Monster Hunter Monsters I Think are Neat

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This article will be progressively updated until I feel that it is complete, though I will update it after completion if when new monsters are revealed and I want to talk about them.

I have been playing the Monster Hunter games for nearly a decade now, so unsurprisingly it has a lot of influence on how I design monsters and the like. Because of this, I wanted my first article on this site to be dedicated to it, as I wouldn't be the kind of creature designer I am without it.

GIGGINOX

a quadrupedal, leech-like wyvern with a pale top side and a red lower side. It has glowing pink organs on its face and tail, its mouth is circular and has a ring of sharp teeth

As Gigginox is my favorite monster, of course I had to start with it. It is of the Flying Wyvern category and primarily attacks with poison gas. It is also capable of laying egg sacs, which juvenile Giggis will emerge from and immediately attempt to drink your blood! I like how despite its lack of eyes, it can still see through specialized heat organs, I've definitely used this a few times in my own monster designs. It's also really neat how easy it is to tell that this monster mainly lives in caves, with its pale coloration, lack of eyes, and flattened body (perfect for crawling through crevices). It also has a subspecies, known as Baleful Gigginox. It is electric instead of poisonous, and is also capable of paralyzing threats.


NIBELSNARF

a quadrupedal, salamander-like monster with a tan carapace, its lower jaw, underside, and tail are blue. Its eyes are directly on top of its head and its large mouth is full of triangular teeth

Nibelsnarf is another one of my favorites, it's a very cute monster. It is of the Leviathan category and for quite some time it was the only Leviathan that was a sand burrower! It is also, to my knowledge, the only monster that has a uvula (which is also its weak spot). It is possible to trick this monster into eating barrel bombs, which I think is a really neat mechanic. Once it eats the bomb and it explodes, you can fish the monster out of the sand. A lot of people find this monster annoying and even consider it one of the worst monsters, but I enjoy the monster's fight enough that I do not mind the janky parts.


CHAMELEOS

a quadrupedal, winged dragon which resembles a giant purple chameleon. It has a very long tongue, a nose horn, eyes that can independently move around, and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Its neck is hooded, with thick spikes lining the edges of said hood. Its legs are stubby and end in small, sharp claws, while its wings are thick. Its tail starts off very wide and flat, like a hood, four pairs of glowing, globe-like appendages line the edges of this hood and curl inwards, with the last pair of bulbs being the smallest. The tip of the tail is curled like that of a chameleon

Chameleos is part of a trio of Elder Dragons (the other two being Kushala Daora and Teostra) and it is easily my favorite of the three. I find it to be the most fun of the three as well, even if its habit of stealing one's items can be a bit annoying. Its design and behavior make it a very charming monster, and apparently these monsters are typically peaceful, though they can be pretty mischievous. It is also capable of turning entirely invisible and can spew poisonous gas from its mouth.


GOBUL

a purple quadrupedal, fish-like monster, it has a wide mouth full of sharp teeth and a glowing lure above its head. It has many whiskers on its lower jaw and its back is covered in spines. Its feet are clawless and flipper-like

While I am very fond of Nibelsnarf, Gobul is probably my favorite Leviathan so far. It lives in the Flooded Forest and hides under mud, only exposing the plant-like barbels on its chin. This is to attract prey, and once something (such as an Epioth) approaches, it swallows it whole. It blends the features of anglerfish, catfish, and porcupinefish in a very pleasing way, though unfortunately, like Gigginox, it hasn't been seen in the series the third generation. I feel like it would fit in Wilds pretty well, though they'd certainly have to adjust certain aspects of it due to the lack of underwater combat, but I won't get myself too excited.


GREAT MACCAO

a bipedal raptor-like monster with a scaly orange face and underside, brown scutes on its limbs, green and yellow feathers on its body, and a yellow feather crest on its head. Its tail is thick and has many spikes on either side of it.

The Great Maccao is easily my favorite of the various raptor wyverns, they are the dominant males of Maccao packs and through some aspect of their biology, become much bigger and more colorful than their smaller packmates. I feel like they do a really good job of introducing the player to the various combat mechanics of Monster Hunter, certainly much better than the likes of Great Jaggi or Velocidrome (of course I am likely biased as Generations was my first Monster Hunter game). The Great Maccao can stand on its tail like a kangaroo and will kick its foes with powerful feet. One of the inspirations for these monsters is Muay Thai, which I can definitely see through the way it fights.


SELTAS AND SELTAS QUEEN

a large, three-horned beetle-like monster in flight. It is mostly green, but the forelimbs, head and tip of the central horn are orange, and it has white markings underneath the central horn. It has sharp mandibles and large yellow compound eyes. Its forelimbs are armored and have thorny spines on their inner edges. Its wings are long and iridescent. a massive, earwig-like monster with an armored carapace on its back. Much of its body is green, though its head, front and back end of its carapace, end of its tail, its tail pincer, and the tops of its walking limbs are orange,, its compound eyes are yellow, and the stripes on various parts of its body are white. Its forelimbs are wide, though they are short and are tucked in close to the body. The four legs it walks upon are very large and bulky. Its tail is long, wide, and flat, ending in a jagged pincer.

The Seltas and Seltas Queen are the males and females of the same species, I am very fond of this sort of sexual dimorphism where they barely resemble each other. The male Seltas are very weak, though they are capable of flight and will commomly attempt to impale threats with their horn. The larger Seltas Queen is flightless and tank-like, and is capable of attracting her smaller mate with pheromones to aid her in combat. If she is hungry, she will smash the Seltas against the ground and eat him, which is always fun behavior to see.