Wyvern Ecology : Deviljho in Monster Hunter

This time we explore the savage glutton itself, Deviljho. Are his world-eating habits at all believable, why is he built the way he is and what's the deal with his savage form? We'll dive into our own natural world to find out in what might be my first 'hot take'.

[@thenerdbeast7375]

Like a T.Rex dropped in the modern world, Deviljho may dominate all it surveys with its sheer brute strength but it will never thrive. Ideal prey species it is adapted to hunt are few or non-existent, so instead it needs to indiscriminately take whatever it can. It is in an almost constant state of hunger not because of some super metabolism, but because so many hunts fail it is always on the cusp of starving. That doesn't stop it from driving away animals from the immediate area with its presence though, leading to the legends of it devouring ecosystems when all the game disappears by people too scared to understand it.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

A wonderful summary!

[@kennethsatria6607]

Aw the poor boi

[@Randomdudefromtheinternet]

Let’s say a T-Rex is dropped in modern times, but perhaps 1000 years ago or more, in any area of Africa. Considering the behavior of animals like elephants, who are known to take revenge on towns (seriously, they’re too smart to be considered a mere beast), would elephants band together to kill a T-Rex if they consider it too much of a threat? (Like knights banding together to slay a dragon)

[@Gloomdrake]

@@Randomdudefromtheinternet Elephant Knights!

[@alondite215]

It's a neat theory and all, but not a lick of it is canon truth. Its hunger _is_ due to the extreme metabolic demands of its body caused by the rampant Dragon energy raging inside of it. It's hungry because so many of its hunts fail? Not only is it a nigh-unmatched apex predator, it is a meta predator that even preys on other apex predators. Anything and everything is its ideal prey species, and very few things short of Elder Dragons that utterly defy the natural order have any kind of adaptation that would allow it to survive Deviljho predation.

[@ChevyImpala099]

I know I'm INCREDIBLY late, but. . . Truly do love the idea that Deviljoe is not just this unstoppable mass of muscle, but a species of animals that don't really fit anywhere else in this more so modern world. He truly is a monster out of place and out of time. And you got me to feel pity for this beastie.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Thank you! I'm glad my interpretation was well received!

[@BoisegangGaming]

Just a big, toothy existential crisis.

[@skiffy8121]

hey dont forget jho saliva is extremely corrossive so itd stop blood clotting and make wounds worse, it even causes defense down

[@blastshooter8791]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel If I remember there is a on going theory that Savage Deviljo happen because of cannibalism where after consuming the dragon element organ it gets much stronger but goes mad in the process. If want know more about this theory or have it better explained go to a channel call ragegaming which has a video about Deviljo.

[@soulofcinder518]

Poor angry pickle

[@Carnidrome]

This is a really interesting take on Deviljho that makes it seem more likeable to me. The idea of a monster we are fighting getting close to extinction is super interesting. Also as a small addition to your theory, I would suggest that the condition of Deviljho is getting worse the further the series goes. The reason for this is the difference in appearance between the old world Jho and new world Jho. The Deviljho in the old world were less spikey and didn't have as many teeth on their topjaw. So maybe the excessive inbreeding has led to Deviljho having more teeth on their upperjaw that do nothing for them.

[@Bake-kurijra]

It’s not endangered . Stop believing this guy

[@Top_Nep]

no that doesnt make sense remember this is the new world, we in a completely different area.

[@Cheeseisboss]

I think the teeth on the outside helps it club with its head

[@Beefaroni_Bert]

can fictional dinosaurs actually inbreed? theyre not near extinction and i think its appearance changed slightly because they wanted a more realistic design for the weird monster. some have changed over time like the raths, rajanh was literally an elder dragon until they made fanged beasts.

[@mudkipgames8542]

@@Beefaroni_Bert this is an evolving world though with the monsters evolving with it. He raises a good point that Jho is likely evolving but not in a way that helps it sustain itself over multiple generations. It would be interesting for a sequel to have "the last Deviljho" where it's ancient, the last of its kind, and fighting for survival than just to eat.

[@dicerson9976]

In a weird twist, your explanation of the turf wars making the other animals look dumb moreso than deviljho is strong actually makes sense. If, as you've presumed, Deviljho and it's oddities are the violent quirks of a dying race of nomadic therapod, it would make sense for most of his turf wars to consist of Deviljho approaches Monster is *extremely* confused about this freakish looking thing, which is honestly a bit terrifying and clearly some kind of higher end predator they've probably never seen before in their life Acts very cautiously, or even be totally scared because well *look at it* Gets dunked on as a result Lives because deviljho is really not that strong, but runs away anyway cuz *god that hurt* As for what Deviljho does with all that leg muscle power in its fat tail, efficiency in walking makes 100% sense, but also look at it's animations during fights. Deviljho is VERY jumpy, and often pivots *really* fast around his hips. It could be high muscle density combined with weight balancing to make it not just easy for him to pivot up and down, but at insane speed. This would also explain the teeth formations on the outside of it's jaws as well, if it's greatest strength is in how it can very very quickly pivot and bring itself down onto something, perhaps the deviljho's *entire body* is a form of serrated mace? It has those sharp spines lining the side of it's tail and main body as well. The entire monster is jagged and at the speeds it moves, lethal to make contact with. A careful balancing act with it's body weight making it very easy to pivot and move around it's extraordinarily strong legs. A thick and well muscled body covered in jagged teeth and spines so it can take the blunt force trauma of it's own swinging, as well as cause lethal lacerations to anything it touches. Additionally, it's teeth formations would be very good for digging up earth for scavenging purposes just by swooshing it's face around, it could also help digestively- basically tenderizing and ripping to shreds it's food before then devouring it in big shredded bites.

[@CrudDeposit]

Maybe the spikes on the tail are for protection against predation attempts. What if Jho wasn’t the top or was in competition as a top predator with a smaller social therapod species or maybe a massive snake? His height makes sense for if his main prey was something like larinoth, but what if it also helps swing off mounting monsters like a massive constrictor like a titanoboa along with his immense strength in pivoting?

[@pinkfridge6111]

Step 1 : discover that deviljhos dont attack eachother most of the time Step 2 : hunt deviljho Step 3 : make and wear deviljho armor Step 4 : you still get attacked because you dont look like a deviljho at all and this meme is allready dead

[@wildspirewarrior211]

Are we talking about the same monster that will consume its own tail after it has been chopped off

[@Noot-Noot7305]

@@wildspirewarrior211 yeah but strangely enough when they encounter each other in the wild deviljho almost instinctively avoid each at all costs. I’ve seen videos coming up with theories that they avoid each because presence of two deviljho would destroy entire the ecosystem. There are others who claim they can’t risk fighting each other because it would most likely end in double fatality.

[@jonathanatkinson399]

@@Noot-Noot7305 There is a real world example of why equally powerful predators don't attack each other. Army ants are one of the few predators of ant colonies. They do so in what are described as large and aggressive hunting forages as they march out in a big column killing whatever gets in their way. But when they come into contact with other army ants they just walk away and past each other. Likely evolution selecting for only army ants that are aggressive enough to hunt everything but not so aggressive to hunt other things that would likely cause death of the colony/the predator. Kurzgesagt made video about it. The World War of the Ants - The Army Ant kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZDIYXZ3lNObl6c

[@Serpenfishil]

@@Noot-Noot7305 the latter theory is probably the more correct one there, as this video established that destroying entire ecosystems is rather difficult if not impossible in most cases

[@totozhu4543]

Aren't they cannibalistic at times

[@thechickenwizard8172]

Im late to the party, but deviljho's story here reminds me a lot of the California condor of our world. You see, back in the pleistocene epoch, these huge, majestic vultures would feed on the remains of megafauna like mammoths and ground sloths. However, as temperatures warmed and humans arrived in north America, the megafauna died out, leaving the condors with far fewer options. They were able to continue on as american bison spread across the continent, providing even more food, but...humans again nearly wiped out all the bison too in the 1800s. The condors were reduced to coastal areas where beached whales could provide enough sustinence, but once again, mankind obliterated them with pesticides, lead and overhunting. Today, breeding programs started with the last 23 condors have seen the birth of over 500 individuals, but many of them are all starting to show signsof inbreeding from the lack of genetic diversity. The species, while still alive, is not thriving, and might not last much longer sadly. Tales like these, both fictional and real, are both depressing and inspiring; they show how species who belong to the past struggle to survive as their world rapidly changes, but also show the preserverence and durability of life when faced with even the harshest obstacles.

[@Nicol80145]

I do not believe Jo's teeth are for nothing. I think they are a vestigial organ like wisdom teeth. Look at the Uragaan. It has a LARGE lower jaw that it uses to smash its opponents. I believe Jo's teeth on the bottom are old remnants of its smashing ancestors. It has a large neck and stable legs that would support this kind of attack. Uragaan was just more adaptive being able to use metals from its environment.

[@Nicol80145]

I love the story of biology and ecosystems that world started to lay into. I do hope they continue it because these theories and debates among the fans are so interesting and fun!

[@Fwufikins]

Regarding Deviljo's Teeth: I feel like the external teeth aren't necessarily adapted for biting, but rather like the head of a spiked mace. A lot of Jho's attacks involve him rearing up and using all of his body strength to slam face first into his prey. His body is obviously rippling with huge amounts of muscle, so he uses his size and strength as his main weapon, with the mouth simply being the point of impact. While he can pick up and hold his prey, he's not using his grip strength to do damage: he's lifting the prey up and slamming them into the ground. This is even true with his turf war vs Diablos, where he's seen as capable of lifting the whole monster and slamming it down with enough force to break its horns. The outer teeth teeth grow in multiple rows like sharks because they need to grow in frequently due to this violent hunting style. Meanwhile -on closer inspection of his model- the inside of his mouth has smaller, more sensibly placed teeth that probably to the bulk of the actual eating work.

[@Darklordiban7]

One thought I had is that maybe as a "World Eater", it's not so much that he eats everything but that he can pretty much eat anything. Maybe he doesn't have the strongest bite force, but his teeth and face function as all purpose Utility knives. Whatever he can't bite, he bashes. Whatever soft flesh he bites, his multiple teeth will take a gouge out of - which may not just be useful against fish but also slippery flying monsters.

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

I've seen a theory that Allosaurus had a similar tactic of using their skulls like a battle axe and striking prey with them rather than relying only on bite force

[@victory8928]

@@whensomethingcriesagain unfortunately their jaws aren't designed to best utilise that type of motion

[@Ajehy]

I really like the concept of Jho’s teeth serving this purpose…he comes in like a wreeeeeeecking ball!

[@imlonelypleasehelp5443]

@@victory8928source it right now

[@gurburgandr]

New and old world monsters differ a bit when it comes to certain attributes, for example brachydios’ in the new world have longer arm spikes, new world zinogre are less bulky and more stream lined, I think the books in itself could be referring to jho in the new world, perhaps due to inbreeding they’ve gotten weaker and more grotesque, jho’s in the old world have less teeth while the ones in the new world have an extreme amount of them, this is further backed up by your theory about bigger monsters roaming around, the only monsters that could sustain jho are brute wyverns, diablos, bazelgeuse, and elder dragons when looking at size alone. The old world had gammoth, duramboros, gravios, larinoth, plesioth, blos’s, old world lavasioth, and elders, the difference in prey created a divide between new and old jho, new world had to constantly breed with each other and feed on small prey items, while ones in the new world have access to more mates and food. Its still sad but it’s an interesting theory to think about.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Yeah, the artbook makes several general comment but often does seem to refer specifically to new world individuals. I'd also agree whilst I don't think jho does well especially anywhere, it had better odds in the old world with larinoth and other large prey than the new for sure.

[@dr.masiaka7048]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel I'd imagine it'd be better off in the new world due to less human intervention, along with much of the New world being only partially explored in canon.

[@jonah_the_Nakarkos_admirer]

Also the old world has a lot less savage Deviljho. Savage Jho is the only Jho you encounter in Master rank of Iceborn, other than normal Jho from Yian Garuga cutscene. And he invades most quests. In the old world games tho, normal Jho is more common to invade than Savage Jho in G and high rank quests. If I'm remembering correctly, than in games like mhgu, high rank has four savage Jho quests (counting event quests) G rank has about two quests. In Iceborne, there are if I am remembering correctly, eight quest with Savage Jho (counting event quests) I think this means Savage Jho in the new world live at higher population densities than base Jho. In mhgu/the old world, there are six high rank normal Jho and four in G rank. Base Jho definitely have a higher population density in the old world.

[@kennethsatria6607]

@@jonah_the_Nakarkos_admirer They say Savage Deviljho are like mutations related to them starving themselves crazy or through cannibalism, so them being in the new world might mean they are worse off there than in the old world where you find more healthy individuals.

[@blazethesteamdragon6202]

I always interpreted Savage Deviljho as having an affliction similar to Mad Cow Disease, Chronic Wasting Disease, or Scrapie; a brain encephalopathy that an animal can most infamously get after eating the brain or spinal tissue of its own or related species that's infected with prions--but the production of prions can also be genetic which is where they come from in the first place. It would explain its strange and erratic behavior as well as its deterioration; prion diseases cause rapidly progressive dementia-like symptoms.

[@Beefaroni_Bert]

savage jho is more akin to the wendigo myth and likely might be inspired by that story. it eats its own kind like some taboo, and in turn becomes mad with overwhelming almost supernatural power and seeks to consume anything it finds.

[@cicadeus7741]

@@Beefaroni_Bert fun fact; w* are based off the wasting caused by human cannibalism. The wild eyed people, eventually unable to feel pain and aggressive due to fear were very likely the start of the mythos. Its a story with a moral; do not eat the flesh of man. You will become a monster.

[@Dabajaws]

Well old world savage deviljho's were said to happen from a deviljho eating other deviljhos's and getting juiced off it while the ones in world just happen most likely from their hunting style or a specific mutation

[@dr.masiaka7048]

Loved this video, made me feel pity for the "World-eater". Can't wait for the day you do Brachydios. Ditto when that day will come.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Thank you, glad I was able to put a new spin on a classic monster. Brachydios will be quite a tough nut to crack but he'll get his due for sure!

[@DawnTyrantEo]

An alternate suggestion for Deviljho's mouth is that it's a dental battery- you can see that the inside of its mouth is full of small teeth, while the edges of its mouth are relatively blunt. This design is surprisingly common in nature, albeit not of the present day; it's most common in sharks, which follow this exact model of young teeth inside the jaw moving outwards, but variant designs exist in extinct relatives like Helicoprion, and a similar solution was evolved in certain reptiles, most notably hadrosaurid dinosaurs. (The teeth remaining attached once rotated out of service is odd, but not too unreasonable- I could see it as a battering ram like a Tylosaurus mosasaur's snout, or a sensory function like in a narwhal.) Additionally, this sort of texture is very common in sharks adapted to gripping, with a multitude of teeth creating a multitude of blunt points; this is very unlike the teeth of sauropod-hunters, which tended to be adapted for massive flesh trauma via using long or finely-serrated teeth along the jaws as a pair of serrated knives, using the neck muscles as the primary killing weapon. While I can definitely agree that Deviljho being an ecologically-stressed survivor makes sense, his massive musculature, slow speed and gripping, wide-gaped jaws would suggest to me that he's lacking in quantity of prey rather than quality of prey. For an idea of why that might be, consider the reproductive ecology of sauropods- they produce massive amounts of easily-obtainable meat in the form of weak, plentiful juveniles that could feed a massive variety of dinosaurs (compare a sauropod-dominated Morrison Formation diversity of ceratosaurs, allosaurs and megalosaurs to a hadrosaur-dominated formation dominated by a single carnivore such as a single large carcharodontosaur or tyrannosaur). This would fit the feast-and-starve ecology of Deviljho, as well as his aggression towards competitors (big powerful creatures often dominate easy ecological niches- reef sharks do it with ideal times-of-day for hunting); I'd suggest that Deviljho's original role in the ecosystem was to exploit 'boom cycles' in a world dominated by high-reproduction, low-success giants, and is currently living on a subsistence diet in a world that's shifted towards more difficult-to-catch wyverns such as Jaggi-type over Jagras-type and leaner, more wily medium-herbivores like aptonoth or dangerous, protective adults like diablos over the terrestrial equivalent of a sea turtle nesting event.

[@TokiRoMorbii]

Next monster Hunter game features a single unrepeatable quest to kill the last deviljho

[@MathouManson]

This channel deserve way more views and subscribers im hooked on your videos keep it up,every monster hunter fans need to see your amazing work

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Thank you for your very kind words!

[@loganswalk8621]

My own personal headcanon on Jho's tail being so thick is that it acts as fat storage so in the event that it doesn't find food it's high metabolism does immediately burns itself out and this would explain why it's willing to eat its own tail when it's cut off as it's attempting to regain its lost nutrients.

[@pinkfridge6111]

There could be a possibility that deviljho might actually come from hakolo island (the starting area of monster hunter stories 2) since you can find their eggs more frequently there, it could also support your ice age theory since it looks like a cross of the jurassic frontier and the verdant hills it also has larinoth as a resident species there

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

I'm haven't had much to do with Stories, although I'm unsure just how canon it is.

[@Beefaroni_Bert]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel stories IS canon but the monster eggs and how many there are wouldn't be.

[@Beefaroni_Bert]

i think its really purely for the sake of obtaining them that eggs are so common. Stories 2 might be canon in lore regarding the overall WORLD on monhun but considering you can find eggs of a monster that does NOT breed, i dont think stories really holds up for big monster hunter canon in general. Nerg doesnt lay eggs and splits off by budding apparently, disgusting but just how it is for him(?). and while there are mammals that lay eggs irl i dont think palamutes are born with clothes on or hatched from eggs lol.

[@shadow_thiy]

As someone who's been playing since Freedom Unite, I find your content nicely refreshing and fun for speculative biology. I'll be looking forward to binging the rest of your content and I hope you're just as thorough when you cover the psuedowyverns like Tigrex, Tiger Rex not that silly Tea grex, and nargacuga. It's such a fun body profile and I'm curious on how they could speculatively fly like Barioth or glide from high locations like Tigrex while mostly being built as quadrupeds. That and how to justify their iconic powerful roars.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Thank you for your kind words! The pseudowyverns will definitely be covered in the future, each getting their own video.

[@HolyNorthAmericanEmpire]

Regarding the jaws of Deviljho, in MH3 his upper jaw looked fairly normal with one row of teeth, similar to an alligator snout. MHW went overboard on it and altered the design of the jaws

[@cutlza300228]

I don't know if this comparison has been made in the 400+ comments but, Monster Hunter Frontier introduced Abiorugu, a brute wyvern with defined lower teeth and spike protrusion on the bottom of its jaw and back of skull. They are described as "notoriously aggressive monsters that relentless try to kill and consume anything that provokes them." (from the monster hunter wiki and banned lagiacrus on twitter) and their appetite is compared to deviljho, but they don't participate in cannibalism and even form hunting pairs (once again, from banned lagiacrus and monster hunter wiki). finally, Abiorugu also causes the defense down status effect, which besides deviljho, only two other BRUTE WYVERN shares, the other being glavenus and another frontier monster (giaorugu, which shares basically the same design philosophy of most subspecies by taking abiorugu, color swapping it, changing its element, and putting it in a new location) along with this Abiorugu shares a lot in common also with Glavenus, with a sharpened tail and ability to produce fire element. I feel like this could be used to show that Abiorugu is like a living transitional fossil between deviljho and glavenus, or at least a very close branching evolution of one if not both.

[@JaxDaHax1]

I like to think it's a smaller gene pool of deviljho in the new world, which is why there's so many savage jhos and they have a more jagged mouth to old world jho Great video btw

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

If they're just the smaller group of colonisers from the main population it would make sense for sure, and thank you!

[@Beefaroni_Bert]

the thing about monsters in monhun is the amount you hunt doesnt necessarily mean theres that many on the map. its more like just repeating the same moment over and over like a time loop. it has no real impact on story or the ecosystem when you take on 100 jagras missions lol. I mean theres literally lore reasons as to why you cant over hunt monsters, because of that old war and fatalis shit waay back when. good times good times. but yeah no, if theres truly that many savage jhos in the new world itd be a lot scarier since thatd mean theres a lot of nergigantes or xenojiivas or zoramagdaros. It really just boils down to however many missions involving these monsters theres only like LIKE many around that are specifically causing issues. rarely is that story related.

[@teanobeano6838]

Yup, this is my new headcanon now. I love the idea that all the research in the MH games are overexaggerated because the humans in this world are still scared and see these monsters as, well... monsters.

[@serpentsaurus7969]

Deviljho has always been one of my favorite monsters and I loved this deep dive into its weirdness. Thank you!

[@kennethsatria6607]

A thought just occurred to me that Deviljho's upper jaw while as you said is kind of duckish is also very crocodilian-like. And they seem to handle the stress of large struggling prey as well as the force of the bite well enough, so maybe on the Jho its more fit for the job than you proposed.

[@honestscriberelaxation9542]

Man, I have never felt so sorry for the giant pickle before. The heading towards extinction explanation makes more sense than anything else I've heard regarding their behavior.

[@nar1768]

huh, a less monstrous take on deviljho, interesting

[@HlootooThunderhammer]

In defense of the jaw design.... What if it was evolved to add more melee damage while battling prey? After all, the mouth is their biggest weapon, so why not add extra teeth for slashing damage, or at least up the pain when ramming creatures with it. Which can also help to shred flesh for consumption? If not that, and going off your inbreeding theory, it's simply a mutation that's been worsened over multiple generations in a tiny gene pool.

[@JanusHoW]

I've written about it all over the place, and Imma write here too, just in context of the video. In the Frontier games, there is a variant of the Deviljho that goes even further into starvation than the Savage...the Starving Deviljho. Starving Deviljhos get a golden hue (or perhaps a jaundiced one that sparkles like gold for some reason), its spikes and teeth become longer, its Dragon element organ becomes every MORE hyperactive, and just gets even faster and stronger than the Savage. However, considering that the Savage Deviljho is a specimen already on the verge of death due to starvation and autophagia (its own body consuming itself for energy and nutrients), it should probably be dead. But it's not. Here's an added kicker - up until Frontier's final months, there was only one place you could encounter them - The Arena, a man-made structure. This makes me think that a rogue element in the Guild took two captured Deviljhos, starving them to what should have been death, but also _keeping them alive through unnatural means, possibly with Dragon element experimentation_ . Even the World Eater doesn't deserve that. After all, it can't control its appetite.

[@a.humphrey9640]

I'm a bit late, but a couple things I'd like to add: -I completely agree with your suggestion that Devilijho's teeth are likely a genetic defect from inbreeding. And, to add to that, I'd like to point out that Devilijho is constantly growing new teeth; while not entirely unheard of in animals, in 'Jho's case it seems to grow them faster than they're worn out or damaged in battle- To the point of incessantly grinding its jaws on rocks to break off or wear down older teeth as seen in World. -I believe that Devilijho's also very likely an ancestor, or at least a relative of, the Anjanath. Both share the enlarged teeth protruding from their lower jaws being the best evidence of this. Perhaps Anjanath is an offshoot of Devilijho, that diminished in size along with its prey source?

[@a.humphrey9640]

Why did... I'm confused.

[@Firegodot]

This makes me think of the terrifying concept of a well adjusted evolved modern deviljho subspecies, Smaller but build for both speed and brutality

[@thenerdbeast7375]

I was just following Deviljho on my new save file and I noticed an unusual behavioral pattern with Deviljho; whenever he entered a new area he would grind and scrape his snout into the ground, which suggests that his dental abnormality is giving him discomfort and isn't his natural condition. I think this supports your theory on Deviljho suffering from inbreeding.

[@stormerjc9493]

I haft to say the light this shines on Deviljho acutaly makes me like him a lot it might be less fantastical then the destroyer of worlds but I love your much grounded and tragic take on him

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Thank you! I'm always pleased when my theory is accepted!

[@sharplosion1]

Definitely loved the video, as it's a very unique take on the monster when other channels have also done somewhat science-y vids on Jho. I love him, with my first game being Tri. The fear he instilled is something I'll never forget. I also posit the idea that Deviljho's mouth is actually used like a spiked club, rather than merely the slashing you mentioned. It's clearly muscular enough to take the force, along with it also using it's mouth to scoop at the ground to throw rocks at hunters. Overall just out-muscling most anything it fights. Also I completely agree on your views on Jho's turf wars. Odogaron going from 'patiently wait for Radobaan to strike than dodge and attack' to 'oh no please do hurt me' for Jho was absolutely disappointing and made zero sense for Odo. it felt like laziness on their part just to reuse the gimmick for other monsters Jho carries around... Which also doesn't make sense given it should be eating them.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Thank you! I was a little nervous releasing this one and am very glad its been received so well. The club like notion was something I considered from an old theory about allosaurids how they may have used their jaws almost like an axe, swinging it down to deliver force from the body itself over the strength of the jaws. I just wasn't sure how efficient this would be as a predatory tactic though as said theory was discounted. And yeah agreed - I'd be interested to see capcom properly take turf wars further and potentially have monsters predate each other but it'll take some fine-tuning so large monsters like jho don't just carry you through the game.

[@atticoftheuniverse8631]

Thanks for giving me something interesting to listen to while grinding up my MR! Rare to find such thoughtful and analytic content that incorporates so much evolutionary and ecological biology.

[@unloyal4847]

Deviljho is my 2nd fav monster, something about its simple design is appealing.

[@KsanUwU]

I feel bad for deviljho. Its always felt like an out of place, pained existance no matter where it runs into you. The way it wheezes as it uses the breath attack. Its always felt kind of cute to me for all the hideous reasons.

[@titanosaurdy9493]

I know it's lats but what my theories about Deviljhos reproductive cycle is that they lay their eggs buried within a specific ground choices base on the environment for incubation like sea turtles and there maybe a chance that another deviljho whos laying a clutch of their own may eliminate a nest to prevent competition. It's more likely for deviljhos to cannibalize younger ones unless their old enough to release pheromones to prevent that, it maybe one of the reasons why their few other than having short life spans

[@cernos7230]

What if there's an Evolved Deviljho that adapted to it's current era. What would it look like?

[@ProboscusMonke]

You know, I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but Deviljho having the genetics equivalent to a Pug wasn't it 😂

[@anthonygorman94]

I love how this video maybe your conjecture, but it is presented reasonably and fairly logically! Right or wrong, it's still entertaining.

[@charlesbellow1758]

The Deviljho’s teeth design has always reminded me of sheepshead fish who use their teeth for breaking apart tough-shelled crustaceans.

[@hammerheadxray8152]

I've been waiting for someone to do biology videos on Monster Hunter

[@Godzilla_ultima_real]

This is probably why we can use deviljho in stories cuase it never really has to use much energy unless im battle so we get to see what a happy and full deviljho is

[@WarFoxThunder]

Yeah :D

[@thegardenofdagon]

Savage deviljho is just an elder Jho according to the MHW Official Complete Works book

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

In his info description in Iceborne he's directly described as a mutation, but the artbook does indeed mention a case of an old jho dying as a result of age and dragon element that whilst not explicitly said to be savage can be reasonably inferred as such.

[@victory8928]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel maybe that is because the mutation only takes hold in older jhos maybe due to a variety of reasons, maybe it is corrupted gene for when jhos got older and had a different elder stage but when their prey got smaller and less efficient for them to eat the corrupted gene survived because it allowed them to reproduce faster before they die due to the need to age up or morph. Then when they do get older the gene is activated and causes them to go savage like a more species wide and more dangerous and more body focused form of dementia in a way, but again, maybe it was something they needed for maturing which may explain why they die so young, they have neoteny and one that keeps them from their older stages.

[@namename2040]

How I view turf wars and monsters "power levels" is basically all Apex predators are relative to each other Rathalos, Diablos, Tigrex, Zinogre, and so on. Some turf wars are accurate others exist just to exist but show off they are equals or close to each other. Deviljho is special he is so strong can rival and sometimes beat lesser elder dragons. There are few regular monsters that can do that others being rajang and bazel. There are also the deviants from GU but those aren't regular monsters. Deviljho was never meant to look like he was on their level. Magnamalo is probably under jho due to his interactions with the elders we will see if and when they add jho to rise.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

But even then Capcom show Garuga drawing with jho, and monsters beneath jho committing feats on strength equal to or even on par with him. His place above them just doesn't seem very well represented other than developer bias. But, I do think this applies to elders too, and will also go into this discussion in the first elder video in a few weeks (months?...) too.

[@namename2040]

In Yian Garugas defense his is strong and obnoxious usually fighting him later in the games. He has a decently tough carapace. I think its a Thanos and hulk situation. Thanos has once stated he can very easily beat hulk and he can its just not worth the effort. Like imagine hearing yuan garugas sonic scream in real life. Also I look forward to the elder dragon videos. You have nice content

[@eneskaradeniz4311]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel very late but this point is a little more than mute. From the games perceptive we can see that with a single attack, Jho was able to knock garuga unconscious or in the least incapacitated long enough to draw it’s gaze towards the hunter. This can be drawn to deviljho simply not fixating, hyper aggressive to the point where the hunter is now the target and not the unconscious monster, or simply not viewing garuga as a persistent threat to where it shifts to the hunter. In all purpose, If the hunter was not present, the garuga would have been followed up on by the deviljho without question. This point alone can easily qualify that garuga and deviljho are most definitely not on the scale. Secondly, from the ecological sense, this can be simplified as deviljho not seeing finishing garuga worth it. I mean, this is common in the real world. Garuga as seen in the cutscene and in game has one of the loudest roars present in the series. Constant calls would probably drive any animal deaf. The armor present on garuga isn’t an issue as deviljho has corrosive saliva and has been shown to consume or break much harder materials. The issue lies in the extreme amounts of spikes and the substance that coats them. Garuga is extremely toxic. The risk to reward ratio especially considering how garuga is almost sickly skinny, would not be worth it. But in no way like you said does it mean it isn’t possible or that they are evenly matched. Simply put, the already constant upkeep deviljho must consume in perspective to how “annoying” it would be to kill garuga is not worth the 2 mouthfuls of spiked toxic plating. An adult jagras has 2-3 times the mass and can be killed with a single bite. Both from an in game and ecological standpoint, deviljho and garuga are on completely seperate tiers.

[@jonathanatkinson399]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel I think it is a skunk or honey badger vs a macro-predator scenario. A creature that is many times smaller with some unique weapon or aggressiveness than then the larger predator "winning out" by the predator forfeiting the confrontation. This doesn't mean there aren't flaws in the Turf war system. Just that Deviljho is meant to be powerful enough to fight some elder dragons but is still a animal prone to pain as delivered by Yian Garuga's venom tipped tail to his head as in the turf war.

[@chancecomic1595]

I know this is 2 years late, but I'd like to throw in some thoughts and idea (Bit of a longer comment) I think it's likely that Deviljho is evolved to injure and brutalise any prey instead of hunting and chasing specific ones. This would go a ways to explaining its more unusual characteristics, such as its face teeth, relatively weak bite force, bipedal frame, bulk, aggression, and attack style. As mentioned by other commentors, Jho uses its face teeth to swing and slam into prey like a mace instead of biting like other monsters, but, looking at its attack style, it goes even further. Jho uses its face, its tail, its whole body, everything, to batter its prey, using its spikes and sheer mass to cause bleeding and (probably) fractures. Additionally, while its bite isn't crushingly strong, its mouth opens wide enough to grab just about anything, which lets Jho use its incredible bulk and muscle to swing and slam and bludgeon anything it can get its jaws around. Top that off with acidic saliva, and Deviljho doesn't really need speed or bite force. Prey can't escape if Jho uses the ground to turn its bones to sand. Even if it does escape, Jho doesn't need dash to chase prey if even a glancing blow causes bleeding, fractures, and potential acid burns. And it doesn't have to worry about crushing bones with its bite if it turns them all to splinters during or after the kill. This method of hunting could also explain its extreme aggression, as it heavily relies on Jho doing a lot of damage very quickly. It could even be an adaptation caused by losing its normal prey of nomadic mega herbivores. Less aggressive Jho might have died off from a smaller food pool, or retreating from unfavourable fights, while more aggressive Jho had less fear, took more fights, and got much wider variety of prey. This could give reason to Savage Deviljho, a new mutation on the standard aggression gene that causes even more extreme aggression to better kill anything it comes across. Fortunately and unfortunately, its aggression, nomadic nature, and lack of discrimination for prey basically makes any Deviljho a walking force of nature. It will attack anything that moves, and it won't stop until either it or its prey is dead. It's no wonder humans have a 'kill on sight' policy for Deviljho. They're trying to expand for population and industry. If a single Jho got into a settlement, or God forbid something like a village or city, it would be untold devastation and death. That's all. Do I believe in this theory? Yes. Did I make this whole comment because I love Deviljho and the thought of it slowly going extinct via inbreeding is really sad? Yes. Do I still like the theory that Deviljho is going extinct via inbreeding, a monster removed from its own time and refusing to go quietly into that good night? Of course Is the comment done yet?

[@Crimson_Sun2486]

Me: **hears the Deviljho being called the "World Eater"** Also me, being very into Warhammer 40K: *HERESY DETECTED*

[@Aman123ace]

The video is wonderful but your comment on the level of technological development is making me wonder. Given that we only see the hunter's prospective, we don't know what the standard army carries into battle, but even if fire arms exist the hunters still primarily use melee weapons. And we know that aside from the gun Lance, even the few fire arms that hunters use are repeating weapons and the only reliable repeating arms were made in the 1830s in our world but more impractical repeating weapons were in use as early as 1600. My personal theory is that they are correct and that the monster hunter world is in the early 19th century on the cusp of an agricultural revolution leading to an industrial revolution but that perhaps the hunter's guild is very specialized and not quite at the bleeding edge of technology. That said maybe Im wrong and the course of technology would necessarily take a different course in a world of dinosaurs and dragons

[@jessehutchings]

Bro I came here for Deviljho ecology and I got an entire lecture on the accuracy of fan theories

[@mr.rathalos1155]

was gonna ask if Savage Jho could’ve been a Deviljho that had a prion disease but then I rewatched the vid and that theory went out the window

[@GeneralGoji]

Deviljho’s fighting style in game and your proposed theory of him being from an isolated island, along with being a sauropod hunter makes me think of Abelisaurs, particularly Majungasaurus, with longer bodies and jaws that grip prey and can resist high stress (despite his actual anatomy not supporting this).

[@FaithlessImperial6092]

thanks for giving me credit from my theory about daimyo hermitaur i just thought about what a realistic reason from plums rarity. in the old world why does Deviljho eats his own tail but in newworld he doesn't seams to be interested about his tail ?

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

This is one I'd struggle to explain. They oddly reference it in the World artbook so I think it might just be a case of them forgetting to put it in. Hard to come up with a watsonian explanation!

[@BirdFungus]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel maybe an exploration for it is new world Deviljho’s just aren’t as stupid?

[@IdentityCrisis411]

Maybe in the new world there is potentially enough food to sustain them? Since deviljho isn't always eating in Mhw, it may be a bit different from Old World jho, which basically tries to eat literally everything in sight, possibly due to food scarcity. Now that food is more abundant, it may not have a reason to eat its own tail.

[@Beefaroni_Bert]

maybe eating its own tail was sort of like a programming thing? like yhe monster registered it as a separate source to "eat" and just eats it. I have seen jho eat its tail once or twice in World specifically when i fought it in the elders crossing. either that or ^ they just figured theres more for it to munch on in the NW and doesnt really need to eat it. for lore reasons obviously but the programming thing could be legit.

[@DeinoSarcosuchus]

Severe dental abnormalities in wolves? Us humans sure are blessed with such skilled dentists fixing our dental abnormalities with braces and other things.

[@ghosteevee]

I wonder if we will intermediate evolutions of 'Jhos if they can pull themselves out of the genetic hole they've been tossed into? As sad as it would be to see the Devil disappear, it would be fascinating to see how the species would change to adapt to the changed world. A Jho family of brutes would be interesting to see.

[@benvictim]

Deviljo is very much a scavenger as well as a hunter. We see this very much through actions in game. Not only will he go after live pray: he's the one of the few monster to go and eat the tails and corpses of other monsters. Biting through bone most likely isn't possible (as you said, teeth not really designed for it and artbook says he got a weak jaw). However he's a ton of muscle with bone on the outside of his mouth (the teeth) acting as club to smash and shatter the bones into smaller pieces. EDIT: He could also very well scare other hunters (as you said) off their meal. X monster kills Y monster and then a Deviljho shows up. X monster is most likely going to flee not wanting to spend energy to fight the deviljho.

[@br3hbmc79]

Whoever came up with the idea that Deviljho not having a strong biteforce is smoking crack. Bro literally crushes boulders in his jaws.

[@vengeflyking2722]

One thing I find interesting is that it seems that the ancient people probably had similar bodies to Deviljho. The hunter is constantly hungry, posesses super strength and endurance and can reach a powered up state similar to Deviljho when using Demon Mode with the Dual Blades.

[@SorcererLance]

This is highly insightful and I never really thought about it... It's practically akin to a T-rex suddenly waking up in the modern day and the majority of potential food is too small and too fast to catch for it to be remotely satisfied, it's frustrated at the world around it while not wanting to adapt from what it knew its entire life. Basically it decided to turn into an agent of chaos knowing its time in this strange new world is extremely limited, so it may as well make its mark by any means by being a bully and making other living beings that are weaker and less fortunate than it to suffer due to its bitterness being an out-of-place living fossil. Not unlike our elderly politicians, heyo~!

[@aussiepuppet5250]

I find the turf-wars even more egregious (even if I do personally like them) because Yian-Garuga's ecology PROVES that Deviljho are not invincible, and challenge the "hunts anything it sees until it or the prey is dead". It makes much more sense that a Diablos would do better against Deviljho. I do love the idea brought on here that while Deviljho absolutely *dominates* every fight it gets into, that doesn't necessarily mean it is a successful hunter. It's such a large and belligerent monster that most of it's prey escapes it before it gets the chance, and most of it's hunts with the larger wyverns might often end with them escaping and Deviljho with wasted energy. It makes sense that it's starving not just because of a metabolism problem, but because 9/10 hunts of larger prey are never successful.

[@BruceWaynesaysLandBack]

I like the idea that Monster Hunter is a Mega Earth, with enough biomass and biodiversity to handle species such as Deviljho that can approach (but perhaps also through fear) localized extinctions. But taking your ideas as additional details on the creature is interesting- awesome video!

[@kiss-shot_is_bae]

About Deviljho´s mouth, I always interpreted it as something similar to what happens with shark dentures where they have multiple rows of teeth that are pushed forward to replace ones that are lost. In Deviljho´s case it could be more extream, where juvenile jhos have a pretty normal looking mouth, and as they grow new teeth constantly appear and are pushed forward, slowly moving the old ones out, giving them the dental mess they are in part known for by the time they reach adulthood.

[@squidyy2k]

I do wonder what a Deviljo with a healthy diet would even look like. It’s behavior would likely be far less aggressive, similar to a big cat. Still dangerous, but it would likely spend a lot of its time resting, instead of the non stop raging it does now. It would probably also be even larger, both in height but also fat. Maybe the prehistoric Deviljo looks even more like a pickle than it already does.

[@Dotexclamationmark]

Honestly, base deviljho isn't a ecosystem killer. However, savages madness and constant unsustainable hunger could possibly kill everything. Plus, it dying afterwards seems accurate

[@thehermitthetower1126]

the turf war mechanic sounded a lot cooler than it ended up being. a majority of the time ill walk up on two monsters just staring at each other until one of them notices me.

[@spikezilla54]

So he can't bite through apceros shell but it also said to be able to bite creatures that prey size in half.....maybe shelless creatures. I guess I can roll with the relatively weak bite since it has strong acidic saliva that softens shell and makes hide supple. However this is a monster that climbs with it's Jaws, tosses large boulders, carries struggling monsters around while keeping it's head steady, performs diving attacks that involve it landing Jaws first before tumbling on, and lift diablos in the air. Now yes he falls mid suplex but the fact it got diablos up in the air like that before falling from lack of balance is a true show of this things jaw power. The best I can see out of him not being able to bite through an apceros shell is if he's grabbing it over top of the shell where there's little to latch on to and would be like trying to palm a wall.

[@The_PokeSaurus]

I too have doubts about the weak bite idea. He can grab and lift other monsters with his mouth and that alone needs a strong bite.

[@spikezilla54]

@@The_PokeSaurus along side that, holding them while they are struggling, climbing walls with his mouth, slam the ground with it, and hold a diablos up in the air.

[@foxiestofbuns3727]

what I imagine Jho's whole face is for is that it would grab onto prey likely it's neck, raise it up into the air and then slam down and due to how their face looks it would break the neck of whatever it is holding, since it's mouth is raised up keeping the head of it's prey up while it's body slams into the ground.

[@Reddotzebra]

That picture though... Elk: "In the landscape of fear... I have the high ground!" Wolves: "The center cannot hold!"

[@uchiha617hh]

one thing you have to realize is, there is this subtle thing that happens in monster hunter where the elder dragons are considered "phantasmal beasts" or "fantastical beasts" in Japanese, where as all the other creatures, fantastical as they may seem to us, are all considered beasts. You will notice that normal wyverns are all explained in a very biological way, the magical nonsense hand wave only come in at the elder dragons, this is because they are supposed to be magical creatures, so you would also notice that, wyverns and fanged beasts mostly, would only and almost always have 4 limbs. If they need or have wings, that would be their front limb. where as elder dragons would almost always have extra limbs for wings if they do have them. six limbed vertebrates are creatures that defy common sense, which is why it's a feature reserved for elder dragons. the Kushala Dora and especially the Teostra arent necessarily bigger or heavier than the deviljho, and very probably not heavier than the Gravios. They have four legs because able to grow the extra limbs are a sign of their status as more magical than simple biological creatures. Edit: also Deviljho being able to use dragon element on their own,(without exterior assistance like stygian zinogre for example) although in a very crude form, makes them a semi-elder dragon, so, no way diablos or glavenous is anywhere near as strong, also look at the muscles tbh that's rajang level ripped. Basically look at how something the size of a rajang can uppercut a nergigante, I think it's pretty well established that deviljho and rajang are the two creatures that can fight elder dragons head on. In the elder dragon league while not actually being one. Same cannot be said about the diablos or glavenos, cool as they are.

[@theabysswalker114]

Deviljho related but ignoring logic and stuff, would be cool if we had an "acient" Deviljho variant, one that lived longer than normal bc it kinda controls it's own rage and energy usage so he would be bigger and scarred in design but doing slower and energy conservative attacks while having an extreme savage phase where it's health would start depleting itself as it attacks but not exploitable, maybe he would use a small portion of it's health as "stamina" like dark souls stamina usage so a bigger health pool but still equilibrated so his effective health wouldn't be so big bc of his attacks at the same time not exploitable by making the time pass dodging his attacks and stuff, again Deviljho related but ignoring some realism, I just thought it would be a cool fight for a monster I love so much

[@Fuerst_Stein]

"Herbivores have a Life outside of just being eaten"... I like that

[@Yutyrant95]

Your theories about Deviljoh being a dying species in this video and your ideas in the video on the Impact of Hunters, has me thinking about a possible spin off game. It would star a rival organization to The Guild that focuses more on conservation efforts than blind hunting. You would still have quests and be forced to slay an occasional monster, but the main goal would be to preserve Endangered Species in reserves or zoos. Money made from quests would fund research opportunities and better living conditions for captured monsters

[@thesuminer]

IF the Monster Hunter Stories titles are cannon to the Monster Hunter universe and depending on when they take place, Deviljho may very well continue to survive, if only in localized areas around where Riders live.

[@hitothelivingdrawing1035]

Fun fact Nakarkos is what Jho wishes he was in the ecology because they can completely change an ecosystem turning it into wyvern’s end leaving no plants or animals, but they go to different areas to hunt and adopt a lion tactic of letting the areas it attacks recoup before it attacks again

[@roboraptorwolf9726]

Yah, even taking stories 2 into account, larinothes only appear on the starting island, which in its self is quite isolated. So that does add credit to this Also poor death pickle

[@natedogg1088]

I honestly thing Devil Jo would get more kills out of the way it slams things around on the ground then it's outright bite, but the blood loss getting flung by the neck with those teeth would cause would be pretty massive too. Sadly, it's chances of survival suck, that hunched over posture would make very vulnerable to Wyvern. Particularly the poisoned tail of a Rathien.

[@pheonyxior_5082]

Very interesting take on jho, tho I do think the relationship between his high metabolism and the large amount of large prey in the world of mh could have used more analysis, beyond the theory there aren't as many sauropodes around as there used to be. I've had this theory when playing mh3u that jho's natural predator, or at least young jhos was Zinogre and Stygian Zinogre. The reason for that would be that both those specie deal elemental damage the jho is weak to, and are resistant to dragon. Additionally, the local where young jho were born would be the flooded forest, cause this was the only local in the game where no Zinogre could be found (I didn't think of the sand plains at the time), and also that could help camouflage the jho. Finally, the reason why there were so few jhos would be that the specy were cannibalistic, and that hungry mommy jhos would attack their younglings, those who didn't have a fight in them yet preferably, making the surviving adult jhos truly naturally selected to survive their own kind. Thanks for reading to the end, jho is the first monster that stired my imagination about its ecosystem as well as making me genuinely repulsed by its design, I have fond feelings for the ugly slimmy bastard.

[@draygonsol7863]

I think what we have in the case of the lore it is very much like the 17th-Early19th centuries not truly understanding what is going on with the animals and just making some stuff up not just with Joe. This is probably compounded by the shoot on sight policy and fear and superstition that make studying it difficult. From my own observations the tail of Joe is actually a fat/water store allowing it to accumulate excess energy for itself, also potentially possible that Wyverns being or are related to reptiles it could be they can change their metabolism helping them further. My theory is their big hunts are actually done wherever they happen to be when their reserves run out or are low and until they are driven out of that area by a bigger wyvern or some other source or fill up their reserves and move on which then lets that area recover again. One thing as well I find interesting is the dragon element within them could potentially serve as some kind of resistance to the natural elements.

[@bottomlefto]

all i know is that his skin tears to form mouth-shaped rips all over his body when he enrages is a pretty cool design choice that fits with his theme of endless hunger

[@zenthorth4874]

He only wants hugs. But his arms don't allow it. Completely understandable rage.

[@madzoroark5396]

Personally, I prefer to believe that Jho is more of a representation of humans. We're hyper aggressive, xenophobic destroyers of ecosystems. He's just the most literal incarnation of it.

[@joshuasgameplays9850]

I mean that's a fine way to view him metatextually, but that's pretty unrelated to the video since he's talking about the in-universe lore.

[@Wyvern201]

I far prefer the framing of monsters having been “said” to do x y z horrible thing instead of just saying “this thing is evil and terrible and deserves to be hunted to extinction” because it reinforces that the information we’re getting about the monsters is non diegetic, and therefore skewed in favour of the people writing it, the same people who would have likely experienced or heard stories about devastation from the wyverns.

[@ryuku2]

I was always under the impression that Jho's mouth was far larger than it ever opens, mainly because there's a split filled with that webb-y, muscle-y, tissue that's lined with teeth that travels nearly all the way down past its shoulders. A split that gets accentuated in the, possibly non-cannon Aberrant Deviljho from the Monster Hunter Explore crossover with Attack on Titan. But even if it's not-canon, it's just a deviljho with no skin, and that mouth-split with teeth carries on far past his shoulders. But like, after this video talking about it, I started wondering just what WOULD it take to open up a mouth that extends into the Jho's neck, and it's nothing explainable. But I'm never gonna be able to get that body horror image of it tearing open the sides of its mouth to get a bigger mouth to shove things into out of my head.

[@milkforthekhorneflakes3581]

I disagree with the "poorly designed mouth" bit. It's basically the same as sharks and crocodiles in that they're constantly replacing their teeth, so rapidly in this case that the rows are inching out of their mouth entirely. This has the added effect of making their heads super jagged, which lends credence to your "poor bite force" theory. They don't kill their prey through sheer bite force like sharks and crocodiles, instead making use of their herculean strength to pick up monsters and kill them with blunt force trauma, their flailing motions also serving to slice open wounds due to the giant mound of teeth they're using to accomplish this goal. It's surely not the most efficient design, but nature often settles for "good enough". And honestly this over-the-top smashing and shredding hunting strategy just adds to it's savagery. I think it fits.

[@AxisChurchDevotee]

Plus most monsters don't make it since Deviljho is an elder dragon level montie so most don't stand a chance.

[@BlueFireDrakka]

I think one of the reasons nobody likes fighting the pickle is hes actually got some hekjin good defenses, given the bastard is coated in teeth. Anything out of its biterange is spiked to the nines, so even if you manage a good smack at the unspiked part you get into its bite range, and if you avoid the biterange and go for something like its tail you get a facefull of tail teeth. So the best defense against the 'Jo is to just run away and hope it gets fixated on hunting something else. I have a sort of fondness for the pickle, i dont like it but I also dont hate it either, i have a mutual hunter respect for it as a top predator and see hunting it as a nice way to test my skills and i tell you, nothing makes you feel more like a badass than going after a Deviljo and the hunt ending with it running away like a lil bish, its annoying not getting the capture or carves, but the ego boost of terrorising the world eater into fleeing cant be understated

[@Amknownas_743great_explainer]

Like a heron draining gold fish from a pond, I love that imagery lol

[@sunlitriddle2294]

Coming in 2 years late with absolutely no biology background. The only think I can think of regarding its mouth is that it is constantly shedding and growing replacement teeth. If it's not shedding them at a high enough rate, the teeth start growing wherever they can, leading to disfigurement. Now, this may be one of those evolutionary throwbacks, where the situation this feature evolved to cover ceases to be a factor, so it becomes a detriment to the animal itself. So kind of shark-based teeth situation plugged into a terrestrial dinosaur.

[@adrammelechthewroth6511]

Now I'm questioning whether or not I should even hunt them.

[@xNecromander]

Pickle's mouth always reminded me of a drill head, like the ones used to drill for oil lol

[@knightsteyri9110]

I do agree with most of these things. However, it has been stated that Deviljho have very strong bites that crush the tough shells of the enemies. I do hate how the New World mouth looks, they should've just used the Old World one, since that one looks like it was meant to crush and rip off chunks.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

The point about it being unable to eat apceros shells comes from the world book, which also claims it having a strong bite so it seems Capcom can't really make up their mind. My points about it's jaws likely being weak more come from their design which seem poorly suited to deal with high stresses.

[@knightsteyri9110]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel It is a stupid design indeed. The Old World Deviljho jaw looked like it had inmense crushing force behind it, and it didn't looked straight up like a T Rex jaw. They could've just made it a fair bit chunkier, and it would've looked great, intimidating, and believeable that it had amongst the most powerful jaws in the Monster Hunter universe.

[@alejandroelluxray5298]

@@knightsteyri9110 Tyrannosaurus have a crushing bite as well, they were capable of crushing bone with ease, so I do not see that as a bad thing

[@socriabbas454]

He's definitely a fan favorite because this angry pickle will throw hands with ANYONE in the ecosystem, he doesnt give fuck if you're a elder dragon or not.

[@JaggedBird]

Aaah yes, the devil pickle (savage Deviljho) What a terrifying thing to think of when you're not master rank

[@nicolaslanzoni9385]

04:50 🎶Any form of isolation may result in a situation In that predation decimates a population 🎶

[@Alchemyst326]

As a comment on your theory about the technological level of monster hunter society, I feel the need to point out that while they may seem on the cusp of an industrial revolution, it might not be as inevitable as you think. I believe, and citation is needed, that in the aftermath of the fall of the technologically advanced Ancient Civilization and the Great Dragon War that followed, the remaining humans were helped by the Wyverians in building new societies that focused on striking a balance with nature. As such, I believe they actively avoid advancing their level of technology too much, beyond the use of certain advanced weapon designs left over from the Ancients. This is why they have things like the Gunlance, Charge Blade, and Dragonators, but still live in an early-renaissance level society at most, with many villages still having a waterwheel as their most advanced technology.

[@beastmaster0934]

It would be cool to see what this “Ice Age” Monster Hunter world looked like. I could imagine the rainforests and swamplands of the old and new world replaced by open grassland and open woodlands Vast cold steppe in the northern regions, instead of boreal forests. With vast herds of Gammoth, Popo, Anteka, and other similar cold-adapted animals grazing on these open plains While Blangonga, Tigrex and Barioth prowl these habitats searching for their next meal. Sounders of Bullfango and Bulldrome foraging for food.

[@kennethsatria6607]

If Pokemon can do it surely Monster Hunter can. Though it may be a bit too revealing for the ancient civilization, maybe it can still take place after but still a more ancient world.

[@vitriolicAmaranth]

4U makes it explicit that Deviljho has intense body heat (for some reason) and it needs to feed _constantly_ to maintain that metabolism. It's nomadic, and "can" hunt nearby animals to extinction, so the extinction events probably happen when a deviljho gets stuck in one place for one reason or another (probably more common than it should be in MH because of elder dragon shenanigans changing the landscape). Of course, a lot of the hunts in monster hunter are ostensibly to control predators that are outside of the natural habitat and risk disrupting or destroying an ecosystem; And oftentimes this migration is indirectly due to human activity (even if it's because of an elder dragon whose situation is in turn affected by human civilization). Its dragon element is also a pointed adaptation. While certain flying wyverns like the raths are very weak to it, it is supposed to be the "anti-dragon" or "anti-elder-dragon" element. It's usually derived from certain plants and the insects that consume them (or from certain elder dragons themselves; given it doesn't always have dragon element Garuga likely gets it incidentally from foraging, and Kushala might have it during certain parts of its lifespan, eg around the time it molts), which also evokes the comedic image of a deviljho munching on berries or bugs- Of course, it's less comedic when you consider this might be because it's starving and unable to find meat, though since jho consistently has dragon element I suspect they go out of their way to do this. Either way, that (along with some gameplay parallels, eg sharing the top tier of GQs in 4U with only one other weapon, the Kirin-consuming Rajang) suggests that deviljho even hunts and consumes elder dragons (or, conversely, that it often becomes a target for elder dragons, many of which have an innate instinct to detect problems in the ecosystem and correct them). As for the bizarre mouth, it's explained somewhere that it loses teeth constantly from the way it tears meat, so it's constantly growing new rows of teeth, which I guess slowly rotate into place, kind of like shark teeth but they wrap around the outside of the mouth.

[@glitchnix]

So I am a deviljho fan and I must say this is a really interesting look into the monster. I was quite surprised to finally hear some of these many weak points pointed out. While I am a big fan of the lurkin gherkin I can't help but agree with the death throws of a species theory. It a way it make the Doom Pickle much more interesting to experience. The end of these massive creatures is not something I often hear discussed. You hear so much about how cool the dinosaurs were but its sort of an end to the conversation when you say "Oh then they were killed by a big space rock and cooling temperatures." The idea that this is what a hunter from a by gone age would look like is so much more interesting than "THIS IS MY GODREX IT KILLS ALL" Because while yes it is designed to hunt large and stronger prey so it would be able to beat a fair few of the current monsters (In world I haven't played Rise) The idea that it's power alone is not enough to save it and we as the human element are not only watching the species die out but actively pushing forwards its extinction make me look at the killer cucumber in a new light.

[@miquellabarowner]

“Entering th-“ *accidently skips to end* “thanks for watching”

[@The_PokeSaurus]

Sorry for commenting on Deviljho so much but I have more to say. I recently got back into actually playing Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and I battled you know who. I noticed in his fight, Deviljho will drag his jaw against the ground to throw boulders at you, maybe the reason he has so many teeth tricking out of his mouth is so he can drag them agaist large prey, and if your idea of him having a relatively weak bite force is true that could be how he compensates.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Hah, no worries! I feel jho may do something similar, and his focus is on creating massive wounds with big bloodloss. Something that was cut from the video was an old theory on allosaurus that it's massive gape was so it could swing it's jaws like an axe.

[@The_PokeSaurus]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel Yeah, that Allosaurus head ax theory could apply to Deviljho, but I would say a Mace rather than an ax. Like you said in the video, he inflicts lots of blunt force trauma.

[@wildspirewarrior211]

The theory that they hunted Gammoth makes sense because Gammoth are super uncommon now and live as loners up in the mountains and if they served as one of Deviljho's primary food sources they would have no choice but to hunt other prey they aren't adapted to rather than wasting time and energy searching for what few Gammoth are left hiding away in the mountains

[@ManiCavalieri]

"...I'd tell you it looks like it was designed by an 8-year-old who thought the Indominus rex was the best thing in the whole Jurassic Park franchise" Instant follow. These videos are awesome; I love applying real-world frameworks to fictional animals as a way of exploring more interesting/subtle aspects of their designs, and learning more about the incredible variety and nuance of the "boring" real world. The fact that you have the same beef with Indominus as I do is just gravy.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

I do have a Jurassic Park / World video you may like…

[@aasminecrafter]

I personally believe that Jho still has an unusually high metabolism (But not to the point of wiping out ecosystems) because of two factors: 1) Its ginormous muscles. 2) A stupidly high body temperature.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Muscles do demand a lot of energy for sure, but deviljho having high body heat seems somewhat unlikely (although it is apparently canon) as giant animals have to do everything they can to try and shed body heat, not make more of it.

[@aasminecrafter]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel Maybe its body temperature came from living in the cold environment that is the Monster Hunter Ice Age.

[@abcxyz-bq2cc]

maybe there is still a place where Deviljho lives, they have their own ecosystem to which they are adapted. and they are not mutated