Shout Out / Monster Hunter

If there's anything Monster Hunter is particularly known for apart from the basic premise of tiny resourceful human fighting titanic ferocious creatures, it's in not taking itself too seriously, as evidenced in part by the subtle references to various other media peppered throughout the games.

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1st Generation

• Lao Shan Lung looks suspiciously like Godzilla when he stands up.
• Khezu's anatomy seems to take many cues from the mass-produced Eva unit in End of Evangelion.

2nd Generation

• Debuting in Monster Hunter 2 (dos), Rajang's overall appearance recalls the Dragon Ball series' Saiyans, a race of Humanoid Aliens who turn into giant rampaging apes at the sight of a full moon. Not only can it be DePowered by cutting its tail off, its hair turning gold once it goes into Rage Mode also visually resembles the Super Saiyan power boost.
• When Akantor emerges from the volcanic ground, showing only its back spikes, it looks quite similar to Lavos.
• The starting Great Sword in Monster Hunter Freedom 2 is called the Buster Sword.
• In Unite there is a quest that takes place in the Volcano area where you have to kill a certain number of large monsters. The name of the quest? "Hotter than Hell itself", a nod to Ace Attorney's Coffee.
• "You will drive your prey before you and hear the lamentations of their mates." — The Savvy Hunter, on pulling off a perfect Spirit Slash combo.
• MHFU has a hammer called Fist of Fury

3rd Generation

• Godzilla shrunk down: Deviljho. A big green dinosaur with a destructive breath attack who attacks and kills other monsters.
• From Monster Hunter 3 (Tri):
  Argosy Captain: Now that other lands want to trade with you, we must formulate keikaku. "Keikaku" means plan!
• The endgame Deviljho hammer from Tri onwards is called Devil's Crush.
• "Hunter is GO!"
• In Portable 3rd, one of the available weapons is based on Asuna's BFS.
• A Shout Out in translation: The Male and Female Blademaster and Gunner sets for Jhen Mohran are all supposed to be named after Japanese Battleships or Aircraft Carriers. One doesn't have to wonder what the translator was thinking of when the Female Blademaster armor, supposed to be named after the Battleship Hyuga, got called Hinata instead.
• The Jhen Mohran looks strikingly similar◊ to P'ung Ryong from Breath of Fire IV.
• If you feed Kayamba a Well-Done Steak while he's wearing the False Felyne mask, he says, "Om nom nom nom. Kayamba can haz more?"
• After defeating the Ivory Lagiacrus, the Argosy Captain says A Winner Is You.
• In 3 Ultimate, one of the available character poses◊ for your Guild Card is downright bizarre. Also, an armor set for the Palico in 4 Ultimate is Jotaro's clothes.
• Although nowhere near as blatant as the Rajang; the Zinogre's ability to induce its rage mode by powering up whilst sitting still, with said rage mode spiking all of its fur upwards and covering it in bright energy whilst wreathed in arcs of electricity, was also just too similar to Super Saiyans that it did not go unnocticed by fans. Most comments on it tend to affectionately call it some variation of Super Saiyan Wolf Dragon.
• The male Royal Ludroth Gunner armor is a bright orange jumpsuit with a spiky orange hairdo.

4th Generation

4 Ultimate

• On one occasion, the Guildmarm suddenly makes a comment about "break(ing) out our D20s".
• "Whew! Well...now you know! And knowing is three-sixteenths of the battle!"
• "Hm!? Your Poogie sense is tingling..."
• Little Miss Forge looks a lot like Rikku. She even refers to her adoptive father as "Pops".
• A number of fans have pointed out that the Guildmarm resembles Bayonetta.
• The Gore Magala, when viewed from the side with its horns folded in, looks quite similar to the Dogburster Xenomorph. Overall, however, he bears an uncanny semblance to Toothless, a fact which led to this gem◊.
• When talking to the Wycoon on Cheeko Sands for the first time, he gives this gem:
  "The only way to even get to Cheeko Sands is by losing your way."
• The Kecha Wacha's Insect Glaive, the Mind Stick, is described as "A legendary glaive that aided a priest on his journey westward."
• Sadly exclusive to the Japanese version, there was an event that allowed you to actually wield Tessaiga, the weapon used exclusively by the half demon Inuyasha.^note In the international versions, this weapon was reworked into the Tenebra.
• A Running Gag in Monster Hunter 4 is the Caravaneer's posters showcasing your Hunter, with a bit of artistic license giving them a pair of killer eyebrows. A Meta example: some of the people on the Monster Hunter Reddit ran with it far enough to make FLCL references.
• The cutscene for when the Lagombi first shows up is titled "Fatal Flurry".
• The cutscene for when the Rathian is first encountered is titled "Hail to the Queen".
• The cutscene for when the Zinogre is first encountered is titled "Zinogre Battle."
• The description for the F Bnaha Suit for Palicoes says "A suit with great mobility. Dance like a butterfly, sting like a Felyne!"
• One Rathian quest is called "Royal Rumble"
• One of the quests involving 2 Rathians is called "Killer Queens".
• Whenever you upgrade your Item Multiplication markets, the Wycoon may say the following lines:
  "Let us celebrate good times--come on!"
  "You may now begin dancing in the streets!"
  "Lucky you! Lucky me! Lucky all of us! Whee-hee!"
• The Molten Tigrex gunlance is called the Menacing Gravegun.
• The G-Rank Nerscylla gunlance is called the Royal Gunbird, a reference to the Psikyo Shoot 'Em Up Gunbird which was published by Capcom.
• The Street Cook talks about cooking a meal for the Wycoon, who just says "Surprise me" when asked what he wants. The Cook mentions making a meal so good that the Wycoon will say "Shut up and take my zenny!"
• Nyan Jirou from Portable 3rd was localized as The Transpurrter.
• If multiplayer is activated, Maximeld XIV says "May the juju be with yuju!"
• Once the Urgent Quest needed to achieve HR 4 is unlocked, the Low Questatrix says, "A wild request to take out Dah'ren Mohran has appeared!"
• One Facebook user has pointed out that the Gore Magala armor is the Hunter's version of the Batsuit.
• Gogmazios bears more than a passing resemblance to Black Dragon Kalameet, right down to the glowing head and chest areas.
• Felcote, an Episodic Quest NPC, often opens her Quest descriptions with "Your mission, should you choose to accept it..."
• Guild Card editing options include backgrounds and poses from Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Mega Man, Metroid, Devil May Cry, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Taiko no Tatsujin. There is also the option to make Link and Samus' equipment for your hunters, Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Blanka, Chun-Li, Mega Man and Dante armour for your Palicos, and a Taiko Hunting Horn with Don's and Katsu's faces on them that makes Taiko hit sounds when you make notes.
• Once you complete the Wyceum's upgrade quest chain and fulfill the last Villager Request from the Professor, the Research Assistant says the following while describing the super Ballista ammo you can purchase for the Battlequarters:
  "With it, you can fire super-powered shots from all the Ballistae there! Cowabunga!"
• The flavor text for the Arena quest "Monster Fest 2" begins with the following line:
  "Are you a bad enough Hunter to take on a rejuvenated Gore Magala?"
• After completing the DLC Quest "Of Masks & Monsters", Aisha the Moga Sweetheart asks you to relay this message to the Guildmarm:
  "Do say hello to my friend for me, will you? Tell her I said, 'Giggity Gigginox!'"
• A Japan-only DLC quest rewards players with items that can be used to craft a set of armor that looks like—Baki's muscles. Which also comes with Dual Blades shaped like a pair of fists. A second Baki-themed DLC also allows players to craft Yuujiro Hanma's clothes.
• A set of Japan-only DLC items allow players to create Zoro's triple swords^note You only use one of them though, Luffy's fists and Nami's Weather Manipulation Rod as weapons.
• The upgraded Dalamadur Light Bowgun is called the Hayha Voidmaker.

Generations

• Every time the Master of Style teaches you a new Hunter Art, he asks you if your "body is ready."
  • When you first speak to him, he says that he can see you "Want to be the very best," "Like no hunter ever was before!" Sound familiar?
• One of the Special Palicoes players can download is named Link, whose comment is "Excu-u-use me!"
• The "Shoryugeki" Hunter Art, in its' style and execution, is a reference to Ryu from Capcom's Street Fighter franchise and his signature "Shoryuken" uppercut attack.
• The Redhelm Arzuros is one big reference to the villain of Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin, Akakabuto.
• Male Valstrax armor looks almost like it's ready to pierce the heavens.

5th Generation

• In World, the achievement for completing the first Arena quest is "Step into the Arena".
• An armor set for female hunters makes them resemble Aloy. The PS4 version of World also has crossover material with Horizon: Zero Dawn, including a special full-armor set for Palicos based on the Watcher from that game.
• The achievement for beating Nergigante is "One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall".
• The title of the high-rank Anjanath Optional Quest is called "It Can't See You If You Don't Move".
• The high-rank quest for Kulu-Ya-Ku is called "Keep Your Hands To Yourself".
• The flavor text in the description for one of the arena quests for Diablos gives it the nickname of "Biggus Diggus"
• Vaal Hazak comes off as a big, fat love letter to Dark Souls. It can reduce your maximum health in a way similar to how Curse works in DS2 and 3, has a design that wouldn't look out of place in the Namco series, and its armor takes cues from a few sets, including Ruin Sentinel and Dark Wraith.
• Vaal Hazak also bears a noticeable visual resemblance to Jabberwocky.
• Several delivery requests in Iceborne unlock paintings for your room in Seliana. One is called "Happy Little Trees".
• The Fulgur Anjanath subspecies introduced in Iceborne has the epithet of "Thunderjaw Wyvern". Fitting, since normal Anjanath are used as Thunderjaw stand-ins in the base game's Horizon event quests.
• A number of optional quests have names referencing popular songs. These include quests named "Sleep Now, In the Fire" and "Lightning Crashes."
• When Safi'jiiva wakes up in the cutscene that plays before you and your team take it on the shot of its eye opening is a clear reference to Smaug's eye opening at the end of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, as the eye's design is identical.
• During the council preceding the start of the Safi'jiiva recon, the Admiral mentions that for all they know, they could be going up against a three-headed monster that shoots lightnings bolts.
• A quest in Iceborne to capture a Brachydios is titled "Secret of the Ooze".
• A Tempered Lunastra quest in Seliana Cache is titled "The Cold Never Bothered Me".
• In Iceborne, Fatalis's 'nova' breath starts as a reasonable stream that slightly grows larger as it moves outward, yet upon traveling to the ground, its expanded outward to a ridiculous degree and lights nearly the entire battlefield on fire. It's not dissimilar to Comet-enhanced Firelord Ozai raining fire upon the Earth Kingdom's lands from above in S3's finale.
• In Rise, the description for the Arena quest "The Frost Islands Arena" quotes Randy Savage's lines as Bone Saw McGraw nearly word for word. The client is even called an up-and-coming wrestler, further cementing the reference.
  Summary: Oh~yeah! You're going nowhere. I've got you for fifty minutes...Fifty minutes of huntin' time!
• Rise introduces Crimsow Glow Valstrax, who among familiar moves, has the ability to fire a Wave-Motion Gun at Hunters. With the introductory poem mentioning "Rends heaven in twain with a final flash", this is a clear reference to a similar move with the same name.
  • Sunbreak adds another to the same franchise: Rajang, long compared to Saiyans (see 2nd Generation above), has its always-gold Furious variant referred to in its intro as "Super Simian."
• Many of Egoraptor's voice lines as Kagami in Sunbreak are references to his own material, particularly in Game Grumps. One other - which a hunter with Kagami's voice may say when encountering a Garangolm - is instead a clear nod to Thanos:
  Kagami: It's got a huge chin and it collects rocks. Don't make it snap!

Frontier

• Frontier tends to have loads of these, mainly as tie-ins with other franchises. Ever wonder how the 104th Trainee Corps would fare against the behemoths of Monster Hunter? Now you know. Or how about Madoka and her friends? Yup, they've also joined the fray. And there's how the 5th Holy Grail War managed to make its way onto Minegarde. Same with Fire Emblem: Awakening's Chrom and Lucina, the cast of Infinite Stratos and even Hatsune freakin' Miku.

Stories

• In Wings of Ruin, Rajang's Kinship attack is called "Gigantic Meteor"... the same name for an attack move Broly has in the Dragon Ball video games. Which, considering that Rajang has clear Saiyan influences, is very fitting for him.
  • Teostra's kinship move, "Teostrophe Zero", resembles Bahamut's attack from [1], and Bahamut Zero in particular.

Unsorted

• Many, many quests allude to some form of pop culture. Examples include:
  • From 3U: "When the Levy Breaks" (hunt a Duramboros), "Purple Reign" (hunt a Purple Ludroth), "The Deadliest Catch" (slay 7 Ludroth), "Mud Brothers" (hunt two Barroth), "Splash Damage" (hunt a Plesioth), "Pretty and Pink" (hunt a Rathian and Pink Rathian), "Crus Control" (hunt a Lagiacrus and Ivory Lagiacrus), "Narg at Nite" (Hunt a Nargacuga), and "Breaking the Ice" (hunt two Glacial Agnaktor).
  • From 4U: "Jaggi Alliance" (hunt a Great Jaggi), "Conga Bongo" (slay 5 Congas), "Fear Factor" (hunt a Najarala), "Two Live Crew" (hunt a Rathalos and Rathian), "Apes of Wrath" (hunt a Congalala and Kecha-Wacha), "Black Rock Down" (hunt a Black Gravios), "Killer Queens" (hunt two Rathians), "How To Zap Your Zinogre" (hunt a Zinogre), "Achy Brachy Heart" (slay a Raging Brachydios), "Hunger Games" (hunt two Congalala), "The Walls Have Eyes" (hunt a Khezu), "Rollin' Rolin' Rollin'" (hunt super-sized Konchu), "Of Masks & Monsters" (MH3U-themed Episodic Quest), "Running With The Devil" (hunt a Deviljho), "Naked and Afraid" (hunt two Deviljho, but with no armor or talismans and a two-player limit), and "The Wheel of Time" (slay a [G Rank] Shagaru Magala).
• Several armor sets are homages to mecha anime, Tokusatsu and Super Sentai:
  • The Shrouded Nerscylla Blademaster armor set◊ resembles the RTX-008 Huckebein while the vanilla Nerscylla version looks like the Machine Messiah Auge.
  • The normal Nerscylla armors make you look like a Tekkaman
  • The Hornetaur Blademaster armor◊ (upper two sets in the image) for both males and females resembles certain Mortar Headd designs from The Five Star Stories, except for the legs.
  • The Seltas Equipment is a nod to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, especially the Blademaster set. The Dual-Blades for it are dual drills, and one of its Hammer upgrades is called the Logicbreaker, referencing the "Kick reason to the curb" line.
  • The classic Obituary male armor set, which is comprised of giant insect parts, just makes one want to shout "Henshin!"
  • Combining the blue, silver and red variants of the Ceanataur armor sets can make the player look like Ultraman, especially if they use the crested helmet design.
  • The male Brachydios armor has the same coloration and general design as Eva Unit 01, lampshaded by this piece of fanart.
  • While the Palico Seltas armor set looks more like a Felyne Zeerust robot with a distictive green and silver pattern. The Helm description has another:
    The perfect topper for a Palico who likes to shout, "And I'll form the head!"
  • With its color scheme, shape, and insect motif, the male Astalos Gunner armor bears a resemblance to Uva
• Some of the hairstyles in later games look fairly familiar. One has long, straight hair with bangs over one eye, another has long bangs with lots of spikes at the back, and two styles are just plain dandy.
• The Skyscraper lance, which resembles a giant drill, is described as being able to "pierce the heavens".
• One of the dairy products available in the meal menu is "Royale Cheese".
• There are quite a few references to Capcom's obscure fighting game Red Earth; for instance, the Chameleos armor set is a homage to Tessa's costume, the female Indra (Shen Gaoren) armor set is very similar to Mai Ling's armor right down to the headgear tassels, the male Bone Armor set resembles Gi-Gi's tribal garb (curiously enough, however, his mask seems to have been the basis for the Hi-Metal Helm instead) and the Monoblos/Diablos armor sets and Progenesis gunlance are modeled after Blade's armor and weapon, respectively.
• Rathian and Rathalos weapons tend to be named after Norse mythological figures, such as Siegmund and Sieglinde. Rathian weapons in general are usually named after female mythological figures like Tiamat and Titania, fitting for the dragon queen herself. Also in 4U, higher ranked Dah'ren Mohran weapons are named after Japanese gods, including Amaterasu and Izanagi.
• When using the sword and shield weapon, the hunter is a sword and shield wielding, left handed warrior. Gets taken to its logical conclusion when you discover that you can make a sword called the Master's Replica in Unite, and the actual Master Sword itself in both 4 Ultimate and Generations. Stories even allows you to ride Epona into battle.
• Zinogre's moveset is patterned after Terry Bogard's, up to and including the Rising Tackle, Crack Shoot and Power Geyser. Suddenly, him being a gigantic breakdancing wolf makes more sense. The Thunderlord deviant from Generations, on the other hand, has a Flash Kick-like tail whip that is much faster than Rathian's.
• In Freedom Unite, The Dragon Slayer from Berserk appears hanging on a Wall of Weapons.

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