Flying Wyvern Ecology : Bazelgeuse in Monster Hunter

[@plus-delta4477]

Mizutsune being a 'damp weasel' is the funniest thing I've heard in a while 😂

[@SerenEirian]

I usually called it the Bubblebath Forest Corgi.

[@dhirenwirasinha6737]

I’m more the one to call him a “moist mongoose” myself.

[@antoinerossouw9533]

Damp weasel certainly got a chuckle out of me

[@Deoxys_Used_Mimic]

If only Magnamalo got a scene/turf war where it gets clowned on by Chameleos. That’s how you properly put an edgelord in its place. Not losing to another edgelord, but getting clapped by a goof.

[@Yeedede]

Chameleos disappears and mag just starts lookin around like “where the hell he go” before getting a nice fat blast of venom to the face

[@Kazuhira2249]

chameleos is fucking scary he is anything but a goof fucking entire villages were vanishing from the map in a foggy evening just because chameleos felt like they are also very intelligent so he knows what he did

[@alexandercns]

But of course. As Devil May Cry teaches us: those driven by determination and power seeking will always lose to the comic relief.

[@nkromancerN]

Best way to mess with them in TTRPGs, too. Player wants an edge lord character, well good luck against this fey lord that is also an obnoxious clown! To make it even better, make the fight a non-obvious puzzle.

[@matthewlee6261]

Chameleos isn't a very aggressive elder dragon though they don't go out of they're way to pick fights.

[@gnihi1]

Bazels tactic lore wise to get foot is pretty scavenger like. But he doesn´t LOOK for carcasses, he produces them. He flies over a stripe of land and carpet bomb it. Then he flies back and eats whats left there by fire and explosions to eat.

[@JanusHoW]

Bazel's carpet-bombing not only cooks the food through the heat, but tenderizes it with explosive force. Plus, cooked meat is not only easier to chew and digest than raw, but it tastes better and has less risk of carrying infectious diseases or parasites. That's probably one of the reasons why humans first harnessed fire.

[@gnihi1]

@@JanusHoW You are totally right. It seems like Bazel is a gourmet bomber that wouldn´t want to get sick.

[@reddin-on8mm]

@@gnihi1 cooking mama, guest star Bazelgeuse

[@ThorDude]

@@JanusHoWMost of the explosions though would burn the outside of whatever is left, and not cook anything beyond the outmost layer (if even that). Although this is monster hunter, maybe it can metabolize the charred tissue into it's bombs.

[@nullpoint3346]

@@reddin-on8mm (Insert James Jona Jameson laugh sound clip)

[@Sarcasmosuchus]

I really like Magna, but I do agree its turf war with Bazel is really a letdown, as not only it completely shifts an equal sided match to a steamroll, but also shows bazelguese completely passive and not really the belligerent monster he is. He attacks back even less than his other turf war, and even then he was just kinda getting ragdolled while waiting for his bombs to go off

[@pheonyxior_5082]

I love how bazel's theme is a story telling tool : when you first meet him you're too weak for him and quickly flee, and hear only the first alarming part of the theme, but when you actually stand your ground and fight him the second part plays and you feel like a hero, 'cause at that moment you are !

[@Jarubimba]

The good old memories of doing a High Rank Mission/Expedition by yourself for the first time and watch as the camera tilts towards a monster flying in your direction dropping weird-looking eggs

[@xemiii]

Perhaps basel's fat tail serves as a backup like a lizard or camel's hump in the case it can't find food. That or maybe the larger surface allows for the production of more explosive scales.

[@gajspalt]

Also serves as counter-balance for Bazel's thicc neck and torso.

[@deare2937]

@@gajspalt poppo

[@Crusty_Cephalopod]

That tail can also be used tripod and look around.

[@JanusHoW]

I'd say your second assessment is right. It does indeed drop scales from its tail as well as its torso and head.

[@dracojester2971]

It doesn’t regenerate explosive scales when exhausted so i think the idea of it storing extra energy and bomb fluid in the neck and tail checks out

[@raditz1101]

Ive never liked Magnamalo matching Teostra. It would have been better if Magnamalo came in thinking he was all that with his explosions only to be put in place by the original exploding cat

[@alligatoreamericano3520]

To be fair, he does get pushed off by teo's nova

[@raditz1101]

@@alligatoreamericano3520 it really shouldn't take a Teo nova though

[@Crusty_Cephalopod]

It's the whole tiger vs lion thing

[@dracojester2971]

Unrelated to Magna vs Teo, but something i just thought of regarding a comment in another video about magna constantly announcing his presence with purple fire. Magna being an analog of a tiger reminded me of something in a documentary about how animals see saying that tigers are still camouflaged despite being orange contrasting with vegetation because their prey are pretty much color blind to orange, seeing it as closer to green. If what is said in rise that magnamalo exclusively feeds on hoards from the rampage is true, maybe monsters and apexes being driven mad by the serpents’ influence have a change in their vision similar to frenzied monsters that would make magnamalo able to hide more easily. It may also not need camouflage as much if it preys on monsters too busy panicking to defend themselves.

[@sekiro_the_one-armed_wolf]

@@dracojester2971 I doubt he feeds exclusively off of rampages, he probably just decides that it’s easier to shoot fish in a barrel and takes advantage of it to binge as much as possible before things go back to normal. If I had to guess, he normally hunts using the method of scaring the shit out of his prey (see how tigers utilize their roar) and then uses hellfire to rocket pounce them while frozen.

[@CambriaBold]

I really wish Magnamalo was just...generally toned down. I got the impression from its lore that it was a scavenger and an opportunistic predator at best, evolved to take advantage of the Rampage in which droves of monsters are whipped into a frenzy (not that one) and scores of dead or mortally wounded monsters are commonplace. Magnamalo is strong, agile and durable enough to hang with the best of them in this chaotic environment, and it even evolved a way to weaponize the trapped gases of its prey that it primarily uses in more defensive ways, not entirely unlike a vulture using its massive wingspan to try and scare other animals away from carrion. And y'know, I kinda like that idea on its face! That's totally enough for it to be a fine fight for a hunter, and outside of the Rampage it would probably scavenge and prey on things smaller and weaker than it, but in a one-on-one battle against any of the other moderately heavy hitters? This thing shouldn't be bodying things like it does. Its primary defense mechanism isn't all *that* strong, relatively speaking, and otherwise it's just a big armoured cat. Not something to be taken lightly, but certainly something that the more specialized big game hunters of the monster world could take down. Except, they let it shoot gas lasers out of its tail and dive bomb things (hi bazelgeuse) and fucking double jump to drag down flying wyverns that *should* have an easy out for it, because it's just that damn *cool.* This thing that mostly preys on droves of weakened monsters also happens to be able to stand toe to toe with elder dragons, which is just silly to me. That's without getting into its design, which is just so "extra" feeling. Like, they *really* want you to think this thing is cool, but it's trying entirely too hard and ends up not really fitting with the more natualistic bend of basically every other monster ever. At least the Scorned variant is so absurdly edgy it loops back around to being kinda fun, but that thing also barely has a lore reason to exist; it's just Edgier Magnamalo.

[@deltazero7262]

I just describe it as a Sabertooth Samurai hybrid STRAIGHT FROM FUCKEN HELL that being said I did manage to get a picture of the thing Divebombing, At me, YEAH THAT WAS THE SHOT OF A LIFETIME AND took me too many tries then I’d like to admit but yeah ITS A BIT RIDICULOUS with its moveset

[@opgroundzero2.0]

if you think Scorned has little lore reason to exist then maybe you should relearn MHR lore

[@afroling2096]

@@opgroundzero2.0 more accurately monster hunter frontier lore.

[@taylorhewson8995]

I belive that world was focused on what the monsters do as animals nergigante is obviously fantastical and everything but it fits with the tone and theme that's been built up cause things like bazel and lavisoth they fit as animals as much as lavisoth can fit as a animal mind you unless it's like the iron shell snails which I'll give it a pass but magnamalo is literally just fantastical and 'cool' for the sack of being fantastical and cool like I get it alot of the new monsters are based on yokai but it takes it to the extreme like they have it as a scavenger then why does it have canine or feline teeth for hunting and claws that can pin running prey down I belive magnamalo is just a living contradiction that they tried to make work but doesn't

[@plus-delta4477]

I kinda want to see a full Magnamalo rant now. While I think he is a great fight, I was never a huge fan of his design. It'd be fun to hear you tear him to shreds biologically.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Perhaps someday...

[@kurosan0079]

I'm kinda happy that Rise is more of an "in another timeline" game, because of the existence of Magnamalo (and also wirebugs). That thing made zero sense to me both design wise and on an ecological perspective. It looks straight out of Frontier. Hell, Frontier's flagship is better designed than Magnamalo. But I'm also kinda sad because cool monsters like Aknosom and Bishaten aren't in the main timeline.

[@matthewlee6261]

@@kurosan0079 Magnamalo is supposed to be based on dead samurai armor and also tiger elements with the hellfire being onibi/will-o'-the-wisps.

[@thomasallen9974]

@@kurosan0079 Wait, Rise isnt part of the main continuity? Thats news to me, but makes sense. Hope the Palamutes and a few of the cooler monsters become mainstream though.

[@Oujouj426]

@@kurosan0079 Where'd you hear that Rise isn't "canon"?

[@ORLY911]

He's a perfect fit to return in Wilds, seeing him soar around from afar, hearing the distant booms of his scales would be a nice way to tease for his appearance.

[@merouln700]

Ironically, one of the best "turf wars" is Dodogama. He doesn't have a single turf war, but his natural behavior fits the bill: it will ward off possible predators by spitting at them, but should he be unable to force another monster to leave he will leave the area instead. It's that thing that always bugged me regarding turf wars: some turf wars shouldn't exist simply because one of the monster involved should flee immediately. Like the Anjanath-Kulu Ya Ku turf war in Rise, Kulu should be well aware that Anjanath WILL beat it by sheer size alone. It doesn't make sense for Kulu to stand his ground against an anjanath, it doesn't have territory to defend. In fact most monster interventions in Rise don't make sense with that logic. Imagine you are fighting Chameleos, in the scenario in which a monster like Great Wroggi or Arzuros would be on the same map, should a hunter fight chameleos, one of these monsters would attempt to attack Chameleos as well. Animals can, to a limited degree, gauge their odds against other animals. And Chameleos would definitely be big enough to dissuade attack by sheer size alone, yet other monsters would attack it anyway. Oh I absolutely love hearing you rant about Mary Sue monsters, especially Magnamalo. I'm not as mad for Rajang, since it gave us some awesome moments, and really cool fights. Magnamalo is literally a child's idea of the "Amazing Hero That Can't Be Beaten Ever TM" to a ridiculous degree. Give it some strength, why not, but not to that degree.

[@Jarubimba]

Regarding the "running away" part. The game mentions about their 'cowardice', and you can see Pukei-Pukei's reaction to seeing large monsters (usually Anjanath in the AF) and running away

[@dirandrous7682]

Odogaron's going to be an interesting one for sure. I really love that muscle weasel (tho I really hate the Clifford memes, god forbid them).

[@JaxDaHax1]

c l I f f o r d

[@Lioleusu]

T H E B I G R E D D O G

[@abel_36]

Eldrich pupper best boi along with lightning doggo

[@marcusgo1160]

Clifford the big red dog you nosy brute wyvern.

[@kevinjames2235]

I hope he explores Odogaron's resemblance to gorgonopsids. The fanged wyverns strike me as Monster Hunter's synapsids.

[@azuremoon2096]

After seeing recent information about Magna being able to scare off and is capable defeat Bazelgeuse from banneddino, it just makes me feel even more bad for Bazel as he continues to get shafted as an invander and one of the few “elder tier monster” because we need the giant farting anime tiger to be stronk and cool.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Yup. Even BannedLagi himself didn't seem to like that.

[@oldcowbb]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel i hope capcom realize be super stronk is not what makes a monster a fan favourite. Narga is mid tier at best and still rank top 3 for every damn "favourite monster" poll

[@davidegaruti2582]

It's even more absurd because beezel is almost tailor made to take out land targets with little effort : it' s bomber shaped , if somenthing doesn't fly it should have no buisness taking on beezel ,

[@MegaGeewee]

Bazel does occasionally use a running start to take off, in World he sometimes used it when starting his bombing run

[@007accessb4]

The whole "elder level" monsters thing did not start with jho but rajang himself back in 2nd gen, rajang being a elder level monster was already well established waaaay back in mh dos with multiple hints and statements given in that game and then further expanded upon in the mh encyclopedia 2 (which sadly is only available in Japan), the issue is that during the time of 1st and 2nd gen games people were simply not paying attention to the lore or did not properly understood it (thanks to the wiki), back during the freedom days people were still believing in the nonsense that was the EDW and the great dragon war not to mention that back then we (the western fan base) didn't have any proper lore books to help players understand the lore better, at most all we had was a really old concept art book (mh illustrations 1), it was simply due to the lack of proper information that people in the western fanbase were probably unaware about rajangs actual strength.

[@kennethsatria6607]

Ah... well at least outside of the Savage Jho I don't think they go after elder dragons yet so there's enough time to scale back their favoritism. Side note I think the main reasoning for Rajang being so strong is that its the King Kong equivalent monster just like how Jho is thought of as a Godzilla or V-Rex monster representation

[@007accessb4]

@@kennethsatria6607 it's not actually that but more to do with the fact that rajang is based off of the monkey king son wukong an entity in asian mythology known for rivaling/fighting the god's and given that the elder dragons are revered as god's in the mh world it would make sense that son wukong equivalent would rival them, devil jho wasn't even a thing back in second gen so the king kong vs t-rex representation was probably a unintentional thing.

[@kennethsatria6607]

@@007accessb4 I guess Son Wukong does predate a bunch of stuff, and he also fights a lot of gods, dragons, demons and monsters so this is very fitting, oh also apparently Akuma was Rajang's other inspiration. But I'll be damned if Deviljho wasn't somehow inspired by Vastatosaurus Rex though, an evolved, bumpy green scaled, teeth filled rex. And that film was released in 2005, MH3 in 2009 I think this is an open shut case.

[@mudshrooze]

Why do you and a few others keep saying the elder dragon war isnt lore? I've legit read it many places and tons of videos cover it Like how do you know for sure? It explains the ruins all over the world it explain the history of some elder dragons like fatalis. It explains why humans are so strong

[@007accessb4]

@@mudshrooze few? My guy the vast majority of mh lore enthusiasts agree that the "great" elder dragon war did not happen, even the resident lore expert bannedlagiacrus confirmed this many times now. We know for sure because gaijin hunter made a video about it going over some of the mh lore books (mh encyclopedia to be more specific) in it the great dragon wars idea was listed in the abandoned ideas section of the book, the great dragon wars thing originated waaaaaaay early in mh's development back when it was going to have more high fantasy elements before it was eventually scrapd and took a more grounded approach to its world building. And also no the various ruins found throught the world parished at different times and for different reasons some aren't even of human origin but wyverian (specifically the tower).

[@maxchaos44]

I actually like the idea of normal non elders monsters slowly usurping them in terms of power. Elders are unnatural and force change so eventually monsters WILL adapt and overcome them. besides, Elders, repeatedly have been said to be not "super powerful" but "hard to explain or classify"

[@kylestanley7843]

Gore Magala is a good example of this.

[@afroling2096]

@@kylestanley7843 gore magala is an elder dragon.

[@kylestanley7843]

@@afroling2096 Yes. He is an elder dragon, not because he's super powerful but because the guild found him hard to classify. You've successfully caught my point, good job.

[@Stroggoii]

There's also a very simple lore explanation to why elders are getting weaker: They're younger. Elders are long lived and grow in power as they get more dragon element. Maybe the heroes of Jumbo, Pokke, Yukumo, etc. already brought down the particularly old Teostras, Kushalas, etc. and we're now fighting members of the clade barely out of pubescence.

[@dr.masiaka7048]

@@Stroggoiithe new world elders are said to migrate there when old iirc

[@abel_36]

With all the new goodies we got from Rise, the numerous copy and pasted magbamalo turf wars was not one of them. But what was one of them, was that anjanath got promoted to actual apex monster threat lvl.

[@collectiusindefinitus6935]

Anjanath in world always felt like a bully , trying to make himself intimidating by killing off some weak monsters but being put in his place in the rathalos turf war. Tho it’s nice he gets a time to shine.

[@ginam5497]

but they disrespected diablos so much with that turf war

[@user-cc9kx8tw6t]

As usual, I immediately clicked on this video the moment it appeared. And as always, another entertaining and informative video as always. I also learned alot about scavengers from this video so kudos for that. On Bazel himself, I'll admit I'm dissapointed that he no longer feels like an invader in Rise (that belongs to Valstrax now amusingly). This is probably due to the decreased emphasis on ecology in Rise and the whole Wyvern Riding mechanic but still, I'm hoping he returns in the next MH game with his status as the OG flying invader back.

[@marcusgo1160]

Well valstrax is a rocket, so it will feel weird if it isn't an invader.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Thank you! And yeah, Rise did Bazel dirty.

[@marcusgo1160]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel also what do you think about valstrax being an invader?

[@regularbricksstudios1109]

I love Bazel, he’s definitely one of my top favourite monsters in the franchise! Your statements on B-52 being a scavenger were surprisingly believable, I love your content man, so excited to see what you’ve planned for Sausage Devil Dog

[@xenomorphoverlord]

Not gonna lie, if Deviljho ever gets added, I want him to absolutely demolish Magnamalo

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

A turf war I’d also strongly be backing jho in!

[@matthewlee6261]

Nah its gonna be a reused nergigante/rajang turf war.

[@RubyCarrots3232]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel I appreciate that Valstrax straight up nukes Magnamalo in a fight.

[@dragonskinner7109]

@@RubyCarrots3232 Valstrax will nuke everything though so it's nothing special. Hard to do anything if a Monster you can't even sense comes flying at mach 5 from 10 kilometers away.

[@TsulaAngenati2292]

It’d be hilarious if Deviljho picks Magna up like Odogaron at the end of the turf war and uses them as a weapon If Deviljho were to return (still holding out) it’d be cool to see him pick up monsters that are in the wyvern ride state

[@ganonsbaker3026]

Been waiting for this one! The monster who's name I never get right. I really liked him in world, he always seemed less like a bully and more like a funny Vulture. Great vid as always!

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Thank you! Glad it delivered!

[@fang609]

Another spectacular video, was really intresting learning how the traits a scavenger shows are broken down in to what makes them scavengers, and the fact that that theres 3 feeding types of vultures. The comparison to pterosaurs is also a very valid one with large Azhdarchids been able to fly for 18 k kiliometers without landing at a cruising speed of 90 kmh, and been able to travel at speeds of 178 kmh in short bursts. As for Bazel himself while at first he was a bit annoying I warmed up to him alot,and got pretty decent at fighting him, and Seething is amazing I love the violate and pink shades he becomes the hoter his body burns with anger as he enrages,and his scales become these very pretty purple roses that you have to dance around or blow up. Roar and Theme are ofcourse iconic and memorable as hell. I also agree about the Elder Class monsters. Rajang feels like his only there due to reputation alone(and mabey the fact he eats Kirin) Jho as well and Magna because of his flamboyence even tho his basically a big bully that just drops in during Rampage Season cause its just easier for him to hunt down the repeld monsters that have injured themslves trying to break though Kamura. To be honest the only monsters I can think of that can fit as Elder Level are Ukanlos,Akantor and Ahtal Ka. The first two due to their sheir size and power which is enough to make even the all mightly pickle think twice before tangling with them, and the latter due to its intelegence and how its able to use difrent objects in its lair to its advantage against you,and lets not forget the fact she builds a straight up mech that she puppets around. In the end its a real shame Bazel got the short end of the stick in the game where he first made his aperance just because of Jhos favouritism and popularity and I do agree with you that they should in future games go with a system like the Rise threat level and model turf wars or general monster interactions based on ecology.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Cheers as ever Fang!

[@blackhammer5035]

Really enjoyed this one. I thought Bazel was a great addition to the game by bring a very different fighting style, with its bombing runs and bodyslams. The music and roar were on point too.

[@dromeothemonternoraptor7537]

I agree with you on your debrief on the purple fire tiger, ecologically bazelgeuse should put up more of a fight, as well as the big 3 elders of dos. It should have more resistance to magnamalos assualt, the elders even more. The eater of elders and the super saiyan ape seem equal in their turf war, if either nergigante or rajang were given a turf war with the fanged wyvern, I would expect neither of them would take magnamalo's crap, or at least not as easily as literally every flying monster in the game.

[@marcusgo1160]

wdym magna lost to the 3 elders of dos

[@dromeothemonternoraptor7537]

@@marcusgo1160 To be honest, it's like he said, all the flying monsters are just copy pasted, the elders might have a different ending, but the struggle cannot be ignored. It's the same principle with nergigante and velkhana. On almost any other true elder dragon(includes any elder with kushala and teostra body plan), nergi throws the victim after slamming them down. With velkhana, he doesn't get that chance, because she retaliated in time. So to say that the dos elders "win" against the tiger with the same mental principles as fatalis, after being ravaged midair with the same animation as a wyvern turf war, would actually be false. It would be a tie if anything.

[@marcusgo1160]

@@dromeothemonternoraptor7537 tbh the elders always attack using claws lol

[@marcusgo1160]

@@dromeothemonternoraptor7537 And we kinda know that magna's power level cannot fight siege monsters like narwa and other big elders.

[@dromeothemonternoraptor7537]

@@marcusgo1160 I don't see how that changes anything

[@toottootsonicwarrior5777]

I gotta say. Your takes on certain aspects of the games such as Invaders being cheapened is as valuable a reason to watch your videos as the ecology stuff. I'm really glad there are no shortages of people who appreciate MH for more then just fighting the monsters.

[@anotherjason]

I personally thought that rajang was "given" the elder level class because it's the final boss of mhfu and they've written it to prey on kirin. I'm not sure of when the latter's statement was given, be it during gen 4 or maybe before. Personally rajang ALWAYS seems elder level or atleast above apex level to me, which back in gen 2 was basically just elder level since, really what's the inbetween? Though this is coming from the bias of favourite monster. Oh and i guess it was designed to be... Well "anime"... i guess is the term, since Akuma, one of the big bads of SF was a massive inspiration for it... And most likely aswell, goku. You can see that "anime" trait as mary sue ish, i personally see it as deliberate power scaling.

[@007accessb4]

rajangs relationship with kirin was already established back in mhdos were in that game there was a pokemon type minigame were hunter could keep certain monsters as pets and you could feed them, if you had a pet rajang one of the things you could feed it was kirin, also apparently there was also an npc character that also tamed a rajang and they both apparently go off hunting for kirin.

[@marcusgo1160]

tbh I think mh is basically a shonen anime game until stuff like tri happened.

[@anotherjason]

@@007accessb4 thanks for reconfirming

[@anotherjason]

@@marcusgo1160 i don't get how tri undid the anime thing, if anything, the further we get into the series, the more anime it gets. GU with hunting arts and rise with silkbind stuff etc.

[@marcusgo6784]

@@anotherjason Anime mh is basically a portable theme thing.

[@beastmaster9945]

I'd love to see a video about the Pseudo-Wyverns (Tigrex, Nargacuga, Barioth, Gigginox etc) and their more primitive ancestors, such as the Wyvern Rex.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

All in good time...

[@thedairylord7861]

Judging by the hint in the recent vid That’s probably gonna happen soon

[@sharplosion1]

Personally, I think Magnamalo's issues stem from the precedent set by Nergigante. Until World, monsters fighting was an exclusive Opening Cinematic deal. Tri and Generations both did the newest flagship against older ones, and both showed them being an equal match between the new and old. Lagiacrus and Rathalos sized each other up and then Rathalos just left with it's kill, Zinogre's strength was countered by Mizutsune's agility, etc. Biggest exception to this would probably be Gore Magala killing Tigrex, but the Tigrex was already weakened by hunters at that point. Negigante's entire existence though is centered around fighting. It's basically designed specifically to show off the spectacle of Turf Wars, and said specifically to fight Elder Dragons. Not even former elder flagships in Kushala, Gore Magala or Valstrax had such a hyper-focus on fighting. Same even goes for Velkhana. Though with Nergigante, I think Monster Hunter is slipping into the trap of feeling like it NEEDS to make it's flagships special by any means necessary. Instead of forging a rivalry with it like you do with Tigrex and Lagiacrus, or weaving the narrative around it like with Gore Magala, they take the shortcut of just say 'Hey look, this new flagship can fight elder dragons!' It was fine for Nergigante because he's an Elder himself and that's his entire thing. Magnamalo meanwhile isn't and seems to just casually fight Elders even the upper echelons of them with appearing to fight Allmother, while nothing about it's design or ecology really states that it exists to fight like Nergi does. It'll have to be seen if Malzeno follows, though I know him killing Rathalos doesn't set high hopes in this aspect. Also I believe Rajang 100% was always intended to be special. It's super late appearance in FU, it's inspirations from a popular, powerful character, the infamous double Apex Rajang of 4U, and it's hunting of Kirin being a thing well before World. He always had a feeling of great power and it's just been lessened because other monsters have been put on the same level he was always at. Oh and uh- Good video on Bazel of course. Pretty much agree with everything said about him, so don't have much to add to the talk of him specifically.

[@marcusgo1160]

Malzeno is an elder dragon. Those are meant to be powerful.

[@handtomouth4690]

Nergi was kinda a mix of rivalry and story relevance imo.

[@oldcowbb]

absolutely agree with you that they feel like they need to make flagship extra special, this is shown in the trend of increasing number of flagship elder dragons

[@MegaGeewee]

I missed Bazel in Master Rank. Why he was replaced with a tiger striped t-rex, a moose, and a black dog, I will never know.

[@ginam5497]

He don't like cold do you want him to be in pain?

[@victory8928]

He is bazel he would set the frostreach on fire before giving up. Plus moose is suffering more in the volcano, wildlspire and forest

[@prawn1717]

22:35 This might be supported by Seething not being an invader in Iceborne. It's likely that with the amount of mass they accumulate as mature adults, Seething Bazel's are relegated to the Elder's Recess and areas close to it, with their scales developing more to defend territory than as a self-preservation mechanism. Seething Bazelgeuse will likely still roam, but won't invade an ongoing fight unless absolutely necessary, preferring to stick to a more passive scavenging role. I'd actually be curious to see their interpersonal habits, especially when it comes to mating. They aren't built well for combating one another at all, having blast resistance, tough armor, small mouths, etc, so it'd be interesting to find that despite their reputation, they might actually be a fairly social species, and this could be how the larger, less energy efficient Seething variant sustains itself, through kills brought back to the nest by the normal Bazel. However, their talons don't seem great at carrying carcasses, so it's still unclear. I'd love to see an open world Monster Hunter, where several of the same species can exist on the same map! Also, I really have to agree with the rant on "Elder Level Monsters" and the quest ranking system as a whole. It always seemed like the strength of monsters from every category existed on a spectrum, and it felt weird to boil them into just a few stars. I'm fine with the concept of monsters that can be categorized outside of ED status being able to combat Elders, but monsters like Rathalos, Diablos and Gravios who should be extremely strong combatants get pushed to the wayside and completely destroyed in turf wars because they're a lower quest rank. I think the "danger" rank works much better, taking into account monsters' aggression, threat to human settlements, and threat to the ecosystem. Something like Nakarkos would be an obvious threat under these circumstances, whereas a Rajang, while dangerous to one hunter, is mostly just an inconvenience when traversing the maps, something to be avoided or taken on by experienced hunters. Also I REALLY don't like Magnamalo. I get the aesthetic, but he just looks so dumb and isn't all that interesting to me. Another predator/scavenger hybrid who wins every fight and crosses into any map he wants? Wonderful. Odogaron for next video then! I'd love to see one on Dalamadur. I know he's a little ridiculous, but I LOVE snakes, and him serving as both a natural disaster and an entire ecosystem when dead is super interesting to me. Najarala and Nakarkos would be amazing too, for similar reasons.

[@jointcerulean3350]

That intro LOL! Bazel is a really awesome monster design and very gnarly and mean looking as well, Bazelgeuse also is scary as hell, especially when you first encounter this giant Wyvern, I was running the first couple of times away from bazel in fear, gave me a heart attack because the first time it was behind me and let out a Roar, and the third time bazel appeared during a quest, so I decided to fight this B-52 bomber, and at a low rank at the time, I got completely rinsed, and the rest of my team got bodied and exploded to, also its attack animation caught me off guard to, very cool and unique. Also based on the highly detailed analysis on Bazelgeuse which is really awesome, I would have to agree, although in certain localities I would guess bazel would largely be maintaining a scavenger role as mentioned but also hunting more so than what is seen with lappet faced vultures within an open area with a lot of megafauna and apex predators predating on the large and plentiful species. But in other less suitable areas with a higher chance of not coming across a carcass with more foliage covering and the rarity of such carcasses out in the open, bazel would be more so inclined on catching and hunting its own prey to a largely higher degree, as opposed to other localities, or locations with open areas with plentiful prey items about.

[@yuujinner5801]

So bazel showing up to annoy you during a hunt is just it's natural call for finding food huh. I guess it really doesn't matter to it which side is the victor because either way it gets a kick out of it. Remind me of the chinese idiom where a crane and a clam fight each other and a farmer comes and catches them both.

[@dr.masiaka7048]

Mlem

[@delmerputnam1679]

I like the little Vespoid that snuck into the teaser at the end. “This is my 15 seconds of fame!” A fantastic video, as always. I do still think that carpet bombing a large plains herd of Aptonoth is an effective hunting tactic, but I can accept that maybe this isn’t a common behavior and is energetically expensive. Super excited for Odogaron!!!! Also, you gave the fart tiger everything he deserves

[@Sunaki1000]

Yeah expecially since the Bombs do detonate if a Aptonoth steps on it. Or in Gameplay, if you accidentally hit one.

[@marcusgo1160]

Magna has a pretty good theme tho.

[@Lioleusu]

Why do you hate Magna? (Jus a question)

[@delmerputnam1679]

@@Lioleusu he’s a monster who isn’t really an animal so much as a living steam train that defeats everything in his path. Which isn’t what Monster Hunter Monsters are: they’re animals, with ecology and a role to play in their environment. That’s what makes Monster Hunter so much more interesting than other “slay the monster” games, and Rise has pretty much none of that

[@marcusgo6784]

@@delmerputnam1679 tf you mean. Ecology in the previous games are even less compared to rise.

[@marinasea17]

That bit where you mentioned monsters turf wars being affected by their health and broken parts could be very cool for large, apex or elder dragon monsters being swarmed or ambushed by much lower tier hunters, things like Tobi Kadachi, Jyuratodus, or even the Great Raptordromes of many varieties. Seeing such powerful monster lose a turf war because they're already on their last legs and have been grievously wounded would be a sight to see. Especially if those monsters come in to feed once the hunter has carved the corpse.

[@TheRymHero]

I have watched all of your Monster Hunter videos up to date and I am a HUGE FAN. I love Monster Hunter, I love animals, animal documentary, zoology and really anything talking about other creatures and how they live and function. I could gush about this for a while but I really love these. I am about to start going through your other videos since I liked these so much.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Thank you! Hope you enjoy them!

[@limebeersalt]

I don't know how, I don't know why, but whenever I'm watching any video, even if it's not related to Monster Hunter, this video is ALWAYS somewhere within my recommended without fail... I don't mind though since that's just Bazelgeuse being Bazelgeuse

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

He's always ready to invade

[@brontospinusregalia6921]

Thank you for placing information on vulture conservation. As someone who works with raptors it was something that was unexpected but very welcome. And of course another excellent video.

[@titansquirrel4408]

I often watch these laying in bed, and if I have to roll over and switch my headphone to the other ear, I rewind. It's not every channel I do that for lol I'm so engaged in this series

[@TheBboySpooky]

With Rise, I think there is one big reason why there are so many repeat turf wars and why they're lackluster: the new wirebug riding mechanic. I know you could ride monsters in earlier games but it is a larger focus in Rise and much easier. I think the developer's expectation was that, rather and watch the turf war play out to completion, that you would hop on and ride one of the monsters pretty early on. Based on this, they may have figured it was better to spend more time developing other concepts/areas rather than fleshing out the turf wars, since they assume most players are going to ride pretty early into the encounter.

[@victory8928]

I have to say I agree with your assessment on bazel but have my own thoughts on the matter. For one, I think bazel is far more of a capable hunter than you make them out to be for several reasons: First one, Bazel’s scales most likely are relatively fast acting (faster in the real world of monster hunter than the gameplay we see for balancing reasons, similar to how kirin’s lightning bolts are slowly and less unpredictable than really lightning), plus they do have a range to them so bazel would probably use them for hunting large herds of groups of monsters. Especially when you consider how powerful the scales are, they probably would cripple and kill monsters making it easier for bazel to capture and kill. Plus we know from the World than Bazel is native to the Old world so they probably hunt the large herds of herbivores in the plains and other wide expanses of land that make up the old world. Which actually makes their bulk and locomotive efficiency a boon for hunting in these large expansive as well as moving to more unique food chooses. Second would be the fact that bazels seek out conflict to kill and eat, while the ecology book suggests that bazel does this to feast on dying prey, it is also possible that bazels take these opportunities to surprise and kill the fighting monsters using their bombs and bulk. Which would give it an unique niche as a large carnivore hunter or fulfil a quaternary or tertiary role. It can also explain why bazel will also instantly go to the sound of conflict even if it just started, to take advantage of the situation to get as much food as possible. Thirdly, bazel’s jaws are probably a tad weak (not as weak as jho’s but still weak) so the use of their scales maybe useful in tenderising and making carcasses more easier to consume especially large carcasses that will be bazel’s preferred food source, but as well as hunting since it also helps disable prey for bazel to eat, which does imply they use them for more than just hunting or fighting. Fourth, bazel may very well be causes of wild fires given their bombs, so their fire resistant hide may allow it to hunt in wild fires for other predators or fleeing prey items (bazels can be found in Volcanic regions so it is most likely that they have a cooling mechanism. And it also allows bazels to get as much as possible from their scales if they can pull it off. Fifth, bazel probably hold a role as a large prey killer because of its scales and bulk making them great at handling specific prey items. Maybe they will hunt the occasional Vaal if they find one given how weak vaal is to fire and explosives in general as well as how flammable effluvium is and probably other lower end elders and elder tier monsters like rajang and deviljho (albeit at great risk to bazel) due to said bomb scales and bulk. Which while not being a great source of food is a potential item that their bombs can handle. I also want to point out how bird of prey that adapt to running or more ground based locomotive have flat talons to help walk and run and that the ability to grasp prey while useful isn’t a must for predators given the sheer amount of predators that don’t use grasping appendages. So the flat talons aren’t really a sign that bazels are bad hunters. And while you mentioned those large pterosaurs when comparing them to Bazel, they were most likely had a hunting strategy similar to that of cranes and storks (primarily Marabou Storks) as they primarily were terrestrial hunters and not primarily scavengers, so there is real life examples of how something with the same locomotive abilities of bazel are capable of being ground hunters, plus again, bazel probably doesn’t hunt any rando thing, that would be a waste of energy compared to killing a herd of apceros. So yeah, bazel is no slouch hunting wise, just doesn’t use the more familiar for orthodox hunting methods.

[@bryanteehee682]

100% agree with this! The point on it creating wildfires is similar to tactics some hawks use of spreading wildfires to drive its prey out into the open so maybe it does something similar

[@chickadeestevenson5440]

I'm going to disagree with BOTH of you and say that Bazie is your classic Kleptoparasite. Detect a kill and fly in dropping explosions everywhere, causing the actual predator to freak the fuck out and flee. Swoop in and take possession of the kill, and be big enough to make the predator decide that it's not worth it to pick a fight with this asshole.

[@Cubey3]

Always look forward to videos from you! One of my favourites this time too! Would've been funny if you started your intro for an entirely different monster, only to have Bazel "invade" your video and take the spotlight. Hoping to see a video about the Eater of Elders himself from you in future! I reckon that could be an interesting video if you ever plan on doing one.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Damn, I actually wish I'd done that now. And thank you! Nerg is one I've given some though too for sure, but any elder is quite a challenge.

[@Lae_vateinn]

Throwing in Bazel’s theme at the very end for your video(which is mostly without and bgm) actually caused my heart rate to rise just a little.

[@thegreatgoldfilms6311]

After I heard you call Magnamalo "panthera weaboo" at 31:19, I couldn't unsee it

[@kevinjames2235]

Panthera weaboo 😂 Magnamalo's design has grown on me. At first, the samurai armor seemed farfetched until I thought of Brachydios' headgear. I've enjoyed the fantasy elements of Rise's yokai monsters. That said, it's hard to stomach their turf wars. Magnamalo is the "nothing personal, kid" meme come to life.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

*teleports behind you*

[@gamernsymbiotemaster9871]

On the topic of scavengers, I'd like to mention a story from my hunting partner. He apparently saw a yian garuga eating from a carcass that a rathalos had killed in the guiding lands. Something you could look into yourself if you'd like.

[@Kurominos1]

garuga eats meat or from a carcass ? all i have watched Garugas do is "dig" up larvas and eat them they will peck with theyr whole head in the ground then pull it out and eat sdomethign the end result is broken wood and so one so i guess inside of this wood was a huge juicy larve

[@gamernsymbiotemaster9871]

@@Kurominos1 Interesting, my hunting partner will swear he saw garuga eating from a carcass. Maybe he'll take anything he find?

[@rraveboy9431]

@@gamernsymbiotemaster9871 upon inspection after capturing it several times, i’ve found garuga has very small pointy teeth in that big ol’ beak. maybe it primarily eats grubs and maggots from carcasses, and if nutritionally strained it has a little flesh as a treat ?

[@Derpy-qg9hn]

@@gamernsymbiotemaster9871 Possible that Garuga just started the grub-eating animation on top of a carcass, giving the illusion of scavenging?

[@kennethsatria6607]

I know you just ranted on the mary sue monsters and how they break established lore and win every fight, but I do hope to see a Rajang video sometime. Unlike Magnamalo who borders on Elder Dragon levels of unnaturally designed and power able to defeat other monsters and elders, I think Rajang is still within the realm of believably MHW tries to set up, and is a pretty old monster so its not some oc and is at most only given favoritism. My own headcanon is that like gorillas and chimps, the family groups these individuals come from are probably just very good at evading human eyes and or live in remote areas, hence the rarity. But as the ones we hunters see are lone individuals in very remote and extreme climate habitats, I'd go with another headcanon that like Elephants the males might be kicked out of their family groups for being too aggressive and are nomadic until mating season. And in terms of strength it might just be that way as a way to defend themselves against the worst predators found in those remote and extreme climate environments like Elder dragons. Like a primate equivalent of a Wolverine or Honey badger who compensates its small size with extra ferocity and the durability to match it. Or just like how gorillas are huge and so can't live in trees but make up for it with strength against predators

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

My own thoughts are something similar; the rajang that we see are all transient males and live primarily away from the main family groups...but until we get more info I'm really flying blind on the speculation with rajang.

[@kennethsatria6607]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel I guess the details do only come in with MHW and now that its ended all we know is its physical feats and wandering behavior. Its funny cause people usually attribute a transient individual to explain Bigfoot and Yeti.

[@Felsuffix]

Just wanted to thank you for your amazing work on this channel. You're pretty much the only MH content creator I've seen that explores the series in this way, and that surprises me, given how MH uses realism as a scaffolding for its creatures and world. The in-universe study is much more fascinating to look at and you do it very well. I also wanted to echo a second thank-you for voicing how I've felt about this monster and its treatment more or less since its release. It's such a letdown to have a monster that made such a splash be made into Magnamalo fodder (especially insulting because it has next to 0 turf wars already, whereas its contemporaries Jho and Rajang have nearly a dozen and none where they lose). It baffles me why they're so hesitant to show how strong and aggressive it is when they've already gone and said so. Here's hoping gen 6 treats it better! Also, I can imagine the Rajang turf war they added later was as gratifying for you as it was for me.

[@tomm8218]

I just recently found this channel and I am loving the content. And FINALLY someone who agrees how porely designed the power level of Magnamalo is (really lauged at the sonic OC picture). Like really, where is the tension in the game when you fight Magnamalo so early when he is apparently so strong that he can flatten half the other elders?

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

There’s dozens of us!

[@bkylecannon]

My boi! Bazel was my favorite new monster in World, love the video.

[@ayyydriannn7185]

Bazel’s capacity for heat generation in and near the mouth may also serve to increase the effective nutrition from scavenging by cooking the food, making it easier to break down and extract nutrition from, well outweighing the loss of nutrition from the cooking process. An unintended side effect, perhaps, but one that would certainly help it survive at such a size on a food source like carrion

[@birchy6674]

As a gunlance player, i have two hypothesis for the purpose of the scales. Firstly they are Bazelguse way of handling armor plateting- The scales weaken it so Bazelguse can remove it to get the juicy meat inside. Secondly, Bazelguse can Rocket Jump. Or rather, it uses expolsion genarated thermals to take off.

[@freaky_owl5833]

Great video as usual! I was already on board with scavenger Bazel, but this definitely made me even more convinced than before. I personally think that Bazel's bombs would help with facilitation. For larger armoured carcasses the bombs may be able to crack open the armour to allow bazel to get past it and into the meat. Obviously for smaller carcasses this would run the risk of obliterating the meal but for larger ones I think it may be able to work. And with said larger meals it may be worth the energy expenditure of a few bombs to break its way in. Also agree wholeheartedly with everything you said about turf wars. I'd love for the mechanic to be expanded upon more so than it is and for it to choose winners based off the monsters biology and ecology etc. rather than quest rank.

[@bohenian]

I think the reason rajang is elder dragon level is due to how they prey on kirin. A normal rajang might just be low level or be on par with a rathalos or anjanath, but a rajang that consumed a kirin horn is on another level.

[@Sta_cotto]

I find myself unable to be afraid of the spicy pinecone anymore after a particular encounter with a seething one; before it noticed me, it was rubbing its neck against the ground like it was trying to scratch an itch. It was adorable.

[@RubyCarrots3232]

I know this is a late reaction but I do love how bagel’s new turf war with Rajang shows it not only blast free but actually dominate him too. It’s the only other monster shown beating him besides Nergigante. On a side-note, I think Nerg’s spines and regeneration are not as improbable as they were described in the designs video. Perhaps it evolved as an anti predator defense against others elemental elders. With larger and more hostile individuals being selected for until they stopped being hunted by other elders and repurposed their defense into a hunting tools, it’s spines and brawn making close combat deadly and its regeneration to withstand elements until it close the distance. I know a specific species of beetle that became specialist frog eaters for a similar cause.

[@knightofendor8384]

Just a thought, but for those exemplary opportunities, like say a deceased giant elder like Zorah or Lao, Bazel might actually use very controlled/deliberate blasts using their scales, maybe just detonating individual scales to burst past the exterior armour, gaining access to the meat within.

[@NoelClover89]

I didn't like Bagel for the same reason I didn't like Brachy: Cool idea, but why explosions if you're gonna blow up what you eat? Your points on it being a scavenger ((which is something that completely slipped my mind)) made me appreciate it quite a bit more and allowed for things to click better in my head. Thanks for the video.

[@Jak3thusn4ke]

“… effortlessly manhandled by panthera weeaboo.” I’m dying lmao

[@dracojester2971]

With the bit about taking off, Bazel does get a running start when about to do his carpet bombing and diving attack, but not when taking off for smaller aerial attacks or leaving the area. I kind of feel like they should have had the running start also be used for leaving the area, but might have been an oversight or wanting to avoid an old world diablos situation where you couldn’t tell if it was getting ready to attack or leave. And something about the vale is if the updrafts in the highlands come from the vale, leaving might be a lot easier for bazel, making it even more lucrative for it.

[@johnr5779]

I think it’s logical to assume that Bazel prefers using cliffs to fly instead of taking off itself. Considering its mass and its roosting in the elder recess as a high point to look for carrion throughout the new world, it may only take off itself when threatened or forced to by the landscape. Considering the general verticality of the new world, using cliffs or up drafts for flight may make it easy to save energy this way.

[@aasminecrafter]

That intro is something more valuable than gold; it was that hilarious!

[@EnraiChannel]

I like how in high rank bazelgeuse does react to monster roars and it felt like bazel mainly focuses on attacking the monster rather than the hunter after crashing the fight. I was a bit sad when seething bazel doesn't seem to be too keen on doing this, but this video kind of cleared it. Whether it was conscious choice from the devs, or them just forgetting to add it to seething bazel in MR.

[@wolffang489]

I always considered Magnamalo to be the Lagiacrus of Rise. It gets blamed for a disaster it's just taking advantage of, and this is just from my experience but while it's occasionally willing to attack an elder dragon, so is a great jaggi under the right circumstance and it usually leaves pretty quick. It looks edgy but it's really just like a zinogre with bone spikes instead of spiky fur. I kind of agree about Rajang though but I do like it's specialization against Kirin on paper. Having it predate one specific elder dragon that is also migratory suggests some interesting adaptation going on rather than just being generally strong and liking to punch unicorns.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Magnamalo fills a similar story role and doesn’t deserve its in-universe hatred, although I really don’t like it as a monster itself at all.

[@wolffang489]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel I concede that it's odd ability to "fly" on anger-fueled explosions creates some over the top anime-esque turf wars, but I can't lament that because the conclusion of a lot of those turf wars (where it tends to land) is one of the more memorable things to first experience for me in Rise, and very entertaining in groups with newcomers. From a biology viewpoint, especially for a non-elder dragon it does feel particularly improbable though.

[@dragonqueenniisan4122]

Thinking on it, I think the scales is a bigger warning than we give credit. Being able as a monster to fight off a Bazelguese from your kill might leave you weaker than you would want given we know one of the Bazel's favorite attacks is to fly over the area while raining scales. This causes damage to the potential kill you are fighting over, while causing damage all over the monster's body. Meaning the risk/reward is better to find a new kill to eat rather than attempt to fight off the Bazel and die yourself, or sustain so much damage to yourself and the kill that it makes it easy for you to become predated from the fatigue and damage.

[@the_chosen_one5642]

Really good video as always

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

I appreciate it!

[@Late0NightPC]

I'm likely a year or two too late to be the first one to mention this, but perhaps the reason for Bazels smaller head and mouth for a scavenger is because it just doesn't need a strong jaw? Like, a strong jaw is required to rip and tear through the carcass in order to get bits small enough to swallow and digest, but with Bazel's blasting scales and preference for bombing runs, perhaps the shockwaves from all those small explosions pulverize the carcass in addition to scaring off whoever's trying to eat it. Any large bones or hard objects would likely be broken into small pieces, and the softer meat will be pulverized into a mush that's soft enough for a "weak jaw" to tear off and swallow. You don't really need bite force or a big mouth if you can practically just slurp your meals down like a hamburger helper smoothie. It could also add to Bazel's role in the ecosystem, as when it comes across a kill that it doesn't completely consume by itself, whatever it leaves behind is already "broken into" enough that the smaller scavengers can now pick apart what remains to get at stuff like bone marrow that would have otherwise been inaccessible. Plus, with the scales blowing everything up, it would also damage and destroy the older, weaker plants like trees, while scattering small bits of "fertilizer" all over the area, potentially serving a larger-scale role in helping plant ecosystems recover from all the massive monsters breaking stuff.

[@thebossman5470]

Oh you know when the rumbling strings section and rising brass section starts playing that explosions are about to happen. I love this monster after actually facing my fears and start hunting it.

[@garrettvinson3376]

If water combat and more coastal areas return, I would love to see Bazeljuice appear there at some coastal cliffs or a bay area. Have them engage in different behavior, specifically being aerial marine hunters, spooking whales and aquatic monsters into the bay, where they can then go dynamite fishing for easy meat

[@Alcadias0]

Man it hilarious watching everyone hate on Magnamalo. Especially when World came out and everyone said the same thing about their monsters. It shows no one is happy.

[@SomeGuyWithAFace9]

when i first encountered bazel, it was so threatening and well introduced that i actually thought it was supposed to be an elder dragon. even in the first fight i had with it i was shocked when my palicos trapped worked on it, such a great monster

[@yohangasmask5075]

One potential use of the blasting scales that I thought of could be to aid in breaking up whatever Bazel eats. For example, it might blow up rocks into smaller pebbles and eat them to aid in digestion or for minerals, and in the case of an armored monster's carcass being left behind, it could use its explosive scales in combination with its own bulk to crush and blow apart tough meals, or even partly cook them (though this is likely unintentional.) There is one attack that Bazel does, where it rears up high on its back legs and scatters scales before slamming down. This motion sticks out as being very slow and clumsy compared to its other attacks, but perhaps this is the technique it uses to bludgeon and blast tough, armored or shell covered cascaras into bite-sized chunks. As for why it tries to do this to hunters, it may simply be instinct, as it sees the hunter as food, and thus acts out the action even if other "attacks" might make more sense. Also, I will admit that while some turf wars are bullshit (Joh memeing Odogaron being the most absurd), there are a few which I like. Espinas vs Kushala, for example, was something foreshadowed even in Frontier, and goes to show that even lower rank monsters can punch above their weight class if they are adapted in such a way that another monster's gimmick doesn't work on it.

[@raccoon2968]

Man I forever will always love bazel, helps me in hunts, and makes my friends faint by its dive bombs. Bazel my beloved 💖

[@nievesshiratama3964]

Looking at the picture of Bazelgeuse my brain did a double take: instead of scales hanging on his underside I thought I saw friggin' ticks! Now I can't unsee that ...

[@LeoTheYuty]

I love Basil Goose. My fourth favorite herb and favorite waterfowl and a stealth bomber all at once.

[@ExoskelletAnimation]

Great video ! You bringing up Bazels potentially living in the arid subcontinent and all the talk about scavanger makes me wonder if desert giants such as Jhen and Darhen Mohran dying carcass can be potential the ocasional feast for Bazel . But the deserts these two live might be so vast and baren that bazel don't even patrol it . Idk , I'm not very knowledgable on the topic but it feels like an interesting idea to dig up . On the turf war topic , world system feels like it was to focused on having a "power level" without thinking enough about match ups and how monster can resonably fend off or even dominate monsters that are supposedly stronger ( your diablos video was a pretty good exemple" ) . Edit : reading the comment , another relevant exemple would be how rajang can pray on kirin specifically because it can outmanouveur it and handle the electricity but would be outmatched by any other elder dragon and even lesser monsters .

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

The Mohrans are interesting to think about, if they die above sand and present themselves to scavengers or beneath it and there's a bizarre subterranean psammosere built from the nutrient release of their bodies. And agreed, World felt far too strict keeping to it's power levels and it made things kind of transparent.

[@jonathanmiddleton1775]

I agree with the analysis. Based on its physiology and behavior, an aerial scavenger seems like the most plausible niche for Bazel to fill. My question is tho, what is bazelguese related to? A lot of people say that it’s related to Seregios based on the fact that both wyverns utilize their scales, but based on their morphological differences (especially with it’s wings), it’s probably due to convergent evolution rather than them sharing direct common ancestry. All and all, I love Bazelguese and I love this video. Cheers mate

[@victory8928]

I think bazel is more of an evolutionary loner like the aadvark or red panda. There just isn’t much that seems related to the beast and it would make sense given how specific of a niche it fills

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Glad you enjoyed! It's hard to say really, it's tempting to say seregios for sure but even if true Bazel is pretty heavily derived from it. Overall I think it might be it's own little family in the flying wyverns as Victory says.

[@augustusvillanueva2008]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel and possibly like the aardvark its family was probably more diverse in the past but the rest went extinct with Bazel probably being the last 1

[@chickadeestevenson5440]

really listening to all this I would have pinned it being a kleptoparasite

[@ashenesoterica]

Thank you so much for these brilliant videos. Your videos have gotten me to start looking at each monster with new eyes, trying to place how they actually fit into the world at large as wildlife. It's sad that I didn't think to do so sooner, but at least you've got me doing it now. So again, thank you. I can't say it enough. I'm really not sure what it is about this bugger I find so compelling, but it's one of my favorite non-Elder Dragon monsters after Nerscylla. I definitely like it even more with these theories, though; the idea that it's a scavenger works and really appeals to me. My family and friends have always liked turkey vultures. One of life's simple pleasures is stopping to watch them having a grand old time riding updrafts whenever we're on the road, and usually once a year around migration time the trees around our house seem to be a rest stop for them, and it makes for a fun little game to walk out and see how many you can spot. I think one of the things I liked about Bazelgeuse is its need to get a running start into the bombing run. Hell, I loved the design of its wings, even going "huh, those are albatross wings" to myself not long after getting a good look at them. And that roar, yet another thing I don't know why I like it so much and yet I do. I need to get back to Iceborne so I can experience Seething as soon as possible. And really, it's just kind of fun to yell at him when he butts in. It makes things feel like the embodiment of the phrase "hilarity ensues". And honestly, given the information/theorizing here, that doesn't detract from it one iota either. I mispronounce it too, but with the second half more-or-less "properly" mostly so I can growl "GEEEEEESU!" when he appears. Because I'm terrible. (If only we had the hat... But that's SNK, not Capcom.) Seconding the wish it had more actual turf wars. Let the new literally bombastic wyvern have more screentime than the oldies, even Mr. Hungry. I had the impression Rajang got the ascension for basically being an anime meme, plus or minus a little "ooh, what if a fanged beast was an Elder-class monster, bet that'd be a twist!" Sorry for all the words. Really well-made videos about things I immensely enjoy bring out the annoyingly chatty fanbrat in me, and how.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Nerscylla is your favourite monster? What a coincidence... And thanks for the heap of positive feedback too! I really appreciate it.

[@mangobuster1832]

Honestly, I know you have that wheel of what to make the next elder-strength level monster as a negative thing, but I can't help but really like the idea of Yian Garuga being promoted to that level, especially with how it was treated in Freedom and the fact that it's the only monster I can think of that's not a flagship, elder dragon, or elder-strength level monster that has its own unique theme. The thought of something as small and silly looking as Garuga being able to beat apex monsters and tango with elders and elder-level monsters through sheer aggression and intelligence is something I kind of want to see, especially with the latter trait that could provide unique turf wars that take advantage of it as opposed to the recycled ones it had in Iceborne.

[@Owl-yc2yu]

Love garuga. It's body makes it a hassle to fight too. Poison spikes and extremely hard shell. Small body so not much food if it actually gets taken out. Most monsters just leave.

[@ibymalik4139]

Garuga is basically made to be an annoying to fight and i love it

[@wolffang489]

I have enough trauma from that bagel crashing cramped forest hunts to never question it's ability to soar wherever it dang well pleases.

[@JetStream0509]

Magnamalo feels like he was designed from the ground up to be an elder and then changed to be a fanged wyvern at the last minute

[@Chocoboranger]

What if Bazel does hunt with scales? It finds a herd of grazers, drops scale bombs causing massive panic in a crowd, and then feeds off the dying over a week. Essentially keeping fresh food nearby as they slowly die from wounds. Bazel is very well equipped to guard its prey, it could stay in one location feeding for weeks.

[@tylerleach8796]

So your videos have actually inspired me to try out the Monster Hunter games, starting with Monster Hunter World. So far I like the game but Bazelgeuse, as well as Deviljho, really represent my biggest problem with the game...the fact that none of the monsters you fight have actual health bars. For some monsters like Great Jagras and Rathian I didn't mind but the larger ones like Deviljho and Bazelgeuse were where I REALLY started getting annoyed from how much punishment they were taking and the fact that I really had no way of knowing how close I was to finally killing them. Bazelgeuse here also will hold a place in my mind for probably my most frustrating hunt. I had run into Bazelgeuse a few times on side quests so I decided I would go on an expedition to hunt him, I was fighting him...and then a Pink Rathian was following me and the Bazelgeuse everywhere.

[@r.k845]

That’s by design and should really stay that way.

[@gurburgandr]

To my knowledge there isn’t that many city like places in monster hunter, obviously some villages aren’t incredibly small, but the space between certain human/wyverian settlements could serve as to why bazel wasn’t too well known, plus in the opening for mhdos we see a biologist deliver a message by bird. Also fantastic video, along with with the future predator vid, that and this have become my favorites lol [edit]: I agree with the turf war segment, as now seeing jho or jang fighting an elder doesn’t feel that climactic anymore because they just steamroll everything, it would’ve been nice to see more turf wars that look like arzuros vs tetranadon or tigrex vs odogaron. I personally think having some monsters somewhat dominating other monsters isn’t always a bad thing but should be kept to a minimum, or at least done similar to goss harag vs tetranadon where even tho it’s one sided goss doesn’t come out unscathed and gets sent flying by some rocks and high pressures water, instead of magna’s same turf war over and over again

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Off the top of my head I think Dundorma, Minegarde and Loc Lac are the only true settlements that can have reached city status in the world, so yeah not many at all. And thank you!

[@harryvincent2434]

I think it makes a lot of sense for it to be a scavenger. The bomb scales would be a very effective way to scare off predators. It would glide around not using much energy, spot a kill in progress and bomb it, scaring off the killer and leaving the carcass for itself. It seems like it would be a very effective and efficient method, giving an explanation as to how it would become so large.

[@thegamingfish547]

seeing Odogaron got me to buy world, i’ll be excited for that video

[@RTDice11]

First, awesome video! I think I've learned more about scavenging animals from you than I have from years of NatGeo and Animal Planet. Second, 3:00 I think the dev's were traumatized by the response to Tri. They replaced nearly all of the roster, got heat for it, and seemed to overcorrect by keeping the old monsters at top-billing + a few edgy flagships

[@EscanthonX]

I will never know why, but youtube seems to VIOLENTLY recommend this video to me after watching one or two of your others. If I watch two or so videos, this one will be the first "recommended next" video for many days, and will suddenly appear in the top 5 front page recommendations. It's gotten to the point that I'll watch it just to get youtube back to normal behavior Not necessarily complaining because this is good content, just bizarre behavior on youtube's part

[@isaacthedestroyerofstuped7676]

I've already watched the video before, but yt still recommends it to me with striking regularity. Great video, but I was wondering if I was the only one

[@alejandroelluxray5298]

Bazelgeuse gets the best of both worlds in the scavenging niche: It has the capabilities to efficiently move from carcasse to carcasse, detect carcasses available and has the right metabolism to live of it while also being capable of adequate processing and has the power and size to beat up competition for the same food source

[@momentomalum1037]

I do have a bit of speculation regarding this. Since Rathalos is thinner and more mobile as a whilst Rathian is less mobile, I think it would be fair to speculate that the common and more mobile bazelgeuse is infect the male whilst the more powerful but less mobile seething bazelgeuse is the female. The extra bang of power and bulk in seething could aid in egg laying and defense of young. The more commonly seen normal bazelgeuse is simply a male either feeding itself or gathering for the female and young (as seen in albatrosses).

[@reidp1727]

I know this video is older and you may not see this, but despite the areas that we see Bazel in, my head canon tells me that this monster uses its scales as 'depth charges'. It resides on land but uses it scales to blast fish and other sea cheatures and feeds on them. It might make sense, but I would love to hear your thoughts.

[@cosmicman4963]

I think the way magnamalo hunts and fights other monsters is by really abusing the "surprise" factor. Let me explain, on his intro cutscene we see him luring a tobi kadachi into him by using a hellfire flame, this triggers kadachi into attacking just for it to get impaled by magnamalos tail. Against Bazel and other flying wyverns, I think its mainly that they think they will be safe on the skies from anything that magnamalo could throw at them, just for magnamalo to literaly jump into them and clap them to the ground. This nature of swiftly dispatching and defeating your oponents really makes me remember of the martial arts T I G E R style don't you think?

[@GunlessSnake]

Thanks to the Iceborne guidebook (which I translated all the Monster pages for!), we know what causes the Seething Variant. Turns out that Seething Bazelgeuse come about when Bazelgeuse live in environments with enough Bioenergy to allow them to permanently maintain the heated state and produce energy-dense Distilled Blast Fluid. This is why they're only seen in the Elder's Recess in the New World. Also, their "Crimson State" and ultimate nuke are basically displays, a warning to others in a show of their power. Also, Bazelgeuse's official ecology suggests it's much more active as a predator. It bullies/kills other large predators from its territory (even prioritizing stronger ones over smaller and weaker ones) to create a monopoly of prey for itself, and hunts by doing bombing runs on prey and eating the blown-up remains. This suggests extremely aggressive territorial tendencies, and given that its main habitat of the Elder's Recess is rife with armoured wyverns, it makes sense that Bazelgeuse needs a solid explosive solution to crack such shells consistently.

[@AD-pp2vn]

That's it, once I get Rise I'll dedicate my time to hunting Magnamalo until the fear of humans becomes ingrained into their genetics.

[@tohumbus6889]

As someone who loves rise I gotta say one of the worst parts of it are the turf wars with magnamalo. I mean at the very least he does loose to the elders but I definitely just wish they changed those turf wars to make it seem more one sided in the elders favor, like if it started the same with the elders just immediately tossing him to the ground. And same with bazel but to a lesser extent. And at the very least they should have given him at least ONE more different turf war animation. I don’t even hate magnamalo he’s one of my favorites in rise but I just despise that aspect of him

[@oldcowbb]

the first time i saw magnamalo's turf war with aknosom i was like "wow thats cool", then he did the same with rathalos i was like "emm ok", and then he did the same with bazel and the elder trio which really crossed the line. I love his design but he should've stayed at zinogre's level

[@tohumbus6889]

@@oldcowbb I think the team realized this but I think they overcorrected, hes only in MR 3, putting him under rathalos, zinogre and even the fated four duo. personally I think he should have been high end of MR4, like just slightly under espinas

[@starryskyhighway9628]

@@tohumbus6889 quest rank doesn't matter...like gammoth can kill tigrex but threat wise tigrex prove more threat to hunter/human than gammoth thus tigrex are more dangerous eventho gammoth is stronger than tigrex

[@Metalseadraking]

I really would like too see for these "Elder Level" monsters like in the Diablos Turf war where either could win, two outcomes, one where the Elder Dragon wins an one where the Elder Level monster wins. Preferrably having the Elder Dragons win almost always, but leaving a chance that they could be repelled in very rare cases. Of course it would take extra effort, but I think it could be a good way to show the Elder Dragons are according to their own presentation a step above usual wyverns whilst also show that "Hey this monster COULD repel an Elder Dragon" or something like that I also agree that Magnamalos turf war is pretty stupid as he seemingly handles an Aknosom the same way he would a Kushala

[@l1ghtd3m0n3]

People complain about Magnamalo but Lord help you making sense of Valstrax ecologically.

[@junevue9665]

Magnamalo is a weid one

[@pinkfridge6111]

I think that the Spike on Bazelgeuse`s mouth could also have a secondary function, similar to rathian it could get small bits of food from a carcass to its nest or even carry a dead animal the size of endemic life on it. The hardened back-scales and the general form of Bazel`s neck seem to suggest that it is used for protection, my suggestion is that it is used against competitors like jho or maybe in the breeding season so that the female bazelgeuse wouldnt be bombed while mating. The Explosive scales would slide along the neck (or the entire body) and not cause as much damage and even if the scales somehow remained on her she would be protected with her hardened back. Very good video and I am excited for the coughing Weasel next Video!

[@victory8928]

They probably also evolved to be able to take bazel’s bombing runs and divebombs as well given how much sheer explosive chaos happens from it, plus the fire proofing may also suggest that bazel uses that to protect from fire from other monster or maybe fires caused by the scales.

[@Dark_Tesla]

Dude your videos are AMAZING

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Thank you!

[@therosrex5488]

I think you might be underestimating Bazelgeuse when it comes to facilitation. It could easily use an explosive scale or two to blast open a tough carcass, the access to internal organs or fresh tissue making it worth the metabolic cost to produce more scales.

[@_Tzer]

To be honest why is magnamalo even called a fanged wyvern zinogre feels like it fills that name better with how absurd magnamalo is, it's feats and what it even does(it shows up to help you beat narwa whom it shouldn't even fight in the first place because that don't make sense) it should have at least been called an elder to at least handwave some of it's absurdities but nope. Though one thing to note about magnamalo vs bazel's turf war is the fact that magnamalo seems to be inflicted with fireblight consistently so it isn't a complete loss on his end still it should have been way different.