The Rathalos are monsters that first debuted in Monster Hunter. They are the males of the Raths, a species of powerful and widespread Flying Wyvern. Known for their aerial agility and powerful fire breath, Rathalos are often dubbed the "Kings of the Sky", possessing equally regal dispositions that make them scorn intruders. Thus, the sighting of a Rathalos is often reason enough for hunters to be deployed.
Why aren't they heroic or villainous?[]
Rathalos is not considered a villain because it's primarily acting as a predator defending its territory, attacking hunters only when they intrude on its domain, essentially behaving like any wild animal would in its natural habitat; it's not actively seeking to harm humans or cause destruction, just protecting its space and hunting prey, making it more of a natural threat than a malicious one.
Appearance[]
Like his female counterpart Rathian, the Rathalos is a large Flying Wyvern with raptor-like traits, such as sharp talons on his feet and a small beak in addition to his sharp teeth. He is covered in hard scutes on its back, possesses a cream colored underside and four horns on the back of his head, two curved upwards and the others downwards. Rathalos also has a tail ending in a heavily plated, clubbed tail, as well as sharp spines on the phalanges of his wings. Unlike Rathian, Rathalos's scutes are predominantly bright red, with bright blue eyes instead of Rathian's green eyes and scutes. His wing patterns also take the form of red bending lines and his tail club has several large spikes instead of Rathian's poisonous hairs.
Abilities[]
As one of the most common and widespread wyverns in the world, Rathalos is an incredibly powerful predator, specialising in aerial ambush. His powers of flight are nearly unmatched by any other monster, allowing him to swoop down on unsuspecting prey and even combat fellow predators in aerial dogfights. To grapple prey the Rathalos is equipped with powerful talons that secrete a deadly toxin, ensuring that in the unlikely scenario of prey escaping his grasp, they will surely waste away soon after.
Rathalos is also equipped with a powerful flame sac that allows him to, like other fire-attuned monsters, spit fireballs at foes. However, unlike most other wyverns, Rathalos can also continuously breathe fire in a stream like a flamethrower, denying area to opponents and severely scorching anyone caught in the crosshairs.
In addition to his flight, venom and fire, Rathalos is physically very capable, being able to toss about smaller opponents like rag dolls with his large size and powerful muscles. His shell armour, characteristic of all Raths, is durable yet lightweight, allowing him to withstand blows from monsters such as Astalos without sacrificing any of his famed aerial agility. Rathalos also possesses an incredible stamina that allows him to fight other monsters and hunters for extremely long periods of time.
Behavior[]
Because they are very protective of their territory, Rathalos can be violent against outsiders. Any creature that could threaten their territory will be driven away or targeted for death. Rathalos pursue their prey from the air during hunting before diving in for the kill. After bringing down their target successfully, they will take it away to feast in secret, out of the reach of scavengers and other monsters that could try to steal the kill.
In the mating season, some Old World Raths tend to split up after mating, with the Rathalos returning to their homes and the Rathians migrating to the deserts where their chicks will be safer. Most however, while mate for life and raise their chicks together in the lush territories of the Rathian. While rearing chicks Rathalos and Rathian both play equally important roles: Rathian will go out to hunt for prey while Rathalos will guard the chicks. The Rath species in general is also known to be rather tolerant to others of their species no matter the relation and will often nest in somewhat close proximity to each other. Conversely, New World Rathalos maintain a harem of Rathians, allowing more favoured mates to nest nearer to its territory while lesser partners receive poorer foraging territory.
As a result of being an apex predator of many temperate regions, Rathalos comes into conflict with many other apex monsters such as Zinogre, Astalos and Seregios. The latter is even known to raid Rath nests and kill them on occasion. Rathalos generally doesn't fear any other predator thanks to its large size, but powerful monsters like Magnamalo and Malzeno are more than capable of preying on it.
Habitat[]
An exceptionally widespread monster, Rathalos has been sighted in all sorts of locales in the Old World, primarily appearing in lush forests and volcanoes. In the New World it functions as the apex predator of the Ancient Forest and can be found in the Guiding Lands.
Trivia[]
- As he appears in every single game in the Monster Hunter franchise and is heavily featured in promotional material, Rathalos is considered the mascot of the franchise in addition to being the first game's flagship monster.
- Rathian is actually the one on top of the Monster Hunter logo while many assumed it was Rathalos. It is Rathian because Rathian has more back spikes and longer chin spike.
- Rathian was also made before Rathalos.
- Rathalos received the 21st place in the 20th Anniversary Hunter's Choice Poll for Top Monster.
- With the introduction of his theme, “King of the Skies” in Monster Hunter Wilds, Rathalos is the flagship monster that has remained without a unique battle theme for the longest duration, lacking one for almost 21 years. While Lagiacrus also lacks a unique theme in its original game, the Deserted Island’s theme “Tremors on Land and Sea” is officially considered its theme based on the 20th Anniversary’s Top 10 Monster Themes poll.
- Rathalos is the only large monster to be revealed in the pre-release trailers (other than the Guardians) that does not have an official render in Monster Hunter Wilds.
