User:U1056662/Monsta X

post-Peer Review draft

2014–2015: No Mercy, Formation, and debut

The group was formed as the result of a survival program called No.Mercy, which was launched by Starship Entertainment and Mnet in December 2014. It consisted of 10 episodes and aired Wednesdays 11PM on Mnet. The premise of the show is that 12 trainees (13 after I.M  joins the competition in episode 8) compete against each other through various performances and are ranked from 1-12 (1 being the best and 12 being the worst). They also have to wear a nametag with their ranking that changed every time a new ranking is announced. For the show the participants worked directly with the artists of Starship Entertainment including Rhymer, San E, Giriboy and Genius Nochang. They also served as judges, along side with Hyolyn, K.Will, and Soyou. For the concluding mission, nine of the remaining members had to form three groups of three and the final seven members of the group, Shownu, Wonho, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Jooheon, and I.M, were determined on the last episode of the show.

No Mercy also led to the 2014 spin-off web series “Deokspatch”, which was meant to showcase a more casual and lighthearted side to the competition in order for people to get to know the trainees better. It premiered on Dec 15, 2014. On May 14, 2015 it continued on as “Deokspatch X” and as "Deokspatch X²" on October 1, 2015. These seasons focused solely on newly formed Monsta X participating in variety show activities.