The MonoBehaviour class is the base class from which every Unity script derives, by default. When you create a C# script from Unity’s project windowA window that shows the contents of your Assets folder (Project tab) More info
See in Glossary, it automatically inherits from MonoBehaviour, and provides you with a template script. See Creating and Using scripts for more information on this.
The MonoBehaviour class provides the framework which allows you to attach your script to a GameObjectThe fundamental object in Unity scenes, which can represent characters, props, scenery, cameras, waypoints, and more. A GameObject’s functionality is defined by the Components attached to it. More info
See in Glossary in the editor, as well as providing hooks into useful Events such as Start and Update.
For a complete reference of every member of the MonoBehaviour class, and its technical details, see the MonoBehaviour script reference.
The MonoBehaviour class allows you to start, stop, and manage Coroutines, which are a way to write asynchronous code which can include waiting for a certain amount of time, or for certain actions to complete, while allowing other code to continue executing.
For more information about coroutines, see the Coroutines manual page and the StartCoroutine method script reference.
The MonoBehaviour class provides access to a large collection of event messages, which allows you to execute your code based on what is currently happening in your project. Here are a few of the more common examples. For a list of them all, see the Messages section on the MonoBehaviour script reference page
Start - called when the GameObject begins to exist (either when the Scene is loaded, or the GameObject is instantiated).
Update - called every frame.
FixedUpdate - called every physics timestep.
OnBecameVisible and OnBecameInvisible - called when a GameObject’s renderer enters or leaves a cameraA component which creates an image of a particular viewpoint in your scene. The output is either drawn to the screen or captured as a texture. More info
See in Glossary’s view.
OnCollisionEnter and OnTriggerEnter - called when physics collisionsA collision occurs when the physics engine detects that the colliders of two GameObjects make contact or overlap, when at least one has a Rigidbody component and is in motion. More info
See in Glossary or triggers occur.
OnDestroy - called when the GameObject is destroyed.