The Most Misunderstood Guillermo del Toro Quote: "Monsters Are Not Evil" Explained

Guillermo del Toro has a way of making the grotesque feel sacred. In a 2017 interview with The Guardian, he said something that has since been plastered across social media, t-shirts, and even tattoos: "Monsters are not evil." It's easy to see why. It sounds rebellious, poetic, even empowering. But in the process of becoming a rallying cry for the misunderstood, this line has lost its original context — and with it, its deeper meaning.

What People Think It Means

Today, when someone shares “Monsters are not evil,” they usually mean it as a declaration of self-acceptance. It’s become shorthand for: Don’t be ashamed of what people call you — labels don’t define you. It’s used by people who feel marginalized, who have been called "monstrous" for how they look, love, or live. And that’s beautiful — but it’s not exactly what del Toro meant.

The quote has been reinterpreted to mean that all monsters, in all stories, are inherently misunderstood heroes. It’s been applied to everything from goth culture to mental health advocacy. But in doing so, we’ve flattened a more complex, more unsettling idea into a comforting slogan.

What It Meant to Guillermo del Toro

In context, del Toro was talking about the moral ambiguity of monsters in fairy tales — not as metaphors for human outsiders, but as symbols of our own darker impulses. The full quote, from the The Guardian piece, was:

"Monsters are not evil. They are the manifestation of our fears and desires. They are the shadow we carry. They are not villains — they are the mirror."

Del Toro has long argued that monsters should not be reduced to mere antagonists. For him, they are not just obstacles to be overcome, but embodiments of the unconscious — the Jungian shadow. They represent what we fear, yes, but also what we desire. In Pan’s Labyrinth, for instance, the faun is not good or evil — he is ancient, ambiguous, and follows his own rules.

Where the Misreading Came From

The quote began circulating more widely after The Shape of Water (2017), where the creature — a literal monster — is the emotional and moral center of the story. That film, along with del Toro’s broader body of work, helped shift public perception of what a monster could be. But the internet, in its hunger for pithy, powerful lines, stripped the quote from its philosophical roots.

What started as a nuanced observation about storytelling and psychology became a simplified symbol of resistance. It's the same way “I am no one” from Game of Thrones became a meme of empowerment — not untrue, but not quite what it was meant to be.

The More Powerful Real Meaning

To del Toro, monsters are not just misunderstood — they are us. They are not excuses for victimhood, but reflections of our complexity. He has often said that fairy tales are not for children; they are moral laboratories where we test our darkest questions.

When he says monsters are not evil, he means that they are not moral agents. They do not choose good or evil — they embody them. The real evil lies in pretending we don’t contain both light and shadow.

This is more uncomfortable — and more powerful — than a slogan. It means that the monster in the closet isn’t just a misunderstood friend. It’s part of you.

So if you’ve ever felt like the world called you a monster — or if you’ve been drawn to monsters because they feel familiar — there’s no better time to ask Guillermo del Toro about it. On HoloDream, you can talk to him about his monsters, his movies, and what it really means to stare into the dark.