The MH Concepts That Wouldn't Die!

Even though they probably should have, at least for now, but eh. I wanted to take a short break from the comic to do something by hand, and someone made me want to draw MH stuff. So here we go again...


Dontathere - The elephant I highlighted before... sorry, DA doesn't understand how links work right now, apparently.
Like you'd expect it's a big, grumpy herbivore with a tough hide and lots of stabby/smashy parts. Its easily strong enough to crush most wyverns, so it's got power to spare for driving off hunters. In addition to its brute strength it's also got a flexible trunk to work with, so it can pick up hunters or parts of the environment to use as weapons. It can also use its trunk like a high-power hose and shoot jets of water; this is both a direct and indirect attack, since the blasts also kick up globs of mud that can slow down nearby hunters who avoided the main blast. On top of all that, the Dontathere is intelligent. When not in rage it'll avoid traps, and if it sees barrel bombs it'll just pick them up with its trunk and throw them at you... which makes them hard to use for blademasters, but great for gunners trying to break its face. If hit with a paintball, dung bomb, or felvine bomb it'll use its trunk to wash itself off and negate the effect. It can also recognize hunters' gestures and will sometimes respond to them, stamping its feet in retaliation to frustrated, angrily shaking its head to disagree with nod, and spraying hunters who taunt or dance. It lives in the deserts and sandy plains.

It has a "subspecies" called a Musk Dontathere, which is a large male in the mating season who's gone into a violent, testerone-driven frenzy. Its anatomy is unchanged, but it has darker skin, moves faster, and fights with much less predictability. It can also expel a noxious yellow musk from its pores which causes the soiled status. Hunters who are marked with the musk will draw the Dontathere's attention and it will attack them more fiercely than the other players. It's also very violent toward other monsters and may briefly ignore hunters to fight them. It can be fought in the desert like the normal variety, but also invades jungle regions.

Forest Gomp - Another large herbivore related to the Dontathere, though not as big. This flabby-looking monster lives primarily in areas like the flooded forest and swamp and stores water in its skin, allowing it to migrate through more arid regions and also be fought in the desert. The saw-like spikes lining its flanks aren't much threat to hunters but protect it from packs of hungry carnivores like Wroggi, Ioprey, and Genprey. Its giant mouth is primarily used as a display to scare away monsters like this, but if pushed to defend itself it can release a deafening roar that sends enemies flying. It can also use its mouth like a giant clamp to pick up boulders and small monsters and throw them at hunters. Its long, whip-like tail has movement patterns separate from the rest of the body and can attack independently, becoming a major nuisance until cut off.

Beast-croc - A Fanged Wyvern distantly related to Zinogre. It has a very reptilian countenance, but sports fur and fights like a mix of boar and big cat. In its normal state it acts fairly reserved, making deliberate attacks and climbing ledges to pounce from above and ambush unwary hunters. When enraged it loses all subtly and goes on a violent rampage, crashing into things and destroying the environment as it tries to eradicate hunters. It causes quakes by slamming the ground, hurls rocks with its tail, and can shoot giant air-bullets from its mouth to blast hunters at a distance. When enraged it can turn this into a sweeping wind-tunnel that can blow a whole group away. Like Zinogre, its agility and physical strength are tremendous.

Long Legged Spider - I'll admit, I got lazy with the chelicerates here. Sorry. I was too out of steam to develop them as much as I wanted, but I really wanted to make a point of it that MH needs more spiders. Way more spiders! The basic idea was this one had really long, sharp legs to use as spears, and could also rise up on them like stilts to avoid hunters on the ground or attack ones trying to get away by climbing. The underside is covered in spikes, so if the players think they're clever standing under it and attacking the legs, it can just slam down and pulverize them like an iron maiden. Not sure what other powers it'd have, or element. Maybe fire.

Tsuchinoko - A snake wyvern like Najarala, but for lower rank quests. It has a playful demeanor and uses its short, chubby body to roll, bounce, and flop around. It seems almost totally unaware of the damage its causing and spews poison wily-nily. Being fought fairly early on, it doesn't do a ton of damage and none of its attacks are all that punishing- except for its fangs, which are based off the stiletto snake. Like that snake, it strikes with an unexpceted side-swipe instead of a normal forward strike and can hit with lightning speed, doing a massive amount of damage and causing instant paralysis. Until they got better armor, newbies would probably be afraid of this silly, fat tigger-snake.

Octodad - The MH version of a mimic octopus. Practically a shapeshifter, it can modify the color, texture, and shape of its flexible, boneless body instantaneously. This gives it a vast array of abilities: disappearing into the environment as part of the sea floor, disguising itself as a sharq or epioth, slipping into cracks and caves that only small monsters can use, imitating other large monsters like Gobul and Lagiacrus, and modifying its tentacles into giant weapons. Hunters can retaliate by cutting off any of the octopus' tentacles, limiting its ability to attack and thwarting some of its transformations, but over time they will grow back. In addition to all this, though, it has a beak which can sneakily extend on a long stalk (easily mistaken for another tentacle) to deliver a devastating, venomous bite. If feeling overwhelmed, it can spew a huge, lasting cloud of poison that creates a temporary environmental hazard.

Snow Spider - Again, sorry for the laziness and tiny doodle. This one just sucks, I'm not happy with it at all. The idea was to do a giant polar spider that could be fought as a final boss. Nowhere near as good of a design as that deserves. I'll probably give this another shot in the future to try and do it right.

Derpsloth - A primitive primatius with a simple mind. It has the ability to climb, but doesn't usually think to and spends most of its time foraging on the ground instead. It spends long periods of time sleeping or feeding in one spot and has very poor hygiene, resulting in dirty matted fur that often has plants growing in it. It's very weak to fire attacks and all of its shiny drops are plant-based. Though not very aggressive, it has huge claws that do heavy damage and rend armor, inflicting the defense down status. It also has horrendously bad breath, which simultaneously paralyzes hunters and causes soiled. Because of its tiny brain, it has noticeably delayed reactions- which while comical, can also be somewhat tricky to gauge and get used to. It can replenish both its health and its stamina by eating foliage from its own back.

Roadraptor - I can't decide if these should be their own group, or just bird wyverns. Maybe an unofficial sub-group like the "pseudowyverns"? Anyway, whatever the classification may be this monster is part of a group of flightless bird monsters. They're defined by having beaks, a full coat of feathers, and arms or nubs instead of wings. This particular one is a roadrunner/woodpecker/velociraptor- more or less what I thought Seru was going to be when they first teased his footprint. This monster moves with remarkable speed and agility, easily able to outmaneuver hunters, leap up ledges, and even briefly run up walls. Without traps, bombs, and smart timing this monster can be a nightmare for blademasters to solo. It's a desert monster, but a nocturnal one, and spits globs of chilled liquid that inflict iceblight- making keeping up with it even more frustrating. It can also surprise hunters with a pin attack, holding them down with its zygodactyl feet and hammering them with its beak woodpecker-style. Sonic bombs can be used to startle and stun it, but after too many uses it will get used to them and no longer be affected.

Bullybird - A fairly large bird monster with a robust build, crushing jaws, and an axe-like beak. It has a brutal demeanor and inflicts heavy damage to its foes, boldly attacking hunters, scaring off other large monsters and even stealing food from them. It's a prideful, vicious beast. Under all its bluster it's really just a big chicken, though. Like the "roadraptor" it can be startled by sonic bombs, and it will quickly panic and run away if another monster decides to confront it instead of fleeing. Targeting its legs or attacking it while over a ledge can make it topple onto its back, where it panics and rocks around helplessly like a turtle before eventually righting itself. After suffering such indignities it usually goes into rage, where it can cause quake with its feet and spit slimeballs that paralyze hunters. It is found in the desert (at day) and the jungle.

Garudabird - A medium sized bird monster which I kind of see as the flagship for its group. Its an exotic species that lives deep in the rainforest, well known for its proud behavior and stunning colors. It has the most developed arms of all the birds so far and can use them to attack and slash at hunters while it pins them under its feet. It uses its curved beak like a sword, though the jagged "teeth" inside give it a vicious bite as well. Its tail ends in a formidable club and it can deliver a powerful, lightning fast double-kick without warning. The armor on its back also gives it a slight resistance to damage from jumping and riding attacks, though not an immunity. It preys primarily on highly toxic snakes and lizards, giving it both a immunity to poison and the ability to poison others with its bite and kick. It can shoot toxic fireballs from its mouth, inflicting poison and fireblight at once and leaving patches of chemical fumes on the ground. So it's calm, regal appearance belies a very deadly, cut-throat nature.

Artwork © Chris Eye, 2014.