Monster Hunter / Tropes N to R

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• Named Weapons: Some weapon names would qualify more as descriptive phrases (Iron Sword, Matched Slicers, etc.), but many weapons have names (Meaty Smash, Usurper's Firebolt, etc.). Some weapons are part of a named series but also have individual names, like Wyvern Blade "Fall", Wyvern Blade "Awe", etc.
• Nameless Narrative: With extremely limited exceptions, characters are only assigned descriptive titles and lack actual names. Only players and their Palicoes have names, and even then, they never appear in dialogue, with the exception of one specific NPC (the Pub Manager in Generations Ultimate. A few characters' names have been revealed in supplementary materials, but again, never in the actual games (unless you count the very end of Iceborne which casually mentions a couple of character names during a cutscene). It wasn't until Rise that a mainline game would give its cast full names instead of just titles.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast:
  • A whole gallery before even delving into the monsters' titles. Diablos, Ceadeus ("deus" as in "god"), Crimson Fatalis, Dire Miralis... Special mention to Deviljho; other large monsters will actually flee from the area should a Savage Deviljho appear. For good reason.
  • All of the Deviant Monster names are designed to invoke awe and fear in hunters with their compound-word name formats. Stonefist Hermitaur? It's a Giant Enemy Crab with a very large and near-impenetrable claw. Thought Rathalos was worthy of being the king of the skies? Try a Dreadking Rathalos. Series veteran Diablos not dangerous enough for you? Here's a Bloodbath Diablos. And that's just some of them.
• Near Victory Fanfare: In some hunts against major Elder Dragons, often the Final Boss, the series anthem "Proof of a Hero" will play when the monster is low on health; notable examples include Ahtal-ka from Generations Ultimate and the two Serpents in Rise. Sometimes the theme is instead used when said monster is successfully hit with the Dragonator, which is often available in the last leg of the fight.
• Necessary Drawback: Being attacked while in Valor Style's sheathe stance will cause you to automatically slide back and sheathe your weapon while avoiding the hit, allowing you to escape from a sticky situation fast. However, using this maneuver (a so-called "Valor Evade") converts HP equal to half the damage you would have taken from the attack you dodged into red health. Each Valor Evade performed will slowly but surely chip away at your remaining HP, and if you don't have any Jerky on you, an unlucky hit may spell your doom.
• Nerf:
  • Infamously, Generations defanged the loving hell out of Charge Blade's Super Amped Element Discharge by removing its shockwaves, cutting out so much of its range and maximum damage that it's generally considered better to just use the regular Amped Element Discharge by comparison. Luckily, World added the shockwaves back in.
  • In previous games, Normal S Lv3 ammo had the ability to bounce off targets when you hit them. This made it Difficult, but Awesome due to requiring precise aiming and choice of target to get the shot to bounce between monster parts correctly, but it can inflict enormous damage if pulled off. In World, Normal Ammo 3 was nerfed so that it's simply a stronger Normal shot.
• Never Say "Die": Subverted. Quest objectives that use the term "hunt" and not "slay" do so because you don't have to actually kill the monster; capturing also counts as victory. When you do objectives involving elder dragons, the quest objective do use "slay", and that's because you can't capture them. The term is also used to warn that a mission will fail if the point is to capture the monster alive.
• New Game Plus: Generations Ultimate introduces a feature called "Reuse Save Data", which lets you start a new file with a new character while transferring content from an existing save. The Reuse feature allows you to carry over Zenny, Rare 3 or lower items, certain consumables and miscellaneous hunting aids, and DLC item packs. Anything over Rare 3 from the previous save is turned into Zenny, part of which you can keep.
• Nigh-Invulnerable: The Ultimate Mask in 3 Ultimate makes its wearer immune to most attacks and status problems. In fact, the only way that wearers can take damage is when they become enraged, which slowly consumes their health until they faint.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Several lines in the games, especially the quest errata, come from people who are very fascinated with the giant killing machines that you fight, and would like to see them up close and in person.
  • 4U has a Guild Hall quest called "A Ghastly Gift." The client wants you to capture a Khezu—because his girlfriend thinks they're cute.
  • The client for the quest "Arachnophilia" admits to having a thing for spiders, and wants you to hunt a Nerscylla so he can see it.
  • The Guildmarm outright says she's in love with Brachydios, and tends to act smitten around most monsters. She even mentions being the head of a club of monsterphiles, of which she is the only member.
• Ninja Run: One of the aesthetic changes World added to Dual Blades' Demon Mode is that they now run like a Naruto character.
• Nintendo Hard: The games become this on High and G Ranks. High Rank monsters deal much more damage than their lower rank counter parts and can easily cart a careless Hunter, making evasion and timing attacks even more important. G Rank Monster take it even further. Not only by hitting even harder, but also having more health and new moves as well.
• No "Arc" in "Archery": Averted. The arrows launched from the Bow weapon type fall to the ground as they fly, making long-range shots trickier than medium-range ones.
• No Death Run: Some of the quests in Generations Ultimate and investigations in World will immediately end in failure if even one person loses all of their health. The Felyne Insurance skill still grants one more chance, but other than that, players only get one life.
• No-Gear Level: Some quests, usually ones at the end of High Rank and G-rank, require you to accept the quest with no armor or charms equipped, turning you into a Glass Cannon with very limited means of defense besides "don't get hit".
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Averted at the end of Tri. After repelling Ceadeus, your character was supposed to have his/her license revoked by the Guild for defying its direct orders to evacuate Moga Village, but was let off the hook in light of his/her overwhelming support from the villagers, as well as his/her feat of defeating the monster against the Guild's pessimistic predictions. In 3 Ultimate, the Guild even rewards the hunter the access to High Rank quests, and in the Tanzia port they provide him/her access to G Rank after defeating the Goldbeard subspecies.
• No-Harm Requirement: Some quests require you to weaken and capture a monster instead of killing it. This can make things tricky, since you not only need to know how to fight it, but also how much hits it can take before dying. And by the time you can catch them, the fight may be almost over anyway. And then there's quests (usually the first and second quests in episodic quest lines) that require you to break a specific part of the monster and will fail you if you kill or even capture the target.
• No Hero Discount:
  • In Freedom Unite, Tri, Portable 3rd, and 3 Ultimate in particular. The shopkeepers and the blacksmith will charge you for their services, even though you're trying to save their village from certain destruction. Justified in the case of Pokke Village. The Guild warns the village of its imminent destruction due to Ukanlos. The village itself is fully confident that the hunter will save them, and go about their merry ways charging you for services. Played straight by the local guild hall, charging you fully for the Absolute Zero quest contract (the most expensive contract in the game) despite the guild manager telling you she is absolutely terrified and plans to let her subordinates evacuate and handle the guild hall herself.
  • Plain evil in the case of Zinogre of Yukumo Village. Most of the monster's victims are the village children. No luck with getting any sort of privilege here.
• No Item Use for You: Getting hit with the "stench" status prevents you from using consumed items — like your health-restoring Potions. Tossing a Deodorant or stepping into another player's active Deodorant cures it. Expect to get stenched frequently when fighting Congalala, who farts and throws excretement like no tomorrow. Presumably you're too nauseated at the idea of eating while affected by "stench".
• No Name Given: People in these games are (usually) only ever referred to by their job and/or title, like the Handler, the Commander, the Bherna Elder, and so on. Aversions do exist - the General calling the Ace Cadet/Excitable A-Lister "Aiden" in Iceborne (plus mentioning the latter's master "Julius"), along with Rise and spin-offs like Stories having set names for all characters other than the PC - but remain uncommon at present.
• Nonindicative Name:
  • You may be surprised to find out that Bounce Bombs don't actually bounce. They're portable rockets used to hit monsters that like to crawl on ceilings.
  • The armor skill Unshakable (Rock Steady) is a combination skill that provides you with low earplugs, low wind resistance, and knockback reduction. The one thing it doesn't protect you from is... actual shaking, i.e. tremor resistance.
  • Black Diablos is considered a subspecies (its Japanese name is literally "Diablos Subspecies", as is the case with other such monsters), but starting in Portable 3rd, it was clarified that they are actually just common female Diablos in the mating season. A more recently-introduced monster with this characteristic would probably be classified as a variant rather than a subspecies, but Black Diablos is still treated as the latter anyway, and its in-game descriptions even lampshade it.
  • The Akantor and its ice counterpart Ukanlos are classified as Flying Wyverns, yet not only do they not fly, they don't even have wings. Several other "flying wyverns" such as Diablos and Tigrex can fly but prefer not to, while others like Gravios are simply too heavy to do more than achieve liftoff for a few seconds.
  • "Elder Dragon" is a term used to classify a lot of things that don't even resemble dragons, from the Kirin to various flavors of Eldritch Abomination. World clarifies that this is correct nomenclature for any organism with no connection to the evolutionary Tree of Life, and the name caught on after the earliest examples (such as Fatalis), well before they realized just how weird and non-dragon-like these species can get.
  • Brute Wyverns and Theropod Bird Wyverns are still called "wyverns" even though they don't have wings.
  • Contrary to their name, Hunting Horns do not sound anything like a trumpet; depending on the path you're making it from, it can sound like bagpipes (ore path) or a didjeridoo (bone path). This doesn’t even cover the hunting horns that are actually ‘‘string instruments‘‘.
• Non-Lethal K.O.: You can faint twice in a quest, but on the third time you will be taken out of the quest. You can never, however, actually die. Also, by trapping a monster and throwing tranq bombs at its head you can knock it out and capture it. Some quests require you to do this to win.
• Nonstandard Game Over:
  • Triggered by killing a monster when the objective is to capture it alive.
  • In quests where the objective is to defend the Town or Fortress, Lao Shan Lung, Shen Gaoren and Yama Tsukami can do this if you fail to stagger their attacks. Same with the hordes of monsters in Rise if they break the defenses of Kamura during a Rampage.
  • Happens if Ceadeus reaches the deeper underwater ruins without having its beard cut or if Jhen Mohran or Dah'ren Mohran manages to destroy the sandship you were traveling with.
  • A few quests, such as the Partbreaker Prowler quests in Generations and a few DLC quests in 4 Ultimate, are completed when you destroy a monster's specified body part. If you kill or capture the monster before destroying this part, you lose.
• Noob Bridge:
  • One of the major reasons why the series is so polarizing in the gaming community is that the average gamer assumes the game to be a standard Hack and Slash like Devil May Cry or God of War, until they get to the complex movement, weapon and camera controls, questing structure, combat mechanics and Equipment-Based Progression revolving around Set Bonuses. Interestingly, this also means it shares many fans with the similarly difficult and unforgiving Dark Souls series, which has roughly similar mechanics and features.
  • How do you cure attack, defense, and elemental affinity reduction statuses? Buff the offending stat (for example, eat an Adamant Seed, a weak defense-raising item, to cure Defense Down). Unfortunately, this isn't made clear in-game, which can make monsters that can reduce stats such as Deviljho and Akantor (the latter of which can cut your defense in half) needlessly difficult.
• Noob Cave: Many of the games have "training quests" specifically designed to get players used to the field mechanics, namely gathering, exploration and combat. These quests usually have the weakest monsters for you to fight, and in some cases might not even have aggressive monsters at all. Training quests for each of the available weapons are also present, pitting players against a handful of weak raptor mooks and the occasional 'Drome in order to give them a feel for each weapon's respective controls.
• Noodle Incident: The description for the Angel Parasol light bowgun states that the weapon was "found in the possession of a captured spy, [yet] the Guild has denied any involvement." This in a series of games where you never really see the actual Guild itself, just liaisons of.
• No OSHA Compliance: It's a wonder there are no reports of Troverians falling to their death in lava after you restore the lava flow in Harth.
• No-Sell:
  • Monsters can do this to melee attacks if the weapons used don't have the appropriate Sharpness levels, or if they enter a phase that gives them Super Armor (e.g. Fatalis). A sword swing bouncing off a monster's hide can have fatal consequences.
  • Apex Monsters in 4U are feared for a very good reason. Not only can they spread the Frenzy Virus, they cannot flinch, elements are straight up useless, traps do jack squat, and certain body parts are even Nigh-Invulnerable, bouncing even purple sharpness weapons. The only way to cut them down to size is to use the marvelous Wystones to temporarily bring them back to normal.
  • In Generations, the Adept Hunting Style allows you to do this to otherwise-deadly monster attacks by giving you a powerful dodge-dive that activates if the invulnerability frames of the standard dodge connect with a monster's attack.
  • Monster roars tend to be an annoyance, because as soon as the monster roars, and depending on how loud the monster is, Hunters in range will drop what they're doing (even in the middle of a combo) to protect their ears. In games where it shows up, the "Earplugs" skill is helpful in this regard, nullifying the effect of roars; it comes in several levels of increasing effectiveness, but maxing it out will ensure that all but the loudest of monster roars (usually by the largest of Elder Dragons) will be unable to interrupt a Hunter.
• Nostalgia Level:
  • Following the end of the main scenario in 4/4U, the Caravan rebands to help the Ace Hunters repair a damaged Dondurma, the location of 2's online lobby.
  • The Dunes from 4 Ultimate is actually the Old Desert from the very first Monster Hunter, complete with the same music. While the layout of each area has changed drastically to accommodate the more vertical gameplay, the paths and perimeters of the new map◊ are clearly based on the old map◊.
  • Generations allows you to visit Kokoto, Pokke and Yukumo as well as the various hunting grounds associated with them.
• Not Completely Useless:
  • Insect Husks have long been the pinnacle of joke items in the Monster Hunter series. They can't be used to make anything and they're only worth one Zenny. The fourth generation at least gave the Insect Husk one use: they can be used to Sushifish bait. Not the most exciting feature, but at least it can actually be used for something now.
  • Mosswine Jerky was a novelty in previous games. While they did speed up your ability to heal, their effect was much shorter than Immunizers, which would last until you fainted. In 4 Ultimate, Mosswine Jerky can be used to cure the Bleeding status effect. As the only other ways to cure it are crouching or eating a steak, neither of which is practical in the middle of battle, Mosswine Jerky ended up becoming very useful for anyone that didn't have the skill that negated bleeding.^note Though Mosswine Jerky does have an more practical secondary effect. It fully heals the red portion of your health bar, making it sometimes more effective than a Mega Potion if you're fighting something that can take out a lot of health in a single hit. However, since you can only carry five Jerkies at a time, you're better off saving them for Bleeding status if you're fighting a Seregios.
  • Sushifish traditionally restores a small bit of health. So why carry these when you could use Mega Potions instead, you may ask? In Generations, in lieu of Mosswine Jerky, Sushifish gains bleeding-curing properties, but you can carry ten of them.
  • The kick was a joke attack in previous games, thanks to its slow speed and minimal damage. The only remarkable thing about the kick was its immunity to being deflected, which was worthless since the kick was so weak. The kick's immunity to being deflected becomes very useful when fighting Konchu and Najarala. The Konchu's shell will deflect your weapons, but they're left vulnerable afterwards, making the kick the easiest way to kill Konchu for most weapons. Najarala's scales will stun people when they explode, but they can be safely destroyed with a single hit, at the cost of deflecting your weapon. Again, this makes the kick the best way to get rid of them for most weapons.
  • The spiked meat items (Drugged Meat for sleep, Tinged Meat for paralysis, Poisoned Meat for poison) are normally nigh-useless due to the fact that you need specific conditions to get monsters to actually fall for them (monster is exhausted and doesn't notice you putting it on the ground). They see far more use against Deviljho, as its extreme hunger means that when it's enraged, it will go for these meats even if it does see you planting them.
• Number of the Beast:
  • Every Deviljho weapon in 4U costs 66666 Zenny to craft. Someone really wanted to emphasize the "Devil" in "Deviljho". In Generations, the final upgrade of each Savage Deviljho weapon requires 66666 Zenny.
  • Every Nakarkos weapon in Generations costs 6666 Zenny to craft.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: In 3 and 3 Ultimate, once the Ceadeus is revealed to be the true source of Moga's earthquakes, the Hunter's Guild demands that you abandon Moga Village, claiming that it's "out of your league". Naturally, you and the Guild Sweetheart ignore their orders and take out the Ceadeus.
• Oddball in the Series: Tri does a lot of things differently compared to games before and after it:
  • Along with its Updated Re-release 3 Ultimate, it is the only mainline game (i.e. not Frontier, Stories, etc.) to have non-Felyne AI companions, and the only game to have Shakalakas as companions, as well as the only game alongside 3 Ultimate to have underwater mechanics.
  • It is the only game to remove weapons (Dual Blades, Gunlance, Hunting Horn, and Bow), and in which Bowguns come in mix-and-matchable parts rather than being entirely-fixed weapons. Lastly, it is the only game to have Medium Bowguns.
  • A lot of mainstay monsters that appeared in previous generations of games were removed for this game, with some of them being brought back for Portable 3rd and/or 3 Ultimate. 4 would bring back a lot of the usual 1st- and 2nd-gen monsters (and, in a reversal, ditches all monsters from Tri except Great Jaggi and Deviljho, though more of them would return in subsequent games).
• Oh, Crap!: Your character will sometimes flinch when they are spotted by a large monster.
• Old Save Bonus:
  • In Generations, players can earn a little extra something if they have Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate save data. Players with save data from the spin-off title Monster Hunter Diary DX can also pick up an extra, which is a little nicer than the bonus acquired from 4 Ultimate.
  • Generations Ultimate lets you send forward your save data from Generations, carrying over most (but not all) data from the old file.
  • World Iceborne bypasses this altogether since, as an Expansion Pack, it simply uses the save game from World.
• Ominous Latin Chanting:
  • During the battles against the three varieties of Fatalis, recurring Superbosses of the games. White Fatalis' theme also has some Russian mixed in.
  • The first part of the fight with the Lao-Shan Lung features some Latin.
  • The Ceadeus's second battle theme includes a lot of tonal chanting, but it's Indonesian instead of Latin.
  • Dire Miralis' theme in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.
• Ominous Obsidian Ooze: The Final Boss of the multiplayer campaign of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Gogmazios, attacks with a black, tar-like substance that incapacitates hunters and, if not gotten rid of quickly, will explode and cause them massive damage. Supposedly, the monster got all this substance in its body after a lifetime diet of sulphur and gunpowder.
• One-Winged Angel: Many monsters have tougher, alternate forms or subspecies that fulfill this trope, such as the Raging Brachydios or the Savage Deviljho, but none more appropriately than the Gore Magala. After spending the entirety of low and high rank fighting against that thing, it is discovered that far from being driven off for good, it was, in fact, only a larval state. And now, having retreated and completed its metamorphosis, the Shagaru Magala is here to bring about the end of the world, as was foretold in Cathar's ancient legends. It even looks the part, having gone from its sleek, black form, to a creature that is all jagged horns and teeth, and is coloured shimmering gold.
• One-Man Army: Entirely possible. In fact, it actually gets invoked in Tri and 3 Ultimate. The Ceadeus is specifically stated to require an entire army of G Rank hunters to defeat, but you manage to kill it on your own.
• Only Mostly Dead: If you're reduced to 0 HP by a blow that sends you flying and crashing onto the ground, you only actually faint once your getting-up animation begins. If a Palico or party member heals you in that tiny interval of time, you're fine.
• Only the Chosen May Wield: In 4U, upgrading Sunsnug Isle's Palico capacity to 50 Palicoes allows them to build a bridge to an island in the distance. On the island is a sword lodged in the rock, and any attempt to pull it out ends in failure. If you help the Cowardly Palico gather up his courage by defeating Akantor at Ingle Isle, you can pull out the sword to acquire a unique Sword and Shield, the Heroic Blade, which can then be upgraded to the Master's Blade.
• Opening the Sandbox: High Rank in World abandons the "chain of required quests" structure of Low Rank (and most games of the series), instead unlocking the next Urgent Quest once the player gathers enough tracks in the field to track down the relevant monster. These tracks can appear in the field during any high-rank activity, so it's completely up to the player what quests and expeditions they want to pursue while building their research level.
• Organ Drops:
  • The whole point of the game is to kill monsters for their gooey bits (scales, bones, and even organs) to make better weapons and armor to kill even stronger monsters for their gooey bits. Certain monsters will drop parts if you hit them hard enough or deal enough damage to certain parts of their bodies. Also, there are a couple that can be carved for parts while they're still alive. Even when you capture them alive with traps and tranq bombs, you're still rewarded with their gooey bits, and they're alive and well, contently sleeping in Astera despite having just lost their organs.
  • Gobul from Monster Hunter 3 seems to be savvy about this, and leaves his whiskers out as a Schmuck Bait (not to say Gobul Whiskers aren't valuable). Anyone who incautiously tries to gather from them ends up getting spiked or bitten.
• Our Dwarves Are All the Same: The Troverian race, introduced in 4 Ultimate. While they're about the same height as a human, they nonetheless have all the stock features of most Dwarven races: stout bodies, huge beards and large nosed faces. To top it all off, they even run a mining, smelting and building operation inside an active volcano.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Most of the monsters in the series are dragons of some kind; many of the more common reptilian species make up different categories of Wyverns, while hugely powerful, cataclysmic monsters that defy normal classification are called Elder Dragons, regardless of their resemblance to traditional dragons. The exclusive use of the term "dragon" in Western versions to refer to Elder Dragons and their associated Dragon element is a translation stylistic choice; in Japanese, there are two different kanji for "dragon", which are both pronounced "ryū". 竜 is used for Wyverns, and is generally used to refer to Western dragons outside of Monster Hunter, while 龍 is used for Elder Dragons and the Dragon element, and is generally used to refer to Eastern dragons (particularly of the mystical/godlike variety).
• Our Elves Are Different: The Wyvernian race. They possess reptilian features, have abnormally long lifespans compared to humans, are very fond of technology, and their sizes range from having childlike proportions to being as big as a room. And for bonus points, they have pointed ears too.
• Our Wyverns Are Different: Most of the monsters one fights are wyverns of some sort, typically four-limbed, winged reptiles with a long tail and claws on both wings. They are extremely diverse, and nearly every main monster in the series that isn't an arthropod, mammal or amphibian or one of the immensely powerful Elder Dragons is classified as a wyvern of some kind.
  • "Bird Wyverns" are either small wyverns with bird-like features (like beaks and feathers) or dromaeosaurs the size of small cars.
  • "Flying Wyverns" are larger, more dragon-like wyverns. They vary greatly in design and size, including such creatures as the wormlike Khezu, the batlike Paolumu, the fire-breathing reptilian Rathalos and the colossal stony Gravios.
  • "Pseudo-Wyverns" tend to use their wings as forelegs, and often resemble real-life animals like panthers and tyrannosaurs. The exceptions are Akantor and Ukanlos, who lack wings but still have the Pseudo-Wyvern body structure.
  • "Piscine Wyverns" are amphibious monsters found in either water, lava or sand, and often resemble fish.
  • "Brute Wyverns" are more tyrannosaur-like theropods, usually wingless (their forelimbs are typically stubby arms) and built for brute strength.
  • "Fanged Wyverns" are quadrupedal, terrestrial monsters with no wings and can be either reptilian (Great Jagras, Tobi-Kadachi) or mammalian (Zinogre, Odogaron).
  • "Snake Wyverns" are serpentine creatures with long bodies and forked tongues.
  • "Leviathans" are a part of this group since they drop some of the same items like Wyvern Tears and were called Sea Wyverns in Japanese. They're quadrupedal like Pseudo-Wyverns; they're often found in water, lava, or sand; and their body structures range from resembling crocodiles such as Lagiacrus to resembling fish such as Gobul.
• Overly Generous Time Limit: The games traditionally give the player a 50-minute time limit for most quests. Whether the time limit is trope tends to vary; on offline single-player quests and when hunting online with a full party, quests are often over before the timer is even halfway depleted, taking maybe 10-15 minutes tops. However, should a player decide to solo a quest tailored for multiplayer, the player may find themselves in a legitimate race against the clock, especially if they choose to take on an endgame-tier monster.
• Overly Long Fighting Animation:
  • Rathalos has a move in which he takes to the air, flies one or two rounds around an area, and finally dives at the Hunter with talons outstretched. This was updated a bit in 4U wherein it will shoot some fireballs while it circles, which makes it a little less tedious, but not by much. This move was heavily restricted in Generations, where Rathalos only uses it in a select number of areas. Ironically, World finally removed it, though now Paolumu can pull it off when fighting in its lair.
  • Hunters themselves have item-use animations wherein they either flex their arms triumphantly or rub their belly and burp. It's not very long, but in the middle of a heated fight, you're bound to get attacked during that animation.
  • The Switch Axe's Trance Slash Hunter Art in Generations has a total duration of eight seconds. It's extremely difficult to land every hit against a moving target (albeit, a fairly large one), so it's advised to incapacitate the monster in some way before executing the attack.
  • The Gunlance's Wyrmstake in World. The hunter extends the Wyrmstake, steadies the weapon, thrusts it forward, then breaks the stake off. This takes about three or four seconds of standing still and being exposed. For the cherry on top Wyrmstake is used via an input that belonged to a much quicker move in previous games.
  • Though not one animation exactly, the Hammers Big Bang is a nearly 20 second combo of moves building up to a huge spinning overhead smash. The big damage comes from that last hit, but if any of the first four inputs fails to deal damage, the combo is dropped and there's a multiple second recovery animation before you can even try again. The charged Big Bang has similar damage to the last hit and is easier to get out, but doesn't quite match the dps of the full combo, partially because it still has that recovery animation.
• Oxygen Meter: Tri and 3 Ultimate provide one for underwater hunts. The meter is surprisingly generous and you can hunt underwater for minutes before having to resurface, find oxygen bubbles, or use an Oxygen Supply item. The Air Philter and Mega Air Philter items as well as certain food combinations extend the gauge, and getting the Endless Oxygen skill through 10 Oxygen skill points eliminates the problem altogether. This is important, as many monsters like the Lagiacrus, Gobul, and Plesioth fight primarily in the water, and some other monsters like the Ceadeus and the Abyssal Lagiacrus are fought entirely underwater.
• Pain-Powered Leap: Severing the tail of a monster while it's toppled or stunned will cause it to leap back up onto its feet and wince in pain.
• Palette Swap:
  • Most monsters have subspecies (eg. Rathalos: red, blue, and silver), with each different color variant having few, if any, noticeable physical differences between them. Despite this, they always have new moves and almost always have different elements associated with them. For example, the regular Gigginox poisons, while the Baleful Gigginox subspecies uses lightning.
  • Equipment crafted from subspecies parts is likewise usually visually the same but in a new color. But they are very different in terms of statistics and use as well.
• Panthera Awesome: Nargacuga.
• Papa Wolf:
  • The Aptonoth. The alpha male will attempt to fight back when its kind is threatened while the others flee, only to run away himself.
  • The Kokoto Village Chief was this to the entire village, but sadly not enough to save his wife from the Monoblos.
  • Played straight with the Moga Village Chief's Son, who had to face a Great Jaggi to save a child.
  • Try stealing a Wyvern Egg in any quest involving a Rathalos. You'll regret it soon enough.
• Passing the Torch: At the end of the Dundorma quest chain in 4U's story mode, the Master of Defense decides to pass on his prized hunting knife to his former pupil, the Ace Commander, before departing.
• Perpetual-Motion Monster: Hyper monsters in Generations and Generations Ultimate never get exhausted.
• Photo Mode: The Camera option in Iceborne and Rise brings up the View Finder for taking pictures, which can be switched between first-person view and third-person (Cohoot View in Rise) for selfies. The selfie view adds posing options, and you can still move your character as long as you're in the view. If you have pets with you, they'll pose as well. Besides sharing, the photos can be used to update the Hunter's Notes. This doesn't pause the game, however.
• Pile Bunker: What the Dragonator weapons are. These are MASSIVE steam-powered war engines that slam gigantic spikes into the monster's body if it's in melee range. A number of quests involve repairing or refueling a Dragonator in preparation of a major attack.
• Pintsized Powerhouse:
  • The Dengeki Khezu, Mini Kut-Ku and Phantom Uragaan. Very cute, very tiny...and very lethal.
  • An event quest in 3 Ultimate has you fight several mini Qurupecos, as well as their crimson brethren.
  • The Peddling Granny is only little more than half your height, yet is capable of carrying a massive backpack full of items, about twice of your and her size combined.
  • The Wyvernian Smith in Tri is shorter than the children in the village, but easily carries a blacksmith's hammer bigger than he is on his shoulder.
  • The male Seltas in 4U is capable of airlifting the much larger Seltas Queen and dragging her around as a battering ram.
  • The Felyne Comrades/Palicoes and Shakalakas. The former are capable of wielding weapons bigger than they are, while the latter can send even hunters flying in a single attack when enraged. Not to mention the fact they're Made of Iron. Generations lets you play as a Palico (i.e. Prowler mode), and with the right setup, a Prowler is just as dangerous to a monster as a human Hunter is.
  • From the perspective of the monsters themselves, the hunters are this. Who would have thought that a puny five-foot-something human can knock a 22 meter carnivorous wyvern on its back with an oversized club, much less cause a dragon the size of a football field to flee for dear life?
  • 4/4U gives us the tiny "A Lost Civilization" Tetsucabra, who is about the third as large as the average Tetsucabra, and not much taller than the average Hunter. It's also just as powerful as any other High Rank Tetsucabra.
  • Generations has a special event Gammoth that is about a fifth the size of a normal Gammoth (which are three stories tall), but is just as powerful as a standard High Rank Gammoth.
  • Rajang is roughly the size of two Hunters put together, yet its acrobatic fighting style and surprisingly strong muscles relative to its size make it one of the most dangerous monsters that isn't an Elder Dragon, rivaled only by Deviljho.
• Pistol-Whipping: Taken to the Logical Extreme with the "Nibel Blammer", a weapon for your palicoes in 4/4U. It's an assault rifle made from Nibelsnarf scraps... but they use it as a hammer. The weapon's description states that the firing mechanism was removed for easy palico use. Three other related cases: The Nibelsnarf Charge Blade in Generations is a Charge Blade that looks like a riot shield and bayonet-equipped rifle, which obviously cannot shoot (since it's a Charge Blade, not a Bowgun), and the various 'Drome weapons in Generations and the Jagras club in World, both palico weapons, resemble bolt-action rifles — again, only for clubbing.
• Play Every Day: World gives out a Login Bonus every day for joining an Online Session. This grants you one common item for free and a Lucky Voucher. The Lucky Voucher can be expended when starting a Quest, and clearing the Quest with the Lucky Voucher active will double the Zenny rewarded and grant you every possible completion reward. You are actively encouraged to use the Lucky Vouchers as well, since you can only hold up to five at any given time.
• Player Mooks: A variation exclusive to Frontier, wherein players can choose to register their own characters as "Roster"^note written as "Rasta" in katakana and often Romanized that way hunters, which can be recruited by other hunters as AI-controlled helpers much in the same vein as Palicoes and Halks. Roster hunters are equipped with whatever gear their respective players were wearing during registration, though their effectiveness in battle is middling at best due to their rather basic AI.
• Poisoned Weapons: Status effects on some weapons.
• Post-End Game Content:
  • A number of monsters aren't available until after you post and beat the designated Final Boss Urgent Quest. Don't think of trying to piggyback on another player's quest, as the HR / G-Rank Permit requirements require the player to defeat said final boss.
  • All level 10 Special Permit quests in Generations require HR 8 or greater (meaning you must beat the final boss Urgent Quest of the Hunters' Hub, "Hellfire Star"), and in Generations Ultimate, the G5 quests require HR 13 or greater (beat "Castle on the Run"). Bloodbath Diablos similarly has a HR 13 requirement.
  • There is a whole boatload of content after finishing the Iceborne expansion for World, ranging from raising your Master Rank levels to access special assignments, the two siege bosses, and exploring the Guiding Lands.
• Power Equals Rarity:
  • Played with concerning weapons and armor. Each piece of gear is given a "Rarity" rating and a corresponding color code, ranging from Rare-1 to Rare-10, and is generally one of the guidelines to use when comparing stats (e.g. a Rare-5 weapon is usually much stronger than a Rare-3 weapon, though not always, especially with the upgrading system of Generations and Generations Ultimate). However, this system works more like a strength ranking metric than an actual indicator of how rare the equipment actually is. Played straight, however, in the sense that higher Rarity equipment requires more difficult-to-attain crafting materials, which can be a pain in the rear to farm.
  • Talismans, a piece of auxiliary equipment introduced in the 3rd Gen games, tend to play this trope straight, to the point where gamers have come up with speedrunning methods for grinding the rarer Charms used to make high-level Talismans.
  • In-Universe, some of the stronger monsters like Silver Rathalos, Lucent Nargacuga and Molten Tigrex are said to be "Rare Species" which only reside at specific locales.
• Power Levels: Most games in the series assign a Threat rating to each monster that gives a rough idea of how strong it is compared to other monsters.
  • For most of the series, it ranged from 1-Star to 6-Stars. The first 2 are for small monsters, 1-Star for monsters that don't attack unless provoked and 2-Stars for monsters that attack on sight. Three and beyond are for large monsters, 3-Star monsters are Warm Up Bosses, 4-Star monsters are tougher mid-game bosses, 5-Star monsters are powerful late-game bosses, and 6-Star monsters are most Elder Dragons, exceptionally powerful monsters like Rajang and Deviljho, and final bosses.
  • Generations expanded it to 8-Stars. 6-Star monsters consist of very powerful regular monsters, most Deviant monsters, and lesser Elder Dragons, 7-Star monsters are mostly Elder Dragons, and 8-Star monsters are multiplayer final bosses.
  • Rise expanded it to 10-Stars, but small monsters are no longer rated, meaning the minimum Threat rating for large monsters is 1-Star instead of 3-Stars. Regular monsters can have 6-Star or 7-Star ratings; 8-Star monsters are Elder Dragons, monsters comparable to Elder Dragons like Rajang, and lesser Apex monsters; 9-Star monsters are the penultimate final boss and stronger Apex monsters; and 10-Star monsters are the final boss, the post-game boss, and the most powerful Apex monsters.
• Practical Taunt: Palicoes and Shakalaka companions have "Taunt" skills that they can use to Draw Aggro away from you. Generations introduces a Hunter Art known as Provoke and a meal skill known as Felyne Provoker that has the same effect, but with you as the subject. The negative armor skill of Sense manifests as increased aggro from monsters and is denoted with the description "Taunt" in the list of activated armor skills. In all of these cases a Blademaster can use this "skill" to draw some (but not all) attention from their Gunner teammates.
• Priceless Paperweight: This can get downplayed in the 4/4U post-game. Once the Caravaneer gives you the Article as a present, the game will treat it like any other Shagaru Magala Pure Scale. If you want to make yourself Shagaru Magala gear, any piece needing at least one Pure Scale may end up being made with the one that used to be the Article.
• Prized Possession Giveaway: In 4 Ultimate, after the Hunter, with the help of the Ace Hunters, manages to repel Rusted Kushala Daora to drive it away from the city of Dundorma, the Master of Defense gives his old pupil (the Ace Commander) his trusty carving knife as a memento for all the time they spent together. This means a lot to the Commander because it shows that the Master's faith and friendship towards him never waned, not even after an ill-fated mistake on the Commander's part during a hunting quest caused a Career-Ending Injury to the Master several years ago.
• Product Delivery Ordeal:
  • The object delivery quests that appear in the games are divided into two types: The standard Fetch Quest where the hunter simply has to gather a number of collectibles (mushrooms, berries, goldenfish, etc.), and the challenge is simply based on checking where they are,... and the more difficult variant where you probably know already where the requested object is, but it has to be carried with both hands due to their bigger size, weight and fragility. Under this condition, the hunter is unable to attack, and cannot run for too long because running out of stamina will force them to drop the object and break it. And nine times out of them, there will not only be several small monsters lurking around but also a very powerful large monster (like Rathian or Deviljho). In addition, for quests tailored for single player (where no other player can provide a distraction for the monsters), the game will arbitrarily place enormous boulders in certain parts after the first item is placed to the delivery box in the camp base, in order to force the hunter to take a longer route, going through areas where they'll likely have to climb a very tall rocky wall through vines, or carefully descend between spots (as falling down abruptly will also break the item). Last, but far from least, transporting a Wyvern Egg will also have the Raths actively chase the hunter.
  • There's a kind of delivery quest where the hunter is sent to a volcanic region to find and deliver a hot volcanic material to the camp base. The biggest caveat isn't the small (or large) monsters lurking around or the convoluted transport path(s), but the high temperature of the object in the hands. For obvious reasons, it will make the hunter's HP gradually decrease, thus needing the help of a Palico (or Shakalaka, in the case of Monster Hunter 3 (Tri) and 3 Ultimate) who can heal them periodically.
• Promoted to Playable: Ever wanted to play as a Felyne? Generations lets you do just that in Prowler Mode, where you take control of a Felyne, complete with unique weapons, abilities, and traits, and you can accompany both other player Felynes and fellow Hunters on Hunting Quests.
• Pungeon Master:
  • One of the Moga villagers in Tri is an absolute master of puns, and throws at least one in almost every single conversation with the player. She manages to make them even worse by explaining them all.
  • The Ace Cadet in 4U tends to use monster names as puns.
  • Felynes consistently make cat-related puns.
• Purely Aesthetic Gender: The vast majority of armor pieces only have cosmetic differences between their male and female counterparts. Downplayed a bit in Generations, where you can unlock armor designs that are only for one gender and do not have an opposite-gender equivalent; these tend to be outfits based on specific in-game Non Player Characters
• Purple Is Powerful:
  • The series has Purple as the highest accessible level of melee weapon sharpness in the main series. The only games that really subvert this are the PC games, though occasionally there will be the odd main game that only reaches up to White sharpness, the level immediately below Purple. Purple is typically reserved only for the final tier or upgrade of weapons, and will occasionally require an additional armor skill to unlock, though some weapons will never reach Purple no matter what you do. Subverted in Frontier, where some weapons can go beyond purple sharpness and reach cyan sharpness.
  • Related to the Power Equals Rarity entry, Rare-10 equipment is color-coded as purple.
  • Some monster subspecies have blue or purple as their defining color, and are much stronger than their regular counterparts in some form. Examples include Purple Gypceros and Purple Ludroth.
  • A few monsters glow purple when they get enraged or enter a Super Mode, including Amatsu, Gore Magala, and Varusaburosu.
  • The Gore Magala is primarily black and purple in color.
  • Frenzy-infected monsters and their icons glow purple.
  • Dreadqueen Rathian has distinctive purple markings and is one of the most powerful variants of the species.
  • Inverted with the three different strengths of poison. Standard poison is colored purple, "Noxious Poison" is colored magenta, and "Deadly Poison" is colored red.
  • Tempered monsters are distinguished in World by having a purple aura around their icons.
  • Equipment made with Deviant Monster parts have neon purple icons.
  • Magnamalo equipment shares the monster's purple coloring.
• Purple Prose: Weapon and Armor descriptions tend to be pretty straightforward for the most part, but once get into G-Rank, a lot of those descriptions suddenly get a lot more metaphorical and poetic. Also the default setting for a number of the Elder Dragons' gear, which due to their status get loftier gear descriptions from the get-go.
• Put on a Bus and Written-In Absence: Lagiacrus and Gobul were noticeably absent from Portable 3rd, even though the same locations are used in this game as their debut in Tri. Their disappearance from this game are attributed to the summer season taking over their habitats, leaving areas previously used for underwater combat dried up.
  • Generally speaking, a number of monsters have come, gone, and come back from game to game. Lunastra having gone a massive length between entries was even given a special reception for her long-awaited return in World. Before that, Generations Ultimate/XX gave Barioth the honor of being the intro cinematic showcase monster despite not being one flagship monster for the entry when it was revealed to be a returning monster. Not to mention, in the case of World, a majority of the classic series were all given bus rides to make room for new-world monsters with no real hints as to which ones will be making a return during its early seasons.
• Raijū:
  • Rajang is a Thunder-type monster, can appear like a ball of thunder or fire, has yellow and black fur, and looks like the monkey-like depiction of the raiju. It has only one tail, which can be cut to make it lose power.
  • The Zinogre is also based on the raiju, being a wolf-like monster capable of generating powerful electrical shocks.
• Rainbow Pimp Gear:
  • Wearing a complete set of uniform armor not only looks good, but it will also unlock the Armor Skills associated with your choice of armor. However, rarely will a player consider all of the skills a certain set gives to be useful (especially when many sets also give negative points towards other skills), and even less often will a single set provide all the skills the player would want. Additionally, certain skills have additional levels to them which can't be reached by simply completing a set; this all leads to some extremely outlandish armor combinations when players hunt for the best optimization of defense, skills and decoration slots.
  • This is further compounded by how certain sets have an unusual theme, such as the Wroggi set resembling a cowboy outfit, the Agnaktor set resembling a medieval knight's armor, and the Mosgharl set being a bright orange scarecrow/jack-o-lantern inspired outfit. Meanwhile, other sets much resemble the monsters they came from, with Duramboros, Barroth and Rhenoplos sets being extremely bulky, and armor from monsters like Volvidon or Brachydios keep their vibrant red, blue or green colors.
  • Some armor pieces do not increase any skills, but are instead tagged with Torso Up, which doubles whatever skill points the player's chest armor gives. None of the Torso Up armors have decoration slots, so this only leaves the choice of whichever one gives the highest or most suitable defense, which almost inevitably leads to very mismatched gear.
  • Some sets are also incomplete, for example the Diablos armor used to be only a helm, chestplate, and armguards, requiring you to find another set to fill the missing slots.
  • On a more literal note, S-Rank and other higher rank armours have the option to change its color, including one "Rainbow" option. Relevant, seeing as they are best worn in sets.^note In 4U, you can color all your armours from the beginning, unlocking the Rainbow color option when you complete the Caravaneer's Challenge.
  • Generations Ultimate allows players to avert this by adding the option to change a piece of equipment's appearance by combining it with another one. This costs money and a special material that can only be found in G-Rank missions. Additionally, the equipment that is disguising the one the player is actually using cannot be used until the player defuses the equipment. Also, DLC equipment cannot be changed with this system, and Deviant equipment can only be changed after defeating a ridiculously souped-up version of that Deviant.
  • World introduces Layered Armor, which unlike Armor Fusion does not tie visual armor and functional armor to each other, so you can freely mix and match them, making it easier to run a mixed build without looking like a fashion show reject. Layered Armor pieces have to be separately purchased, rather than converting existing functional armor to Layered.
• Randomly Drops: To be more specific, randomly carves from dead monster.
  • 4/4U's Guild Quests. You have a random chance of getting these whenever you go hunt monsters in the Everwood on Expeditions, with the rate increasing every time you successfully hunt a monster, or pick up one of its shiny drops (which enforces Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny! even more). These are important because there are some monsters you can only find in Expeditions and Guild Quests, including the Basarios/Ruby Basarios, Yian Kut-Ku/Blue Yian Kut-Ku, Yian Garuga, and Kirin/Oroshi Kirin, and the more difficult the monster, the rarer the drop rate for that monster's Guild Quest. It doesn't stop there, since the drop rate is also affected by what exactly you hunt, with different monsters providing different drop rates for different Guild Quests. All of this adds up to creating a potentially aggravating experience when trying to farm Everwood-only monsters and can never seem to get that one monster whose Guild Quest you need.
• Randomly Generated Levels: Everwood. While the areas themselves are static, the game chooses a random permutation of them each time you go through the map.
• Random Number God: Experienced hunters can tell you horror stories about their attempts to appease the RNG, which has been outfitted with a "desire sensor" that reduces the drop rate of any monster part you really really need to make your armor. The only way to increase the chances of getting something is to not want it. Mind, you have to actually not want it. The Desire Sensor is immune to reverse psychology. Petting the pig may help you, though. Maybe.
• Rank Inflation: In earlier games, Hunter Rank tops out at single-digits, but later games increase the HR cap to double and eventually triple digits. In fact, in several games, once you finish High Rank, or G Rank in Generations Ultimate, the limit on your HR is removed and you can start earning HR points instead of having to clear Urgent Quests to rank up. However, your HR points don't start from zero the moment your limit is removed, they've been building up throughout the entire game, so it is not uncommon for a player who has just completed the "HR break" Urgent Quest to suddenly jump from HR 7 to at least HR 50, depending on how many quests they've done to that point.
• Rare Random Drop: The much coveted Plates/Gems/monster-dependent G-Rank drops that are required for armor and/or weapons. These things have the lowest drop rates for the particular monster in question, and as the Random Number God trope will tell you, many a hunter can go for hunt upon hunt upon hunt and never get that Plate/Gem/monster-dependent G-Rank drop that they really need, all thanks to the much loathed "Desire Sensor". World helped mitigate this by introducing Melding, which allows rare carves to be created in exchange for Limited Bounty rewards.
• Raptor Attack: The first aggressive monsters the player always encounters are basically these, with the exception of World. The first generation introduces the "Velociprey" line — Velociprey, Genprey and Ioprey, as well as their "alpha" males Velocidrone, Gendrome and Iodrome, respectively, with the second generation adding the Giaprey and Giadrome to the family. The third generation replaces them with the "Jaggi" line — Jaggi and Baggi, with their "alpha males" Great Jaggi and Great Baggi, respectively, with Portable 3rd adding the Wroggi and Great Wroggi to the roster. Generations introduces the Maccaos and their alpha, the Great Maccao, which are feathered, kangaroo-kicking raptors. World's Jagras, named for its behavioral similarities to the Jaggi, is instead a panther-like iguana. Rise returns to form with the Izuchi and the Great Izuchi, Kamaitachi-like raptors that can spin around and trip up players with their bladed tails.
• Razor Floss: The Bow's Blade Wire Hunter Art in Generations. The Hunter takes two arrows and strings them together with a thin wire. While this disables Coatings, it also replaces the normal shot with a wide, dual-arrow shot connected by a wire that slices through all in its path. It's notable for the sole fact that it deals significant Cutting damage, a department that the Bow has never previously been proficient in. Cutting tails is a problem no longer!
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Invoked a couple of times.
  • For some reason, the PSP port of Monster Hunter G had the original multiplayer hub, Minegarde Town, cut from the game and added a Gathering Hall to Kokoto Village as a replacement. The in-game explanation is that the road between Kokoto and Minegarde is closed.
  • The May 2013 shutdown of Tri's Western online servers was written into 3 Ultimate's lore as being the result of a particularly vicious Jhen Mohran attack that managed to utterly demolish Loc Lac City, with the survivors fleeing to Port Tanzia via watercraft. However, this doesn't explain why NPCs in Generations have dialogue that implies that Loc Lac City is still intact.
• Recoil Boost:
  • The Light Bowgun's Bullet Geyser Hunter Art has a lot of fun with this. When activated, the Hunter backsteps, then fires a powerful explosive at the ground that also launches him/her back a good several meters, then the explosive bursts into a pillar of flame that damages nearby monsters. You can use this to get out of sticky situations while fighting back simultaneously.
  • A Hunter Art for Gunlance also gets in on the action by using a shell as propulsion. If there's a monster in the way, the flying Hunter will proceed to bring the Gunlance down on it.
• Recurring Riff: Monster Hunter Tri has a recurring segment in its opening theme that also plays in the battle themes for Moga Woods/Deserted Island, Alatreon, Dire Miralis, and the arena. A dark, twisted version of the segment shows up in Deviljho's theme.
• Red Baron:
  • Many powerful wyverns almost seem as if people are worshiping their awesomeness, as certain titles and motifs tend to appear over Quest Names, Monster Descriptions and Item Descriptions. For example, Khezu is the "Light in the Dark", Blangonga is "The Ruler of the Snow", Yian Garuga is "The Lone Wolf", Rathalos is the "King of the Skies", etc. One would think with all the monsters in existence by now, it'd get difficult to top the titles they already have. Played with when the Moga Village Chief in Tri talks about the Lagiacrus:
  Moga Chief: "The Azure Lightning! The Lord of the Seas! The... the Stinky Sea-Devil! OK, I made that last one up."
  • Elder Dragon titles. The Goldbeard Ceadeus is the "Surpasser of Gods" and the Dire Miralis is the "Lord of Hell Fire and Calamity."
• Red Eyes, Take Warning:
  • Quite a few monsters get this when they go into rage mode.
  • The Great Sword's Lion's Maw Hunter Art in Generations consists of a single powerful slash, followed by a sheath. Upon sheathing the weapon, the Hunter suddenly gains a red and black Battle Aura and glowing red eyes, made even more threatening by the aura obscuring the Hunter's face with darkness. When the Hunter appears like this, the strength of the next attack is greatly boosted.
• Red Is Violent:
  • Dragon-element attacks, typically wielded by some of the most powerful monsters in the series, are represented by dark red mists and blasts of energy.
  • In Generations and Generations Ultimate, some of the Deviant monsters have access to an extra-potent form of poison that is represnted by red mists and bubbles, and the symbol for it is a mixture of purple and red dots.
• Regenerating Health:
  • If a Hunter takes damage, they can slowly regenerate half of the damage they took, denoted by a red portion of their health gauge, as long as they don't take another hit. While this is a slow process, eating some Mosswine Jerky will restore all of the red portion of the gauge at once.
  • In Generations, a generic Hunter Art, Oasis, makes the Hunter to place a large device on the ground that causes Hunters standing near it to quickly regenerate their health in short bursts.
• Regional Bonus:
  • The Japanese releases for certain games often include tie-ins with local gaming and manga publications. Some examples are the Jolly Roger set in Unite, Asuna's sword in Tri and the Tessaiga in 4.
  • Tri's Western release drops the monthly fees for multiplayer and also allows for voice chat online.
• Remixed Level: Shows up many times in the series, either within the same title or across different ones. Of note is that all remixed areas tend to feature different subsets of monsters from the regular versions.
  • Freedom 2/Unite has a large number of remixed zones, some bearing bigger differences than others.
    • Jungle (Day) takes place during bright and sunny low tide hours, allowing you to cross a sandbar towards a nearby island filled with treasure. Jungle (Night) takes place in the middle of a thunderstorm (thus disabling outdoor bomb use), and the sandbar is submerged by the waves.
    • Swamp (Day) is cold and rainy, disabling the use of Barrel Bombs as long as you're outdoors. Swamp (Night) has no precipitation, but toxic gases begin rising out of the bog in certain places instead.
    • Desert (Day) is hot and arid, requiring the use of Cool Drinks to keep your health from draining. Desert (Night) is absolutely freezing, requiring Hot Drinks to keep your Stamina from dropping fast.
    • Volcano (Day) lets you climb the mountain as far up as the crater area, allowing you to mine for rare minerals along its rim. At night, however, the volcanic activity greatly intensifies, blocking all access to the crater and creating impassable lava flows in certain areas.
    • The Treasure Hunting quests invoke this, causing all gathering nodes and monsters in a given map to drop treasures and consumables instead of their normal fare. Said quests also seal off many regular routes and shortcuts with destructible boulders, forcing players to think out of the box and look for ways to remove the obstacles or bypass them.
  • 3 has several remixed areas of its own:
    • Moga Woods (Day) is filled with run-of-the-mill monsters and bosses. Moga Woods (night), however, is filled with stronger High Rank monsters and hordes of Bullfangoes. This is the main reason why the Chief's Son prevents you from going out at night early in the game.
    • Sandy Plains is yet another desert area that is hot at daytime and cold at nighttime.
    • Flooded Forest tends to only have cosmetic differences between Day and Night versions, but Portable 3rd's version takes the trope further and dries up almost all of the waterlogged areas, attributing it to the summer season.
  • 4 has a couple of remixed areas, though not as much as the previous games:
    • The Sunken Hollow is supposed to be the game's resident Volcano area... Except there's no lava. Once you get the lava flowing, the area returns as the Volcanic Hollow, now with fire hazards (obviously) and a whole new mix of monsters.
    • The Dunes area continues the series' tradition of having Day and Night versions of the desert zone, with daytime being scorching hot and nighttime being freezing cold. Also at night, a shortcut opens up in the oasis between areas 3 and 7, a meteorite mining node appears inside one of the side caverns, and a huge vortex of quicksand inexplicably appears in the middle of the area 7, making movement extremely difficult for anybody who steps onto it. The best part? The Dunes are actually a remixed version of the Old Desert map from the first and second generation.
    • The Dundorma Battlequarters in is a remix of the Dundorma Town map from the 2nd gen games; the difference is that the main combat zone has been renovated into a fully equipped battle arena with ramparts on all sides and a slew of brand new mechanized weaponry.
    • The Tower Summit is a revamped version of Area 8 from the old Tower 1 map in Dos and Unite, albeit filled with ledges and a pair of collapsible pillars to accommodate the vertical movement mechanics.
  • Generations brings back a lot of maps from earlier generations of games, but adds some ledges here and there to accomodate the jumping and mounting mechanics that were introduced in 4.
  • Generations Ultimate brings back the Fortress from the first two generations of games, but reduces the number of areas for Lao-Shan Lung to travel through from four to two larger areas, removes the short filler area between the base camp and the final area, and has on-rails cannons in both areas rather than fixed cannons. The first area now has a Demolisher, much like the one from the Battlequarters in 4 Ultimate, as well as a barrier of its own that must also be protected.
• Repeatable Quest:
  • Online play consists almost entirely of repeatable hunts, so the quests are naturally repeatable as well. However, the extended preparation required for each task keeps players involved. Most quests in offline play are repeatable as well, with the exception of certain storyline quests (such as when you encounter Cha-Cha for the first time). Generally speaking, those that aren't have a Suspiciously Similar Substitute.
  • World does not allow players to repeat Assigned (read:story) missions, but has Optional missions that are equivalent - hunting the same large monsters or gathering the same materials as the completion goal, but with none of the story-dependent checkpoints (protect an ally, find a campsite, etc.).
• Replay Mode: In the series, entering new zones, defeating certain monsters for the first time during the village quests and finishing certain Final Bosses will unlock their respective intro cinematics, monster ecologies and staff rolls for viewing in the games' Gallery menu; 4 Ultimate also adds special Event cinematics to the list. In Freedom 2/Unite, Portable 3rd and World, the Gallery is only accessible from the main menu; but in 3 Ultimate, the fourth generation games and Rise, the housekeeper who lives in the player's house can give you access to the Gallery without needing to exit the game proper.
• Retraux:
  • The Blanka and Chun-Li costumes for the Felynes in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate use the same voice clips and sound effects as Street Fighter II.
  • World has Palico armor based off of Mega Man, done in a blocky pixelated style.
• Rewatch Bonus: In ‘’World’’, during the second Zorah Magdoros mission, there’s another section where you have to drive off Nergigante so it doesn’t mess the operation up again. During the fight, fireballs from Zorah Magdoros have a tendency to hit you AND Nergigante. At first, the player might chalk this up to accidental Friendly Fire but then we later learn that Nergigante’s an Elder Dragon that eats other Elder Dragons, so Zorah’s probably hitting it with fireballs on purpose to drive it off. Of course, it still hates you, so you’re going to get your share of fireballs, too.
• Reverse Grip: In World, a Dual Blades wielder who enters Demon Mode will switch how the blades are held so they now do this.
• Rhino Rampage: Although technically rhinoceros are not present in the game, the Rhenoplos monster is clearly designed off of one, even having a similar name. It behaves exactly the way you would expect a video game rhino to behave.
• Riches to Rags: The Uppity Instructor in 3 Ultimate. After bragging about his wealth for much of the game and insulting the hunter at every turn, he loses it all on a trading deal gone bad. At one point, he admits that he was rooting through garbage cans in order to feed himself. He eventually returns to hunting for a living after being inspired by the hunter saving Port Tanzia from the Dire Miralis.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter:
  • The fanbase has taken quite a liking to (miniature, or miniaturized) Yian Kut-Ku. Cutesy fanart of miniature kut-kus aren't hard to find on 4chan.
  • The Felynes are 3-foot tall, anthropomorphic cats with the cutest meow ever, speak in gratuitous catspeak with words like 'purretty' and 'beclaws,' and do a little dance around you when you hold a torch up! Tri adds a Felyne chef who says things like "meown ami".
  • Poogies are little pigs in all but name that serve as pets and can be petted and carried around, and are often seen lazily napping. If you pet one correctly, it'll grow extra-affectionate and follow you until you leave the area.
  • Subverted with the Melynxes, the black-furred counterpart to the Felynes. They may look cute, but watch out, as they will attempt to steal your items on sight.
  • Then there's the Hypnocatrice, which is basically a smaller, cuter version of the Kut-Ku with more birdlike traits and the threat level reduced by a truckload. In a world with many a deadly Breath Weapon, its special attack is... putting its enemies to sleep. You probably are going to feel a bit guilty when whacking on this creature.
  • Generations introduces Moofahs, alpaca/sheep-like critters that serve as pack mules and can be petted for fleeceballs. There's a baby one that you can have as a pet much like Poogies.
• RPG Elements
• Running Gag:
  • In Tri, whenever the Guild Sweetheart tries to find helpful information about a new monster or area, she inevitably comes up with nothing, due to either lack of information or a painfully obvious description.
  • In 4 Ultimate, there is a running joke about your hunter possessing Big Ol' Eyebrows, courtesy of the Guildmarm botching some advertisement posters she illustrated. Another one is the rumor of some unknown hunter repelling Dah'ren Mohran wearing nothing but undies, after you did so at the start of the game.
  • Whenever you complete a Quest from the Egg Syndicate, they begin to sing the Syndicate's anthem, but you leave before they get around to it. After finishing "Egg-straction: Final Mission", the Cathar Village Elder sings the whole theme to you.
  • Every quest the Fiver Bro gives you in World is actually one the Meowscular Chef gave him, but he's always too busy eating to ever get around to it. Naturally, you have to do it for him, and the main reward for the quest being new types of food in the kitchen suggests that you're only enabling him to keep eating while you do all of his quests.

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