Monster Rancher
video game series
Monster Rancher, known in Japan as Monster Farm (モンスターファーム, Monsutā Fāmu), is a Japanese media franchise and series of life simulation role-playing video games created by Tecmo (now Koei Tecmo). The series consists of fifteen games across numerous different video game platforms, and an anime adaptation that aired from 1999 to 2000.
Monster Rancher is a popular series in Japan, and it maintains a cult following elsewhere. As of 2007, the series has sold 4 million copies.
Setting
Monster Rancher is set in a world where monsters exist alongside humans. Monsters were created by God in ancient times, following a disaster that struck the world prior to continental drift. However, the monsters caused problems for humanity. As such God sealed them in "disc stones", small circular stone tablets containing their genomes, and entrusted humanity with them. However, as time passed, the disc stones became lost knowledge.
Eventually, archaeologists rediscovered a disc stone while excavating ancient ruins.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Monster Rancher” is video game series. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Monster, Rancher and video, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “video game series” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3138737. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1999, 2000 and 2007.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Monster Rancher”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Monster Rancher primary sources, Monster Rancher archive and Monster research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Monster Rancher”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Monster Rancher” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.