http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/MonsterHunterFirstGenerationMonsters

Monsters that premiered in the first generation of games (Monster Hunter (2004), Monster Hunter G, and Monster Hunter Freedom). Japanese names are noted in italics; if the English name is identical to the Japanese or is an accurate translation, the Japanese will not be listed.

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Herbivores

Aptonoth

Appearances:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 3, Portable 3rd, 3 Ultimate
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter: World, World: Iceborne
Monster Hunter Stories, Stories 2: Wings of Ruin

Common parasaurolophus-like herbivores with distinguishable head crests. Mostly used as a source of food for hunter and monster alike, they are also sometimes used as beasts of burden.

Banana Peel: Befitting to Monster Hunter: Stories' Lighter and Softer nature, the Kinship Attack for Aptonoth (Slip 'n Slam) involves it and the rider charging towards the target before stepping on a peel and being sent flying, sending the rider to the floor, and itself flying head first towards the target.
Fake Ultimate Mook: Its size and spiked tail do nothing to mitigate its weakness.
The Goomba: Aptonoth serve as the first monsters you fight in the Stories games, and are not only very weak but spend half their turns doing nothing.
Horse of a Different Color: Sometimes used as beasts of burden.
Lethal Joke Character: In the Stories games, Aptonoth possesses the lowest stat spread out of any Monstie and a lacking moveset, and its Kinship Attack, Slip n' Slam, depicts it slipping on a banana peel before flying towards the target, dealing light damage and knocking the Herbivore down for 1 turn. However, this Kinship Attack is also guaranteed to knock the target down for 1 turn, leaving them open to further damage or giving the Rider time to heal or buff themselves and/or their team, making it surprisingly viable against bosses that rely on heavy offense, such as Fatalis.
Papa Wolf: Adult Aptonoth, unlike the juveniles, will fight back against a hunter... for a few seconds before fleeing with the rest.
Spikes of Doom: Its tail has a thagomizer, which it occasionally uses once danger comes along.

Apceros

Appearances:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter: World, World: Iceborne

Ankylosaurus-like herbivores that, unlike the docile Aptonoths, attack intruders on sight with headbutts and a spiked tail.

Fake Ultimate Mook: Not even its slightly aggressive stance does a thing to help it up the food chain.
Incredibly Durable Enemies: They have a lot of health by herbivore standards.
Mighty Glacier: They move slowly, but are more durable than the average Herbivore.
Misplaced Retribution: If it gets hit by another monster, you'll be the target.
Spikes of Doom: The end of its tail is basically shaped like a flail.
Use Your Head: Headbutts are one of their attacks.
Zerg Rush: The whole herd will attack in force if you try to steal one of their eggs in World.

Kelbi

Small deer-like creatures that love to prance around and are hunted both for their delicious meat and medicinal horns. They also happen to be the favorite prey of Nargacugas.

Circling Birdies: Kelbi are unique in that they have two kinds. The regular yellow stars appear if they're stunned, while orange stars are seen if they're "killed".
Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Males are green, while females are blue.
Fragile Speedster: They're fast, but go down just as quickly.
Made of Iron: In the third generation, they can no longer be killed, but are merely "stunned" until either a set amount of time passes or you carve an item from them. Once either happens, they wake up and just prance off, even if you just cut off their horn or even their liver. In World, they can be killed again, disappearing once carved and no longer having Circling Birdies.
Unicorn: Stories about their horns having curative properties are obviously based on this equally fictional creature.
Use Your Head: They attack by ramming with their antlers.

Mosswine

Mosswine (Mosu)

Appearances:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Generations, Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter: World, World: Iceborne

Pig-like herbivores with pachycephalosaur-like head domes and a back strewn with mosses, lichens, and other fungi.

Counter-Attack: This is the only way to kill Frontier's Mosswine from Hell, as it is immune to all other forms of damage.
Gang Up on the Human: They'll attack hunters regardless of what actually hurt them, making them a nuisance if fighting larger creatures. However, they only tend to get hurt due to the presence of a hunter — getting caught in the crossfire, since predators don't normally attack them — justifying their behavior.
Glass Cannon:
- The Mosswine from Hell from Frontier charges quickly and can kill hunters in a single hit, but dies after being countered twice.
- The five giant Mosswine from the New Years 2019 event in World were just as powerful, but while their health was significantly higher than normal, they were still relatively fragile and could be brought down easily as long as they didn't all charge at once.
Killer Rabbit: Not all or even most of them, but there was briefly a "Mosswine from Hell" in Frontier as an April Fools' joke. The video shows it all, but the short version is that it was very lethal.
Lethal Joke Character: The five giant Mosswine from the New Years 2019 event quest in World. Their attacks were One-Hit KOs even with high Guard, Mantles didn't work, traps were useless, and mounting was impossible, making them surprisingly deadly piggies.
Messy Pig: Being covered with moss only accentuates this.
Misplaced Retribution: Like Apceroses, if it gets attacked by another monster, you will be its target.
Mundane Made Awesome: The giant Mosswines in World are fought to the tune of Pride of a Nameless Hunter, one of the most grandiose and bombastic tracks in the OST, making the silly battle against 5 ginormous piggies seem a bit more epic than it is.
No-Sell: The Mosswine from Hell will not take damage from normal attacks. You have to counterattack it in order to kill it.
Piñata Enemy: The New Years 2019 event quest in World had a reward of a whopping 54,000 zenny, the most of any quest, and gave out high-value Armor Spheres, while the giant Mosswine, though surprisingly tough, were rather fragile. Alas, this was a one-day event.
Planimal: True to their name, Mosswines' backs are full of plants, so much that their most common carves are mushrooms.
Stock Animal Diet: They love to eat mushrooms. While they casually stroll to regular patches of mushrooms, they make a mad dash to rare mushroom patches.
Use Your Head: Their cephalosaur-like heads are their main means of attack, charging would-be assailants or more likely the player.

Neopterons

Vespoid

Vespoid (Rangosta) / Vespoid Queen (Queen Rangosta)

Royal Wings

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2ndgen_vespoid_queen_and_vespoid_render_001.png

Appearances:

Vespoid:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Generations, Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter: World, World: Iceborne, Rise: Sunbreak
Vespoid Queen:
Freedom Unite

Small, annoying insectoids that fly around and disturb hunters. At worst, they inject a paralyzing neurotoxin. While commonly found solo in many places, swarms of them appear around an alpha female (introduced in Freedom Unite).

Airborne Mook: By far the most common flying enemies in the games they appear in.
Big Creepy-Crawlies: Vespoid Queens, which are almost as large as a Velocidrome.
Contractual Boss Immunity: Vespoid Queens cannot be captured; they are immune to Pitfall Traps and Shock Traps because they never touch the ground when alive.
Cruelty Is the Only Option: The only way to get Vespoid Queens to appear is to kill 25 Vespoids.
Fly Crazy: They're just as annoying and hard to kill as real flies.
Fragile Speedster: They're hard to hit, but go down quickly.
Giant Mook: Vespoid Queens were just giant Vespoids with increased health and power before becoming separate monsters in Unite.
King Mook: Vespoid Queens, which appear in the current map once you slay 25 regular Vespoids.
Meaningful Name: In Japanese, they're named langosta, the Spanish word for locusts.
Status Effects: If you're unlucky, their sting can paralyze you.

Hornetaur

Hornetaur (Kantarosu)

Appearances:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Generations, Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter: World, World: Iceborne, Rise: Sunbreak

Same deal as the Vespoids, except as beetle-like, more ground-based creatures.

Collision Damage: While normally docile, when provoked, they can damage you just by touching them.
Fly Crazy: On occasion.
Fragile Speedster: They're quick, but aren't very sturdy.
Mix-and-Match Critters: They're a cross between a Hercules beetle and a cricket.

Bird Wyverns

Theropod Bird Wyverns

Velociprey / Velocidrome

Velociprey (Ranpos) / Velocidrome (Dosranpos)

Alpha Raptor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/velociprey_5594.png

Appearances:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak (Velociprey only)

A very common species of Theropod Bird Wyverns found in forests, distinguishable by their blue scales with black stripes and dull red crests. Though weak, they are also very fast and able to jump around the field. Sometimes they will be led by an alpha male, distinguishable by its larger size and a larger, bright-red crest.

Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: By pictures of food, no less. Peace Walker allows Snake to lay down Cookbooks full of pictures of mouthwatering, delicious food that will keep Velociprey off your back while you hunt that Rathalos/Tigrex/Gear Rex in your way.
Flunky Boss: The Velocidrome can summon an infinite amount of Velociprey during battle. While they don't do much damage, they do help cover for the Velocidrome's shoddy defenses, as his smaller brethren will swarm a hunter and make it difficult to make use of the openings the Velocidrome does leave.
Fragile Speedster: They constantly jump out of hunters' reach before pouncing or biting them, but they're not very sturdy.
Lightning Bruiser: In 4 and 4 Ultimate, where they serve as Guild Quest monsters, they become this at higher levels. The Hardcore version qualifies as well.
In a Single Bound: They can jump quite high as they try to pounce onto hunters.
King Mook: The Velocidrome is a large alpha male that leads a pack of Velociprey.
Mook Bouncer: In Frontier, G Rank Velocidromes have Farcaster spit, which sends hunters back to camp on contact.
Raptor Attack: They're even named after velociraptors.
Rare Random Drop: Velocidrome Heads in Low Rank, Bird Wyvern Gems in High Rank, and Fey Wyvern Gems in G Rank.
Starter Mon: In Stories and Stories 2, Velocidrome is the first Monstie you recruit.
Super Spit: G Rank Velocidromes in Frontier have five new spit attacks that cause different effects: Red decreases weapon sharpness, White causes drunkenness, Black reduces defense, Orange/Brown causes the Soiled effect, and Green sends hunters back to camp.
Wake-Up Call Boss: The Hardcore Velocidrome is the first Hardcore monster Frontier players will ever face, and if you don't take it seriously, it will destroy you.
Warm-Up Boss: The Velocidrome is one of the earliest monsters the player fights, and thus, one of the easier ones.

Genprey / Gendrome

Genprey (Genepos) / Gendrome (Dosugenepos)

Alpha Raptor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/genprey_7366.png

Appearances:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate

Another species of desert-dwelling Theropod Bird Wyverns distinguishable by green scales with yellow stripes, a pair of yellow crests, and more prominent fangs that can paralyze any unfortunate Hunter. Some packs are led by a larger alpha male, distinguishable by sporting larger yellow crests and more prominent fangs.

Fangs Are Evil: They have long fangs that can cause paralysis (minus the "evil" part, they're animals after all).
Fragile Speedster: They're hard to hit, but they're not very sturdy.
Hoist by His Own Petard: The Hardcore Gendrome in Frontier can spit an exploding ball of paralysis toxin... the blast radius of which is big enough to hit and paralyze the Gendrome.
In a Single Bound: They constantly try to pounce on people with high jumps.
King Mook: The Gendrome is the alpha male of a pack of Genprey.
The Paralyzer: They can inflict paralysis.
Raptor Attack: They're raptors with long fangs.
Rare Random Drop: Gendrome Heads in Low Rank, Bird Wyvern Gems in High Rank, and Fey Wyvern Gems in G Rank.
Toxic Dinosaur: They're raptor-like monsters with a paralyzing bite.

Ioprey / Iodrome

Ioprey (Ios) / Iodrome (Dosios)

The Ioprey Leader

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ioprey_9977.png

Appearances:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate

The third Prey/Drome species distinguishable by their red-orange hide and a rounded crest. Because their hides need so much moisture, they are frequently seen in humid places such as swamplands, though on occasion they also inhabit volcanoes. Noticeably larger than the other Prey/Drome raptors, their enlarged throats belie poisonous gases which they occasionally hurl at Hunters. Some packs are led by a larger alpha male, which sport a larger, hatchet-like crest.

Breath Weapon: Iopreys and Iodromes churn out a poisonous exhale.
Flunky Boss: The Iodrome.
Fragile Speedster: They're fast and agile, but aren't very sturdy. That said, they are pretty sturdy as far as 3-star monsters go.
King Mook: The Iodrome is the leader of a pack of Ioprey.
In a Single Bound: They jump high when they try to pounce on people.
Lightning Bruiser: Iodrome is fairly strong and durable for a 3-star monster, and it's just as fast as the other raptors.
Poisonous Person: They spit globs of poison. The Iodrome can even spit large pools of poison.
Raptor Attack: These raptors can spit poison.
Rare Random Drop: Iodrome Heads in Low Rank, Bird Wyvern Gems in High Rank, and Fey Wyvern Gems in G Rank.

True Bird Wyverns

Yian Kut-Ku

Yian Kut-Ku (Yian Kukku) (variant: Blue Yian Kut-Ku)

Jungle Menace (Blue Menace of the Jungle)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yian_kut-ku_4283.png

^{Blue Yian Kut Ku}

Appearances:

Nominate subspecies:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate
Blue subspecies:
Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate

Fire-breathing, red-scaled bird wyverns distinguishable by their large lower beaks, head frills, and chicken-like combat style. Monster Hunter G introduces a blue-scaled Subspecies which, though smaller, tend to be more aggressive. Their favorite food is the Neopteron Konchu.

Achilles' Heel: Its super-auditory senses make it prone to a well-placed Sonic Bomb.
Beware the Silly Ones: Let's be honest, this chicken dragon thing looks ridiculous. However, being the first monster with a complex attack pattern and a ranged elemental attack means you'll need to do more than just bumrush it if you don't want to get carted.
Blush Sticker: Its Kinship Attack in Stories has it developing this as it gets distracted by the taste of a group of Konchu... only for the annoyed rider to slap it back to its senses and spit a whole load of fireballs at the target.
Cool Shades: There's a certain Yian Kut-ku wearing a pair of shiny sunglasses in an April Fool's quest for Frontier G9. It can use them to send a deadly beam of light towards hunters, which kills them instantly.
Dub Name Change: Dutch versions of Stories and Stories 2: Wings of Ruin renamed it to Yian Kukku due to "kut" being vulgar slang in the Dutch language, as the Stories spinoffs are directed at younger players.
Fragile Speedster: It has several attacks that come out quickly, but it's not particularly durable.
The Klutz: It always trips at the end of its charges.
Lethal Joke Character: The Yian Kut-ku with the shiny sunglasses introduced in Frontier G9. It can emit a deadly beam of light from the sunglasses that kills hunters instantly, and since you only have one life in this quest, getting hit by the beam prompts an instant quest failure. The glasses can even emit the beam when knocked off the Kut-Ku's head. That said, you can use a Sonic Bomb to knock off the glasses before the attack is used, and they break in one hit, resulting in a quick victory. See it for yourself.
Light 'em Up: The Yian Kut-ku with the shiny sunglasses introduced in an April Fool's quest for Frontier G9 can emit a deadly beam of light from said glasses.
Mix-and-Match Critters: A combination of a dragon, a cuckoo, and a chicken, of which the latter is more dominant.
Mook Maker: In 4 Ultimate, G Rank Kut-Ku gains an attack where it can pull Konchu out of the ground and throw them at a hunter. The Konchu proceed to attack the hunter as normal.
Playing with Fire: They can spit balls of fire that travel in an arc.
Rare Random Drop: Giant Beak in Low Rank and Splendid Beak in High Rank.
Trap Master: The Hardcore Blue Yian Kut-Ku's signature ability is its ability to create Pitfall Traps for hunters using its oversized chin.
Warmup Boss: For the first and second generations, Yian Kut-Kus provide new Hunters with their first tough challenge.

Yian Garuga

Yian Garuga (Yian Garuruga) (variant: Deadeye Yian Garuga, Scarred Yian Garuga)

The Lone Wolf (Black Wolf Bird)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mhwi_yian_garuga_render_001.png

^{Deadeye Yian Garuga}

^{Scarred Yian Garuga}

Appearances:

Nominate subspecies:
Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate
World: Iceborne
Deadeye deviant:
Generations, Generations Ultimate
Scarred variant:
World: Iceborne

A purple True Bird Wyvern with spikes all over its body and a barbed tail which happens to be poisonous. While similar to the Yian Kut-Kus, Yian Garugas are much more aggressive and have a fighting style more fit for the Rathian. Generations adds the deviant Deadeye Yian Garuga. Iceborne adds the variant Scarred Yian Garuga as a separate variant instead of zig-zagging between that or unscarred Garuga as the "normal" Garuga.

Ax-Crazy: Garuga is essentially the honey badger of the Monster Hunter setting; what it lacks in physical might, it more than makes up for in unchecked aggression and unreasonable confidence.
Beware My Stinger Tail: One which deals poison.
Blood Knight: It loves to fight without any rhyme or reason. This is because it often feels like it's being challenged, and it absolutely loves it. It's been said that it's so competitive that it will occasionally look for random monsters to fight with. Garuga’s scrappy behavior is the reason why the various stronger versions (One-Eared, Deadeye, and Scarred) are all battered and messed up; considering that the base model is willing to tangle with Deviljho, it’s a safe assumption that Garuga regularly picks fights with monsters above its weight class.
Cocky Rooster: It's ill-tempered and quite a violent creature.
Curb-Stomp Cushion: In its Iceborne cutscene, it manages to fend off Deviljho, but still takes a significant wound itself by being thrown into a boulder.
Decomposite Character: The series has gone back and forth between the common Yian Garuga having a scarred or undamaged face. Iceborne goes for the latter, but introduces the Scarred Yian Garuga as a distinct Variant.
Determinator: In its introductory cutscene in Iceborne, it picks a fight with Deviljho, and comes out on top with a combination of agility and tenacity, not calling it quits even after getting thrown through a boulder. When the Deviljho starts to leave the locale afterward, Garuga will commonly chase after it as if to say “Did you think I was done?”
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Its Iceborne cutscene shows it clocking a Deviljho with a tail flip.
Divergent Character Evolution: The Yian Garuga used to be a harder version of the Rathian that can also use Yian Kut-Ku's attacks. While Rathian was revamped in the third generation, Yian Garuga kept its old movements, along with getting a few new moves.
Evil Counterpart: To the Yian Kut-Kus. In-game lore seems to agree, too.
Eye Scream: A Yian Garuga that is scarred usually has an eye missing, presumably sliced or clawed off by hunters or other monsters in the past. This is most notable with Deadeye Yian Garuga as its only eye glows red.
Foil:
- Yian Garuga has a subtle wolf motif which contrasts the Tigrex's tiger one.
- It's also one to Rathalos. Rathalos' Japanese name is roughly translated as "Lion King", while Garuga is a pun on the name Garou, meaning Yian Garuga is the wolf to Rathalos' lion.
- Yian Garuga is the spiritual wolf to Zinogre's literal wolf, and it's the only other launch monster to be exclusive to the Guiding Lands in Iceborne. Their turf wars even end in a draw.
Guide Dang It!: In Generations, there are actually two charm skills called Deadeye. One is Deadeye and the other is Dead Eye with a space. There's actually a difference between the two. The first gives the "Deadeye Soul" skill, which is otherwise unique to this monster's deviant armor, which is a combination of Negate Stun and Challenger +2. Dead Eye with a space gives Shot Booster instead, which is an offensive gunner skill.
Hate Sink: A designated example due to being an animal, but not only does it kill Kut Kus for sport rather than food, it proves to be an obnoxious fight. It does gain a few likeability points in Iceborne, however (specifically when its intro successfully fends of a Deviljho).
Hitbox Dissonance: In the fourth generation, it picked up a rapid double-beak-slam attack, which has no start-up animation and will count as the full impact even when the hunter is hit by the body as it's chained out from a charge.
Laser-Guided Karma: After years of essentially bullying the Yian Kut-Ku, it's given a taste of its own medicine by way of Rajang defeating it in turf wars without a scratch in Iceborne.
Leitmotif: Roar of the Wolf.
Lightning Bruiser: The One-Eared and Frenzied versions.
Mighty Glacier: The Deadeye Yian Garuga has more powerful attacks, including Deadly Poison status, but it moves slower than its vanilla counterpart and its stronger attacks are well-telegraphed.
Mighty Roar: Notably one of the few Bird Wyverns whose metallic roar is loud enough to stun hunters. Yian Garuga is very fond of abusing this in the fourth generation: it will roar while leaping back, and then chain this into a quick swoop straight back to a hunter and a horribly quick tail flip with little time to react. The Deadeye Deviant upgrades to Make Me Wanna Shout, as it now deals damage if you’re close enough.
Mix-and-Match Critters: Mostly modeled after a crow, but also has the temperament of a Savage Wolf while having the skeleton of a wyvern.
Moveset Clone: In the first two generations, Yian Garuga shared many of its attacks and animations with Rathian, in addition to having Yian Kut-Ku's attacks.
No-Sell: Yian Garuga is completely immune to Poison. Makes sense, as it's a poison monster.
Playing with Fire: Can spit fireballs similar to Rathian's.
Pintsized Powerhouse:
- The Deadeye Yian Garuga is noticeably smaller than a regular one, being about the size of a Yian Kut-Ku, but it possesses a lethal poison and has even more attacks at its disposal.
- In Iceborne, despite being several times smaller than a Deviljho, it manages to stand up to one and make it give up in frustration.
Poisonous Person: Unlike the Rathian, all of its tail-based attacks can inflict poison. The Deadeye Yian Garuga has a poison called Deadly Poison that's so potent that the Negate Poison skill can only reduce it to Noxious Poison instead of preventing it.
Purple Is Powerful: Yian Garuga is easily the most dangerous standard Bird Wyvern in the series, and is purple. It gets to the point where it's mistaken for a Flying Wyvern due to its size and power.
Reestablishing Character Moment: Reintroduces itself in Iceborne by way of repelling a Deviljho.
Required Secondary Powers: It also seems to be immune to Sonic Bombs, which also makes sense since roaring as loud as it does would otherwise hurt its ears.
The Rival: Yian Garuga despises Yian Kut-Kus despite being closely related to them. It has been known to ruthlessly kill as many Yian Kut-Kus as it can, and it will even destroy their eggs and lay its own in their nests. Although the Yian Kut-Kus do fight back, Yian Garuga usually comes out on top.
Rugged Scar: Due to its Blood Knight nature, it’s not uncommon to find a Yian Garuga already with distinct scars on it. These scars usually consist of one at one side of its face with an eye removed. Another scar is one of its ears being partly gone. Whether Yian Garuga is scarred or not varies between most games (for example, Garuga in 4 Ultimate is scarred while Garuga in Generations Ultimate isn’t). In Iceborne, regular Yian Garuga typically has no scars but the game also features Scarred Yian Garuga, which is a much deadlier variant that has scars.
Savage Wolf: Has traits of this, such as its temperament and mane even resembling the fur of a wolf.
Spikes of Doom: It's covered with poisonous spikes.
Took a Level in Badass: Yian Garuga was always considered the most powerful Bird Wyvern, but its debut cutscene in Iceborne puts it on an entirely new level, as its sheer stubborn tenacity proves enough that even Deviljho gave up on trying to fight it.
Visual Pun: When it gets enraged, its animation involves it jumping up and down a lot before attacking you again. It's hopping mad!
Wake-Up Call Boss: Like with Tetsucabra and Malfestio before it, Yian Garuga serves as this as the rank 5 urgent in Generations. It doesn't have anything particularly new up its sleeves; it just hits far harder, faster, and is far more aggressive than anything you likely fought before. Essentially, this is the first of many bosses that will go full ham on you as an apex predator, and it will teach you to be prepared for the worst things to happen.
The Worf Effect: It's easily defeated by Rajang in turf wars.
Use Your Head: In Iceborne, Yian Garuga will sometimes leap into the air only to fire himself head-first at the hunter like a missile, with enough force to bury its own head in the ground for a second afterward.

Gypceros

Gypceros (Geryos) (variant: Purple Gypceros)

Strange Poison Bird (The Purple Poison Menace)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gypceros_4784.png

^{Purple Gypceros}

Appearances:

Nominate subspecies:
Monster Hunter, Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate
Purple subspecies:
Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate

Turkey-like True Bird Wyverns with dark blue scales, an elastic tail, and a hard crest that looks like a pair of flints which it rams against each other to generate a blinding flash upon contact. Monster Hunter G introduces a purple-scaled Subspecies which is a whole lot more aggressive and attacks with deadlier toxins.

Beware the Silly Ones: One would think the funny bucktooth rubber turkey would be an easy fight. Between its ability to cause Poison and Blind as well as its tendency to play possum among other things, one would be proven wrong.
Blinded by the Light: What happens when they ram their head-crests like a pair of flints. Smashing the crest off of their head disables the light blast attack.
Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Rare example of this happening to a boss rather than the player; They will keep trying to flash the hunters even if their crests are destroyed.
Interface Screw: When it's Playing Possum, its icon darkens, and if it's painted or you're playing as a Prowler (in which monsters are marked at all times), its map icon will turn grey; both are normally signs of a dead monster.
Jack of All Stats: As a Monstie, Purple Gypceros's Stories incarnation is fairly well-balanced in terms of stats, having average Attack and Agility stats of 3/5, an above-average Defense stat of 4/5, and a below-average Health stat of 2/5.
Interface Spoiler: If the quest is to hunt just one, then you'll know when it's actually dead or just Playing Possum. More subtlely, if it's a multi-monster hunt and it's the second-to-last monster to hunt, you won't get the "1 monster(s) left!" notification if it's playing dead.
Lethal Joke Character: One April Fool's quest introduced in Frontier had you fight, a Gypceros with an atomic flint. It can unleash a nuclear blast that can cut through your health like butter, requiring the frequent use of healing items in order to stay alive, but it can only use it three times in a row, and if it tries to use it after the third attack, it'll blow itself up.
Light Is Not Good: Its light will stun you unless you block it or have the appropriate armor skill.
Logical Weakness: As a monster made of rubber, it's naturally very weak to fire attacks. It also inverts this trope (i.e. Logical Immunity); the same rubbery hide makes Shock Traps useless against it.
Mighty Glacier: The normal species. The Subspecies lean towards being Lightning Bruisers.
No-Sell: To Shock Traps, thanks to their rubbery hides. Also immune to Flash Bombs, as otherwise it would be blinded every time it uses its own blinding flash. This also applies for the monster, as a fast enough hunter may be able to sneak in a free carve while it's playing dead and get away before it can react.
Playing Possum: When low on health, it will start to play dead. If one falls for it and attempts to carve it, an unlucky hunter will be in for a surprise. Some variants over the years have displayed the ability to fake being affected by sleep and paralyze status effects as well.
Poisonous Person: Can spit poison globs. The subspecies has a more potent toxin.
Rubber Man: To be exact, its tail is extendable. Its rubbery hide also makes it immune to shock traps.
Schmuck Bait: When it's low on health, it will pretend to die, and its body becomes carvable. When it gets back up it will flail around and whack anyone around it (including those who try to carve it and don't retreat fast enough) for a significant amount of damage.
Stone Wall: As a Monstie, Gypceros's Stories incarnation has an above-average Defense stat at 4/5, but its Attack stat is a lowly 1/5.
Stuff Blowing Up: Its Frontier April Fool's joke quest, as per usual, takes this trope it to its logical extreme: its flash attack is replaced by a nuclear explosion that can easily cart you if you don't heal fast enough. Eventually, these explosions take a toil onto it and it succumbs to the explosions themselves.
Subsystem Damage: Breaking its head prevents it from being able to use its flashbang ability. It will still go through the motions, but to no effect.
Tactical Suicide Boss: It's April Fool's Frontier quest parodies this with it's flashing flint replaced by an atomic explosion you need to survive three times to complete.
Use Your Head: To generate a blinding flash (or, in the case of the April Fool's Frontier quest, blow itself (and you) up).
Video Game Stealing: Its peck attack can steal your items if it hits. Unlike the Melynxes, these items cannot be retrieved.
Wall Run: They gain the ability to do this in the fourth generation. They can even run on the ceiling.
The Worf Effect: Nerscylla hunt Gypceros as their favorite food.

Flying Wyverns

True Wyverns

Rathalos

Rathalos (Liolæus) (variants: Azure Rathalos, Silver Rathalos, Dreadking Rathalos, Zenith Rathalos, Flame Rathalos)

King of the Skies (Azure Fire Wyvern, Silver Sun, Argent Emperor, Darkflame Lord, Huge Fire Wyvern)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mhrise_rathalos_render_001.png

^{Azure Rathalos}

^{Silver Rathalos}

^{Dreadking Rathalos}

^{Zenith Rathalos}

^{Flame Rathalos}

Appearances:

Nominate subspecies:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 3,Portable 3rd, 3 Ultimate
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter: World, World: Iceborne, Rise, Rise: Sunbreak
Monster Hunter Wilds
Azure subspecies:
Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
3 Ultimate
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate
Monster Hunter: World, World: Iceborne
Silver rare species:
Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Portable 3rd, 3 Ultimate
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate
World: Iceborne, Rise: Sunbreak
Dreadking deviant:
Generations, Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
Zenith variant:
Frontier Z onwards

A cave of crimson, flames billowing high
This is where he makes his nest. Best to not go nigh
Fire scorching the earth, rains down from the sky
When his highness sets his eyes on you, it's time to say goodbye.

Ever since haunting the skies of Kokoto, the crimson-scaled, highly-adaptable, widely-traveled Rathalos has since earned its place among the most sought-after True Wyverns. It has Fire element breath attacks, poisonous talons and mastery of aerial combat. Fast and fiery, Rathalos is a force to be reckoned with to hunters and most non-Elder Dragon monsters. Monster Hunter G introduces two Subspecies: an azure-scaled version with higher stamina and harder wings, and a rare, solitary silver-scaled form which is even stronger than the previous two. Generations adds the deviant Dreadking Rathalos, whose fire attacks are stronger. Frontier would have an Older Zenith with much larger wings that it can ignite its wings and tail. Explore adds in two variants, one styled after Acnologia's dragon form and one that is coated in fire called Flame Rathalos.

Achilles' Heel: Because the Rathalos spends so much time in the air, it's the monster most vulnerable to flash bombs.
A.I. Breaker: Rathalos will immediately return to its nest if you pick up an egg from the nest, which is fair given its Papa Wolf instincts, but this can be exploited to avoid having to fight it anywhere else, get it to come back, as well as to trick it into landing on top of a trap.
Animal Motifs: Lions. Although unlike most examples, it's in name. "Rioreusu" is roughly translated as "Lion King".
Battle Couple: With its mate, the Rathian; this has been made a far more prominent behavior in World, where the AI has been adjusted so that the two will often come to the other's aid when after a certain damage threshold, as well as protecting the other if it needs to sleep or once it's near death or able to be captured.
Bootstrapped Leitmotif: While Rathalos doesn't have a unique battle theme, it usually has the battle theme of Verdant Hills playing during its introductions.
Critical Hit Class: In previous games, its weapons usually start off at 0% affinity; however, as of Monster Hunter World, Rathalos weapons can get up to a 15% affinity rating (25% as of Iceborne and if you upgrade it with Silver Rathalos parts).
Foil: To Rathian.
- Rathalos favors aerial combat and incinerating his prey, while Rathian excels in ground combat and poisoning hers. This also correlates in maps where they are separated, a Rathian will likely be in the desert or swamp while Rathalos will be near the volcanoes.
- Rathalos can only poison his prey in the air, while Rathian doesn't breath fire while airborne.
Geo Effects: In 4/4 Ultimate, battling a Rathalos in Area 8 of Heaven's Mount has a special effect: the fireballs it launches will start to flip the floating island you're standing on, causing you to slide down the slope. After a certain point, you will need to hold on for dear life; otherwise, you'll slide straight off the island and get a one-way ticket into an adjacent area, requiring you to backtrack all the way back to its nest. A similar phenomenon can occur in Area 8 of the Ancestral Steppes, also a nesting area.
Guest Fighter: It has made crossover boss appearances in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (along with Tigrex), Final Fantasy XIV, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Dragalia Lost, and Arknights, as well as being a playable character in Teppen.
Lightning Bruiser: They move quickly, can take a lot of punishment, and possess several fast, powerful attacks.
Made of Iron: If you didn't already know these monsters were tough, Peace Walker has them taking hits from rocket launchers.
Mascot: Of the original Monster Hunter (2004) and the first Freedom, as well the franchise as a whole along with the Felynes. The Azure Rathalos serves as the mascot for Monster Hunter G in Japan and 3 Ultimate in the western release. If anything is going to cameo in another series to represent the Monster Hunter series, Rathalos will usually appear alongside the Felynes. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Final Fantasy XIV, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Dragalia Lost, and Arknights in particular feature Rathalos as a boss. A particularly powerful one serves as the Big Bad of the movie.
One-Gender Race: Subverted. All Rathalos are male, because that's specifically the name of the male of the species. Females are Rathians.
Our Wyverns Are Different: Rathalos fits the descriptions of both classical wyverns (winged and bipedal, with a spiked tail), as well as that of the traditional, aggressive fire-breathing Western dragon. That said, being a Flying Wyvern as opposed to an Elder Dragon, it's depicted in the ecosystem as serving a role similar to a predatory dinosaur (which many other wyverns are directly based on, including Rathalos' direct rival in World) rather than a mythical legendary dragon.
Papa Wolf: While he may not be as infamous for it as Rathian, he's every bit as protective of his eggs.
Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Azure Rathalos and Pink Rathian.
Playing with Fire: In the form of fireballs. Unlike the Rathian, Rathalos can use it while airborne. Also extends to weapons made from his parts, as they tend to deal Fire damage.
Poisonous Person: Its talons poison anyone that gets hit by its high-dive claw attack. Like Rathian, it also sports a poisonous tail, and will attempt to catch hunters with rapid midair flip strikes. This was eventually changed to be just his talons to differentiate himself from Rathian. World introduces a new jumping stomp where the Rathalos will take off briefly and immediately slam his talons into the ground, releasing a small burst of toxic smoke.
Properly Paranoid: Invokes this on hunters with its infamous "Rathalos World Tour" attack, where Rathalos will suspiciously fly higher than usual, but rather than move to a new area, slams down and hits you with his talons, which does decent damage on top of poisoning its victims.
Rare Random Drop: Rathalos Plates and Rath Marrow in Low Rank, Rathalos Rubies and Rath Medullas in High Rank, and Rathalos Mantles in G Rank.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Not truly evil, of course, but a highly aggressive and territorial apex predator nonetheless. Dreadking Rathalos takes this even further with a more vivid crimson color and a nastier disposition.
Red Baron: The King of the Skies.
Silver Has Mystic Powers: Silver Rathalos has stronger fire than Azure Rathalos, in addition to having a far tougher body. In Iceborne, it also has very powerful ground moveset that both it weaker cousins lack.
Spear Counterpart: The male counterpart to the female Rathian.
Spikes of Doom: Has spikes in some parts of him. The armor that the Rathalos parts provides does this as well.
Status Effects: He can inflict stun and poison with a swipe of its talons, if you're unlucky.
Stealth Pun: Rathalos is the apex predator of the Ancient Forest in World. His animal motif is the Lion. Basically, he's the King of the Jungle.
Strong and Skilled: Silver Rathalos weapons in Iceborne have solid raw damage, superb fire elemental damage and positive affinity, and decent white sharpness that can also get a good amount of purple sharpness. This is balanced out by these weapons being best used on fire-weak monsters.
Stuff Blowing Up: The Dreadking Rathalos can fire shards at the ground that give off a flame aura for several seconds before exploding.
Technicolor Fire: When Silver Rathalos enters his Super Mode in the fifth-generation games, his flames will glow blue instead of the usual red.
Tiger vs. Dragon: Rathalos is the Dragon to Tigrex's Tiger in the second generation; while both are clearly Draconic, Tigrex's tiger motif is very obvious and is a physical powerhouse of a monster, while Rathalos' lion motif is not only rather subtle, the latter fights more like a classical dragon with aerial fireballs.
Turns Red: Well, blue, but Silver Rathalos in Iceborne has a mode called "Hellfire" which not only gives him a stronger fireball, he also gets various ground moves such as a firey bite and uses his tail far more often.
Warrior Prince: Not the monster himself, but his armor made from his parts can give this vibe, especially Generations Dreadking armor.
The Worf Effect: Rathalos is unfortunately burdened with the role of making newer monsters look more threatening by way of his own menacing reputation.
- Generations has him take on the new Astalos in a fierce aerial battle wherein the King of the Skies is forced onto the defensive, likely to show off the latter due to its flagship status. He's also confirmed to be one of Nakarkos's many prey items.
- He seems to have regained his status in World, where he is far more powerful than newer monsters like Anjanath and Great Jagras. That said, he does get trounced in Turf Wars against Deviljho, like everyone else who isn't the Bazelgeuse, Rajang, Yian Garuga or Elder Dragons. Likewise, Azure Rathalos is defeated by Rajang.
- Zigzagged with his turf war against Glavenus. Sometimes, Rathalos is the victor, and defeats Glavenus without a scratch. Other times, it's the opposite.
- In Rise he loses in Turf Wars against Magnamalo.

Rathian

Rathian (Lioleia) (variants: Pink Rathian, Gold Rathian, Dreadqueen Rathian, Conflagration Rathian, Scorching Heat Rathian)

Queen of the Land (Cherry Blossom Fire Wyvern, Golden Moon, Purple Poison Princess, Violent Flame Queen)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_mhrise_rathian_render_001.png

^{Pink Rathian}

^{Gold Rathian}

^{Dreadqueen Rathian}

^{Conflagration Rathian}

^{Scorching Heat Rathian}

Appearances:

Nominate subspecies:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 3, Portable 3rd, 3 Ultimate
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter: World, World: Iceborne, Rise, Rise: Sunbreak
Pink subspecies:
Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
3 Ultimate
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate
Monster Hunter: World, World: Iceborne
Gold rare species:
Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Portable 3rd, 3 Ultimate
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations Ultimate
World: Iceborne, Rise: Sunbreak
Dreadqueen deviant:
Generations, Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
Conflagration Variant:
Online

Arid plains at night, flames billowing high
This is where she makes her realm. Best to not go nigh
Fire scorching the earth, lighting up the sky
When her highness sets her eyes on you, it's time to say goodbye.

The female version of the Rathalos. Distinguishable by green scales and hair-like thorns on its back, the Rathian prefers ground combat, fiery breath attacks, and swiping its poisonous tail on any unfortunate Hunter. Monster Hunter G introduces two Subspecies, in order of increasing power: pink and gold. Generations adds the deviant Dreadqueen Rathian, whose poison attacks are deadlier than a normal Rathian's. Online would release a Variant that has scales like a Rathalos. Explore would introduce a Variant that is on fire and looks burned.

A.I. Breaker: Rathian will immediately return to its nest if you pick up an egg from the nest, which is fair given its Mama Bear instincts, but this can be exploited to avoid having to fight it anywhere else, get it to come back, as well as to trick it into landing on top of a trap.
Art Evolution:
- Rathian received a major redesign in Tri, which has become her default look since. Compared to the earlier games, her color became olive green, the wing markings are light instead of black, the phalanges are less pronounced, and the shape of her eyes and face are noticeably different.
- The Gold Rathian would receive a massive visual (and combat) update come Iceborne, her golden scales in particular finally look properly as if they're a warm gold hue, akin to Kulve Taroth.
Battle Ballgown: Not the Rathian herself naturally, but the armor that can be crafted from her for female Blademasters is a perfect example and is one of the more iconic armors from the series that isn't the Kirin's. The design is fitting, since Queen of the Land is one of her titles.
Beware My Stinger Tail: Her tail is covered in poisonous needle-like spikes that poison you if she hits you with her tail flip.
Bootstrapped Leitmotif: While Rathian doesn't have its own battle theme, its introductions usually has the Old Jungle's battle theme playing during them.
Distaff Counterpart: The female half of the male Rathalos.
Divergent Character Evolution:
- After Yian Garuga's introduction in Freedom, Rathian became a weaker version of it with less attacks. Come the third generation, Rathian got some new animations and her own attacks, while the Yian Garuga kept its old ones and gained its own attacks in the fourth generation.
- The Pink subspecies had little distinguishing them from the default species until the third generation, where the Pink variant picks up a spinning curved backflip and a sharp hook of flame to its bite. In 4U, the G-Rank Rathian's new turning-charge-to-backflip and spinning-bite-to-tail-whip attacks also demonstrate these same upgrades in the Pink Rathian.
Face on the Cover: Careful inspection of the wyvern on the Monster Hunter logo is Rathian and not Rathalos, due to the spines found on its back and wings.
Foil: To Rathalos.
- Rathalos favors aerial combat and incinerating his prey, while Rathian excels in ground combat and poisoning hers. This also correlates in maps where they are separated, a Rathian will likely be in the desert or swamp while Rathalos will be near the volcanoes.
- Rathalos can only poison his prey in the air, while the regular and pink Rathians don't breathe fire while airborne.
Gold-Colored Superiority:
- The Gold Rathian is tougher and more powerful than the Pink Rathian while using the same moveset. With Iceborne the Gold Rathian gets more new moves and the added ability to breathe fire while airborne.
- Certainly applies to Gold Rathian weapons as of Iceborne, as they are among the strongest in the game.
Lightning Bruiser: She's not as fast as the Rathalos, but she's still a fast and powerful monster.
Logical Weakness: Dreadqueen and Apex Rathian both shoot their venomous spikes from their tails, so obviously breaking their tails means they can't do it anymore.
Mama Bear: Try to pick up her eggs, and she will stop whatever she's doing and come after you. She is one of the only monsters that will exhibit such a behavior.
One-Gender Race: Subverted. All Rathians are female, because that's specifically the name of the female of the species. A male is called a Rathalos.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Normally, Rathians are exceptionally protective of their nests and their eggs, but in 4 Ultimate, one quest to capture a Rathian ends in failure when the Rathian gets chased out of her nest by a Seregios, who is so strong that even the Rathian with her Mama Bear tendencies gets the hell out of there.^note
Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Azure Rathalos and Pink Rathian.
Pink Means Feminine: Pink Rathian.
Playing with Fire: She can breathe fire in the form of fireballs and explosions. Curiously, she can't use it while airborne. To contrast this, Rathalos can only poison you while airborne, while Rathian can do so at any time. With Iceborne, Gold Rathians for the first time are capable of firing off a single massive fireball while airborne.
Poisonous Person:
- Her tail flips will poison anyone they hit. This also extends to melee weapons made with her parts, as most of them deal poison damage (there are exceptions that deal Fire or Dragon damage instead), and some of her armor sets have bonuses that complement a Hunter using poison a lot.
- The Dreadqueen Rathian can cause poison with all of her tail-based attacks, can scatter poisonous spikes across the ground, and at higher levels, possesses Deadly Poison, which is so powerful that even the Negate Poison skill can't prevent it, only weaken it to Noxious Poison. Apex Rathian has many of the same abilities, including a poison called Venom that can only be weakened instead of negated.
Purple Is Powerful: In contrast to the Rare Gold species, the Dreadqueen Rathian has a slightly purple-ish shade, and is far stronger than a normal and Pink Rath.
Rare Random Drop: Rathian Plates and Rath Marrow in Low Rank, Rathian Rubies and Rath Medullas in High Rank, and Rathian Mantles in G Rank.
Red Baron: The Queen of the Land.
She-Fu: Has a poisonous backflip which she can use twice in a row. The Pink and Gold Rathians can sweep their tails across the ground to make it harder to avoid.
Skippable Boss: Oddly, it's not required to fight a Rathian in World during Low Rank in the main story; you have to encounter her during a quest in the Wildspire Waste, but she's much stronger than most hunters would be at that point, so they're encouraged to hide from her until she leaves, with an optional quest to hunt her being unlocked later on. Averted with Pink Rathian, as finding and hunting one is part of the assignments in High Rank.
Spikes of Doom: Her poison spikes which you can carve of off her.
Spin Attack: In the Fourth Generation's G-Rank, Rathian can use an attack where she charges forward, bites, then spins horizontally while swinging its tail.
Stone Wall: As a Monstie, Rathian's Stories incarnation has an impressive Health stat of 5/5 coupled with an above-average Defense stat of 4/5, but her Attack stat is a below-average 2/5.
Strong and Skilled: Gold Rathian Weapons in Iceborne have superb raw damage, positive affinity, good natural white sharpness, and solid poison build-up. The one thing preventing them from being outright game-breaking is lack of purple sharpness.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: For a lack of Deviant Monsters in Rise, Apex Rathian is similar to Dreadqueen Rathian, being able to leave crystals on the ground that radiate poison and whose poison cannot be completely nullified unless you have at least three pieces of Teostra armor (minus the helmet).
Technicolor Fire: When Gold Rathian enters her Super Mode in the fifth-generation games, her flames will glow blue instead of the usual red.
Took a Level in Badass: In a sense with Iceborne, for the Gold Rathian specifically. She now has more unique moves, a much stronger fireball to match her poison, and the ability to use said fireballs in flight for the first time ever.
Turns Red: Well, blue, but Gold Rathian in Iceborne has a mode called "Hellfire" which not only gives her a stronger fireball, she can now use it in the air.
Violently Protective Girlfriend: If a Rathalos is getting attacked by you, she'll know and come to aid him, often with a surprise attack. Likewise, the Rathalos will return the favor if a Rathian is getting attacked. This behavior has been emphasized in World, to the point where she will also protect a sleeping Rathalos that's at the point of capture by hovering over him (a behavior the Rathalos will also display).
The Worf Effect:
- She takes on a Glavenus... only to get her claws cut off and flee immediately.
- In Monster Hunter: World and Monster Hunter: Rise she suffers this against Diablos.
- In Rise, Rajang triumphs over her in both its intro cutscene and Turf War. In Sunbreak, a Rathian appears in Seregios' introductory cutscene and is soundly overwhelemed, beaten into the ground and killed via impaling from its sharp scales

Khezu

Khezu (Furufuru) (variant: Red Khezu)

Light in the Dark, The Shadow, Blank Stare (Red Shadow)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/khezu.png

^{Red Khezu}

^{Zenith Khezu}

Appearances:

Nominate subspecies:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter: Rise, Rise: Sunbreak
Monster Hunter Frontier Season 1.0 onwards
Red subspecies:
Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate
Monster Hunter Frontier Season 1.0 onwards
Zenith Variant:
Frontier Z onwards

Nocturnal creatures coming out to feast
Find themselves becoming prey to this long-necked beast
Down the hatch they go, definitely deceased
"Craven miscreant! Show your mug, if you dare!"
But when it turns to face you, you'd rather be elsewhere.
Its perturbing expression, a sight too much to bear.

Blind, suspiciously phallic-looking worm-like white wyverns that make up for their blindness with a keen sense of smell. They are masters of lightning, able to extend their necks, and able to let out a stunning roar. Monster Hunter G introduces a red Subspecies which, though similar to their white cousins, sport a greater neck reach, and a weakness to water instead of fire. Frontier Z adds an older Zenith with a much more developed head and better abilities at thunder manipulation.

Acrophobic Bird: It has wings, but mostly uses them to climb on walls and ceilings. It only flies to move between areas.
A Head at Each End: Apparently, it's like this while young; the head that gets used more grows into the "dominant" head, while the one that's used less withers away into its suction cup tail.
The Artifact: In the first two generations of games, the lack of music when fighting Khezu (unless another large monster is present and fighting you in the same area) is because it cannot actually spot you, so the game can't cue up the Scare Chord or battle music. From 4 onwards, it can spot you, but the silence remains by design.
Deadly Doctor: Though the monster itself doesn't seem to have any inherent healing abilities, its weapons and armor do. Most of its weapons have a surgery or hospital motif — for example, the Khezu's Insect Glaive, the Bolt Chamber, is more or less a weaponized IV drip, and its Bowgun is straightup called the Khezu Syringe. To go with the theme, those that CAN heal almost always WILL: the aforementioned Syringe can use recovery ammo when fully upgraded, the Hunting Horn can restore its allies' HP, etc. Its armor, similarly, makes heavy use of bandages when it isn't designed after a classical 'cleric' design or a more modern doctor or nurse uniform.
Death from Above: When hanging on a ceiling, it can either drool at you, spit electric balls, do body splash, or stretch its neck to take a bite at you.
Disability Immunity: It has no sight, so naturally Flash Bombs won't work on it.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: It looks like a giant penis, and this comparison is even made in-game several times. Its elastic neck only adds to the imagery. It also drops an item called "Pale Extract" that is used to enhance Demondrugs and Armorskins, and can be obtained either when it drools or you hit it hard enough. Its concept art was even more blatant, with its head having a more defined shape resembling a glans compared to the smooth transition from neck to mouth in the final version. Its mouth is also comparable to Vagina Dentata.
Draconic Abomination: Just LOOK at it. The Khezu looks more like something out of H.P. Lovecraft's imagination than your typical low-fantasy wyvern. And whether intentionial or not, its head is uncannily similar to the heads of the Mass Produced EVA-05s from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Some of its item drops even describe a connection to the occult.
Eaten Alive: Zenith Khezu doesn't just swallow-pin Hunters, it eats them for a One-Hit Kill.
Eyeless Face: They don't have any eyes, rendering them blind. This also means they’re immune to flash effects.
Hermaphrodite: In-game accounts describe them as this.
In a Single Bound: While Khezu is normally less than speedy, its powerful frog-like legs enable it to put on bursts of speed via huge leaps.
Interface Screw: Khezu is infamous for doing this, though it technically counts as an inversion. Normally, when a hunter is spotted by a large monster, the hunter gains the "spotted" status (shown by a yellow or red eye on the HUD). This status is what allows the player to perform invincibility-granting "panic dives" when attempting to roll while running away from the monster (as opposed to normal running), which can save one's bacon in a pinch. Khezu never grants this, as it has no eyes and thus cannot spot you, denying you a potentially life-saving maneuver. Thankfully, this is no longer the case from the fourth generation onwards, where engaging a Khezu grants the Spotted status like any other monster.
In the Hood: The monster's male helmet is a white hood, which in several games obscures most of the wearer's face under heavy shadows, just to make them look that much more mysterious.
Kill It with Fire: Its main weakness. However...
Kill It with Water: Red Khezu are much more vulnerable to the wet stuff.
Leitmotif: Inverted. Whereas some monsters have unique theme songs that play when you fight them regardless of the current map, Khezu's presence is marked by a distinct lack of music. Originally this was because Khezu technically could not spot you — the condition for battle music playing — due to having no eyes, but even after 4 changed this the lack of music was deliberately kept.
Logical Weakness:
- The Khezu has no eyes, so it uses its nose to see. Naturally, the best way to screw up its "sight" isn't a flash bomb, but a dung bomb.
- It also inverts this trope in the form of a Logical Immunity; since it has no eyes, Flash Bombs don't work on it.
Long Neck: Can stretch its neck to bite from a long distance away.
Meaningful Name: Its Japanese name Furfur is also the name of a demon with power over thunderstorms.
Mighty Glacier:
- Hits incredibly hard for a 4 star monster, but doesn't have the speed (outside of sudden leaps) to back it up. To compensate, it's stupidly durable.
- As a Monstie, Red Khezu's Stories incarnation has above-average Attack and Defense stats of 4/5 and an average Health stat of 3/5, but its Agility stat is a below-average 2/5.
Mighty Roar: Khezu’s call sounds like howling wind, which is rather disconcerting when you remember that it likes to hang around very windy places. It’s also one of the earliest monsters one can face with a roar that requires HG Earplugs to ignore. Khezu’s roar is especially obnoxious, because it really loves to spam it.
No-Sell: In Stories, Khezu is immune to a variety of effects because it’s missing the relevant senses (it can’t be blinded because it has no eyes, and is immune to roar effects because it also has no ears).
Nothing Is Scarier: Unlike other monsters, who have their own BGM when fighting you or use the map-specific boss BGM, Khezu has no background music when you fight it (unless a non-Khezu monster is also present).
The Nose Knows: To make up for their lack of sight, they detect their prey through smell. Savvy Hunters can use this to their advantage, however, by hurling a Dung Bomb at it.
The Paralyzer: Khezu's thunder balls are guaranteed to cause paralysis.
Rare Random Drop: Pale Bones in Low Rank, Pale Steaks in High Rank, and Khezu Special Cuts in G Rank.
Rubber Man: Sometimes extends its neck to catch its target.
Schmuck Bait: Will sometimes dangle from a ceiling and drool on the floor beneath, creating a Shiny Drop that can be gathered for a random pickup, possibly including rare and valuable monster materials. Of course, it will hang there and wait, and if you're dumb enough to go for the goods before getting him to move, you deserve what you're going to get.
Sense-Impaired Monster: It has no eyes, but a keen sense of smell. As a result, it's immune to flash bombs.
Shock and Awe: They primarily attack with electricity. The Zenith variant can inflict an extreme form of Thunderblight, whereupon if you take another Thunder attack, you end up in cardiac arrest, unable to move until either another Hunter revives you or your rapidly-draining health runs out.
Stone Wall:
- The Khezu's attacks are actually telegraphed and predictable enough for you to avoid them with ease. The problem is, get past that and you have something that takes a lot of damage without going down.
- As a Monstie, Khezu's Stories incarnation has above-average Health and Defense stats of 4/5, but its Attack and Agility stats are a below-average 2/5.
Swallowed Whole: Can do this to the Hunters and Palicoes in 4 Ultimate, if it manages to paralyze them with a lightning drool attack while hanging from the ceiling. Players can mash their buttons to escape this predicament.
Villain Forgot to Level Grind: Khezu is encountered extraordinarily early in the Low Rank of Rise, but hardly qualifies for a Wake-Up Call Boss as it sometimes did prior because it is still relying on just its old bag of tricks, lacking any major new attacks and moving with the same sluggishness it was always known for. Between smoother controls, better hitboxes, and players being more mobile than ever before, it is a mild speed bump at worst. Averted with High Rank Khezu, as it brings back a goodly portion of the old terror: It attacks more quickly and aggressively, spams its lightning and roars more often, and still has its infamously high health. It's still not *quite* as awful as it once was, but HR Khezu definitely brings its A-game.
Wake-Up Call Boss: In Freedom 2 and Freedom Unite, made all the more explicit by the fact that the first quest where you can hunt it is the first available level 3 quest.
Wall Crawl: Uses its tail either to attach itself to the ceiling or hold its ground while releasing an electric burst.
The Worf Effect: Shrouded Nerscylla feed upon them and utilize their skin.
Xenomorph Xerox: Khezu is an eyeless, phallic monster with acidic saliva that reproduces via implanting its eggs in a victim.

Monoblos

Monoblos (variant: White Monoblos)

One Horned Wyvern (White One Horn Wyvern, Broken Blade One Horned Wyvern)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monoblos_7011.png

^{White Monoblos}

^{Shattered horn Monoblos}

Appearances:

Nominate subspecies:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
4 Ultimate
White subspecies:
Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
4 Ultimate

A hard-scaled wyvern distinguishable from its biological cousin, the Diablos, by its rock-brown scales, a single spiraling horn out of its Styracosaurus-like head, and a mace-like tail. Monster Hunter G introduces a white-scaled Subspecies with even higher HP. These monsters are notable for only being available in single player campaigns (even in 4 Ultimate, which otherwise makes them available in G Rank for the first time thanks to the addition of single-player quests in that tier). Online would introduce a variant with a broken horn, which is much more aggressive.

Acrophobic Bird: Though possessing wings easily as large as those of the Raths, it rarely flies, if ever.
Beware My Stinger Tail: One that causes the KO status if you're unlucky.
Bullfight Boss: Trick it into charging a wall, and watch as it gets its horn stuck.
Cowardly Boss: White Monoblos digs underground more frequently than its standard cousin, making it hard to track. It doesn't dig as much in the fourth generation, but it's much more aggressive to compensate.
Dig Attack: Can burrow into the ground and pop up right beneath a hunter.
Endangered Species: This is the reason why you can only fight them in Village Quests.
Fast Tunnelling: Can move right under your feet with frightening speed.
Final Boss: Of the original Monster Hunter (2004), Monster Hunter G and Monster Hunter Freedom's Low Rank village quests. It serves as the final test for the hunter to prove themselves superior to the chief of Kokoto Village.
Hard Head: Only the sharpest weapons can hack through its thick skull without bouncing off. Blunt weapons are straight-up ineffective against it.
Lightning Bruiser: While the White Monoblos seems as slow as the regular one at first, when it Turns Red, it becomes just as fast as an angry Diablos.
Meaningful Name: Monoblos has a single horn.
Mighty Glacier: The regular Monoblos is considerably slower than Diablos, but its defenses are tougher to compensate.
Moveset Clone: Shares a lot of attacks with Diablos.
Noodle Incident: According to a comment from the Guildmarm, the Monoblos is apparently the monster that began the profession of Monster Hunting. But seeing as she offers no details and being... the Guildmarm, well...
Punched Across the Room: If you're not careful, you'll be doing more flying than it ever will.
Rare Random Drop: Monoblos Hearts in all ranks and Blos Medullas in High Rank.
Solo-Character Run: Monoblos can only be encountered in the single-player-only village/storyline quests and expedition modes (this even applies to 4 Ultimate, which does include a G rank version of it for the first time). If you do encounter one in a multiplayer room, it's a hacked quest.
Stock Animal Diet: It's often seen eating desert cacti like its cousin.
Temper-Ceratops: Like the Diablos, it's incredibly temperamental, aggressive and prone to striking first at hunters upon noticing them.
Tunnel King: It's an expert at digging underground.
The Worf Effect: A member of the nominate species tries to fight a Doom Estrellian in the latter's introductory cutscene right after killing a rival and gets beaten within an inch of its life for its troubles.

Diablos

Diablos (variants: Black Diablos, Bloodbath Diablos)

Horned Wyvern, Tyrant of the Desert, the Demon of the Desert (Black Phalanx)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_mhrise_diablos_render_001.png

^{Black Diablos}

^{Bloodbath Diablos}

Appearances:

The wide plains of the desert, a heated battle ground
Suddenly, a rumbling, a world-shattering sound
Twin horn slit the sand below, no longer earthbound
For this is the true ruler of this dry dystopia
Trespassers shall be punished; protect thy cornucopia.

A related species of the Monoblos, the Diablos is distinguishable by its two large horns on its Triceratops-like head, sand-yellow scales, and an axe-shaped blunt tail. This Flying Wyvern doesn’t fly, but it can use its strong forelimbs to burrow through the sand at an incredible speed. Territorial and tough, Diablos is the tyrannical digger of the desert, as very few non-Elder Dragon monsters in its domain are capable of matching its might. Monster Hunter G introduces a black-scaled subspecies — females in heat, as its Portable 3rd entry rectifies. Generations Ultimate introduces the deviant Bloodbath Diablos, an individual with a vendetta against Hunters. Explore adds in two variants, one golden with a broken horn based off of Gilgamesh and one which resembles Alphonse Elric. A Black Diablos appears as the first major threat in the film.

Acrophobic Bird: Though possessing wings easily as large as those of the Raths, it rarely flies, if ever. You'd be forgiven for mistaking it for a Brute Wyvern.
Always Female: Black Diablos are female Diablos during mating season.
Arch-Enemy: The Bloodbath Diablos in particular brings out the bad blood in the Pub Manager more than any other monster, due to her attempting to hunt it, only to fail miserably and retire to a life of running a pub as a result.
Best Her to Bed Her: Black Diablos will only mate with a male strong enough to beat her in a fight.
Beware My Stinger Tail: Has an axe-shaped tail that it uses for several attacks.
Blood-Splattered Warrior: Bloodbath, obviously. It is literally coated in the blood of its victims.
Bullfight Boss: Just like its cousin, it can be tricked into getting its horn stuck on rocks if you're smart enough.
Burning with Anger: Flame patterns appear on Bloodbath Diablos when it's angry, while the explosions it creates are actually its sweat flash-vaporizing from its intense body heat.
Combat Pragmatist: Bloodbath will immediately charge at hunters who are immobilized by its Mighty Roar, as well as Rise' Apex Diablos.
The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: The primary issue most players run into with Bloodbath Diablos is the infamous combo attack it has in its second rage mode: it roars, then lines up a charge before the roar animation finishes so a stunned hunter cannot move out of the way. This is a notable dirty trick when 90% of the gameplay is based on memorizing the monster's animations, and even worse, Bloodbath Diablos prioritizes hunters that get stunned by the roar. If you don't bring HG Earplugs, the only way to avoid this combo is to pray that Bloodbath Diablos runs over someone else.
Curb-Stomp Battle: In World, both Barroth and Rathian do not stand a chance against Diablos in a turf war. Conversely, Deviljho stops Diablos mid-charge and suplexes it in a Turf War.
Cycle of Hurting: In World, it will chain charge attacks one after the other. If a Hunter is knocked down by one charge, there's a good chance they'll be unable to dodge the next and will be knocked down again if not outright downed.
Dark Is Evil: Bloodbath Diablos purposedly attacks hunters because of its hatred towards them, and goes out of its way to use underhanded tactics to win. There's a reason its alternative name is Massacre Demon.
Dark Is Not Evil: Black Diablos. While not evil, she is far more aggressive and ill-tempered. This is actually a scientific example in-universe; the color is meant to be a warning to stay away.
Dark Reprise: Bloodbath Diablos's first theme is a slow and sinister remix of the Sandy Plains' theme, while its second theme is a frantic remix of the Desert's theme.
Deadlier Than The Male: Black Diablos are stated to actually be female Diablos in-heat, which is the reason for their increased aggression and toughness.
Dig Attack: Uses this much more often than Monoblos. Black Diablos has a deadlier version where she catapults herself out of the ground. Bloodbath Diablos has a further upgraded version where it vaults high into the air before crashing back down with a steam explosion.
The Dreaded: Bloodbath Diablos, and for very good reason. It's the most powerful of all Deviants, and even Elder Dragons find themselves completely outclassed by its endless, violent fury.
Dumb Muscle: The Dragon attack element generally does the highest damage to monsters that are notably intelligent, like the Elder Dragons. Black Diablos is one of the few monsters immune to Dragon damage, signaling that the species is less intellgent and extremely single-minded while in heat.
Fast Tunnelling: Can move right under your feet with frightening speed.
Fights Like a Normal: Diablos is unique among monsters of its metaphorical weight class in that it has no elemental abilities; it‘s a brutal physical powerhouse that simply outmuscles and outmaneuvers anything dumb enough to mess with it.
"Get Back Here!" Boss: Diablos's habit of charging around and burrowing into the ground becomes truly annoying against 4 Ultimate's Apex Diablos, as these attacks make it difficult to knock it out of Apex mode within the limited time on your Wystones.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Diablos are infamous for becoming enraged much more easily than most monsters, to the point where just one hit will anger it even if it just exited rage mode. The only time it isn't angry is when it's hungry.
Hard Head: Like the Monoblos, only green-sharpness Weapons can cut through its skull effortlessly. White sharpness once you get to G-Rank.
Hitbox Dissonance: The hitboxes on its charge attacks tended to be larger than the monster itself, though this has been lessened over the years. It also has a Plesioth-style hipcheck, complete with wonky hitboxes, but thankfully uses it rarely.
Irony: Weapons crafted from Diablos parts have a hidden Ice element, which is also the element they take the most damage from.
It Can Think: Bloodbath Diablos is one of the few monsters clever enough to deliberately target multiple hunters with the same attack; while enraged, it will perform a diving leap underground on top of one person, try and launch back up beneath them, and then fly across the arena to try a steam explosion on a completely different party member. And that's not even getting into the fact that it's sapient enough to be able to hold a grudge.
The Leader: The Bloodbath deviant is said to be the leader of all the deviants. Befitting its title, it can only be unlocked if the player finishes the first G-Rank quests for the other newly introduced deviants.
Leitmotif: Bloodbath Diablos is the only Deviant to have a unique theme, and it has two at that. The first one plays when it's calm, while the second one plays when it's enraged.
Lightning Bruiser: They have tough defenses, powerful attacks, and good speed by default. However, when it becomes enraged, its speed skyrockets.
Mascot: The Bloodbath Diablos is one of the two flagship monsters for Generations Ultimate.
Meaningful Name: Its two horns, extremely aggressive nature, and habit of moving about underground gives it a rather devilish vibe. Not only that, but Diablos has two horns in contrast to Monoblos's one.
Mighty Roar: Basic Earplugs aren’t enough to save Hunters from its supersonic roar, which is described by the game as the "bane of hunters", though a maxed-out Earplugs will still allow a Hunter to No-Sell it.
Misanthrope Supreme: Bloodbath Diablos really hates Hunters and will mercilessly attack them. This is because it was wounded by a Hunter when it was young.
More Deadly Than the Male: Normally not the case with a regular female Diablos, but it's played straight with a Black Diablos, a bigger threat than normal Diablos, already a nasty monster, which can be either gender. It's stated to be a horny female during mating season.
Moveset Clone: Shares a lot of attacks with Monoblos.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast:
- Its name is the Spanish word for the Devil. Seriously.
- The deviant introduced in Generations Ultimate is called the Bloodbath Diablos. It Japanese name can be loosely translated as Massacre Demon Diablos.
Non-Indicative Name:
- Black Diablos is called "Diablos Subspecies" in Japan despite being not a subspecies at all, but rather female Diablos at the mating season. This is acknowledged in-universe.
- Diablos is considered an Apex Predator despite being an herbivore. This might actually be a title for the strongest monsters in the locale rather than an actual predator.
Non-Malicious Monster: Bloodbath Diablos is one of the few monsters in the series to avert this. It deliberately targets humans to slaughter en masse, from armies to defenseless villages, even going as far as putting its attack on hunters on hold to mow down fleeing villagers. To put it simply, only one other monster seems just as driven by hatred rather than instinct: Fatalis.
Post-End Game Content: The first Bloodbath Diablos quest has a HR 13 requirement, meaning that you cannot access the fight until after you've completed the final G Rank Urgent Quest.
The Power of Hate: A significant factor with the Bloodbath Diablos, as the injuries it suffered while young gave it an everlasting hatred of Hunters and humanity in general. In a series where most of the things you're fighting are simply animals operating on primal instincts, Bloodbath stands out with overwhelming hatred being its underlying motivator.
Punched Across the Room: Same deal as the Monoblos.
Ramming Always Works: While a Diablos’ charge is always telegraphed, that doesn’t make it any easier to avoid due to its size and speed.
Rare Random Drop: Diablos Marrow in Low Rank, Blos Medullas in High Rank, and Diablos Hardhorns in G Rank.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Bloodbath Diablos.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Black Diablos in World have red eyes.
Roar Before Beating: Bloodbath Diablos stands out because it roars upon entering its second rage mode — and its roar changes from a pitched-down Diablos roar to something straight out of Hell itself. It's so fearsome that it flat-out can't be blocked. It will also intentionally charge anyone who is immobilized by its roaring, meaning that if you don't have HG Earplugs or you didn't dodge the roar, you'll most likely be waking up on a cart.
Sadist: Bloodbath Diablos doesn't just deliberately attack humans, hunters or otherwise, out of xenophobic hatred, it does that out of pure malice.
Stock Animal Diet: Often seen eating desert cacti.
Superboss: Bloodbath Diablos can only be hunted after defeating the Final Boss Ahtal-Ka to reach HR 13 or more, and after completing the G1 quest of all the other Generations Ultimate-exclusive Deviant monsters, being basically Diablos on demon crack. And this is without getting into its EX Permit version, where everything deliberate it does is basically a One-Hit Kill!
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Apex Diablos in Rise is basically Bloodbath in all but name, featuring a similar color palette and glowing veins. When fought in standard hunts (as opposed to a Rampage), it has an attack sequence where it will roar, and then target a random Hunter who was immobilized by the roar, just like Bloodbath.
Temper-Ceratops: Its appearance takes a lot of cues from the Triceratops, and it's an extremely aggressive and powerful monster.
Tunnel King: It can dig through the ground quite easily.
Turns Red: Bloodbath Diablos is one of the few monsters with two states of rage. The first is fairly standard, but the second cranks things up several notches. Not only do its speed, attack, and aggression go through the roof, it can use devastating combos that end in giant steam explosions.
Unstoppable Rage: No form of Diablos is anything less than cranky, but Bloodbath takes the cake and stampedes it into the ground. Once it hits its second rage mode, it will never leave that state.
Vocal Dissonance: You’d think that one of the heftiest and physically strongest Flying Wyverns going would have a very low call, right? You’d be wrong; Diablos has one of the most ear-piercingly shrill roars in the series.
Volcanic Veins: Bloodbath Diablos gains glowing veins on its wings and head when in its second rage mode.
The Worf Effect:
- Is easily defeated in Turf Wars against Deviljho. In particular, Deviljho grabs the Diablos with its mouth and suplexes the poor sap.
- It can actually do this to its own species. A normal Diablos engages in turf wars with a Black Diablos. Whoever wins is randomly decided, although Black Diablos wins more often.
Xenophobic Herbivore: Despite feeding on cacti, it's one of the most territorial and aggressive monsters in the series. The Bloodbath version in particular has an active hatred of Hunters.

Basarios / Gravios

Basarios (Basalmos) (variant: Ruby Basarios, Sandstone Basarios, Crystal Basarios) / Gravios (Gravimos) (variant: Black Gravios, Zenith Gravios)

Unseen Peril, Bellowing Boulder (Peach Rock Wyvern, Sand Rock Wyvern, Crystal Rock Wyvern) / Armored Supremacy (Black Armor Wyvern)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/besarios_1.png

^{Ruby Basarios}

^{Sandstone Basarios}

^{Crystal Basarios}

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gravios_8263.png

^{Black Gravios}

^{Zenith Gravios}

Appearances:

Juvenile/adult nominate subspecies:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter: Rise (Basarios only)
Ruby Basarios subspecies:
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate
Black Gravios subspecies:
Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate
Zenith variant:
Froniter ZZ onwards
Sandstone lone species/Crystal Variant:
Online

In the darkness of the night
Fragrant blossoms bloom
As bandits prowl, out of sight
A sudden resounding boom
This is not the mountain's roar
Do not be mistaken
What seemed like rocks are rocks no more
And as soon as they awaken
The monster shows its actual form
Both prey and earth are shaken.

Wyverns that look like walking boulders. The medium-sized Basarios are the juveniles of the much larger Gravios; however, both are boss monsters in their own right. Monster Hunter G introduces a Subspecies for Gravios made of black rocks that prioritizes more on beam attacks than its grey-colored cousin, and 4 introduces a gem-encrusted subspecies of the Basarios with a wider range of attacks (such as shaking itself to spread spiky crystals around). Later on Frontier ZZ would introduce an older Zenith of Gravios. Online would introduce a Lone species of Basarios that eats sandstone and uses sand to attack and a Variant with abnormally large rocks.

Achilles' Heel:
- Its chest, whose plate can be broken off to expose after it is flipped over. 4/4 Ultimate simplifies the process by allowing you to mount its chest^note and break it that way. Managing to shatter the backs of a Basarios or Ruby Basarios exposes veins of valuable ore that can be mined; shattering the back plating of a Gravios or Black Gravios instead disables their ability to vent the heat buildup from their laser attacks onto hunters.
- Their long and wide bodies means that you can easily shred through their health with Pierce Shots, Pierce Arrows, and Piercing Boomerangs.
All-Natural Gem Polish: Ruby Basarios.
Armored But Frail: Basarios has incredible defenses coupled with a low HP pool.
Chameleon Camouflage: The Basarios specializes in this. Many areas of the volcanic zones contain rock formations that look exactly like Basarios's back plates: the main cue is that the natural rock formations are on the edge of an area, while the Basarios will hide in the middle of a path. However, 4/4 Ultimate allows you to negate this by mounting its back and successfully breaking it, causing glowing cracks to form that allow you to easily pick it out in a crowd.
Chest Monster: Ruby Basarios looks like one of those patches of rubies that you can mine for materials in the Everwood. Like with the basic Basarios, it rests in the middle of an area rather than on the edge like actual ruby patches do, and barring that you can also toss a paintball at it to confirm that it's one of them in disguise (if it passes through with no visual effect, it's just another harmless mining point).
Decomposite Character: In Gen 3, the gas-spewing rock-skinned huge monster aspect is given to Uragaan while the beam goes to Agnaktor.
Dire Beast: Basarios by itself is one of the larger Flying Wyverns, being similarly-sized to Bazelgeuse and appreciably heavier. Gravios is the largest Flyer that actually has wings, dwarfing everything in the original game that’s not Lao-Shan Lung.
Discard and Draw: Gravios does not emit poison like Basarios (its younger self) does. However, it has much better control of its beam, able to sweep with it and fire it in controlled bursts. As expected of being an adult now, it’s also much bigger and stronger.
Eat Dirt, Cheap: A Gravios will eat rocks when low on stamina. It's general diet is also ore-based, giving them their hard, nearly unbreakable shells.
Enfante Terrible: Despite being a juvenile, Basarios still counts as a large monster, and a rather strong one to boot.
Gemstone Assault: Ruby Basarios can dislodge crystals off of its back and hurl them at hunters. Occasionally, these crystals will lodge in the ground and can be mined.
Goomba Stomp: Gravios can't fly, but it can use its wings for a brief hop off the ground. Of course, since Gravios is essentially an eighty-foot boulder with weight to match, it's not staying up there. Getting close to a Gravios that's lifting off is not the best of ideas.
Mighty Glacier: Gravios is really slow, but it's as durable as a mountain with skin that can make most weapons bounce off and possesses powerful attacks.
No-Sell: Not even Green sharpness can cut through its armor, with the exception of the chest, tail, and belly. This makes breaking its chest plate all the more difficult. In 4/4U, however, the leg armor can be broken.
Paper-Thin Disguise: Basarios’ disguise as a boulder is rather easy for a Hunter to see through. It works wonders on other monsters, though.
Planimal: Basarios in 4/4 Ultimate is covered in moss alongside its rocky skin.
Playing with Fire: All four variants can use a fiery beam and vent flaming gas from their undersides. Basarios and Ruby Basarios can spit fireballs as well, but will frequently fail to fire their laser beams. Black Gravios, on the other hand, has an even more dangerous beam than the regular Gravios.
Put on a Bus: Rise is the first game in the series where Basarios appears without Gravios, meaning only the younger version of the species is huntable.
Rare Random Drop:
- Basarios has Wyvern Gems and Basarios Tears in High Rank and Lrg Wyvern Gems and Basarios Palliums (GU only) in G Rank.
- Gravios has Gravios Medulla in High Rank and Gravios Pallium in G Rank.
- Black Gravios has its own G-Rank rare carve, B. Gravios Pallium.
Silicon-Based Life: The hide of Basarios and Gravios is essentially made of stone due to mainly feeding on ores and minerals.
The Slow Walk: Both Basarios and Gravios are very fond of doing this, and will even perform a Tail Slap if they reach you. In 4U, Basarios also gains this ability while releasing bursts of flaming gases with each step, and G-Rank Gravios even gains a unique slow walk wherein he shoots aimed fireballs every couple of seconds.
Status Effects: All variants can emit narcotic gases from their undersides in addition to flaming fumes, putting any hunter they blast to sleep. Basarios and Ruby Basarios take it one step further and add poison gas attacks to the mix.
Stone Wall: Basarios, being a juvenile, is slower and weaker than Gravios, but it has incredible defenses. Notably, its body is actually harder than Gravios's, sharpness that will cut through a Gravios shell will simply bounce off Basarios.
That's No Moon: Expedition areas in 4/4 Ultimate often have piles of rock that look suspiciously like the back of a Basarios. If a Basarios is in the area, expect one to be the real deal.
Tiny-Headed Behemoth: Their heads are rather small compared to their massive body.
Took a Level in Badass: In Rise, Basarios is significantly larger and more resilient, to the extent that if not for its head crest one might mistake it for its adult form.
Wave-Motion Gun: Gravios are capable of dishing out a fiery beam, with the Black Gravios possessing several variants. Basarios occasionally attempt it when low on health, but only succeeds when enraged.
Wings Do Nothing: Due to their massive weight, Basarios and Gravios dislike using their wings, simply walking from area to area. It only uses its wings at the first sign of trouble, such as getting caught in a Pitfall Trap or straying too far. Gravios will occasionally use its wings to fly up in an attempt to crush anyone dumb enough to stay underneath a flying pile of living granite. Basarios can also fly for short periods, though it can’t do anything up there.
The Worf Effect: In the Akantor ecology video, Gravios's fire beam is shrugged off by Akantor, who then proceeds to effortlessly Neck Snap Gravios and toss him to the ground.

Piscine Wyverns

Cephalos / Cephadrome

Cephalos (Gareos) / Cephadrome (Dosgareos)

Sand Wyvern

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cephadrome_6088.png

Appearances:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate

Sand-swimming Piscine Wyverns that are the cross of a fish and a diplocaulus. Cephali are the lighter-skinned juveniles, while Cephadromes are the darker-skinned adults.

Achilles' Heel: Sonic Bombs and Wyvern roars force them to surface and writhe on the ground.
Gang Up on the Human: A pack of Cephalos would usually mean trouble to Hunters.
"Get Back Here!" Boss: Once it has lost enough HP, a Cephadrome may retreat back into skimming the sands. A well-placed Sonic Bomb, however, can stop it in its tracks. In the first game it will often refuse to engage with the Hunter at all, circling you from a distance and repeatedly changing zones as you prepare to snap your controller in frustration.
Jack of All Stats: Its stats are roughly balanced, having an average amount of health, power, speed, and defenses for a monster of its rank.
Land Shark: Cephadrome's quest in 1 is called Land Sharq, referencing almost exactly this trope by name.
Making a Splash: Its breath attack is treated as water.
Moveset Clone: There's a reason why it's called "Desert Plesioth".
Papa Wolf: Cephadromes are fiercely protective of their packs and youngs, and will charge and fight to the death even the mighty Diablos and Monoblos to protect them.
The Paralyzer: If hit by a Cephadrome's fins, there is a risk of the Hunter getting paralyzed.
Sand Is Water: They swim through sand as effortlessly as a shark in water and their sand spit attack causes Waterblight.
Violation of Common Sense: Their sand blast can cause Waterblight (as in drenched wet), however that’s possible.

Plesioth

Plesioth (Ganothotos) (variant: Green Plesioth, Zenith Plesioth, Seabream Plesioth)

Master of the Giant Lake (Green Water Wyvern, The Tide)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monster_hunter_plesioth_1753.png

^{Green Plesioth}

^{Zenith Plesioth}

^{Seabream Plesioth}

Appearances:

Nominate subspecies:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
3 Ultimate
Generations, Generations Ultimate
Green subspecies:
Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
3 Ultimate
Zenith variant:
Frontier Z onwards
Seabream/Whitewater subspecies:
Explore

Piscine Wyverns that actually dwell in the water. Sporting a shark-like head and fins large enough to act as wings, Plesioths are notably difficult to fight due to spending most of its time underwater, but a few smart tactics can force it to surface. Monster Hunter G introduces a stronger green-scaled Subspecies, and 3 Ultimate marks their return to the series, and this time, the player now has the option of fighting them underwater. Frontier Z would introduce an older Zenith which resembles deep sea fish and has adapted to land. Explore introduces two variants, one pink-scaled variant known as Seabream Plesioth, and the other, an Albino called Whitewater Plesioth.

Achilles' Heel: Like the Cephadrome, Sonic Bombs can force it to surface. Alternatively, one can also fish them out. Both, however, carry the risk of instantly causing them to go into Rage Mode.
Ascended Meme: Its disjointed hitboxes have led to many a joke about Plesioth being genuinely able to hit things without touching them, via through sheer force or some kind of dimension-bending power. Come Stories 2 and Green Plesioth is given a attack called "Hyperspace Tackle'' which features it hitting the entire opposing party with a hipcheck without touching them.
Cowardly Boss: Part of what makes Plesioth so infamously frustrating, aside from its collision detection, is that it’ll frequently nope out of the fight and hang out in water where you can’t hit it. A Sonic Bomb can disorient it and get it back on land, but then you have to deal with a pissed Plesioth.
Dire Beast: One event quest in 3 Ultimate features a colossal Green Plesioth, large enough that its feet are larger than the Hunters. Naturally, this only makes the Hitbox Dissonance much worse. Note that the base Plesioth is already massive, being larger than Deviljho.
Flying Seafood Special: Subverted. Plesioth does have massive wings, but can’t fly with them and simply uses them as fins.
Game-Breaking Bug: Unless you're playing 3 Ultimate, the last Monster Hunter game with underwater combat, killing a Plesioth while it's in the water will deny you its carves.
The Ghost: Plesioth and its subspecies aren't physically present in Stories, but their carves can occasionally be gathered from fishing spots.
Glass Cannon: They hit hard, especially when enraged, but can be killed quite quickly.
Handicapped Badass: Like all Piscine Wyverns, Plesioth’s eyesight is awful. Ask anyone who’s played a Monster Hunter game (before the fifth generation), and they’ll tell you that this hardly matters for the beast.
Hard Head: Their heads are tough enough to make armor (and a Hammer) out of.
Hitbox Dissonance: The hitboxes on Plesioth's physical attacks are notoriously disjointed, though perhaps justified when considering their unusual height. Consequently, their tail sweeps can hit you even if they pass overhead, and their hipcheck can hit you even when it's attacking in the opposite direction from you. The hitbox for it is monodirectional as well, so you need to block it while facing away from the monster in question.
Lethal Joke Character: Frontier G7 released a quest that involved hunting a tiny Plesioth as an April Fool's joke. It doesn't attack you (you'll get hurt if you get in its way, though), but simply makes a break for the water in the Arena. However, if it reaches the water, it will grow absolutely massive and jump out of the water to land on you. This attack covers the entire area and will kill you in a single hit. And you only have one life in this quest, so if it reaches the water, you're screwed. Fortunately, a single shot from the Ballista will bring it down while it's still small. See it for yourself.
Making a Splash: They can fire a stream of highly pressurized water from their mouths.
Nerf: The hipcheck's hitbox was made smaller in 3 Ultimate, and it doesn't use the hipcheck when underwater.
Rare Random Drop: Plesioth Heads and Wyvern Gems in High Rank, and Uber Plesio Heads and Lrg Wyvern Gems in G Rank.
Signature Move: Its hipcheck is so notorious that in 3 Ultimate and Generations, when you get the Plesioth Urgent Quest, the quest giver warns you about the attack.
Status Effects: Plesioth’s fangs contain narcotic venom that it uses to put prey to sleep. A few weapons made from Plesioth parts can inflict the status.
Tail Slap: And unlike many other monsters, Plesioth’s tail doesn’t even need to connect to hurt you.
Threatening Shark: It's even introduced in a "Jaws" First-Person Perspective.
Trademark Favorite Food: Frogs. Toss one out as a fishing lure and Plesioth will go right for it.
Underwater Boss Battle: In 3 Ultimate, Plesioth can be fought underwater in Deserted Island, Flooded Forest and the Water Arena. Not only is it very agile in this element, but it can also use the same water beam attack here as it does on land.
Villain Decay: In 4, they've been reduced to giant fishies you can snag with the Catching Machine.
Violation of Common Sense: You can break its dorsal fin by attacking its belly, however that’s possible.

Fanged Beasts

Artiodactyl Fanged Beasts

Bullfango / Bulldrome

Bullfango / Bulldrome (Dos Fango)

The Mountain Roughrider

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monster_hunter_bullfango_bulldrome_6740.png

Appearances:

Bullfango:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, 3 Ultimate
Generations, Generations Ultimate
Rise, Rise: Sunbreak
Bulldrome:
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
Generations, Generations Ultimate

Wild boar-like Fanged Beasts that are normally docile so long as no intruder enters their space. The second generation introduces the Bulldrome, an alpha male with a white frontal mane instead of the full brown of the juvenile Bullfango and a tusk that's longer than the other.

Achilles' Heel: Bulldrome is incredibly weak to the Thunder element. In fact, its Thunder weakness is one of the largest elemental weaknesses in the series.
And Now for Someone Completely Different: The April Fool's 2018 quest in Frontier has the player play from the perspective of a Bulldrome instead of a hunter. It's justified, however; your hunter is revealed to be using a VR set once the quest is completed.
Bullfight Boss: Even with the juveniles.
Fragile Speedster: The Bullfango charge fast, but they go down just as quickly. Their leader is also one of the least durable bosses in the series, having less health than even the lowly Velocidrome.
Full-Boar Action: They're wild boars who are more than happy to charge into you.
Glass Cannon: As a Monstie, Bulldrome's Stories incarnation has an impressive Attack stat of 5/5, but its Defense stat is a measly 1/5. Even in the base series, Bulldrome’s relentlessness is balanced by being one of the frailest monsters you’ll ever meet.
Hopeless Boss Fight: The playable Bulldrome in Frontier's 2018 April Fool's quest is pitted against three hunters who can easily kill it in seconds and are unfazed by its attacks. The only way to actually win the quest is to turn around and attack a Mosswine standing behind you, as any other option results in the hunters killing you. See it for yourself.
Joke Character: The playable Bulldrome in Frontier's 2018 April Fool's quest is this, having slow movement speed, a single, weak charge attack, and very low health and defenses that will render it dead in seconds.
King Mook: Bulldrome, the leader of the Bullfangos.
Mook: The Bullfango.
Perspective Flip: Frontier's 2018 April Fool's quest has you playing from the first-person perspective of a Bulldrome instead of a hunter, with the screen showing its large tusks and a group of hunters running after you. It even shows a hunter with glowing red eyes suddenly popping up and preparing to carve you if you fail the quest.
Retcon: Bullfango were originally classified as Herbivores before the Fanged Beasts were introduced.
The Worf Effect: In Frontier Supremacy Pariapuria's lair is littered with numerous Bullfango and Bulldrome pack corpses with the monster feeding on them at the start of the quest, showing us how powerful the beast really is.

Elder Dragons

Lao-Shan Lung

Lao-Shan Lung (variant: Ashen Lao-Shan Lung)

Old Mountain Dragon (Rock Mountain Dragon)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/laoshanlunghd.png

^{Ashen Lao-Shan Lung}

Appearances:

Nominate subspecies:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Generations Ultimate
Ashen subspecies:
Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite

A titanic Elder Dragon believed to be as large as a mountain and notorious for wreaking havoc wherever it walks. The Guild has built fortresses to protect major towns from its rampage, but only Hunters can truly keep it from destroying this last line of defense. Monster Hunter G introduces a gray-scaled Subspecies with even tougher defenses.

Advancing Boss of Doom: Lao-Shan Lung does little but walk slowly and inexorably toward the Fortress... but it’s going to keep walking there until you either slay or repel it.
Attack Its Weakpoint: Gunners can aim for its saddle-shaped dorsal plate, while Blademasters can target the sagging belly. This is actually encouraged by the game; attacking it anywhere other than its weak spots will either result in very low damage or your weapon bouncing off.
Bilingual Bonus: Its name is Chinese for "elder mountain dragon" (老山龍).
The Bus Came Back: It stopped appearing in new Monster Hunter games after Freedom Unite in 2009 (2008 in Japan), only making a reappearance later in Generations Ultimate in 2017 (2018 in the West); 9 years for both regions.
Colossus Climb: Though you can't mount it proper in the one mount-capable game it appears in, you can jump off the bridge onto its back to plant Anti-Dragon Bombs and to carve it (although the latter may not be a good idea).
Contractual Boss Immunity: Cannot be affected by any status effect, nor can it be mounted and then toppled that way in Generations Ultimate (you can still jump onto its back, you just won't do the usual mount routine).
Damage-Sponge Boss: One of the first major examples in the series. In Generations Ultimate, the hub Lao has 47,500 HP, while the DLC version has a whopping 68,750 HP. For comparison, the enemy with the highest HP in Generations was DLC Nakarkos with 20,640 HP, and the next beefiest enemy in Ultimate is DLC Ahtal-Ka, with a combined 42,135 HP.
Do Well, But Not Perfect: It is entirely recommended to stagger the Lao as much as possible to prevent it from spending too much time in the base point. Due to some odd programming, however, it can only die in the base point because its health can only drop to 50% before it gets to the base point, with absolutely no sign of when that is, so stagger it too much and time will run out, leaving it repelled and you without any carves. This seems to have been fixed as of Generations Ultimate, partly because there are now only two areas to fight it in instead of four.
Eat Dirt, Cheap: Lao feeds on ore in its mountain home.
Exactly What It Says on the Tin: When you translate its name from Chinese, you get this trope. Its translated name is "Old Mountain Dragon"; it's an Elder Dragon whose size makes it look like a mountain.
Hold the Line: Every mission involving it requires keeping it from breaching the last line of defense to your hometown.
The Juggernaut: A bit slower than most examples, but just as unstoppable. It plows through mountains and buildings in its single-minded drive to get where it’s going.
Just Ignore It: Until it encounters a barrier in its path (or can see a hunter on the bridge), it completely dismisses the hunters assaulting its stomach, despite the constant staggers. For the majority of the fight, the only threats are nearby falling rocks, the sway of its titanic tail, and the slow trampling of its feet.
Leitmotif: Not one, not two, but three themes in total, which progress as the Lao-Shan Lung proceeds through the map.
Made of Iron: Lao is one of the toughest monsters in existence, able to shrug off even Demolisher blasts and a quartet of Dragonators and keep going.
Mighty Glacier: It moves extremely slowly, but if it damages you, it will hurt. Its side checks in particular are basically a One-Hit Kill to gunners.
Non-Malicious Monster: Lao-Shan Lung isn’t really hostile or even predatory. That slow, lift-one-foot-at-a-time pace is Lao’s idea of desperately running for its life. It doesn’t notice or care about humans in its path, and it’s too big to not be a problem by just moving places.
Non-Standard Game Over: If it destroys the barrier in the final area, it's a quest failure. Generations Ultimate adds a frontal barrier in the first area in addition to the main one that also must be protected and will also trigger quest failure if it is destroyed.
Nothing Is Scarier: In Freedom 2, it had a question mark as its icon. Averted in future games, as it was given a proper one.
Not Zilla: Lao greatly resembles the King of Monsters, especially when it stands on its back legs.
Our Dragons Are Different: More of a drake (wingless quadruped) than a dragon with the body structure of an early Sauropod.
Rare Random Drop: Lao-Shan Ruby in High Rank and Lao-Shan Mantle in G Rank.
Schmuck Bait: You can jump off the bridge onto its back to carve materials off of it, but if it goes into a whole-body attack (e.g. to body-check the ballista platform on the side or the barrier), the entire body becomes a damage hitbox and you can expect a One-Hit Kill. And if three or four people are carving it (or even less, depending on how many carts the party has already taken)...see you back in the gathering hall!
Slow Walk: Because Lao is so heavy, it struggles to move and can only get one foot off the ground at a time. It is thus very very slow, but the strange thing is that this sluggish pace is Lao’s version of a panicked full-tilt sprint; after all, it’s running away from Fatalis.
Spikes of Doom: Not especially deadly, but looks the part.
Square-Cube Law: A zigzagging case. When walking normally, it is in fact both very slow and is only able to lift one leg at a time, making it clear that it is very heavy. But then it is also able to rear up on its hind-legs and walk on them, though it is barely able to get the feet off the ground when walking like that.
Stone Wall: It has the durability of a mountain, but rarely attacks on purpose.
Tail Slap: Being behind Lao at any point is a death sentence, as the Collision Damage from its tail just idly waving will cart even the toughest Hunters in two or three hits.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: It tends to plow through anything in its path, even civilization, because it's running away from Fatalis.
The Worf Effect: At least one (if not some or all) Lao was known to be so fixated on going through its chosen path because it was fleeing from Fatalis.

Kirin

Kirin (variant: Oroshi Kirin)

The Phantom Brute

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mhw_kirin_render.png

^{Oroshi Kirin}

^{Thunder Emperor Kirin}

Appearances:

Nominate subspecies:
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G, Freedom
Monster Hunter 2, Freedom 2, Freedom Unite
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Generations, Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter Stories, Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
Monster Hunter: World, World: Iceborne
Oroshi subspecies:
Monster Hunter 4, 4 Ultimate, Stories, Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
Thunder Emperor subspecies:
Explore

An elusive horse-like Elder Dragon with a large horn on its forehead. It has the power to call forth lightning. 4 introduces a dark blue subspecies that calls forth ice instead. Explore adds a much more powerful gold scaled Variant.

Achilles' Heel: In World, Elderseal will suppress its lightning aura, softening its hide and preventing its most powerful lightning attacks. In Iceborne, tenderizing the body with the clutch claw prevents your weapons from bouncing when its lightning aura is active, letting you attack as you please.
Armored But Frail: Kirin's health pool is the lowest of any Elder Dragon, but its hide toughens up significantly when it Turns Red, meaning you're not getting through that health anytime soon unless you hit its horn.
Art Evolution: The length of Kirin's tail was notably increased in World, making it closely resemble a classical unicorn's. Interestingly, its face is slightly more draconic.
Attack Its Weak Point: The incredibly small horn on its head. It's really hard to hit, but if you have low sharpness, you have no choice. In exchange, it's a REALLY weak point once you hit it.
Beef Gate: In vanilla World, beating a Tempered Kirin is necessary in order to progress past rank 49. Averted with the Iceborne expansion however, as while it does add both postgame missions into your optional mission folder, they're labeled as completed and aren't necessary to access the new content; simply beating the base game will be enough.
Berserk Button: Kirin is a Martial Pacifist, and has such great respect for its environment that it doesn’t even disturb plant life as it passes. This calm completely evaporates the moment it’s attacked, and once that happens, this beautiful monster immediately unloads every ounce of violence it can muster.
Chainmail Bikini: Not the monster itself, of course, but the armor set is rather skimpy for both sexes. The female version is iconically so, and is among the best represented armor sets in fanart and official merchandise.
Contractual Boss Immunity: They're completely immune to paralysis. In World, they are the only Elder Dragons who are unaffected by Paratoads.
Cool Horse: It's a lightning/ice-wreathed unicorn dragon.
Crippling Overspecialization: Few monster can boast the sheer amount of control over the Thunder element as the Kirin. That serves it well in most cases, but not when it encounters something with complete immunity to that element, like the Rajang, who has a taste for Kirin horns.
Cycle of Hurting: In World, Kirin can pull this off thanks to its lightning bolts not only knocking players prone but also potentially paralyzing or stunning them. Additional bolts can hit the player before they have a chance to stand up, essentially juggling them. Even with high Thunder resistance, it's possible to get juggled from 100% to cart without a chance to move in-between.
Dragons Are Divine: While it doesn’t look much like a dragon, it’s definitely rare and beautiful. And unlike some other monsters described with this trope (White/Old Fatalis and Amatsu), it really is as benign and peaceful as it looks... right up until you poke it.
The Dreaded: Averted, in contrast to the other Elder Dragons. It only has a five-star threat level and does not cause most other monsters in the map to flee; in fact, it's common in 4 Ultimate to receive Guild Quests that task you with hunting a Kirin and another monster (usually a Velocidrome). Even the Oroshi subspecies still isn't dangerous enough to cause other monsters to pack up and leave. In Generations and World, however, the map is absent of monsters when Kirin is there.
Flash Step: Rather literally; it can produce flashes of lightning strikes when it prances.
Fragile Speedster: It's one of the fastest Elder Dragons in the series, but has the lowest HP pool out of all of them.
Glass Cannon: As of World, it can deal serious damage, especially if it's a Tempered version, and while it's as fragile as ever, good luck actually landing a safe hit!.
Gold-Colored Superiority: Thunder Emperor Kirin was introduced in Explore, and not only it can hit harder and faster, it's hide can easily bounce off certain attacks.
An Ice Person: The subspecies summons spikes of ice from the ground instead of lightning.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Both varieties attempt this with their horns, but the Oroshi Kirin also uses icicles grown from the ground as well.
Kirin: An Elder Dragon resembling a large, scaly-skinned and bearded Unicorn.
Leitmotif: In 2 (Dos), A Phantom Appears in the Tower / Kirin. In 4 and 4 Ultimate, Battle / Tower, while not exclusive to Kirin, always plays when fighting the monster regardless of where the player encounters it. In the other games, as well as Generations and World, Kirin uses the area battle theme instead.
Light Is Good: Kirin is bright coloured and uses electric attacks. It's also a Non-Malicious Monster who only attacks when provoked.
Martial Pacifist: Kirin is one of the most peaceful monsters in existence, never attacking unless struck first. It has such great respect for its environment, and is so light on its feet, that its footsteps don’t even bend grass. Once something pokes it a little too aggressively, though, ZAP.
Moveset Clone: Shares animations with, of all monsters, the Kelbi.
Ms. Fanservice: Not the Kirin itself, but its armor that is made from its parts; it shows a lot of skin.
Mystical White Hair: Its white mane, fitting for a creature of its type. This is incorporated into its armor sets as both fur and either a headdress (for males) or a wig (for females), with the female Beta variant in World even going the Tomboyish Ponytail route.
No-Sell:
- Just try hitting its main body without Mind's Eye or another ability that lets you bypass armor. You won't get far with that strategy.
- Like all Elder Dragons, it’s immune to traps, but it also can’t be paralyzed, so Paratoads will not help you.
Non-Indicative Name:
- Despite their classification, the Kirin looks nothing like a dragon of some sort, unlike most other Elder Dragons. Not only that, it's extremely small (the smallest "large" monster, in fact) and in 4 and Generations is only given a five star danger rating whereas every other Elder Dragon is rated at least six stars.^note This oddity was finally explained in World: "Elder Dragon" is the classification given to beings that appear to be completely disconnected from the normal Tree of Life (the evolutionary theory, not a World Tree). Lao-Shan Lung and Fatalis were the first ones discovered; by the time Kirin was catalogued, the nomenclature had already stuck. It's also noted that despite their relative lack of power compared to the strongest Elders, Kirin do still have the capacity to alter the environment of an area simply by being there, which is one of the things that defines Elder Dragons and why the classification for Kirin has remained.
- The Oroshi subspecies is named for the Japanese word for "wind blowing down a mountain". This is despite it being based around ice and not possessing any wind attacks. The game's localization staff did explain that "Oroshi" is often used to describe said mountain winds during the winter season, however.
- The Kirin dairy products don't actually come from the monster despite being named after it. Word of God states that this was intentional, as the products were only named after it by marketers to attract customers.
Optional Boss: Has no plot relevance in World, unlike the other Elder Dragons.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Not only is it the smallest Elder Dragon, it's also the smallest non-event large monster period. It's still powerful enough to deserve the Elder Dragon title.
Powers Do the Fighting: Kirin's physical moveset is very limited, and relies mostly on overwhelming elemental might.
Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Its name is the Japanese translation of the Qilin, a mythical East Asian creature first mentioned in Chinese records.
Shock and Awe: Its primary attacks involve Thunder and lightning strikes.
Slow Walk: In World, where monsters may not immediately go ham on you, Kirin lives up to its peaceful reputation and is found slowly and casually strolling around the Coral Highlands... right up until you damage it. Then it's showtime. It also has one move where it slowly walks a straight line as thunderstrikes occur all around it.
The Spook: Kirin is (canonically) so rare and elusive that fairly little is known about how it lives and how it works.
Squishy Wizard: Both versions of Kirin are highly unusual for this setting, in that their elemental attacks are clearly magical in nature, since they summon lightning and ice from the environment rather than generating it in their bodies. The sheer power of Kirin’s elemental assault is balanced by being about as durable as spun sugar.
Status Effects: Kirin's lightning sometimes causes Paralysis.
Super-Speed: Kirin is incredibly swift, able to run on water and up cliff faces with no issue. Its battle with Rajang showcases its incredible speed, almost appearing to teleport when it moves.
Unicorn: Looks very much like one, especially in World.
Vocal Evolution: Kirin has noticeably more varied horse sounds in World.
Warm-Up Boss: Usually one of the first Elder Dragons you fight if the Kirin is present.
The Worf Effect: Gets hit with this HARD when facing Rajang. In the Frontier spin-off, it's revealed that Rajangs happen to prey upon them for their horns. This is confirmed to be canon as well— the Rajang's introduction in Iceborne has it grappling with a Kirin before snapping off and eating its horn like a Slim Jim. Simply put, Kirin is Rajang's prey (or rather the horn is— Rajang are often content to let Kirin go after taking the horn), and will never win against it (admittedly in large part due to how Rajang happen to be immune to Thunder element, i.e. Kirin's main method of fighting).

Fatalis

See its page

Characters / Monster Hunter First Generation Monsters

Edit Locked

Herbivores

Aptonoth

Apceros

Kelbi

Mosswine (Mosu)

Neopterons

Vespoid (Rangosta) / Vespoid Queen (Queen Rangosta)

Royal Wings

Hornetaur (Kantarosu)

Bird Wyverns

Theropod Bird Wyverns

Velociprey (Ranpos) / Velocidrome (Dosranpos)

Alpha Raptor

Genprey (Genepos) / Gendrome (Dosugenepos)

Alpha Raptor

Ioprey (Ios) / Iodrome (Dosios)

The Ioprey Leader

True Bird Wyverns

Yian Kut-Ku (Yian Kukku) (variant: Blue Yian Kut-Ku)

Jungle Menace (Blue Menace of the Jungle)

Yian Garuga (Yian Garuruga) (variant: Deadeye Yian Garuga, Scarred Yian Garuga)

The Lone Wolf (Black Wolf Bird)

Gypceros (Geryos) (variant: Purple Gypceros)

Strange Poison Bird (The Purple Poison Menace)

Flying Wyverns

True Wyverns

Rathalos (Liolæus) (variants: Azure Rathalos, Silver Rathalos, Dreadking Rathalos, Zenith Rathalos, Flame Rathalos)

King of the Skies (Azure Fire Wyvern, Silver Sun, Argent Emperor, Darkflame Lord, Huge Fire Wyvern)

Rathian (Lioleia) (variants: Pink Rathian, Gold Rathian, Dreadqueen Rathian, Conflagration Rathian, Scorching Heat Rathian)

Queen of the Land (Cherry Blossom Fire Wyvern, Golden Moon, Purple Poison Princess, Violent Flame Queen)

Khezu (Furufuru) (variant: Red Khezu)

Light in the Dark, The Shadow, Blank Stare (Red Shadow)

Monoblos (variant: White Monoblos)

One Horned Wyvern (White One Horn Wyvern, Broken Blade One Horned Wyvern)

Diablos (variants: Black Diablos, Bloodbath Diablos)

Horned Wyvern, Tyrant of the Desert, the Demon of the Desert (Black Phalanx)

Basarios (Basalmos) (variant: Ruby Basarios, Sandstone Basarios, Crystal Basarios) / Gravios (Gravimos) (variant: Black Gravios, Zenith Gravios)

Unseen Peril, Bellowing Boulder (Peach Rock Wyvern, Sand Rock Wyvern, Crystal Rock Wyvern) / Armored Supremacy (Black Armor Wyvern)

Piscine Wyverns

Cephalos (Gareos) / Cephadrome (Dosgareos)

Sand Wyvern

Plesioth (Ganothotos) (variant: Green Plesioth, Zenith Plesioth, Seabream Plesioth)

Master of the Giant Lake (Green Water Wyvern, The Tide)

Fanged Beasts

Artiodactyl Fanged Beasts

Bullfango / Bulldrome (Dos Fango)

The Mountain Roughrider

Elder Dragons

Lao-Shan Lung (variant: Ashen Lao-Shan Lung)

Old Mountain Dragon (Rock Mountain Dragon)

Kirin (variant: Oroshi Kirin)

The Phantom Brute

Video Example(s):

Diablos Ecology

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Diablos Ecology