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You have my respect for the effort you put with the research. I was especially intrigued when you mention the honey badgers status with most people as the IDGAF" animal, despite you mentioning its poor eyesight, which could cause surprise encounters, If I am correct.
"Ukanlos! The map is on fire!" "No Akantor, it's just the Northern Lights." The more I look at Ukanlos, the more I realize that this is a good benchmark on what Shimo from GxK SHOULD have been. It sells the idea of this incredibly hardy, ancient looking ice monster a lot better and is frankly just much cooler looking (no pun intended).
Birds: flying reptiles Penguin and Ostrich: flightless bird, but still birds Flying wyverns: reptiles that fly Ukanlos and Akantor: flightless flying wyvern, but still flying wyverns
I wonder what interesting front limb traits the god wyverns still have as remnants of the days they were more akin to I presume wing drakes in shape and size. Even in the foot wyverns barioth still flies. Narga can glide and there is enough wingspan to presume it can at least extended glides if the enviroment allows it. Tigrex can do a poorly controlled dive, and if they have more apropiate proportions to the body when young may still glide or fly.
For me, Akantor and Ukanlos are a bridge between true flying wyverns and fanged wyverns. In other words, creatures like Zinogre descended from something akin to Akantor (though likely a lot smaller).
Considering that ukanlos reveals blue fat when its tail is severed, I would be surprised if fat was distributed more throughout the rest of the body, especially in the dorsal half of the body and especially closer to the hump. The fact that it’s also blue could say something about its diet, whether it’s something like silver (or cause it’s monster hunter, maybe some other metal). Maybe biliverdin is prevalent, and maybe either ukanlos is eating a ton of fish or it’s eating a ton of things that eat a ton of fish, and said things eaten by ukanlos might also have blue fat cause of it.
Blue is such an odd color... Two possibilities: 1) They eat something that has a blue, fat-soluble compound in its tissues. Possibly a kind of hemacyanin? That would def line up with the marine diet since hemacyanin is better than hemoglobin at low O2 conc. and low temps! 2) The color is from Rayleigh Scattering (like the sky). This means it's actually clear, near pure fat, with small bits of _stuff_ evenly distributed throughout it. Could be refraction from the cells themselves kind of like how our veins look blue through our skin. Spelling edit
@@isaacthedestroyerofstuped7676 tbh I like these more than my guesses and it would be cool if capcom used something like these two to explain the blue fat.
Something of note is that A LOT of Monsters (especially the larger ones) develop shells made up of layers of minerals, Akantor included. Makes you wonder what triggered this kind of ecological shift. Also, it's interesting how Ukanlos and Akantor offer a snippet into the MH world's prehistory, as they're a remnant of an ancient time before Flying Wyverns developed proper wing membranes.
Bit surprised Akantor's roar didn't get any special mention, but I guess it'd ultimately come down to the same general theories given for Tigrex/Brute's roar anyways. To me these two are absolute perfect candidates for title update monsters. Kulve already feels at least adjacent to them. I think they can absolutely be fit to fulfill similar hype and update role that Alatreon had.
Given the emphasis on Wilds not having Elder dragons be the focus from the devs; Ukanlos and Akantor would be the perfect monsters as a title update, maybe even the last title update for Base Wilds.
Would also be a chance to add Odibatorasu, whitch is highly related to them (It's a frontier monster) And with a bunch of attacks that move sand they could probably go crazy if they added it nowadays
I know you didn’t mention it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the titanic roars of Ukanlos and especially Akantor were primarily used as communication methods. Considering their environments have enormously loud ambient noises like crashing glaciers and avalanches and literal erupting volcanoes, it’d make sense that the two God Wyverns developed these roars as a way to both mark their territories and call out to mates. Considering the assumed scarcity of their homes(although in the MH world they might not be near as empty as one might guess), it’d make sense that their roars would be loud enough to both travel extreme distances and be heard over environmental conditions. Plus, a loud roar would be a great way for the species to ward off others of their own kind, as I imagine combat with power and weapons like theirs would be especially dangerous and costly. Also also, maybe Akantor uses its roars like mega sonic bombs to unearth hiding or buried prey like Basarios? Bit more of stretch on that one, but piscine wyverns have been shown to be especially susceptible to loud noises, and Lavasioth are a pretty sizable animal. Even though I’ve no doubt a Lavasioth could outswim the Black God, an Akantor could possibly ambush the hot fish from afar or below with its roar, then seize the disoriented piscine for a hearty meal.
Hey UHC, I just wanted to say that you're the guy who's getting me into Monster Hunter. I'm not too huge on jrpg's in general but if it weren't for you I'd have never realized how differently MH treats its monsters :)
Dude got me into Monster Hunter too. I had played through some of World with a friend, but I got bored of it and stopped. After watching Unnatural History Channel for a bit I wanted to try the game again, and a fews years later it's my favorite game series. These videos are also what I like to refer to as "putting the pill in the peanut butter," (like what you've gotta do to give dogs their meds) bc they're certainly a good way to trick me into learning some actually interesting stuff (which works even better for me specifically since I love natural history).
As someone that has been playing for years I am gonna give you a bit of wisdom “Every gamer loves Monster Hunter, they just haven’t really tried the right weapon yet”
Holy Hell an Akantor/Ukanlos video- my day is saved. Always loved the example of flightless Flying Wyverns that they are- rather reminds me of the terror birds of old, with their extraordinarily shrunken wings, or the arms of something like Carnotaurus vs its older ancestors in the Jurassic period. A structure seemingly vital to the creature’s existence that’s simply been evolved away out of disuse. It’s an honestly fascinating concept, and it’s just wonderful to see. That, and the monsters themselves are truly exceptional. In terms of atmosphere very few monsters have them beat, and in terms of in-universe mythology the vibe of “the Black and White Gods” has always eclipsed things like the regenerating Fatalis armor for me. Ukanlos has excellent music, too, and Akantor’s moveset with the Tigrex-esque roar is wonderful. Shame they haven’t returned in so long, but maybe soon! Who knows?
Ive always thought the same with Akantors pin. As massive as it is, it truly seems to hold back instead of flat out (pun intended) crushing you. It makes me wish that they'd done more to express Akantors intelligence because as is it almost seems out of place.
These two symbolize monster hunter’s split design chooses Ukanlos is relatively straight forward and makes sense especially in its fight Akantor is spikes on spikes everywhere and really need to think about why spiky
Going off of all the creatures that live and visit the Elder's Recess, I personally find it hard to believe that they live there. The elder dragons are all too nimble and mobile for Akantor to relatively catch, the previously stated Uragaan could easily roll away, I don't imagine Dodogama being big enough or nutritious enough for Akantor, Bazelgeuse could just not bother, and the raths that either roost or migrate there are either too nimble or just roost in Nergigante's den. That leaves Brachydios, Lavasioth, a Deviljho on a lucky day, and maybe whatever Gastodon is caught sleeping near its pools. Personally I think it's too little for something as big as Akantor but I'm not as versed in this as others.
I still think it's really funny that these two are flightless, but still considered flying wyverns. In the same way it's funny that a snow leopard is a big cat, but a mountain lion isn't.
An excellent episode! I do wish you had talked more about their potential evolution like you did with Brachydios though, as how these formerly classified as elder dragon flying wyverns became huge behemoths in a rare case of proper taxonomy from the guild I think is the most fascinating aspect about them! I want to know theories of how these formerly volant animals became about as far as volant as possible; are they related to the other psuedowyverns like Tigrex? Did they lose their flight independently? What pressures encouraged them to abandon the sky in favor of the land and sea?
2:19 at their sheer size, physical conflict of any sort is exceedingly dangerous, so there's certainly significant pressure to avoid killing eachother. this might've even been the origin of the tusks, avoiding lethal conflict, as not doing so would result in plenty of dead mates and serious lethal risk for the winner of such conflicts.
Excellent video! I think the flightlessness of Akantor and Ukanlos can potentially show more about the evolution of flight in the greater wyren family. My theory is that all wyrens descended from a Jagras like animal. One remained on the ground as a quadruped and gave rise to the fanged wyrens/snake wyrens/reptilian herbivores. Another developed bipedalism and became the brute wyrens and the raptorial bird wyrens. Then the final one was an arboreal hunter that developed flight and led to the wing drakes, voluant bird wyrens, flying wyrens, and piscine wyrens. As in our world, flight likely developed from gliding to powered flight. The wing flaps of Akantor and Ukanlos - which are non-functional at their size- match Tobi-Kadachi’s, who is an arboreal wyren that glides extensively. Tobi, Akantor, and Ukanlos are likely the survivors of this transitional group between the quadrupedal and voulant wyrens that persisted into modern times, and thus are phylogenetically in between these two classes of wyren!
I feel like Arkveld has some similarities to (and could be related to) the wyvern gods, the arm structures of all three of them appear to be modified wings (you can see stubs on the wyvern gods at where their wings would be) and tusks on their chins. Although with Arkveld, his wings are the more pronounced features while his tusks are a lot smaller.
It's stated that Arkveld was previously thought to be extinct, and we already know that the god wyverns are secondarily flightless. With both these facts in mind, it's possible that Arkveld is a much more basal member of that same group, maybe the species is even a direct ancestor to the god wyverns.
Akantor and Ukanlos actually split off before Wyvern Rex was a thing, meaning they never actually had wings (and arguably should be their own unique Wyvern class because Wyvern Rex was the first Flying Wyvern, though it wasn't a great flyer either)
@@kingofflames738Well in game mechanic wise, Ukanlos and Akantor used pseudowyvern stance/movesets (the sets for the likes of Tigrex, Nargacuga and Barioth). Those stance/movesets are derived from the standard flying wyvern (which also why those are under flying wyvern even if it cannot fly) such as Rathalos. But then again, some standard flying wyverns used pseudowyvern sets or part of it (for example Raths, Astalos and Rey Dhau). The in game mechanic and classification is kinda confusing tbh. For example, Gore Magala was officially classified as an elder dragon following MH4 with the official encyclopedia. Yet it was still classified as unknown/??? in Sunbreak and G/GU. Idk if it means that timeline wise 4/4U, G/GU and Sunbreak occurred on the same time frame, so the information of Gore Magala wasn't widespread enough, or it was withheld by the authority like Fatalis. But then again, technically, so far Gore Magala is the only official elder dragon that you can capture in game lol.
I really missed out with the God Wyvern fights. Born too late ig. Anyways, I love the theories about Ukanlos being an arctic ocean dweller and Akantor's spikes being an anti-Dalamadur deterrent!
You really nailed the description of Akantor's pin attack. I still remember my first Akantor/Ukanlos hunts, back in MH4U. Akantor occurred at the end of the Cowardly Palico's little questline, so you can bet we were definitely motivated by a "this is for Whitescruff!" And then Ukanlos was the entry test into G-rank. After spending 40-ish minutes to solo Dalamadur, Ukanlos's relatively smaller size was a refreshing break.
i remember in one of the akantor quests description in freedom unite it mentioned an army was fighting it and managed to back it into the volcano area i think a bunch of other npcs helping you fight it as their numbers slowly dwindle leaving you as the last one would be cool
I just find it funny that Ukanlos arguably fights more like a Piscine Wyvern than it does a Flying Wyvern. Goodness, its signature attack is it doing a subterranean driveby.
I always thought the roamer bit just meant that it roamed throughout the volcanic regions, wreaking havoc wherever it went. It may also be that it roams from volcanic zone to volcanic zone underground, presumably in the tunnels made by its only predator, or in the otherwise seemingly inexplicably massive cave systems that seem to cover vast swathes of the world. It also occurs to me that the pokke language may well be a far broader thing, and it just got its name in the common tongue by pokke village just happening to be the first place they encountered that spoke the language, like how german has like 3 or 4 different names depending on which tribe your language encountered first, rather than indicating that people from pokke village specifically encountered it and have a word for it. I'm still waiting on my arctic volcano map capcom, we've had volcano bordering woodlands, give me a glacier field pushing into a volcanic field.
I was never able to play the older games, so these epic behemoths have been a mystery to me-trying to dig up info on them is hard, so thank you for giving them more light. Have to admit too, I'd like to see these bad boys have a turf war with Nergigante, both are noted able to overwhelm Deviljho and Nergigante does too.
I hope to see you do videos of the monsters from the eastern games since many hunters I know say that certain monsters you have covered like the raptors are different then how we in the west know or more accurately what you have deduced thanks to your background as a hunter
I love the God Wyverns with Freedom Unite being my first complete MH Experience, also I do love the Red God from Frontier, Odibaterasu could be tweaked design wise and fight wise, and damn its theme is such a banger
@@Tacos_Sauce_Zea Combine that with the fact that the god wyverns are very derived and Arkveld is said to be extinct and there may be something going on there. Maybe all three represent a very basal family within the flying wyverns?
The Akantor ecology video from the old games is so sick. I also love Akantors design. It's edgy and ridiculous and ultra cool. The red glow between the armor plates is just fancy. The armor and weapons were also super cool, even if they didn't seem too useful.
I would've died if you started the sponsor segment by talking about how the locations of akantor and ukalnos are classified by the guild. By saying something like " today's sponsor also knows a good deal about leaking classified documents, Warthunder!"
Tobi-Kadachi! Love that my favorite squirrel snake gets some time in the spotlight. Excellent video as always, UHC. Easiest Patreon pledge decision I've ever made. I listen to your videos when I go to bed literally every night. You do fine work, and I love every bit of it. Looking forward to the next one! 😁
Hope you do Tobi-kadachi soon. Also, in your bird wyvern vid with kula-ya-ku, gyppceros, etc, you mentioned brute wyverns as below average in intelligence. While I am a novice in terms of MH wyverns as my first game was world, I am curious if Anjanath would be an exception, as I'm not sure if tyrannosaurus was dumb despite its meat-head like stature, especially with the articles I have seen about it. LOVE YOUR VIDS!
An interesting note about Akantor is that they're migratory and sometimes travel even to the poles. That's also why the possibility of them clashing is even eluded to, because an Akantor could potentially migrate into Ukanlos territory.
Awesome video as always, definitely been waiting on this one. I’ve also always had a made up theory on what if Akantor & Ukanlos were the same species but sexually dimorphic like rathalos & rathian. Or if they were not supposed to meet due to being able to hybridize, what traits would the offspring have from each parent and what biomes would it be able to adapt in? Sort of like how you can crossbreed alligator snapping turtles with common snapping turtles and they have both traits.
I've beaten all the village quests in MHFU. For me, Akantor was the second hardest fight, after one-horned Diablos. Yes, harder than the Rajang duo. I'd love to see either again!
if there are monsters I want for wilds, I want Akantor and Ukanlos, the size of the maps would play very well to their size plus to finally see them in the series current HD art style
If we’re going of similarities, Akantors tusks could be used to break more solidified lava to create a pathway. Also surprised you didn’t mention the “red god” although the same cannon of the frontier version is very much not ecological, the concept version of basically a desert ukanlos could’ve been worth a mention. Still a great video altogether
Also did you mention akantors roar? that sonic scream even gives new world brute tigrex a run for its money, but that's probably because they have massive lungs for their size.
Now I got 2 fun thoughts in my head. First one is a hunter calling in a a10 gun run On a monster and the second one Is shovel chin prancing around like Bambi I am deeply grateful for these thoughts now.
I'm praying there's an arctic/polar area in wilds where Ganmoth/Ukanlos show up. Similarly hoping the Volcanic area has enough space for Akantor. The huge open zones of Wilds seem prime for the titans to come back.
now i understand WHY they are Flying Wyverns, but they seem very fanged wyvern like to me are they just lacking the mammal like traits for that to count?
Yup. They do not give live birth or nurse their youngs like any other fanged wyvern like zinogre for example. If they have milk glands or something similiar they would have considering to be fanged wyvern.
@Leyva0scarVRL yeah I get it, they are using the Tigrex Skeleton and all, but I said fanged WYVERN, which is basically the quadrupled monsters, I just notice they tend to have mammal like traits is all, unlike fanged beasts which are just flat out mammals
Technically they should be their own unique classification of Wyvern. Ancient Wyvern or something similar. They split off before Wyvern Rex came about and Wyvern Rex is the first flying wyvern. Since they never descended from Flying Wyverns they should be their own thing. Or Wyvern Rex isn't the oldest flying wyvern anymore and instead whatever its and Akan/Ukan's common ancestor is is the first flying wyvern.
Another great video, admittedly never been a huge fan of these two, especially Akantor. I do think they feel underwhelming and would need major updates for modern MH, although I don't think making them faster would fit the vibe both give. Rather I think leaning into area interactions and letting them use their whole body for fighting rather than primarily focusing on their heads. Ecology wise I really love Ukanlos and everything theorized about it, especially with its potential ties to oceanic life. Akantor always felt underwhelming, and I am left wondering what else its supposed to hunt besides adult gravios and uragaan. Are there enough adults of these large armored wyverns to sustain a population? I don't see akantor being notable predators of things like agnaktor or magma almudron, maybe Ceanataurs and Rakna-kadaki?
Ho boy, can't wait to see how you handle these guys. Right off the bat, Akantor's tusks being blunt makes a lot of sense. Its melee weapons have very high raw and affinity, but terrible sharpness, usually requiring the Sharpness + skill to get to green, let alone blue. Meanwhile, its armor set is devoted to getting around the pitfalls of bad sharpness - increased overall damage, preventing deflection, and the like.
I always had so much trouble with Ukanlos in 4U as a glaive main. I could solo Akantor three times in the time one Ukanlos attempt would take. I love Ukanlos as a result. Most brutal slog I ever dealt with. Legitimately was harder than Fatalis for me to beat consistently.
Huh I always thought Akantor tusks where used to punch through the shells of Gravious and uragaan and the video where he kills a Gravious is just made that way to not be to bloody, but also being used for interspecies combat works
Honestly I prefer ukanlos over akantor,he feels a lot more out together and streamlined where and Akan just feels like "ok now add more spikes" Also we finally getting a tobi video
the only issue i see with ukanlos' and akantor's skeletons are that they should have a large hump at the shoulder spine for those crazy neck muscles to attach to
You mentioned that Ukanlos was originally meant to use features of Dunkleosteus and whales... is it possible that this monster was the product of a concept that would later become Ceadeus?
Play War Thunder now with my links, and get a massive, free bonus pack including vehicles, boosters and more on PC and consoles: playwt.link/unnaturalhistorychannel | Mobile: wtm.game/unnaturalhistorychannel
You have my respect for the effort you put with the research. I was especially intrigued when you mention the honey badgers status with most people as the IDGAF" animal, despite you mentioning its poor eyesight, which could cause surprise encounters, If I am correct.
i'm happy that you're getting sponsorship. Do you have a community like discord or something where i can see your thoughts on stuff like wilds?
Idk if you’ve talked about it but what do you think a razewing rathalos is? Like what could possibly cause it?
"Aurora borealis localized entirely within his map" hit me like a truck when you said it.
for real, UHC has such a dry way of saying things that when he slips in a joke or reference it hits just that much more 😂
@@youremeraldstar My favorite one in this video was the ad read transition joke about War Thunder players leaking classified documents.
Like a firetruck?
Nothing beats the video with the "31573837 secrets you didn't notice in the new MHWilds trailer". I watched on repeat for 2 days
Ukanlos: "I also can steam a good ham!"
Akantor: "And he calls them that dispite the fact that they are obviously grilled."
"Ukanlos! The map is on fire!"
"No Akantor, it's just the Northern Lights."
The more I look at Ukanlos, the more I realize that this is a good benchmark on what Shimo from GxK SHOULD have been. It sells the idea of this incredibly hardy, ancient looking ice monster a lot better and is frankly just much cooler looking (no pun intended).
All the fan made designs for her are much better.
@@Oinker-Sploinker This is true.
LMAO the war thunder community sharing the classified guild information on ukanlos whereabouts was a genius transition. your jokes are SOOO GOOD
Akantor and Ukanlos are gonna get doxxed
Birds: flying reptiles
Penguin and Ostrich: flightless bird, but still birds
Flying wyverns: reptiles that fly
Ukanlos and Akantor: flightless flying wyvern, but still flying wyverns
i saw it like how whales and hippos are related but change wings for feet to better fit the comparison
They just got serious verticals.
_"You can't evolve out of a clade~'_
I wonder what interesting front limb traits the god wyverns still have as remnants of the days they were more akin to I presume wing drakes in shape and size.
Even in the foot wyverns barioth still flies. Narga can glide and there is enough wingspan to presume it can at least extended glides if the enviroment allows it. Tigrex can do a poorly controlled dive, and if they have more apropiate proportions to the body when young may still glide or fly.
For me, Akantor and Ukanlos are a bridge between true flying wyverns and fanged wyverns.
In other words, creatures like Zinogre descended from something akin to Akantor (though likely a lot smaller).
Considering that ukanlos reveals blue fat when its tail is severed, I would be surprised if fat was distributed more throughout the rest of the body, especially in the dorsal half of the body and especially closer to the hump. The fact that it’s also blue could say something about its diet, whether it’s something like silver (or cause it’s monster hunter, maybe some other metal). Maybe biliverdin is prevalent, and maybe either ukanlos is eating a ton of fish or it’s eating a ton of things that eat a ton of fish, and said things eaten by ukanlos might also have blue fat cause of it.
Blue is such an odd color...
Two possibilities:
1) They eat something that has a blue, fat-soluble compound in its tissues. Possibly a kind of hemacyanin? That would def line up with the marine diet since hemacyanin is better than hemoglobin at low O2 conc. and low temps!
2) The color is from Rayleigh Scattering (like the sky). This means it's actually clear, near pure fat, with small bits of _stuff_ evenly distributed throughout it. Could be refraction from the cells themselves kind of like how our veins look blue through our skin.
Spelling edit
To clarify, I *wouldn’t* be surprised is more fat was distributed throughout the body. I forgot to change that lol.
@@isaacthedestroyerofstuped7676 tbh I like these more than my guesses and it would be cool if capcom used something like these two to explain the blue fat.
@@jafartext8229 Same honestly
The lingcod is a coldwater fish that has vibrant blue flesh on occasion
Something of note is that A LOT of Monsters (especially the larger ones) develop shells made up of layers of minerals, Akantor included. Makes you wonder what triggered this kind of ecological shift. Also, it's interesting how Ukanlos and Akantor offer a snippet into the MH world's prehistory, as they're a remnant of an ancient time before Flying Wyverns developed proper wing membranes.
The ecological shift would probably have something to do with crazy dudes with hammers beating them to a pulp.
@@Oinker-SploinkerThe evolutionary pressure that is affinity sliding hammer spin.
@@Oinker-SploinkerThe evolutionary pressure that is affinity sliding hammer spin.
Bit surprised Akantor's roar didn't get any special mention, but I guess it'd ultimately come down to the same general theories given for Tigrex/Brute's roar anyways.
To me these two are absolute perfect candidates for title update monsters. Kulve already feels at least adjacent to them. I think they can absolutely be fit to fulfill similar hype and update role that Alatreon had.
Given the emphasis on Wilds not having Elder dragons be the focus from the devs; Ukanlos and Akantor would be the perfect monsters as a title update, maybe even the last title update for Base Wilds.
Would also be a chance to add Odibatorasu, whitch is highly related to them (It's a frontier monster) And with a bunch of attacks that move sand they could probably go crazy if they added it nowadays
I know you didn’t mention it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the titanic roars of Ukanlos and especially Akantor were primarily used as communication methods. Considering their environments have enormously loud ambient noises like crashing glaciers and avalanches and literal erupting volcanoes, it’d make sense that the two God Wyverns developed these roars as a way to both mark their territories and call out to mates.
Considering the assumed scarcity of their homes(although in the MH world they might not be near as empty as one might guess), it’d make sense that their roars would be loud enough to both travel extreme distances and be heard over environmental conditions. Plus, a loud roar would be a great way for the species to ward off others of their own kind, as I imagine combat with power and weapons like theirs would be especially dangerous and costly.
Also also, maybe Akantor uses its roars like mega sonic bombs to unearth hiding or buried prey like Basarios? Bit more of stretch on that one, but piscine wyverns have been shown to be especially susceptible to loud noises, and Lavasioth are a pretty sizable animal. Even though I’ve no doubt a Lavasioth could outswim the Black God, an Akantor could possibly ambush the hot fish from afar or below with its roar, then seize the disoriented piscine for a hearty meal.
21:40 May I see it?
…No
@@unnaturalhistorychannel -Capcom deciding not to localize P3rd
Hey UHC, I just wanted to say that you're the guy who's getting me into Monster Hunter. I'm not too huge on jrpg's in general but if it weren't for you I'd have never realized how differently MH treats its monsters :)
Dude got me into Monster Hunter too. I had played through some of World with a friend, but I got bored of it and stopped. After watching Unnatural History Channel for a bit I wanted to try the game again, and a fews years later it's my favorite game series. These videos are also what I like to refer to as "putting the pill in the peanut butter," (like what you've gotta do to give dogs their meds) bc they're certainly a good way to trick me into learning some actually interesting stuff (which works even better for me specifically since I love natural history).
As someone that has been playing for years I am gonna give you a bit of wisdom
“Every gamer loves Monster Hunter, they just haven’t really tried the right weapon yet”
Ugh, fake fan..
Nah I'm joking fam, welcome to the family. We're always happy to have new Hunters!
I must admit to being baffled at calling MonHun a JRPG.
Monster Hunter isn't a jrpg. It's an action game
Holy Hell an Akantor/Ukanlos video- my day is saved.
Always loved the example of flightless Flying Wyverns that they are- rather reminds me of the terror birds of old, with their extraordinarily shrunken wings, or the arms of something like Carnotaurus vs its older ancestors in the Jurassic period. A structure seemingly vital to the creature’s existence that’s simply been evolved away out of disuse. It’s an honestly fascinating concept, and it’s just wonderful to see.
That, and the monsters themselves are truly exceptional. In terms of atmosphere very few monsters have them beat, and in terms of in-universe mythology the vibe of “the Black and White Gods” has always eclipsed things like the regenerating Fatalis armor for me. Ukanlos has excellent music, too, and Akantor’s moveset with the Tigrex-esque roar is wonderful.
Shame they haven’t returned in so long, but maybe soon! Who knows?
Ive always thought the same with Akantors pin. As massive as it is, it truly seems to hold back instead of flat out (pun intended) crushing you. It makes me wish that they'd done more to express Akantors intelligence because as is it almost seems out of place.
These two symbolize monster hunter’s split design chooses Ukanlos is relatively straight forward and makes sense especially in its fight
Akantor is spikes on spikes everywhere and really need to think about why spiky
He spiky because he want to flex on the gravios defense
Yo, I was just watching some of the old videos and this popped up like absolute serendipity.
Going off of all the creatures that live and visit the Elder's Recess, I personally find it hard to believe that they live there. The elder dragons are all too nimble and mobile for Akantor to relatively catch, the previously stated Uragaan could easily roll away, I don't imagine Dodogama being big enough or nutritious enough for Akantor, Bazelgeuse could just not bother, and the raths that either roost or migrate there are either too nimble or just roost in Nergigante's den. That leaves Brachydios, Lavasioth, a Deviljho on a lucky day, and maybe whatever Gastodon is caught sleeping near its pools. Personally I think it's too little for something as big as Akantor but I'm not as versed in this as others.
I still think it's really funny that these two are flightless, but still considered flying wyverns. In the same way it's funny that a snow leopard is a big cat, but a mountain lion isn't.
I think it is more similiar how a kiwi is considering to be a bird. Just a flightless bird. How these guys are just massive flightless flying wyvern
An excellent episode! I do wish you had talked more about their potential evolution like you did with Brachydios though, as how these formerly classified as elder dragon flying wyverns became huge behemoths in a rare case of proper taxonomy from the guild I think is the most fascinating aspect about them! I want to know theories of how these formerly volant animals became about as far as volant as possible; are they related to the other psuedowyverns like Tigrex? Did they lose their flight independently? What pressures encouraged them to abandon the sky in favor of the land and sea?
They actually diverged much earlier than even the most archaic Tigrex and probably sister taxa to Wyvern Rex and the rest of Flying Wyverns as a whole
Imagine flying wyvern having wings!? Ridiculous...
only slightly related. the first time i played MHGU (after world and rise) i saw a tigrex fly away into the air for the first time. i screamed
TOBI ON THE WAY :D
THANK YOU PATREONS!!
2:19
at their sheer size, physical conflict of any sort is exceedingly dangerous, so there's certainly significant pressure to avoid killing eachother.
this might've even been the origin of the tusks, avoiding lethal conflict, as not doing so would result in plenty of dead mates and serious lethal risk for the winner of such conflicts.
Last time I was this early they were still considered Elder Dragons
Excellent video! I think the flightlessness of Akantor and Ukanlos can potentially show more about the evolution of flight in the greater wyren family.
My theory is that all wyrens descended from a Jagras like animal. One remained on the ground as a quadruped and gave rise to the fanged wyrens/snake wyrens/reptilian herbivores. Another developed bipedalism and became the brute wyrens and the raptorial bird wyrens. Then the final one was an arboreal hunter that developed flight and led to the wing drakes, voluant bird wyrens, flying wyrens, and piscine wyrens.
As in our world, flight likely developed from gliding to powered flight. The wing flaps of Akantor and Ukanlos - which are non-functional at their size- match Tobi-Kadachi’s, who is an arboreal wyren that glides extensively.
Tobi, Akantor, and Ukanlos are likely the survivors of this transitional group between the quadrupedal and voulant wyrens that persisted into modern times, and thus are phylogenetically in between these two classes of wyren!
I have been waiting for this video ever since you praised Akantor, I know it's going to be great.
I feel like Arkveld has some similarities to (and could be related to) the wyvern gods, the arm structures of all three of them appear to be modified wings (you can see stubs on the wyvern gods at where their wings would be) and tusks on their chins. Although with Arkveld, his wings are the more pronounced features while his tusks are a lot smaller.
It's stated that Arkveld was previously thought to be extinct, and we already know that the god wyverns are secondarily flightless. With both these facts in mind, it's possible that Arkveld is a much more basal member of that same group, maybe the species is even a direct ancestor to the god wyverns.
Akantor and Ukanlos actually split off before Wyvern Rex was a thing, meaning they never actually had wings (and arguably should be their own unique Wyvern class because Wyvern Rex was the first Flying Wyvern, though it wasn't a great flyer either)
@@kingofflames738Well in game mechanic wise, Ukanlos and Akantor used pseudowyvern stance/movesets (the sets for the likes of Tigrex, Nargacuga and Barioth). Those stance/movesets are derived from the standard flying wyvern (which also why those are under flying wyvern even if it cannot fly) such as Rathalos. But then again, some standard flying wyverns used pseudowyvern sets or part of it (for example Raths, Astalos and Rey Dhau).
The in game mechanic and classification is kinda confusing tbh. For example, Gore Magala was officially classified as an elder dragon following MH4 with the official encyclopedia. Yet it was still classified as unknown/??? in Sunbreak and G/GU. Idk if it means that timeline wise 4/4U, G/GU and Sunbreak occurred on the same time frame, so the information of Gore Magala wasn't widespread enough, or it was withheld by the authority like Fatalis.
But then again, technically, so far Gore Magala is the only official elder dragon that you can capture in game lol.
Id like to take the time this thanksgiving to give thanks for the UHC videos this year.
I really missed out with the God Wyvern fights. Born too late ig.
Anyways, I love the theories about Ukanlos being an arctic ocean dweller and Akantor's spikes being an anti-Dalamadur deterrent!
You really nailed the description of Akantor's pin attack.
I still remember my first Akantor/Ukanlos hunts, back in MH4U.
Akantor occurred at the end of the Cowardly Palico's little questline, so you can bet we were definitely motivated by a "this is for Whitescruff!"
And then Ukanlos was the entry test into G-rank. After spending 40-ish minutes to solo Dalamadur, Ukanlos's relatively smaller size was a refreshing break.
0:40 oh. That's a rathalos profile.
I love your content god only hope we get a monster hunter snap that plays you as the biologists analzling the monsters without violence.
I'm not even skipping the War Thunder sponsor now, the joke leading up to it was too perfect for me to do that.
i remember in one of the akantor quests description in freedom unite it mentioned an army was fighting it and managed to back it into the volcano area
i think a bunch of other npcs helping you fight it as their numbers slowly dwindle leaving you as the last one would be cool
I just find it funny that Ukanlos arguably fights more like a Piscine Wyvern than it does a Flying Wyvern. Goodness, its signature attack is it doing a subterranean driveby.
I always thought the roamer bit just meant that it roamed throughout the volcanic regions, wreaking havoc wherever it went. It may also be that it roams from volcanic zone to volcanic zone underground, presumably in the tunnels made by its only predator, or in the otherwise seemingly inexplicably massive cave systems that seem to cover vast swathes of the world. It also occurs to me that the pokke language may well be a far broader thing, and it just got its name in the common tongue by pokke village just happening to be the first place they encountered that spoke the language, like how german has like 3 or 4 different names depending on which tribe your language encountered first, rather than indicating that people from pokke village specifically encountered it and have a word for it.
I'm still waiting on my arctic volcano map capcom, we've had volcano bordering woodlands, give me a glacier field pushing into a volcanic field.
I was never able to play the older games, so these epic behemoths have been a mystery to me-trying to dig up info on them is hard, so thank you for giving them more light.
Have to admit too, I'd like to see these bad boys have a turf war with Nergigante, both are noted able to overwhelm Deviljho and Nergigante does too.
The episode of Peak Wyvern Power is sponsored by the Peak Military Espionage. Truly a wondrous day.
I hope to see you do videos of the monsters from the eastern games since many hunters I know say that certain monsters you have covered like the raptors are different then how we in the west know or more accurately what you have deduced thanks to your background as a hunter
I love the God Wyverns with Freedom Unite being my first complete MH Experience, also I do love the Red God from Frontier, Odibaterasu could be tweaked design wise and fight wise, and damn its theme is such a banger
just occured to me that Arkveld has some very similar features to those two, there may be something there
@@Tacos_Sauce_Zea Combine that with the fact that the god wyverns are very derived and Arkveld is said to be extinct and there may be something going on there. Maybe all three represent a very basal family within the flying wyverns?
The Akantor ecology video from the old games is so sick. I also love Akantors design. It's edgy and ridiculous and ultra cool. The red glow between the armor plates is just fancy. The armor and weapons were also super cool, even if they didn't seem too useful.
I make videos on spec evo and I always take notes on your vids😭
Eyyy I love your work on realistic kaiju
The mountain god gammoth looking from the side hoping Ukanlos wont eat it
Your parts in CR volcanic‘s poll project where genuinely amazing! I loved all three of your entries.
how dare you put the idea of a large monster sized japanese spider crab in my mind. i would CRY
it exists and its name is shen gaoren
I'm really glad you take the time to make these. It genuinely brings me joy and gets me hyped about ecology again.
I would've died if you started the sponsor segment by talking about how the locations of akantor and ukalnos are classified by the guild. By saying something like " today's sponsor also knows a good deal about leaking classified documents, Warthunder!"
Congrats on sponsor, you deserve the success!
Tobi-Kadachi! Love that my favorite squirrel snake gets some time in the spotlight. Excellent video as always, UHC. Easiest Patreon pledge decision I've ever made. I listen to your videos when I go to bed literally every night. You do fine work, and I love every bit of it.
Looking forward to the next one! 😁
Lava monsters that are somehow flying wyverns.
the king has posted
I'm pretty sure there are loads of monsters that have the last thought on how a tiny monkey with a stick could beat it.
Ok that war thunder segue is incredible
I'd love to see these two brought back as title updates for Wilds, maybe even add a water and electric pair to have one for each locale
Totally love this episode! My (and our) favourite god wyvern!!!!
Hope you do Tobi-kadachi soon. Also, in your bird wyvern vid with kula-ya-ku, gyppceros, etc, you mentioned brute wyverns as below average in intelligence. While I am a novice in terms of MH wyverns as my first game was world, I am curious if Anjanath would be an exception, as I'm not sure if tyrannosaurus was dumb despite its meat-head like stature, especially with the articles I have seen about it. LOVE YOUR VIDS!
An interesting note about Akantor is that they're migratory and sometimes travel even to the poles. That's also why the possibility of them clashing is even eluded to, because an Akantor could potentially migrate into Ukanlos territory.
Awesome video as always, definitely been waiting on this one.
I’ve also always had a made up theory on what if Akantor & Ukanlos were the same species but sexually dimorphic like rathalos & rathian.
Or if they were not supposed to meet due to being able to hybridize, what traits would the offspring have from each parent and what biomes would it be able to adapt in? Sort of like how you can crossbreed alligator snapping turtles with common snapping turtles and they have both traits.
Nice to finally see a video on these 2, all I have to say though is I’m glad someone else sees ukanlos as a potentially semi aquatic animal
I've beaten all the village quests in MHFU. For me, Akantor was the second hardest fight, after one-horned Diablos. Yes, harder than the Rajang duo. I'd love to see either again!
if there are monsters I want for wilds, I want Akantor and Ukanlos, the size of the maps would play very well to their size plus to finally see them in the series current HD art style
If we’re going of similarities, Akantors tusks could be used to break more solidified lava to create a pathway. Also surprised you didn’t mention the “red god” although the same cannon of the frontier version is very much not ecological, the concept version of basically a desert ukanlos could’ve been worth a mention. Still a great video altogether
I reckon Akantor's roar is so loud because it has to cut through the ambient noises of an active volcano to be heard by conspecifics.
Might also be because they migrate and have to communicate across thousands of kilometres.
Honestly, I wouldn't mind a "Monster Hunter Snap" spin off game, where you just sneak around and observe the monsters in their naturally habitats
The Shovel and The Pick
Also did you mention akantors roar? that sonic scream even gives new world brute tigrex a run for its money, but that's probably because they have massive lungs for their size.
Now I got 2 fun thoughts in my head. First one is a hunter calling in a a10 gun run On a monster and the second one Is shovel chin prancing around like Bambi I am deeply grateful for these thoughts now.
Never fought them before.
Great video!
Ah Ukanlos. That jumpy bastard that didn't let me finish freedom unite.
I'm praying there's an arctic/polar area in wilds where Ganmoth/Ukanlos show up. Similarly hoping the Volcanic area has enough space for Akantor. The huge open zones of Wilds seem prime for the titans to come back.
The Polynya idea is so cool.
now i understand WHY they are Flying Wyverns, but they seem very fanged wyvern like to me
are they just lacking the mammal like traits for that to count?
They are flying wyverns because they are just, flightless flying wyverns and yeah, fanged beast is just for mammals
Yup. They do not give live birth or nurse their youngs like any other fanged wyvern like zinogre for example. If they have milk glands or something similiar they would have considering to be fanged wyvern.
@Leyva0scarVRL yeah I get it, they are using the Tigrex Skeleton and all, but I said fanged WYVERN, which is basically the quadrupled monsters, I just notice they tend to have mammal like traits is all, unlike fanged beasts which are just flat out mammals
Technically they should be their own unique classification of Wyvern. Ancient Wyvern or something similar. They split off before Wyvern Rex came about and Wyvern Rex is the first flying wyvern. Since they never descended from Flying Wyverns they should be their own thing. Or Wyvern Rex isn't the oldest flying wyvern anymore and instead whatever its and Akan/Ukan's common ancestor is is the first flying wyvern.
@@kingofflames738 i know people call them God Wyverns, but i think Tyrant Wyverns also work
Another great video, admittedly never been a huge fan of these two, especially Akantor. I do think they feel underwhelming and would need major updates for modern MH, although I don't think making them faster would fit the vibe both give. Rather I think leaning into area interactions and letting them use their whole body for fighting rather than primarily focusing on their heads.
Ecology wise I really love Ukanlos and everything theorized about it, especially with its potential ties to oceanic life. Akantor always felt underwhelming, and I am left wondering what else its supposed to hunt besides adult gravios and uragaan. Are there enough adults of these large armored wyverns to sustain a population? I don't see akantor being notable predators of things like agnaktor or magma almudron, maybe Ceanataurs and Rakna-kadaki?
12:47 Basilosaurus mentioned!
Ho boy, can't wait to see how you handle these guys.
Right off the bat, Akantor's tusks being blunt makes a lot of sense. Its melee weapons have very high raw and affinity, but terrible sharpness, usually requiring the Sharpness + skill to get to green, let alone blue. Meanwhile, its armor set is devoted to getting around the pitfalls of bad sharpness - increased overall damage, preventing deflection, and the like.
You got sponsored by War Thunder!!!
You're in the big leagues now.
Haven't even finished the vid yet and know it's a banger
Been waiting for this one a while.
I always had so much trouble with Ukanlos in 4U as a glaive main. I could solo Akantor three times in the time one Ukanlos attempt would take. I love Ukanlos as a result. Most brutal slog I ever dealt with. Legitimately was harder than Fatalis for me to beat consistently.
Huh I always thought Akantor tusks where used to punch through the shells of Gravious and uragaan and the video where he kills a Gravious is just made that way to not be to bloody, but also being used for interspecies combat works
That sponsor transition is CRAZY 💀
8:45, it's canon; Barioth helped Nargacuga leak Classified Government Documents
Honestly I prefer ukanlos over akantor,he feels a lot more out together and streamlined where and Akan just feels like "ok now add more spikes"
Also we finally getting a tobi video
the only issue i see with ukanlos' and akantor's skeletons are that they should have a large hump at the shoulder spine for those crazy neck muscles to attach to
What are your thoughts on the trolls from the found footage Trollhunter movie?
I'm pretty sure ukanloses first map was a frozen lake and the polar fields where just a glaiser
Flying is optional when a mountain can't stop you 😂
I was waiting for this vid to drop
I felt that warthunder joke. Lmao
Man, Warthunder fans are something, aren't they? They even leak classified stuff on Minecraft of all things.
So Akantor sumo wrestles for a mate. Cool.
I really hope to see them in wilds
8:47
...yeah theyd leak that shot
leT ME CURSE
I would love to see you try to tackle Dalamadur.
Unironically the WT community would probably find them given their track record of leaking confidential records 😂
Imma checkout War Thunder just to see when the next classified military documents get leaked onto the public forums.
Even gods must bow to the mighty Whetfish
CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY HELL YEAH
23:41 Or you can also throw Akantor into the Tainted Sea.
Flying wyvern?
as good flyer as penguin
You mentioned that Ukanlos was originally meant to use features of Dunkleosteus and whales... is it possible that this monster was the product of a concept that would later become Ceadeus?