The Monster Hunter World Iceborne Speculation Continues!

A few weeks ago, we did talk a bit what Variant Monsters that could be coming to Monster Hunter World Iceborne in March. Recently, we found out who they were, and (to no one’s shock) the Raging Brachydios and the Furious Rajang will be coming soon to make Hunter’s lives miserable. It would be nice to pat oneself on the back for guessing them correctly, but it isn’t really a prediction when it was painfully obvious.

So with that out of the way, April is shaping up to make Master Rank even more of a challenge. With the return of Arch-Tempered versions, it is time to look towards what will be coming in May.

As apart of its “Major Title Update 4,” Capcom did tease the idea of the “Return of a fan-favorite monster!” something to which, one could argue could be a rather wide range to consider. You can probably go up to any fan of Monster Hunter, ask them “What is your favorite monster?” and get so many responses, it could double the roster size of Iceborne’s current lineup. From your run of the mill monsters to the Elder Dragons that threaten every ecosystem where they roam, it can be near impossible to point a surefire guarantee. But hey, that’s what speculation opinion pieces are for, right? So let’s take a crack at guessing what could be coming in the upcoming months.

15th Anniversary Flagship Monsters

At the time when Monster Hunter World was celebrating its first year, Capcom did celebrate Monster Hunter’s 15th anniversary in March 2019. To celebrate it, we got an amazing piece of art that highlights all the flagship monsters throughout the entirety of Monster Hunter, all together, including the upcoming flagship for Iceborne, Velkhana.

Now funny enough, out of all the flagship monsters to see itself on the cover of the games, only four of them are Elder Dragons, while the rest are regular monsters that would become fan favorites. Another thing to consider is how half of the monsters shown in this image would also see their return into Iceborne too (Nargacuga, Brachydios, Zinogre, Tigrex, and Glavenus).

While Monster Hunter World Iceborne likely will not surpass the number of monsters in Generations Ultimate, it wouldn’t be too farfetched to consider the possibility of more monsters suddenly appearing in the new world. Whether if driven out of hiding or were there the entire time, but we never saw them until now, there is a fair chance that we could see one of these guys suddenly reappear. But which one? While we do have two normal monsters, but sadly, one of them might seem slightly impossible.

The Lagiacrus is a Sea Wyvern that can shoot thunder from its mouth and is known to harass and scare villagers from Monster Hunter 3. While it would be great to see its return, there’s one slight issue. When we got Monster Hunter 3, we got the ability to “Swim and Hunt.” Something to which hasn’t return (nor have we got other Leviathans returning since Tri). If we do see Lagiacrus come back, then that’s fantastic, but it is fair to cross its chances off the list.

Seregios

Out of the entire cast of flagship monsters, there is only one other regular monster remaining. And this one is the very definition of sharpness. This flying monster, better known as the “Thousand Blade Wyvern,” was the flagship monster for Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. While a certain other monster was on the cover in the US (who we will cover shortly), the main attraction was Seregios.

So you might be asking yourself, “What is so special about this Wyvern?” it looks almost like any other Rathian or Rathalos in the game, right? Well, that may be the case until you actually take a hit from it, and you suddenly start finding yourself bleeding out. If you got to enjoy monsters like the Odogaron, you might know about this status effect that will cause your hunter to lose health if they were to perform any action like running, rolling, or attacking. You got the Seregios to thank for that since hunts can become far more dangerous when you’re trying to stop your bleeding while the monster is breathing down your neck and trying to slice you down.

While the Seregios hunt is certainly fun in its own right, the weapons themselves were by far the most unique and special out of anything in the history of the series (until Safi’Jiiva came into the picture). For most hunters, they usually watch their sharpness closely to make sure they don’t go dull and bounce off monsters. When you use a Seregios weapon, though, you can literally sharpen your weapon while you hunt! All you have to do is roll, and you can restore your sharpness or reload a bullet. That would be a great feature to see return to Monster Hunter World Iceborne if Seregios makes its return.

Gore Magala

So I know I said Seregios was the only regular monster. Technically there’s a second, but the problem is that the classification of the Gore Magala is… unknown. Seriously, if you look up its type, it has the classification of “???.”

When we got Monster Hunter 4, it brought a lot of “Firsts” to the series. It was the first game to give us the Charge Blade and the Insect Glaive, but this flagship monster was really special, as it was terrifying. While it’s true identity was not revealed until the end of the game, it is actually a “Juvenile Elder Dragon;” One in which you could actually capture, whereas you can’t really trap any other elder dragon. But even more scary was its ability to infect both monsters and humans with the “Frenzy Virus.”

This infectious disease that came from the dander-like wing scales of the Gore Magala can cause monsters to become even more aggressive as their speed and strength cause them to become very dangerous. As for humans, it can not only neutralize a hunter’s ability to heal naturally, but they can take more damage from frenzied monsters.

This might sound scary to fight until you realize the “Frenzied up Monsters” kind of act like the tempered monsters we currently have in the game. So it isn’t all that different from what we’ve done thus far. But for the Gore Magala itself, it is a very special and unique hunt with some of the best weapons designs seen in Monster Hunter. Chalk that up with it also having a very special variant, and an evolved “True Elder Dragon Form,” and we have a monster that can take hunts to a whole new level.

Elder Dragons

If Iceborne has made one thing clear, it is that having regular monsters in the game can be just as good as having an Elder Dragon join the game. And while it was nice to get Safi’Jiiva as the first post-launch monster, there is a very good possibility that we could see more. However, for as nice as it would be to see an Elder Dragon make its return, it is difficult to say which monster exactly that would be, let alone which one happens to be a “fan favorite.” While investigating around for which Elder Dragon it could be, there were four names that did come up.

Also, who knows if the Rusted Kushala Daora could see a return to Iceborne too, but it does seem unlikely for that to happen.

Fatalis

In the 15th anniversary artwork, the final monster that was in the picture is the first “Final Boss” of the very first Monster Hunter.

Fatalis. Coming in at a whopping 400+ Meters, Fatalis is a mystery in the world of Monster Hunter. So much so, that many consider it to be a legend, and there is no “official art” of what a Fatalis looks like. Needless to say though, if we were talking about the rarest of rare Elder Dragons showing up to Iceborne, the Fatalis would be right at home. Not only would it provide a wide range of dangerous attacks to fend off, but it also has other forms like the Crimson Fatalis or White Fatalis, meaning that if Capcom wanted to, they could bring us three different versions of this monster.

Amatsu

If we are looking at Elder Dragons that did make an enormous impact on the world around them, look no further than the Amatsumagatsuchi. Or Amatsu for short. If you are familiar with the Kushala Daora, imagine that fight but far worse. It is said that wherever the Amatsu goes, it carries with it furious cyclones and horrific storms; In other words- A living Hurricane. As fun as it would be to go up against this Elder Dragon again, there is a fair possibility that it likely will not see it return due to its body shape.

If you are familiar with the Monster Hunter Formula, a good chunk of monsters do share a similar body type, such as how the Tigrex, Barioth, and Nargacuga do share similar designs initially (but are all dangerous in their own rights). For Amatsu, it shares a body skeleton known as “Leviathan.” These monsters are more akin to water and other wet environments, and while the Amatsu technically flies, there are no other leviathan types in Iceborne, which would mean a whole new design would have to be done for just this one monster. It would be great to see it return but seems doubtful at the immediate moment.

Alatreon

While there are plenty of Elder Dragons that tend to focus on one particular element, there is one that turns that logic around and says, “watch me do all four at one time.”

The Alatreon is said to have all of the abilities of all the “True” Elder dragons (consisting of Kushala Daora, Chameleos, Lunastra, and Teostra) and can use Dragon, Ice, Thunder and Fire elements to fight against hunters. Of course, as the series got its sequels, more element aliments came in, but at the time, an Elder Dragon that had so much variety was a rather formidable monster to hunt down. Whether if it drops ice crystals or lighting down upon you while attacking with a wide range of moves that can become a bit too much to handle, the Alatreon has become a favorite for hunters back in Monster Hunter 3.

There isn’t much else about the Alatreon as the creature is rather territorial. There is no “official Drawings” of it and only has been in a few titles. When you have an Elder Dragon that many would consider a god or a demon reincarnation, that alone would be more than enough to get people excited if it were to make its return into Iceborne.

Chameleos

When asking around for any other suggestions, there was a surprising number of hunters that mentioned the elder dragon known as the Chameleos. Now just by name alone, you probably don’t have to think hard of what exactly this Elder Dragon looks like. And just like a Chameleon, this monster has the ability to camouflage itself by using electric currents and refracting the light in the mist to make its body look invisible. And if all of that wasn’t bad enough, it also has the ability to poison you and debuff you with Fatigue and Defense down.

Fun Fact: Chameleos was a part of the original three Elder Dragons back in the day with the Kushala Doara and the Teostra/Lunastra. As such (in some strange way), bringing Chamelos back into Iceborne would be a reunion that we haven’t seen in Monster Hunter for some time. It was undoubtedly a strange fight, and it would be fun to have a second crack at it.

Which monster will be returning in Monster Hunter World Iceborne?

With Monster Hunter celebrating its 15th-anniversary last year, it is fair to say that fans of the series did have high hopes for which monsters would be coming back. There is still a good sum that could make its return, but for the time being, it would seem that Capcom will only focus on just one returning monster for now. For all we know, though, once we move into the second half of 2020, we could see the roadmap mention more returning monsters, but it is difficult to say what direction Monster Hunter World Iceborne will go for now. If there is a particular monster you are in hopes of seeing make its grand return, be sure to leave your thoughts down below and be sure to follow us here at Culture of Gaming for more coverage on Monster Hunter World Iceborne and all things in the gaming world.