Capcom really does not want you to fire your Palicoes.
As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.- If you read some of the quest descriptions, they can be silly, but several of them are just plain dark:
- A maiden in Tri begs you to take out an Uragaan and Agnaktor before she's sacrificed to them. It is perhaps a relief that this quest was removed in 3 Ultimate.
- Another quest from Tri (Tragedy on the Tundra) is given by captain suffering from Survivor Guilt.Troop Captain: It was... a nightmare. The white demon of the Tundra... Not one — two! Our troops were... decimated. Only one man returned... My guilt... It's unbearable. Avenge my men and kill these monsters!
- A man wants you to kill Nakarkos because it ate his entire village and everyone he knew.Skeletal Old Timer: My whole village vanished in a single night. All my friends who lived by the sea, even their newborn children, all gone. For some reason, I was spared, and since then, I have cherished one hope, and one hope only: that someone will turn that bag of bones into literal bones.
- Or this quest that sounds more like a suicide note:Fallen Hunter's Wife: I first met my husband in the Jurassic Frontier when he rescued me from a Silver Rathalos. So if I could find a Rathalos, maybe I could meet him again... If anyone reads this, don't come looking for me. I won't give up on him, I can't...
- Surprisingly, one occurs in the High Rank portion of the Caravan campaign in 4 Ultimate, after you slay a Pink Rathian to boost the Street Cook's kitchen. The Ace Commander reveals why he's particularly uneased by Rathians: He and the Master of Defense were out one day hunting a Rathian when a Kushala Daora stepped in. The Ace Commander tried to take it on, and was saved from critical wounds by the Master of Defense, at the cost of the latter's hunting career, and has been beating himself up about it ever since for indirectly ending his master's hunting days.
- The Frenzy Virus tends to change monsters' growls and howls. In the case of some monsters the adjusted cries make them sound like they're in perpetual pain (which might not be far from the truth, considering it's confirmed that Frenzied monsters tend not to live long even WITHOUT the hunters tasked with putting them down, with the survivors becoming Apex variants). Case in point, the Zinogre, whose typically noble roar while charging up energy instead comes across as an agonized whine that you'd expect to hear from a kicked puppy. It really makes you feel like you're performing a Mercy Kill. As if that wasn't bad enough, while the Wystones can break them out of the infection, it's only temporary, which feels like they're experiencing a brief period of sanity before eventually succumbing again.
- Apex status makes it worse, by overriding the monster's theme, if it has one, with a single theme shared with all Apex monsters. It gives the impression that the monster's old self is gone, its mind taken over and replaced with a one-track instinct to kill everything it sees.
- Dismissing Palicoes. Capcom REALLY went out of their way to make you feeling like a jerk for firing your felyne companions.
- In 4 and 4U, first, the palico jumps with surprise as spotlights center in on them, before adopting a sad, "everyone's against me" look. Then they walk pitifully to their escape vehicle, a wood rocket ship. They then give you a single courteous bow before turning around and instantly bursting into tears. They finally beg one last time for you to let them stay, right before blasting off into space. But lest you think Capcom will at least let you get away on a humorous note, it quickly goes into the rare Double Mood Whiplash as you return to the palico list to the sound of one last, mournful cry far off in the distance. You can avert this by hiring a Palico when at max Palico capacity, which will force you to dismiss a Palico but doesn't play the farewell ceremony.
- The Generations and Generations Ultimate version replaces the rocket with a Moofah, and if you do go through with kicking your Palico out, there isn't a Mood Whiplash like with the rocket. They just hop on a Moofah behind them which then solemnly escorts them off into the distance to a gloomy wind effect.
- Given how cheerful and endearing the Wyventurer is in Generations Ultimate, it's heartbreaking to see him in a breakdown after the Valstrax makes its reintroduction, beating himself up over a well-intentioned mistake that got people wounded. He stays this way for the next several plot flags.
- Chaotic Gore Magala. Halfway toward becoming Shagaru, the molting process was halted, leaving the poor monster stuck in a cursed half-and-half state that constantly causes it agony. In Sunbreak, Chichae feels sorry for Gore and feels that hunting him is the only way to save him from this state - even the introductory poem and its accompanying music are tinged with sadness, with his title being "Wandering Malformation", hammering in the tragedy of it all. And even "better", Chaotic Gore Magala can become Afflicted for a double dose of agony.Why have I fallen? Why have I failed?Just as I reached the heavens where I belong, I was rejected.My destiny to be stricken down in pain and humiliation.Oh, can no one quell my madness and despair!?
- In the True Final Boss fight of Monster Hunter: Rise, you'd expect Ibushi and Narwa to fight together. First you fight Ibushi by himself, and then after the floor collapses under him, revealing a new cavernous arena, it seems as if the two dragons are going to team up...and then Narwa just kills off Ibushi and steals his power for herself, almost as if saying "You Have Failed Me." Though this was somewhat mitigated by the fact that Ibushi getting offed is part of their natural life-cycle.
- When fighting the Orugaron pair in Monster Hunter Frontier, if one of the Orugarons is slain, the other will mourn the other's death and become enraged. However, if you hunt one of the Fanged Beasts solo and kill them, the slain Orugaron's mate will arrive and let out a sad howl. If Kamu Orugaron is the one that survives, then this could potentially lead to the lone Kamu Orugaron becoming a Midogaron out of despair and not being able to find another mate.
- The Gougarf duo have heartrending reactions to the death of their companion, and affect how the rest of the fight will go down. If Lolo is slain, Ray completely loses the ability to get enraged, making the fight way easier. However, if Ray is slain, Lolo enters a special rage mode that cannot end. Despite the hunt being issued by the guild, it is quite the Player Punch to hunters witnessing how these two monsters poorly react to losing their partner, all because their roughhousing leading to a disruption of power in the Gorge locale.
- In Monster Hunter: World during the introduction of Brachydios, a lone Uragaan stumbles on your path, covered in Brachydios signature slime, it just has time to give you the most pitiful look of terror before the slime explodes, killing the poor thing.
