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 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, 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

• Monster Hunter
• Monster Hunter 2
• Monster Hunter Tri
• Monster Hunter 4
• Monster Hunter World

Notable Monsters

There's way too many beasties to list comprehensively, so here are the notable ones:

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.

Elder Dragons

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.

/tg/ relevance

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