'Human Resources' Monster Guide: Here's A Helpful Who's-Who of All The New - and Returning - Creatures In The 'Big Mouth' Spinoff
It's finally here! The long-awaited spinoff of Netflix's Big Mouth, Human Resources, finally premieres today, and it's presenting us with a whole new world we've never seen before - except, you know, in those couple episodes of Big Mouth.
Human Resources will fill out the roles of creatures like the hormone monsters and lovebugs we've already come to know from the original show, expanding beyond what their roles are in the lives of children and teenagers and into new territory; Territory that includes big, emotional adult topics like marriage, pregnancy, your job, parenting, and more.
Of course, with a new world also comes new monsters: You didn't think we'd met everybody who works to make the people of Big Mouth what they are, did you? We're going to explore deeper into the jobs of characters we've barely touched on, like depression kitties and ambition gremlins, as well as new guys we've literally never seen before.
If you feel like you need a workplace index to keep track of all these different monsters and their functions, don't worry: We've made this handy cheat sheet to all the monsters in the Human Resources universe.
Hormone Monsters
We already know all about the hormone monsters - these pesky, sexually-deviant friends show up at the start of puberty to make life complicated...and a little more fun. They're in charge of all the sexual feelings and urges in the brain - but as we also know from the first few seasons of Big Mouth, they're only one half of what makes up attraction.
The other half comes from...
Lovebugs
These glowing guys and gals and...well...bugs...are in charge of all the feelings of love. If they glow, that's how you know - but it's not just romantic love that they have jurisdiction over. As we'll see in this first season of Human Resources, lovebugs are also in charge of people's love for things like their children and friends - and when they're not doing their jobs, those relationships can take a turn too.
Anxiety Mosquitos
Here's another friend who's returning from the original show: Anxiety mosquitos are the pesky little buggers that whisper in your ear everything that could be wrong in a situation. They're the voice of your insecurities, your doubts, and your fears...but as we'll see in this show, they don't always have a negative role to play. Sometimes anxiety is there for a reason: It helps keep you from making dangerous decisions.
Shame Wizards
We're going to see a lot of expansion on shame wizards this season, because although we already know Lionel, voiced by David Thewlis, Human Resources has two big name guest stars also coming on as shame wizards (or wizardesses, if you wanna get gender-y about it): Helen Mirren and Lupita Nyong'o.
Shame wizards appear in situations where a person feels...you guessed it...shame, or guilt, about something they've done - or even just something they're thinking about, sometimes. We'll learn this season that different shame wizards have different styles and specializations, too.
Depression Kitties
We all remember Kitty from her work with Jessie in the first few seasons of Big Mouth, but she's not the only depression kitty in town.
Depression kitties sort of serve as freelancers on different humans' teams: They're not always there, they usually show up when another monster isn't doing their job properly. It could be that a lovebug is too distracted to help them form meaningful connections, or that an ambition gremlin is too distracted to make them go for their goals - but no matter what the cause, eventually a depression Kitty will show up and coax the human into a cuddly sadness cacoon.
Ambition Gremlins
We've seen the ambition gremlin once or twice before on Big Mouth, but they haven't gotten all that much screen time. Ambition gremlins are the part of your monster team in charge of encouraging you to dream big, and buckle down to chase your goals. They're frequently at odds with many of the other monsters on the team, who are more concerned with desire or self-preservation to see to big picture goals like ambition gremlins do.
Luckily, there's also...
Logic Rocks
Logic rocks are a brand new character, and the steady center of the brain teams in Human Resources. They're in charge of logical processes: Organization, planning, problem-solving, et cetera. They're probably the least emotional member of any team: When the other members freak out, it's on the logic rocks to stay calm and look at just the facts - emotions don't figure into their processes as much as they do for the others.
Addiction Angels
Another brand new character; not every person has an addiction angel. Like depression kitties, they only show up when it's necessary: You guessed it, they get to take charge of the minds of those who are addicted to things - usually alcohol or drugs, but not always. Addiction angels are concerned about having a good time and never feeling anything else - because if they do, the whole system might fall apart.
Need Demons
Okay, so Netflix hasn't actually released images of these lil guys yet, but the one we talk the most to in the show looks a lot like one of these worm-on-a-string things.
Need demons are the first creature that exist in our brains when we're born, and they control only the body's most basic needs - hunger, tiredness, bathroom breaks, general bodily comfort. When you feed a need demon and give it what it needs, it turns into a bigger scribble - when you starve it by putting all other needs before your own, what you get is the little worm guy.
For example, a newborn baby would have a huge, hungry need demon; the mother who is taking care of him, conversely, would have one of these pitiful skinny ones.
