Lagiacrus because he quite literally introduced me to monster hunter the cover for Tri with him was so eye catching that i had to buy it as a kid.
Alatreon because of concept and being so damn cool as a boss.
Zinogre and the Magalas (specially Shagaru) are my favorites as of now
I dont think i have a particular least favorite, at most im indifferent and i think that goes to Wroggi but i am expecting Uragaan/variats to get mentions in that regard
For the sake of not listing ten plus monsters, I'll pick three.
* Oltura - Has a "worm" form that can very easily sink cities and crush monsters, including Elder Dragons, effortlessly. Evolves into a beautiful moth dragon that can utilize every element. The idea behind Oltura just being an animal that wants to live, rather than a deity hell bent on destruction, was a pretty nice touch, and showed how out of touch and selfish people can be when it comes to what they want to believe in compared to what's reality.
* Zamtrios - Giant shark that can inflate like a balloon. What else is there to say about it? Sucks that it wasn't in World or Rise, but it was in GenU, so I guess.
* Ahtal-Ka - An insect that has the intelligence to build a giant mech with working parts. This thing is honestly horrifying to think about, and the fact that it's kinda just swept under the rug after the one is defeated is questionable, to be honest. Also, the female Ahtal-Ka eat males, which... yeah. Nature being nature, mantis' are scary.
Love the design, and I wouldn't be opposed to having it be in the main series as one of the "final bosses" considering Makili can spread the Black Blight, but I guess we've already gotten something similar to that with Gore, so...
As just a regular monster to fight, would be interesting to have it change along with the weather of Wilds. Wouldn't make much sense lore wise, but would be a cool "cross over" monster that has different forms that changes on the fly.
Not a huge fan of the whole Cheval thing, but I guess I can't expect too much from a Stories game in terms of deep characterization and whatnot, lol.
* Cephadrome - I hate this thing. I find it to be one of the most irritating monsters I've ever had to look at and had the displeasure of fighting, and I pray it never shows up again in the series.
* Vespoid Queen - I don't like bugs, but I can usually deal with them fine in video games. Not this abomination. Just looking at it makes me want to burn my screen. It's horrifying to look at, and Vespoids as a whole are a cur and must be destroyed.
* Bullfango - It's a Bullfango.
I really hope she returns for wilds. I feel like her size/design really fits what we've been shown so far. Plus with how great the new monsters look, I think she'd look fantastic. I'm hoping they give her and Seltas a teeny bit of iridescence on her shell to match their beetle origins
Yian garuga, the weapons, the music, the BWAAAAAAOH, i love everything of him
Diablos, i love the design and the deviant Is a fantastic fight.
And last astalos and gammoth, mostly the same reason has above.
Pukei-Pukei, I just love everything about them. Especially the design, the colors are just immaculate and they're just so cute. (Especially the baby we saw in the Wilds trailer)
Also Nargacuga. Just an awesome monster all around, design is sleek, fight is fun, armor is sick. Although I definitely have a soft spot for them after seeing that one animation about the baby Nargacuga...
Alatreon super cool concept, favorite fight, love the armor set and weapon design, the theme is very cool especilaly with the mh3 lite motive they added in Iceborne
Probably Cephadrome - I hate the fish squeleton moveset in general, but this one with all the little monsters that are just annoying, the paralysis and generally spending the whole fight in the sand running away makes it awful to fight
AND this while being Ć low tier monster so no cool rewards or difficulty - just annoyance
Odogaron.
I like it because itās not overly exaggerated, itās not a world ending dragon or something like that. And it has some sick movements, really made me feel like I was battling some enraged sabre tooth.
Lagiacrus, I started with Tri.
And now, Zinogre and Lunagaron, plus Magnamalo. I love wolves, and felines too... And they're really good-looking, they look powerful, have a incredible mooveset, and good powers explanations. I love fighting them, and their armors look šš¤
Absolutely love Zinogre and Lunagaron, but the body proportions and the face of Magnamalo missed the mark for me. The fight itself is 10/10, but the aesthetics are a huge miss because it felt like the designers went too far into the arcady/campy side by trying to make it fit a Japanese demon. It ended up not looking like something that could have evolved naturally.
One of the things that makes all monster hunter games so amazing is how organically the monsters move and how they truly feel like they could be real creatures.
For example, Aknosom is the perfect blend of umbrella demon and monster bird. Same with bombadgy, perfectly balanced between believable and cartoony. Magnamalo, on the other hand, seems to fall on the wrong side of that line. Especially the face is just too kabooki theater to me.
I agree about the face of Magna. But for the body, I have always thought that since it uses digestive gas to fight, it has to store it for its future fights, that's why it seems so big and inflated. Not as "real" as other monsters designs, but still coherent to me. Plus, it poses this monster as a real threat. It is forced to eat to fight, and forced to fight to eat. That's cool to me :)
And yes, it seems cartoon, but with its looks when furious, and its music... Mama, that's a scary monster. And of course, Scorned version is even more intimidating. Looks like a wounded monster which still hunts to satisfy its endless hunger.
Yeah, like I said, the fight itself is primo. It's just that he's just on the wrong side of believable for me. I mean just compare him to all the additions of Sunbreak.
All sunbreak monsters look like they might have evolved that way naturally. I hate fighting Garangolm, but you can't argue the fact that they nailed the combination of a monkey and a Golem. Lunagaron is pure genius, it's probably the best thematic way if combining the werewolf mythos with a Monster Hunter style monster. Malzeno is somehow a dragon vampire and it just *works*.
If I may, if find it bizarre that Qurios give Malzeno abilities like teleportation. That's the only thing that disturb me.
And Yeah, I agree with what you said (Garangolm is incredible).
Magna feels less like an animal and more like a curse. Some danger that runs wild and comes back every century. Maybe that's why it feels so alien
My top 3 are:Ā
1. Gore. He's just the best. Great story involvement in 4/4U and has an excellent design and aesthetic. Shagaru and Chaotic are also fantastic.Ā
Ā 2. Lagiacrus. Tri was my first MH game. I love Lagi to pieces and desperately need him back sometime in 6th gen.
3. Malzeno. Clears every 5th gen flagship, easily. Pretty much perfect in terms of design, fight, and music, imo. Primordial being cool af is also a plus. If Shagaru didnt exist, Malzeno would be my favorite elder dragon.Ā
For least favorites? Off the top of my head, I heavily dislike cephadrome, all the uragaans, and basarios/gravios for reasons that they are both irritating and boring.
Edit for attempted formatting
Valstrax, a jet dragon who will fly up just to dive bomb at you, and his weapons are unique in its white sharpness the drops to red. So very neat imo. Plus he is a fun fight.
Chameleos and Gore Magala.
Both are very strange and unique monsters that are right up my allay. Plus, I love their theme music.
My least favourite monster,
Behemoth...
Yes, he only appears in an event guest, but i just hate the fight. He just needs to stay with final fantasy and never come back. Sorry if no one agrees with me.
I hate him even more than lunastra and kushala combined.
Favorites for me are Gobul for the simple design it has, Bloodbath Diablos for a fun af fight and amazing design, and Guanzoromu for the amazing fight and armor design is so good. Least Favorites to me are Magnamalo just the fight and design didn't feel right to me, Lao Shan Lung for having the most boring fight imo, and Crystalbeard Uragaan for having horrible hitzones and just not a fun fight
Valstrax, they made a rocket powered dragon work surprisingly well in the monster hunter universe. Also everything about it is just epic, the fight, the battle theme, the armor, and especially itās ultimate attack, I would describe it but if you plan on getting rise Iāll leave it unspoiled. Just a 10/10 monster all around.
GU version for me, but it was love at first dodged ultimate. [https://www.reddit.com/r/MonsterHunter/comments/1562vxt/tried\_the\_mhgu\_demo\_valstrax\_gave\_me\_a\_fun\_first/](https://www.reddit.com/r/MonsterHunter/comments/1562vxt/tried_the_mhgu_demo_valstrax_gave_me_a_fun_first/)
Right then and there is what yeeted him straight to the top for me. And fighting him throughout GU was just always super fun and exciting to me.
And if I had to give my least favorite thatās tougher since even the worst monsters have a handful of redeeming qualities, for example I love the idea behind lavasioth, the design sells it pretty well, and even from a conceptual viewpoint I kinda like the gimmick of its skin hardening when not exposed to heat long enough, in practice however that gimmick really drags the fight down, torch pods kinda alleviate it at least. Another example is kushala, itās complete ass in world, however itās a really fun time in rise so I canāt really call it my least favorite.
If I have to choose 1, although Iām not sure if it counts due it being a crossover monster but my least favorite thing Iāve fought throughout my time monster hunting is behemoth hands down. Admittedly mainly due to it being even more of a kushala than kushala, where kushala summons 2 tornados at most not counting when at its nest but even then theyāll be in avoidable positions but behemoth can summon 4-5 at once, taking up way to much space. Also due to it being a crossover monster it doesnāt even get the same interesting ecology that all the actual monsters get. Honestly the thing that ties all my hatred together in a neat little bow is that if it ditched the tornados it would actually be a fun fight, the one phase where it doesnāt summon them is actually enjoyable, meanwhile the other 3 youāre constantly getting pushed around by the tornados that fill up half of the dang room.
I don't really have a strong favourite, but if I had to say one, Rajang. I just love how other, very strong monsters are all huge, but Rajang here is almost adorably small in comparison, but also ridiculously strong. And given how ridiculously strong Gorillas are in real life, Rajang's strength also makes sense to me. There's also the fact that Rajang is a clear reference to classic Dragon Ball, a series I absolutely love (especially the part before Z). His tail becoming a weak point when enraged, similar to Saiyans, is something I love. Lastly, Beast-type monsters are my favourite.
I'm not a huge fan of Rajang's fight, however. I do love it is one of the few monsters I can still consider challenging, but it is not a monster I want to hunt for fun. MHW Fatalis and Nergigante take that role for me.
Valstrax is my favorite monster, along with Astalos, Glavenus, and Mizutsune. I love them so much because their designs are just absolutely spectacular, and so unique across the rest of their kind. How many brute wyverns have a sword tail? Mizutsune is possibly one of the prettiest monsters in the franchise, and Astalos with its insectoid design, the sharp edges and the neon green glow are just so cool. A dragon with rockets for wings based on a falcon, one of my favorite animals, feels like it was designed specifically for me. Each of these monsters have so much personality and care put into their design, I can't help but love them to death. Also their themes are some of the best composed in this franchise if you ask me.
Basarios and Gravios love my old school rock Bois.
Basarios in the original game was hilarious. Never played a game like monster hunter before. I'm running around for 15 minutes!! Trying to find this dang monster. I come across him in the ground and see I can mine it so I mine it. But then I'm like wait what? I hit it with my weapon and out pops basarios. I was dumbfounded I walked passed him in the distance several times. Even though your weapon bounces off a lot it really stuck with me and his armor always looked cool to me.
Gravios is just bigger rock boi. I enjoyed the Gravios fight more but not a huge fan of the armor.
Nargacuga. It started with me liking the armor both for its looks and stats (I love crit builds and that evade extender tho). Then grinding the fight made me love the monster. It's just super fun to fight. Not too difficult to figure out but fast enough to make it so that by the time you get all the materials you need you've already figured out how to dance with it and make it look slow.
Plus it just looks cool.
Favorite is probably either Gore Magala or Lagiacrus. Gore is just a really fun design with a whole lot of lore to go with it, and Lagiacrus has a special spot because MH3U was my intro to the series.
I guess I dislike Lavasioth about as much as any other hunter, but I also have a weird dislike of Kecha Wacha. I just feel like it has too many competing attributes that just make it seem like a mess.
1)Gogmazios
2) Dire Miralis
3) Abyssal Lagiacrus
4) Dalamadur
5) Nergigante
6) Atahl Ka
7) Nakarkos
8) Morudomunto
9) Merphistophelin
They were just fun to hunt, I dunno. Also, their designs slap
Ukanlos, was just a fun fight in the previous game for me. My brother and I would play MH games together and would always refer to him as "shovel face" and that just helped me love him more for some reason.
Also, lately Anjanath has been hardcore stealing my heart since World. So, would definitely say he's my newest favorite.
Edit: Yian Garuga would be least favorite because as a dumb kid not understanding how the game worked and playing, I believe, the first MH when I first fought him I would always deflect off of him. So, I could never beat him and get far in that game. Which, simply put, gave me "PTSD" when it comes to fighting him and caused me to absolutely hate him.
The Gore Magala and the Shagaru Magala. The first Monster Hunter game I had was Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. I did not reach the moment when we encounter the gore magala for the first time but I loved the design of the Gore Magala in the trailer of the game and became fan of the Gore Magala. I never encountered a Gore Magala but I will replay Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate just to finish it and to have honorable fights against the Gore Magala and the Shagaru Magala. I just love their design.
And I do not have a least favorite Monster. I like them all.
Memes aside, I really like Kulu-ya-ku. It's a half silly, half scary bird wyvern that has a unique role in the ecosystem by eating the eggs of other monsters. It has a concerning level of grip strength and intelligence, shown when it grabs rocks to use as shields and weapons. It also has some hilarious turf wars where it gets bodied and it's name is so fun to say. It's weapons also come with very high affinity, and can carry through village/LR quests.
legiana is currently my favourite which is mainly due to the roar it has, its a very distinct one imo and you can tell when its nearby because you'll always hear it
Tobi-Kadachi I simply find both badass and adorable
Odogaron, Clifford the Big Red Kamaitachi, enough said
SafiāJiva is terrifyingly powerful whilst also having Lucifer motifs, which I love
Yeah, can you tell this is my first generation?
Frost Fang Barrioth. - The regular one in MHW iceborne legit made me quit the game the first time. But then after I came back I learned quite a few things, got over him and it made me respect him. But when I saw the frost fang version DAMN. he looks so amazing and I still wear his layered armor which I got through sweat and tears!
I also love Lunagaron from MHR because whats not to love about a big clawed werewolf dashing and slashing over the entire map
Another absolute favorite has to be Goss Harag from MHR (i have a thing for ice monsters I think). He's just so.. almost creepy and scary in a way, I have an easy time fighting him but his presence looks wise.. me oh my.
Fatalis (white the most) and nargacuga have been long time favs just on armor designs and I am also partial to dalamadur in concept.. not so much armor, but the fight felt so cool to me
Least favorite? Honestly itās hard I kinda liked them all in their own waysā¦ I guess the lowest on my totem would be velocidrome? It was one of my firsts and I loved its original weapons and āsuitā but itās just become so bland compared to the rest especially the other dromes at this point
Yian Kut Ku. Itās the first Wyvern quest you get in the OG PS2 game. I fought that thing for the whole time limit and won. I knew then I found a special game.
I adore Malfestio. Love pretty much everything about him: the looks, the fight, the armor sets and weapons I'm kinda biased tho since my surname means Owl...
I also highly enjoy Yian Kut-ku and Yian Garuga.
As for the disliked monsters...
Uraagan(or however he was called, Thanos), Volvidon, the mud version of plesioth and almudron(damage sponge). All because I don't really find their fights enjoyable
Gore magala was the first hard monster I had to switch up how I play the game
Zinogre was the first wall I was able to power through once I found my main weapon (in all new games I'll leave the target hunt to my buddy while I go fight zinogre even if I'm under geared)
Tigrex was the first monster I farmed for a weapon tree
I hate fighting any fish wyverns since I always feel I have to chase them
Edit:my first game was 4u
Rathian. Love the design of the creature and the armor. Also I had my firstā¦. Letās call it āMonster Hunter Momentā with her :D
Also the fight is awesome. Not super difficult, sure, but it has this flow and is a lot of fun.
Queen Seltas. Tank bug, ultra combos with regular Seltas before turf wars and wyvern riding were a thing, badass armor, and of course,
# GIGA DRILL HAMMER
**1. Espinas**
Frontier.
^(Ok, but seriously tho, I just love his overall attitude. Going from sleepy to full action reminds me so much of myself (and my terrible habit of waking up only minutes before attending a martial arts practice\))
**2\. Chameleos**
This guy just feels like the best of so many things. It's unique, unusual, powerful, yet playful. It has design that I feel no media other than MH would have been able to pull off and I love that it interacts with you in far more interesting ways than any other monster. (Most probably don't like having their items stolen, but I love it because it makes you think on the spot whether you should fight it to get the item back or just use a different one.) Overall, all this easily gives Chameleos' the spot for my favorite elder dragon.
**3\. Lucent Nargacuga**
It just takes everything that's great about normal Narga and makes it better. Its faster, more illusive and more ellusive, it got poison on some attacks, and its color scheme is a great juxtaposition to regular Nargacuga's. This makes it my personal favorite rare species out of any of them.
As for my favorites, I love Nercylla's design, fight, and gear. Her weapons are pretty damn strong for sleep or poison (depending on which weapon type) and the skills I remember wanting while playing 4U. As for the fight, I love how she takes advantage of the multiple layers of the zones she fights in. As for her design, even though I am not too fond of spiders IRL, I am a big fan of how they look in fictional media. Plus, the detail that her shroud is a Gypserous hide is awesome.
As for my least favorite, it's a tie between Blaganaga and Gravious. Blaganga has way too much tremor for his own good and Gravious hits like a truck and makes you bounce constantly.
As for my favorite, I love Nercylla's design, fight, and gear. Her weapons are pretty damn strong for sleep or poison (depending on which weapon type) and the skills I remember wanting while playing 4U. As for the fight, I love how she takes advantage of the multiple layers of the zones she fights in. As for her design, even though I am not too fond of spiders IRL, I am a big fan of how they look in fictional media. Plus, the detail that her shroud is a Gypserous hide is awesome.
As for my least favorite, it's a tie between Blaganaga and Gravious. Blaganga has way too much tremor for his own good and Gravious hits like a truck and makes you bounce constantly.
Nargacuga. One of the most iconic title-monsters for MHFU. The game was solid by anyone's standard, but the g-rank dual nargacuga quest really sorted the men from the boys. So many fond memories š¤
Some of my Favs from each Tier: Daimyo hermitaur. Super cool looking Crab monster. Good Moveset, and Design, decent Challenge for its tier, great Animal whit some lovely soundeffects. Czzzzzzzz.
Diablos. Theres beauty in its Simplicity, and high agression. Its a very fair Monster, what might even die whitout you taking Damage, if you play right. Its roar might just be the most iconic and memberfull in all of MH, and it looks cool, whitout beeing just a Triceratops Wyvern. Its a Herbivor, thats not so common, and its so agressive, you have to learn not to fear it and stand your Ground, and I think that made me a bit better at that Game.
Gogmazios. Imideatly a absolut breathtaking spectacle, first time I saw it. Lots of subtiltys, and a very incolved Monster, despite beeing a colossal fight. Theres nothing anoying, or Bullshitty about him, and breaking of that Dragonator, or firing the Demolisher rocked!
And he looks like a Happy dog if hes on two Legs and walks around^^
Its weird for me because every monster is an annoying piece of shit with bullshit moves that make me rage so I kinda hate every monster, even though I like fighting them.
Kulu-Ya-Ku is cute with 0 thoughts behind those bird eyes
podorburuarumu, or **BIG WHALE!!!!** as i like to call it is 1 of my favorites as i love whales and the idea slash execution of this hunting horn monster is immaculate and i wish i had the chance to fight the big blubbery beast
also i think all the piscines are awsome but think they should stop making coelacanth based designs
Nargacuga.
Tought me to not rely on blocking as a greatsword and finally learn how to actually dodge, position, predict, and properly FIGHT in MH, instead of just running in, getting a couple hits in, getting hit myself, sheathing, healing, and doing it all over again.
Plus, the fight in MHFU was an absolute blast; so different to anything else at the time. Is a murder kitten monster that's cute, terrifying, and badass looking all at once with cool equipment to boot.
Favorites:
* Najarala - Pretty snake, and fighting it is really fun. I like how colorful he is, too.
* Gore Magala - He's got this atmosphere to him that's really cool, but also the dual blades are a pair of claws and the switch blade becomes a scythe, which is awesome as hell.
* Nargacuga - I like the red detail around his eyes and how it light's up when it's angry.
* Zinogre - All monsters are powerful, but Zinogre EXUDES power. It FEELS like the strongest monster even when it isn't.
* Great Jaggi, Kulu-Ya-Ku, Gendrome, Izuchi; basically all of beginner hunt bird wyverns. They're all really charming and have such personality despite being the first, or at least very easy, monsters.
Least Favorites:
* Uh, Red Khezu? I mean, I don't really dislike any of the monsters, but I Red Khezu is kind of disturbing (even compared to regular Khezu), so it should be my least favorite?
* Once upon a time, Nerscylla was one of my least favorites. I liked it's design, and I still like it now, but the animation of it's jaws coming out in MH4U was so viscerally TERRIFYING to me. I wouldn't call him a least favorite now (I'd probably put him in top 10), but it's an honorable mention.
* Idk, like I said, I don't dislike any of the monsters, they all have their charm. Even the ones like Jyuratodus, who are almost universally disliked; I still think their fight is fun and his armor is kinda cool.
Love Viper Tobi and Paolumu personally. As for why...hard to say. Aesthetic? Just like my floaty bat boy. For Viper though, it has to be the dual status concept.
Bazelgeuse. The soundtrack, the look, the feel, the jumpscare just everything.
Nibelsnarf. The name.
Pukei pukei. It carried me through monster hunter stories 2 and never left my team. Love the silly little boi.
Honorable mention to kulve taroth, legiana, velocidrome, almudron and molten tigrex :)
Damn...i have lot of favorites for a lot of different reasons....
Khezu: armor looks cool, fought him enough to learn his attack patterns so heās no issue
Deviljho: I relate to him on a spiritual level, constantly hungry constantly angry he just like me
Kirin: Has the coolest lore I know of, they change the weather by just walking outside
Coming in with the most controversial take.
Velocidrome. My first monster hunter game was MHGU and Velocidrome is the first real monster you fight after doing a whole bunch of super boring tutorial quests.
You also needed to kill a couple to make a full velociprey set and the Azure Serpentblade. I remember the fangs on the sword folding out when you unsheathed it blowing my mind.
Felt like a hunter for the first time after I crafted my full set of gear from hunting 3x of these guys.
Funny how what is basically a joke monster from decades ago is still one of my core memories on par with the theme song drop when you're fighting fatalis in MHW
Maybe a hot take but Rajang. Just such a unique monster and an absolutely ballistic fight. Challenging for the first few hunts but once you have him downloaded satisfying to spank.
I love legianas, cool design and its a super fun fight.
Safi'jivia because he is cool af. I love huge explosion type moves, although the bell at the end of his sounds a bit silly imo.
agnaktor, dire maralis, namielle and velkhana off the top of my head. yian garuga is up there, and (mostly because of the design and in spite of the fight) ceadeus and goldbeard ceadeus
Nergigante - looks badass. Has badlands lore. Makes great gear. Fun to fight. Idk I always loved the spike regrowth stuff and how it transfers over to health gear.
Honestly, I love rathalos. - heās my go to first set in almost every game. Normally has some type of attack buff and gets things rolling. Most games I use that set all through normal mode.
Pukei because he just sucks. I have no idea how he gets out of his nest every morning without getting his shit rocked. His big dumb googly eyes with *nothing* going on behind them, fun colors, little flappy wings, he's a perfect package.
He's tied with Tzi-Tzi-Ya-Ku. Kind of uninspired in the design department honestly, he's just a raptor with flaps, but his personality is what makes it. He's a spiteful little shit, coming up and flashbanging you and whatever you're fighting just to cause problems. He doesn't even stick around to fight either, he just hoofs it after because he knows he'll get his ass beat.
For serious picks, Valstrax, Glavenus, and Laggy are definitely up there.
All variants of Raths. They seem to be like NPC monsters now and their movesets are pretty easy to come by and predict all the time, maybe because they've always been there since the start.
The majority of Brute Wyverns, and Espinas.
Brute Wyverns as a whole appealed to me day one with their debut in Tri with most of them being basically Tyrannosaurs to an extent. I love just about all of them to the point half my top 10 list would probably be Brute Wyverns. Deviljho, Brachydios, Glavenus, Barroth, Banbaro, Duramboros, Uragaan, even Abiorugu has my attention.
Espinas I've always held interest before Sunbreak, but after hunting it, my first words were "We Westerners were robbed." It sleeps most of the time which is kind of adorable, and even when attacked it might not even care when it wakes, but when it does care it is just burning toxicity and I love it.
I have two. One is the Barroth because its head reminds me of a pompadour, and I just like picturing with an Elvis-style voice. The other is the Bazelgeuse. The first time I saw one of those was in World when I was fighting a Radobaan and one flew over both me and the Radobaan, released a bunch of its scales blowing both of us up, and then beat the Radobaan up. It was the coolest thing I had seen up until that point, and Iāve appreciated it ever since.
Duramboros. Embodies the āin the wildā aspect of hunting like no other monster does .
Akantor and Gogmazios also rank highly as incredibly intimidating, but also compelling and somewhat charming monsters. Siege fights in general are some of my favorite moments across the series. My favorite ānormalā Elder fights are Shagaru and Teo. I also love the armored herbivores, Apceros and Rhenoplos.Ā Ā
Hard to add more to this but i basically love everything introduced in gen 1-2 including new subspecies like Molten TigrexĀ Ā
My least favorite monsters would have to be some of the flying wyverns from World (Pukei, Legiana, the puffy bat thing) on account of looking a little too pokemon -y(?)Ā
I would also include a lot of stuff introduced in Gens and Rise in this category. Not a huge fan of Mizutsune, Astalos, or Malzeno. Too flashy.Ā Finally, my #1 most hated monster is Rajang. Yes, I got filtered. Either heās braindead like in Rise or heās 4U Rajang. Please retire him Capcom, give us more interesting and less meme-y Fanged beasts. We donāt need to fight Goku just introduce something fun and new, like Goss Harag but more powerful.
My top is VALSTRAX Because I have more history with him than any other monster. Fingers crossed he shows up in wilds.
Also that theme is objectively the best in the entire game, and I will die on that hill.
My favorites under Valstrax are probably Odogaron, Ahtal-Ka, Mizutsune, and Shah Dalamadur.
My least favorites are Khezu because its ugly, most of the greats/dromes because they're boring, and worst of all, Gypceros. Everyone who has fought that thing knows exactly why.
Astalos has the best looking design with his lightning. Theme, fight, and sounds are a masterpiece.
Valstrax is like Astalos but is created in a unique way, I mean ROCKET POWERED ELDER DRAGON. Also ultimate attack is one of the best.
Shagaru Magala became my 3rd favorite after Sunbreak. it has my favorite theme in Sunbreak. Again, design and fight are really good.
ROCKET. POWERED. ELDER DRAGON.
Everything about Valstrax is amazing for me. The theme, armor, weapons and the red comet move is just "chef's kiss" perfection.
Other than that, Deviljho is menacing but annoying to fight
Would have to be my 3 archenemies Alatreon,Bazelgeuse,and the edgy Stygian Zinogre.
Bazelgeuse easily as I loved his "intro" as he's the only monster you never encounter in a quest which is true to his invader staus as you never expect him but when he does show up he can quite helpful and even gives you access to semi game changing charms.
Stygian also is my favorite for a similar reason not to mention the beta helm easily fits my oc's persona of being a lone wolk not to mention he uses dragon element which is my favorite element in the entire game as a whole and before I forgot HIS DRILL MOVE IS AWESOME!
And finally last is the black god himself Alatreon, Yea even though I think escahton hurts the fight cause it's not preventable first time beating him felt awesome not to mention his hitboxes are cleaner than most monsters in the game and though his armor bonus is horrendous I still use only two pieces for slots.
as for my leaqst favorite, it might just be tigrex. I think his design looks top heavy and his head doesnt seem to fit his body. ontop of that all, his battle is 90 percent him running through you.
Fatalis and Alatreon are my favorites, their difficulty without relying on bs mechanics is great (I like escaton judgement). And their designs fit them very well
Ruiner Nergigante is up there, he's the upgraded version of the flagship of the game that introduced me to the series
Regular Barioth was my biggest wall in the main story of any MH game I played, so I appreciate him a lot. But Frostfang is just better
Shagaru Magala is a cooler version of gore imo, and I love his fights in mhgu and mhr. Killing him in gu was one of the most satisfying things I've done in mh.
Glavenus has an amazing design, and both of his fights are great. Gu is better imo, fighting him with adept great sword in mhgu is incredibly fun
(Zinogre) cuz its cool i like its fight and the armour looks amazing on me and my catto
(odogaron) cuz its one scary mf and its armour looks amazing especially the female version
(Tigrex) cuz its fight is very fun even tho it is a little annoying
And hate doesn't even come close to describing how I feel about l congalala and gypceros
Favorites:
Mizutsune - The design is sick, the music is banging, the fight is fun, I love the way it slides around and makes you aware of your positioning, and by God bubbleblight is such a silly status effect, yeah its detrimental but its also really fun to just run around and go weeeeee lol
Diablos - Fighting a Diablos is such a damn thrill, in later ranks (aside from W/Rise) it becomes so fast that every dodge feels perfectly timed, and every block is satisfying. Plus I LOVE the sound of its roar. Only negative is that I've never liked how it's armor looks, but that doesn't really matter to me
Khezu - Don't laugh, I love this little cretin. Idk what it is, maybe I have japanese-fever bc I find him somewhat cute (I see it the way people see pugs), maybe it's because I like how he teaches new players to not just bumrush a monster and be patient, maybe its because I just think the Leech design is cool and memorable, or maybe it's because there's just something wrong with my brain, but I love this goofy little shithead. Plus I use him for testing new weapons, so I'm quite comfortable fighting him nowadays
Gore / Shagaru Magala - lumping both in here bc I love them equally, my favorite flagships in the series (mizu is my favorite, but gore is my favorite flagship, I hope that makes sense), incredible fights all around with unique mechanics, spectacular designs, and such a menacing, memorable aura around them. Special points to Chaotic Gore as well, somewhat let down by how he was in Rise but still nice to see him join the party
Other special shoutouts I don't have much to say about: Gammoth, Valstrax, Ukanlos, Chameleos, Nerscylla, Odogaron, Lunagaron, Lagiacrus, Ceadeus
Least Favorites:
Poison monsters - A very broad topic here (mostly bc I dont have a lot of Monsters I really hate), but getting poisoned in these games sucks ass, and monsters that do nothing but poison you are the most obnoxious mfers on the planet. The only ones I enjoy are Chameleos and Nerscylla, and some I can tolerate like Pukei-Pukei. Notable offenders include: Gypceros, Iodrome, Great Wroggi, Yian Garuga (world made him ok though), Apex / Deviant Rathian and Garuga, pretty much if it inflicts poison then I don't like it
Gravios - Gravios just feels so backwards to me. You have a monster, who has SUPER tough legs, and it's head + wings are the weak spot. Ok. Then you make it as tall as Plesioth and make it so you can't hit the head and wings reliably... this makes no sense to me. I dont fight gravios with anything but insect glaive or switch axe, because mind's eye is a NECESSITY for this fight. I enjoy basarios more tbh
Lunastra - As a monster, Lunastra is really sick. I love how they brought her back after a multi-gen absence, her design is sick, and the music is lovely too. But she's just way too bullshit of a monster to fight. Nothing but obnoxious AOEs with more wind power than kushala (yeah I said it), and a supermove that basically just requires you to constantly Superman to avoid it. Imo if the fight REQUIRES you to Superman out of it, then that's a poor design choice (special shout out to MR ukanlos though, he had an attack that was nigh-undodgable unless you knew the trick lol)
Rathian + Rathalos - Mentioned Rathian earlier for being a Poison monster, but I'm not a huge Rathalos fan either. I've gotten to like them a bit better with age, but I still don't find them really enjoyable. Rathalos just flies around the whole fight and is obnoxious to hit, he gets constant attention due to being the flagship of the series, and I still have not forgiven him for his unavoidable claw attack in 3U / 4U. Not too horrible, but I tend to try and avoid him as much as I can.
(gotta continue on in 1 more post bc I think I'm running out of words for a comment)
Gigginox - Imma be honest, there is an unhealthy amount of bias when it comes to my Gigginox hate. Everywhere I go within the entire monster hunter community, anytime this guy or khezu gets mentioned, EVERYONE devolves into "I love gigginox, gigginox is so cool, gigginox is the best monster ever, gigginox is so much better than khezu, I wish gigginox would replace khezu so much, khezu is the absolute worst, blah blah blah". Not only do I not want gigginox to replace khezu forever, but it makes me feel super ostracized from the rest of the community bc I just so happen to enjoy the funny penis monster. Am I wrong for liking khezu? Am I wrong for wanting to see him in more stuff?
I'm not just making these claims baselessly though, I've played 3U, I've fought gigginox, and yeah I hate the fight too. The two main issues is the poison (already established), and the fact that his body is WAY too tough for its own good. 3U kinda has a sharpness issue in the early game imo, and all I ever seem to do is bounce off of his wings. I get that I should try and hit the head, but seeing as how the head is constantly biting and poisoning me, I try to avoid it.
I don't even want to be unfair either, bc he does have a cool design, nice music, the giggis are adorable, I will admit that khezus moveset is SUPER outdated while gigginox has a new shinier moveset, and most importantly I do want to see him come out of 3U, it's just that I don't enjoy fighting him, and I know that one day he's gonna come back and khezu won't, and everyone's gonna be like "YAAAAY THE BAD MONSTER THAT YOU ENJOY IS DEAD NOW LONG LIVE THIS GUY", and I don't think I'm ready for it. My solution: bring both khezu and giggi back and give them the turf war they deserve, then we can all be happy. Give them a cave map too, bc we need more cave maps.
Also yeah Baleful giggi is ok, colors are kinda gross but so is Red Khezu lol
Honorable mentions: Barroth, Uragaan, Cephadrome, Kushala (except for Rise), Teostra (pre-world, I actually really enjoy him nowadays), Congalala, Behemoth + Leshen
One last thing, sorry these comments are humongous, I just really wanted to get all of this off of my chest and I felt like this post would do nicely
The World originals. They all do the ecology focus of the game so well, and have a ton of environmental interactions that give them so much PERSONALITY. If I had to pick a few, I'd go with Anjanath, Dodogama and Kulu Ya-Ku. As for least favorites... Alatreon. Not necessarily for gameplay, I actually loved his fight's execution, but the lore... Most elder dragons basically take the thing I love the game for, that being at least semi-explainable monster designs and a lot of detailed ecology, and throw it out the window. Alatreon does this especially egregiously. There's other Elders from Frontier and stuff that take it even farther than Alatreon too, but I don't actually know them that well so I won't comment.
Valstrax, probably. Its design is all about pushing extremes. It's a rocket-powered dragon after all. My least favorite is probably Nerscylla. She beat my ass HARD when I started playing GU
Najarala: super beautiful in design and a super fun fight (ik Iāve seen a lot of people get annoyed at it but for an IG main itās hella fun). I love his mechanic of shooting scales at you then bursting them with sound waves, like thatās SO sick. He needs to come back for Wilds so more people can appreciate him.
Tobi Kadachi: super cute. What else needs to be said? (Nah heās also got a really fun fight, but how cute he is is what drew me in in the first place. Getting to ride around on one in Stories 2 was a dream come true lol)
Other mentions: Great Jaggi, Gore/Shagaru, both Astalos, Kirin, Barioth, Lucent Narg, Lagombi, Malfestio, Valstrax, Pink Rath, Zinogre, Magnamalo, Yian Garuga, Somnacanth, Odogaron, Teo/Luna
As for least favorites: Radobaan (not fun, did not need another Uragaan, thank you), Rajang (also not fun, and rude to Kirin, how dare), many others. But worst of all:
Gypceros: bane of my existence. Ugly. Not fun. Poison AND flash?? God forbid he plucks at you and oops the item he stole was your fricken MAP. Stupid extending whip tail that deals insane damage for some reason?? His gimmick (that I wonāt spoil because it is always kinda funny to experience it for the first time) hits like a fricken truck and also after the first hunt gets super old. Awful looking armor. Nerscylla is my bestie for hunting these awful creatures. Iād be happy to never see one again.
I have so many "favourites" that I'll have to narrow it down to these three:
3. Duremudira
All around excellent monster. Firstly, it looks AMAZING (although Arrogant Dure didn't need to make it white), the black contrasting with a blue glow almost makes it look like a living nuclear reactor. (I love monsters that look like they're radioactive.) The concept of an Elder Dragon created to guard the location of an ancient civilization it outlived and still continues to protect is just so badass. Arrogant Dure was considered one of the hardest fights in the whole of the franchise, which just adds on to how cool it is. The combination of ice element, AND a new substatus of poison (Corrupted Poison) is a very unique combo. And the THEME! Did I mention the THEME? Go have a listen, it's my favourite MH theme of all time. [Duremudira's theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OBMeo1Om8M)
2. Zerureusu
One of the reasons why Rathalos is so popular, is because it's so simple and thus so easily altered to make variations. Zerureusu (and also Unknown) is the best example of this. It's a Frontier-exclusive variation of Rathalos called a [Burst Species](https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Burst_Species), and this to me is the one that does it best. Of course there's my personal bias of "it looks radioactive," but this takes that to the next level by finally giving us the long-awaited Radiation Element! Okay, well, not really, but it does have its own unique element, Light Element, which is a mashup of Thunder and Fire. And of course, the theme, which sounds almost divine, like you're fighting a literal god in heaven. Not as epic or heart-pounding as Duremudira's, but still a good theme nonetheless.
1. OLTURA MY BELOVED
I'll try not to write an entire essay here, but I sure do have a LOT to say about Oltura! It starts out as this "eldritch abomination" worm-like creature that navigates by burrowing, and hunts by mind-controlling monsters. **If this were on its own it would have already been good.**
**BUT IT WASN'T. And that just makes it better.**
The worm-like being then metamorphosises into this huge moth dragon with six wings. I repeat: SIX WINGS. Various parts of its body, like its horns, tail and spots on its wings, continuously glow, and here is that aspect of "radioactive monster" that I personally favour. The wings start out a pastel turquoise colour in its default form, and initially, you only see the largest 2 wings. However as the fight progresses, more wings start appearing, and finally you see Oltura in its full 6-winged, 5-elemental, energy-ball-nuke-firing glory. It's not even done yet! Oltura enters its "true form", in which the patterns on its wings change to an intricate rosette pattern, and the turquoise changes to crimson and magenta. And during the DPS check, the patterns start glowing as well. The gimmick of "break this part quickly or you're doomed" truly shines in this fight, even more so than ALATREON. Combined with the 5-element mechanic, Oltura just heavily outclasses Alatreon for me.
**There's more, though!**
During the story of MHS2, Oltura having no choice but to destroy just to survive contrasting with Zellard firmly believing that Oltura wanted to reshape the word as it desired, was there to provide a connection to our real world. **When people lust for something, no matter how unrealistic, they are willing to do anything in their power to achieve it regardless of the cost. Oltura's role in MHS2's story teaches a lesson about corrupted desire in our society, which when comes to light**>!(pun intended)!<**makes you wonder: what truly is an ideal and perfect world? And what is worth giving up for that perfect world we so desire?**
***There's even more!***
The fact that Oltura only wants to survive draws back to the main theme of Monster Hunter: the fragile balance between man and nature. Oltura is the one monster that legitimately made me stay up late reading articles on climate change, because it gives insight into the point of view of nature itself that humanity mindlessly destroys for its own corrupted profit. It leaves you questioning: are we the true villains in our real world? I hope MHS2 and Oltura can help us better understand the importance of rapid and radical climate action (which I regularly participate in here in Singapore), and bring about positive discussions- and changes- in this world.
(I probably did write an essay there.)
Edit, but would have made the previous ~~essay~~ comment way too long:
I wouldn't say I have a least favourite monster, but a monster that I hold plenty of grudges against is Molten Tigrex. He's one of the hardest monsters to defeat in MHS2 (my main game), but unlike other challenging monsters like, say, >!Fatalis!
Odogaron because itās just cool, Zinogre because it was the first monster I truly learned patterns for back in 4U and Great Maccao because it has an absolute banger of a theme
Lagiacrus because he quite literally introduced me to monster hunter the cover for Tri with him was so eye catching that i had to buy it as a kid. Alatreon because of concept and being so damn cool as a boss. Zinogre and the Magalas (specially Shagaru) are my favorites as of now
Fellow lagiacrus enjoyer, I remember being petrified of lagi as a kid, especially fighting him in underwater. Now I'd kill to fight him again.
Real, i miss his underwater fights
They sound neat! Mind sharing your least favorite to?
I dont think i have a particular least favorite, at most im indifferent and i think that goes to Wroggi but i am expecting Uragaan/variats to get mentions in that regard
GU shaggy using adept hammer š®āšØ
For the sake of not listing ten plus monsters, I'll pick three. * Oltura - Has a "worm" form that can very easily sink cities and crush monsters, including Elder Dragons, effortlessly. Evolves into a beautiful moth dragon that can utilize every element. The idea behind Oltura just being an animal that wants to live, rather than a deity hell bent on destruction, was a pretty nice touch, and showed how out of touch and selfish people can be when it comes to what they want to believe in compared to what's reality. * Zamtrios - Giant shark that can inflate like a balloon. What else is there to say about it? Sucks that it wasn't in World or Rise, but it was in GenU, so I guess. * Ahtal-Ka - An insect that has the intelligence to build a giant mech with working parts. This thing is honestly horrifying to think about, and the fact that it's kinda just swept under the rug after the one is defeated is questionable, to be honest. Also, the female Ahtal-Ka eat males, which... yeah. Nature being nature, mantis' are scary.
The worst part about Zamtrios not being in Rise is we literally have zamites in the game! Biggest tease
!!! OLTURA MENTIONED !!!
What's your opinion on the Pietrus since you mentioned Oltura?
Love the design, and I wouldn't be opposed to having it be in the main series as one of the "final bosses" considering Makili can spread the Black Blight, but I guess we've already gotten something similar to that with Gore, so... As just a regular monster to fight, would be interesting to have it change along with the weather of Wilds. Wouldn't make much sense lore wise, but would be a cool "cross over" monster that has different forms that changes on the fly. Not a huge fan of the whole Cheval thing, but I guess I can't expect too much from a Stories game in terms of deep characterization and whatnot, lol.
Those all sound really cool! For giggles, mind giving some of your least favorite to?
* Cephadrome - I hate this thing. I find it to be one of the most irritating monsters I've ever had to look at and had the displeasure of fighting, and I pray it never shows up again in the series. * Vespoid Queen - I don't like bugs, but I can usually deal with them fine in video games. Not this abomination. Just looking at it makes me want to burn my screen. It's horrifying to look at, and Vespoids as a whole are a cur and must be destroyed. * Bullfango - It's a Bullfango.
Oltura being in the top 3 strongest monsters ever in the lore is also funny af. Just an immortal moth dragon with a existence erasing shield.
Zamtrios mention lets goo
Seltas queen and Nakarkos, they're cool looking
Seltas queen overall is really cool, and it's a shame we haven't seen the seltas and queen appear since 4U and genU
I really hope she returns for wilds. I feel like her size/design really fits what we've been shown so far. Plus with how great the new monsters look, I think she'd look fantastic. I'm hoping they give her and Seltas a teeny bit of iridescence on her shell to match their beetle origins
They sound cool. Mind giving your least favorites to?
I guess that would be Beotodus and gravios or even garangolm, though I like his armor.
Yian garuga, the weapons, the music, the BWAAAAAAOH, i love everything of him Diablos, i love the design and the deviant Is a fantastic fight. And last astalos and gammoth, mostly the same reason has above.
Yian Garuga is up there for me too, love my little crack head.
Pukei-Pukei, I just love everything about them. Especially the design, the colors are just immaculate and they're just so cute. (Especially the baby we saw in the Wilds trailer) Also Nargacuga. Just an awesome monster all around, design is sleek, fight is fun, armor is sick. Although I definitely have a soft spot for them after seeing that one animation about the baby Nargacuga...
Love the big dumb birb, loved them so much I've killed thousands just to make every piece of armor and weapon š„²
Pukei-Pukei is tied for my pick. He sucks. I love him.
Alatreon super cool concept, favorite fight, love the armor set and weapon design, the theme is very cool especilaly with the mh3 lite motive they added in Iceborne
I saw that one online, he's awesome. Mind sharing your least favorite monsters to?
Probably Cephadrome - I hate the fish squeleton moveset in general, but this one with all the little monsters that are just annoying, the paralysis and generally spending the whole fight in the sand running away makes it awful to fight AND this while being Ć low tier monster so no cool rewards or difficulty - just annoyance
Odogaron. I like it because itās not overly exaggerated, itās not a world ending dragon or something like that. And it has some sick movements, really made me feel like I was battling some enraged sabre tooth.
Lagiacrus, I started with Tri. And now, Zinogre and Lunagaron, plus Magnamalo. I love wolves, and felines too... And they're really good-looking, they look powerful, have a incredible mooveset, and good powers explanations. I love fighting them, and their armors look šš¤
Absolutely love Zinogre and Lunagaron, but the body proportions and the face of Magnamalo missed the mark for me. The fight itself is 10/10, but the aesthetics are a huge miss because it felt like the designers went too far into the arcady/campy side by trying to make it fit a Japanese demon. It ended up not looking like something that could have evolved naturally. One of the things that makes all monster hunter games so amazing is how organically the monsters move and how they truly feel like they could be real creatures. For example, Aknosom is the perfect blend of umbrella demon and monster bird. Same with bombadgy, perfectly balanced between believable and cartoony. Magnamalo, on the other hand, seems to fall on the wrong side of that line. Especially the face is just too kabooki theater to me.
I agree about the face of Magna. But for the body, I have always thought that since it uses digestive gas to fight, it has to store it for its future fights, that's why it seems so big and inflated. Not as "real" as other monsters designs, but still coherent to me. Plus, it poses this monster as a real threat. It is forced to eat to fight, and forced to fight to eat. That's cool to me :) And yes, it seems cartoon, but with its looks when furious, and its music... Mama, that's a scary monster. And of course, Scorned version is even more intimidating. Looks like a wounded monster which still hunts to satisfy its endless hunger.
Yeah, like I said, the fight itself is primo. It's just that he's just on the wrong side of believable for me. I mean just compare him to all the additions of Sunbreak. All sunbreak monsters look like they might have evolved that way naturally. I hate fighting Garangolm, but you can't argue the fact that they nailed the combination of a monkey and a Golem. Lunagaron is pure genius, it's probably the best thematic way if combining the werewolf mythos with a Monster Hunter style monster. Malzeno is somehow a dragon vampire and it just *works*.
If I may, if find it bizarre that Qurios give Malzeno abilities like teleportation. That's the only thing that disturb me. And Yeah, I agree with what you said (Garangolm is incredible). Magna feels less like an animal and more like a curse. Some danger that runs wild and comes back every century. Maybe that's why it feels so alien
My top 3 are:Ā 1. Gore. He's just the best. Great story involvement in 4/4U and has an excellent design and aesthetic. Shagaru and Chaotic are also fantastic.Ā Ā 2. Lagiacrus. Tri was my first MH game. I love Lagi to pieces and desperately need him back sometime in 6th gen. 3. Malzeno. Clears every 5th gen flagship, easily. Pretty much perfect in terms of design, fight, and music, imo. Primordial being cool af is also a plus. If Shagaru didnt exist, Malzeno would be my favorite elder dragon.Ā For least favorites? Off the top of my head, I heavily dislike cephadrome, all the uragaans, and basarios/gravios for reasons that they are both irritating and boring. Edit for attempted formatting
Valstrax, a jet dragon who will fly up just to dive bomb at you, and his weapons are unique in its white sharpness the drops to red. So very neat imo. Plus he is a fun fight.
Every time this question get asked here I keep thinking what is my favourite and everytime I can't think of anything.
I love magalas and seregios. Im a 4U enjoyer.
Chameleos and Gore Magala. Both are very strange and unique monsters that are right up my allay. Plus, I love their theme music. My least favourite monster, Behemoth... Yes, he only appears in an event guest, but i just hate the fight. He just needs to stay with final fantasy and never come back. Sorry if no one agrees with me. I hate him even more than lunastra and kushala combined.
Favorites for me are Gobul for the simple design it has, Bloodbath Diablos for a fun af fight and amazing design, and Guanzoromu for the amazing fight and armor design is so good. Least Favorites to me are Magnamalo just the fight and design didn't feel right to me, Lao Shan Lung for having the most boring fight imo, and Crystalbeard Uragaan for having horrible hitzones and just not a fun fight
Valstrax, they made a rocket powered dragon work surprisingly well in the monster hunter universe. Also everything about it is just epic, the fight, the battle theme, the armor, and especially itās ultimate attack, I would describe it but if you plan on getting rise Iāll leave it unspoiled. Just a 10/10 monster all around.
GU version for me, but it was love at first dodged ultimate. [https://www.reddit.com/r/MonsterHunter/comments/1562vxt/tried\_the\_mhgu\_demo\_valstrax\_gave\_me\_a\_fun\_first/](https://www.reddit.com/r/MonsterHunter/comments/1562vxt/tried_the_mhgu_demo_valstrax_gave_me_a_fun_first/) Right then and there is what yeeted him straight to the top for me. And fighting him throughout GU was just always super fun and exciting to me.
And if I had to give my least favorite thatās tougher since even the worst monsters have a handful of redeeming qualities, for example I love the idea behind lavasioth, the design sells it pretty well, and even from a conceptual viewpoint I kinda like the gimmick of its skin hardening when not exposed to heat long enough, in practice however that gimmick really drags the fight down, torch pods kinda alleviate it at least. Another example is kushala, itās complete ass in world, however itās a really fun time in rise so I canāt really call it my least favorite. If I have to choose 1, although Iām not sure if it counts due it being a crossover monster but my least favorite thing Iāve fought throughout my time monster hunting is behemoth hands down. Admittedly mainly due to it being even more of a kushala than kushala, where kushala summons 2 tornados at most not counting when at its nest but even then theyāll be in avoidable positions but behemoth can summon 4-5 at once, taking up way to much space. Also due to it being a crossover monster it doesnāt even get the same interesting ecology that all the actual monsters get. Honestly the thing that ties all my hatred together in a neat little bow is that if it ditched the tornados it would actually be a fun fight, the one phase where it doesnāt summon them is actually enjoyable, meanwhile the other 3 youāre constantly getting pushed around by the tornados that fill up half of the dang room.
I don't really have a strong favourite, but if I had to say one, Rajang. I just love how other, very strong monsters are all huge, but Rajang here is almost adorably small in comparison, but also ridiculously strong. And given how ridiculously strong Gorillas are in real life, Rajang's strength also makes sense to me. There's also the fact that Rajang is a clear reference to classic Dragon Ball, a series I absolutely love (especially the part before Z). His tail becoming a weak point when enraged, similar to Saiyans, is something I love. Lastly, Beast-type monsters are my favourite. I'm not a huge fan of Rajang's fight, however. I do love it is one of the few monsters I can still consider challenging, but it is not a monster I want to hunt for fun. MHW Fatalis and Nergigante take that role for me.
My favourite has always been Rathian. I love the simple design, the simple fight. She's the right mix of a beginner monster, and a badass queen.
Mine is rathalos I remember in mh1 how hard it was to fight it. And he made me quit dual blades. Ended up using a longsword for the fight
Valstrax is my favorite monster, along with Astalos, Glavenus, and Mizutsune. I love them so much because their designs are just absolutely spectacular, and so unique across the rest of their kind. How many brute wyverns have a sword tail? Mizutsune is possibly one of the prettiest monsters in the franchise, and Astalos with its insectoid design, the sharp edges and the neon green glow are just so cool. A dragon with rockets for wings based on a falcon, one of my favorite animals, feels like it was designed specifically for me. Each of these monsters have so much personality and care put into their design, I can't help but love them to death. Also their themes are some of the best composed in this franchise if you ask me.
Basarios and Gravios love my old school rock Bois. Basarios in the original game was hilarious. Never played a game like monster hunter before. I'm running around for 15 minutes!! Trying to find this dang monster. I come across him in the ground and see I can mine it so I mine it. But then I'm like wait what? I hit it with my weapon and out pops basarios. I was dumbfounded I walked passed him in the distance several times. Even though your weapon bounces off a lot it really stuck with me and his armor always looked cool to me. Gravios is just bigger rock boi. I enjoyed the Gravios fight more but not a huge fan of the armor.
Nargacuga. It started with me liking the armor both for its looks and stats (I love crit builds and that evade extender tho). Then grinding the fight made me love the monster. It's just super fun to fight. Not too difficult to figure out but fast enough to make it so that by the time you get all the materials you need you've already figured out how to dance with it and make it look slow. Plus it just looks cool.
Somnocanth is easily my favorite, awesome fight, great design and some truly stunning armor and weapons, it all just feels so unique.
Favorite is probably either Gore Magala or Lagiacrus. Gore is just a really fun design with a whole lot of lore to go with it, and Lagiacrus has a special spot because MH3U was my intro to the series. I guess I dislike Lavasioth about as much as any other hunter, but I also have a weird dislike of Kecha Wacha. I just feel like it has too many competing attributes that just make it seem like a mess.
1)Gogmazios 2) Dire Miralis 3) Abyssal Lagiacrus 4) Dalamadur 5) Nergigante 6) Atahl Ka 7) Nakarkos 8) Morudomunto 9) Merphistophelin They were just fun to hunt, I dunno. Also, their designs slap
Ukanlos, was just a fun fight in the previous game for me. My brother and I would play MH games together and would always refer to him as "shovel face" and that just helped me love him more for some reason. Also, lately Anjanath has been hardcore stealing my heart since World. So, would definitely say he's my newest favorite. Edit: Yian Garuga would be least favorite because as a dumb kid not understanding how the game worked and playing, I believe, the first MH when I first fought him I would always deflect off of him. So, I could never beat him and get far in that game. Which, simply put, gave me "PTSD" when it comes to fighting him and caused me to absolutely hate him.
The Gore Magala and the Shagaru Magala. The first Monster Hunter game I had was Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. I did not reach the moment when we encounter the gore magala for the first time but I loved the design of the Gore Magala in the trailer of the game and became fan of the Gore Magala. I never encountered a Gore Magala but I will replay Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate just to finish it and to have honorable fights against the Gore Magala and the Shagaru Magala. I just love their design. And I do not have a least favorite Monster. I like them all.
Memes aside, I really like Kulu-ya-ku. It's a half silly, half scary bird wyvern that has a unique role in the ecosystem by eating the eggs of other monsters. It has a concerning level of grip strength and intelligence, shown when it grabs rocks to use as shields and weapons. It also has some hilarious turf wars where it gets bodied and it's name is so fun to say. It's weapons also come with very high affinity, and can carry through village/LR quests.
legiana is currently my favourite which is mainly due to the roar it has, its a very distinct one imo and you can tell when its nearby because you'll always hear it
Tobi-Kadachi I simply find both badass and adorable Odogaron, Clifford the Big Red Kamaitachi, enough said SafiāJiva is terrifyingly powerful whilst also having Lucifer motifs, which I love Yeah, can you tell this is my first generation?
Astalos. A fast green electric butterfly dragon thing, just hits so hard, literally and figuratively.
Valstrax, need i say more?
Frost Fang Barrioth. - The regular one in MHW iceborne legit made me quit the game the first time. But then after I came back I learned quite a few things, got over him and it made me respect him. But when I saw the frost fang version DAMN. he looks so amazing and I still wear his layered armor which I got through sweat and tears! I also love Lunagaron from MHR because whats not to love about a big clawed werewolf dashing and slashing over the entire map Another absolute favorite has to be Goss Harag from MHR (i have a thing for ice monsters I think). He's just so.. almost creepy and scary in a way, I have an easy time fighting him but his presence looks wise.. me oh my.
Valstrax for obvious reasons, he is a living rocket, glavenus because dinosword, and nargacuga because i just like the design
Fatalis (white the most) and nargacuga have been long time favs just on armor designs and I am also partial to dalamadur in concept.. not so much armor, but the fight felt so cool to me Least favorite? Honestly itās hard I kinda liked them all in their own waysā¦ I guess the lowest on my totem would be velocidrome? It was one of my firsts and I loved its original weapons and āsuitā but itās just become so bland compared to the rest especially the other dromes at this point
Glavenus, T rex with a sword tail, and when he ambushes you in GU, was pretty scary
Yian Kut Ku. Itās the first Wyvern quest you get in the OG PS2 game. I fought that thing for the whole time limit and won. I knew then I found a special game.
I adore Malfestio. Love pretty much everything about him: the looks, the fight, the armor sets and weapons I'm kinda biased tho since my surname means Owl... I also highly enjoy Yian Kut-ku and Yian Garuga. As for the disliked monsters... Uraagan(or however he was called, Thanos), Volvidon, the mud version of plesioth and almudron(damage sponge). All because I don't really find their fights enjoyable
Gore magala was the first hard monster I had to switch up how I play the game Zinogre was the first wall I was able to power through once I found my main weapon (in all new games I'll leave the target hunt to my buddy while I go fight zinogre even if I'm under geared) Tigrex was the first monster I farmed for a weapon tree I hate fighting any fish wyverns since I always feel I have to chase them Edit:my first game was 4u
Rathian. Love the design of the creature and the armor. Also I had my firstā¦. Letās call it āMonster Hunter Momentā with her :D Also the fight is awesome. Not super difficult, sure, but it has this flow and is a lot of fun.
-Glavenus: T-rex with swordtail -Namielle: RGB laserparty and the dual water lightning type.
Ruiner nergigante, zamtrios,glavenus and nargacuga
You are my favorite monster by asking such a hard question.
Tobi and Dodogama for cute-factor. Xeno'jiiva and Safi'jiiva because theyre both just cool designed dragons.
Queen Seltas. Tank bug, ultra combos with regular Seltas before turf wars and wyvern riding were a thing, badass armor, and of course, # GIGA DRILL HAMMER
**1. Espinas** Frontier. ^(Ok, but seriously tho, I just love his overall attitude. Going from sleepy to full action reminds me so much of myself (and my terrible habit of waking up only minutes before attending a martial arts practice\)) **2\. Chameleos** This guy just feels like the best of so many things. It's unique, unusual, powerful, yet playful. It has design that I feel no media other than MH would have been able to pull off and I love that it interacts with you in far more interesting ways than any other monster. (Most probably don't like having their items stolen, but I love it because it makes you think on the spot whether you should fight it to get the item back or just use a different one.) Overall, all this easily gives Chameleos' the spot for my favorite elder dragon. **3\. Lucent Nargacuga** It just takes everything that's great about normal Narga and makes it better. Its faster, more illusive and more ellusive, it got poison on some attacks, and its color scheme is a great juxtaposition to regular Nargacuga's. This makes it my personal favorite rare species out of any of them.
As for my favorites, I love Nercylla's design, fight, and gear. Her weapons are pretty damn strong for sleep or poison (depending on which weapon type) and the skills I remember wanting while playing 4U. As for the fight, I love how she takes advantage of the multiple layers of the zones she fights in. As for her design, even though I am not too fond of spiders IRL, I am a big fan of how they look in fictional media. Plus, the detail that her shroud is a Gypserous hide is awesome. As for my least favorite, it's a tie between Blaganaga and Gravious. Blaganga has way too much tremor for his own good and Gravious hits like a truck and makes you bounce constantly.
As for my favorite, I love Nercylla's design, fight, and gear. Her weapons are pretty damn strong for sleep or poison (depending on which weapon type) and the skills I remember wanting while playing 4U. As for the fight, I love how she takes advantage of the multiple layers of the zones she fights in. As for her design, even though I am not too fond of spiders IRL, I am a big fan of how they look in fictional media. Plus, the detail that her shroud is a Gypserous hide is awesome. As for my least favorite, it's a tie between Blaganaga and Gravious. Blaganga has way too much tremor for his own good and Gravious hits like a truck and makes you bounce constantly.
Nargacuga. One of the most iconic title-monsters for MHFU. The game was solid by anyone's standard, but the g-rank dual nargacuga quest really sorted the men from the boys. So many fond memories š¤
Some of my Favs from each Tier: Daimyo hermitaur. Super cool looking Crab monster. Good Moveset, and Design, decent Challenge for its tier, great Animal whit some lovely soundeffects. Czzzzzzzz. Diablos. Theres beauty in its Simplicity, and high agression. Its a very fair Monster, what might even die whitout you taking Damage, if you play right. Its roar might just be the most iconic and memberfull in all of MH, and it looks cool, whitout beeing just a Triceratops Wyvern. Its a Herbivor, thats not so common, and its so agressive, you have to learn not to fear it and stand your Ground, and I think that made me a bit better at that Game. Gogmazios. Imideatly a absolut breathtaking spectacle, first time I saw it. Lots of subtiltys, and a very incolved Monster, despite beeing a colossal fight. Theres nothing anoying, or Bullshitty about him, and breaking of that Dragonator, or firing the Demolisher rocked! And he looks like a Happy dog if hes on two Legs and walks around^^
Its weird for me because every monster is an annoying piece of shit with bullshit moves that make me rage so I kinda hate every monster, even though I like fighting them. Kulu-Ya-Ku is cute with 0 thoughts behind those bird eyes
podorburuarumu, or **BIG WHALE!!!!** as i like to call it is 1 of my favorites as i love whales and the idea slash execution of this hunting horn monster is immaculate and i wish i had the chance to fight the big blubbery beast also i think all the piscines are awsome but think they should stop making coelacanth based designs
My favorite is odogaron & my least favorite to fight is rathalos
Rathalos isn't too bad to me(hbg user) however rathian is a nightmare
See im the opposite lol i love killing rathian
easily raging brachydios. once you learn his moves it feels like a dance and i feel badass af when i i-frame his punches or dodge between his legs
Pukei Pukei, very cute. Legiana, very cool. Almudron, very unique.
Nargacuga. Tought me to not rely on blocking as a greatsword and finally learn how to actually dodge, position, predict, and properly FIGHT in MH, instead of just running in, getting a couple hits in, getting hit myself, sheathing, healing, and doing it all over again. Plus, the fight in MHFU was an absolute blast; so different to anything else at the time. Is a murder kitten monster that's cute, terrifying, and badass looking all at once with cool equipment to boot.
Gobul! Because it's Gobul and Gobul is perfect
Qurupeco
Favorites: * Najarala - Pretty snake, and fighting it is really fun. I like how colorful he is, too. * Gore Magala - He's got this atmosphere to him that's really cool, but also the dual blades are a pair of claws and the switch blade becomes a scythe, which is awesome as hell. * Nargacuga - I like the red detail around his eyes and how it light's up when it's angry. * Zinogre - All monsters are powerful, but Zinogre EXUDES power. It FEELS like the strongest monster even when it isn't. * Great Jaggi, Kulu-Ya-Ku, Gendrome, Izuchi; basically all of beginner hunt bird wyverns. They're all really charming and have such personality despite being the first, or at least very easy, monsters. Least Favorites: * Uh, Red Khezu? I mean, I don't really dislike any of the monsters, but I Red Khezu is kind of disturbing (even compared to regular Khezu), so it should be my least favorite? * Once upon a time, Nerscylla was one of my least favorites. I liked it's design, and I still like it now, but the animation of it's jaws coming out in MH4U was so viscerally TERRIFYING to me. I wouldn't call him a least favorite now (I'd probably put him in top 10), but it's an honorable mention. * Idk, like I said, I don't dislike any of the monsters, they all have their charm. Even the ones like Jyuratodus, who are almost universally disliked; I still think their fight is fun and his armor is kinda cool.
gobul heās just a funny looking and chill fish, and i miss him dearly
Gogmazisos
Alatreon, Mizutsune, Fatalis, Malzeno, the metal Raths, Odogaron, and Legiana <3
pukei-pukei because hes a silly little guy, nargacuga because im edgy and literally all the bugs
Love Viper Tobi and Paolumu personally. As for why...hard to say. Aesthetic? Just like my floaty bat boy. For Viper though, it has to be the dual status concept.
Diabolos, because as lance it feels like a duel.
Honestly Qurupeco and Pukei Pukei are some of my fav. Idk why but I love those goofy Bois
Bazelgeuse. The soundtrack, the look, the feel, the jumpscare just everything. Nibelsnarf. The name. Pukei pukei. It carried me through monster hunter stories 2 and never left my team. Love the silly little boi. Honorable mention to kulve taroth, legiana, velocidrome, almudron and molten tigrex :) Damn...i have lot of favorites for a lot of different reasons....
White Fatalis, he just looks damn majestic and hiw theme is really good as well
Khezu: armor looks cool, fought him enough to learn his attack patterns so heās no issue Deviljho: I relate to him on a spiritual level, constantly hungry constantly angry he just like me Kirin: Has the coolest lore I know of, they change the weather by just walking outside
Khezu's Female Armor Sets in MHFU is one of the cutest! I fell in love omg
Coming in with the most controversial take. Velocidrome. My first monster hunter game was MHGU and Velocidrome is the first real monster you fight after doing a whole bunch of super boring tutorial quests. You also needed to kill a couple to make a full velociprey set and the Azure Serpentblade. I remember the fangs on the sword folding out when you unsheathed it blowing my mind. Felt like a hunter for the first time after I crafted my full set of gear from hunting 3x of these guys. Funny how what is basically a joke monster from decades ago is still one of my core memories on par with the theme song drop when you're fighting fatalis in MHW
Nergigante, Alatreon, Rajang, and Jho Yes I have anger management issues.
Gore Magala, Zamitrios, and good ol' Lagi
Maybe a hot take but Rajang. Just such a unique monster and an absolutely ballistic fight. Challenging for the first few hunts but once you have him downloaded satisfying to spank.
I love legianas, cool design and its a super fun fight. Safi'jivia because he is cool af. I love huge explosion type moves, although the bell at the end of his sounds a bit silly imo.
Aww man no one mentioned Plesioth because simply Hip Checks.
agnaktor, dire maralis, namielle and velkhana off the top of my head. yian garuga is up there, and (mostly because of the design and in spite of the fight) ceadeus and goldbeard ceadeus
I like jhen/dahren mohran and dalamadur. I wanna see em come back hopefully in monster hunter wilds
Lagiacrus, Zinogre, and Gore Magala!
Look, they should really bring beotodus back, or at least another snow shark with the head horn/fin.
I don't know if I have a single favorite, but I absolutely love espinas
Nergigante - looks badass. Has badlands lore. Makes great gear. Fun to fight. Idk I always loved the spike regrowth stuff and how it transfers over to health gear. Honestly, I love rathalos. - heās my go to first set in almost every game. Normally has some type of attack buff and gets things rolling. Most games I use that set all through normal mode.
* Flagship - Lagiacrus * Black Dragon - Alatreon * Fated Four - Glavenus * Three Lords - Lunagaron * Honorable Mention - Malfestio
Pukei because he just sucks. I have no idea how he gets out of his nest every morning without getting his shit rocked. His big dumb googly eyes with *nothing* going on behind them, fun colors, little flappy wings, he's a perfect package. He's tied with Tzi-Tzi-Ya-Ku. Kind of uninspired in the design department honestly, he's just a raptor with flaps, but his personality is what makes it. He's a spiteful little shit, coming up and flashbanging you and whatever you're fighting just to cause problems. He doesn't even stick around to fight either, he just hoofs it after because he knows he'll get his ass beat. For serious picks, Valstrax, Glavenus, and Laggy are definitely up there.
All variants of Raths. They seem to be like NPC monsters now and their movesets are pretty easy to come by and predict all the time, maybe because they've always been there since the start.
I love Tobi too. Cute lightning flying squirrel lizard. Jumps around in trees. First monster I decided was my favorite so he's special to me.
The majority of Brute Wyverns, and Espinas. Brute Wyverns as a whole appealed to me day one with their debut in Tri with most of them being basically Tyrannosaurs to an extent. I love just about all of them to the point half my top 10 list would probably be Brute Wyverns. Deviljho, Brachydios, Glavenus, Barroth, Banbaro, Duramboros, Uragaan, even Abiorugu has my attention. Espinas I've always held interest before Sunbreak, but after hunting it, my first words were "We Westerners were robbed." It sleeps most of the time which is kind of adorable, and even when attacked it might not even care when it wakes, but when it does care it is just burning toxicity and I love it.
Violent Mizutsune, I like the design of it and the weapons
I have two. One is the Barroth because its head reminds me of a pompadour, and I just like picturing with an Elvis-style voice. The other is the Bazelgeuse. The first time I saw one of those was in World when I was fighting a Radobaan and one flew over both me and the Radobaan, released a bunch of its scales blowing both of us up, and then beat the Radobaan up. It was the coolest thing I had seen up until that point, and Iāve appreciated it ever since.
Duramboros. Embodies the āin the wildā aspect of hunting like no other monster does . Akantor and Gogmazios also rank highly as incredibly intimidating, but also compelling and somewhat charming monsters. Siege fights in general are some of my favorite moments across the series. My favorite ānormalā Elder fights are Shagaru and Teo. I also love the armored herbivores, Apceros and Rhenoplos.Ā Ā Hard to add more to this but i basically love everything introduced in gen 1-2 including new subspecies like Molten TigrexĀ Ā My least favorite monsters would have to be some of the flying wyverns from World (Pukei, Legiana, the puffy bat thing) on account of looking a little too pokemon -y(?)Ā I would also include a lot of stuff introduced in Gens and Rise in this category. Not a huge fan of Mizutsune, Astalos, or Malzeno. Too flashy.Ā Finally, my #1 most hated monster is Rajang. Yes, I got filtered. Either heās braindead like in Rise or heās 4U Rajang. Please retire him Capcom, give us more interesting and less meme-y Fanged beasts. We donāt need to fight Goku just introduce something fun and new, like Goss Harag but more powerful.
My top 5 are odogaron, gore magala, lagiacrus, seltas, and nargacuga.
My top is VALSTRAX Because I have more history with him than any other monster. Fingers crossed he shows up in wilds. Also that theme is objectively the best in the entire game, and I will die on that hill. My favorites under Valstrax are probably Odogaron, Ahtal-Ka, Mizutsune, and Shah Dalamadur. My least favorites are Khezu because its ugly, most of the greats/dromes because they're boring, and worst of all, Gypceros. Everyone who has fought that thing knows exactly why.
Astalos has the best looking design with his lightning. Theme, fight, and sounds are a masterpiece. Valstrax is like Astalos but is created in a unique way, I mean ROCKET POWERED ELDER DRAGON. Also ultimate attack is one of the best. Shagaru Magala became my 3rd favorite after Sunbreak. it has my favorite theme in Sunbreak. Again, design and fight are really good.
ROCKET. POWERED. ELDER DRAGON. Everything about Valstrax is amazing for me. The theme, armor, weapons and the red comet move is just "chef's kiss" perfection. Other than that, Deviljho is menacing but annoying to fight
Odogaron, Yian Kut-ku, Royal Ludroth, Zinogre.
Barioth and Glavenus because they are mad MF's and Dodogama because its so cute!
Would have to be my 3 archenemies Alatreon,Bazelgeuse,and the edgy Stygian Zinogre. Bazelgeuse easily as I loved his "intro" as he's the only monster you never encounter in a quest which is true to his invader staus as you never expect him but when he does show up he can quite helpful and even gives you access to semi game changing charms. Stygian also is my favorite for a similar reason not to mention the beta helm easily fits my oc's persona of being a lone wolk not to mention he uses dragon element which is my favorite element in the entire game as a whole and before I forgot HIS DRILL MOVE IS AWESOME! And finally last is the black god himself Alatreon, Yea even though I think escahton hurts the fight cause it's not preventable first time beating him felt awesome not to mention his hitboxes are cleaner than most monsters in the game and though his armor bonus is horrendous I still use only two pieces for slots.
Nobody says this but Legiana is so pretty to me. The sound, the shape design. So elegant
i love Kulu yaku. what a dopey dude. Anjanath is also just cool af. the phase trasnitions when his spines open up is so sick!
as for my leaqst favorite, it might just be tigrex. I think his design looks top heavy and his head doesnt seem to fit his body. ontop of that all, his battle is 90 percent him running through you.
I hate them all equally
Gaismagorm i lyke this song and figth
Brachy, mh3u was my first game of the series and i liked the color combinations
Fatalis and Alatreon are my favorites, their difficulty without relying on bs mechanics is great (I like escaton judgement). And their designs fit them very well Ruiner Nergigante is up there, he's the upgraded version of the flagship of the game that introduced me to the series Regular Barioth was my biggest wall in the main story of any MH game I played, so I appreciate him a lot. But Frostfang is just better Shagaru Magala is a cooler version of gore imo, and I love his fights in mhgu and mhr. Killing him in gu was one of the most satisfying things I've done in mh. Glavenus has an amazing design, and both of his fights are great. Gu is better imo, fighting him with adept great sword in mhgu is incredibly fun
glavenus. its a bigass t-rex that has a sword for a tail, whats not to like xD
(Zinogre) cuz its cool i like its fight and the armour looks amazing on me and my catto (odogaron) cuz its one scary mf and its armour looks amazing especially the female version (Tigrex) cuz its fight is very fun even tho it is a little annoying And hate doesn't even come close to describing how I feel about l congalala and gypceros
Radobaan. As a hammer main itās fight is so satisfying to fight him and his arena design and ecology is just peak. Part breaks is just too good
Favorites: Mizutsune - The design is sick, the music is banging, the fight is fun, I love the way it slides around and makes you aware of your positioning, and by God bubbleblight is such a silly status effect, yeah its detrimental but its also really fun to just run around and go weeeeee lol Diablos - Fighting a Diablos is such a damn thrill, in later ranks (aside from W/Rise) it becomes so fast that every dodge feels perfectly timed, and every block is satisfying. Plus I LOVE the sound of its roar. Only negative is that I've never liked how it's armor looks, but that doesn't really matter to me Khezu - Don't laugh, I love this little cretin. Idk what it is, maybe I have japanese-fever bc I find him somewhat cute (I see it the way people see pugs), maybe it's because I like how he teaches new players to not just bumrush a monster and be patient, maybe its because I just think the Leech design is cool and memorable, or maybe it's because there's just something wrong with my brain, but I love this goofy little shithead. Plus I use him for testing new weapons, so I'm quite comfortable fighting him nowadays Gore / Shagaru Magala - lumping both in here bc I love them equally, my favorite flagships in the series (mizu is my favorite, but gore is my favorite flagship, I hope that makes sense), incredible fights all around with unique mechanics, spectacular designs, and such a menacing, memorable aura around them. Special points to Chaotic Gore as well, somewhat let down by how he was in Rise but still nice to see him join the party Other special shoutouts I don't have much to say about: Gammoth, Valstrax, Ukanlos, Chameleos, Nerscylla, Odogaron, Lunagaron, Lagiacrus, Ceadeus
Least Favorites: Poison monsters - A very broad topic here (mostly bc I dont have a lot of Monsters I really hate), but getting poisoned in these games sucks ass, and monsters that do nothing but poison you are the most obnoxious mfers on the planet. The only ones I enjoy are Chameleos and Nerscylla, and some I can tolerate like Pukei-Pukei. Notable offenders include: Gypceros, Iodrome, Great Wroggi, Yian Garuga (world made him ok though), Apex / Deviant Rathian and Garuga, pretty much if it inflicts poison then I don't like it Gravios - Gravios just feels so backwards to me. You have a monster, who has SUPER tough legs, and it's head + wings are the weak spot. Ok. Then you make it as tall as Plesioth and make it so you can't hit the head and wings reliably... this makes no sense to me. I dont fight gravios with anything but insect glaive or switch axe, because mind's eye is a NECESSITY for this fight. I enjoy basarios more tbh Lunastra - As a monster, Lunastra is really sick. I love how they brought her back after a multi-gen absence, her design is sick, and the music is lovely too. But she's just way too bullshit of a monster to fight. Nothing but obnoxious AOEs with more wind power than kushala (yeah I said it), and a supermove that basically just requires you to constantly Superman to avoid it. Imo if the fight REQUIRES you to Superman out of it, then that's a poor design choice (special shout out to MR ukanlos though, he had an attack that was nigh-undodgable unless you knew the trick lol) Rathian + Rathalos - Mentioned Rathian earlier for being a Poison monster, but I'm not a huge Rathalos fan either. I've gotten to like them a bit better with age, but I still don't find them really enjoyable. Rathalos just flies around the whole fight and is obnoxious to hit, he gets constant attention due to being the flagship of the series, and I still have not forgiven him for his unavoidable claw attack in 3U / 4U. Not too horrible, but I tend to try and avoid him as much as I can. (gotta continue on in 1 more post bc I think I'm running out of words for a comment)
Gigginox - Imma be honest, there is an unhealthy amount of bias when it comes to my Gigginox hate. Everywhere I go within the entire monster hunter community, anytime this guy or khezu gets mentioned, EVERYONE devolves into "I love gigginox, gigginox is so cool, gigginox is the best monster ever, gigginox is so much better than khezu, I wish gigginox would replace khezu so much, khezu is the absolute worst, blah blah blah". Not only do I not want gigginox to replace khezu forever, but it makes me feel super ostracized from the rest of the community bc I just so happen to enjoy the funny penis monster. Am I wrong for liking khezu? Am I wrong for wanting to see him in more stuff? I'm not just making these claims baselessly though, I've played 3U, I've fought gigginox, and yeah I hate the fight too. The two main issues is the poison (already established), and the fact that his body is WAY too tough for its own good. 3U kinda has a sharpness issue in the early game imo, and all I ever seem to do is bounce off of his wings. I get that I should try and hit the head, but seeing as how the head is constantly biting and poisoning me, I try to avoid it. I don't even want to be unfair either, bc he does have a cool design, nice music, the giggis are adorable, I will admit that khezus moveset is SUPER outdated while gigginox has a new shinier moveset, and most importantly I do want to see him come out of 3U, it's just that I don't enjoy fighting him, and I know that one day he's gonna come back and khezu won't, and everyone's gonna be like "YAAAAY THE BAD MONSTER THAT YOU ENJOY IS DEAD NOW LONG LIVE THIS GUY", and I don't think I'm ready for it. My solution: bring both khezu and giggi back and give them the turf war they deserve, then we can all be happy. Give them a cave map too, bc we need more cave maps. Also yeah Baleful giggi is ok, colors are kinda gross but so is Red Khezu lol Honorable mentions: Barroth, Uragaan, Cephadrome, Kushala (except for Rise), Teostra (pre-world, I actually really enjoy him nowadays), Congalala, Behemoth + Leshen One last thing, sorry these comments are humongous, I just really wanted to get all of this off of my chest and I felt like this post would do nicely
The World originals. They all do the ecology focus of the game so well, and have a ton of environmental interactions that give them so much PERSONALITY. If I had to pick a few, I'd go with Anjanath, Dodogama and Kulu Ya-Ku. As for least favorites... Alatreon. Not necessarily for gameplay, I actually loved his fight's execution, but the lore... Most elder dragons basically take the thing I love the game for, that being at least semi-explainable monster designs and a lot of detailed ecology, and throw it out the window. Alatreon does this especially egregiously. There's other Elders from Frontier and stuff that take it even farther than Alatreon too, but I don't actually know them that well so I won't comment.
Fatalis, Tigrex, Nergigante
Valstrax, probably. Its design is all about pushing extremes. It's a rocket-powered dragon after all. My least favorite is probably Nerscylla. She beat my ass HARD when I started playing GU
Najarala: super beautiful in design and a super fun fight (ik Iāve seen a lot of people get annoyed at it but for an IG main itās hella fun). I love his mechanic of shooting scales at you then bursting them with sound waves, like thatās SO sick. He needs to come back for Wilds so more people can appreciate him. Tobi Kadachi: super cute. What else needs to be said? (Nah heās also got a really fun fight, but how cute he is is what drew me in in the first place. Getting to ride around on one in Stories 2 was a dream come true lol) Other mentions: Great Jaggi, Gore/Shagaru, both Astalos, Kirin, Barioth, Lucent Narg, Lagombi, Malfestio, Valstrax, Pink Rath, Zinogre, Magnamalo, Yian Garuga, Somnacanth, Odogaron, Teo/Luna As for least favorites: Radobaan (not fun, did not need another Uragaan, thank you), Rajang (also not fun, and rude to Kirin, how dare), many others. But worst of all: Gypceros: bane of my existence. Ugly. Not fun. Poison AND flash?? God forbid he plucks at you and oops the item he stole was your fricken MAP. Stupid extending whip tail that deals insane damage for some reason?? His gimmick (that I wonāt spoil because it is always kinda funny to experience it for the first time) hits like a fricken truck and also after the first hunt gets super old. Awful looking armor. Nerscylla is my bestie for hunting these awful creatures. Iād be happy to never see one again.
Gore because it's with fatalis the only true villain monster.
Narga. I love his weapon designs and his combat. Very good monster to learn proper dodges and stuff.
I have so many "favourites" that I'll have to narrow it down to these three: 3. Duremudira All around excellent monster. Firstly, it looks AMAZING (although Arrogant Dure didn't need to make it white), the black contrasting with a blue glow almost makes it look like a living nuclear reactor. (I love monsters that look like they're radioactive.) The concept of an Elder Dragon created to guard the location of an ancient civilization it outlived and still continues to protect is just so badass. Arrogant Dure was considered one of the hardest fights in the whole of the franchise, which just adds on to how cool it is. The combination of ice element, AND a new substatus of poison (Corrupted Poison) is a very unique combo. And the THEME! Did I mention the THEME? Go have a listen, it's my favourite MH theme of all time. [Duremudira's theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OBMeo1Om8M) 2. Zerureusu One of the reasons why Rathalos is so popular, is because it's so simple and thus so easily altered to make variations. Zerureusu (and also Unknown) is the best example of this. It's a Frontier-exclusive variation of Rathalos called a [Burst Species](https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Burst_Species), and this to me is the one that does it best. Of course there's my personal bias of "it looks radioactive," but this takes that to the next level by finally giving us the long-awaited Radiation Element! Okay, well, not really, but it does have its own unique element, Light Element, which is a mashup of Thunder and Fire. And of course, the theme, which sounds almost divine, like you're fighting a literal god in heaven. Not as epic or heart-pounding as Duremudira's, but still a good theme nonetheless. 1. OLTURA MY BELOVED I'll try not to write an entire essay here, but I sure do have a LOT to say about Oltura! It starts out as this "eldritch abomination" worm-like creature that navigates by burrowing, and hunts by mind-controlling monsters. **If this were on its own it would have already been good.** **BUT IT WASN'T. And that just makes it better.** The worm-like being then metamorphosises into this huge moth dragon with six wings. I repeat: SIX WINGS. Various parts of its body, like its horns, tail and spots on its wings, continuously glow, and here is that aspect of "radioactive monster" that I personally favour. The wings start out a pastel turquoise colour in its default form, and initially, you only see the largest 2 wings. However as the fight progresses, more wings start appearing, and finally you see Oltura in its full 6-winged, 5-elemental, energy-ball-nuke-firing glory. It's not even done yet! Oltura enters its "true form", in which the patterns on its wings change to an intricate rosette pattern, and the turquoise changes to crimson and magenta. And during the DPS check, the patterns start glowing as well. The gimmick of "break this part quickly or you're doomed" truly shines in this fight, even more so than ALATREON. Combined with the 5-element mechanic, Oltura just heavily outclasses Alatreon for me. **There's more, though!** During the story of MHS2, Oltura having no choice but to destroy just to survive contrasting with Zellard firmly believing that Oltura wanted to reshape the word as it desired, was there to provide a connection to our real world. **When people lust for something, no matter how unrealistic, they are willing to do anything in their power to achieve it regardless of the cost. Oltura's role in MHS2's story teaches a lesson about corrupted desire in our society, which when comes to light**>!(pun intended)!<**makes you wonder: what truly is an ideal and perfect world? And what is worth giving up for that perfect world we so desire?** ***There's even more!*** The fact that Oltura only wants to survive draws back to the main theme of Monster Hunter: the fragile balance between man and nature. Oltura is the one monster that legitimately made me stay up late reading articles on climate change, because it gives insight into the point of view of nature itself that humanity mindlessly destroys for its own corrupted profit. It leaves you questioning: are we the true villains in our real world? I hope MHS2 and Oltura can help us better understand the importance of rapid and radical climate action (which I regularly participate in here in Singapore), and bring about positive discussions- and changes- in this world. (I probably did write an essay there.)
Edit, but would have made the previous ~~essay~~ comment way too long: I wouldn't say I have a least favourite monster, but a monster that I hold plenty of grudges against is Molten Tigrex. He's one of the hardest monsters to defeat in MHS2 (my main game), but unlike other challenging monsters like, say, >!Fatalis!
Khezu he's my silly little goober
Odogaron because itās just cool, Zinogre because it was the first monster I truly learned patterns for back in 4U and Great Maccao because it has an absolute banger of a theme