The Mew Mews are young girls who have been injected with the genes of endangered species, giving them the ability to transform into Mew Mews. The project chose endangered species because they felt that these species would have the strongest desire to preserve their kind. The superheroes are biological weapons tasked with fighting the chimera anima, the monsters created when alien parasites infect a living host. They are later called on to fight the aliens that were the source of the chimera anima invasion. The creation of the first five Mew Mews occurred accidentally; the head of the project, Ryô Shirogane, originally intended to inject a chimera anima with the endangered animal genes directly, to see if that would reverse the effects of the infection.
In Tokyo Mew Mew, there are five Mew Mews: Ichigo Momomiya, Mint Aizawa, Lettuce Midorikawa, Pudding Fong, and Zacro Fujiwara, Each Mew Mew has a “mew mark” left on her body, identifying her as a Mew Mew. Mint Aizawa is the second Mew Mew to be introduced in the series. Infused with the genes of a Blue Lorikeet, Mint grows a bird’s tail and a pair of bird wings when she transforms into Mew Mint. Initially depicted as spoiled, snobbish, and self-centered because of her wealth, she is shown to be an empathetic person who cares deeply about her friends as the series progresses. Mint idolizes fellow Mew Mew, Zakuro Fujiwara. 
