - | 8 |
1st | 2,000 | 2nd | 10 |
2nd | 3,000 | 3rd | 12 |
3rd | 8,000 | 4th | 14 |
4th | 12,000 | 6th | 16 |
Breeder Rank | Beat Official |
---|---|
1 | E |
2 | D |
3 | C |
4 | B |
5 | A |
6 | S |
7 | 1x B4 (S) |
8 | 2x B4 (S) |
9 | 3x B4 (S) |
10 | 4x B4 (S) |

Unlock Ape
- Explore the Hartville Jungle and find a Magic Banana.
- Then you need to spoil two monsters* and freeze them.
- Combine the TWO spoiled monsters while using the Magic Banana to make an Ape.
Once you have made an Ape, you will have access to the rare Apes, /??? subs, on CDs in the original, and all Ape breeds in MR1DX from the shrine.
(* Consider Apple Cakes for speedy spoiling)


Unlock Scribble
- Raise a pure Monol (Monol/Monol) and get fame over 80.
- Drop the fame to under 65 by competing in a low-level tourney. There is no Monster Grade requirement, but the fastest way to do this is by:
- Compete in E or D grade tournaments until you're over 80 fame and monster is D grade.
- After, Fight in one E grade tournament. Win or Lose, Fame should drop well below what is required.
- When you return to the ranch, there will be graffiti on the monol and it will have transformed into a Scribble.
- If you have one already, Raise a High Fame monster for at least 1 week so that the game registers the Fame of the monster. Say, the week before a tournament, and rest or drill or whatever, so long as the very next week is a tournament the Monol can participate in
- Re-freeze your popular monster and bring out the Monol the week of a tournament, and fight in that tournament.
Scribble Unlock Bug
for 1997 Original game:
A Minor convenience: You can make a scribble without having to raise fame to 80+ and drop it.
The game registers a monster's Fame value at the end of a week
Assuming you did not roll over into another week prior, the game has stored your first monster's fame as the starting Fame value, then when your monster fights in a tournament and gets a small bit of Fame, the game sees this as the Monol has lost Fame, and should turn into a scribble.

Unlock Doodle & Sketch
- Follow the steps to make a Scribble
- Combine any other monster with a Scribble to create a Doodle (Or a Sketch[1]).
Once you have made a Doodle, they will be available from CDs in the original, and Doodle breeds in MR1DX from the shrine.
*Mechanically this is actually the sum of Fear and Spoil of both monsters. Loyalty caps out at 100, but Fear and Spoil can climb to 100 each, so if you have a 100 loyalty monster and a 0 loyalty monster, it's still possible to see Doodle as the result if the first parent is maximum Spoil and Fear (which combined is 200 points even though Loyalty itself cannot go higher than 100).


Unlock Dragon
- With a B Grade monster, In the 4th week of April compete in the B level Trial Cup. One of the 3 opponents will be a Dragon. Win this tournament.
- Now you need to beat the Official Level B Cup so that your monster is at exactly A Class.
- After your monster moved up to A Grade you will be invited (on July week 1) to compete in a once a year Level A Cup in the 4th Week of August.
- This will be a one on one battle against a Dragon. When you win you will receive the "Dragon Tusk" item.
- Combine a Stinger (Naga/Dino) and a Grape (Dino/Naga) with the Dragon Tusk to make a Dragon.
Once you have made a Dragon, the rare Dragons/??? subs are available on CD in the original, and most Dragon breeds in MR1DX from the shrine.
(In DX, sub of Gali, Golem, and Henger are unavailable from the Shrine in MR1DX and must still be combined for)


Unlock Ghost
- Wait until a monster dies*. You can give it a funeral if you like or not, the outcome will not be affected.
- Get any newborn monster (from market/shrine etc.) that has never previously been to the Ranch. (Thawing a frozen raised monster will not work.)
- Enter this new monster into any tournament within the next 15 weeks and you will have a 1 in 16 chance of getting that monster cursed.
- You do not need to win. In fact you can forfeit all fights to speed things up! - If it is cursed there will be a mark on it, and Holly will comment on it to point it out.
- Once your monster is cursed then combine him with any other monster to make a Ghost.
Once you have made a Ghost this way, the rare types, /??? subs are available on CD in the original, and all Ghost breeds in MR1DX from the shrine.
(* To intentionally kill a monster quickly, Shrine any monster with very low starting stats (low LIF and DEF is the key), use Hard Work to drop DEF to 1, then get 1-shot in a tournament. When receiving more than double your total health in a single attack your monster should be killed, and with only 1 DEF you should be hit for a huge amount)


Unlock Henger
- During the Reno Expeditions, find each of the four Doll Pieces (R & L Arm, R & L Leg). This may take you multiple attempts and multiple monsters to complete this.
- Get any monster to Grade A (not higher), your monster will be invited to the Winter Invitational Tournament.
- Win the Winter Invitational Tournament and you will get the Doll Head as the prize. The five pieces will put together for you and you will get the Clay Doll.
- Take an intelligent monster carrying the Clay Doll (Intelligence of 600+) to the Reno Expedition to read the obelisk. (A large POW obstacle blocks the obelisk. If you have cleared this once before it is permanently removed)
- A circular mark will appear on the monster if it is successful at reading the Stone Tablet.
- Freeze this monster as soon as you're able, then combine the marked monster with any other monster using the Clay Doll to make a Henger.
Once you have made a Henger the rare types, /??? subs, will be available on CD in the original, and all Henger breeds in MR1DX from the shrine.
Reno Expedition

Reno Expedition

Reno Expedition

Reno Expedition

Tournament Prize

Final Combining Item

(required)

MR1DX Combining Exploit -- Easy Henger Unlock
After you Unlock Magic , create TWO Gangsters (Magic/Henger) at the Shrine.Quick Reference for English: Title: Ezege, Artist: Phyno
- Combine both Gangster (Magic/Henger)
- The Combination Calculator shows it MUST be done on any of the following dates:
- Feb 3 or 4, Apr 4, Jun 1, 2, or 4, Jul 4, Aug 4, Sep 1, 3, or 4, Nov 2 or 4, Dec 4.
- Combination result: Henger/Henger
- Shrine now allows you to create any Henger going forward.
It reported to KoeiTecmo on 12/31/2021. It is possible that it may be patched some time after this date, but is still working as of patch 1.0.0.2
This is an exploit based on how combining works in MR1, which forces Henger as the result on certain dates and there's no built in check to give you something else even if Henger is locked.

Unlock Magic
- Find the Old Mirror in the Titus Expedition.
- Use the Old Mirror when combining a Gali/Gali and a Monol/Monol to make a Magic.
You may also use a Gali/??? and Monol/??? as the parent monsters.
Once you have made a Magic they will be available from CD in the original, and all Magic breeds in MR1DX from the shrine.
There is an In-Game explanation of this process if you do the following, but it is NOT required to witness the explanation to unlock Magic: Get any monster to A Class. If you have an Old Mirror in your inventory, On September Week 1 your monster will be invited to the Gold Cup Tournament which takes place November Week 4. Win this tournament and you will learn the secret of breeding a Magic Monster).


Unlock Nya
The soonest you can receive the Nya Doll is April 1, 1025, but this date can be heavily delayed based on your visits to the item shop and how the Item shop introduces new items.
- Visit the Item Shop (Immediately as soon as you start a new game, or as soon as possible)
- 25 years (or later) after your first visit to the item shop, the Cat Doll should be available to purchase.
Reasons for Delay:- There are 5 items at the shop that show up before the Nya Doll is made available.
- Items are released every 200 weeks after you've been shown the latest item. If you haven't visited the shop while a new item is waiting to be announced, all of the remaining items are delayed until you have visited the shop to allow the next 200 week countdown to begin.
- Combine any two monsters and use the Cat Doll to make a Nya. Once you have made a Nya they can be obtained from CDs in the original, and all Nya breeds in MR1DX from the shrine.
Once you have made a Nya, the rare types, /??? subs, are available on CD.

Some sites mention that the Cat Doll can be found in the Titus Temple.
Since 1997, No proof of any kind has ever been publish or recorded, and no other data mining/gathering community in English or Japanese has found this to be true. This is an unreproducible myth that has persisted since the 90s, and most MR sites are just copy/pasting old information.
- The cocooned monster gains +100 weeks of lifespan.
- The cocooned monster retains the Stat Gains and Will Regen of the original worm.
- The resulting cocooned monster is random (Save first and try again until you get the desired monster!)
- On June, week 4, your worm will cocoon under the following conditions:
- Worm must be in 3rd year of life
- Worm must be Grade C, D, or E
- Worm must have 80+ Loyalty (untested at <80)
- Worm must have low stress & Fatigue on the 4th week of June.
(Recommend: Feed 2x Mint Leaf + 2x Taffy + Rest on week 3)
- With the conditions met your worm can cocoon into one of the following:
- Gali, Golem, Hare, Jell, Monol, Naga, Pixie..
.. with a sub-breed of Worm.
- Gali, Golem, Hare, Jell, Monol, Naga, Pixie..
Tech Carry-overs:
MR1 Worm Cocooning Tech Information
Choose |
|
Techs | Techs After Cocooning |
Worm (Any-Subbreed) | Style |
Bite, Pierce (Basic) | Scratch, Kick (Basic) |
Double Whip (Hit 2) | Holy Flash (Hit 2) |
Whip (Hit 1) | Flash Bomb (Hit 1) |
Throw (Heavy 2) | Fire Wall (Heavy 2) |
Splash (Special 1) | Blizzard (Special 1) |
Poison Smoke (Ranged 2) | Demon Bash (Ranged 2) |
Pierce (Heavy 1) | Flame (Heavy 1) |
Razor Bite (Wither 1) | Lightning (Wither 1) |
Back Drop (Wither 2) | God Anger (Wither 2) |
Poison Spit (Ranged 1) | Demon Punch (Ranged 1) |
Kirimomi (Special 2) | Evil Tantrum (Special 2) |