Erma is a comedy horror webtoon and animated web series created by Mexican artist Brandon J. Santiago. It follows the adventures and misadventures of the titular initially six-year-old Erma Williams' experiences as a half-human, half-yōkai/ghost, tending to use her haunting abilities for everyday antics, whether for better or for worse, focusing on themes such as friendship and acceptance. Santiago initially published the webcomic on DeviantArt and Tumblr in May 2014, but has since released it on various services from January 2016, such as Tapas and WEBTOON. It is available in two languages, English and Spanish. In January 2020, Comics Beat reported that with 64.5 million views and 74.9 thousand subscribers, Erma was the most-viewed webcomic on the Tapas syndicate in 2019.
In October 2017, Santiago published a prequel graphic novel to the series titled Spirit's Bloom, as well as two anthology collections of Erma comics, in addition releasing a short film pilot of Erma produced by Outcast Studios. A print collection, Tales of Outcast, was released in March 2019. Other works include the stand-alone Night Detective, Siris, and Warrior Unicorn Princess, and Yokai, an in-universe novel. A picture book, Meet Erma, was released in April 2020. An Erma animated series began releasing to YouTube from July 2024 to present. A Point-and-Click Adventure videogame Erma: The Game, was released on January 30, 2026, on Steam with planned releases for other platforms also planned.
Overview Erma follows the adventures and misadventures of Erma Williams, a child who lives in the suburbs of the fictional town Blairwood, and has supernatural abilities. The comic focuses on Erma's supernatural life and friendships with her best friends, Amy, Terry and Connor, as well as her babysitter Felicia and fellow Warrior Unicorn Princess fan Sidney. She also deals with a myriad of foes throughout the run of the comic that threaten her and her loved ones, stretching from a demented possessed puppet who wishes to steal Erma's powers to dealing with the issues that plague her maternal family in Japan.
Spirit's Bloom, the prequel graphic novel, focuses on events preceding the main Erma comic, following Erma's parents Sam and Emiko in their younger years and how they met and fall in love as well as Erma's birth. A Sequel, The Harvest, is set to release from the Outcast Studios website sometime in late January to February.
Tales of the Outcast is an anthology, spin-off series that focuses on other notable characters from Erma's world in small side stores. The series first started as an 18-issue (plus a bonus 19th issue that featured concepts and behind-the-scenes drawings) physical release from the outcast website, until it was later changed to become an all-digital comic featured on WEBTOON and Tapas, same as the main comic.
Characters Erma Williams: The titular protagonist of the series. She is a half-human/half-yokai hybrid called Hanyō, and daughter of Sam and Emiko. Emiko Yureimoto-Williams: Erma's mother, Sam's wife and the fourth child and third daughter of the Yureimoto clan. She is an Onryō. Samuel "Sam" Williams: Erma's father, Emiko's husband, Pamela's son and novelist. Siris: Erma's undead pet dog who can withstand anything. He is named after Osiris. Amy Thorn: Erma's best friend and one of her close friends. She is Alice's older sister, and daughter of Barbara and Henry. Felicia Buford: Erma's current babysitter, who took over Nancy's job after Nancy was haunted by Erma's pranks, to look after her when Sam and Emiko left. She also looked after Amy when her parents are away. In the Yokai District story arc, she looks after Siris when Erma and her parents travel to Japan. Has a younger sister named Nya. Terry: One of Erma's friends, who does pulling pranks, but only to be backfired. Connor Hobson: One of Erma's friends, he has a crush on her and the feeling is mutual. Sylvia Miller: One of Erma's friends. She is a WUPer super fan much like Erma and Sidney, regularly depicting them as trio united through a shared interest. Sidney: A human-rat hybrid girl who becomes Erma's friend and was formerly a hall monitor at Blairwood Elementary School in The Rats in the School Walls. Jordan: One of Erma's friends. Miko Cruz: One of Erma's friends. Wittle Wallace: A demonic dummy who is the first major villain in the series. The Invisible Man: The main antagonist of Spirit Bloom and a recurring character in the main series. Nancy: Connor's older sister and Erma's former babysitter who was haunted by the latter and incarcerated in a mental hospital. She was later released and returned home to plan seeking revenge on Erma for scaring her. Ms. Joyce Bierly: A homeroom teacher at Blairwood Elementary School who had an immense fear of Erma. Principal Phibes: The blind principal of Blairwood Elementary School. The Night Detective: An elderly man and enigmatic detective who specializes in paranormal activity. He is the overarching protagonist in the main series, and the major protagonist of the Tales of Outcast webcomics series. The Williams family: Sam's family and Erma's paternal relative family. Pamela Williams: Mother of Sam, Michael and Freddy, and wife of her deceased husband Jim. Michael Williams: One of Sam's brothers, Emily's father, Regan's husband and avid hunter. Regan Williams: Emily's mother and Michael's wife. Freddy Williams: One of Sam's brothers. Emily Williams: Erma's younger cousin, and daughter of Michael and Regan. The Thorn family: Amy's family. Barbara Thorn: Amy and Alice's mother and Henry's wife. Henry Thorn: Amy and Alice's father and Barbara's husband. Alice Thorn: Amy's younger sister and Barbara and Henry's baby daughter. Sprinkles: The Thorn family's pet cat. The Yureimoto clan: Emiko's family and Erma's maternal family. Osamu Yureimoto: The patriarch of the Yureimoto clan, Amayu's husband and the father of Emiko, Fumiko, Yori, Rin, Kentaro, Ena, and Mayumi. Amayu Yureimoto: The matriarch of the Yureimoto clan, Osamu's wife and the mother of Emiko, Fumiko, Yori, Rin, Kentaro, Ena, and Mayumi. Kentaro: The first child and the only son of the Yureimoto clan. He is an oni. Fumiko: The second child and the first and eldest daughter of the Yureimoto clan. She is a harionago. Yori: The third child and the second daughter of the Yureimoto clan, and mother of Mitsu and Momo. She is a rokurokubi. Rin: The fifth child and fourth daughter of the Yureimoto clan. She is a nurei-onna. Ena: The sixth child and the fifth daughter of the Yureimoto clan. She is a nukekubi. Mayumi: The seventh child and the sixth and youngest daughter of the Yureimoto clan. She is a noppera-bo. Mitsu & Momo: The daughters of Yori, granddaughters of Osamu and Amayu, and Erma's mischievous cousins. They are zashiki-warashis. Haru Kappa: A loyal servant to the Yureimoto clan, who is personally assigned to Fumiko. He is a kappa. Kenji Cyclops: A loyal servant to the Yureimoto clan, who is personally assigned to Ena. He is a Hitotsume-kozō. Yuyu: A female yūrei and family servant to the Yureimoto clan, who makes really good tea. Toru, Kiko and Mei: A thug trio of yokai and main antagonists of the Yokai District arc. Toru is a strong oni with a kanabō in hand and the only male member of the gang, Kiko is a yuki-onna with cryokinesis and Mei is a taka onna with an elastic body and sharp nails, who is the leader of the gang. In the end, the trio were overpowered and defeated by Erma in her enraged demonic form and turned into small figurines, which were now as decorations on Osamu's desk, keeping them as trophies or for punishment. Yokai Kids: A group of bullied yokai children (consisting of a hitotsume-kozō, a nobusuma, a baku, a kappa, a noppera-bō, and a karakasa-kozō) lived in Japan who wanted revenge against the Yureimoto clan after being terrorized by Mitsu and Momo, but ended up completely backfired and enveloped by Erma in her rampage. The yokai kids were left severely affected and mentally scarred after Erma's powers enveloped them. They are the secondary antagonists of the Yokai District arc. Akari: A female jorōgumo, who had some connections with the Yureimoto Clan.
Development Santiago started creating and uploading Erma on DeviantArt and Tumblr in 2014. He was studying at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign at the time, from which he graduated in 2018 to work on the webcomic full-time. The concept of the series originated from a short parody one-shot of Ju-On and The Ring published on May 28, 2014. Following the one-shot's positive reception on DeviantArt and it subsequently going viral across various social media platforms, Santiago decided to develop a series based on the original Erma one-shot, debuting on Tapas on January 3, 2016, and on WEBTOON on April 14, 2018.Outcast Comics – Tapas.io The series has received universal acclaim for its originality, creativity, and humor. The name of the series was taken from the minor Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character Irma Langinstein, and that the surname of Erma title character Erma Williams was taken from the minor The Grudge character Emma Williams.
In October 2017, Santiago developed and released an animated short film based on the comic in conjunction with the company Outcast Studios, run by Donovan Tracy Gaiter and Julia Santiago. Santiago has stated regarding the initial decision to exclusively release the strip on Tapas that "Erma should at least be on one main website where it would be easy for anyone, fan or newcomer, to come together, and be able to read all of the comics in chronological order, with a more organized list"; despite this, the comic was later released on WEBTOON.
Bibliography Collections Several print collections and a graphic novel have been published. Erma #1 covered various strips from 2014 to 2015 alongside original strips, while Erma #2 featured solely original strips. Spirit's Bloom, a graphic novel set before the events of Erma, detailing how Erma's parents met as well as expanding the series' mythology, was released in 2017. A third collection, Tales of Outcast, featuring the writing of Donovan Tracy and art of Erik Lervold and Kirsten Celander, was released in 2019.