Momoko Shigeno first appeared as Momoko Hoshino, a nursery school teacher who cared for young Goro Honda. She began a relationship with Goro's father, Shigeharu Honda, and became engaged to him. After Shigeharu's sudden death, she chose to adopt Goro as her own son rather than leave him without a parent. She raised him as a single mother for several years before marrying Hideki Shigeno, Shigeharu's best friend and former teammate, at which point she took the name Momoko Shigeno. With Hideki she went on to have two biological children, Izumi and Daigo Shigeno. Her background as an educator and her experience of loss shaped her into a deeply patient, nurturing, and resilient person. Her primary motivation has always been the well-being of her family. She is consistently supportive of Goro's baseball dreams and later of Daigo's own path in the sport, even when their ambitions cause personal or financial strain. She provides a warm and stabilizing presence in the Shigeno household, often acting as a mediator between her strong-willed husband Hideki and their children. Within the story, her role is primarily that of a mother and grandmother. She appears in the main series as a supporting character, and in Major 2nd she is seen as an older woman, now a grandmother to Goro's children. This later portrayal shows her as still kind-hearted and caring, though she has aged visibly, becoming softer in appearance with gray hair and glasses. Her relationship with her husband Hideki is one of long-established affection and gentle humor, often contrasting his more serious or proud demeanor with her calm practicality. She maintains a close bond with Goro, who deeply respects her for the sacrifices she made for him. Her development traces a journey from a young woman whose life was disrupted by tragedy into a steadfast maternal figure who anchors her family across two generations. While she does not possess any combat or athletic abilities, her notable strength lies in her emotional intelligence, her capacity for forgiveness and adaptation, and her unwavering commitment to creating a stable and loving home.