Characters / Monster Hunter Hunters

Clockwise from top: Dual Blades, a Hunter and their Palico, Heavy Bowgun, Lance, Sword and Shield, Gunlance, Longsword, Hunting Horn, Hammer, Bow. Center: Greatsword. Not pictured: Switch Axe, Charge Blade, Insect Glaive, Light Bowgun

Hunters are the main characters of the Monster Hunter world, eking out their living by killing the massive, violent animals that infest their world. Supposedly descendants of warriors who waged war against monsters in ages long past, they still fight today, armed with an array of unique weapons, tools and supplies for any situation and a single-minded determination to hunt down and repel, capture, or slay their target.

Main Index | Civilization | Hunters | Main Series Monsters | First Generation Monsters (Fatalis) | Second Generation Monsters | Third Generation Monsters | Fourth Generation Monsters | Fifth Generation Monsters (World & Iceborne | Rise & Sunbreak) | Frontier Monsters | Online Monsters

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In General

• The Ace: PC hunters are always noted for the exceptional skill. This is why whenever something truly big and nasty shows up the players are the first line of defense, they are simply the best at what they do. There tends to be one older character in every game that is or was this trope (the village Chief in Tri, the Master in 4U, The Huntsman in World, ect.) and they will declare you the new Ace when they feel you've surpassed them.
• Badass Normal: Other than their ability to wield implausibly large weapons, take hits from said massive monsters, and regularly leap off cliffs and survive, there's no indication that they are anything other than normal humans. Well, normal for their world, anyway.
• BFS: All blademaster weapons are simply enormous. The Great Swords are bigger, though, of course. Dual Blades avert this, being the size of some real life weapons.
• Big Eater: Can devour a well done steak in seconds. Often while wearing a full-face helmet, no less. Plus their pre-hunt meals look big enough for normal human families. Justified in that hunting is a very physically demanding activity, so they gotta gather all that energy first.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Some of the weapons wielded by hunters are bigger and thicker than the hunters themselves, despite them being relatively normal humans. It's stated in later games that they're the descendants of a Super-Soldier project, slightly subverting the trope.
• Combat Pragmatist: Along with Crazy-Prepared, this is a Hunter's bread and butter. After all, nature does not play fair, so why should you?
• Crazy-Prepared: A hunter's modus operandi, and one of the game's major themes: you need to be prepared for every eventuality during a hunt. Need a distraction so you can recover? Throw a Flash Bomb at your quarry. Extra monster showing up when you least expect company? Fling a Dung Bomb at it to make it run away in disgust. Want to create as many openings for attack as possible? Bring lots of traps. Need to bypass some Super Armor? Barrel Bombs have you covered. There's also the standard plethora of healing potions and food items that hunters require to stay in good shape during the chase.
• The Determinator: No matter what, nothing will deter a hunter from their target.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Titanic breakdancing wolves, world-destroying dragons, flying triceratops that can tunnel at ridiculous speeds. Doesn't matter, the hunters can kill them, carve them up, and make armor out of them.
• The Dragonslayer: Hunters can apply to this, due to most of their prey being dragon-like.
• Elemental Weapon: Hunters can gain access to these over the course of the game through Elemental Crafting. A variation occurs in that said weapons aren't outright magical, but are made from the internal organs of specific monsters (not that it's ever explained how the gland functions); e.g. a Rathalos or Gravios' flame-producing gland is required to manufacture Fire-element weaponry.
• Emergency Weapon: Starting with the fourth generation, in situations where the hunter can't use their weapon, such as climbing a wall or mounting a monster, they use their camp knife to attack. Despite dealing minimal damage, it's surprisingly effective at staggering monsters.
• Familiar:
  • The bug on the Insect Glaive acts like one of these. Frontier even introduces the Halk, a small wyvern that acts as a Noble Bird of Prey. A non-combat example from World are the scoutflies, firefly-like insects that have been trained to track the scent of large monsters.
  • Rise gives the Hunter a couple of trained female Wirebugs, large insects that the hunter can throw out to use their silk and strong flying strength as a grappling hook, even holding the hunter up in midair for a few seconds at a time. The male Wirebugs are bigger and can pull a hunter even further with their greater strength, but are less agile, less trainable and tend to just stay put in a place they like after being initially used.
• Growling Gut: In games such as Rise and 4, allowing a Hunter's stamina bar to drain to its lowest point will cause their stomach to growl endlessly while they're standing still.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: They have no default name, requiring the player to provide one.
• Heroic Mime: Often the case, beyond grunts, groans, etc.
  • Lampshaded in World; in one of the Handler's post-game conversations, she'll mention that you never told her why you wanted to come to the New World in the first place...and then shouts "DO YOU EVEN TALK AT ALL?!"
  • Averted in Rise where the Hunter has voiced lines (though they are still silent in cutscenes, and the options menu lets you turn their dialog off during gameplay).
• Iaijutsu Practitioner: The Critical Draw and Punishing Draw skills massively boost your unsheath attacks, turning the hunters into this. Great Swords benefit the most of this playstyle.
• Jabba Table Manners: Hunters will devour their meals as fast as possible, shoving it down by the fistfuls. Even in Monster Hunter World, Hunters violently chow down on their food while guzzling drink to wash it down.
• Large Ham: Because you rarely see a Hunter's face, and they speak Simlish the few times they do speak, Hunters express themselves in-game with grand gestures. They tend to act this way even in the cinematics too.
• Lethal Chef: When burning a steak. A Burnt Steak has a 50-50 chance either increasing or decreasing your stamina.
• Made of Iron: Capable of taking a charge from a rampaging Diablos, a bite from Deviljho, or a direct explosion from Brachydios. Even if they're knocked out in battle, they're either simply escorted back to camp or sent back to the port or town for quest failure, and live to fight another day.
• The Medic: Hunters can opt to specialize in healing their comrades during a group hunt. Items such as the Lifepowder and Dust of Life are created specifically for this role, as are certain armor skills such as Wide Area^note which lets a player consume items to heal or buff other hunters in the vicinity and Mushroom Lover^note turns mushrooms into healing and buff items, effectively increasing your medicine stock. Some Hunting Horns are even built for medical roles, boasting health and status recovery tunes as well as enough raw power to be just as effective in combat as the rest of the party.
• Multi-Melee Master / Multi-Ranged Master: Hunters can at any time equip any weapon they wish. In older games, this was limited by their armor type - Blademasters can wield any of the melee weapons, while Gunners can choose from any of the Bowguns or Bows - but starting in World onward, this regulation was tossed aside for practicality reasons, allowing any hunter to wield any combination of armor and weapon. Though it should be noted that each weapon type gives a different bonus; Blademaster weapons grant a defense bonus, and Gunner weapons grant an element resist bonus.
• Ninja: The general theming of Kamura Village Hunters in everything from the way they run up and along walls, fast travel via Smoke Bomb covered Wirebug, and their use of huge kunai. Their default armor design is very ninja-like, as well, as poorly suited to stealth as it is, and some of the poses you can strike have more of an eastern flare for even otherwise traditionally western weapons.
• Pintsized Powerhouse: In relation to the dozens of big wyverns and dragons that they routinely hunt, they're bite-size. But don't let that fool you, because these same folks regularly turn said big monsters into corpses. Background lore states the humans of Monster Hunter are the survivors of a super soldier program by the advanced civilization that once ruled the world, hence why trained hunters can accomplish such incredible feats of strength and durability.
• Scary Impractical Armor: Averted. Some of the armor the hunters can wear look really impractical, but they can still block a tail whip by a 3 ton dinosaur. This is probably because it's made from the skin, bones and scales of another one.
• Status Effects: Hunters who perform combat support roles can specialize in weaponry which may inflict Sleep, Paralysis, Poison, Blastblight, and the hidden attribute Fatigue on monsters.
• Statuesque Stunner: Female hunters are as tall as the male hunters.
• Super-Empowering: As demonstrated in Rise, the gulfs in power between monsters can get completely invalidated or even inverted once a Hunter starts to ride one, to the extent that they can lead even the lowly Great Izuchi to victory over Crimson Glow Valstrax.
• Super-Persistent Predator: Doesn't matter if their prey flies, swims, burrows, or is the size of a building; barring utter failure, Hunters will find a way to kill or capture it.
• Trap Master / Mad Bomber: Some of the more important tools Hunters can use are a variety of trap items, which include the Shock Trap, the Pitfall Trap, several classes of Barrel Bombs and even drug-laced bait meats with which to lure monsters into an ambush. Several armor skills also exist to improve a hunter's trap-setting and explosives skills.
• Turns Red: In the same vein as their prey, Hunters have various methods of going berserk, some of which can be stacked.
  • The Longsword, Insect Glaive, and Dual Swords all feature Limit Break modes that give large offensive buffs and encourage highly aggressive play styles less focused on dealing damage to weak points and more concerned with simply hacking the target into bloody shreds.
  • Potential, Gloves Off and Latent Power, Spirit, Coalescence, Resentment, and Survivor/Fortify are all various flavors of this. All of these can be stacked, both with each other and with one of the weapons above.
• Weak, but Skilled: They're not as big or imposing as the many, many monsters they face, and it takes at least hundreds of hits to fell a single large monster while that same monster can likely send a hunter back to camp in one or two hits. Yet Hunters' advanced tools and tactics, on top of their frankly ridiculous stamina and determination, means that hunters regularly come back to town with the carved-off bits of the monsters they killed as prizes. And then they go about wearing said parts as armor and using them as weapons, just to show monsterkind who's at the top of the food chain.

The following are detailed descriptions of each weapon type used by Hunters. Due to each weapon having its own distinctive properties and combat mechanics, they have been separated into their own categories.

Main Series

Great Sword

One of the most recognizable weapons in the series, the Great Sword possesses incredibly powerful attacks and solid defense, but both its movement and attack speed are very slow.

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• BFS: While other kinds of this trope exist, the Great Sword is the series' original BFS.
• Boring, but Practical:
  • The Great Sword isn't very flashy when compared to other weapons, mostly consisting of slow sword swipes and smashes, but few can match the high burst damage it does. Furthermore, its slow, timing-based fighting style means that it benefits more from high raw damage, which deals consistent damage no matter what kind of monster is fought, than elemental damage and status effects, which require fast attacks and stacking to be at their most effective.
  • When it comes to the various mechanical alterations each weapon type got in World, the most notable one the Greatsword got was a simple Shoulder Tackle. That said, it makes the wielder Immune to Flinching, and able to power through most any attack, and it can be used to skip straight to their True Charged Slash (which, if you hit with the second strike of it, perfectly charged, is the most powerful Greatsword attack in the game).
• Charged Attack:
  • Hold Type. This is the Great Sword's most distinctive asset, and the single strongest melee attack in the series. The weapon possess two varieties: the original version from the second generation games, and a stronger "smash" version introduced in the third generation, which requires executing a side-slap first. Both attacks can be charged up to three times as long as the button is held, with each successive charge much stronger than the last. However, the level 3 charge can only be used the moment it's available, otherwise the level 2 charge will be used instead. The fifth generation introduces a third level of charge attack called the true charge attack. Unleashing it lets the hunter swing so strongly that they pole-vault into a second swing.
  • One of its Hunter Arts in Generations, called Inner Beast, allows the user to store a charged attack in order to power up their next strike.
  • Another Hunter Art, called Brimstone Slash, takes this to the extreme. It takes even longer to charge than the regular charge slash, but its power is far greater. Thankfully, it does make the hunter Immune to Flinching.
• Counter-Attack: Rise adds the Rage Slash. At first it looks like a faster and weaker Brimstone Slash - but getting hit during the chargeup massively boosts its damage.
• Difficult, but Awesome:
  • On top of being one of the slowest weapon types, you'll need all three charges to maximize damage, you'll need to learn to time your attacks so that you attack soon after whatever charge you're using, and you'll need enough knowledge of a monster's habits to find the proper openings to strike. That said, Greatswords have the highest burst damage in the game. In Iceborne, maximizing damage involves hitting with both strikes of the True Charged Slash (with the first buffing the second if it hits).
  • Adept Style as a whole is already this trope, but like with the Sword and Shield below, the Great Sword deserves special mention. The Great Sword's Insta-move is a rapid Sword Drag version of its Charged Attack. Master Adept dodging with the weapon and the timing of the charge and you can still have the same obscene raw damage potential of a Great Sword while zipping around the monster and being damn near impossible to hit.
• Divergent Character Evolution: The Great Sword and Long Sword classes used to be one and the same, until the second generation separated the two, with the Great Sword becoming a Mighty Glacier.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: Technically this is a viable playstyle for all weapons, but the Great Sword deserves a mention because it specializes in this kind of tactics. When playing the Great Sword tutorial, the Ace Commander specifically tells the player to use the "Unsheath attack - evasive roll - weapon sheath" combo, invoking this trope.
• Iaijutsu Practitioner: Great Swords do more damage if attacks are used right as they're unsheathed. As a result, they're the greatest beneficiaries of the Punishing and Critical Draw skills, which respectively grant the ability to stun monsters and increase the chances of landing critical hits with draw attacks.
• Immune to Flinching:
  • Both its Charged Attack and its infinite combo (roundslash - upswing) give partial immunity to wind effects generated by monsters.
  • To make up for its long windup, Brimstone Slash allows the user to withstand attacks that would normally send them flying.
  • The aforementioned shoulder tackle gives the user super armor while also progressing to the next level of charge, allowing Great Sword users to stand their ground against the monster and possibly even stun them, then deliver a brutal Charged Slash when the time is right.
• Impossibly Cool Weapon: World has the Wyvern Ignition line of weapons which is basically a giant slab of iron with a jet engine attached to it.
• Logical Weakness: Since the weapon itself is used to block attacks, the Great Sword loses sharpness every time it blocks an attack.
• Mighty Glacier: The Great Sword has some of the strongest moves in the game and the ability to block attacks, but both its swings and its movement speed are as slow as molasses. In addition, it is also hard to evade following its attacks, as they tend to have lengthy recovery times. The draw for guarding with a Great Sword, however, is surprisingly quick.
  • Zigzagged in Sunbreak with the Surge Slash combo as movement is still slow, but attack speed is far faster and allows for more combo potential.
• Sword Drag: Ground Slash is a Hunter Art where the user scrapes the Great Sword along the ground and rushes forward before swinging it behind them, creating a powerful shock wave.
• Took a Level in Badass: While normally a weapon based around Hit-and-Run Tactics, some mechanical changes in Iceborne unwittingly made the weapon type a surprising monster at offense.
  • And then another in Sunbreak with the addition of Surge Slash, which allows for mobility completely unheard of for Great Sword. It allows users to chase monsters around letting the weight of the weapon carry it into quicker, tall vertical cleaves, wide spinning slashes and forward stepping uppercuts, while also making it perfect for elemental/status-based Great Swords.

Long Sword

Long, thin blades that trade raw strength for speed and agility. Long Sword wielders rely on gracefully avoiding hits while chaining together swift strikes to prepare their powerful Spirit Combo. In World it gained several new moves such as the Foresight Slash and started to take more of a focus as a counter weapon.

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• Battle Aura: Both the Hunter and the weapon become covered in one should the player succeed in filling the Spirit Gauge and/or activating the Super Mode.
• BFS: While they tend to be slimmer than the Greatswords, most of the Longswords could easily be considered as nodachi and zweihanders (assuming they're not a spear or a Sinister Scythe).
• Blade Spam: When using the Hunter Art Sakura Slash, the user appears to hit the monster once, but attacks so quickly that they actually hit them multiple times. Same with the Iai Counter in Rise,
• Charged Attack: Collect Type. The weapon stores "Spirit Energy" with each attack used, which can be spent on Spirit Slashes. Completely filling the Spirit Gauge increases the weapon's attack power. This is also the key to using the weapon's Finishing Move and activating its Super Mode (see below).
  • In a unique interaction in Iceborne, doing the "Special Sheath" move counts as sheathing the weapon for the Frostcraft skill, powering it up for the next few strikes.
• Counter-Attack: Critical Juncture (or Mirror Flower Stance, depending on version) is a Hunter Art that allows the user to counter an attack. Note that it only works on attacks that can be blocked without the Guard Up skill. In the fifth generation, this move is called the "Foresight Slash", and can not only negate all damage from a hit but also can be followed up to instantly fill and upgrade the "Spirit Gauge" if it counters an attack.
  • Added in Iceborne and improved in Rise there's also a Iai Counter to go with the new Iaijutsu moves.
• Delayed Causality: There is a noticeable delay between performing a successful Iai Counter and the monster getting eviscerated with a flurry of slashes in Rise.
• Divergent Character Evolution: The Long Sword used to be part of the Great Sword weapon class, until the second generation separated it into its own category and gave it its own unique moveset.
• Finishing Move: The weapon has a special "Finisher" attack, which can only be used if you have enough Spirit Energy in your gauge. Successfully striking a monster with it increases your sword's attack power even further, stacking up to three times. Additionally, at the cost of diminishing this built up attack power, a move called the "Spirit Helm Breaker" can be used that deals massive damage greater than even a full "Spirit Gauge" combo.
• Fragile Speedster: The Long Sword has no inherent defensive options, and relies on the Fade Slash skill to slide in and out of the fray. Powering it up and activating its Super Mode, however, turns the Hunter into a Glass Cannon. This changed in World when the Long Sword was given the ability to use Foresight Slash, a defensive slide that triggers lengthy invincibility frames as well as allowing a counter attack if hit while sliding.
• Iaijutsu Practitioner: Iceborne added the appropriately-named "Iai Slash" attack, a powerful strike delivered after sheathing the sword mid-combo. Rise enhanced it by allowing these attacks to benefit from Critical Draw and Punish Draw.
• Katanas Are Just Better: A good number of Long Swords are katanas. Other Long Swords are naginatas/glaives, scythes, and European-styled longswords.
• Super Mode:
  • Introduced in the third generation, hitting an enemy with the Finisher slash powers up your sword, indicated by a glowing aura around the blade. This effect can be stacked up to three times, but will eventually run out after a while unless you use the Finisher again.
  • A Hunter Art in Generations, Spirit Release Full Moon Slash, maxes out the Spirit Gauge automatically, allowing for a full offense right off the bat.
• Unblockable Attack: The Spirit Slash can't be deflected by anything but Apex Monsters.

Sword and Shield

The most basic weapon in the series. What the Sword and Shield lack in power and range, they make up for in speed and flexibility.

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• All Your Powers Combined: The Chaos Oil Hunting Art in Generations Ultimate applies the effects of all four Blade Oils to the weapon at once.
• Balance Buff: Starting in the second generation, it got a series of buffs to turn it from a rather weak weapon to a stronger choice for hunts:
  • In 2 (Dos) it gained the ability to let Hunters use items while the weapon was unsheathed, giving more flexibility to its users compared to other weapons in addition to its existing speed and agility.
  • In 4, it gains a backhop Charged Attack that can serve as a finisher. In addition, while most weapons can only mount going down a ledge, this weapon can mount going up short ledges.
  • Generations introduces Blade Oils, which grant temporary buffs: Affinity Oil raises Critical Hit chance, Destroyer Oil makes it easier to stagger monsters, Stamina Oil grants stun and exhaust to your sword attacks (thus turning it into an impact weapon when you hit a monster's head), and Mind's Eye Oil prevents your attacks from bouncing off monsters. SnS also has one of the most useful Insta-Moves in Adept Style, as rather than just being a "do more damage" type of deal, it's a jump attack and therefore can mount the monster.
  • Generations Ultimate introduces the Chaos Oil line of Hunter Arts, which grants the buffs of all four Oils at once.
  • Iceborne introduced the Perfect Rush, a combo move executed after a backhop that deals an incredible amount of damage if the inputs are entered correctly. Then Perfect Rush was even buffed with an additional hundred to its motion values.
• Boring, but Practical:
  • Its Hunter Art in Generations, Round Force, is nothing especially flashy or complicated. It's just a wide-hitting, incredibly fast spin-slash with full invincibility, allowing for a reversal in a sticky situation. Though admittedly since it's the closest the series gets to emulating the Spin Slash from The Legend of Zelda it might be seen as Simple, yet Awesome.
  • The weapon itself qualifies especially in World as while it doesn't have the big damage numbers and flashy moves of the other weapons, it can do it all: it can stun, exhaust, mount, cut off tails (though the poor reach makes this difficult at times), and with its ability to use items and the Slinger while drawn, it can pull a hunt back from the brink.
• Charged Attack: Hold Type; a heavy overhead swing executed from a short backhop. It isn't as strong or flashy as the Great Sword's or Hammer's, but it helps make up for the weapon's relative lack of raw physical damage.
• Critical Hit Class: Several S&Ses have high Affinity ratings, and with the Affinity Oil in Generations and Generations Ultimate it's easy enough to push your Affinity over 50% even without armor skills. With the Chaos Oil III Hunter Art in GU, you can stack it with Affinity Oil for a 60% boost. While this is offset somewhat by the weapon having low damage compared to other weapons, this makes it a viable weapon for armor skills that rely on a good crit chance (such as Status Crit).
• Death from Above: World has Helm Breaker, an undocumented attack in which the hunter runs up a wall, leaps off, and performs a falling stab. Also qualifies as Difficult, but Awesome since it can be hard to connect with due to lack of air control (especially when dealing with more mobile monsters), but the attack hits multiple times on the way down, each hit dealing heavy Pierce damage and having a good chance of mounting, and it's the closest thing SnS has to the fancy dynamic attacks possessed by other weapons.
• Difficult, but Awesome:
  • While often seen as a Skill Gate Weapon (see below), in high-level play the SnS can transfom into this. The fact that Sword and Shield is the only weapon class that allows use of items with the weapon drawn makes it perfect for support and trapping, and its fast attack rate makes it useful for applying status damage. In World, it even allows use of the Slinger with the weapon drawn, allowing the user to use Slinger Ammo anytime they want (and, in Iceborne, it's one of the few weapons that can swap between Slinger Burst and the default version on the fly).
  • Adept Style as a whole is already this trope, but special mention goes to Adept SnS. The Sword & Shield's Insta-Move can deal Mounting damage since it's a jumping attack, so if you can master it, you basically become an Aerial Style hunter except much harder for monsters to actually hit.
• Invulnerable Attack: Round Force makes the user invincible during the execution.
• Item Caddy: It has the unique ability to use items and slinger ammo without sheathing, making it the prime choice for a healer or trapper.
• Jack of All Stats: It doesn't have the fastest swings, the strongest blows, or the best defenses, but very few weapons can do all three as adequately as the Sword and Shield.
• Jump Physics:
  • If the Advancing Slash (Normal Attack + Special Attack) is used in a way that would make the hunter interact with the environment (i.e. run off a cliff or slide down a hill), they'll instead perform a leaping attack which has the potential to mount. This particular trait also makes it the only weapon that can perform aerial attacks while going up a ledge^note though this only works on ledges that can be scaled without having to sheathe.
  • In Generations, the Adept Style Insta-Move is a jumping slash, which can potentially mount monsters.
• "Just Frame" Bonus: Iceborne added a new attack called Perfect Rush in which the hunter performs a frenzy slash combo that hits up to five times. If the player presses the attack button with precise timing (when the hunter flashes red), each attack does double damage and increased elemental/ailment damage.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Its shield isn't as effective as some of the other weapons capable of blocking, but it can still be a lifesaver in a pinch. In addition, this is the only weapon that allows Hunters to use items while blocking with the shield, which is very useful for support classes.
• Shield Bash: One of the Sword and Shield's attacks. It deals impact-type damage and can potentially KO a monster if used enough, but it's not very reliable. As of World, the shield actually has a stronger followup to the weapon's charge attack than the sword, but doesn't deal mounting damage.
• Shoryuken:
  • Shoryugeki has the user do this with a shield, and unlike the weapon's Shield Bash, it can KO a monster in one hit. The tier 3 version adds a Meteor Move as well.
  • Iceborne has Claw Uppercut, which uses the Clutch Claw and grapples onto monsters, giving SnS users something to do about those pesky fliers. The Version 4 update made it a bit more useful by making the actual claw attack highly likely to soften up whichever part of the monster it hits.
  • Rise brings back the Shoryugeki as the 'Metsu Shoryugeki' Silkbind Technique, which has a Guard Point at the beginning of the uppercut and increased power if said Guard Point is hit before the ascent.
• Skill Gate Characters:
  • The Sword and Shield's ease of use makes it perfect for beginners, but it tends to get outclassed by other weapons as players get more experienced. It still has use against really fast monsters and inflicting status effects and elemental damage.
  • However, in Generations the Sword and Shield gets a whole new category of items to itself that allows the user to buff the weapon. They're usable with any style as well.
  • The Sword and Shield lost this status starting with World, thanks to getting new moves that require more timing and more complex combo paths.
• Status Effects: Many weapons of this class have a status element, and combined with the high rate of attack this makes SnS an excellent class for quickly and repeatedly applying status ailments to monsters.
• Sword and Fist: Some variants of the Sword and Shield are lacking in an actual shield to block or strike with, such as the Witcher's Silver Sword line you get in World from the collaboration with The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, and the Ninja Sword line.
• Super Mode: The Chaos Oil Hunter Art gives your weapon the effects of all four Oils at once for a limited time. Additionally, any Oil you apply while the Art is active will be applied much faster, and with the exception of the Mind's Eye Oil, which just sharpens the weapon, the applied Oil can stack.
• Support Party Member: The biggest difference between the SNS and other weapons is that they can use items with their weapons drawn, as well as fire them from their slings. Combining that with proper builds, and they're the best Support Class this side of the Hunting Horn.
• Weak, but Skilled: What it lacks in raw damage, it makes up for with being a more effective weapon for inflicting status ailments and elemental damage thanks to its high rate of attack, the ability to use items without putting away one's weapon first, and compatibility with critical-based builds. You might get scoffed at for having a "low DPS" weapon, but that scoffing will go away when you proceed to stunlock the monster for multiple rounds of sleep or paralysis.

Dual Blades

Similar to the Sword and Shield at first glance, the Dual Blades throw away all pretense of defense in exchange for some of the fastest and deadliest strikes in the series. This is further amplified by the ability to enter "Demonization Mode", which adds extra offensive power at the cost of constantly draining stamina.

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• Blade Spam: The weapon's fighting style consists of rapidly hacking at the target in true Dance Battler fashion. To this end, a single button press will usually not result in a single slash, but a whole flurry of blade swings. Demonization Mode and the Wolf's Maw Hunter Art — which makes it so that all your attacks deal two hits per strike — take this to truly ridiculous levels.
• Chainsaw Good: A good number of them in World take on the form of a pair of chainsaws.
• Charged Attack: Collect Type. The weapon stores Demon Energy in a gauge with each attack. Filling it completely allows Hunters to activate Archdemon Mode while in Demonization Mode.
• Combo Platter Powers: Several Dual Blade models have interesting element + status or dual element combinations, which include Fire + Ice, Fire + Poison, Water + Ice, or Thunder + Paralysis.^note While this makes some of them of questionable usefulness in single monster hunts, they come in handy during Marathon Hunts wherein more than two monsters are involved, who may or may not share the same elemental weaknesses.
• Counter-Attack: Adept style dual blades come with a built in counter on evade.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: The Dual Blades deal very little damage with every attack, but it is able to strike repeatedly at incredible speeds.
• Finishing Move: The Demon Dance, a rapid fire series of Escrima-style slashes which can only be used during its Super Mode.
• Fragile Speedster: Like with the Long Sword, Dual Blade users have to rely on quick evasion and smart positioning due to not having any other defenses.
• Immune to Flinching: Once its Super Mode is activated, Hunters gain partial protection against wind effects generated by monsters.
• Power Fist: Though it depends on the game, and the monster you make them from, the Dual Blades can instead take the form of gauntlets. This can range from a pair of punching weapons with built-in parrying horns each like the Rajang "Suzuka Takamaru", to the Wolverine Claws on the Nergigante "Decimation Claws".
• Reverse Grip: In World, Demon Mode makes the hunter change from holding their dual blades upright to a reverse grip.
• Spin Attack: Its Hunter Art Blood Wind, where the user spins like a top on caffeine and can redirect themselves multiple times depending on which version is used.
• Super Mode: Demonization Mode, which prevents attacks from bouncing, increases damage, and protects the Hunter from being knocked back by wind effects. However, this mode only lasts for as long as the Hunter has any Stamina left. Frontier and the fourth generation games add another Super Mode on top of it called Archdemon Mode, which provides stronger attacks and a more powerful Demon Dance in addition to allowing Hunters to attack while dodging.
• Videogame Dashing: Once the hunter activates demon mode, the Unnecessary Combat Roll is replaced by a dash that has less start and end lag more easily chained together.

Hammer

Heavy weapons specializing in blunt trauma, Hammers trade away the ability to cut off monster parts in favor of the ability to knock monsters out with repeated hits to the head.

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• Can't Catch Up: Had a significant case of this moving from the second generation games onwards. While other weapons gained more versatility and new features, the hammer stayed the same with the only significant changes being its ability to inflict exhaust damage on hits that don't hit the monster's head... and lowered motion values for several attacks like the golf swing, along with fewer means of cancelling into attacks. Come the advent of the Charge Blade, the Hammer was considered by many to be virtually obsolete thanks to the Exhaust-phial Blades. Fortunately, this trend was generally considered inverted come the release of World, with Hammer finally gaining several new abilities to restore its former glory.
• Charged Attack: Hold Type, similar to the Great Sword. However, it has only one level of charge; the type of attack that ends up being used simply depends on how long the button is held, or if, at max charge, the Hunter was moving at the time. In Generations under Adept Style, performing an Insta-Evade allows for strong charges that result in more powerful attacks. In Generations Ultimate under Valor Style, going into Valor state allows you to chain three charged attacks of increasing power in a row.
• Counter-Attack: In Rise, the "Water Strike" Switch Skill allows the first hit of the Hammer's regular combo to parry enemy attacks if it connects at the right time. It's a bit tricky to pull off, but it can even halt a monster laser in its tracks if executed correctly, and can then be chained into an Upswing.
• Difficult, but Awesome: Effective use of Heroics is already this trope, but special mention has to go to the Hammer. Heroics is a skill that gives you a major boost to Attack and Defense at under 35% health. The most powerful Hammer in the game usually has the most raw out of any weapon. Combine these two mechanics, and with the right set of buffs and supporting skills, you get a disturbing amount of power, enough to smash monsters into a fine paste with almost no effort. However, the buff wears off if you recover past 35%, and the Hammer takes hits about as well as a Jenga tower, so you'll need to keep up an equilibrium between maintaining the buff and not dying.
• Glass Cannon: With major emphasis on "cannon". The Hammer offers no defensive options or extra mobility despite being faster than the Great Sword, but it can pump out an obscene amount of damage in very short periods of time.
• Home-Run Hitter: Its strongest regular attack is a Golf Swing that deals tremendous damage.
• Humongous-Headed Hammer: A typical Hammer will have a head about half the size of its wielder, with weight and power to match.
• I Shall Taunt You: The Hunter Art Provoke causes the user to be more likely to be targeted by monsters. This can be useful if you want to lure the monster into a trap, take some of the heat off your comrades or make sure it's always in prime position for a few taps on the noggin.
• Immune to Flinching: Charging and swinging the weapon renders Hunters immune to most wind effects generated by monsters.
• Shockwave Stomp: More accurately, a Shockwave Superpound. The impact is so strong that it can even dislodge burrowed monsters from the soil — including Monoblos and Diablos.
• Simple, yet Awesome: Its moveset is simple compared to other weapons (its standard combo is literally just "press the same attack button repeatedly"), but that simple set is all that's needed for a weapon with high damage per hit, good movement speed compared to other "heavy" weapons, and the capability to stun and wear out monsters.
• Spin Attack:
  • One of its strongest Charge Attacks is a spinning smash which can be comboed into different Finishing Moves depending on when the player chooses to interrupt the spinning with another attack.
  • Its Spinning Meteor Hunter Art in Generations. Whatever gets hit by it isn't going to remember what plane of existence they're on.
• Stance System: In Rise, the hammer can switch between two modes that changes which charge attacks it uses.
• Tap on the Head: The Hammer's greatest asset is its ability to knock out monsters temporarily with repeated swings to the head area.

Hunting Horn

Probably the strangest weapon in the series, the Hunting Horn queues up music notes with each swing to form songs that confer a variety of positive effects, from healing to increased damage output to weather resistance.

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• Barrier Warrior: Rise adds the "Sonic Barrier" melody to some horns, which covers all allies to negate the next hit taken and can be used in rapid succession. The catch is that this barrier lasts only a few seconds.
• Brown Note:
  • Some Hunting Horns possess a "High Frequency Note" (yellow) which, when played thrice in succession, can emit a burst of supersonic noise equivalent to a Sonic Bomb. This comes in handy against monsters sensitive to sound.
  • Iceborne adds the "Echo Wave" songs to some horns, which deal a single instance of Dragon or Impact damage instead of a buff.
  • The Rise incarnation, with the help of a Wirebug, can blast sound directly into the monster's body.
• Carry a Big Stick: While they are functional as musical instruments, their design is always also a very effective bludgeon.
• Cherry Tapping: Hunting Horn has a Hilt Stab move that deals miniscule damage, but it's also the only attack this weapon has capable of severing a monster's tail.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The notes a Hunting Horn can play are color coded; the combination of colors determines which types of songs the weapon can play. For instance, a Hunting Horn with a Red note allows for Attack Up buffs, while a Green note means the weapon can be used to heal your allies or increase their defenses.
• Combat Medic: While enabling its users to play an effective support role in combat, the Hunting Horn nevertheless has almost the same level of attack and knockout power as the Hammer to make it on par with other weapons. The updated moveset in Rise lets the hunter attack the monster while spamming the Health Recovery melody non-stop, making it even better for this playstyle.
• Cooldown: In Rise, the Infernal Melody gauge is grayed out after using it and will not fill again until the effect of the buff wears off.
• Dance Battler: The Rise incarnation incorporates several breakdancing techniques into the weapon's moveset while swinging the horn itself around, making it about as mobile as the Hammer.
• Difficult, but Awesome:
  • One of the least used weapons as a result of being this trope. The Hunting Horn has weird and unorthodox swing patterns and requires constant upkeep of the self-improvement song to be effective, but a good Hunting Horn user can keep themselves and their team alive while dealing huge amounts of damage.
  • Generations adds double notes which let the wielder perform the previous song and the song they're currently playing. However, these double notes can only be obtained by hitting the monster with the user's attacks. This require a more aggressive play style than the passive style the Horn typically encouraged.
  • World Horn users are this especially. Moreso than preceeding Hunting Horn users, they're expected to play their notes while bashing the monster's face in. That said, they show that even The Medic can hunt like the rest of them.
• EX Special Attack:
  • Hunting Horn's gameplay prior to Rise is based around the Perform skill. It deals little damage on its own, but takes in the melodies you dialed in through attacks, applies song buffs, and increases damage based on the melody's complexity.
  • Rise replaces Perform with a simpler attack that only applies the Self-Improvement effect, but can be supercharged into the Magnificent Trio Spin Attack by doing all three different note attacks.
• Glass Cannon: Much like the Hammer, it has strong attacks, and it has good mobility after using the Self-Improvement song, but it has no way to block attacks.
• Instrumental Weapon: All horns are enormous musical instruments, reinforced to be able to function as a bludgeoning weapon.
• Lag Cancel: An important technique in World is the ability to roll out of the backswing on slower attacks, letting you both reposition and start the next attack faster.
• Lightning Bruiser: The Rise incarnation of the weapon has fast, multi-hitting attacks, is far more nimble than its outward appearance would suggest, and can buff itself with its Self-Improvement melody to hit harder, tank more powerful attacks, and move faster.
• Limit Break: In Rise, the weapon has a meter that charges up as you hit monsters. When it's full, you can follow up Magnificent Trio with the powerful Infernal Melody attack, dealing massive damage and issuing a unique buff that greatly increases damage dealt.
• Magic Music: Hunting Horn users can play different Note Combinations, which provide buffs for the entire party ranging from healing wounds, infinite Stamina use, resistance to monster roars and/or wind effects, increased attack/defense and protection from environmental hazards such as lava and cold weather. This feature alone makes Horn users a very welcome addition in multiplayer hunts.
• Magic Knight: Hunting Horns tend to have the highest elemental stats of all the weapons.
• Not Completely Useless: Aside from the ability to Cherry Tap monster tails, Hilt Stab in World doesn't have a note on its own, and instead can be followed up with any note in a super-short animation, letting you quickly input long songs at the cost of more complex inputs.
• Non-Indicative Name: The weapon family may be called Hunting Horn, but the family encompasses musical instruments in general—you're able to carry a weaponized drumkit, shamisen, harp, or even electric guitar into battle.
• The Power of Rock: Certain Hunting Horns, like those crafted from parts of Zinogre, take the appearance of electric guitars and project rock riffs when played.
• Source Music: Comes with the territory, but several of the Hunting Horns are particularly notable for playing the otherwise non-diegetic Leitmotifs of the monsters and areas they're associated with, one such example being the Rathalos Feroce blasting out a verse from the old Verdant Hills battle theme.
• Spin Attack: Its Hunter Art Sonic Smash in Generations, where the user spins the Horn a few times before letting out a Brown Note to render the target dazed.
• Super Mode:
  • The Self-Improvement melody is a modest one exclusively for the Horn users, as it grants them a small attack boost, increased movement speed, and immunity to bouncing off of monsters' hides, along with any of the song buffs they've set up for the whole team.
  • In Rise, Horns can also build up an Infernal Melody meter by landing hits on the monsters, and using it following a Magnificent Trio or Slide Beat will give the entire team a massive attack boost that lasts for a very brief period.
• Tap on the Head: Similar to the Hammer, the Hunting Horn is ideal for knocking monsters out cold with a few swings to the head (or an Echo Wave.)

Lance

The premier weapon in defense, the Lance comes equipped with one of the strongest shields in the game, allowing it to block most attacks with ease.

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• Armor-Piercing Attack: A variation: unlike most other melee weapons which either deal Impact (blunt) or Cutting (bladed) damage, the Lance deals "Piercing" damage. While monster weakspots tend to have different damage modifiers for either Impact or Cutting damage, and may be strong or weak against either type^note (e.g. a monster may be weak to Impact but strong against Cutting on the head, and vulnerable to Cutting but strong against Impact on the wings), the Lance bypasses it by choosing which modifier is weaker than the other and using that to calculate its damage, thus optimizing the power of each strike. It still won't bypass any form of Super Armor, however.
• Boring, but Practical: It might not have any flashy moves and it's slower than a turtle, but it can combo fairly easily despite its low damage output, meaning it can aggro monsters no problem. Couple that with its shield and its triple-hop dodge, and Lances can hold their own no problem.
• Counter-Attack:
  • Beginning with the third generation, Lances gain a special guard stance that ends in a powerful counter thrust if the Hunter blocks an attack with it. Doubles as a Hold-Type Charged Attack if left undisturbed for long enough.
  • Generations has a variation of this with the Hunter Art Enraged Guard, which temporarily increases the user's attack power if they block an attack. The stronger the attack, the bigger the boost.
  • Iceborne adds a skill which also boosts damage after a perfect block.
• Dash Attack:
  • Lance users can couch the weapon under their arms and dash forward pointy end-first. This attack deals tremendous damage with each successive hit and gets stronger the longer you run, but drains Stamina and Sharpness quickly.
  • The Hunter Art Shield Assault has the user charge forward with their shield in front, blocking attacks as they run forward. Players can end it with a powerful Shield Bash.
• Jousting Lance: Several of the lance weapons are built like jousting lances, though there are exceptions which are more like spears.
• Jump Physics: In the fourth generation, the Lance gains a jump attack that can only be used during its charge.
• "Just Frame" Bonus: Generations gives the Lance the Adept Lance Style^note  The Insta-Block Switch Skill in Rise, which lets it counter with a Cross Slash after blocking at just the right moment. Get the timing wrong, however, and you'll be open for an attack for a few seconds.
• Lightning Bruiser: Lance Users who opt to take advantage of its ability to evade three times in a row can choose to build their Set Bonuses around the invincibility frames given by said ability, allowing them to dance around monsters and dodge everything thrown at them while countering with stabs and thrusts.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: The Lance has one of the best shields in the game. In Frontier, Lance-users even gain the ability to shield nearby teammates with it with the ability "Ranged Guard" and can maintain their blocking direction by holding the Evade button while guarding, making it easier to reposition oneself without having to drop the shield.
• Shield Bash: The Lance's block-advance technique allows a hunter to strike with the shield, dealing impact-type damage. Like Sword and Shield's shield bash, it's not very reliable.
• Stone Wall: The Lance has a slow walking speed and fairly weak attacks, but its shield and triple-evade provide some of the best defenses in the game and numerous options to approach monsters safely. In Frontier, it even gains a special move called "Heavy Guard" that completely nullfies attacks from every conceivable angle at the cost of increased Stamina depletion.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…: It's a common joke that Lance mains are only good at two things: blocking and poking. That being said, they do them both really well.
• You Will Not Evade Me: Rise's Lance has the Silkbind move "Twin Vine", which ties its user to the monster to prevent it from targeting other hunters or getting away.

Gunlance

Similar to lances but with More Dakka, Gunlances trade out the quick jabs and stabs of the lance in favor of wider, sweeping strikes and the ability to fire short-ranged shells.

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• Arbitrary Gun Power: While not a clear-cut example the Gunlance's Shelling, Wyvern Stake and Wyvern Fire damage actually does not scale with the displayed attack value but rather it's Shelling Level. Since Shelling Level is a separate stat from it's attack power, this can lead to higher-rarity Gunlances doing less damage than lower Rarity ones due to difference in Shelling Level.
• Armor-Piercing Attack: Its Shelling and Wyvern Fire attacks count as Blast-type damage, which ignores defenses. This makes the weapon very handy against certain monsters with impenetrable hides, like Fatalis' Super Armor. Apex monsters will still be able to reduce much of the damage, however.
• Bayonet Ya: Effectively what you're doing when you fight in melee with it.
• BFG: Despite being a melee weapon, its shelling attacks and Wyvern Fire put it squarely in this category.
• Boring, but Practical: Gunlances with higher shelling strength can be used in this fashion. Since shelling ignores defense, even comparatively weaker gunlances can produce a steady and consistent stream of damage by just firing shell after shell (especially for the gunlance types that specialize in it). It's not fast by any means at all as shelling damage is quite small for each shell fired, but if time isn't an issue, even monsters like the Kirin which have a near invincible hide when angered can be gradually brought down when other weapons would otherwise get deflected.
• Bottomless Magazines: While you are required to reload upon emptying the magazine, it is never shown just where the Hunter gets all the spare shells. This gets even more ridiculous in World as reloading the Wyvern Stake apparently means the Gunlance has an infinite amount of arm-length exploding stakes...inside itself.
• Characterization Marches On: Twice-over. Prior to World, shelling's effectiveness generally fell off in G-rank and was primarily regarded as just a means to extend combos and do most of your damage by way of pokes, but an overall increase in shelling effectiveness in World gave shelling more use for damage and the Wyrmstake Blast in Iceborne effectively makes it a borderline Game-Breaker against many enemies. Similarly, prior to World, Wide shelling was the style that emphasized shelling while Long shelling worked best in tandem with pokes, but this dichotomy was flipped around in World.
• Charged Attack: Hold Type. Interestingly, this doesn't apply to its melee attacks but its Shelling blasts: holding the Shelling and Guard buttons at the same time results in a much stronger blast than usual.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Perhaps the worst affected by this thanks to the changes in World. Guard+Shot is the input for quick reload (which now refreshes the whole magazine) instead of charging shots. Tapping Shot repeatedly just fires a second time, then uses the Wyrmstake - a very long animation you don't want to accidentally stuck when trying to slip in a quick cheapshot, and the only way to avoid it is to charge your shots or interrupt them with another move. Lastly, normal attacks are now a three-stab chain, when Lance Slam only available out of rising swing, which can lead to feeble shots when trying to land a Full Burst.
• Difficult, but Awesome: In Monster Hunter Stories 2. Normal attacks don't build Kinship, but winning a head-to-head with a shelling attack builds a ton of it. The result is a weapon that depends heavily on staying alive long enough to stockpile shells then keeping up the momentum as long as possible, but hits very hard when you pull it off.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: A lance-cannon that can shoot explosive gouts of burning gunpowder from its barrel.
• Hot Blade:
  • In Frontier, the Storm and Heaven hunting styles replace the Wyvern Fire with a "Heat Blade" that allows for much stronger melee and elemental attacks, but at the cost of increased loss of Sharpness.
  • In Generations, using any of the Gunlance's shelling attacks increases its heat gauge, which increases the power of its physical attacks the higher it gets. However, if it's overfilled, the gauge will be locked at its lowest point for a while. The Hunting Art "Dragon's Breath" also causes the heat blade effect by filling the Heat Gauge to maximum.
• Immune to Flinching: Unlike the Lance, the Gunlance has several moves^note the Upswing, Running Upswing and Wyvern Fire that ignore knockback from weak hits and wind pressure, allowing the Hunter to continue attacking. In Frontier, the Gunlance even has Guard Point frames during Wyvern Fire, but only at the front.
• Invulnerable Attack: While not readily apparent, the Wyvern Fire has a few frames of invulnerability during the starting animation. Frontier even takes this up a notch by making the Hunter completely invulnerable to damage during the Wyvern Fire's detonation if timed correctly.
• Kill It with Fire: Its shelling attacks and Wyvern Fire deal miniscule amounts of Fire-based damage, which is still enough to cause the associated effects on monsters vulnerable to fire.
• Logical Weakness: Since the Gunlance is essentially an oversized cannon with an equally-sized bayonet, the stress and heat from the muzzle blasts can cause the blade's Sharpness levels to deteriorate much faster than if the weapon were used solely for melee.
• Mighty Glacier:
  • Much like its predecessor, the Gunlance is slow and cumbersome, but it has a bit more oomph overall. Unlike the Lance, however, it lacks the ability to evade three times in a row, so good skills with guarding are a must.
  • With World running on the idea that the Hunters of the New World are of a higher caliber, gunlancers have more on-foot mobility than ever before, including more evade steps and even more offensive options. However, the trade is that despite having shields on par with lancers - the gunlancer has no access to any of their higher end guarding abilities and countering skills; the gunlancer can only perform the basic guard stance.
• Pile Bunker: The Wyrmstake fires a stake from the cannon that latches onto the monster and explodes.
• Recoil Boost: The Hunting Art "Blast Dash" introduced in Generations allows a Gunlancer to propel themselves a good distance forward with a shell blast, which increases with higher Hunting Art levels. Frontier also gives the Gunlance a double evade by default, with the second one being a much weaker, non-damaging version of the Blast Dash. Rise introduces a retooled version of the Hunting Art as a normal move. It deals minimal damage, but gives the Gunlance greater mobility than ever before, as it allows you to rocket around like Valstrax since it can be chained up to three times.
• Short-Range Shotgun: Its Shelling attacks count as this. Made even more obvious in the third generation, where the Gunlance gains a one-handed flipcock reload reminiscent of Arnie's method in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
• Sphere of Destruction: The Dragon Blast Hunting Art in Generations is an amped-up Wyvern Fire that acts as a multi-hitting flamethrower and looks like a miniature sun just erupted from the weapon's muzzle.
• Stuff Blowing Up:
  • The Wyvern Fire, a short range blast of white hot flames that ignore monster defenses. It's so strong that using it incurs a cooldown, signified by your Gunlance opening its gas vents to remove excess heat. During the third generation, the Gunlance also gained a move called the Full Burst wherein every unspent shell in the chamber is simultaneously fired, creating a small explosion. Generations gives it an even stronger version of the Wyvern Fire as a Hunting Art, and Double Cross adds yet another art called the Anti-Air Flare that unloads a full-clip shell burst from an upstab, followed immediately by a Wyvern Fire if it's off cooldown. Frontier on the other hand gives the weapon its own version of the Full Burst that can be performed during a horizontal slash, as well as a Super Wyvern Fire that requires all unspent shells to be chambered while charging up a regular Wyvern Fire. Let's just say it's not safe to be anywhere near a trigger-happy Gunlance user...
  • The fifth generation introduces the wyvern-stake. To get to it, the gunlance user has to perform a wide-sweep which usually comes after a full burst (in which the gunlance user blows all their ammo at once), before they stab a giant, hot, metal rod into the monster. That explodes.
  • Iceborne adds the ability to load the Wyvernstake with slinger ammo, upgrading it to a Wyrmstake. It will stay attached to the monster and explode repeatedly upon being struck with attacks.
• Sword Drag: Done in Rise with the Ground Splitter skill. Scraping the barrel on the ground heats it up to temporarily increase all shelling damage.
• Unorthodox Reload: Its regular reload animation involves jamming the Gunlance's release lever on the ground, opening the weapon's breech and ejecting the spent shells from the magazine, but it also has a single-shot reload animation involving swinging the Gunlance over the Hunter's head, flipping the breech open, and slamming it shut in one swoop. The fourth generation allows the hunter to do this in midair, then slam it on the ground as an attack. World takes it even further as it allows you to reload the whole clip using that method, while the regular 'standing' reload is now the only thing that reload the Wyvern Stake.

Switch Axe

A powerful offence-focused weapon that switches between a heavy axe and a quick sword at a moment's notice. The Switch Axe has a phial meter that charges up over time and powers up attacks in sword mode with additional effects, but when the meter runs out it disables sword mode until it refills.

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• Attack! Attack! Attack!: One strategy in World endgame is to embrace the weapon's lack of defensive options, bringing a Rocksteady Mantle and lifesteal. The sword's attacks are so rapid and consistent that you can outheal most attacks the monster throws at you without ever stopping to dodge.
• BFS: In Sword mode they're almost as big as Greatswords.
• Chainsaw Good: Played with. Its strongest attack in Sword Mode is a Phial Discharge that looks like the Hunter is chainsawing the weapon into the monster while sparks of energy fly around it.
• Charged Attack: Collect Type. While the weapon is sheathed or in Axe Mode, its Phial will recharge naturally. Using Sword Mode depletes the Phial with each swing. In turn, as of World, attacking while in Sword Mode fills a second gauge that, when full, powers up the weapon's phial, causing explosions on every swing and upgrading the Elemental Discharge to a more powerful Zero Sum Discharge.
• Explosive Overclocking:
  • Again, played with regarding Sword Mode's Phial Discharge attack: using the move's finisher will deplete your weapon's Phial energy by creating an explosion, which usually reverts the weapon back into Axe Mode. Only by manually reloading your Phial or allowing it to naturally recharge can Sword Mode be used again.
  • The Hunter Art Demon Riot makes sword mode's attacks more powerful, but the gauge is depleted over time whether you attack or not, and you can't reload it manually until the gauge is completely empty. On the bright side, nothing you do in sword mode will decrease the gauge faster, and the Energy Charge Hunter Art can still recharge it.
• Glass Cannon: Similarly to the Hammer, it gives no extra mobility or defensive tools, just damage and lots of it. In addition, Switch Axes tend to have very poor Sharpness gauges, and will require frequent application of whetstones to keep them in top shape. In fact as of World Switch Axe has the least defensive options in the entire game as after an attack, Switch Axe users may find themselves executing a hop instead of the normal combat roll like with the Lance and Gunlance. Like the Lance and Gunlance, this hop has only 11 frames of invincibility unlike the normal roll's 13. Unlike the former two, Switch Axe does not have a massive shield to hide behind should an attack come.
• Limit Break: The Zero Sum Discharge, introduced in World. When your Switch Axe is in amped state, you can climb onto the monster, jam it into their hides, and watch the fireworks. As of the Iceborne expansion, this can be performed with the Clutch Claw too. In Rise it has built-in super armor, meaning you can't get knocked out of it like in World, although you can still get carted if you’re not careful.
• Morph Weapon: The first type to be introduced in the series, being able to morph between Axe and Sword modes, each with its own moveset and perks.
• Stance System: Axe Mode has faster movement, better reach, and unlimited usage while Sword Mode has faster attacks, a phial that enhances its attacks, and can't be deflected.
• Status Buff:
  • While the first tier of Energy Charge just refills the switch gauge, the higher tier versions also temporarily increase the user's affinity.
  • In Rise, performing a Heavy Slam with the Axe grants the Maximum Potency buff, which makes the Sword's amped gauge charge faster.
• Stuff Blowing Up: The Elemental Discharge move (and subsequently, the Zero Sum Discharge) harness the stored phial energy to make a bunch of tiny explosions, followed by one massive explosion that can deal elemental damage. When the weapon enters the amped state, it will also create small explosions when it hits something.
• Super Mode:
  • Generations Ultimate introduces the Demon Riot Hunter Art, where the phial energy inside the weapon is agitated almost to the point of a violent explosion, causing the weapon to crackle with phial energy, making Sword mode's attacks stronger. It constantly drains the Sword mode gauge, but nothing you do will make it drain faster.
  • World introduces the amped state for Sword mode. When a Hunter lands enough hits on a monster in Sword mode, their Switch Axe starts glowing and the phial energy begins leaking out, causing a small explosion wherever the attack hits the monster. It also allows them to use the powerful Zero Sum Discharge, an enhanced version of the Elemental Discharge where the Hunter clambers onto the monster, stabs them with the Switch Axe, and unleashes most of the phial energy within for a massive explosion. In Rise, the amped state also empowers Axe mode with the effects of the Sword's phial.
• Tap on the Head: Similar to the Hammer, Hunting Horn and Impact-phial Charge Blades, Switch Axes with Exhaust-type phials can stun monsters by hitting them on the head.
• Unblockable Attack: Sword Mode's attacks can't be deflected by anything but Apex monsters.

Charge Blade

A different take on the Switch Axe's concept. A versatile weapon that can switch between a defensive Sword and Shield and a large two-handed axe, the Charge Blade stores kinetic energy and loads it into its Phials by attacking in Sword Mode. These phials are then either used in Axe Mode to strengthen its attacks with sticky charges that detonate on the monster, or have their stored energy dumped into the shield to strengthen its defenses.

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• Charged Attack: Collect Type. Attacks made in Sword Mode will charge up energy in the blade, which must then be loaded into the shield's Phials. These Phials can then be used in Axe Mode to provide extra damage or dumped straight into the shield to power up its defensive capabilities. Sword Mode, on the other hand, has a Hold Type attack which—interestingly enough—is the fastest way to charge Phial energy.
• Chainsaw Good:
  • The Ripper Shield Hunter Art in Generations turns the shield into a spinning buzzsaw of death that shreds through monsters like a pizza cutter; it also gives you enough energy to fill five phials if the whole attack connects.
  • In Iceborne, Hunters can now charge the shield, the sword and the axe itself with the Savage Axe technique, which causes the blade of the axe to spin as it's swung around, effectively making the blade at the end a miniature chainsaw blade with each slash. The drawback is that the mode constantly drains any available phials. Once the last one has been used up, the blade returns to normal.
  • Rise replaces the Savage Axe with a Switch Skill called Condensed Spinning Slash; while choosing this Skill removes the ability to boost your sword with Condensed Element Slashes (thus making the phial overload mechanic more tedious to maintain for Sword Mode play), it also grants Axe Mode the ability to recharge phials on its own by grinding the buzzsaw into monsters, making it possible to stay in chainsaw form almost indefinitely.
• Counter-Attack:
  • After blocking an attack, players can cancel into an Axe Morph attack, an Amped Element Discharge, or a Super Amped Element Discharge. This is made easier if the weapon is in Element Up Mode due to the stronger shield, and even easier if you use the weapon's Guard Point ability during said mode.
  • Guard Point itself is a counter move in Element Up mode, since it causes free Phial explosions when a monster attack is successfully blocked. However, this can only be executed during specific moves, namely the beginning of a Morph to Axe after a Sword attack, a Forward Morph to Axe in idle stance, and at the end of a Sword Roundslash.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: For most weapons with shields, the Alternate Draw input (R+X+A in previous generations, RT in World) draws into a blocking stance. For Charge Blade, it draws into an axe swing, the exact opposite of a defensive manoeuvre.^note There is a very short period in the axe draw wherein you are counted as Guard Pointing, but being able to utilize it at all, much less consistently, is incredibly difficult and demands knowing a monster in and out.
• Difficult, but Awesome: One of the most demanding weapons in the series due to its complex control system, which requires players to master all the moves and quirks of both Axe and Sword/Shield modes in order to be any degree of effective in combat.
  • Specifically, the Super Amped Element Discharge cancel (which allows a hunter in Element Up mode to do an Amped Element Discharge without losing all of their phials and Element Up mode in the process) has a bit of a quirk related to hunter orientation: the input is backwards + X, but "backwards" in this case means backwards relative to the hunter in the default control scheme. The reason this is a quirk is that this is precisely the opposite of how the orientation of directional input normally works: left on the analog pad is left on screen, not the hunter's left.
  • The Charge Blade is often considered the best all-round weapon in World, with good offence, defence and mobility and no real defining weakness, but it rarely gets accusations of being imbalanced because it is understood that even a Charge Blade user who has sunk hours and hours into learning to use it will still make many mistakes from mechanical execution alone.
  • For specific Charge Blades, Power Element Phials can deal piddling or even zero damage on their Super Amped Elemental Discharge, as they can deal varying damage depending on a monster's elemental hitzones. In comparison, Impact phials deal the same damage no matter where they hit and regardless of any other modifiers. However, if you whack the right spot, use the right gear, and learn the elemental weaknesses of monsters, you can deal some obscene damage per Phial burst, to say nothing of the whole attack.
  • Guard Points, mentioned often when talking about Charge Blade, are a can of worms on their own. When performing the Morph-to-Axe or Morph-to-Sword attacks, there are a few frames in which you're technically Guarding, and if you get attacked from the front while in these specific frames you will be slightly recoiled as if you were blocking. Not just that, but the guard power of that specific block is increased, causing less recoil and allowing you to counter-attack more consistently. When combined WITH Element Up mode, you have bar very few the best guard ability in the game, but only for a split-second, necessitating some incredible reflexes.
• Finishing Move: The Amped Element Discharge, a powerful explosion-generating swing only usable in Axe mode. If the weapon's Super Mode is enabled, this turns into the Super Amped Element Discharge, which depletes all of the weapon's stored energy to create a massive explosion in front of the user, bringing the weapon's phial levels back to normal.
• Guide Damn It!: Learning that you can charge your shield is often a revelation to any players who have first picked up the Charge Blade, due to its method^note You have to begin a (Super) Amped Element Discharge, and then cancel it mid-animation by pressing the guard button. As iterations began to pile on more and more mechanics specific to the Charge Blade (Guard Pointing and AED Cancelling in 4U, Condensed Element Slash in World, Power Axe Mode in Iceborne and the various silkbind attacks in Rise), trying to figure out how to use the weapon to its fullest extent requires a good deal of searching. Averted in World which shows you what attacks can combo into each other, and Rise which lets you in on the mechanics through Switch Skills.
• Heroic RRoD: Attacking constantly while in Sword Mode will eventually cause your Phials to glow red. Do this for too long and a "CHARGE" message will appear. Once this happens, all of your Sword attacks will bounce off of monsters even at max Sharpness. Loading your Phials removes this effect.
• Laser Blade: One of the weapon's Hunter Arts in Generations is the Energy Blade, which generates a massive energy sword from the weapon for one devastating swing.
• Logical Weakness: Since the shield becomes the axehead in Axe Mode, blocking attacks will lower the weapon's sharpness.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Normally the weapon has the same blocking power as a Great Sword, but in Element Up mode or when using a Guard Point, the Sword form's shield becomes just as strong as a Lance's. If using a Guard Point WHILE in Element Up mode, it's as strong as a Lance with Guard +1/Guard 3! The Charge Blade is notably the only weapon class with a blocking ability that doesn't allow the Hunter to instantly block attacks without readying the weapon first.
• Master of None: In its original appearance, the never-localized Monster Hunter 4, the Charge Blade lacked the Element Up (shield charge) mechanic. The result was a weapon with a broad toolkit but no real oomph or defining features to reward its complexity. The addition of Element Up and the Amped Elemental Discharge in 4 Ultimate buffed this out nicely, see Difficult, but Awesome.
• Mighty Glacier: Axe mode has mobility and damage potential roughly on par with a Great Sword. Even sword mode is considerably more sluggish than a Sword and Shield, while still having access to a charged slash and hard-hitting combos.
• Morph Weapon: The second type to be introduced in the series, being able to morph between Axe and Sword/Shield modes. However, unlike the Switch Axe whose forms can be used independently, Charge Blade requires synchronization between both of its modes to be truly effective.
• Nerf: Generations removed the shock wave from the Super Amped Element Discharge, the Amped Element Discharge can no longer be done in sword mode, and activating Element Up mode from sword mode results in a weaker yellow version, requiring players to be in axe mode to get the stronger red one. The nerf was undone in World, leading to the shield thrust to again be the fastest way to get back into element up.
• Powerful, but Inaccurate: The Energy Blade Hunter Art has terrible reach and can even whiff when attempting to hit a monster at point-blank range. However, it also boasts one of the highest, if not the highest value of any attack for breaking parts when running off of a full ten phials. Done right, it can even cleave off a monster's tail in one hit!
• Shockwave Stomp: More like Shockwave Weapon Slam: for Charge Blades with Impact Phials, using the Super Amped Element Discharge with loaded phials generates a powerful concussive wave that travels a short distance forward on the ground. If the weapon has Elemental Phials, the shockwaves become Delayed Explosions instead. However, this feature was removed in Generations, necessitating more precision when using the Super AED as a missed attack will simply waste all your phials without doing anything else.
• Stance System: Sword Mode functions like a slower but harder hitting variation of the Sword and Shield, while Axe Mode plays like a combination of the Switch Axe's wide swings and the Great Sword's movement and attack speed.
• Stuff Blowing Up: In Axe Mode, hitting monsters will attach explosive sticky charges onto their affected parts at the cost of one Phial. Additionally, activating Element Up mode grants similar bonuses to Sword Mode: it causes Shield Thrusts and successful Guard Points to emit explosive bursts on contact, and slashing with the sword immediately after reloading the Phials produces a similar effect.
• Super Mode: Element Up Mode, which is accessed by loading up the weapon's Phials, performing an Amped Element Discharge with the Axe, and then canceling it immediately by morphing the weapon back into Sword Mode. This dumps your Phial energy into the shield, causing its defenses to skyrocket, its Axe Mode to gain increased damage and allowing access to improved versions of two moves: the Guard Point (which will massively increase your guarding capabilities in addition to giving free mini phial bursts - much like the Axe's A-button attacks) and the Super Amped Element Discharge (which, while having a longer windup and spending every phial, can do exponentially more damage than a normal AED in the right situations).
• Unblockable Attack: All attacks with phials (Elemental Discharges, AED/Super AED, and the Shield Thrust). Originally this was exclusive to the Axe mode but as of World, a charged shield can be used to charge the sword, giving it phial damage as well as Mind's Eye.
• Weapon-Based Characterization: NPCs who wield the Charge Blade in-story like the Ace Cadet, Buddy Handler Iori and Sir Jae are usually marked by youth, inexperience, and great growth potential.

Insect Glaive

A polearm designed for nimble offense, the Insect Glaive contains a special pheromone allowing Hunters to command "Kinsects" to attack and extract bodily fluids from the target, which can then be processed into a nectar that buffs the Hunter. In addition, it also contains a pneumatic gun that can launch pheromone bullets to get the Kinsect to target certain areas of a monster, or launch the Hunter themselves into the air.

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• Armor-Piercing Attack: Subverted and played straight. Its aerial attacks will not bounce off parts it doesn't have enough sharpness to pierce. However, it will still make the "deflected attack" sound and deal minimal damage to the part it hits. In addition, once it marks a monster with its "Descending Thrust" move, the Kinsect will go back and blast through the monster to the marked area, dealing several hits of elemental damage along the way like elemental Bowgun ammo.
• Assist Character: In Rise, Assist-type Kinsects can particpate in the Hunter's attack combos.
• Attack Drone: The Hunter Art Swarm summons a swarm of insects around the user that damage anything they touch. Unfortunately, they also attack teammates.
• BFG/Bayonet Ya: One of the models you get in Generations is actually a huge rifle.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: The Kinsects may not be as large as the Neopteron large monsters, but they are still mighty huge relative to real-life insects, being a little over as long as the Hunter's forearm.
• Charged Attack: Hold Type. The Kinsect can be charged up before it's released, increasing its attack power. Certain Kinsects will charge up much faster, making this a more viable attack option.
• Death from Above: The Glaive is the king of mounting with its ability to jump on command. World introduced its aerial dodge and expanded aerial attacks. Rise boosted it even further with repeated aerial attacks building up the power of the final strike as most of the Glaive's best damage dealers had been restricted to the ground previously. A Diving Wyvern done after the maximum amount of aerial attacks can cause ludicrous damage.
• Difficult, but Awesome: Becomes significantly more difficult to use to its full potential in Rise, but the result is very much worth it. First and foremost, Silkbound Vault becomes integral to keeping up your damage output. While it doesn't buff you or do damage directly, it resets the amount of times you can do a Double Jump; combine this with the new ability to perform a Sword Plant into walls to recover Wirebugs and stamina, and you can stay in the air for a long, long time if you know what you're doing. It also requires you to make use of Diving Wyvern. The more aerial attacks you do, the more damage the final Diving Wyvern deals; however, you have to be careful with your positioning to ensure you can still hit the monster when you run out of aerial attacks, since Diving Wyvern's hitbox is really small. The end result is a weapon that's tricky to use, but can deal some obscene damage when push comes to shove.
• Dump Stat:
  • Stamina is considered the Kinsect's least useful main stat because it's more efficient to just recall the Kinsect and try again instead of launching the Kinsect repeatedly. It becomes even more useless if one is using Adept style, because Adept causes the Kinsect's stamina gauge to empty instantly every time it's launched. The only reason to even increase stamina is if one is trying to get a specific Kinsect form, which requires a certain amount of stamina.
  • Elemental damage is ignored because each monster has different elemental resistances that make elemental damage situational, compared to power, which deals consistent damage no matter what kind of monster is fought. This is averted in Generations, where elemental damage is upgraded separately from the Kinsect's other stats, allowing one to increase elemental damage without compromising the other stats.
• Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: Its fighting style is very reminiscent of Wushu polearm forms.
• Familiar: The Kinsect that comes with the weapon acts like one, stealing monster essences and processing them for the Hunter to use as a powerup.
• Fastball Special:
  • The Generations Hunter Art Extract Hunter has the Kinsect latch onto the Insect Glaive, followed by the hunter swinging it forward to launch the Kinsect with incredible force. If the Kinsect hits a large monster, it will obtain all three extracts.
  • The basic motion returns in Sunbreak with a vastly different function as the Silkbind Technique Awakened Kinsect Attack. Rather than collect, it uses up all three extracts to let the Kinsect inflict massive damage and pull the hunter in after it a la Magnet Spike. Powder Kinsects will also leave behind multiple clouds in the process.
• Fragile Speedster: Insect Glaive users have fast attacks and great mobility, but have no way of blocking hits and are very light on raw damage. However, they can use Extracts to boost their damage and defenses, which temporarily mitigates this issue.
• Goomba Springboard: If the last hit of its left face button attack connects when the Hunter is juiced up on Red extract, the hunter will be able to launch themselves into the air again off of the monster. This continues up to five times, until the Hunter runs out of stamina, if the last hit misses, or if the Hunter is hit midair.
• Implacable Man: Its Super Mode causes the Hunter to become a mild version of this, giving them immunity to weaker wind effects, monster roars and attack knockbacks in addition to bolstering their attack power and defenses, thus effectively turning them into Lightning Bruisers for the duration of the powerup.
• Jump Physics: The Glaive can be used as a pole vault, allowing Hunters to leap into the air to avoid attacks or dish out a few of their own.
• Life Drain: Collecting green extracts from monsters restores some health.
• One Stat to Rule Them All:
  • Speed is widely considered the Kinsect's most important stat, because higher speed makes it easier for the Kinsect to perform its main job of collecting extracts.
  • If one uses Adept style, power becomes more important because launching the Kinsect after an Insta-Evade results in the Kinsect performing a loop that's unaffected by its speed. Additionally, collecting extracts the normal way is much slower in Adept style, due to the player losing the ability to manually recall the Kinsect, forcing players to wait for the Kinsect to come back on its own.
• Power Parasite: Played with. The Kinsect is used mainly to steal extracts from monsters by attacking them. Calling the insect back to yourself will "load" these extracts into your system, causing you to gain new benefits depending on the color of the extract (Red = attack boost, Orange = defense boost, White = speed boost and Green = health recovery).
• Super Mode:
  • Gaining all three types of powerup extracts (White, Orange and Red) causes the Hunter to gain powerful Attack and Defense boosts, in addition to having wind resistance, earplugs and immunity to flinching from weak attacks.
  • The Bug Majeure Hunter Art acts as one for your Kinsect, enhancing their attacks and letting them combo into a looping series of acrobatics to repeatedly bash monsters they hit with their Spin Attack. Under the right conditions, they can keep pace with the Glaive itself!
• Took a Level in Badass: The Kinsects in World. Marking a monster now makes the Kinsect hound it until they run out of stamina (or get recalled), doing damage and also leaving behind effect clouds the Hunter can strike for Kinsect-dependent secondary effects, like bursts of elemental or status damage, or healing the Hunter. Taken to another level in Iceborne now that you can use Slinger ammo to temporarily power up your Kinsect, allowing you to get two essences at once, allowing you to expedite the process of essence collection while potentially leaving behind more dust for various effects. Rise continues the trend with the "Assist" type Kinsect actively helping the hunter attack during certain combo strings, adding extra damage.
• Wall Jump: In Rise, it can clutch onto walls if the correct directional input is pressed and jump back off to continue its assault anew.

Bowgun (Light and Heavy)

The premier ranged weapon in the Monster Hunter universe, Bowguns are a hybrid of crossbows and percussion-based firearms that are capable of using different ammunition types depending on the model.

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• Abnormal Ammo: Bowgun shots require some ridiculous ingredients to make, which include fish, mushrooms, herbs, monster fangs, and plant berries. It doesn't diminish their efficacy in the slightest though.
• Armor-Piercing Attack: Pierce Shot ammunition is designed to travel through a target while continuously damaging the monster. The Wyvernsnipe special ammo introduced in World does the same thing, except it's a single shot with a cooldown that leaves a trail of explosives wherever it goes through the monster.
• Automatic Crossbows: They sure try to look like crossbows, what with the bowstring and all. The line between crossbow and gun gets blurred once you notice the muzzle flashes though; for example the Najarala and Rathian line of Heavy Bowguns in 4U look like LMGs while the Seltas and Rathalos LBG with extended barrels look like miniguns. Generally speaking, most of the higher end bowguns of either type look far more "gun" and less "bow" with the only real hint of the latter being the placement of a bowstring somewhere in the design.
• Awesome, but Impractical:
  • Cluster Bombs. They hit hard, but can’t be fired while moving and have to be manually aimed like Cannons. They can blast away other hunters as well, meaning frequent use of them will often draw the ire of allies.
  • Support Ammo are often considered this by the community as well: The sheer amount of time and effort required to line up your sights and hit a (likely moving) ally and not accidentally hitting a monster easily outweighs the possible buff when the ally can simply use a consumable to get comparable or even better effects in a much shorter time.
• BFG: Light Bowguns tend to be at the upper limit of realistic gun sizes, meaning Heavy Bowguns are very large indeed. Some models (like Lao Shan and Gravios guns) are bigger than others. Having a Heavy Bowgun out in particular makes you move as slow as someone with a Greatsword or a Gunlance. In 4U the Dah'ren Mohran Heavy Bowgun takes this up a notch. Normally, it's a decently-large Heavy Bowgun, one of the largest of its class. Put the Power Barrel on it, and it becomes longer than a male hunter is tall.
• Boom, Headshot!: Crag/Sticky Ammo and Exhaust Ammo have impact properties, and therefore are best fired at the monster's head to exhaust and stun them.
• Boring, but Practical: Normal Ammo. It simply inflicts a reliable amount of burst damage per hit that can be easily boosted by damage-output buffs, unlike other ammo types that can be mitigated by elemental resistances or may not benefit as much or at all from the aforementioned buffs due to inflicting a large quantity of low-damage hits, has a modest range that lets the Hunter stay safe from close-range attacks, and doesn't require them to take the monster's shape into account. With the right buffs, someone using Normal Ammo 3 can easily out-damage someone using Piercing or Spread Ammo.
• Bottomless Magazines: Downplayed in that the weapon requires players to manually reload it once the chamber is empty, but hunters have an unlimited supply of the basic Normal Ammo 1. Earlier games also had the "Auto-Reload" skill which allowed for continuous fire of all ammunition types, playing this trope completely straight.
• Charged Attack: The Heavy Bowgun gains a Hold-type one in Rise, being able to charge each individual bullet before firing, and walk slowly while aiming this way, Mega Buster-style.
• Counter-Attack: In Rise, the Heavy Bowgun's Silkbind attack, "Counter Shot", blocks a monster's attack and can be followed up with a powerful blast. The Switch Skill "Counter Charger" instead grants the user a buff that makes their shots charge faster upon a successful parry.
• Difficult, but Awesome: There's a lot to digest about how to use these weapons effectively, like knowing the specific range at which different types of ammo work best (and yes, you can fail to deal effective damage by being too close to the monster), using the correct armor skills to maximize the effectiveness of your shots, and learning how to combine on the fly to keep your ammo stockpiles topped up. A bad Bowgun user will be stuck with Normal Ammo before long and likely time out the quest, assuming they don't triple cart due to having half as much defense as Blademasters (prior to World, where the defense gap is much narrower). Good Bowgun players are ruthlessly efficient at killing monsters and can outdamage melee hunters.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: A "Medium Bowgun" exists in certain earlier installments of the series.
• Emergency Weapon: All Bowguns can fire an infinite supply of weak Normal Ammo 1, should they run out of all other ammunition.
• Fragile Speedster: The Light Bowgun has much higher mobility than the Heavy Bowgun, with a faster unsheathed movement speed and post-shot side and backsteps. However, they're much weaker than Heavy Bowgun wielders, and have as much defense (in other words, very little). Light Bowgunners are expected to take full advantage of their extra mobility to effectively hunt.
• Glass Cannon: Both types of Bowguns require the user to equip Gunner armor, which is a lot less protective than Blademaster armor. A Heavy Bowgun with a Power Barrel can pump out an insane amount of damage (even moreso when its limiter gets removed) but without a shield the Gunner is wholly dependent on evasion and good positioning to avoid getting killed. Also, thanks to how elemental damage works, many Light Bowguns that focus on these ammunition types can do the same amount of damage-per-second a good Heavy Bowgun does. They're less squishy in World, due to Blademasters and Gunners now wearing the same armor, but still moreso than melee fighters, as melee weapons grant a defense bonus against physical damage while ranged weapons grant a bonus against elemental damage.
• Grenade Launcher: Some Light Bowgun models that can load Crag and Cluster rounds are this, with matching recoil strength to boot. One such Light Bowgun^note the Black Gravios light bowgun is even called this.
• Gun Accessories: Bowguns can be customized with various upgrades. Light Bowguns can accept silencers to reduce aggro and recoil (firing delay) while Heavy Bowguns allow for the use of a shield. Alternatively, you can opt for Long Barrels and Power Barrels that simply increase their damage output.
• Healing Shiv: Bowguns have access to a few types of rounds designed to be used on allies: Recover Ammo restores the target's health, Demon Ammo boosts their attack, and Armor Ammo boosts their defense. If you miss your shot and hit the monster you're fighting, though, it will gain the benefits instead.
• Hollywood Silencer: Played with: the Light Bowgun has an optional Silencer attachment that reduces recoil^*thus increasing its firing rate and recovery speed and lowers aggro, but they don't make your attacks undetectable by the enemy.
• Mighty Glacier: The Heavy Bowgun is very powerful but slows your movement to a crawl, and with the Shield mod it can be used to block attacks. Without it, it's more of a Glass Cannon.
• Mix-and-Match Weapon: Bowguns tend to blur the line between crossbow and gun.
• More Dakka: The Light Bowgun's Rapid Fire and the Heavy Bowgun's Crouching Fire / Siege Mode are this, enabling more bullets to be fired with less effort at the cost of mobility. The Generations Light Bowgun Hunter Art "Rapid Fire Rain" utilizes a form of Recursive Ammo, and Frontier has a similar technique called "Rapid Fire Beam" which allows the hunter to keep firing shots after the initial rapid fire volley until all their remaining ammunition is expended. In Generations Ultimate, filling up the Valor Style meter allows Light Bowguns to fire extra shots when dodging and Heavy Bowguns to autofire Crouching Fire ammo at a ridiculously fast rate. World introduces the "Wyvernheart" special ammo for Heavy Bowguns, which temporarily turns it into an outright gatling gun.
• Mutually Exclusive Power Ups: Light Bowguns can be kitted with a Silencer or Long Barrel, but not both at the same time. Ditto for the Heavy Bowgun and its Shield and Power Barrel.
• No Range Like Point-Blank Range: Zigzagged. Without giving your bullets time to increase speed (i.e blasting the monster point-blank) they'll fail to penetrate and do minimal damage. However, at the same time, hitting the monster from too far away, your attacks will be moving too slowly by the time they reach the monster. The solution is to hit the monster at just the right distance, a mechanic known as Critical Range. That said, some ammo types, such as Spread and Wyvern, have a critical range of right next to the monster.
• Not the Intended Use: In Rise, if a Heavy Bowgun has a Shield mod, the regular melee attack gains a few i-frames... meaning that if you time using it properly, it becomes a Greatsword Tackle-esque parry that completely negates damage (and knockback if you use Guard/Embolden).
• Pistol-Whipping: You can do a buttstroke with Bowguns for melee attacks. Light Bowguns' amounts to a pathetic cherry tap, but Heavy Bowguns, being so... heavy, actually make a halfway decent bludgeon.
• Power Limiter: In the third and fourth generations, there exists an option to remove the Limiter on a Bowgun with a Rarity rating of 6 or higher. Doing so will give Light Bowguns the ability to switch between different ammunition types without having to reload constantly, but at the cost of losing Rapid Fire. By comparison, Heavy Bowguns gain more damage per shot and the ability to use Wyvern Fire rounds, but at the cost of losing Siege Mode. Said Limiter can also be reattached if the player so wishes.
• Retractable Weapon: Heavy Bowguns are carried in a collapsed state and have to be reassembled before they can be used.
• Rocket Jump: The Light Bowgun Hunter Art Bullet Geyser fires an explosive shell in front of the hunter, which serves to damage monsters and propel the hunter out of harm's way.
• Short-Range Shotgun: Spread Ammo effectively turns your Bowgun into this, firing out a cluster of pellets that have a very short critical range, encouraging up-close tactics (which can be dangerous as this exposes the wielder to the monster's physical attacks, which Gunners have less defense against compared to Blademasters) in order to utilize them to their fullest.
• Sniper Rifle: They're effectively this, but on differing ends of the scale. Light Bowguns behave more like a DMR or a Battle Rifle, being a much more nimble weapon. Heavy Bowguns on the other hand, is more like an anti-tank or anti-materiel rifle.
• Sphere of Destruction: The Heavy Bowgun Hunter Art "Super Nova" fires a timed explosive shell that bursts outward into a huge burning sphere.
• Spread Shot: The aptly-named Spread Ammo fires a shotgun-like burst that is most effective up close. Shrapnel Ammo is similar, but hits an extremely wide area, making it most useful for clearing out groups of small monsters.
• Squishy Wizard: Both weapons are the "mage/wizard" class archetype in all but name, especially since they take less elemental damage (as opposed to melee weapons which reduce physical damage) meaning that a slap from a monster will hurt a bit more. Back when Blademaster and Gunner armor sets were classified separately, their armor even had less defense than the standard Blademaster armor. They can buff and heal teammates with Demon, Armor and Recover Ammo, inflict status effects onto monsters with Paralysis, Poison, Sleep and Exhaust Ammo, deal normal and elemental damage at range with Flaming, Water, Freeze and Thunder Ammo, and Elderseal Elder Dragons with Dragon Ammo. The Heavy Bowgun mixes this with Mighty Glacier, especially with a shield mod equipped, while the Light Bowgun mixes the trope with Fragile Speedster due to its increased mobility.
• Sticky Bomb: The appropriately-named Sticky Ammo. It's especially useful for stunning monsters with headshots. Slicing Ammo also attaches to the target on impact, but rather than detonating in a fiery explosion it releases blades to cut the monster.
• Utility Party Member: Bowguns have access to several types of status-inflicting ammo, letting their user paralyze, tranquilize, flinch, and depower the monster at a crucial moment unlike melee weapons that can't toggle their status at will. Light Bowguns in particular tend to be better at applying assorted status effects to make up for their lower damage.
• Wave-Motion Gun: Frontier Heavy Bowguns have the "Heat Beam", which is charged up by constantly firing shots and deals about 30 to 120 hits' worth of fixed damage depending on how long the Heat Beam gauge is.

Bow

Introduced in the second generation, the Bow differs from the Bowguns due to its infinite ammo, charged shots, and limited melee attacks. However, due to its unique mechanics, it requires a different set of Armor Skills than Bowguns do. In the fifth generation, bow mechanics were simplified.

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• Annoying Arrows: Given that the main quarry of the game happens to include armor-plated dragons and the like, this is to be expected. However, the Bow's attack power can suffer drastically if the weapon is improperly used, leading to long and tedious battles wherein your arrows only do Scratch Damage at best.
• Armor-Piercing Attack: Up till the 4th generation, Pierce-type Bows specialize in this type of charged attack, utilizing shots that punch through a monster's body and repeatedly deal damage throughout several body parts. The Dragon Piercer attack introduced in Monster Hunter: World functions like a super pierce arrow.
• BFG: The 4th Generation has bows that have a Power Shot in place of the Arc Shot that fires a much stronger arrow. It can also be chain fired immediately after a normal or charged arrow shot. In the 5th generation, powershot has been downgraded. It remains a staple of the bow, however it was turned into a spread shot doing little more damage than the initial shot. The Dragon Piercer has taken its place.
• Bottomless Magazines: While Hunters can run out of arrow coatings, they cannot run out of arrows.
• Charged Attack: Hold type. Holding the Shot button will charge up the bow and cause it to unleash an attack specific to a particular charge level; e.g. a bow with Rapid Lvl 2 and Pierce Lvl 3 will shoot a series of arrows if the Shot button is released on the second charge, while it will fire an armor-piercing arrow at the third charge.
  • This is maintained in Monster Hunter Stories 2. Charging takes an entire turn, but it brings the bow's damage up to par, allows the use of shot skills, and gives the hunter a free power shot attack at the end of the round, more than making up for the time investment.
• Dash Attack: Rise gives an option to replace the regular dodge with a short-ranged dash that has counter frames and deals damage.
• Death from Above: The Arrow Rain and Arrow Bomb attacks.
• Glass Cannon: Like with Bowguns, Bow users have to use Gunner armor which is not as damage-absorbing as Blademaster armor. They're less squishy in World, due to Blademasters and Gunners now wearing the same armor, but melee weapons grant a defense bonus against physical damage while ranged weapons grant a bonus against elemental damage.
• Improbable Use of a Weapon: Using the melee attacks will cause hunters to pull out an arrow and stab monsters with it. Justified in that the arrows are as big as javelins. You can even enhance this attack by applying the Close-Range Coating.
• Magikarp Power: Applies to each and every shot. Using numbers from Generations Ultimate as an example, the highest motion value of any arrow loosed from the bow is 20, for an endgame shot type (for comparison, that's about the MV of a quick poke from most melee weapons). But if that shot is released as a level 3 charge? Damage multiplied by 1.5. Critical distance? 1.5 multiplier. Power coating? 1.35. These stack multiplicatively for more or less triple the base damage. This is why there's such a gulf between bow hunters who understand all this and those who don't.
• More Dakka: Up till the 4th generation, Rapid-type Bows unleashed a stream of arrows with a charged attack. In World, the bow's normal charged shot is a cluster of arrows that hit the target in a small area.
• Multishot: Until the 4th generation, Spread Type bows fire arrows in a wide arc when their charged attack is used. The 5th generation moves the multishot to the powershot function of the bow.
• Rain of Arrows: The Arrow Rain attack, which can also knock out targets. However, if the monster is partially outside of the area of impact or is too small, not all of the arrows may hit.
• Razor Floss: The Hunter Art Blade Wire temporarily replaces all your regular shots with a pair of arrows connected by wire that inflict cutting damage.
• Short-Range Shotgun: Thousand Dragons, the alternate special attack introduced in Iceborne, combines the Bow with the Slinger Burst to produce this effect. As an added bonus it takes on the properties of the Slinger ammo used to perform the attack; while it can be done without Slinger ammo, it's much more powerful with it.
• Skill Gate Characters: A subverted example. The Bow is often seen as the most "Blademaster friendly" ranged weapon thanks to its easy to learn control scheme (comparable to the Hammer, one of the simpler melee weapons) and its lack of micromanagement (e.g. no need to juggle multiple ammunition types). However, this ease of use is deceptive. The bow deals damage via stacking multiplicative modifiers on top of low motion values. This is not adequately explained in-game. Played incorrectly, and the hunter can end up timing out of a quest. Played correctly, and the bow can hold best in class speed run times.
• Spread Shot: Spread-type arrows. The number of arrows released depends on the level of the Spread attack.
• Status Buff: The Hunter Art Haste Rain temporarily increases movement and charge speed.
• The Straight and Arrow Path: Bowguns, even though they try to look like Automatic Crossbows, are guns for all intents and purposes (muzzle flash included), same with the Gunlance, so one would think they'd be the superior weapon types. Turns out regular bows are just as viable and therefore a popular weapon for both aspiring Gunners and veteran Hunters.
• Stuff Blowing Up: The Arrow Bomb attack causes a huge explosion on impact, which can knock out monsters.
• Tap on the Head: It gains a special Charged Attack in World that flings a bag of spiny iron balls into the air, which then are released in a rain on the monster. Each one of these balls can deal a little bit of impact damage and stun monsters.
• Trick Arrow: A variation: while bows have an infinite supply of arrows, Hunters can carry different types of arrow coatings for use with them, which include Close Range Coating (strengthens melee attacks and makes point-blank shots more powerful), Power Coating (increased overall damage), Poison Coating, Para Coating and Sleep Coating.
• Videogame Dashing: Monster Hunter: World introduced a dash mechanic to the bow that functions both as a dodge and another way to build charge.

Spin-Offs

Battle Tonfas

An incredibly strong weapon exclusive to Frontier, the Battle Tonfas are equipped with pneumatic devices that allow them to propel the Hunter into the air and attack from above. In addition, they can be switched between "Normal" (Impact) and "Short" (Piercing) modes, altering its fighting style and damage type.

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• All Your Powers Combined: Regarding its moveset, the weapon is basically a combination of the Dual Blades, Gunlance, Longsword, Charge Blade, Hammer, Lance and Insect Glaive.
• Bragging Rights Reward: The only way to gain access to the weapon is by raising both your Hunter and Skill Ranks to 999, which is the maximum level. By this time, most players will have finished much of the endgame content.
• Charged Attack: Collect Type; the weapon possesses a gauge similar to the Longsword, which can be refilled by attacking constantly. Leveling up your Skill Rank will add more power levels to the gauge at certain intervals, up to a maximum of 5.
• Finishing Move: Hitting monsters in a certain body part long enough will weaken said part and allow Tonfa users to use a special move similar to the Charge Blade's explosive Phials, but with varying effects:
  • Using the Finisher on the head deals explosive and Stun damage, which can quickly knock monsters out cold.
  • Using the Finisher on the body deals explosive damage and restores weapon Sharpness to all Hunters in the vicinity.
  • Using the Finisher on the tail will immediately cut or break it.
• Jump Physics: The weapon is capable of double-, triple- or even quadruple-jumping when in Short (Piercing) Mode.
• Lightning Bruiser: The Tonfas provide hunters with excellent mobility, powerful attacks, and decent defenses.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: The Tonfas can be held up to block attacks.
• Pile Bunker: Effectively how the Tonfas work, especially in the "Short" mode.
• Some Dexterity Required: The weapon's stance system, wide array of combos, special moves and multi-jumps require players to familiarize themselves with the controls in order to prevent from wildly flailing about.
• Stance System: "Normal" mode deals Impact damage and can be used to knock monsters out quickly, while "Short" mode deals Piercing Damage similar to the Lance and allows the user to perform multiple leaps by jump kicking enemies.
• Super Mode: The Battle Tonfas can enter a super mode by attacking constantly with the weapon, which increases the damage dealt and can be stacked up to five times.

Magnet Spike

A new weapon type introduced in and exclusive to Frontier ZZ. It is a heavy type weapon capable of switching between a slash and impact mode. This weapon comes with a unique ability to fire magnetic phials that can be used to both attract the hunter toward or repel them away from a phial.

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• All Your Powers Combined: It has an almost similar move set of the great sword, hammer, and insect glaive.
• Charged Attack: Both modes can do a Hold type charge attack, similar to both great sword and hammer.
• Lost Superweapon: The weapon is built based of the ancient civilizations design, recovered from a tower structure called the sky corridor.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Can guard attacks in slashing mode
• Magnetism Manipulation: This is the weapons unique ability, by firing a phial to any of the targets body part. It allows the hunter to pull them forward the monster quickly, or propel them away for a quick escape. Lastly it can perform a restrain attack on a monster and unleash a Finishing Move
• Mighty Glacier: Both modes have slow attacks, and you can only walk in impact mode. However its capable of dashing like a lance while the weapon is unsheathed, and some of its attacks can cover great distances.
• Morph Weapon: The third type introduced to the series. It's more similar to the Switch Axe in combat.
• Shockwave Stomp: Weaker than the other weapons, but can be performed a lot quicker in comparison.
• Sword Beam: Ironically only in impact mode
• Stance System: Slashing mode and impact mode.
• Suplex Finisher: In impact mode, one of its move set involves suplexing the entire weapon for a heavy downward strike.
• Tap on the Head: Like the hammer and charge blade. Repeated attacks to a monsters head in impact mode will knock down a monster.

Accel Axe

A weapon type exclusive to the mobile spinoff Monster Hunter Explore. It is a large axe, more compact than the Charge Blade or Switch Axes' respective axe forms, and about the size of the Hammer.

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• All Your Powers Combined: Like the Battle Tonfas and Magnet Spike of Frontier, the Accel Axe's moveset incorporates elements from multiple other weapons, including the Great Sword, Lance, Insect Glaive, and aesthetically the Gunlance.
• Cast from Stamina: Being from Explore, it shares this property with that game's versions of all main series weapons. It has an energy meter that depletes with certain attacks.
• Charged Attack: Hold type, like the Great Sword. At maximum charge, it takes the form of three giant whirling sweeps.
• Dash Attack: Like the Lance, it can launch into a high-speed dash that can end in a powerful strike. Unlike the Lance, it does not have a continuous hitbox while dashing, and the specific means of propulsion is an explosive recoil launch rather than simply running forwards. The hunter can also follow up with a Rocket Jump.
• Finishing Move: The Supreme version of the weapon has one in the Spinning Burst Slash, a destructive vertical spin-slash that has super armor and instantly depletes a large chunk of the Heat Gauge. It can only be used while in the Full Accel Mode.
• Rocket Jump: Employed liberally.
  • Its Dash Attack involves Recoil Boosting forwards with an explosive discharge from the weapon.
  • Its Blast Escape maneuver discharges explosive force against the ground to launch the hunter backwards a great distance.
  • It can also jump forwards for either a falling slash or a Diving Kick-style downwards spiral strike, similar to the 'Soaring Wyvern Blade' Silkbind Technique the Switch Axe would receive in Rise.
  • Its supreme variant can use the Recoil Boost dash in midair, allowing it to perform jumping advancing slashes a la the Insect Glaive.
• Rocket-Powered Weapon: It's an axe with a rocket engine attached to its head.
• Spin Attack: Has these all over its moveset and to great effect, from the Burst Slash to a rising multi-hit tornado spin called Blast Evade Slash to some of its basic swings.
• Super Mode: The Supreme version of the Accel Axe has a 'Heat Gauge' that builds up as the hunter attacks. When full, it can enter 'Full Accel Mode'. It increases the reach of your attacks, ups movement speed, decreases energy depletion from attacks, and powers up the Burst Slash. It drains the Heat Gauge over time, but if the Gauge is full enough while still in Full Accel Mode, the hunter can perform the weapon's Finishing Move.

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