| This article is about Mona Vanderwaal, a television character. You may be looking for Mona Vanderwaal (Book Character). |
| “ | I know they’re watching me. I don’t look bad considering.. I like this lipstick. What’s it called? Toffee Tango? They think it’s over. Loser Mona’s going to the nuthouse and those precious liars are going home to sleep with their windows open and their doors unlocked, don’t they know that’s what we want? | ” |
— Mona to Herself in "UnmAsked"
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Mona Vanderwaal is a main character in the television series Pretty Little Liars on Freeform. She is portrayed by Janel Parrish.
Biography
Series
Pretty Little Liars
Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists
Appearances
Pretty Little Liars (92/160)
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Season 1 (11/22) |
Season 2 (15/25) |
Season 3 (15/24) |
Season 4 (13/24) |
Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists (10/10)
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Season 1 (10/10) |
Romantic Relationships
Noel Kahn: Dated/Ex-boyfriend (see "Nona")
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- Started: "It's Alive"
- Ended: "Let the Water Hold Me Down"
- Reason: Noel lost interest in Mona and/or he cheated on her with Jenna Marshall.
Mike Montgomery: Dated/Ex-boyfriend (see "Mina")
First Relationship:
- Started: "Bite Your Tongue"
- Ended: "Cover For Me"
- Reason: Mona admits to Emily that she started dating Mike so she could get closer to Aria Montgomery and find out information for Ezra, but she fell for him and didn't want to drag him into her mess, so she ended the relationship.
Second Relationship:
- Started: "Whirly Girlie"
- Reason: Mike missed Mona so he invited her over for pizza.
- Ended: Possibly between "Game Over, Charles" and "Of Late I Think Of Rosewood"
- Reason: Unknown.
French Man: Boyfriend
- Started: Possibly between the one-year time-jump between "Farewell, My Lovely" and "'Til Death Do Us Part"
- Reason: Unknown, he helped Mona kidnap Alex and Mary, plus, they moved to France together.
Mason Gregory: Hookup (see: Masona)
Relationships
The Liars
Hanna Marin: - Best friends (see "Manna")
After Alison's disappearance, the four girls (Spencer, Hanna, Aria, and Emily) grew apart, and Hanna grew closer to Mona, as they had many common interests. They both loved vogue, they both wanted to be popular and together they gave themselves full makeovers and became the 'it' girls of the school. They love to go to the mall and shoplift. In the season 2 finale, It is revealed that Mona is the elusive A tormenting the girls. However, the two of them started up their friendship again, with Hanna even letting Mona stay with her after she was released from a psychiatric facility. Mona helped Hanna several times, and Hanna learned to trust Mona again even after all she did to her.
Alison DiLaurentis: - Former enemies/rivals (see "Monison")
Alison and Mona have a complicated and long history, mainly due to Alison's antagonistic ways towards Mona while the pair were in High School. Alison often bullied, mocked, and shunned Mona, nicknaming her, "Loser Mona", and turning everyone in the school against her and making her an outsider. This caused Mona to loathe Ali, and she became the infamous villain known as, "A", to punish her and her friends. She planned to kill Alison one night, and followed her out and through the woods. She hit her over the head, but was shocked to see that it wasn't Alison but Bethany Young. Later that night, Mona was driving home when she saw Alison walking. She pulled over and realized that Alison had been buried that night. Mona than gave her a ride to the Lost Woods Resort and told her to run away. Alison the disappeared, and Mona became the original A to punish Alison's friends for bullying her. When Alison returned, Mona was originally afraid, but the girls eventually settled into an understanding after a miniature war took place. Mona then faked her death and framed Alison as the murderer. She did so in the hopes of catching the new A and becoming a hero. However, her plan backfired and she was kidnapped by A and Alison was sent to prison. Alison then helped to find Mona and The Liars, and the two settled into an understanding once more. In the present day, Mona and Alison are friendly towards one another for the sake of Hanna, but still, have a large distrust for one another. Additionally, Mona is the killer of Alison's adoptive sister and biological cousin, Charlotte DiLaurentis. They are no longer enemies and have stopped tormenting one another. They aren't considered friends and mainly tolerate one another when in public settings.
Spencer Hastings: - Friends/rivals (see "Spona")
Mona and Spencer were educational rivals throughout High School, and when it was revealed that Mona was A, Spencer and Mona became enemies. Over the years, they have become friends due to Mona's relationship with Hanna. In many episodes, Mona says things that the Liars don't understand but Spencer can. Spencer also helped the other Liars free Mona from the whole she was in at the Dollhouse. She also agreed to be "friendly" towards Mona for the sake of Hanna.
Emily Fields: - Friendly (see Monily)
Originally, Emily only knew Mona through her negative interactions with Alison. After Alison's disappearance, Emily became a distant friend to Mona due to Hanna's friendship with both of them. When Mona started receiving texts from A, Emily grew closer to Mona but they still weren't considered one another friends. After Mona was revealed to be the infamous A torturing them, Emily didn't trust Mona and never fully had. Years later, Mona helped Emily (and the other Liars) find out information about Charlotte, and Archer, who Alison's sperm donor was and the doctor who performed the procedure and helped her (along with the other Liars) beat Liars Lament. The two are now friendly with one another. Emily doesn't completely trust Mona and probably never will, with Mona wanting to earn Emily (and everyone else's) trust.
Aria Montgomery: - Frenemies (see Monaria)
The pair barely interacted before Alison's disappearance, though Mona knew her as the girl who did nothing to stop Alison's bullying. One day Alison and Aria were walking one day when Mona tried to follow them. She wanted to hang out with the pair. Aria told Alison maybe they should wait, but is convinced to run away from her. Their relationship didn't seem to get any better when Mona started dating Aria's younger brother, Mike. Aria did not trust Mona, due to what she's done in the past. Eventually, Aria warmed up to Mike and Mona's relationship. Years later, Mona was the first to figure out Aria was on the A.D. team. When Hanna brought Mona to Aria and Ezra's rehearsal dinner, Aria was not pleased to see her.
The Perfectionists
Caitlin Park-Lewis: Mona is Caitlin's guide at Beacon Heights University.
Family
Leona Vanderwaal: - Mother/Daughter
Leona and Mona have an interesting relationship, as Leona has only interacted with Mona on a few occasions. Following Alison's return, Leona was afraid that Alison's tormenting and bullying had begun again with her daughter, and confronted Hanna about it. Over the Christmas holiday, they planned to leave town to visit their family. Mona had to stay behind to handle some things but promised to meet her mother there. When Mona was believed to be dead she went after Alison as she believed that Ali had killed Mona and knew where her daughter's body was. When Mona returned to Rosewood from the Dollhouse, Leona picked her daughter up from the hospital and the pair went on a spa trip together. They also visited Saratoga together.
Other Friends
Lucas Gottesman: - Friends and former allies
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Lucas and Mona initially bonded over their mutual hatred for Alison. They both feared Alison resuming her bullying when she returned to Rosewood High following her disappearance. Lucas was a member of "Mona's Army", and helped her attempt to stop Alison from rising to popularity again. Their goal was to stop her from bullying anyone else. Additionally, Lucas was rather nice to Mona when they were both at the bottom of the social rankings in high school. This made Mona feel better when Alison would torment her.
Lesli Stone: - Former friends
Lesli (center) yelling at Mona (left)
Lesli and Mona met when the duo were both patients at Radley Sanitarium. No one knew about the pair's friendship except for Mona's mother, Leona. Lesli first appeared after Mona's faked death and seemed genuinely upset about the fact her friend was dead. She also helped Mona put Alison in prison, by falsifying and exaggerating the evidence for her. However, when Mona returned, Lesli lashed out at Mona and blamed her for the fact that she was now an accessory to Mona's crime (faking her death). In an attempt to make it up to Lesli, Mona tried to steal Lesli's Radley file so that the Liars wouldn't find out that she was in Radley and knew of Charles. Mona failed and this lead Lesli to lash out at Mona and the two consequently stopped being friends.
Mason Gregory/Bad Bishop: - Co-chess player and friends
Notes
- It was unclear whose side she was on; "A"'s side or The Liars'. However, in the Season 5 mid-season finale "Taking This One to the Grave," Mona was revealed to be on The Liars' side as she was helping them find out about Bethany Young.
- It was later revealed that she was helping "A" to make the Liars think that Alison was "A". After the Liars (included Mona) were rescued from "A"'s dollhouse, she returned to being on the Liars' side to help them find out who Charles really is.
- Janel Parrish had a recurring role for the first two seasons, but was upgraded to a series regular for Season 3.
- In "Touched by an 'A'-ngel," we learn that Mona can speak French conversationally, which is also referred to at the end of the episode "Je Suis une Amie." She was also part of Rosewood High French club as we learn in Now You See Me, Now You Don't.
- Mona wanted to be friends with Hanna after she saw her bow after doing a backflip on the trampoline and puking.
- In "The Naked Truth," we learn that Mona can do perfect impressions of people. We also learn that, like Caleb, she is an expert hacker. She was able to easily access the school's private database, even though she did not know the password.
- The lyrics Mona sang in "Kingdom of the Blind," are:
- In the eye abides heart
- Every pure and tender feeling
- All emotions worth revealing
- Through the eyes their charm impart
- which is a song by Beth Nielsen Chapman; the song was written in 1841 and was originally composed in German as “In den Augen liegt das Herz” by Franz von Kobell.
- Mona secretly gave Hanna a website and other words like "Maya knew." and "Not safe."
- In Crazy," Mona says "I miss my dolls." In "The Lady Killer," once Mona gets to visit the new lair, we see her dolls of the girls in the dollhouse and their accessories laid out in front as if she had just been playing with them.
- At the end of the video Mona made in "She's Better Now," Mona is heard talking to an unknown person, who seems hesitant, and asked him/her to back out if they can't take it.
- Although Mona and Hanna broke friends often, they were friends when she died and Hanna was extremely upset as she was crying more than the other girls when Mona was pronounced dead.
- Mona's personality is slowly revolving around Spencer (she joins the Decathlon Team, she starts to dress like her [scholarly and preppy], she listens to classical music, and even "admires" and "respects" her). They even have similar jobs after the time jump.
- Mona's last name was spelled Vanderwall in Season 1 and 2 but it was changed to Vanderwaal in Season 3 for unknown reasons, most likely because that is how Sara Shepard spelled it in the series.
- Mona is the one who convinced Alison to disappear.
- In in Season 5 summer finale, "Taking This One to the Grave", Mona was believed to have been murdered in her home by an unknown assailant.
- In Pretty Isn't the Point, Mike reveals that Mona intended to fake her own death as part of a plan to expose "A", but "A" double-crossed her.
- In Welcome to the Dollhouse, it is revealed that Mona is, in fact, alive and being held captive by "A".
Trivia
- Janel Parrish originally auditioned for the role of Spencer Hastings. After being informed she did not get the part, she re-auditioned for the role of Mona, and got the part.
- In "Never Letting Go," Mona mocks Aria at the fashion show dress rehearsal while Aria is practicing her catwalk: "Are your legs always that short, Aria?" In the same episode, Spencer alludes to Mona being five feet tall. Mona's and Aria's Wikia page both show that they share the same exact height: 5'2"!
- Mona along with Hanna has appeared in character in commercials for TRESemme hair products including TRESemme Climate Control Mousse and TRESemme Fresh Start.
- Mona is up on her Wizard of Oz references, as she tells Lucas in "The Perfect Storm" to ask the wizard to give him a penis. "A" is up on their Wizard of Oz references too, custom designing a fortune cookie that reads "There's No Place Like Homecoming." (Dorothy's words at the end of the film: There's No Place Like Home.") Also, in "Can You Hear Me Now?," "A" sends a flier towards the Pretty Little Liars that reads, "Ding Dong, the Bitch is Dead," a reprisal of the film's song "Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead."
- Janel Parrish revealed in an interview that she did not know she was "A" until a week before they started filming for the finale, but she was always hoping that she was "A."
- Mona is released from Radley in "She's Better Now" which implies what the title meant.
- Mona's favorite Holiday is Halloween, she likes it better than Christmas because it involves more makeup.
- Mona got kicked off the A team at the end of the Season 3 finale and is now considered to be part of the liars.
- "A" puts a doll of Mona with the liars in the dollhouse in "A is for A-L-I-V-E."
- Mona is one of the two female characters with history of mental illnesses. The other one is Meredith Sorenson.
- In "EscApe From New York," Mona formed a group (including Lucas Gottesman, Melissa Hastings, and Paige McCullers) of people who have been mistreated by Alison in the past. It is known as "Mona's Army".
- In 'Til Death Do Us Part , Mona kidnaps Mary and Alex and holds them captive in her own dollhouse in Paris, presumably to make sure they can't start the game again.
Book Comparisons
- Main article: Mona Vanderwaal (Book Character)
Mona [to Hanna]: This sounds totally gay, but if I saw you struttin' it in that dress and kickin' up those heels, I would think about doing you. |
Hanna: We had so much fun last summer. Mona: And some of it was even legal. |
Mona [to Lucas]: You can go now. This beauty doesn't need a beast. |
Mona: I was eating three almonds a day, and you were getting liposuction? |
Mona [to Hanna]: I'm making sure you don't host a pity party for yourself and invite a cheese cake. |
Mona [about her birthday gifts]: Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it. And if not, I'll return it. |
Emily: I can't blackmail a school official. Mona: Honey, you can't be a shark if you're toothless. |
Mona: People are toads. |
Mona: Frankly, I'd like to take that cane and whack her like a pinata. |
Mona [to Spencer]: You're not the only genius in this car. You, bitches, underestimated me. |
Mona: It's easier to forgive an enemy than it is to forgive a friend. |
Mona [to Spencer]: I admire you Spencer, so I'm going to let you choose how this ends tonight. You can join the 'A-Team' or disappear. |
Mona [to Aria and Hanna]: Miss Aria, you're a killer, not Ezra's wife. |
Mona [to Emily, Spencer, and Aria]: Look, I'll take heels over a hoodie any day of the week. But just because I'm not A anymore, doesn't mean I can't recon your asses when I need to. |
Mona: And who's looking cray-cray now, Spencer? |
Mona: Looks like someone's been skipping their anger management class. |
Hanna: You were on the Halloween train dressed like Caleb. Mona: To think we were this close to our first kiss. |
Mona [to Alison]: I don't have to hide, you do. And you're gonna wish you stayed dead. |
Mona [to Aria]: Alison is "A"! And now I can prove it. |
Mona: Game over Alison. I win. |
Mona: Mona? I know it's been a while, but I haven't changed that much, have I? You guys it's me. Alison. |
Mona: It thinks it beat me! But I am still here! I am the one who's winning the game! |
Mona [to Emily]: Seems whatever I do ends up this way. Good intentions that look like trash. |
Mona [to Wren disguised as A.D.]: Are you here to kill me? |
Mona [to Alison outside BHU]: By my calculations, he could be...dangerous. |
Gallery
 Mona Vanderwaal has a photo gallery. |
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References
- ↑ mentioned in 5 Years Forward
- ↑ As seen in "This Is A Dark Ride"