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. A shining example of Humanity Fuck Yeah, all things considered.

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) due to being scrapped very fucking early on, 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 G (PS2/Wii)
  • Monster Hunter Portable/Freedom (PSP)
• Generation 2
  • Monster Hunter 2 (PS2)
  • Monster Hunter Portable/Freedom 2 (PSP)
  • Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP)
• Generation 3
  • Monster Hunter Tri (Wii)
  • Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (PSP)
  • Monster Hunter 3G/Ultimate (Wii U/3DS)
• Generation 4
  • Monster Hunter 4 (3DS)
  • Monster Hunter 4G/Ultimate (3DS)
• Generation 5
  • Monster Hunter World+Iceborne (PS4/Xbox One/PC)
  • Monster Hunter Rise+Sunbreak (Various, first released on Switch)

Spinoffs

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

Weapons

The tools of the trade for the Hunters. Each one has advantages and disadvantages, but are split into two distinct categories: Blademaster and Gunner.

Blademaster Weapons

• Sword and Shield - Your most basic weapon and the most versatile of them all. Armed with a basic blade and a shield you think you’d be the weakest of the bunch, but do not doubt the abilities you can do. The shield is attached to your arm so you have leeway for consuming items with your weapon held out (A blessing for Heavy Bowgun users since that means you can buff mid-combat) while also bashing the monster’s head for additional damage. Since this is a Capcom franchise, you can also do a Shoryuken with it.
• Greatsword - The most iconic weapon of the game, a giant fuckoff sword that does massive damage if you manage to land hits with it. However, landing said hits is hard because it weighs a metric fuckton and makes you a snail while holding it. The go-to weapon used in oneshot attempts.
• Longsword - Unleash your inner otaku with a blade long enough to compensate for anything. Strike gracefully and with fierce cunning as you build up your spirit gauge to empower your blade even further beyond. Expect this to be one of the most common weapons found in multiplayer, and also expect to be tripped constantly by its wide swings. Generally considered a lone-wolf/selfish weapon pick, so there's skub to be had around using it.
• Dual Blades - What’s better than having one measly sword? Two at the same time! Dance across the monster with a hundred swift strikes and unleash the inner demon within to turn your spins into chainsaws on the monster’s skin. This is very stamina-costly, so always eat up before the hunt.
• Hammer - Sharpen your hammers, hunters, this one is a mindbreaker. You have a big, heavy, blunt object, and you have a monster with an exposed head. The more you bonk their head, the more fatigued and stunned they become. You can figure out the rest from there.
• Hunting Horn - Allow me to play you the song of my people. This musical maul stores music notes with each attack you do that, when in a specific order, can play a plethora of songs that buff you and other hunters around you. It can be hard get use to the mechanics, but a good player can be a great supporter in the toughest of hunts. Also has a habit of getting changed drastically between installments for some reason. Tl;dr: this weapon makes you a Bard that plays music by whacking shit really hard.
• Lance - Do not doubt this weapon for how simple and basic it is. Sure, you only have a few attacks compared to your cooler weapon wielders, but you have something many of them will never have: Endurance and Iron Will. You look down at a monster, above or below, and you stand your ground no matter what they throw at you; be it themselves or the fires of armageddon. You are an immovable wall, and there is no line you have never held with your tower shield in hand.
• Gunlance - A more mobile version of the humble Lance that essentially sticks a giant shotgun/man-portable artillery piece into it. Can be used to rocket around the battlefield and/or dump a massive amount of explosion on your foe.
• Switch Axe - Do you wish for an axe that can also be a sword whenever you want? This slick design is a very powerful tool that can chop monster parts with a long-reaching hatchet that also becomes a focused powerhouse with a simple switch. Each phial makes your sword do a different effect from powerful blows, elemental advntage, to status and stuns, whatever you feel works best discharging your load directly into the monster’s behind. Said explosive finisher can be made even more potent by attacking with Sword Mode to charge the blade - at full charge, you can latch onto your quarry and rip into its flesh for massive damage. Also, at least one of the generic Switch Axes is an actual fucking Eviscerator. CONNECTION, BITCHES!
• Charge Blade - Sword and Shield on steroids, trading the ability to use items for a greataxe mode (that becomes a circular saw once fully powered up) and a flowchart-style Phial powerup system that ends with you doing a fuckton of damage. Hard to play effectively, but very rewarding.
• Insect Glaive - A mix between The floor is lava and "Why can't I hold all these buffs"? Utilizing Kinsects (big helpful bugs), these spears allow the user to fly gracefully around the battlefield while their little friend does some sort of support (healing allies, debuffing foes, and extra damage/stun, to name a few). All of them can bring back powders which give you temporary buffs to attack, speed, and defense. Nurgle and Slaanesh argue over which would get a Chaos-corrupted version of this weapon.

Gunner Weapons

• Bowguns - Ranged weapons that use ammo and are split into different weight classes. Each weight class has different pros and cons and spits out different amounts of Dakka. A Guild Knight that uses one is known for dishing out *BLAM*.
  • Light Bowgun - More rapid-fire and mobile in exchange for damage. They even give you free extra shots for certain ammo types (which one(s) depends on the specific weapon). Can also lay damaging mines on the ground using Wyvernblast (or on a monster if you synergize with a leap into the air).
  • Medium Bowgun - The black sheep of the Bowgun family, having only been seen in Generation 3. Essentially a middle-ground between Light and Heavy, making it a versatile option.
  • Heavy Bowgun - Basically a Heavy Stubber that isn't full-auto. Unless the one you're running has Mech-Wyvernheart and/or you want to run the risk of overheating (without exploding, thankfully) with an alternate version of charging. However, since it's a big gun you'll be moving pretty slowly while toting this thing.
• Bows - Infinite ammo weapons that determine their attack properties by how long you charge/pull back the bow as well as consumable coatings. More up-close-than-personal than a Bowgun since they have a shot arc. A Guild Knight that uses one is a dispenser of *FWIP*.

Notable Monsters

A Rathalos about to reduce a Hunter to burnt toast.

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. Due to their status, you can't really call a game a Monster Hunter game without them showing up.
• 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 that its skin is rubbery and it 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 used 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. Will chew on its own tail if you cut it off.
  • 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.
• Rajang - Le Thunder Monke. A Nomadic Monster (i.e. it can come in and interrupt your hunts), this giant ape of pure rage will viciously maul anything that intrudes on its territory. It even picks fights with Elder Dragons, and likes to bully Kirins in particular for their lightning-inducing unicorn horns. Notable for going Super Saiyan out of pure unadulterated ANGER. Similar to the Saiyan, messing with a Rajang’s tail can break them out of their rage state prematurely, but good luck surviving the beating of a lifetime should you choose to antagonize one.
  • Some are even stuck in this state, becoming "Furious Rajang" that are even more brutal in their fighting style while having less health than the average saiyan warrior. Always be on your feet with this monster lest you want to be reduced to nothing but your shoes.

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 flame-loving 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 Gunner mains.
• Chameleos - Sneaky fucker. A chameleon-themed Elder Dragon that can blend in with its environment and spew extremely potent poison. Breaking its horn presumably makes it lose the main organ it uses to achieve its camouflage, rendering it easier to see. Also steals field powerups in Rise using its long tongue, the dick. It's also purple, explaining why it's difficult to spot.
• Zorah Magdaros - The setting's local Kaiju (or Godzilla ripoff if we're being honest). The largest mainline monster (second overall to the unclassified Laviente in Frontier) to the point of it being one of the few monsters you can't kill, only repel. It's a giant turtle with a literal mountain of fire on its back, its body overflowing with energy to the point that it goes nuclear on death, devastating the environment around it. However, said death-boom also has said energy be infused into the remains of what ecosystem it just destroyed, meaning its remains and whatever's around it will have a massive bounce-back and become a verdant paradise.
  • To drive home how XBAWKSHUEG it is, the fight with it requires you to use siege weaponry (cannons, ballistas, and the aforementioned Dragonators) to keep it from tearing down your fortification like paper mache. You later have to go on its back to break its Magmacores (which is also how you get its gear materials) in order to get it to back off. You also drive off another Elder Dragon that decides to crash the party while on its back as well. Later on, when you can access the free-hunting island, certain areas heavily imply it's the remains of a long-dead Zorah Magdaros.
• Nergigante - The Flagship of Monster Hunter World and an apex amongst apexes. This Elder Dragon prefers to fight and consume other Elder Dragons, being seen as nature's check against them. Some crackpot theorists think he's a perfected Equal Dragon Weapon instead, though there's nothing to suggest that. Whatever's the case, it's a spiky fucker that's probably barely below being on the level of a Black Dragon (doesn’t stop him from fighting them though). Known for performing a divebomb ultimate attack whenever its spikes are fully grown, one which has a janky hitbox which can hit you while it's still up in the air. Also a Nomadic Monster and has no qualms interrupting you in the middle of fighting other Elder Dragons, as demonstrated when he interrupts you trying to deal with Zorah Magdaros or finishes off a hellish abomination known as Shara Ishvalda.

Black Dragons

Black Dragons (also known as Dangerous First-class Monsters or Forbidden Monsters) are a group of monsters we know almost nothing about, and that's (usually) 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*

What we do know is that they have a wide range of extremely powerful abilities, unlike their Dungeons & Dragons counterparts. They also have an unnatural presence that makes other monsters shit bricks whenever they're around.

• 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 in both form and powers. 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 beyond the grave. 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.
  • A Fatalis who has lived far longer than any recorded history are known for their pale white hide and mastery of their emotions. They become as focused as lightning striking the ground, their powers take on a new electric form far stronger than anything the other incarnations could do. This "White Fatalis" is legendary amongst hunters, if such a thing even still exists…
• Alatreon - It wishes it was the Avatar of monsters, but unfortunately it is unable to control his state, resulting in the walking disaster we see. This Black Dragon utilizes all of the elemental blights present in the games while also being a large dragon with a destructive temper. Notably had a large difficulty spike in its World incarnation, with there now being an elemental DPS check in breaking its horns to prevent Eschaton Judgement from wiping your hunting party.
• Dire Miralis - A fuckhueg dragon that, like Zorah Magdaros, is a living volcano. Judging from the name and body structure, likely a splinter species from the original Fatalis line. Its wings shoot flaming rocks. It's semi-aquatic, playing into Tri's underwater combat gimmick, since it needs to use water to cool down from the massive amount of fiery heat it generates.
• Xeno'jiva/Safi'jiva - More accurately described as a Red Dragon, but they're powerful enough that the Guild shoves them in the same category anyway. Xeno'jiva is an alien-looking motherfucker that's the infant form of the more traditional-looking Safi'jiva. Both are fucking energy thieves that siphon the energy of living things around them, and as such are considered an extreme threat to any ecosystem. Safi'jiva in particular can use said energy to TPK your hunting party if you interrupt its crag-creating attacks too much (since you need said crags to avoid being wiped).
  • To drive home how unnatural and dangerous this thing is, it's theorized that Zorah Magdaros beelining to the Elder's Recess in World is because it senses Xeno'jiva siphoning energy to hatch and was going to prematurely detonate to kill it at the expense of the New World. Yeah. A fucking Kaiju was going to suicide bomb this thing and the New World as that was preferable to this thing being allowed to live.

/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? Or is it an Exodite’s paradise world with wyverns and dragons ready to defend the world against any invaders? Seeing as superhumans are needed to hunt these monsters, it is not uncommon to send Astartes to fight said monsters with nothing but melee weapons (other weapons work, but the local lifeforms' vulnerability to melee make them redundant) and specialized equipment. Or Catachan Jungle Fighters, since they'd feel right at home.

The Guard and Astartes probably argue about who gets new blood from this world.

Gallery

• 

  Following the Tyranids' attempted consumption of their world, the Hunters turned their biology against them by making Nid corpses into armor and weapons. Since it produced results (the invasion was repelled), the Imperium could not really argue that it was heresy.

• 

  The best of the best of the Hunters (being too old to be made into Space Marines) are recruited into the Imperial Guard, their Regiment often utilizing Mechanicus-sanctioned mass-production versions of the gear seen on their homeworld. The Gunlance in particular is a favorite for cavalry and fast attack units.

• 

  A Shredder-pattern Eviscerator, featuring the ability to switch to a non-moving axeblade if needed. It also has a battery recharged by kinetic energy, ensuring it never runs out of rip and tear.