Monster Hunter

This is a /v/ related article, which we tolerate because it's relevant and/or popular on /tg/... or we just can't be bothered to delete it.

Not to be confused with Monster Hunter International.

You like vidya? You like fighting monsters at least twice your size? Want a game that's essentially just bossfights?

Well, good elegan/tg/entleman, do I have the franchise for you.

Monster Hunter is Capcom's franchise of turning classic RPG monster-slaying into a well-paying job, where you are a Hunter sent out on quests to keep the various monsters of the world from causing havoc (or because a particular noble is pissed at one and the local population needs reduced anyway). Despite seeming like your typical fantasy at first glance, the games are notable for taking a (mostly) scientific approach to monsters and making them believable as real creatures (again, most of the time, there are exceptions due to Rule of Cool). You can craft your own gear from the parts of the monsters you slay, too.

It also has a pretty bad live-action movie by the same guy who did the Resident Evil ones (Really Capcom? You didn't learn from the first time round?), as well as a Netflix special that's basically jankily-animated fanservice.

The Lore

Monster Hunter, not being that serious, doesn't have too much lore outside of the monsters themselves. However, there are tidbits that have been revealed over the years.

First off, at some point, there was an ancient civilization running around. They're responsible for a lot of the ruins and shit you can find in the game. Not much is known about them, probably because they were initially just a remnant of scrapped lore (more on that below). They were also the first to make Dragonator tech, aka giant fuckoff pneumatic harpoons which skewer monsters like a kebab. Any modern Dragonator you see in-game was based on the ones they made.

Secondly, there's the Hunter's Guild, essentially an international organization that regulates hunting monsters. Their goal is to balance protecting people with preserving the environment (since having the player repeating quests infinitely be canon would quickly lead to environmental collapse). They're your employer in each game of the series, having you take out quests where you hunt monsters (or do other tasks for the training-wheel quests so you know the ropes). They also have strict rules against poaching, to the point you get offed if you do it. This seems stupid until you realize a poacher could easily piss off an Elder Dragon that could go on to raze a nearby village. Guild Knights are the ones who enforce this rule, being elite Hunters who are trained to also fight other people. The Guild's also kinda shady at times, especially when you get into the territory of Black Dragons.

The Equal Dragon Weapon

Decidedly noncanon (for now, anyway), but it's notable enough to warrant a mention. It's also good shit to spin off a darker take on the series from in case you want to run a campaign in it or something.

Monster Hunter generally has a nonserious tone, being light on the plot and focusing its worldbuilding on making monsters with actual ecology. There's a few exceptions, but this generally has been the case since forever. However, when the series was just being conceived and no one had cut their first tail, it almost went in the opposite direction.

In an artbook, it was revealed that a Grimdark world could have awaited us. A world where the ancient civilization treated monsters, including Elder Dragons, as slaves. (Where have I heard that before...)

Naturally, the dragons and other monsters weren't fond of being treated like shit in this plotline and rebelled. Since they had Dragonators and shit, the Ancients could stand a chance, but they decided to go the extra mile into Grimderp and create an abomination that makes sick fuck Honsou jealous. The Equal Dragon Weapon, a borderline that-which-shall-not-be-named created by stitching dead Elder Dragons together and giving the foul creation life. In the ensuing Dragon War, these things would have been basically responsible for driving the Elder Dragons into critically-endangered status as we see them in the game. It also would explain why Fatalis has such a hateboner for humanity. However the mere existence of this thing pissed off monsterkind so much that the war ended with the ancient civilization destroyed and the EDWs (presumably) exterminated. The artbook shows a dead one, so god help us if we ever see a live one.

It's pretty unknown why this shit got cut, though the leading theory was that the decision to shift to a lighthearted tone meant this had to get the axe.

The Games

Note that older games will be a less complete experience due to the gradual shutting down of servers and the like, taking online content with it.

Mainline Games

• Generation 1
  • Monster Hunter (PS2)
  • Monster Hunter Portable/Freedom (PSP)
• Generation 2
  • Monster Hunter 2 (PS2)
  • Monster Hunter Portable/Freedom 2
  • Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
• Generation 3
  • Monster Hunter Tri
  • Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
  • Monster Hunter 3G/Ultimate
• Generation 4
  • Monster Hunter 4
  • Monster Hunter 4G/Ultimate
• Generation 5
  • Monster Hunter World+Iceborne (PS4/Xbox One/PC)
  • Monster Hunter Rise+Sunbreak (Various, first released on Switch)

Spinoffs

• Monster Hunter Frontier
• Monster Hunter X/Generations (3DS/Switch)
• Monster Hunter XX/Generations Ultimate (3DS/Switch)
• Monster Hunter Stories
• Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin

Notable Monsters

There's way too many beasties to list comprehensively, so here are the notable ones. Feel free to add to the list.

Normal Monsters

• Rathalos/Rathian - The mascot duo of the series, being the male and female respectively of the same 'Rath' species. Rathalos is a flyer that breathes a lot of fire, while Rathian is more grounded and prefers poisoning you.
• Tigrex - The flagship of Monster Hunter Freedom 2, and one angry bitch. Being a pseudo flying wyvern compared to the ordinary Rath species, this living rape train without rails uses his wings like arms to run at a ridiculous rate toward his foes before screaming loud enough to pop your eardrums. Has his own unique theme when he shows up so you know when he’s on the rampage.
• Nargacuga - A fan favorite flagship from Freedom Unite with a panther aesthetic and a more agile approach to fighting. Unlike most monsters who go for a basic head-on attack, the Nargacuga ninjas across the battlefield to reposition himself for several quick strikes toward the hunter. His wings, similar to the Tigrex, are used in rapid succession from one another as the tail can be used to swipe, spin, or slam his foes away like a cat playing with their food. Gets the furry treatement by drawfags for some reason, much to /tg/'s chagrin.
• Zinogre - Another favorite by the fandom for his wicked wolf design and form of combat unique to him (before other games tried to drag on his style- heh… Drag on…). Calling upon the power of lightning-inducing fulgurbugs, he slowly charges himself with thunderous might and a shocking amount of combos as an awesome rock song plays for his theme. With enough energy he howls to the sky and reveals his powered up form, charged to the brim with electric potential and enough asskicking to send you back to the village in a bodycast.
• Khezu - blind dick chicken. We wish we were joking. This Chaos Spawn of Slaanesh - dangiAFGSEHFESGSD- *BLAM* Ahem...this monster is a cave-dwelling, electricity-utilizing beast that gets a rough time for having a phallic extending head and neck. Doesn't help its skin is rubbery and lives in the dankest places possible. Its tail can also become a psuedo-foot so it can hang onto stuff, particularly the ceiling. It is one of the few monsters where music doesn’t play when fighting it, as it technically doesn’t “see” you.
  • Fun Fact: The game use to not treat Khezu as having noticed you, which means you were unable to emergency dive in older installations. This was fixed in later games, but it’s funny enough to warrant the statement.
• Deviljho - A terrifying nomadic brute wyvern with a voracious appetite for anything that moves. Its rage has no competitor as it emits a devastating dragon breath on its foes after softening them with his defense-blighting saliva. Entire species can go extinct if one lurks in an area for too long, so it’s in the best interest to hightail it out when you hear his iconic theme overwhelm the usual fighting tunes.
  • When a Deviljho becomes depraved of food for so long, it can enter a savage state that makes it more dangerous than the typical pickle. These “Savage Deviljho” are filled to the brim with black dragon energy to the point of empowering his bites and regular moves to formidable levels. Only the most skilled hunters can prove to slay one of these on their own.

Elder Dragons

Elder Dragons are a tier above the rest of monsterkind. Their existence in nature is always concerning as the guild doesn’t have enough knowledge of any of them, being strong and mysterious enough that only few hunters have proven themselves to stand a chance against them. They generally have a resemblance to traditional dragons, though with key differences and a few exceptions. They're also immune to traps, so you have to slay them if you want to succeed. It should be said that the Guild has several protocols instituted to analyze natural disasters across the world to determine if the cause was the result of an Elder Dragon or not.

• Kirin - more of a unicorn than a dragon. Its powers revolve around lightning, which it channels through its horn. Rajang like to steal said horn in order to power up their own electricity. Also, the female version of its armor set is the one drawfags like to lewd.
• Teostra and Lunastra - An elder dragon couple to rival the Raths. Both are based on the manticore mythology, being fire lions with powers capable of reducing entire ecosystems to cinders on a good day. The former is a vicious male apex that creates volatile explosives wherever he goes, forcing the Guild to track his movement whenever possible in the event this path of destruction needs to be extinguished. The latter is an empress of flame that defends her lair and mate with extreme disdain. Any hunter foolish enough to tangle with her will suffer a fate so cruel even a Salamander would cringe.
  • If you truly want to see the possible devastation that an elder dragon (specifically a Lunastra) can cause, watch the janky (but better than Paul Anderson’s fanfic) flick “Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild.” Be warned, it’s about as animated as Hammer & Bolter was, and you know how bad that could be…
• Kushala Daora - Flagship of the second Monster Hunter game, a more traditional dragon but with wind/ice powers. Causes massive fuckoff storms as a result. It also can create a wind barrier around its body that's immune to projectiles, which is fun for ranged weapon mains.

Black Dragons

Black Dragons (or Forbidden Monsters) are a group of monsters we know almost nothing about, and that's intentional. In World, some strange people harass a researcher pal of yours to make them destroy the data they got from you recently fighting one such Black Dragon. Perhaps the Guild isn't as benevolent as it seems- *FWIP*

• Fatalis - the OG black dragon, and consistently cited as the strongest monster of the series. Compared to most other monsters, it's the only one that actually resembles a traditional Western dragon. It also really, really hates humans. To the point it mocks hunters by using its immense body heat to melt them and their gear down into belly armor for itself, and that gear made from it carries the hatred of the being it came from. So yeah, wearing Fatalis armor is a great way to lose those sanity points. Tl;dr: basically the setting's Tiamat, except without the extra heads and focusing on fuck-off-hot fire.

/tg/ relevance

It's a fantasy game about fighting monsters and eating meat, why is this even a question?

On a more serious note, the games and their setting are ripe for inspiration, meaning /tg/ can (and sometimes has) get shit done homebrewing stats n shit for monsters of the setting, among other things. A Monster Hunter stat me is slightly less annoying than others, since they can be transplanted into say, Dungeons & Dragons without too much issue.

The world of Monster Hunter could also be easily rewritten to be a feudal semi-Death World of the Imperium given how much lore we simply don’t know. Perhaps the reason the Guild is sometimes shady is that it's actually how the Imperium controls the planet?