Flying wyvern ecology : Nargacuga in Monster Hunter

[@purplehaze2358]

"He is an animal of darkness, and even in the dark, he travels alone" Man, the edge of that statement can cut diamond.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Blame Maitland A. Edey!

[@blackhammer5035]

Ah, someone else had a shelf full of Time-Life animal books.

[@techstuff9198]

How is being a nocturnal predator "edgy", and what does "edgy" even mean?

[@hideouslime8239]

@@techstuff9198panther, glowing red eyes, otherwise incredibly basic. Yeah it’s a pretty edgy monster

[@CassieCarryd]

@@techstuff9198 Insane how you described the thing in a normal way instead of the edgy way that the quote literally provided you an example of. You can now compare the two statements and hopefully answer your own question.

[@Rainyjax]

Rather than an astigmatism, I think the eye trails are better attributed to motion blur. With how fast Narga can leap laps around a hunter, turning to face it may be difficult, and the bright-red eyes would appear as streaks just from the natural blur that comes from rapidly turning around.

[@Voc_spooksauce]

Are there real life examples of animals that can do this?? I know it's rare for something to be that fast, so i guess Nargacuga is just as fast as a car

[@Rainyjax]

​@@Voc_spooksauce Dragonflies can fly at about 30-40 KM/h or faster, though just about any insect going around your head will be more than fast enough to be little more than a blur.

[@jackkrell4238]

@@Rainyjax Considering how nargacuga are cathemeral( mostly nocturnal, but depends on the circumstances and environment) predators and have evolved high melanin concentration in the intugement layers to allow for concealment, it wouldnt be too unreasonable to assume that the species had evolved the ocular adaptation called tapetum lucidem. Commonly seen in most crepuscular and nocturnal vertebrates, this retinal membrane allows for photon-photoreceptor stimulation which enhances the dim light visibility property of the rod cells. The lurid glow arises from light reflecting off of the blood vessels, but the color varies between phylogenetic lineages. The membrane would facilitate navigation for nargacuga and considering how acute the species hearing is, it is a highly specialized for ambush hunting. The effect could also be a product of the anime-like style of the series and is merely added for intimidation. The glow really only appears after the camera flash in real life, so maybe its ust because of a feature that ichinose thought was interesting. After all, mh designs, while grounded, are only realistic within the parameters of the philosophy and don't always pertain to real world evolution.

[@Voc_spooksauce]

@@Rainyjax Oh yeah good point, and again while not realistic (which is ok), Nargacuga can be that fast sometimes. Not enough to be a blur since we can always see them moving, but i guess enough that the reflection of their eyes might stay in our perception a bit?

[@Dushess]

@@Voc_spooksauce it is purely game design's effect

[@rhyperiorhunter7339]

One thing I noticed is that Nargacuga and Tigrex are pretty much the exact opposite of eachother Nargacuga hunts via ambushing prey and relies on carefully planned attacks while Tigrex's plan starts and stops at charge at it and hope for the best Nargacuga's fur is jet black and helps it hide in the dark while Tigrex's scales are the equivalent to a massive flashing neon sign saying "I am here run from me" Nargacuga is quiet and specifically does not want it's cover blown while Tigrex's roar is known for being so loud it damages the hunter

[@unicorntomboy9736]

One other way they are foils to one another is that Nargacuga prefers enclosed forest habitats (as well as slightly more open swampland to a certain degree) while Tigrex prefers very open areas like desert expanses, alpine steppes and mountain ranges

[@JanusHoW]

And that roar might hurt the Tigrex itself (but not in-game). Such mighty lungs would surely put a great deal of stress on the ribcage - roar too loudly too much and it might fracture its own ribs! Also, Nargacuga's intelligence is almost certainly up there among non-elders - when enraged, it will deftly trigger pitfall traps without actually getting caught, similar to Rajang when it's NOT enraged.

[@davidegaruti2582]

@@JanusHoW i doubt an animal would be able to hurt itself by roaring , expecially a predator that relies soo much on endurance and phisical fitness to survive such as tigrex , i think that is just solved by having a powerful diaphram and ribs that are more flexible than other animals ... tigrex is a meathead , but it's body is that of a sports car

[@toxxicwulf115]

​@Davide Garuti in support of what you said, another hunting tactic for small prey is simply to stun it with a roar. While they would go after larger prey or smaller wyverns, supplementing their diet with the fish and other hunterish sized meals would be easy as the stun hits a wide range and lasts long enough for Tigrex to make the hunt successful. Along with that just like fire wyvern evolved to handle their own fire we'd have to assume there are adaptations to prevent harm from its own or others roars, a glimpse into this is how the armour gives earplugs buffs, so it could be a density to the hide or a thin layer of blubber to help stop resonation.

[@TherealNiqqa]

A bit late but I also wanna add the contradiction between their weapons: At the same rank, Tigrex's weapons always offer very high Raw (reaching even the highest in some games) but with mediocre Sharpness and negative Affinity. While Nargacuga's weapons offer lower Raw in return for their high Sharpness and Affinity

[@user-cc9kx8tw6t]

I do think Nargacuga could benefit alot from environmental interactions. Like you had suggested, having him jump into the trees and ambush hunters would easily sell his image as an ambush predator. I even imagined one of its possible new attacks, where it jumps from tree to tree around the player as the player frantically turns their camera around before the Narga suddenly pounces onto the player. Perhaps even more so if they change Narga's AI to make it less of a direct fighter and more of a cautious one, maybe by increasing the speed of the attacks and making Narga back away more often. Basically, turn it into a hit and run fighter. It will probably be more annoying though gameplay wise.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

I think there would have to be a careful balance between cautious and annoying, but overall narg would benefit. Not like we're lacking in aggressive charge down monsters really.

[@ultimasurge]

i feel like this is how silver wind acts in gu already. And yes its awful having him spam wind blades at you from out of bounds. but if they re did him with a rise quality glow up, im here for it.

[@gruffen4]

you mean like tobi-kadachi?

[@zilchbrain6470]

he should be able to leap off trees like tobi kadichi at least. would also be cool if there was a way for him to temporarly dissappear from your tracking(no scoutflies or map icon) so he could hit you with an ambush, kinda like what they try to do with paolumu in his nesting spot, where he flies out and tries to hit from another direction with a heavy attack

[@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8]

@@zilchbrain6470 I imagine this would happen in game as Narga essentially turning off their eye glow and then running behind nearby cover before jumping out at you. Perhaps this is a thing that it can only do near its nest? Maybe to give you the idea that it essentially is fighting you on its own terms.

[@therosrex5488]

An interesting interaction with Nargacuga is how it interacts with Sonic bombs. A loud noise triggers it to flinch that it hops around, roars, its eyes glow, and its tail swings up and spikes out. It's like an instant response to another, larger monster showing up and roaring. It just instantly triggers a massive threat display, and then it goes into full fight mode. Pretty cool!

[@fieldrequired283]

The sonic bomb is basically a Tigrex Jumpscare.

[@DawnTyrantEo]

One suggestion in regards to black versus green nargacuga- the pigment melanin has antibacterial properties, which may be important for a furry animal living in very moist habitats (particularly for New World nargacuga, who may have to deal with residual effects from Blackveils living nearby). Since green colouration is widespread enough to be a 'normal' pigment or structural colour in many monsters, it's possible that green nargacuga are leucistic individuals, only retaining darker colour on the claws. The claws might still be dark because of structural melanin. Melanin helps strengthen keratinous structures (e.g birds often having black wingtips where the stress on the feathers is highest), and the claw scales will need to be particularly tough on this animal. Alternately, it could just be a structural colour from the layout of the keratin, given that albino nargacuga still have dark colouration in the same areas.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Very interesting thoughts here.

[@m.s.e.advanced2842]

Nargacuga is one of those monsters that's gotten more enjoyable as hunter movement options have increased between games. Rise Lucent Nargacuga is one of my favorite hunts overall. (Gnarlycuga video btw)

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Oopsie...maybe ignore my thoughts on him then...

[@draw2death421]

Im with Unnatrual History Chanel tbh. I rarely am but this is one of them.

[@pump6400]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel i too missed him when he was smaller, big narga was just kinda slow

[@aphidamas1]

Adept style v Narga Boy is the tits.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

In-universe Nargacuga was discovered (or at least rumored) as early as Monster Hunter 1/First Generation, but was not confirmed to exist until Second Generation within the Great Forest and Forest and Hills. It's a shame we never got to see Nargacuga cubs in-game. In addition I always thought that all Nargacuga we encounter in-game are canonically female. It would make sense for them to be larger and more aggressive than males Something bothers me though. it would make sense for Nargacuga to be a primarily nocturnal animal too. Yet in The games we hunt them in quests during the daytime, which always confused me

[@aviongris4233]

I believe in MH3U, we hunt our first Nargacuga at night. I also think they only appear on D. Island at night too.

[@sleepyboysaturn1365]

I'd imagine the daytime Nargacuga hunts may happen during the day *becuse* they are primarily nocturnal, to help with the hunter's safety as hunts are absurdly dangerous to others. this could also help explain Lucent's raised acrobatics because its eyes are better adapted to the environment and it's coordination is improved, it is capable of much more dizzying feats of speed. (on top of all the ridiculous things lucent is capable of.)

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

To be fair day / night settings have no real bearing on monster behaviour sadly. If coded in, then I imagine surely they'd make him at least partially nocturnal.

[@tigaDeviljho]

I don't remenber hunting him in forest and hill though

[@VitchAndVorty]

>Yet in The games we hunt them in quests during the daytime That's probably why we always ended up winning. During their own time, it's probably too dangerous for us. But, then again, our character kills god-like creatures just for their pelts.

[@mathieurajotte8432]

If I recall, I think Lucent doesn't necessarily have an on and off invisibility power like Chameleos, but instead has reflective scales/feathers of sorts which only works in the misty environments of the tower/forlorn arena.

[@sevirakalau2171]

It only works during a fullmoon there as well iirc

[@pathfindersavant3988]

One thing to consider why New World Nargacuga eats more larger game than Old World is the presence of a competitor for small game specialization in the form of Tobi-Kadachi, especially since much of the surface area for the Ancient Forest's biome is in the dense tree and canopy cover, where I can imagine Tobi may have a bit of an advantage.

[@harrisongodzilla]

Great video on my favorite MH monster. Your explanation of Nargacuga being "man-eaters" and may prey on monsters scavenging its kill made think about if that may have been the case with its cutscene in Iceborne. Also, I'd like to add that maybe smaller fanged wyverns like Great Jagras and (for the Coral Highlands) flying wyverns like Paolumu may be on the menu for Nargacuga.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

I definitely think narg would have a shot at predating either of them!

[@lloydfisher713]

I can imagine that the primates have similar eye sight to us. Congalala and Bishaten would need good color vision to pick out the right mushrooms and fruit they eat. Bishaten would definitely need it to know what fruit to use for each attack. Anyway, great video on one of my most favorite monsters. I'm kinda nervous for if/when you get to Rajang lol

[@thenerdbeast7375]

Probably an important prey item for New World Nargacuga are the packing Fanged Wyverns like Jagras and Shamos. While smaller than Nargacuga they are still larger than Kelbi or packing Bird Wyverns from the Old World. One or two a day is probably enough for a Nargacuga to live off of and can be killed and consumed quickly as to allow Nargacuga to not be as pressured by its competition. Shamos may especially be important in Nargacuga's diet as there are no large herbivores in the Coral Highlands. Great Jagras, Kulu, Tziti, Pukei and Paolumu are also all likely on the menu, being relatively easy to dispatch if caught off guard.

[@Sunaki1000]

I like Narga a lot, its beauty in simplisticy. And yeah Silverwind is a missed Opurtunity. As a small defense for Lucent, its stricktly nocturnal and only able to access its Invisibility at night. There arent many if any Monster whit clear Times of activity, so thats quiet nice.

[@ScanovatheCarnotaurus]

This is definitely one of my favorite episodes you've done so far. This intimate of looks at a monster and it's ecology was very nice to see. It really felt like this episode was built-up over the course of several others now that you've gone more experienced with doing these, with the ecological roles of Rathalos, Anjanath, Pukei, and many-many more tieing into one of the best coverages I've seen of a monster. Congrats overall and thank you for the episode. Some questions I do have though. I was surprised to not see Nargacuga's role in the Coral Highlands covered, since for a lot of people, including me, Nargacuga's residence here has been one of the most bizarre. A monster typically restricted to warm/temperate dense forests living in high fairly-cold mountains. Curious as to what the case could be for this divergence. Maybe the New World Nargacuga sort of returning to its old world niche? Small prey is all that's available (Kelbi and Wing Drakes) with occasional larger prey items (Tzitzi-Ya-Ku and Paolumu) with only a few key large competitors (Legiana and the occasional rathian/odogaron). Also was surprised by the inclusion of Espinas, and I'm now dying to see an episode on him specifically. Despite Frontier being.....Frontier, Espinas's introduction to proper canon with Sunbreak has made him one of my all-time favorite monsters. He's yet another elder-dragon-level-monster like jho, rajang, bazel, and magnamalo, but he is nothing like them. Instead of being yet-another nomadic, aggressive monster that blitzes through any apex predators it comes across, Espinas are sedentary and largely peaceful. He's just a guy that eats and sleeps, only becoming an absolute force to be reckoned with when threatened. He is such a breath of fresh air and I'd like to see him looked at more.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Thank you! I now consider the series 'How rathalos ruined the ancient forest' complete! Espinas will be covered in future for sure. And I skimped on coral narga as I don't think he makes much sense with what narga was turned into in World (a big game hunter) plus there was comparatively little official lore on him there as well. Much of his role there felt like an afterthought, so it became the same way in the making of the video.

[@cjbroskin1327]

Seriously, i love the idea that Rathalos actually changes the environment around it to better suit its hunting needs. long shot but i'd love to see the other environments from world and beyond covered by you and the relationships the animals have with one another more in depth, this kind of resident/environmental hierarchy is fascinating to me.

[@prawn1717]

Nargacuga should be able to ambush the hunter before we even find it. Old hunters would be rewarded for spotting the red glow in the trees, while new players would get a great impression of what the monster's all about, plus a heart attack. Great video, as per usual! Excited for Barioth, even if it's not my favorite monster

[@prawn1717]

Oh also I actually love Green Narga as a potentially diurnal alternative to the base form. It pioneered the double tail slam and the green (while garish), could look absolutely gorgeous in a modern title. Really hope to see it back!

[@Sam-eg3mm]

That would be awesome for Wilds

[@Sarcasmosuchus]

I was really surprised to see Espinas featured in this video! Love to see it slowly making its way into the fandom's heart... Perhaps a future candidate for reaserch? (ofc not a request, just hopium)

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Many of us loved him when he was first announced! And before Frontier fell off the rails.

[@Sorrelhas]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel What are you talking about, Frontier hit it's highest point when monsters learned to harness the power of the atom

[@bumberquest3031]

Another great vid. Totally agree that Nargacuga is how you do a sleek "edgy"-eque design without being loud like Magnamalo and Zinogre or a bit overdramatic like Gore Magala. While I like big monsters better than smaller ones Nargacuga becoming larger seemed like an odd choice to make it seem stronger, but it just made it relatively slower and easier to hit as a consequence. I feel like they could of done more with Nargacuga to help you control the pace of the battle a bit more, such as using the environment or being able to lure it into more claustrophobic areas, but I'm not a game designer so what do I know? World did a lot in terms of environmental combat but towards the end and into Rise it became more of 'Does this place have walls I can bash the monster into?" more than "How can I use this setting to my advantage?"

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Yeah capcom’s increasing desire to give the Hunter control of monster movements for combat is really starting to suffocate things

[@diabolicblackout849]

I always thought that Lucent adapted only to the Ancient tower, turning white to better deflect the pale light that shine through the mist making him completly invisible under full moon lighting and mist (to cover the area of his body that doesn't reflect that much). In previous games he felt more metalic than in Sunbreak, maybe it was supposed to be metalic so that the light can actually reflect. He might even develloped lightning resistance to allow him to travel through Kirin territorry

[@masterrafferty4065]

I swear, if there's a hagfish in this episode

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

They escape this time...

[@piranha_gaming7154]

Nargacuga was one of my big walls in rise (wich was my first MH game) and I was dreading every time I had to fight him. He still felt very fast and a lot of the tail slams were really frustrating to deal with for me. But one day I was going on an expedition in the shrine ruins and ran into one. So I was like „eh. Might as well fight it.“ four carts later and I finally managed to slay it. That was one of the best moments in gaming I’ve ever had. After a wile I also got worldborn and I feel like I was the only one who actually loved that Nargacuga. I can’t pin point why though. Maybe it was the feeling of realizing that I had indeed mastered the narga cigs fight of 5th gen or just the iceborn version of his theme. And lucend Nargacuga was an amazing fight if you ask me and the perfect fit for the re-introduction of rare species. But his armor was super disappointing for me. I was hoping they re-designed it to be white with blue bits but that sadly didn’t happen. So I gues that are my thoughts on narga. 8/10 would fight again

[@scorpiopede]

Great video, always liked Nargacuga for their ecology, one of the better realized flagships alongside Rathalos, though its popularity has somewhat soured my appreciation as it feels like it shows up way too often, especially since its role as a fast, stealthy nocturnal hunter is one we don't see enough of. On that note, part of me has always considered Green Nargacuga to be a diurnal subspecies to the black Nargacuga, with the two sharing habitats but simply adapting for different times of day to avoid competition, especially since in 3rd gen Green Nargacuga was more active in its moveset which to me reflected a more active and potentially pursuit oriented lifestyle, potentially even meaning they preferentially hunt in the more open areas of the habitats they are encountered in. It could still work with Green Nargacugas being colour variants though admittedly my knowledge on real world colour variants affecting hunting behavior is extremely limited. Looking forward to the Barioth video.

[@obiguanche5512]

Great episode. I've always liked the idea of nargacuga being a "lesser apex" in a way, kinda like how actual leopards face severe competition from lions and hyenas. I would love to see it carrying kills to the trees and using stealth mechanics to surprise a hunter. Also I agree on the fact that it's size should be reduced and it's speed increased. I'm excited for barioth but if the next one after it is tigrex ( assuming it since they're kind of a trio ) then I really can't wait!

[@zenebean]

A section of the map with a generous number of carcasses stored on branches that the hunter wanders through until one of the lumps shifts and pounces sounds pretty cool, I don't know if any of his games had something like that. The rorqual whale study is very interesting and I'm going to look into it, love weird anatomy adaptations like that

[@cryobk3540]

Just in time for my lunch break, god bless you mate

[@alcole-holic8779]

Ooh, one of my favorite wyverns! I wonder if the way it hunts and the “-cuga” part of its name has to do with the Big Cat, the cougar.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

I am hoping Seltas will be covered next. It is the monster hunter equivalent of the Asian Giant Hornet

[@alcole-holic8779]

@@unicorntomboy9736 Seltas and the Seltas Queen are by far my favorite insect large monsters, and they so naturally interact with the verticality of the newer games that you might not even notice it’s a tutorial at all

[@Spplaart]

Me at my wife's wedding: normal clothes Me at unnatural history Channel upload: suit. Funny mèmé

[@Spplaart]

Hello there! I have a question. While you have been (justifiably) critical of magnamalo's ecology, I recently had a thought. Domesticated chickens originally produced many eggs at once during times when seeds were released in order to make the most use of the temporary resources. Could a similar thing be happening with Magnamalo and the rampage, where it enters an "awakened" state in response to the environment?

[@jas_nah]

At this point I'm going to be mildly disappointed if he doesn't do Magna for April Fools

[@JohnDoe-tt5qc]

Apparently Rampages only occur in 50 year intervals, so Magnamalo would have to be pretty long-lived for that to be a consideration probably. It moves around a lot during its fight too, so it probably needs too much food to just lie low for 50 years at a time. I figured it just followed wherever Ibushi or Narwa went and picked off the monsters that their presence would flush out.

[@davidegaruti2582]

@@JohnDoe-tt5qc that or it lives like a giant cicada ????

[@Spplaart]

@John Doe regardless the one we fight in game is ramped up due to the rampage. Maybe the production of hellfire is directly correlated to the presence of narwa/ibushi

[@JohnDoe-tt5qc]

@@Spplaart is it ever mentioned as being ramped up? You could argue the opposite considering Scorned Mag doesn’t appear in universe until after the Rampage is over.

[@aasminecrafter]

To be fair to Lucent, I think it's stated in the lore that he can only turn invisible under moonlight (hence why he can't be found outside the Forlorn Arena in Sunbreak. Note: I've barely played any of the old games except for 4U; feel free to correct me.)

[@oldcowbb]

only under moonlight AND fog, it does not have ability to turn invisible like chameleos , it has to carefully calculate the reflection of the moonlight on its fur and the fog to and create the illusion of invisibility.

[@aasminecrafter]

@@oldcowbb Minus the fog, I already knew how Lucent turns invisible.

[@supersai-raptor5167]

A wonderful monster to disclose, one of my favorite videos you’ve made, I love how it depicts how effective a hunter Nargacuga is. Like a modern big cat, it’s a master of its domain and what it does and has at its disposal. Additionally it having adapted to defense and attack in the new world, with rathalos and anjanath acting as natural rivals making them more aggressive and prone to turf wars.

[@NekoNinja13]

the idea of nargacuga bouncing off walls and also ambushing the player sounds amazing (and horrifying).

[@cuttle8024]

I love how you can take a creature that I usually consider only superficially cool, and recontextualize it into something nuanced and meaningful. Your videos are great! A weird thing that bothers me about Nargacuga anatomy: In gen5, it seems to have gained an extra "thumb" claw on its forelimbs. This seems strange to me, because such a trait was said to be unique to Tigrex. Even stranger because this gives Nargacuga 6 digits per forelimb. Was a mistake made by the developers, or by me?

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

That’s probably on the devs; a few monsters have grown and lost digits between games

[@jacktheomnithere2127]

23:03-23:11 considering that Espinas can be found in the Citadel - a locale i thought would fit it but not suit, i'm fairly sure it can be found in wetlands. and i'm very certain that Poisontoads and Paratoads would be very plentiful in wetlands. in other words, if Espinas was to live in a wetland, it would have both camouflage from the trees and the prey items to replenish its toxins. i wouldn't be surprised if Espinas was found in the Verdant Hills as well, given the forested areas of the locale.

[@thedwarvenpirate]

You opinion on silverwind's fur patterns is outstanding, but I originally thought of the stripped design to be reminiscent of tall grass swaying in the breeze, except in a moonlight situation

[@LaughingMask257]

Cool I always liked Nargacuga! Thanks for posting a video on it. Question: could you do a video on the Nibelsnarf or some of the crabs, like Daimyo Hermitaur and Shogun Ceanataur?

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

I do love the crabs but they might be a bit challenging for a video due to the fact they're literally just supersize crabs. But never say never...

[@LaughingMask257]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel Yeah, I see how that may make for a challenge. But at least the Nibelsnarf is still pretty interesting.

[@drpepp.]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel and whats with the deviant version of shogun and daymio

[@BoneReaperLagiallosaurus]

Fun fact: Shogun’s water beam is *PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!*

[@zephyrthepuppeteer5737]

@@drpepp. well I find Shogun's more interesting as it adapted to the volcanic habitat that Glavenus lives in just to acquire another skull if one is broken plus the obsession with sharpening its blades in case they rust

[@makurous9241]

„secretive silent smooth and supple as a piece of silk“ beautiful alliteration

[@NargacugaMyBeloved]

I’m very glad nargacuga got covered, always an interesting monster considering someone strapped a beak and knife wings to a cougar

[@captain_betzo4457]

Comparing Espinas to a bear is not something I was expecting, but makes so much sense.

[@tohumbus6889]

Great video as always, very glad you cleared up why an ambush predator with front weaponry had an auditory rattle

[@Christian64124]

You mentioned the green and other colour morphs being a recessive gene. I was thinking that too. They could be more like white tigers or kermode bears.

[@Archidrakona]

I do like lucent as a fight and visual design but i'm usually pretty unbothered by more "animay" designs and think they will always have a place in a serie where you wield a 2 meter sword (i would've prefered a more open Forlorn Map tho), nargacuga is cool overall but i was also sad with the lack of environnemental behavior for him and much of the other returning monsters in World Hope they will improve that but i'm kind of doubtful in that matter

[@williamgeorge3111]

In regards to Narga a man-eater, there was that cutscene in stories 1 where a frenzied Nargacuga attacked a village.

[@winterturner897]

Never would i imagine comparing espinas to a bear, but here we are, i'll be working on more pieces over the coming weeks especially with Barioth coming up next

[@nuke2099]

Should be noted that despite Capcom listing Nargacuga as having fur in it's item descriptions it's actually covered in feathers and the wing blades are made of hardened feathers. Not the first or last time this will happen. Anjanath is based on large therapods possibly having some feathers yet it's listed as having fur which dinosaurs did not have. One version of Paolumu tracks mentions fur while the subspecies states feathers and I can only assume fur/feathers are translation issues or not even Capcom being consistent since they have listed Narga having fur since the start but now in 5th gen they gave it clearly defined feathers and pyctofibers. Capcoms own ecology tree links Flying, Bird, Brute and weirdly Fanged Wyverns to dinosaurs as well or rather they are dinosaurs. Silverwind btw is a elderly Nargacuga that happened to live long enough to get to that life stage and it's still the same species as regular Narga.

[@purplehaze2358]

"Born as just six or so feet long" Ah yes, a literal infant being "just" 6 feet.

[@grayishere]

I've been dying to have this one happen. My favorite monster. Thank you for this blessing

[@Wyvern201]

If we went further into the ecology side of the game in mh6 I'd love to see some kleptoparasitic behaviour. Even better if we see it ramp up when you unlock a "hyper aggressive" monster for an area, to show that it only kills so much to cover it's losses, which are in total probably causing less damage to the ecosystem since it's feeding multiple predators at once. I'd love some more feline monsters. Also in regards to green nargacuga, my theory is that they're akin to albinos, and nargacuga's fur is actually just such a deep shade of green basically black, that when lightened becomes the shade of green narga.

[@indomleon]

I've always assumed that Green Nargacuga are slightly stronger and green because they hunt during the day, instead of the normally nocturnal Nargacuga. This would actually make sense in the New World with all the diurnal animals in a relatively small area posing too much competition for a Green population to thrive, where the nocturnal normal species avoid some degree of parasitism by just being active at different times

[@Indra_the_goblin]

Something I'd really appreciate is if you added a pic or icon of monsters you mention, I don't know about everyone else but I don't have all the monsters remembered off hand so that'd really help understand the vids a bit easier. Regardless you make great vids, really informative and entertaining, thanks for your hard work

[@rohan0724]

I feel like Tigrex is sort of like a cave or maybe even a striped hyena, both have had impressive ranges inhabiting most of the area across Eurasia

[@peterconklin5842]

This was the first monster I grinded in rise, which was my first mh game. I did a bunch of hunts just to get the armour. I absolutely loved hunting it. It was the first fight for me where I felt like I was competent enough to evade, but I still had a lot of room to improve. Thanks for the content on one of my favorite monsters

[@GVKYU]

Love that you showed Tea Common Shark's Nargacuga vid for the intro

[@dinosoaring2357]

Ayyy! Narga video is finally here! As someone who was introduced to the world of monster hunter via MHW, im definitely less than qualified to talk about how monsters seem to act and interact with their environment and each other. I really do like narga, I think lucent narga would be neat if it had more going for it other than invisibility. Base narga in world was a fun (albeit tedious) fight but I can’t say I didn’t want to see it climb like tobi did. It felt sort of clunky compared to the other footed wyverns like barioth and tigrex. Regardless, a fantastic video as always and I’m excited for your future content! ❤

[@Stroggoii]

Funny how the more slender old world Nargacuga consistently beat the bigger/stronger old world Anjanath, but in the new world they're a consideration for their dietary adaptations.

[@Juvi4309]

Monster Hunter GU was my second game after world and Nargacuga was the main wall who helped teach the idea of actually dodging through attacks instead of blocking or dodging away from them for me. He’s since held a special place in my heart as one of my “training” monsters when I get rusty

[@gabrielfehlau8626]

I am never dissapointet with the quality and upload frequenzy of these videos thx :)

[@CPPpotkustartti]

Odd thing to hope, but i still hope that in next Monster Hunter game when you hunt Nargacuga during day, its fight goes like so far, perhaps more jumps from elevated areas and minor speed increased depending on what danger level Narg poses on new area. But during night it gains new behavior moves as well as Lucent Nargs invisibility when moving certain distance away from player. This night tactics would utilize its dark coloring, only its red eyes could be seen IF you can keep track of where they move due to its speed and jumping around before striking. Why you want to fight Narg on different times? -Day allow more easy fight -Night allows best drops that you cannot get during day

[@saltylizerd53st6]

This is definitely one of the best episodes you have done in my opinion. Videos like these help me immerse myself into the world of monster hunter and it makes it more fun for me in my opinion. And also I find it interesting that the Nargacuga could possibly be more suited to the new world and also the fact that it and Ratholos have a possible large scale rivalry between the two species and possibly the Espenas in the old world and Anjanath in the new world well due to as you said it’s strong sense of smell that could sniff out its hidden food catches But anyway this video is great and I’m kinda nervous for when/if you do a video on the tobi-kadachi lol

[@thefatracoon5473]

My favourite monster

[@draw2death421]

A Panther wyvern?

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Hopefully it delivers!

[@Bumba_is_a_fish]

My favourite monster tooooo OMG

[@Passione_Offical_Channel]

Yeah Nargacuga is also quite up there for me even got the SH Monsterarts Narga

[@Gayhan-]

No

[@MinecraftWorld1954]

Nargacuga is my favorite monster in all of Monster Hunter. I can't really explain, but something about it just makes me like it that much. Maybe it's the stealthy behavior or the bat like appearance. I can't really describe it, but it's just really cool.

[@GreatBeanicus]

I'm very excited for your contrasting take next time! Another feline Flying Wyvern that has an entirely different way of fighting our hunter, agile but incredibly aggressive but also with a superpower. Barioth's glow-up in world actually made me really enjoy a monster i had previously rarely thought of, and Frostfang isn't hugely different but it carves out an interesting niche. Can't wait for the follow-up Tigrex too to get the full comparison of feline Flying Wyverns, even if i like its design the least. I might gain a new love for the monster through your insights like many people do here on this channel.

[@uncabob214]

I have such love for Narga. MHFU was my first mohun, and getting to the flagship was special. Made more special that I was both still a newbie and bad at the game, and brought of all things the pleasioth greatsword to fight it. And that thing had about 500 raw and 500 water. Which as you might imagine turned the fight into a grinding endurance match. I spent 40 minutes duelling that magnificent creature, and spend the last five minutes of that completely without healing. It was an amazing experience and one that forever cemented Nargacuga into my heart.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Damn...that's pretty impressive you got it down at all with those stats.

[@uncabob214]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel To this day I remain surprised that I didn't cart out or time out.

[@yurei4414]

For the Marshland and Flooded Forest Nargacugas Shogun Ceanataur may take the role of Espinas and Anjanath being a detrivore more than capable to fight Nargacuga it may be attracted to the caracasses and try to stel them

[@ItzmeFlez]

Fantastic video! I've never played the older MH games, but I thought Narga was kind of a forgetable fight in rise, maybe because he was missing his speed. At least I thought so until I fought Lucent. While I agree that just giving him invisibility is a bit dumb, I think it played out very nicely in the actual fight. He was definetly fast enough to feel like a threat and his pounces out of visibility felt much more fitting for an ambush predator. I'd probably prefer him actually ambushing you, but it's an ok compromise I suppose. Also, as a side note, lucents introduction video with the starlit backround is fucking gorgeous.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

If nothing else Lucent looks very cool. And thank you!

[@HammboneBob]

I think the red eyes might be something that helps in pack hunts. Makes it easier to know where your partner is so you don't spike them.

[@DragonDino2122]

Ayyyy, nice work dude. Always a good day when you upload! Also first.

[@derekkrumel1407]

I've been really diving into monster hunter ecology videos lately and I appreciate your work since it's concerned with the more objective place of the monsters within the frame of the game itself. I think more visual references to exemplify some of your points would be useful. Like when you're referencing the differences in movesets from one gen to the next it'd be useful to see what you mean. These videos are pretty well researched and clearly well thought out and your narration is clear and concise. Some production would really bang.

[@truesoupplay]

One of my favourite monsters ever! Thank you! Also, he has one of the best music themes. I do agree 5th Gen he is way too big for some reason. Would be better if he was smaller and faster

[@kennethsatria6607]

PSUDEOS ON THE HORIZON LETS GOOO I always thought they were the most interesting class, like the true flying wyverns they have less of an imbalance of what is cool and what is realistic, like I know you have opinions on Zinogre and Magnamalo, they definitely need some squinting and theorizing to make sense of but they aren't too far gone to try though.

[@NickBlackwing]

This is what i was waiting for! The reason why i subscribed to the channel!

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

At long last the payoff!

[@br3hbmc79]

The red lining around the eyes that becomes bright red when enraged makes sense as an adaptation to maintain temporal resolution at high speeds through increased circulation to the extraocular muscles. This adaptation is seen in high-speed predatory fishes like Sailfish, which are adapted to hunt at speeds up to 60mph. Paired with the tapetum lucidum, it is clear that Nargacuga has the optical hardware of a high-speed, lowlight hunter.

[@CrissBluefox]

An edgelord predator wyvern that is grounded and doesn't make UHC senpai want to bash his face against a concrete wall. Sleek black fur that is perfect camouflage in dark shadowy undergrowth, moves close to the ground making its self harder to spot. Large paws with hooked claws for grabbing, ripping or delivering a stunning blow.

[@multibomble]

I feel it's worth noting that in the new world at least, nargacuga are likely from an unexplored area of the new world. I believe it's even stated in game, most likely with them and most new monsters in old areas having been somehow displaced by Shara ishvalda, likely causing huge geological activity across it, and animals only starting to arrive once shara moved, and we never saw the full extent of its environmental effects

[@creativetitle9247]

Another wonderful video as always! I definitely hope we get to see some more reasoning behind why rare species like Lucent ended up evolving their unique abilities; it doesn't help that we rarely get to see them in their natural habitats.

[@kade-qt1zu]

I'm not a big monster hunter fan, but from that description at the beginning of the video, this seems like the monster equivalent of Batman.

[@budinhapalmieri]

The coolest flagship in my totally unbiased opinion that has nothing to do with starting on freedom unite. It's a cool cat

[@unicorntomboy9736]

I never thought it would hunt primate monsters like Ketcha Watcha but it makes sense, like Leopards hunting Babbons

[@teero121]

Excellent video as always. Nargacuga is definitely one of my favorites as well. I'd like to suggest a video idea to you. There is a youtuber called TierZoo who does quirky tier lists with animals and talks about them as if they were classes in a video game. He has uploaded a new video today, a few hours before you did this one and I'd be very interested in your thoughts and reactions to his tier list rankings and commentary. It would also be a good way to boost your reach and surely get a few more people to watch your videos. Whatever you do, I'm looking forward to your content.

[@goldentyrant4822]

So I haven’t seen anyone ask this but what do you think of espinas? I found him surprisingly restrained and cool ecologically wise as it will eat bugs and amphibians to supposedly keep up its paralytic and poisonous abilities almost like a poison dart frog.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Like Espinas, my fave frontier monster no contest. He'll get his own video in time too.

[@jedstanaland2897]

There is an attack that naruga has which is absolutely devastating. It does this wheel spin attack where it jumps and will either lung and either do this thing where it will act like it's wings are the edges of a wheel or it will do this thing that looks like the classic anime fighter that jumps and spins around with swords in their hands. Also I saw a teaser trailer that shows this huge blimp like monster which is slow moving and nearly sold black except for these red lines that look like blood veins crisscrossing the surface. The monster vibrates then you see a swarm of bat like creatures detach and go after the hunter.

[@duneydan7993]

Being a gunlance enjoyer, Narga was one of those monsters I enjoyed hunting it even more with lighter weapons. Even more so when I got the Demon island light bowgun because big boom power

[@Thesaurus_Rex]

What are your thoughts on the strange introduction of Nargacuga in the Coral Highlands? The easiest explanation, of course, is that this was just Iceborne being Iceborne and plopping Narga somewhere it doesn't belong, since there's a limited selection of potential prey in such an area, being limited mostly to Kelbi, Shamos, and perhaps smaller wyverns like Coral Pukei and Tzitzi Ya-Ku.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

It seems out of place in that environment. It sticks out like a sore thumb among the colorful vivid coral with its black fur. It could easily be explained In-universe that it could be a lost wandering Nargacuga that was displaced by another rival Nargacuga and it was the loser in that fight

[@5raptorboy1]

Nargacuga likes thick forests and kelbi are their primary source of prey canonically

[@Epona5]

There are darker parts of the Coral Highlands, I think in tziti's ecology it states that it has dark coloration to blend in with the lower levels of the Highlands. The nargacuga we see in the game may have wandered really high up for whatever reason. Maybe in the pursuit of prey like paolumu?

[@ekosubandie2094]

@@unicorntomboy9736 ignoring the Day/Night cycle mechanic in the game, Nargas are canonically known to be nocturnal creature so their jet black fur likely won't hinder them much there since they only hunt at the dark of night where visibility is already low anyway

[@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8]

@@ekosubandie2094 tbh unless it was a new moon jet black against bleached pink and white is still visible, especially to animals with keen night vision

[@jasperism27]

Green Nargacuga in P3rd was a lot more interesting - quests were mostly in the day in the Flooded Forest (as opposed to regular Nargacuga mostly at night when in the Flooded Forest). Moreover, it felt more active - the double moves were unique to it, (only getting added to regular Nargacuga in later games). The stun effect from the tail is also pretty unique at the time - it wasn't paralysis, just dizzy stun, but acted as if it was an instant status effect tacked on a physical attack (something previously available in flash effects).

[@thegreatgoldfilms6311]

Why was there never a "spotted" variant?

[@praetorianrex5571]

In case you make a video on MH Stories, I'd like to point out that of all the monsters, Nargacuga was seemingly the very first to be afflicted with the Black Blight, patient zero if you will. What could that tell us about the blight itself???

[@drewschruefer2855]

I believe that legiana also compete with narga in the coral highlands since i think that narga could jump decently high being able to take out some wing drakes like raphinos,so i believe that legiana and nargacuga in the coral highlands compete for raphinos

[@souperion2509]

Great video for a great monster, keep it up.

[@S.I.L.]

I thought Silverwind grey streaks were caused by age rather than genetic melanin difference. About your point with Lucent's gimmick, they could introduce darker areas in future games where the common black one becomes invisible through technicality. Retaining the gimmick while being a bit more realistic.

[@reshi606]

I like it in the older games, but I really feel the changes in 5th gen you pointed out. Really like your ideas for what they could do with it in the future. Really looking forward to my favorite monster next video.

[@tahaelhour690]

i'm still waiting on that magnamalo ecology video. gotta be some absolute A grade entertainment.

[@lexrupus4798]

I think in a fight setting, Lucent offers better combat than base Narga (apart from varied movesets). SunRise did a good job revamping Lucent but also emphasized your points on 5th gen Narga being slower than previous iterations, unfortunately. Ecology-wise, I highly agree on base > lucent/silverwind but fight/design-wise, it's the opposite though I understand the contrast and I actually like it that way. I enjoy the base monster providing a sense of surrealism whereas the deviants/variants provide an exaggerated death battle. Overall, I think Capcom nailed the concept and provided us with a gem of a monster for many generations to come. It's definitely the monster where even if it returns as much as Rajang does (since both debuted on the same generation), it'll always receive a pop from a crowd that never seems to diminish despite how repeatedly it appears.

[@lucasmueller5038]

something I liked about the 3U version of lucent compared to the sunbreak revamp is that narga solemly used the invisibility for anything but repositioning (and the first encounter but I chalk that up to them wanting to show off their gimmick,) as well as the fight in general just being a slugfest. you didnt get a box or bed so you only had the inventory you brought and with how much health he had and the fact that he poisons so frequently it felt more like both of you chipping away at eachother slowly instead of the rushdown newer gens seem to prefer (it also helped that his poison was garbage, did low overall damage but healing it was difficult due to nargacuga being so fast and frequent application). It just had a more isolated feeling back then. the new tower not only lets you use pitfalls and quite the powerful array of endemic life (seriously a free sleep, wallbang and 2 applications of thunder blight if you go in with a thunder element weapon) but also includes a box and camp as well as free farcasters cause the only difficulty in rise and sunbreak is controlling your inner greed enough to not get oneshot. most of the new/stolen moves are fine some just have ridiculous hitstaggers attached or seem weirdly hard to dodge. he seems to spam his tailslam less which used to be 10/10 on poison application cause the aimbot on the spikes was insane, and now seems to almost abstain from using his tail much at all. they also made the bounce zones on the blades more forgiving like for most monsters (looking at the metal raths with their purple bounce heads). AI is also a lot more aggressive, not as passive and poisonspike spammy. the mixer or whatever the fullbody spin is, seems quite unforgiving seeing as it is not only fast but huge in both size and damage. (on a small side note rise and to a lesser extent world seem all but dedicated to erasing good hitzones on anything besides the head. both the metal raths and lucents best hitzones were their wings/paws and tail with their heads being notably armored. on one hand it makes the learning curve more consistent with head = good target, on the other hand it was a nice recontextualization of having the lategame rare species have you approach them differently for how to hit them.) and yes his ecology is 100% bs and I chalk it up to being a tower only fight. (I would maybe make it so the clouds obscure the tower and you can only see the moon through them. IDK make it so he isnt straight up invis.)

[@TheRedVoyager]

I'd love to see a video on kecha wacha. The mammals and mammal like monsters are all do interesting.

[@jas_nah]

I doubt base Narga's fight will ever get a significant overhaul since he seems to be in the same box as Rathian as a predictable punching bag slash training dummy (which personally I don't mind, since we've got to learn new weapons somehow.) Did I miss it or was there no discussion of the cutwings? He doesn't seem to fight much with the sharp surfaces so it mystifies me why I have to bring multiple traps to break the darn bouncy things just to get the drops.

[@fartoocritical9409]

I fucking love these videos. I’m always learning something new

[@PowerBalancetheKitsune]

I do think that if I made a spinoff monster hunter game where you play as the monsters, I would implement the fact of how these creatures act

[@edryu9688]

Your penchant for ecological storytelling with how certain monsters interact is not lost on me, makes me wish Capcom had someone like you to give advice for monster behavior

[@breadbeard5302]

I love your videos and I’ve been binge-watching all of them for the past week. There’s only one problem for me though. I usually watch at night, and the bright white border around the images sear my eyeballs. Can we get dark mode please? Thanks for the excellent content thus far

[@obambagaming1467]

I would like to see a video on Narkarkos next. We might not have as much information on it compared to Nargacuga, but still we have quite a lot information. I think they even explained it early life cycles and that it first starts to hunt by also jumping out of the water at flying targets. Also if I remember correctly Ceadeus is a potential predator of Narkarkos. Also I like Narkarkos because it is very intelligent. I also like Athal Ka, which is not just more intelligent than Narkarkos, but also probably the most intelligent monster out there. Maybe as intelligent as humans. But unfortunately we don't have much information on it.

[@Murderoreo1]

You know I really want to know the whole flying wyvern family tree, because obviously pukei and paolumu are related yet different classes. I still don’t know how they evolved.

[@nuke2099]

Flying, Brute, Fanged and Bird are classed as dinosaurs via Capcoms own evolutionary tree.