In a 2013 interview with GirlGamer.com, series co-creator Matt Bozon stated that the concept behind the title character came from his wife, Erin, who named her after a kid at a summer camp that she worked at. Matt and Erin then started bouncing ideas off of one another to develop the series' setting, lore, and other characters, with Erin particularly coming up with Shantae's signature transformation ability.

In the same interview, Bozon claimed that Shantae's hair-whip attack was his idea, and that he was inspired by Erin's own long hair, which he claimed would frequently swipe his face whenever she turned around. However, in another interview with The Mary Sue two years later, he stated that Erin came up with the concept, detailing it in her first sketches of the character.