User blog:BannedLagiacrus/Discussion of the Week: Monster Concept Art

Hello and welcome to the Discussion of the Week!

This week we look at the concept art of both canon monsters and non-canon monsters!



Barioth


I'll be honest I don't know much about these concepts for Barioth but, I must say all of them are pretty interesting. I wonder how that pharaoh Barioth would work?

Chameleos


Now the king of thieves! Chameleos has come a long way since its concept art began. Originally, it looked like it was going to be similar to Kushala Daora and Teostra but, it eventually went its own path. Hopefully, one of the concepts will be used as a subspecies for Chameleos or something along those lines.

Congalala


Hmm... I can't really think of what to say about both of its concept art. On one hand, one is more hippo-like while on another hand one is more monkey-like. I guess pick your poison?

Gigginox


Those two look way creepier than the final design! Good lord, I'd hate to hunt for those two!

Yama Tsukami


Yama Tsukami sure looks strange now but, it looked even stranger back when it was in development! On one of the concept art pieces, it looked like it had four eyes instead of two and on another it seemed to have a trunk like a elephant! This thing had some otherworldly design going on in the past!

Lagiacrus


Lagiacrus was almost completely aquatic a few times in development. Heck, in the first reveal trailer for Monster Hunter Tri it looked like one of the concepts above. But the last concept seriously is odd yet fits with an amphibian! Please revive that last one!

Gaia Dragon


I'm just going to leave a previous post info about it and the other monster below it.


 * Gaia Dragon is an Elder Dragon, despite its look.
 * Gaia Dragon gets its name because of its strange ecology.
 * It is commonly called the Earth Dragon (アースドラゴン) from its three life cycle stages: Juvenile - Ground Dragon (グラウンドドラゴン), Adolescent - Earth Dragon (アースドラゴン), and Adult - Gaia Dragon (ガイアドラゴン).
 * While young, a Gaia Dragon has a pair of wings it uses to fly to certain environments. These wings are used to help it fly from environment to environment, in order figure out which environment, or area, it wants to spend its whole life in. Once an environment is chosen, the Gaia Dragon will live in the area and it will slowly adapt to that particular area as well. Depending on the environment it has chosen to live in or its diet, its body will change to fit with the area as it grows older.
 * Several, or more, subspecies of Gaia Dragon have been found to be living in different environments from each other.
 * The wings will slowly petrify as it gets older, becoming a huge pair of thorns.
 * Some of the things Gaia Dragons are known to eat include poisonous plants, lava, and obsidian. It is also suggested that they do eat meat.
 * These Elder Dragons are rarely seen by humans due to how well these beasts camouflage in their environment, especially the forest species. It is recommend to not look for these Elder Dragons from them being known to kill great numbers of people easily, including the most experienced of hunters.
 * Their even nicknamed the Jaws of Death since meeting one is almost immediate death.
 * Gaia Dragons are able to breath various substances from their maws, depending on their diet or environment, and petrified skin is known to fall off as they fight, crushing foes. Gaia Dragons will even use their environment to their advantage to fight.
 * Seems Gaia Dragon was the foundation for Lao-Shan Lung, before Lao-Shan Lung was even made.

Crypt Hydra



 * The Crypt Hydra is a two-headed dragon that is the guardian of a lost tomb. With its two heads, the Crypt Hydra is able to guard two different rooms at once before ambushing a threat.
 * According to the developers, this is how the Crypt Hydra would be fought.
 * It also seems that if the bandages were destroyed on this monster, both heads would separate and both monsters would be free to fight using their own separate body.
 * It has no class though it is mentioned that they wanted it to be a Elder Dragon.
 * It is said that under the bandages of the Crypt Hydra is treasure that could be collected by hunters.
 * The materials that hunters could get from this monster included gold scales, ancient bandages, ancient monuments, thorns, horns, shells, and fangs. These materials would be used to craft equipment themed after many Egyptian artifacts such as armor that resembled a mummy and a giant coffin-like weapon.
 * Some of this equipment actually exist in Monster Hunter now.
 * The reason why this monster wasn't made or put into Monster Hunter was because of poor criticism by fans. Fans didn't want to see a supernatural monster in the original Monster Hunter.
 * That all, however, changed with Monster Hunter 2 with the newer Elder Dragons.
 * Though this monster didn't make the cut, it is referenced in some ways like in MH2's logo and on one of the ships in MH3U.

Ukanlos


The last monster I'll mention is Ukanlos! Ukanlos was far different from what I expected at first but, eventually became a giant agile tank! Seriously, its first concept looks very menacing and speedy at that! Honestly, I think I would prefer one of its earlier concepts over the one we got now.

Questions

 * What concept art would you like to see appear in-game as an actual monster in the future?
 * Which concept art caught you off guard?
 * Which monster would you like to see concept art of?
 * Do you think Crypt Hydra and Gaia Dragon deserve to appear in-game? Why or why not?
 * Have you had that time when you thought the concept art would have been better than the final product?
 * If you were in the development team, what changes would you make to one of the concept arts to make them an entirely new monster?
 * Does any of the other concept art remind you of any monsters we see in-game?