Origin

When the Hunter of Monster Special Force started targeting monsters around the world, including Monster Island, the Legion of Monsters rose up to fight back. They rounded up the monsters and led them into the Morlock Tunnels, which they followed to an underground cavern they turned into their new refuge, Monster Metropolis.

Creation

The Monster Metropolis debuted in Punisher (2009) #11 by Rick Remender and Tony Moore

Major Story Arcs

Franken-Castle

When Punisher was killed, the Legion retrieved the pieces of his body and reassembled it as a Frankenstein-like creature. They had hoped he would join as their strategist, thanks to his military experience. He was reluctant at first, but when the Hunter of Monster Special Force tracked down the city, a young monster boy was killed in front of Frank, angering him.

He eventually agreed to mount a rescue mission to save Manphibian from the assassins’ stronghold. Once freed, Manny allowed the thirst for vengeance to take him over, lashing out at the leader of the assassins. The leader thought he had bested Manny when he shot him in the back of the head, however, his alien physiology places his brain in his neck. While distracted by Castle, Manny ripped him from his special monster hunting armor but showed him mercy to prove he wasn’t a monster.

The rest of the Legion came in afterward and helped Frank and Manny to round up the Hunters. They brought them back to the Monster Metropolis and placed them in prison cells, even though Frank suggested they execute them. Hurt by the fight, Morbius gave Frank a shard of the blood gem they were protecting, the healing properties of which would revert Frank back to normal in time.

The Monster Virus

With the monster assassins gone, Monster Metropolis thrived. The Legion of Monsters became a de facto police force for their underground city. Jack Russell, Manphibian, and N’Kantu are under Morbius as the chief/medical examiner.

They ran into their biggest case when Elsa Bloodstone showed up with a dead monster. She had been chasing him into a Monster Metropolis portal after he had killed a few people. An autopsy revealed his brain had been tampered with, making him more volatile. The recent jump in erratic behavior among their fellow citizens implied whatever it was was contagious.

It was revealed that the demonic virus dates back to an ancient vampire witch that had previously manipulated Morbius into using his medical training to get the virus back under control. Morbius proved to be a carrier causing this new outbreak. More and more of the monsters became infected.

By releasing their one and only prisoner, The Dimensional Man, for feeding on citizens, he was able to feed on just the virus, curing the infected monsters.

Mrs. Deadpool

At some point, Dracula took over Monster Metropolis. He hired Deadpool to track down the demon intended to be his wife, Shiklah. However, during their journey together, Shiklah fell in love with Deadpool before she ever had the chance to meet Dracula. She ultimately rejected Dracula and kicked him out of Monster Metropolis. She took control of the underground city and made Deadpool her husband.

Battleworld

When the multiverse was destroyed by an incursion, Doctor Doom combined bits and pieces of multiple variants of Earth to create Battleworld. The Metropolis was saved as one of the many districts.

There, Dracula is in charge of the city, and Shiklah married him as intended. Shiklah does not remember Deadpool, but she is not as into Dracula as Dracula would like. Shiklah is searching for an ancient artifact that would allow her to overthrow Dracula, but she is joined by the Howling Commandos, who have been charged by Dracula to make sure she does not succeed.

This is all for naught, since in the meanwhile, Reed Richards had figured out how to re-create the multiverse, setting everything back to normal.

Til Death Do Us...

After the death of a mentally challenged monster by NYC commuters, Shiklah announces plans to take over the city for the injustice, which Deadpool vehemently stands against. Unfortunately, his attempts to round up other superheroes falls on deaf ears, as no one is willing to take him seriously. It wasn’t until Shiklah raided Parker Industries R&D department that Spider-Man finally reached out. Luckily, Parker Industries employed a descendant of Van Helsing, Cami, who still had some of her family heirloom weapons. Wade and Spidey borrowed a few items, including an old stake they could use to track Dracula.

Leaving the city in the trusty hands of the Mercs for Money, Wade, Spidey, and Cami take a Parker Industries private jet to look for Dracula. They track him to Latvia and the house of a little old lady, who turned out to be Dracula’s familiar. They found his secret hovel where he was defeated and weakened. By offering him a challenge, they are able to convince him to return to New York with them and face off against Shiklah.

When they return, they find all of the non-monsters comatose after Shiklah activated a sleep device she stole from Parker Industries. Wade and his allies take on the monsters and are able to turn the tide briefly when Dracula is able to free the vampires from Shiklah’s trance. Luckily, this also gave Machine Man, who was immune to the sleep device, to destroy the device and free everyone from their coma. Unfortunately, Dracula did not fight Shiklah. He proposed marriage instead. After a quickie ceremony, Shiklah and Dracula decide to abandon the conflict they were winning so they could get a jumpstart on their passionate honeymoon.

Deadpool was just relieved that he had a marriage that didn’t end with a corpse.

Venom War

When New York was overrun with zombiotes (mindless symbiotes that multiply by infection), Deadpool, Silence, and Princess took the streets to save people from the horde. Unfortunately, they were easily overwhelmed and sought sanctuary in Monster Metropolis until they could regroup. It was short-lived, however, since they led the zombiotes into the underground city. Once monsters started getting infected, the heroes were forced back into the fight, now with Jimmy Hudson, who had been staying with the monsters ever since he was transformed into a poison.

After securing the underground city, Wade managed to stir the monsters into joining him on the surface to keep the zombiotes back. Unfortunately, the more Jimmy fought the more he gave in to his inner poison. He started lashing out at the monsters and symbiotes allied with Wade, including a near fatal blow to Princess. To keep her alive, she needed to bond with Wade becoming Princess Deadpool. In his new stronger form, they whipped some sense into Jimmy. Together, they wiped out a whole wave of zombiotes that bought them enough time to get survivors to safety.

Unfortunately, they also got the attention of the TVA, who had tipped Deadpool off to Jimmy's location. As a variant in the wrong universe, the TVA needed to take Jimmy into custody, much to Andi's disappointment. Andi and the monsters continued to fight off incoming waves of zombiotes, until the crisis was finally over and Princess was healed enough to live on her own again. In the aftermath, Andi was named ambassador of the surface world to Monster Metropolis.

Notable Areas

Morlock Tunnels: The Morlock Tunnels connect the surface world to the underground city.

Weapon Museum: A museum started by Jack Russell of the weapons they have taken from monster hunters they repelled.

Chapel: Where Molten Man-Thing holds liturgical service

Memorial: A statue commemorating the city guardians: The Legion of Monsters

Dracula’s Lair: Dracula had a mansion built in the city when he appointed himself ruler.

Mage’s Guildhall: A library and workshop for spellcasters