User blog:BannedLagiacrus/Monster Appreciation Week: Astalos

Hello, and welcome to Monster Appreciation Week!

This week we look at the brutal knight of the Fated Four, Astalos!



Interesting Facts About Astalos

 * Order: Saurischia
 * Suborder: Wyvern Feet
 * Infraorder: Electric Wing Wyvern
 * Superfamily: Electric Wyvern
 * Family: Zekusu


 * Astalos is a new species of Flying Wyvern recently discovered near Kokoto Village and in the Forest and Hills.
 * Its title by the Hunter's Guild, Electric Wyvern, comes from it being able to manipulate lightning in a lot of different ways.
 * Its appearance alone gives it this aggressive look to other species.
 * Astalos will attack anything and everything within their territory. They've been seen attacking large Flying Wyverns like Rathalos, even if those monsters are not interested in Astalos's presence.
 * Astalos are known to usually be the ones that start the fight in their territory.
 * Even if the enemy is losing the fight, Astalos will fight the enemy relentlessly, even if the enemy is trying to escape.
 * If the enemy is killed, Astalos are known to sometimes feed on the enemy's corpse.
 * When Astalos appear in an area, they can actually disrupt the ecological balance in that area. This actually effects the area quite majorly.
 * Its flying is actually comparable to Rathalos' flying.
 * Unlike most other Flying Wyverns, its wings aren't just used for flying but also as a weapon. These wings are tough and can tear through objects quite easily.
 * The wings also produce these special electrical waves that can shock Neopterons to death.
 * A Astalos' shell is sharp to the touch, making it hard to touch it with normal means.
 * Its tail is used for capturing prey. The spikes in the tail can paralysis prey.
 * Astalos' whole body is an electrical organ. Its tail, wings, and comb are electrically charged with electricity. The more charged up it is, the more range and power its electrical attacks have.
 * All of the body parts previously mentioned can get into a charged state, though each one independently at its own time. In this state, the range and power of its attacks are increased.
 * Hunters can tell how far charged a part is by looking for green surges on the wings, tail, and comb.
 * Astalos is the knight of the Elite Four.
 * Astalos is sometimes called the Lightning Rebel.
 * Astalos sometime cannibalize their young by accident. This is due to the adults mistaken the young for Neoptreon like Vespoid occasionally.
 * One of part of Astalos' design motif was insects but the other part of its design came from jellyfish.
 * The idea for it to attack with its wings came from the Praying Mantis.
 * The jellyfish is where they got the idea to give it multiple parts to charge up, resembling the multiple venomous tentacles of a jellyfish.
 * Its scales have a rainbow color, when sunlight reflects them.
 * Higher rank scales have a rigid appearance.
 * Astalos' shell is like thorns. Carelessly touching this shell is dangerous!
 * The wings shine brightly with electricity flowing through it. Quite thin yet sturdy.
 * Higher rank film has lightning constantly surging outside the film.
 * On certain parts of Astalos are electrical organs on the shell. These hard to process.
 * Somewhere hidden in Astalos's body is a rare gem. This gem is sparking with lightning.
 * From the start, Astalos's concept was a Flying Wyvern that uses lightning (“電気” を使う “飛竜種”) while its design was Electricity Generation (発電).
 * The idea for its wings to generate electricity came from crickets, which use their forewings to chirp.
 * Astalos's design is heavily insect-based. Its tail comes from Dragonflies and its comb, or horn, comes from Treehoppers.
 * Its equipment was meant to look both evil and speedy at the same time.
 * The weapons were meant to transform like Astalos charging up.
 * Its weapon's names are meant to show how it is the rival to the Raths.
 * In-game, the Astalos encountered are always male.

Etymology
Astalos's Japanese name, Raizekusu, comes from a combination of the Japanese word for Thunder, Rai (雷)/(ライ), and the German word for insect, Insekt/Inzekuto (インゼクト).