History GoddamnedBoss / MonsterHunter

* Kushala Daora in ''World'': It loves to spend most of its time in the air, and, when taking off, it creates tornadoes that stun you and take a HUGE amount of space, not to mention they take MINUTES to disperse. If it feels like it, Daora can have three of the damn things out at the same time, making it absolutely impossible to get a hit in and forcing you to just walk away and wait in frustration until the battlefield clears up. Also, halfway through the fight, Daora will form a wind shield around itself that stuns you at melee range and can make certain attacks completely useless. This all adds to possibly the most annoying fight in the game, but ''Tempered'' Daora makes it WORSE by eliminating its vulnerability to Flash Pods, taking away the one advantage you have over it when it's in flight. Many players have faced humiliating ''time over'' losses when fighting Daora because of all the annoyances. All this adds to Kushala Daora being possibly the most hated of the Elder Dragons. Guys like Nergigante and Lunastra might objectively be more dangerous, but Kushala Daora is simply frustrating and not fun to fight. The icing on the cake? Traditionally Kushala has had a debilitating weakness to poison that rendered it unable to bring its wind barrier to full power and to damage it as time goes on, even in the air. While this vulnerability to poison remains it does not suppress the wind barrier as this has been relegated to elderseal. Players are now faced with a choice: Bring a poison weapon to let the status effect chip away at it while it flies at the cost of not being able to suppress the wind barrier or bring an Elderseal weapon and let the fight drag on as Kushala refuses to come out of the air.

* Ancient Leshen. For starters, it's [[TemporaryOnlineContent an event-exclusive monster]], so if you start early most players won't be experienced with it and if you start late there's not much time to practice or grind for better gear. While its attacks are just as slow and telegraphed as normal Leshen, it has [[DamageSpongeBoss by far the highest health pool in the game]], more than even ''Extreme Behemoth'', [[note]]Estimates are around '''67,500''' HP. For comparison, Extremoth has around 52,500 HP[[/note]] and its health is always multiplayer-scaled. That health feels even higher with its constant teleporting and barriers. It's surrounded by dozens of Jagras at a time that the Igni Sign can't one-shot unlike with regular Leshen, and they will chip through health like nothing. Its Revolture swarms are further chip damage, with OneHitKO moves coming later in the fight. It also has a very fast pinning move that it loves to spam and ''will'' kill you unless someone else burns the roots or you use a Flash Pod. Ancient Leshen was so obnoxious that it was toned down in an early patch to reduce the frequency of its teleporting and make it more vulnerable to Slinger ammo.

* Alatreon is both this ''and'' ThatOneBoss due to its mechanics. It releases a OneHitKill move known as Escaton Judgement if you don't deal enough elemental damage to it before a certain period of time passes, which changes its elemental weaknesses if you haven't broken the horns. This is easier said than done, since Alatreon is ''really'' nimble and barely gives you any room to breathe, plus it spends a significant amount of time flying, crimping your elemental DPS as you can only hit it with the Clutch Claw. Fortunately, the horns just [[MadeOfPlasticine snap off like twigs]] if you can land a few good hits on them in Dragon Active and since its a BonusBoss, unless [[BeefGate you want to unlock]] [[WorldsStrongestMan Fatalis]] by completing [[GlassCannon the second Alatreon Special Assignment]], you don't need to slay it.

* Before ''Tri'' and in ''4'', there is the Gypceros, a monster encountered fairly early in the game. While it doesn't have much damage potential, it has an annoyingly tough hide for that point of the game, spits poison projectiles, has a flash bomb-like attack that can stun you, can charge in multiple directions without stumbling while spitting poison bombs left and right, and even ''steal random items'' that cannot be recovered unlike with Melynxes. It also has a move where it will [[PlayingPossum play dead]] and attack if you come near, but at least you can carve some materials from it during that move if you're quick enough, and it also serves as an indication that the Gypceros' health is getting lower. Thankfully, in ''Generations'', this [[TacticalSuicideBoss is not a smart move for the Gypceros]], as it'll just [[TooDumbToLive lay there]] and let you beat the [[JustForPun stuffing]] out of it for a bit, provided you don't [[SchmuckBait try to carve it.]] And of course ''this'' is the monster you need to fight for an item that gives you a generous period of unlimited Stamina.

* If you plan to take on Khezu or its subspecies, you can forget about bringing Nulberries, because it loves to spam thunder attacks, and if you cure your Thunderblight, chances are the Khezu's just going to inflict it ''again.'' Really, the only sure-fire way to deal with its Thunder attacks is to have at least 20 Thunder Res so you can nullify Thunderblight altogether. The Khezu also loves to scale the walls and ceiling, especially in area 7 of the Frozen Seaway, putting itself out of reach of melee weapons. Some of its thunder attacks inflict ''paralysis'', too, leaving you prime for a beating. And like Gypceros, you have to fight this [[IncrediblyLamePun prick]] ''ad nauseam'' to get a decent supply of Mega Demondrugs and Mega Armorskins.

* Baleful Gigginox ditches its egg-laying ability, freeing you of the worry of Giggis leeching your health away and being inflicted with poison, but in addition to some powerful thunder attacks, it also has a tendency to [[MakeMeWannaShout roar]]. And basic Earplugs won't protect you; you need high-grade Earplugs to shield against its roars.

* Almudron in ''Rise'' at first glance seems to be a very cool boss fight... until you realize he is so huge that he [[CameraScrew eats the entire camera]] if you are up close, meaning it is impossible to see half of his move tells until you've already lost half of your health. He moves around constantly and loves to play keep away when in the mud, and his claws make green sharpness bounce. Combine this with the mud waves he throws around, acidic mud that both slows you down and quickly gnaws at your health, and the constant burrowing and leaping making it nigh-impossible to land a hit on the damned thing when it's in the mud, and you have a recipe for an incredibly annoying fight. To say nothing of the mud ball he can create and then slam down at a moment's notice, which hits like a nuclear warhead [[HitboxDissonance with the range of one too]], and a tell that is nearly impossible to tell from his normal tail swing with the mud ball... To make matters worse, its [[RareRandomDrop Golden Almudron Orbs]] have a ''1%'' drop rate (on par with Rathalos, Rathian, ''and'' Magnamalo) in target reward tables than most rare drops (Though this was eventually made less of an issue in ''Sunbreak'' due to the fact that they drop more frequently in Master Rank, as well as the fact you can eventually just buy them from Bahari if you grind up Anomaly Coins.)

* Almudron in ''Rise'' at first glance seems to be a very cool boss fight... until you realize he is so huge that he [[CameraScrew eats the entire camera]] if you are up close, meaning it is impossible to see half of his move tells until you've already lost half of your health. He moves around constantly and loves to play keep away when in the mud, and his claws make green sharpness bounce. Combine this with the mud waves he throws around, acidic mud that both slows you down and quickly gnaws at your health, and the constant burrowing and leaping making it nigh-impossible to land a hit on the damned thing when it's in the mud, and you have a recipe for an incredibly annoying fight. To say nothing of the mud ball he can create and then slam down at a moment's notice, which hits like a nuclear warhead [[HitboxDissonance with the range of one too]], and a tell that is nearly impossible to tell from his normal tail swing with the mud ball... To make matters worse, its [[RareRandomDrop Golden Almudron Orbs]] have a ''1%'' drop rate (on par with Rathalos, Rathian, ''and'' Magnamalo) in target reward tables than most rare drops.

** The Arch Tempered version might actually be ThatOneBoss instead, but for rather infuriating reasons. Someone looked at Vaal Hazak and said "what makes this thing annoying" then cranked all that UpToEleven. It always starts in the Effluvia so you're taking ScratchDamage from the start. Its gas armor nullifies shots and arrows everywhere but the head. Its gas clouds do much more damage and it can now '''stack''' them several times over. Practically everything it does creates a new cloud. Roar? Creates a cloud. Flinch? Creates a cloud. ''Even depowering its gas armor creates a new cloud.'' This means that if you aren't paying attention you can die in literal seconds without it ever even landing a direct hit. Further it absolutely refuses to stay depowered and will spam actions that bring its armor mode back up, which of course results in even more damaging clouds. Then even when it's nearly dead the thing is smart enough to sleep in an acid pool forcing you to take a huge chunk of damage if you want to bomb it and making tactics like the Great Sword's super charge slash impossible to use without someone healing you from the sidelines.

[[folder: First to Second Generation (''Monster Hunter'' - ''Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite'']]

* While Apex Diablos is a ThatOneBoss due to having borrowing some of Bloodbath Diablos' moves as well as its main gimmick, it's actually this in Rampage and goes down fairly quickly if you know ''exactly'' what you're doing. Yes, it ''is'' a heavy hitter (and its damage output is [[HitboxDissonance just as obscene as a Deviant or a Tempered Monster]] to boot), but it has fewer attacks than the other late-game Apex monsters, and its main priority is just attacking defenses (Hunting Installations or otherwise) as well as the main gate.

* While Apex Diablos is a ThatOneBoss due to having borrowing some of Bloodbath Diablos' moves as well as its main gimmick, it's actually this in Rampage and goes down fairly quickly if you know ''exactly'' what you're doing. Yes, it ''is'' a heavy hitter (and its damage output is [[HitboxDissonance just as obscene as a Deviant or a Tempered Monster]] to boot), but it has fewer attacks than the other late-game Apex monsters, and its main priority is just attacking defenses (Hunting Installations or otherwise) guarding the main gate.
* Basarios in ''Sunbreak'' may seem relatively unchanged at first, until you realize it can do a double roll not just as a standard attack, but as a combo out of every other move it has. It charges at you? Enjoy a tracking double roll that will chunk your health that early on in Master Rank. Heat beam? Have some more rolls to waste your time and body you with. Be ready to watch your healing item supply dwindle with every double roll Basarios does unless you know to expect it or get lucky with avoiding it.

* Basarios in Sunbreak may seem relatively unchanged at first, until you realize it can do a double roll not just as a standard attack, but as a combo out of every other move it has. It charges at you? Enjoy a tracking double roll that will chunk your health that early on in Master Rank. Heat beam? Have some more rolls to waste your time and body you with. Be ready to watch your healing item supply dwindle with every double roll Basarios does unless you know to expect it or get lucky with avoiding it.

[[folder: Fifth Generation (''Monster Hunter World/Iceborne'' - ''Monster Hunter Rise'') ]]

* Rathian is significally less difficult to hunt due to staying on the ground more often than her airborne male counterpart Rathalos and her attacks are a bit predictable. That said, you should ''always'' watch out for her SignatureMove, the [[ThatOneAttack tail flip attack]], which not only inflicts poison, but also ''hurts like hell'', even if you cut her tail off (though in ''World'' and its ''Iceborne'' expansion, she won't inflict poison on you if her tail is cut off). Pink Rathian from ''G'' is also this due to having the same moves as her regular counterpart, except she slightly more aggresive. On the other hand, Gold Rathian from that same game is a mix of this and ThatOneBoss for the same reason as Silver Rathalos (stronger than the previous two and having a much thicker hide) and starting from ''3 Ultimate'' onwards, [[TookALevelInBadass she's much more difficult to be hunted down]].

* Acidic Glavenus is either this or ThatOneBoss for a couple of reasons: Much like Fulgur Anjanath, it lacks any fire attacks, but its throat doesn't glow after sharpening its tail, moves faster than its regular counterpart, and is now capable of inflicting Defense Down on you by utilizing [[DamageIncreasingDebuff corrisive attacks]]. To make things even worse, you'll have to hunt Acidic Glavenus at [[ThatOneLevel the Rotten Vale and the Rotted region of the Guiding Lands]].

* Kirin is not a terribly lethal boss, being the least powerful of the Elder Dragons (to the point where prior to ''Generations'' it's the only Elder Dragon not to make other monsters [[TheDreaded bail out]] [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere of the map]]), but during its enraged state, only its horn is vulnerable to attacks; everywhere else will just result in bounced hits unless ypu have Mind's Eye. It is also fast and likes to summon lighting bolts all over the place, making it a literal LightningBruiser. ''World'' averts this, though...by making Tempered Kirin ''[[ThatOneBoss the hardest monster to hunt in the base game]].''

* Rathian is a significally less difficult to hunt due to staying on the ground more often than her airborne male counterpart Rathalos and her attacks are a bit predictable. That said, you should ''always'' watch out for her SignatureMove, the [[ThatOneAttack tail flip attack]], which not only inflicts poison, but also ''hurts like hell'', even if you cut her tail off (though in ''World'' and its ''Iceborne'' expansion, she won't inflict poison on you if her tail is cut off). Pink Rathian from ''G'' is also this due to having the same moves as her regular counterpart, except she slightly more aggresive. On the other hand, Gold Rathian from that same game is a mix of this and ThatOneBoss for the same reason as Silver Rathalos (stronger than the previous two and having a much thicker hide) and starting from ''3 Ultimate'' onwards, [[TookALevelInBadass she's much more difficult to be hunted down]].

* Rathian is a significally less difficult to hunt due to staying on the ground more often than her airborne male counterpart Rathalos and her attacks are a bit predictable. That said, you should ''always'' watch out for her SignatureMove, the [[ThatOneAttack tail flip attack]], which not only inflicts poison, but also ''hurts like hell'', even if you cut her tail off (though in ''World'' and its ''Iceborne'' expansion, she won't inflict poison on you if her tail is cut off). Pink Rathian from ''G'' is also this due to having the same moves as her regular counterpart, except she slightly more aggresive. On the other hand, Gold Rathian from that same game is a mix of this and ThatOneBoss for the same reason as Silver Rathalos (stronger than the previous two and having a much thicker hide), and later games made her more difficult to be hunted down, starting from ''3 Ultimate'' onwards.

* Rathian is a significally less difficult to hunt due to staying on the ground more often than her airborne male counterpart Rathalos and her attacks are a bit predictable. That said, you should ''always'' watch out for her SinatureMove, the [[ThatOneAttack tail flip attack]], which not only inflicts poison, but also ''hurts like hell'', even if you cut her tail off (though in ''World'' and its ''Iceborne'' expansion, she won't inflict poison on you if her tail is cut off). Pink Rathian from ''G'' is also this due to having the same moves as her regular counterpart, except she slightly more aggresive. On the other hand, Gold Rathian from that same game is a mix of this and ThatOneBoss for the same reason as Silver Rathalos (stronger than the previous two and having a much thicker hide), and later games made her more difficult to be hunted down, starting from ''3 Ultimate'' onwards.

* The -drome series of Bird Wyvern bosses: Velocidrome, Gendrome, Iodrome. On Low Rank, they're only slightly more threatening than a Great Jaggi, but on High Rank and up, they become exceptionally annoying. They'll constantly use their pounce attack, which will make you miss attacks a lot at best and get knocked everywhere at worst. This is without mentioning Gendrome's paralysis attack and Iodrome's poison breath, both of which are already bad enough on their own. They get worse on multi-level areas, as they'll jump between the two levels in order to make you waste time chasing them around. The narrow structure of these monsters also means it can be hard to land some clean hits on them, especially if they're facing you head-on. Finally, they tend to be encountered with their younger -prey kin, meaning that you'll be constantly dealing with small monsters potentially disrupting your combos or getting in the way of your attacks.

* Gravios. The first time you fight it, you'll most likely have green-sharpness weapons at best, and even those will bounce off of any part of its body that isn't its chest. If you're fighting it in multiplayer, you can just assemble a team of Gunners wielding weapons capable of Pierce shots and not worry about sharpness, but if you're hunting it solo, gunner weapons are a highly impractical option due to having less time to shoot safely because of the lack of other players for Gravios to focus on and the relative weakness of your Felyne or Shakalaka companions in tanking Gravios' hits.

* Yian Garuga was bad enough in the first two games, but its ''4 Ultimate/Generations Ultimate'' incarnation borderlines between this and ThatOneBoss. This is what happens when you take the unpredictable Yian Kut-Ku and put it on monster steroids. It roars constantly, spits fireballs everywhere, has a tail whip that's guaranteed to cause poisoning, can break into a run in an instant, breaks into that run every five seconds (due to the fact that that's how it ''normally'' runs), and has pecking attacks that will knock you everywhere, with the "double-beak-slam" variant capable of wiping out a large chunk of your health meter. Said double-beak-slam can have it instantly turn around, it has no windup AT ALL, and is outright [[SpamAttack spammable]] in rage mode. While this bird is not a terribly difficult monster to put down before you and/or your comrades get triple-carted, it's just a very unpleasant one to fight.

* Kirin is not a terribly lethal boss, being the least powerful of the Elder Dragons (to the point where prior to ''Generations'' it's the only Elder Dragon not to make other monsters [[TheDreaded bail out]] [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere of the map]]), but during its rage mode, only its horn is vulnerable to attacks; everywhere else will just result in bounced hits. It is also fast and likes to summon lighting bolts all over the place, making it a literal LightningBruiser. ''World'' averts this, though...by making Tempered Kirin ''[[ThatOneBoss arguably the hardest fight in the base game]].''

* The Baleful Gigginox. It ditches its egg-laying ability, freeing you of the worry of Giggis leeching your health away, but in addition to some powerful thunder attacks, it also has a tendency to [[MakeMeWannaShout roar]]. And basic Earplugs won't protect you; you need high-grade Earplugs to shield against its roars.

* Jyuratodus was [[WarmUpBoss a pushover]] back in ''World'' due to its mud armor can be easily removed by Watermoss shots (even in HR and MR), but definitely NOT in ''Rise'': It's slightly more agile, its roar can flinch you like Beotodus from ''Iceborne'', has a much stronger hip check attack (albeit not as strong as [[HitboxDissonance Plesioth's hip check attack]]), and due to not having Watermoss in the latter game, you'll have to get rid of it's mud armor the old fashioned way. And the worst part is, Jyuratodus is a ''[=HR5=]'' Monster when you attempt to hunt it the first time, which is [[TookALevelInBadass a huge step-up]] compared to its ''World'' counterpart, who is first hunted as a [=LR3=] monster.

* Jyuratodus was a pushover back in ''World'' due to its mud armor can be easily removed by Watermoss shots (even in HR), but definitely NOT in ''Rise'': It's slightly more agile, its roar can flinch you like Beotodus from ''Iceborne'', has a much stronger hip check attack similar to Plesioth's, and due to not having Watermoss in the latter game, you'll have to get rid of it's mud armor the old fashioned way. And the worst part is, Jyuratodus is a ''[=HR5=]'' Monster when you attempt to hunt it the first time, which is [[TookALevelInBadass a huge step-up]] compared to its ''World'' counterpart, who is first hunted as a [=LR3=] monster.

* Jyuratodus was a pushover back in ''World'' due to its mud armor can be easily removed by Watermoss Slinger shots (even in HR), but definitely NOT in ''Rise'': It's slightly more agile, its roar can flinch you like Beotodus from ''Iceborne'', has a much stronger hip check attack similar to Plesioth's, and due to not having Watermoss in the latter game, you'll have to get rid of it's mud armor the old fashioned way. And the worst part is, Jyuratodus is a ''[=HR5=]'' Monster when you attempt to hunt it the first time, which is [[TookALevelInBadass a huge step-up]] compared to its ''World'' counterpart, who is first hunted as a [=LR3=] monster.

* Rajang's ''Rise'' incarnation is a bit less difficult than its much tougher ''Iceborne'' counterpart: It's a bit slower (at least by fifth generation standards), lacks [[CounterAttack the wall launch counterattack]] from ''Iceborne'', would sometimes pause between attacks, and your Wirebugs can help you get back up quickly and evade to safety. That being said, Rajang is not only this, but is ''still'' a ThatOneBoss on its own right, since its continuous punches have a homing track range, [[MightyGlacier it hits like a truck]], it can still be enraged even if you break its tail, and breaking its arms can be difficult due to the duration of its [[GoldenSuperMode Rampage Mode]] being near-permanent (unless either you toppled it, you're out of its sight for a while, or it's tired). If Rajang its you with some of its deadliest attacks (especially in Rampage Mode) while you've used up all of your Wirebugs as well as not having sufficient defense and health Spiribird buffs, ''watch out''.

* Rajang's ''Rise'' incarnation is a bit less difficult than its much tougher ''Iceborne'' counterpart: It's a bit slower (at least by fifth-generation standards), lacks the wall launch counterattack from ''Iceborne'', would sometimes pause between attacks, and your Wirebugs can help you get back up quickly and evade to safety. That being said, Rajang is not only this, but is ''still'' a ThatOneBoss on its own right, since its continuous punches have a homing track range, [[MightyGlacier it hits like a truck]], and breaking its arms can be difficult due to the duration of its [[GoldenSuperMode Rampage Mode]] being near-permanent (unless either you toppled it, you're out of its sight for a while, or it's tired). If Rajang its you with some of its deadliest attacks (especially in Rampage Mode) while you've used up all of your Wirebugs as well as not having sufficient defense and health Spiribird buffs, ''watch out''.