Pokemon-ifying Monster Hunter!
Friday, February 26, 2016
For a good while, I've had this idea kicking around in my head. I absolutely sure that I'm not the think of this, what if it we took the creatures of Monster Hunter, and strapped them into the Pokemon molds? Since Pokemon is celebrating 20 years, I thought "why not put a Pokemon spin on Monster Hunter?". I've tried to incorporate the "signature moves" of the wyvern as best as Pokemon can within existing moves. I also tried to communicate the "essence" of the monster using it's typing and abilities. Hopefully they'll come across as pretty Pokemon-esque!
You'll notice that some of these wyvern have simiar moves as the list goes on, but in Monster Hunter, all wyvern generally share a pool of similar moves – roars, tail attacks, stomps, etc. Ideally, each of these wyvern-mon have different moves that are representative of the monster.
RATHALOS -> AZURE RATHALOS -> SILVER RATHALOS (Dark Flame Rathalos)
Fire Wyvern Pokemon
Type: Fire / Flying
Ability: Intimidate / Blaze
Flamethrower
Poison Jab
Sky Attack
Howl
Rathalos is probably the easiest of all the creatures to “port” over. His simple move set translates almost seamlessly into Pokemon, save for his fourth move slot. He flies, he shoots fire balls, he's a Fire Flying type. Poison Jab comes from his talon dive and Flamethrower should be self-explanatory. The move Sky Attack represents wasn't present in MH4U, but in previous games, Rathalos would fly off and do a loop of the map before swooping back in. Howl is mainly there to take up that 4th slot I couldn't think of. In Pokemon terms, it'd help boost his offensive capabilities, turning him into a fairly powerful attacker after a boost or two.
RATHIAN -> PINK RATHIAN -> GOLD RATHIAN (Poison Queen Rathian)
Fire Wyvern Pokemon
Type: Poison / Fire
Ability: Poison Point / Blaze (Levitate)
Poison Tail
Flame Burst
Take Down
Roost
Rathian's typing poses a particular question. Because each Pokemon can only have up to 2 types, certain abilities are typically added to supplement their "typing". Pokemon like Flygon, a Ground Dragon that very clearly should have the flying type, but due to constraints, ends up with the Levitate ability. Other Pokemon, like Volcorona, curiously don't have that luxury, despite being drawn and animated to be very clearly flying. From her (Rathain) bio, Rathian, acts much more on the ground than her male counterpart Rathalos, partially due to her larger size, but also because she tends to the nest, which is on the ground (it's also the reason for the green/brown scale colour).
As for her moveset, Poison Tail is probably the best representation of her tail flip. I chose Flameburst over Flamethrower due to Flameburst's AoE effect, more closely mirroring Rathian's other fire attack. Take Down is interesting because most of the flying wyvern have this “move” in Monster Hunter. They'll charge at you and fall over at the end of their charge. Take Down is a pretty good stand-in for that, and helps cement Rathian's role as the Queen of the Land. Roost is mainly there as a Pokemon consideration, giving her the ability to recover HP and maintain her bulk.
TIGREX -> BRUTE TIGREX -> MOLTEN TIGREX (fire stone) / HOOK CLAW TIG.
Brutal Pokemon
Type: Normal
Ability: Intimidate / Guts (Defiant)
Super Fang
Rock Throw
Hyper Voice
Rage
Tigrex was pretty hard to type, so good old Normal type it was. It doesn't have any breath attacks, and can be found in pretty much any environment, making him a perfect candidate for the normal type. His move set in the game also helps, because he's really just pure brute force. Super Fang was chosen over Crunch because it sounded cooler. Also it seemed fitting that a creature who's name is a mix of Tyrannosaurus Rex and Tiger has a “bite” move as powerful as Super Fang is. Rock Throw is, well, a stand-in for when he hurls rocks at you. Hyper Voice is his roar as it's one of the few non-Elder Dragon roars that actually deals damage. Rage is there because this monster is real freaking angry.
I considered a bunch of moves for Tigrex. At one point it was Normal Flying, but it doesn't really fly, nor do any of it's attacks involve flying. Dragon Claw / Metal Claw were on the list, as was Aerial Ace and Wing Attack. It's moves are almost entirely phyiscal, so Fighting probably could have been a type.
NARGACUGA
Spike Tail Pokemon
Type: Dark
Ability: Skill Link / Unnerve
Fury Swipes / Night Slash
Pin Missile
Screech
Slam
Dark was the first type I thought of for Nargacuga, and it certainly fits this stealthy hunter. It's typing wasn't too hard to figure out, but it's moves were tough to fit. Night Slash, or Fury Swipes? Iron Tail or Slam? I originally envisioned Narga as a high-crit kind of Pokemon, making use of frequent critical hits to off-set it's okay ATK stat. I ended up going to something probably closer to what Narga is in the MH games: a fast multi-hit monster that basically has one big, high damage move in it's tail slam. Fury Swipes is it's 3-4 hit slash attack, while Pin Missile is it's tail shard attack. Screech is his ear piercing, well, screech and Iron Tail is supposed to represent his big, heavy tail slam. Heavy Slam could've done well, but Narga doesn't have the weight to pull it off, and Iron Tail doesn't quite have the same mental picture as Slam does.
ZINOGRE (Thunder Prince Zingore) -> STYGIAN ZINOGRE (dragon scale)
Lightning Wolf Pokemon
Type: Electric
Ability: Motor Drive / Volt Absorb
Thunder Punch
Charge
Thunderbolt
Slam
Zingore's type and abilities practically write themselves. Being hit by Lightning element weapons charge up his state, so either of the two abilities fit him like a glove. His moves actually have a huge amount of Pokemon equivalents. Wild Charge could fit, as well as Discharge, and basically any of the SPA Electric moves work for him. Thunder Punch is the best fit for his paw slams, specifically the charged ones. Charge is probably his signature move. If anything, I'd create a new move called “Howling Charge” which would boost his ATK, SPA and the next Electric move. Broken yes, but it's basically what he does in the MH games.
LAGIACRUS
Lightning Shell Pokemon
Type: Water / Electric
Ability: Motor Drive / Swift Swim
Thunderbolt
Aqua Jet
Thunder Fang
Charge
The flagship monster of MHTri / 3U is the rare Electric Water type. Like Zingore, basically any of the SPA Electric attacks would generally work for this one. Aqua Jet is from it's under water tackles – high speed charges that it can only do in the water. Charge, like Zinogre, is a stand-in for it's charge up move that it does when entering Enraged state. Thunder Fang is there to make more use of Charge. Originally, I had Iron Tail or Dragon Tail, but Charge only helped boost Thunderbolt, which felt a little bit like a waste. Both abilities help increase it's speed, which would likely be a little on the low side, considering that the Lagiacrus is based loosely off of an alligator / crocodile. While it's exceedingly swift in the water, it's a little slower than average on land.
GORE MAGALA - > SHAGARU MAGALA
Pollen Scale Pokemon
Type: Dark / Poison
Ability: Effect Spore / Keen Eye
Dark Pulse
Sludge Bomb
Dragon Tail
Stone Edge
This was a tough creature to type. It's Frenzy status ailment in the game sounds a lot like it'd be perfect for Poison, but few poison moves “feel” like anything Gore Magala does. I ended up splitting it's breath attack up into two different moves – Dark Pulse and Sludge Bomb. It's tail attack is fairly unique in look, with big movement and a solid swing of it's tail, so I gave it Dragon Tail, which sends opposing Pokemon flying out of battle. Stone Edge is that big slam it does with it's wing arms. Since it's got the ground shattering effect on it, I figured Stone Edge would work well, considering the flavour text on the move. Once evolved to Shagaru Magala, it sheds the Dark type, becoming a Poison / Dragon. Moves generally stay the same, but Draco Meteor probably is very fitting for the monster most known for explosions. As for it's abilities, Effect Spore is the closest thing I could find to match the pollen-like scales that Gore Magala has. Keen Eye was added because it doesn't actually have eyes, and uses the scales and feelers to “see”.
SEREGIOS
Sword Scale Pokemon
Type: Flying / Steel
Ability: Unnerve / Skill Link
Pin Missile
Screech
Slash
Spike Cannon
or
Spike Cannon
Acrobatics
Sky Drop
Screech
I made two different move sets for Seregios because it's move pool in Monster Hunter could go two different ways. It could focus on it's signature scale projectiles, which it can fire from 3 different positions, or focus on Seregios' aerial acrobatics. Both are pretty characteristic of the creature, so I went with both. Spike Cannon would be it's signature move. Benefiting from both Skill Link and it's Steel Typing, Seregios would be able to do a good bit of damage with it. Pin Missile is there for more spike shots. Slash is it's talon attacks and Screech is it's piercing, eagle-like “roar”.
For the other move set, Spike Cannon remains as it's signature, but is also joined by Sky Drop, which is it's pinning attack. It does that sweeping fly-by, pinning down whoever gets caught, and after biting (pecking?) at them for a bit, flies off and chucks it's victim at someone. Sounds like Sky Drop to me! Acrobatics is the first bit of that fly-by. In Monster Hunter, until you're used to it's flight path, it can be pretty hard to dodge that because of how fast it dives in. Lastly, Screech is it's signature roar, so I left that in.
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So that's a wrap for that. I've had other move sets kicking around for a good while now, but this post is just the "flagship" monsters, plus Seregios, who's cool and almost a flagship monster. Maybe in the future, I'll put up another list with some more Pokemon / Monster Hunter mashes without the explanations unless something needs explanation. Until then, thanks for reading!
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