#neopteron

bugtober day 7: queen

another late one, under a lack of time and the fact i’ve been thinking of it a lot as of late, i opted to just draw Seltas Queen from Monster Hunter. i had a lot of fun sketching in the light lines to add more detail to the shell, and i like the stark shading for the bits underneath the main body. and the perspective on the pincer tail i actually feel pretty good about!

honestly might be my favorite monster from the series, although that is still being debated internally, with the other contender being Rakna Kadaki. love the arthropod monsters in this series! :D

Easy, corpses.

Ahtal-Ka's are Neopteron - the same genus as Hornetaur and Altaroth. This means that their origins lie in being carrion eaters - and that gives them an advantage of having one of the best structures there is out there to turn into a mobile home: complete skeletal structures to work from as blueprints.

Now of course - bones by themselves won't move, but with enough silk, wood, and stone they could crudely reconstruct a semi viable "musculature system" that could move. The fact they changed to buildings at all is a wonder in itself; was it just that an Ahtal-Ka noticed the structures built by man were stronger than the bones they used? Did they just see human housing and go "Well it looks safe enough for them, why not me?" Why the change? We just don't know. What we do know is that it's a pretty intelligent monster; and not one to be messed with without precautions.

Definitely the Neopterons. While the idea of more Snake Wyverns is alluring and Najarala desperately needs some buddies, I’d adore seeing more insects. The Seltas Duo are the only proper large members of their classification (I don’t really count Vespoid Queen) and there are so many opportunities for what the developers could do. Some ideas I thought up on the fly (pun intended):

An acid-spewing cockroach that feasts on monster carcasses

Butterflies that use their proboscis like a whip

Stag beetles that create electricity between their horns akin to a taser

Wasps that freeze their prey using liquid nitrogen venom

Every now and again, a Monster Hunter game will have “that kind of monster”. You know the kind…

Deviljho…

Bazelgeuse…

The super crazy ones that like to invade hunts. Well, here’s my take on one of “those monsters”.

This is Kuragamein, the Siege Beetle. It is a neopteron, because Monster Hunter NEEDS MORE BUGS! Its name comes from the word “Crag” (rugged cliff), the German word “gemein” (vile, wicked, or nasty) and the Japanese word “Kuwagata” (stag beetle). I took visual design inspiration trilobite beetles, wasps, bombardier beetles, and fireflies. Do you like her? Is she intimidating enough to be considered one of “those monsters?” Please let me know what you think!

Anyways, here’s more info:

Name: Kuragamein

Nickname: “Siege Beetle”

Classification: Neopteron

Location(s): Ancient Forest, Wildspire Waste, Coral Highlands, Rotten Vale, Elder’s Recess, Hoarfrost Reach

Element(s): Fire

Ailment(s): Fireblight

Weaknesses: Thunder, Blast

Resistances: Fire

Immunities: N/A

More Info:

What you are looking at right now is a Kuragamein queen. They are giant, comparable in size to a Diablos or Bazelgeuse. As rare as they are catastrophic, Kuragamein hives are notorious for laying waste across the ecosystems through which they travel. They are not necessarily nomadic by nature, however. Recently, seismic activities seem to have led several colonies out of their underground burrows, resulting in some nests being  sighted on the surface worlds. This is a huge issue, as they often lay waste to the surrounding ecosystems.

Let's start with Piu Mosso, the Razor Banshee.

Piu Mosso is a Neopteron of the Thunder element. This rainforest dwelling insect is the Apex of its ecosystem. Using organs in it's wings to generate sound waves, it stuns prey with sonic weaponry. When a prey item is downed, the monster uses it's proboscis to drink the prey's fluids.

Aside from weaponizing sound, this species is known for its incredible agility and bursting speed in flight. A speeding Piu Mosso can steal a teacup from a person's hands completely unnoticed, save for an occasional small cut. The edges of their wings are sharper than an obsidian razor.

On rare occasions, explorers report specimens mimicking the voices of other monsters and even humans.

Inspiration: Piu Mosso is a musical term I learned from my HS choir director. Apparently it means "a little faster". I was soon inspired to create a high speed monster that uses sound to hunt prey.

It's design is in between a Dog Day Cicada, a hummingbird, and a stained glass window.

I also wanted to make an active monster that would hopefully be fun to fight.

Next, Yian Ya-Ku: the Inquisitive Bird Thief

Yian Ya-Ku is a hybrid of Kulu Ya-Ku and Yian Kut-Ku. They're highly intelligent and have been seen using scales from other monsters to attract hunters. However, these hybrids aren't suicidal. They just want to steal things from hunters, including weapons currently in use.

On occasion, Yian Ya-Ku specimens have been observed to grab a nearby Paratoad and spit it at the nearest large monster or hunting party.

Inspiration: When I started getting into Monster Hunter, I looked at Kulu Ya-Ku, then at Yian Kut-Ku, then at a piece of drawing paper. These monsters give me the same "dumb bird" vibe, so I decided to combine them.