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| “ | The flying wyvern that reigns supreme over the Windward Plains' ecosystem. It is able to store, amplify, and discharge the Sandtide's lightning. | „ |
| ~ Rey Dau's description in the Hunters' Notes |
Rey Dau is a monster introduced in Monster Hunter Wilds. A huge Flying Wyvern clad in gold scales, it is the despotic apex predator of the Windward Plains, emerging during the Sandtide to prey on any monsters that fail to escape the sandstorm. Capable of storing and expelling the sandstorm's lightning in devastating blasts, its recent discovery and sheer might have piqued the interest of the Hunters' Guild.
Why aren't they heroic or villainous?[]
Rey Dau are predators that lack a moral agency and as such, act only out of survival instinct.
Physiology[]
Clad in spiny, gold scales that overlap like armour, Rey Dau is a huge Flying Wyvern with black skin underlying its golden scutes. Its wings are unusual for its order, possessing only a single wing membrane that stretches all the way to its tail bottom like a pterosaur, being primarily gold with blackish-purple patterns and tinges of orange at the tips. Rey Dau's wings also have an additional digit that is completely covered in overlapping golden scales which it utilises in combat. Its tail is covered in numerous spiny plates that terminates in two large spines. Rey Dau also has many rows of spines on its back.
Rey Dau has a vaguely serpentine head, with numerous tooth-like structures lining a lipless mouth, guarding its real teeth. Its most striking feature are its two pairs of foldable golden horns: two long straight ones at the top and two smaller curved ones at the bottom. Rey Dau will fold these horns in on its face when issuing forth its lightning beam, similar to a railgun. Its neck also possesses a slightly frilled membrane which remains folded at most times. Rey Dau's sclerae are black with yellowish-gold pupils.
When enraged, Rey Dau's pupils glow white, with the gaps between its armor and neck membrane glowing indigo. Said neck membrane also unfolds. Its body will start crackling with electricity and any sand it picks up will solidify into indigo fulgurite on its wing digits and tail, though Rey Dau's wings can still be covered in fulgurite even when it's not charged.
Arch-Tempered Rey Dau individuals largely appear similar to their normal counterparts, except with some noticeable differences. Not only do their hides possess a metallic sheen, the patterns and patches on their wings are now a more vivid purple, with said purple being present as a tinge on their horn tips. Their wings are also a much more saturated shade of indigo. Arch-Tempered Rey Daus have rusty red pupils when they get enraged.
Abilities[]
As the apex predator of the Windward Plains, Rey Dau is an exceptionally powerful monster in terms of physical terms. It is fully capable of tackling an adult Ceratonoth to the ground and flying completely unburdened. Furthermore, its wing scales are exceptionally sharp and can be used in combat agains other monsters, as shown from its battles with Arkveld. Rey Dau is also rather durable and resilient, being able to sustain numerous blows from the White Wraith and even survive getting its energy drained, displaying that it has stamina superior to other monsters like Uth Duna.
Rey Dau's most powerful ability however, is its ability to utilise electricity. While incapable of producing electricity itself, Rey Dau's spiny body is perfectly adapted to absorb electricity, such as the lightning produced during the Sandtide inclemency, which it can store, unleash and even amplify from its body. Rey Dau can charge up its regular attacks with electricity and even solidify sand that sticks to its wings with it, creating sharp fulgurite crystals with which it can rend opponents to pieces. Rey Dau's most infamous method of using electricity however, is its beam attack: by folding its four horns inwards, Rey Dau can produce a powerful, concentrated beam of lightning that deals devastating damage to anybody caught in its path, even scorching the sands black and producing columns of fulgurite. It can also utilise its horns as a stabbing weapon and to unleash smaller blasts of electricity. A telltale sign of Rey Dau using its powered up electrical shot is it taking to the air, with the sky darkening significantly as its horns start to glow.
Fortunately for its foes, Rey Dau's electrical abilities can be interrupted by breaking its fulgurite armour or damaging its horns. Said horns are extremely vulnerable after it performs its railgun attack and should be prioritised. Outside of combat, Rey Dau can utilise electricity to revitalise itself as, following its nearly lethal encounter with Arkveld, it immediately revitalised itself with just a single lightning strike, proceeding to participate in a full out battle against the hunter.
Behaviour[]
A territorial and aggressive apex predator, Rey Dau is known to be hostile to most monsters that dare to challenge it, putting them down swiftly with zaps of lightning from its horns. While it can be found wandering the Windward Plains at any time, it is most often found hunting during the Sandtide inclemency, storing up lightning produced during the turbulent weather to zap foes. It is often seen preying on Ceratonoth, dispatching them with claw strikes before carrying their bodies to its nest to eat. When not hunting, Rey Dau is seen sitting upright in empty areas to catch lightning bolts, occasionally chipping off excess fulgurite from its body to make sure its flying abilities aren't hindered.
Thanks to its nearly unparalleled power, Rey Dau is feared by almost every monster in its locale, a fact taken advantage of by the people of Kunafa: by hanging up wind charms of fulgurite, they can mimic the signature tinkling produced by a Rey Dau's wing armour, scaring away monsters. The Kunafans revere and fear Rey Dau for its unparalleled power, naming it "Destruction's Knell" for the chime of its fulgurite crystals, which forebode the approach of this powerful monster.
Habitat[]
As the apex predator of the Windward Plains, Rey Dau has only been sighted there. It often frequents the sandier parts of the locale, mostly lurking near the fulgurite structures created by the lightning. It nests in a hollow just beyond the WInd's Gasp, filled with crackling fulgurite crystals which it recharges on. However, seeing as Rey Dau aren't present there often outside of the Inclemency, it's unknown where they spend most of their time.
Trivia[]
- Before the official reveal of its name, Rey Dau was nicknamed "Thor Magala" by the Western fan community, a term seemingly originating from Youtuber Hey Jay during a stream of the game's preview by Rurikhan. This nickname was coined thanks to Rey Dau's resemblance to Gore Magala when its horns are closed and has been acknowledged by Capcom.
- At 25.7m long at maximum, Rey Dau is the largest flight capable Flying Wyvern in the series, only exceeded in wingspan by the Bazelgeuse.
- Rey Dau seems to take heavy inspiration from the Godzilla kaiju King Ghidorah, with both possessing golden scales, distorted vocal effects and powers over electricity.
- Furthermore, Rey Dau's name is composed of two words: Rey, which is Spanish for "king", and Dau, which is derived from the Vietnamese word dâu which can mean "leader", both words emphasising its title as apex. However, as dâu frequently refers to the head of a person, it's unlikely that this is the actual origin of Rey Dau's name.
- Rey Dau's name may be a transliteration of the Mandarin characters 雷导 (leí daù), which when translated to English roughly means "thunder conductor", fitting of its adaptations as a living lightning rod.
- According to developer interviews, designers for Monster Hunter Wilds found Rey Dau so cool they mistakenly believed it was to be the game's flagship monster until Arkveld was revealed. Such a sentiment was also shared with most of the community.
- As revealed by some sneak peaks, the main sounds for Rey Dau's vocal effects were created using a customised flute-like tube, oversized whistle and rubber glove, with said sounds being mixed with animal noises and electronically modified into their current states.
- Rey Dau is the only apex monster of the Forbidden Lands to be a Flying Wyvern. It is also the only Apex monster weak to more than one element, being weak to Ice and Water.
- The weapons in Rey Dau's set are named after various weather gods and words associated with lightning:
- The suffix for its longsword, Tonitrus, is Latin for thunder.
- The suffix for its charge blade, Astrapi, is Greek for lightning.
- The suffix for its hunting horn, Perun, is the name of a Slavic thunder god, meaning lightning in addition.
- The suffix for its insect glaive, Halilintar, is Indonesian for lightning.
- The suffix for its sword and shield, Kuara, is the name of a Turkic thunder god.
- The suffix for its lance, Indra, is the name of the Hindu weather god.
- The suffix for its bow, Perkonis, is the name of a Baltic thunder god.
- The suffix for its light bowgun, Szelatya, is the name of a Turkic wind god.
- As of the Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 1 trailer, Rey Dau is the only non-Elder Dragon that will receive an Arch-Tempered form, though it's safe to assume the other Apex monsters will receive one as well.
- Like the other Apex monsters of Monster Hunter Wilds, Rey Dau seems to be a spiritual successor to a member of Monster Hunter Generation's Fateful Four, its being Astalos.
- Rey Dau seems to be designed as a rival to Arkveld, seeing as both of the cutscenes that it appears in involve it fighting Arkveld in its nest.
