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64-873: The games are primarily action role-playing games. The player takes the role of a Hunter, slaying or trapping large monsters across various landscapes as part of quests given to them by locals, with some quests involving the gathering of a certain item or items, which may put the Hunter at risk of facing various monsters. As part of its core gameplay loop , players use loot gained from slaying monsters, gathering resources, and quest rewards to craft improved weapons, armor, and other items that allow them to face more powerful monsters. All main series titles feature multiplayer (usually up to four players cooperatively), but can also be played single player . Early Monster Hunter games sold well in Japan and other Asian countries, popularized by

128-402: A Mega Man crossover toy was released, a set of Felyne-themed 3DS XL accessories, as well as a 24 karat gold Felyne statue that cost almost $ 30,000 to celebrate the series' 10-year anniversary. In 2017, a highly detailed doll of a Felyne was released by Capcom for 162,000 yen. More unusual products include Felyne toilet paper -holders. Beyond merchandise, a Felyne-themed car was used to promote

192-401: A human form, such as mutants , ghosts , spirits , zombies , or cannibals , among other things. They may or may not have supernatural powers, but are usually capable of killing or causing some form of destruction, threatening the social or moral order of the human world in the process. Animal monsters are outside the moral order, but sometimes have their origin in some human violation of

256-579: A 3D animated film Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild . The special was written by Joshua Fine, and features a fledgling hunter taking down an Elder Dragon. Originally slated for a 2019 release, the film was released on August 12, 2021, on Netflix . On 21 May 2023 Capcom released the first digital collectible NFTs of Monster Hunters on the Veve platform. Since the series debuted, Monster Hunter has sold 97 million units across all titles by December 31, 2023. It

320-401: A call. Non-physical tells exist in both casino and online poker , but tells like speed of play, betting patterns, the quantity of chips that a player plays with, and player chat can be particularly revealing online. A tell can only convey what the player thinks about the strength of his hand and what he thinks the other players have. Thus, perceiving a tell is useful only to the extent that

384-626: A carnival side-show worker who is turned into an electrically charged killer, able to dispatch victims merely by touching them, causing death by electrocution. There was also a variant of Dr. Frankenstein, the mad surgeon Dr. Gogol (played by Peter Lorre ), who transplanted hands that were reanimated with malevolent temperaments, in the film Mad Love . Werewolves were introduced in films during this period, and similar creatures were presented in Cat People . Mummies were cinematically depicted as fearsome monsters as well. As for giant creatures,

448-693: A comedic turn in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). In the post–World War II era, however, giant monsters returned to the screen with a vigor that has been causally linked to the development of nuclear weapons . One early example occurred in the American film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms , which was about a dinosaur that attacked a lighthouse. Subsequently, there were Japanese film depictions, ( Godzilla , Gamera ), British depictions ( Gorgo ), and even Danish depictions ( Reptilicus ), of giant monsters attacking cities. A recent depiction of

512-580: A cross-promotional event with Monster Hunter: World , with the Behemoth appearing in World in return. In 2018, Rathalos also appeared as a boss character and a summonable Assist Trophy in the crossover fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate , while several Mii Fighter costumes based on Monster Hunter were added post-launch in March 2021 a few weeks ahead of Rise 's release. In 2020, Rathalos made

576-406: A cultural void; they have a literary and cultural heritage". In the religious context of ancient Greeks and Romans, monsters were seen as signs of "divine displeasure", and it was thought that birth defects were especially ominous, being "an unnatural event" or "a malfunctioning of nature". Monsters are not necessarily abominations however. The Roman historian Suetonius , for instance, describes

640-408: A giant monster is depicted in J. J. Abrams 's Cloverfield , which was released in theaters 18 January 2008. The intriguing proximity of other planets brought the notion of extraterrestrial monsters to the big screen, some of which were huge in size (such as King Ghidorah and Gigan ), while others were of a more human scale. During this period, the fish -human monster Gill-man was developed in

704-573: A great deal of social media publicity when their vocalizations attracted the attention of real-life cats of players. Monsters A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror , fantasy , science fiction , folklore , mythology and religion . They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive , with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes terror and fear , often in humans. Monsters usually resemble bizarre , deformed, otherworldly and/or mutated animals or entirely unique creatures of varying sizes , but may also take

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768-455: A holdover from Proto-Indo-European religion and other belief systems, in which the divisions between "spirit," "monster," and "god" were less evident. The history of monsters in fiction is long. For instance, Grendel in the epic poem Beowulf is an archetypal monster: deformed, brutal, and with enormous strength, he raids a human settlement nightly to slay and feed on his victims. The modern literary monster has its roots in examples such as

832-445: A keyword instead of a number to reflect a central concept for that game. While the games have often been split into the numbered mainline games and the portable titles by players, this distinction is not held to the same degree by Capcom, according to Tsujimoto, and instead each title is based on "what it is we want to achieve with this title, what we want the player to experience, which hardware we're gonna target and how it's gonna affect

896-519: A limited appearance in Cygames ' mobile title Dragalia Lost as part of an in-game event. In 2023, Rathalos made an appearance as a limited-time boss in the mobile game Arknights , as part of the latter's Monster Hunter crossover event titled A Flurry to the Flame. The Monster Hunter games themselves have offered crossover events with other Capcom and third-party properties, allowing users during

960-710: A playable character via downloadable content in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite . The game also features a stage called "Valkanda", which combines Val Habar from the fourth installment with Wakanda from the Marvel universe. Rathalos and Tigrex, two of the series' flagship monsters, make a cameo appearance in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on hunting missions. Rathalos appeared as a special event monster to fight in Final Fantasy XIV as part of

1024-660: A player's Hunter does not grow and has no intrinsic statistics or attributes whatsoever. Rather, the Hunter's abilities are instead defined by the specific weapons and armor selected. The player can equip weapons, armor, and items most beneficial towards completing a given mission, and if successful, the Hunter is awarded in both in-game money ("zenny") and loot representing parts from the monster. These parts, along with other resources collected while on missions and/or through mission rewards, can be used to forge or upgrade new weapons and armor which then can be used in against more powerful monsters and tackle more difficult missions, completing

1088-552: A portable game a few years later. The series took off explosively in Japan with Monster Hunter G and Monster Hunter Portable/Freedom on the PlayStation Portable and even more so once its sequels Monster Hunter Dos , Monster Hunter Portable 2nd/Freedom 2 and Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G/Freedom Unite were released which supported up to four players. Handheld systems are generally more popular in Japan and due to

1152-420: A series for the PlayStation Portable . These games often had a more lighthearted tone and expanded upon the palicoe system. In Japan, these games were released under the "Portable" title, while in the west they were released under the "Freedom" title. Even after these naming conventions were abandoned, this established the general tradition of one team releasing games for home consoles and a separate team releasing

1216-478: A single player. Some possible tells include leaning forward or back, placing chips with more or less force, fidgeting , doing chip tricks, displaying nervous tics or making any changes in one's breathing, tone of voice, facial expressions, direction of gaze or in one's actions with the cards, chips, cigarettes or drinks. An underlying rule to many tells is: "weak means strong, strong means weak." Players who hold weak poker hands attempt to convince other players at

1280-527: A snake's absence of legs or a bird's ability to fly as monstrous, as both are "against nature". Nonetheless, the negative connotations of the word quickly established themselves, and by the playwright and philosopher Seneca 's time, the word had extended into its philosophical meaning, "a visual and horrific revelation of the truth". In spite of this, mythological monsters such as the Hydra and Medusa are not natural beings, but divine entities. This seems to be

1344-523: A success, selling over 1 million copies, principally in Japan. Enhanced versions of the early games, adding more difficult monsters and end-game quests, were released with a "G" affixed to the end (such as Monster Hunter G for the first such game); for those titles that were released in Western regions, these were often, though not always, affixed with the Ultimate moniker. A second team worked to develop

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1408-498: Is Dungeons & Dragons . In some other games, such as Undertale and Deltarune , "Monsters" (which are usually NPCs) refer to strange beings that are either undead , robots , humanoids or mythical creatures that share similarities with human beings. Tell (poker) A tell in poker is a change in a player's behavior or demeanor that is claimed by some to give clues to that player's assessment of their hand. A player gains an advantage if they observe and understand

1472-564: Is Capcom's second highest-selling series, following Resident Evil . The series surpassed 100 million units by May 2024, with nearly half of those sales attributed to World , Rise and their associated expansions. Total worldwide sales for Monster Hunter games exceeding 1 million units, through March 2023 are listed below: Several commentators consider the series' Felynes or Palicoes to be an integral staple of Monster Hunter . The Palicoes in Monster Hunter: World received

1536-548: Is a catch-all term for hostile characters that are fought by the player. Sentient fictional races are usually not referred to as monsters. At other times, the term can carry a neutral connotation, such as in the Pokémon franchise, where it is used to refer to cute fictional creatures that resemble real-world animals. Characters in games may refer to all of such creatures as "monsters". Another role playing game that has many different fantasy creatures (monsters and dragons alike),

1600-569: The Golem , werewolves and vampires . The film Siegfried featured a dragon that consisted of stop-motion animated models, as in RKO 's King Kong , the first giant monster film of the sound era. Universal Studios specialized in monsters, with Bela Lugosi 's reprisal of his stage role, Dracula , and Boris Karloff playing Frankenstein's monster . The studio also made several lesser films, such as Man-Made Monster , starring Lon Chaney Jr. as

1664-524: The Monster Hunter are generally catalogued as either part of the mainline series aimed for console players, and portable versions for hand held consoles. A number of spinoff games featuring different gameplay genres have also been developed for consoles, computers, and mobile devices. In addition to games, the franchise has an anime based on the spinoff game Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airou Village , Monster Hunter Stories: Ride On based on

1728-634: The Worlds Unite comic crossover from Archie Comics , which featured several other Capcom and Sega franchises making guest appearances in the previously running Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man comic lines. A trading card game titled Monster Hunter Hunting Card was released in October 2008 with periodic updates planned. In 2013, several Monster Hunter 4 figures were given away as prizes in Japan, including ones based on Felynes. In 2014,

1792-562: The "Friendly Monster" is pervasive in pop-culture. Chewbacca , Elmo , and Shrek are notable examples of friendly "monsters". In the Monsters, Inc. franchise by Pixar , the monster characters scare (and later entertain) children in order to create energy for running machinery in their home world, while the furry monsters of The Muppets and Sesame Street live in harmony with animals and humans alike. Japanese culture also commonly features monsters which are benevolent or likable, with

1856-401: The Hunter becomes vulnerable as they pause to catch their breath. Monsters and other environmental hazards can also inflict blights and other negative status effects that impair combat abilities. Combat is centered around watching for a monster's tells prior to an attack to be able to dodge it and/or make a counterattack, and looking for openings to unleash strings of attack combos, depending on

1920-538: The Hunter's current weapon. Unlike most other action games , Monster Hunter fights have been compared to a series of boss fights. Nearly all Monster Hunter games have a single-player mode; in these, the Hunter is often accompanied by a Felyne or Palico, a bipedal sentient cat-like creature that supports the player with limited offensive abilities in combat. Felynes also assist the player in cooking meals, maintaining gardens, and returning them to camp if they are defeated in battle. The noises of Felynes are created using

1984-543: The Japanese culture, Western markets favored home consoles and computers during the mid-2000s and because of a thinner population density, most players relied on Internet-based gaming rather than local ad hoc networking. The series also struggled with a difficult learning curve that had made the games off-putting in Western markets. The series had little popularity in the West until the release of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on

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2048-480: The Nintendo 3DS, a console that had gained a sizable foothold in Western markets. While Monster Hunter ' s popularity in the West was still to a niche group, Capcom saw the potential for more growth there and took steps to better localize the next few titles to make the series more attractive; Monster Hunter 4 was the first game in the series to break one million sales in Western markets. Capcom recognized there

2112-464: The academic study of the particular cultural notions expressed in a society's ideas of monsters is known as monstrophy . Monsters have appeared in literature and in feature-length films. Well-known monsters in fiction include Count Dracula , Frankenstein's monster , werewolves , vampires , demons , mummies , and zombies . Monster derives from the Latin monstrum , itself derived ultimately from

2176-408: The big screen as they did in the late 1940s. Occasionally, monsters are depicted as friendly or misunderstood creatures. King Kong and Frankenstein's monster are two examples of misunderstood creatures. Frankenstein's monster is frequently depicted in this manner, in series and films such as Monster Squad and Van Helsing . The Hulk is an example of the "Monster as Hero" archetype. The theme of

2240-492: The cliffhanger of the first episode of the 1936 Flash Gordon serial did not use a costumed actor, instead using real-life lizards to depict a pair of battling dragons via use of camera perspective. However, the cliffhanger of the ninth episode of the same serial had a man in a rubber suit play the Fire Dragon, which picks up a doll representing Flash in its claws. The cinematic monster cycle eventually wore thin, having

2304-492: The compulsion loop. Harder missions are typically restricted by a hunter's rank, which cumulatively increases as the player completes specific missions designated by the quest giver. Mission rewards are often generated randomly, often requiring the player to grind the same monster repeatedly to get the right parts. Weapons and armor have intrinsic bonuses or penalties towards certain types of elemental or physical damages, and may provide special skills which can be fine-tuned through

2368-426: The console hardware, World ' s used seamless zones and several changes to gameplay were made to account for this. World became the series' best-selling game, achieving more than 21 million units sold by 2022 and making the Monster Hunter series Capcom's best-selling series following Resident Evil . With the success of the changes to the formula defined by World , Capcom decided to continue this approach with

2432-464: The country's high population density, it was easy to find players to hunt cooperatively with, making it a phenomenon there. Capcom's Ryozo Tsujimoto stated that Freedom 2 was released at a time when players in Japan would not normally gather at a friend's house to play games together, so the networking capabilities of the PSP helped to drive the success of Freedom 2 and accelerate sales of the series beyond

2496-422: The event to earn armor and weapons inspired by the other property. For example, Monster Hunter World has had promotional events that include Resident Evil , Mega Man , Assassin's Creed , and The Witcher series. A series of anime shorts titled MonHun Nikki Girigiri Airū-mura Airū Kiki Ippatsu ( ja:モンハン日記 ぎりぎりアイルー村 ) was broadcast beginning August 10, 2010. A sequel, MonHun Nikki Girigiri Airū-mura G ,

2560-521: The film series Creature from the Black Lagoon . Britain's Hammer Film Productions brought color to the monster movies in the late 1950s. Around this time, the earlier Universal films were usually shown on American television by independent stations (rather than network stations) by using announcers with strange personas, who gained legions of young fans. Although they have since changed considerably, movie monsters did not entirely disappear from

2624-437: The gameplay. The games just come together the way they end up each time." Japan North America PAL region Japan North America PAL region 2011 – An expanded version called Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airou Village G was released on PlayStation Portable 2015 – An enhanced port called Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airou Village DX was released on Nintendo 3DS A female Monster Hunter appeared as

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2688-617: The group to hunt down stronger versions of monsters, though this support has since been disabled in older games. The games typically have a main quest line, frequently called "Low Rank" or "Village Quests", which can take up to fifty hours to complete. Once completed, the game opens up with new "High Rank" or "Gathering Hall" quests, featuring stronger versions of monsters they have previously faced, as well as new monsters not yet seen and unique variants of these foes, all of which provide better components for more powerful weapons and armor sets, providing hundreds of hours of potential gameplay following

2752-468: The main quest. Most titles have a third rank of difficulty ("G Rank" or "Master Rank"), released after the base game. These add more monsters, locations, weapons and armour sets to the game. The first Monster Hunter game was one of three titles Capcom had developed to take advantage of the processing power and online capabilities of the PlayStation 2 , which according to Ryozo Tsujimoto, who has been

2816-401: The meaning of another player's tell, particularly if the tell is unconscious and reliable. Sometimes a player may fake a tell, hoping to induce their opponents to make poor judgments in response to the false tell. More often, people try to avoid giving out a tell, by maintaining a poker face regardless of how strong or weak their hand is. A tell may be common to a class of players or unique to

2880-526: The mix-and-matching of equipment pieces. The games feature a variety of different weapon classes, ranging from swords, hammers, and bows, with the most recent titles ( Generations , World , and Rise ) having a total of fourteen classes. Each weapon class has a unique set of combat maneuvers and reflect a number of different play styles based on speed of attack, damage strength, range and the application of buffs and debuffs to monsters and allies. Monster Hunter games use an "animation priority" combat, committing

2944-558: The monster in Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein and the vampire in Bram Stoker 's Dracula . Monsters are a staple of fantasy fiction , horror fiction , and science fiction (where the monsters are often extraterrestrial in nature ). There also exists monster erotica , a subgenre of erotic fiction that involves monsters. During the age of silent films , monsters tended to be human-sized, e.g. Frankenstein's monster ,

3008-669: The moral law (e.g. in the Greek myth , Minos does not sacrifice to Poseidon the white bull which the god sent him, so as punishment Poseidon makes Minos' wife, Pasiphaë , fall in love with the bull. She copulates with the beast, and gives birth to the man with a bull's head, the Minotaur ). Human monsters are those who by birth were never fully human ( Medusa and her Gorgon sisters) or who through some supernatural or unnatural act lost their humanity ( werewolves , Frankenstein's monster ), and so who can no longer, or who never could, follow

3072-597: The moral law of human society. Monsters may also be depicted as misunderstood and friendly creatures who frighten individuals away without wanting to, or may be so large, strong and clumsy that they cause unintentional damage or death. Some monsters in fiction are depicted as mischievous and boisterous but not necessarily threatening (such as a sly goblin ), while others may be docile but prone to becoming angry or hungry, thus needing to be tamed and taught to resist savage urges, or killed if they cannot be handled or controlled successfully. Monsters pre-date written history , and

3136-478: The most famous examples being the Pokémon franchise and the pioneering anime My Neighbor Totoro . The book series/webisodes/toy line of Monster High is another example. Monsters are commonly encountered in fantasy or role-playing games, as well as video games, as enemies for players to fight against. They may include aliens , legendary creatures , extra-dimensional entities or mutated versions of regular animals. Especially in role-playing games, "monster"

3200-581: The original PlayStation 2 titles. James Miekle, writing for PC Gamer , had worked for Q Entertainment and lived in Japan during the release of Monster Hunter Portable 3rd , which was the best-selling PlayStation Portable game of all time and described how even during work, impromptu Monster Hunter sessions would break out between employees and there was extensive marketing of Monster Hunter branded consumer goods. While Monster Hunter had been successful in Japan, its popularity in Western markets (primarily North America and Europe) languished. In contrast to

3264-429: The player to a move until the animation is completed and leaving them potentially vulnerable to a monster's attack. Further, players are encouraged to watch their Hunter's health and stamina. Losing all health will force a retreat to a base camp, and after three such retreats, the mission is deemed a failure. Performing most combat actions consumes stamina, which recovers in a short amount of time; once exhausted of stamina,

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3328-428: The real-life vocalizations of cats owned by the games' development team, causing them to compile a library of cat noises stretching back to the original Monster Hunter . The noises are sometimes arranged in order to depict a situation that would be impossible to subject a real cat to, such as being attacked by a monster. Most Monster Hunter games released with support for four-player cooperative online modes, allowing

3392-570: The series at the Odaiba Motor Festival. In 2022, merchandise featuring the characters was utilized in a public safety promotion as part of an ongoing partnership between Capcom and local Japanese police. A film based on the series has been in conception since 2012 by director Paul W. S. Anderson . The film was formally announced by Capcom in October 2018, with production starting that month with Impact Pictures and Constantin Film and

3456-491: The series' next major titles, Monster Hunter Rise for the Nintendo Switch and Windows, and for Monster Hunter Wilds for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Windows. Below is a list of games in the Monster Hunter main series. Each generation has a number of entries that are derivative of the original release. While the first four main titles were numbered, the subsequent installments, starting with World , use

3520-511: The series' producer since Monster Hunter Freedom 2 , had begun to match arcade games in capabilities; the other two such titles were Auto Modellista and Resident Evil Outbreak . Tsujimoto considered Monster Hunter to be the culmination of the work of these other two titles once it was released. He also felt that the game was intended for such cooperative play so that players of any skill level, working with others, could feel accomplished in taking down giant creatures. Monster Hunter proved

3584-442: The series' use of ad hoc multiplayer features on portable consoles , and became a cultural phenomenon. The early games in the series have been critically well received in Western markets, but generally languished in sales, in part due to the games' steep learning curve . However, with Monster Hunter: World (2018), Capcom aimed to attract a global audience using the power of advanced home gaming consoles and computers and released

3648-423: The spinoff title Monster Hunter Stories , a manga , Monster Hunter Orage , and a book, Monster Hunter Episode . A feature film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson was released on December 3, 2020. An animated film, subtitled Legends of the Guild , was released on August 12, 2021, on Netflix . The core feature of Monster Hunter is its compulsion loop . Unlike traditional computer role-playing games ,

3712-477: The table that they are strong: staring down an opponent, throwing chips down forcefully into the pot in an effort to discourage others from calling. Players who hold strong hands tend to try to disguise their hand as being weak. They attempt to fly under the radar by being a passive player at the table - not making direct eye contact, softly tossing the chips in, being friendly and talkative. They are deliberately trying not to come across as intimidating, so as to entice

3776-448: The title simultaneously worldwide. World became the best-selling Monster Hunter game within three days of its release, and became Capcom's single best-selling video game of all time with 21 million sales as of July 5, 2022, including more than 70% outside of Japan. By May 2024, the series has sold more than 100 million units, with nearly half attributed to Monster Hunter: World and Monster Hunter Rise and their expansions. Games in

3840-453: The verb moneo ("to remind, warn, instruct, or foretell"), and denotes anything "strange or singular, contrary to the usual course of nature, by which the gods give notice of evil," "a strange, unnatural, hideous person, animal, or thing," or any "monstrous or unusual thing, circumstance, or adventure." In the words of Tina Marie Boyer, assistant professor of medieval German literature at Wake Forest University , "monsters do not emerge out of

3904-421: Was developed to be more alluring for Western markets without trying to make the game simpler, with the main development teams in Japan working more closely with Capcom's Western offices to identify such improvements. A number of changes in gameplay were made that took advantage of the consoles' new technology; notably, while the prior games had split each hunting area into different zones as necessitated by limits of

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3968-493: Was produced. An anime series based on the franchise premiered on October 2, 2016. A manga titled Monster Hunter Orage was published jointly by Kodansha and Capcom in April 2008. The author of the manga is Hiro Mashima . There are four volumes total with the last volume published on May 4, 2009. An English release of Monster Hunter Orage first took place on June 28, 2011. Elements from Monster Hunter were later included in

4032-578: Was released in the United Kingdom and China on December 4, 2020. The film is based on a United Nations task force falling into an alternate dimension where Hunters fight off monsters and the force joins the Hunters to prevent monsters from returning through the portal to Earth. The film starred Milla Jovovich , Ron Perlman , T.I. Harris , Diego Boneta and Tony Jaa . In 2018, Capcom and Pure Imagination Studios announced that they are working on

4096-426: Was still room for further growth of the series there; in an October 2016 interview, Capcom chairman Kenzo Tsujimoto said they were looking towards increasing the popularity of the games in the Western markets, recognizing that gaming consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have dominance in these regions over handhelds. Monster Hunter: World , the series's first major entry targeting home consoles and computers,

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