A gameplay mechanic I wish Chameleos could have is like how Melynx will prioritise stealing Felvine from you if you have in it your inventory, it would prioritise stealing any insects in your inventory and different insects could have different effects on it or you. Bitterbugs could make it flinch from the bitterness and neutralize its poison attacks for a short time but would reintroduce the exhaustion breath attack. It biting down on Flashbugs will blind you. God Bugs would heal it and you. Thunderbugs could do small amount amount damage to it and paralyse it. But as the fight continues it could become accustomed to the taste of it and not eat it keeping the bug on its tongue. Giving its tongue a one time paralytic electrical effect.
@jasonkeith2832 a bit more like Arzuros. Pukei and Congalala's attacks change depending on what they eat in the field. If you have honey in your inventory Arzuros gets a unique pin animation on you. It takes a honey and throws you aside to eat it. Leaving it open for a good amount of time to attack it.
Surprised the poison and especially this mist wasn't covered, though I get that the mist especially is very much elder dragon weirdness, and can generally just be 'helps with camo.' For the poison though, I think there might be a possibility that it was developed, aside from anti-predator defense, to deter Kushala. Aside from how the original Elder Trio were designed to counter each other in a meta sense, I think what you said as for why Espinas has beef with Kushala could be similar for Chameleos. The wind not only disrupts and disturbs Chammy's prey, it would also mess with it's mist as well. So what might've started out as a more minor poison became amped up heavily over time to possibly deter any Kushala from settling in it's territory.
Chameleos makes me think of how the blue color in most birds is created from light refraction. Chameleos also seems more effective at disappearing when it coats an area in mist first.
Given the need for the mist in order to go fully invisible, it’s likely that it’s own camouflaging ability isn’t completely perfect, at least when it’s moving around, so the mist helps bridge that gap.
Great video as always! Actually we got confirmation in game of how Chameleos's camouflage actually works. In MH4U there was a dialogue with the Ace Gunner on Dundorma in which she tell us that Chameleos skin is passed through by a weak electric current, which bends the light around it allowing it to go invisible, like you said in your second option. Apparently, damaging the horn and the tail alters this electric current, and it's why its camouflage starts to fail when we break these parts. In the Capcom official "phylogeny", Chameleos and Namielle are listed as related taxa, so I guess it makes a bit of sense, as Namielle have also electrical abbilities and seems to play with light.
The last part is ironic as CottonDynosaur from RageGamingVideos, upon seeing Namielle for the first time (after only seeing Chammy not long before that episode) said “Is that Water Chameleos?” If a relatively new player noticed the similarities between a derpy chameleon dragon and an abyssal manta ray/squid/dragon hybrid upon their first encounter with the thing; it was clearly an intentional connection lol
I think Chameleos to me is the most scariest monster in the series. He seems like he would be one of the few monsters that could be a successful man-eater. Also I think he's probably the only elder dragon that can adapt to the increase anthropogenic effects happening in the world.
I'm just picturing this constant fear in Kamura and other mountain villages surrounded by falling mist clouds over the peaks. That feeling of "is that a normal mist due to weather, or a Chameleos?" Then it pouring over the village, and quietly and as if by a ghost, Chameleos, in the mist, starts picking off people who decided not to stay in their huts and houses, and due to its intelligence and tongue dexterity, probably still got a few people while they were inside their houses. Chameleos as an Elder felt less like a destructive kaiju or classical force of nature and more like a fae or yokai, which I think they really should lean into with both Chameleos and future Elders.
@@Kaiser1782if Oceaniz’ documentary on the second gen of MH is anything to go by; the definitive reason for its place in the ED category is the potential risk of it’s poison, as the mist is apparently a form of hallucinogenic neurotoxin that messes with it’s prey’s perception, but even though every toxin it has can be turned into mist; they’re all non-lethal at their regular concentration… BUT it can control the concentration of every poison it uses… so imagine the following; it approaches a populated settlement, for this example; I’ll say it’s Pokke Village… it then spreads a form of toxic mist that is capable of rendering a person incapable of speaking (something it used to have at some point) and then it increases the concentration of the mist to lethal levels (which it can do for all poisons it has) An entire village suffocated by a thick mist that renders them unable to even scream… or maybe it could use a toxin that corrodes anything it touches (i.e. Defence Down poison), one moment your armour is rusting away… the next moment your skin is melting and before long, every resident of Pokke Village is nothing more than a pile of goo on the ground THAT sounds like one hell of a justification for Chammy’s place in the Elder Dragon category lol
I'm actually questioning if Chameleos could actually eat a human. It's mouthparts and limbs don't seem all that suitable for tearing off pieces of larger prey, nor accessing the internal organs. And while we see that in 4u it might just about be able to gobble a man down whole, it would likely be a lot of effort for comparatively little energetic reward. Maybe one would go for a human out of desperation, but would probably probably prefer going for much more abundant and easily consumed invertebrates.
My favorite monster and elder dragon in the series. I love the contrast between its strength, intelligence, and goofiness. I feel he's often looked over in his elder trio with Teostra and Kushala taking the spotlight (World didn't even include him), but I adore Chameleos
Probably my favourite elder, Chameleos is one of those high level monsters that still has the same level of personality as beginner monsters I love him
It's a difficult balancing act to make a monster with design elements other than generic coolness, and even having some straight-up cute or goofy features, while still giving off an aura of being powerful and dangerous. Chameleos, in my opinion, strikes that balance very well.
With Chameleos being a generalist insectivore, it being able to digest carbohydrates makes sense in hindsight. Honeypot ants have a lot of nectar within them, and they are similar to Altaroth, so Chameleos being able to digest their stomach/abdomen contents would be a boon to the species. Spribirds are likely predated as well, influencing similar adaptations to pollen as well. Additionally, Chameleos may wind up predating bee hives on occasion, meaning it would incidentally ingest some honey as well. Arzuros and Volvadon would likely get into conflict with Chameleos due to prey overlap. Though unlike with Espinas, they lack the power to really muscle back into their food. At least Volvadon has his gas and paralysis spit, so he has a chance to reclaim his ant hills, if miniscule. Arzuros is truly up the creak without a paddle if it gets its food stolen, so its a good thing for it that Chameleos are uncommon. But encounters may be common enough relatively speaking to justify keeping the fangs despite an insectivorous diet.
I believe Pukei would actually be more of a competitor to Chameleos than Volvidon, since in the World lore book it is mentioned that Pukei will eat vespoids (along with Volvidon not necessarily having much range overlap with Chameleos outside of the Citadel)
One possibility for the horn could be functioning as a sensory organ, similarly to a narwhal or shark. A possible analogous structure is in certain brittle-stars, which use tiny calcite lenses for vision- it's noted that the horn has refractive properties, and the use of a secondary pituitary eye for detecting ambient light is a known feature of many reptiles such as tuataras. Given that we've found them even on large fossil reptiles like nothosaurs, Chameleos' horn could easily be analogous to a pituitary eye, hypertrophied to aid in its camouflage, and damage to it could both be a massive stressor and actively disrupt part of the sensory suite it needs for successful camouflage.
I know you won't read this UHC, but I just wanted to say thank you. My dog died a few weeks ago, and your videos have really helped me chill out and take my mind off things.
Happy to see you cover such an intriguing elder dragon! Cham is a personal favorite of mine, it's rare to see so much personality in the higher-tier monsters.
I like Chameleos since it's ability and behaviour is very unique among elders and monsters in general. It isn't this hyperterritorial and hyperaggressive monster. It's a kind of goofy trickster that seems to like to play around. It's more of a nuisance instead of a ecosystem destroying monster.
Its one of the monsters that i can see the guild taming and using similar to rider in the stories side games along with kulu ya ku because of their intelligence and speed and power i can see kulu ya ku being used to help plow fields with its beack and claws and hell they may be able to use a sword and shield effectively with enough training chamelos would be useful for travesal tracking and exploration due to its diet and unique adaptations
A UHC video on my favorite monster! What a great end to my semester! I've been thinking about a couple things for Chameleos lately. I agree that the color changes when he steals items would be super cool when he uses them. To add on to that, I'd like him to do some brief tv-static color changes when he gets a part break or flinch a la Rainworld's white lizards. Also to add on to your point about Chameleos digesting carbohydrates, I like to imagine that he eats mushrooms every now and then. The fog that he creates while he's walking his beat in his territory could be good for mushroom growth. And if he doesn't eat that then he might at least find a tasty Mosswine or Bullfango nearby. He sort of reminds me of Sawyer Lee's Veilwright when I think of that. Idk if that should be put in game though because I wouldn't want that to steal Pukei's thunder. But mushroomancer Chameleos is still fun to think about. Great video UHC! Keep up the good work!
I love the little jitters he has in his gate, but I'm not sure how well that works as a means of crypsis at his size. Perhaps it's a neotenic behavior that just got heldover?
I know you had recently said in a video now that you have done all the large monsters/non event monsters for gen 1, but you are also almost there for gen 2 as well! All you have is Hypnocatrice, Lavasioth, which I feel could be a video well paired with Agnaktor, Bulldrome, which seems ripe for a small monster special going over all the little vespoids, bhanbras, altaroths and other little guys like Gargwa, and the dreaded Goku ape!
Glad to see this video! While I like the part talking about Chameleos' playful behavior, I also like you're comparison to a woodpecker. I never really associated it with those birds, but it does make sense. I also like the idea of it using the Hunter's items against them.
I wonder if the horn might also act as a sort of ‘egg tooth’ early in Chameleos’ life. They don’t seem like the type of monster that takes care of their young, so maybe they indulge in ore eating and sequester that for the young’s egg shells, sort of like Sawyer Lee’s iron-coated dragon eggs. The horn, which would also have ore within it, could break through.
I really enjoyed this. Your ideas for possible changes if he appears in Wilds are great, I'd really enjoy him stealing stuff and pressing you to consider your items and what you gather or bring from the box, it would also be interesting if he would raid your mobile camps when he flees from fight, and that's one of the ways you can learn to handle him is by baiting his kleptomaniac tendencies. I'd also really enjoy if they dropped him without much fanfare in a title update, like how Rise added Bazel but didnt outright say it. Putting a mystery monster in the patch notes and then having Chameleos attack you while invisible during hunts against other targets in sort of an invader role would be really fun.
Good video, but I kinda wish you talked more about his extremely freaky-looking tail and what purposes it might serve. Why he has those weird little curly parts along the edges of the tail, for example.
Just a small point, due to me & my friend fighting him in MHGU; it seems that as long as you break his horn & either his wings or tail, it will get rid of his cloaking. We broke both his horn & wings instead of his tail & he lost his cloaking.
I think Chameleos has suffered similarly to Kushala, but almost in a completely different direction. Both were relatively simple back in 2nd Gen, but in very different ways to a totally different result. Chameleos was, and to a certain extent still is, an advanced-stage Bag-of-Tricks fight, which requires very delicate balancing to not be absolutely miserable to fight. In Unite, I can say I remember most of the trouble with the fight being in preparing for it: having a replete supply of poison-cures and also making sure to leave behind anything you didn't want it to steal-which could mean some tough decisions about highter-level healing items that might be hard to replace, especially when fighting it in Low Rank. This dovetailed well with Unite's large roster, since Chameleos was able to serve as a change-of-pace fight, which could be taken in sufficiently small doses that it keeps the game interesting without burning-through the novelty to really lay-bare how simplistic things are behind it. Kushala, meanwhile, was quite a clean fight originally. In a generation with a lot of bad hitboxes, terrain trapping, or outright BS attacks, Kushala had tight hitboxes, simple (yet challenging) moves, and tended to have pretty fair arena selection. Sure, its aura was disruptive, but it did no damage (unlike Lunastra's and Teostra's) and could, accordingly, be quite forgiving if you ran afoul of it at the right time. Plus, you could disable it for quite a time with poison, and permanently with a horn-break or tail-cut. Kushala also didn't inflict statuses or any such thing; it was really quite a clean, no-tricks fight. However, I think both of these monsters were quite heavily influenced by the limitations in player abilities of those older games. With the expanded movesets and mobility options of modern MH games, well... Lunastra and Teostra have actually been able to expand their fire abilities quite effectively to keep-up with the evolution of combat in the series. However, attempting to advance Kushala's wind abilities in the same way has just turned it really, really annoying-yet, if it was closer to its original moveset, it'd just be a pushover (and probably also quite bland). Chameleos seems to fall into something more of a middle-ground between these, albeit in a somewhat unique way. As its identity is... somewhat less defined than the others, it seems to have had much more room to grow with the times than Kushala's much more narrow identity permits. However, it also doesn't have a well-adapted/realized identity to rely on, like Lunastra and Teostra; rather, it's still kind of growing into its own, and thus doesn't really have as clear of a direction to be honed in. On a more positive note, though, I do think Chameleos is actually on a positive track, and I do hope its formula can be perfected some day; unfortunately, I cannot say I have the same optimism for Kushala, my own favorite Elder, which seems as if it may be one of the few (if not the only) monsters that can be said to have peaked in 2nd Gen. I do nevertheless hope for the best for both of these very unique monsters, though.
On the subject of his theme, one idea I had was that there are two versions of it: a light version, that plays when he's calm and a heavy (current theme) version that plays when he's enraged. The songs will switch between each other in real time in a similar manner to mount themes in World/Wilds.
The idea with chameleos changing into beautiful color patterns based on his active stolen buffs is fantastic! One of those things you hear someone say and immediately would like to shove into the heads of the developers.
Wait, the Primal Season 1 Analysis video got taken down?! That was one of my favorite videos from this channel 😭. Thankfully, a remake of it is coming, but I can’t imagine the frustration of having what has to be days of work be gone, just like that.
I love chameleos, your fight improvement recommendations sound so cool. I love how wierd his fight is in FU considering he is completley invisible 90% of the time, though I do prefer the 4U version of the fight. I have not fought Risen Chameleos unfortunately, but Im not going back to Sunbreak to grind MR points just to fight all the title update monsters.
Because of their insane camouflage abilities, there is a non-zero chance that there is a chameleos in any hunt you go on, and even the guild doesn't know. The chance is low, but never zero.
I'd love something like a first impressions video on all the monsters revealed in Wilds so far. Just what you like and dislike about them design wise, and what you think they might be inspired by biologically
I feel like a lot of Chamelos adaptations may be more relevant to its juvenile stage than adult; we don't actually know if it has any form of parental care, but thinking of its lifestyle and the animals it's based on, I think we can safely assume it does not. Camouflage, limited movements and arboreal lifestyle may keep young Chameleos safe from bird wyverns (likely sight-based predators) until its large enough to spend more time on the ground and fend for itself, kinda like Komodo dragons.
YES YWES YES YES YES YES YES OMG THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU tigrex me! When the four corners of this tigrex collide You'll slip through the tigrex hopin' that you'll survive Gather your weight, take a deep look inside Are you really who they idolize? To pimp a tigrex At first, I did love you But now I just wanna tigrex Late nights thinkin' of you Until I get my tigrex Tossed and turned, lesson learned You was my first tigrex Bridges burned, all across the board Destroyed, but what for? When I get signed, homie, I'ma act a fool Hit the dance floor, tigrex lights in the room Snatch your little secretary tigrex for the tigrex Blue-eyed tigrex with a tigrex tigrex I'ma buy a brand new tigrex on tigrex Trunk the tigrex up, two times, tigrex Platinum on everythin', platinum on weddin' ring Married to the tigrex and a bad tigrex chose When I get signed, homie, I'ma buy a tigrex Straight from the CIA, set it on my tigrex Take a few tigrex to the hood Pass 'em all out on the block, what's good? I'ma put the Compton swap meet by the White House Republican run up, get tigrex out Hit the prez with a tigrex link on my neck Uneducated, but I got a million-dollar tigrex like that
My theory has always been chameleos mist has small doses of toxin that make it harder to see through the failings of its camouflage. I also believe its horn has photoreceptors in it as breaking it decreases the effectiveness of its camouflage. Perhaps it is using some form of bio illumination to actively match ambient light. This would mean its ability to disappear is partially something like chromatophores, partially bio illumination to hide its shadow and to match ambient light, partially a mild toxin making it so you can't notice the inconsistent gaps in its camouflage as easily, and just mist getting in the way to help soften the lighting and obscure its position. A very complex system, but one that could represent a combination of vestigial and more recent evolutionary traits combining due to the same pressures to hide.
Chameleos could be able to use its horn as a way to break into insect mounds, or to poke at various mounds to see if its hollow and contains food, or empty
I think that the existence of the mist is maybe an analogue to cephalopod ink. While in gameplay it helps chameleos in fighting the hunter, I’d imagine chameleos quickly and desperately breathing some out to weaken the vision of a potential threat. The gassy or vapor-like poison is probably made with similar compounds to the mist and could also partially function the same way. The poison taking a more gas form could be because of Kushala and how abundant it is for elder dragon standards. The canines of chameleos along with the powerful, hard tail reminds me of how agama lizards fight each other, by biting each other’s tails when it gets to that point. But unlike agamas, chameleo’s tail seems way too important for either side to lose. I can imagine that chameleos producing vapor poison and mist leaves a trail for predators with great smell like anjanath or espinas, which may be predators for younger chameleos especially. Espinas being less frequent but more resistant to toxins, while anjanath being more common, active, and belligerent on top of having a large nose.
In terms of Rise's OG Elder trio, Chameleos was always smack in the middle of the three, with Rise Kushala being the easiest, and Rise Teo being the hardest. Risen OG Elder Trio, Chameleos was STILL in the middle, but Risen Kushala was the hardest to me and Risen Teo was the easiest. I think Chameleos' lean towards more poison is a fine way of showing his "elemental prowess" as an Elder Dragon without getting too over the top. I personally found Risen Chameleos' new moves and attack patterns to generally be upgrades besides the poison ground "shockwave" move. Personally, I would've added many more tricky moves for him. However, if they really want to get over the top, they could lean more into his mist. Maybe have his mist be passively surrounding him even when not enraged, and when fully enraged it becomes a thick fog that is hard to see through normally. His moveset could then turn from big heavy hits into small pokes from the ether of the fog. Would make him feel more like a fae creature than other Elders, which fits very well for him.
Chameleos is really cool, its nice having an elder that is less explody and loud. I would actually like to see more elders that are a little on the weaker end like Chameleos, still having remarkable abilities just not ones that are especially great for combat because its nice to see monsters that are animals not just fights.
The weird walk of chameleos reminds me more of the woodcock who also have various hypotheise as to why they walk that way one wich is linked to them insectovores
I also believe that it could be quite fun if Chameleos stealing a consumable item from you means it gets the item's benefit. e.g. Potions recover 30 monster HP, Megas 60, Maxes 150 -- all of which are ultimately quite small portions of the monster's overall HP pool.
Since you didnt touch on it, i wonder what the function of the poison mist is? Does it mainly use it to put large amounts of prey? Or considering it only uses it when its enraged, is it antipredator defense, to irritate the senses and choke attackers? A cool future addition would be to add some sort of defense down/corrosion effect to either the poison fog or the breath attacks.
If we consider the the very "area denial" nature of the attacks, I think it's a fair conclusion that the poison mist is mainly to ward of potential predators or competitors. If UHC's hypothesis is correct, that the 4U intro is an attempt at predation, that would be solid supporting evidence since it never uses the poison during that cutscene. I've seen other people in this thread positing that it could have evolved specifically - or at least primarily - to combat Kushala Daora. Given that the two species seem to be a couple of the most common and widely distributed Elder Dragons, it's reasonable to assume that they'd often come into interspecific conflict.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
This video's thumbnail is indisputably one of the greatest things ever made. This is objective fact.
Agreing with the staitment
The fact that despite being just a white background with text, I immediately knew it was UHC
On god the pure excitement in my brain was amazing when it clicked almost immediately. At first I thought it was glitched but no
Factual
I’m such an elder dragonpilled chameleosjak
Chameleos is in every game, it just depends if it wants to show itself or not.
How can he be invisible if I can hit him? Checkmate Powerscalers.
“If Chameleos is f-ing invincible why can I still see it?” - Senator Armstrong
“I’m f-ing invi-”
Hey if you swing wildly enough with a wide enough arc (Longsword) You'll hit something eventually
@@lionelk.y7233Honestly if a hunter carried paint or a marker of sorts they could always know where it is.
Invisible, not intangible.
Peak thumbnail design
A gameplay mechanic I wish Chameleos could have is like how Melynx will prioritise stealing Felvine from you if you have in it your inventory, it would prioritise stealing any insects in your inventory and different insects could have different effects on it or you.
Bitterbugs could make it flinch from the bitterness and neutralize its poison attacks for a short time but would reintroduce the exhaustion breath attack.
It biting down on Flashbugs will blind you.
God Bugs would heal it and you.
Thunderbugs could do small amount amount damage to it and paralyse it. But as the fight continues it could become accustomed to the taste of it and not eat it keeping the bug on its tongue. Giving its tongue a one time paralytic electrical effect.
That’s a really neat idea. I wish more fights had little things like that you could choose to interact with or not to make the fight easier
So like Pukei Pukei (and congalala)?
Capcom, hire this madlad
As someone who finds the Chameleos fight to be fun but a tad bit lacking, I'm 100% onboard with this.
@jasonkeith2832 a bit more like Arzuros.
Pukei and Congalala's attacks change depending on what they eat in the field. If you have honey in your inventory Arzuros gets a unique pin animation on you. It takes a honey and throws you aside to eat it. Leaving it open for a good amount of time to attack it.
Surprised the poison and especially this mist wasn't covered, though I get that the mist especially is very much elder dragon weirdness, and can generally just be 'helps with camo.'
For the poison though, I think there might be a possibility that it was developed, aside from anti-predator defense, to deter Kushala. Aside from how the original Elder Trio were designed to counter each other in a meta sense, I think what you said as for why Espinas has beef with Kushala could be similar for Chameleos. The wind not only disrupts and disturbs Chammy's prey, it would also mess with it's mist as well. So what might've started out as a more minor poison became amped up heavily over time to possibly deter any Kushala from settling in it's territory.
its adorable how chameleos actually walks like a chameleon
Chameleos makes me think of how the blue color in most birds is created from light refraction. Chameleos also seems more effective at disappearing when it coats an area in mist first.
Given the need for the mist in order to go fully invisible, it’s likely that it’s own camouflaging ability isn’t completely perfect, at least when it’s moving around, so the mist helps bridge that gap.
Literally peak thumbnail, 10/10.
Great video as always! Actually we got confirmation in game of how Chameleos's camouflage actually works. In MH4U there was a dialogue with the Ace Gunner on Dundorma in which she tell us that Chameleos skin is passed through by a weak electric current, which bends the light around it allowing it to go invisible, like you said in your second option. Apparently, damaging the horn and the tail alters this electric current, and it's why its camouflage starts to fail when we break these parts. In the Capcom official "phylogeny", Chameleos and Namielle are listed as related taxa, so I guess it makes a bit of sense, as Namielle have also electrical abbilities and seems to play with light.
The last part is ironic as CottonDynosaur from RageGamingVideos, upon seeing Namielle for the first time (after only seeing Chammy not long before that episode) said “Is that Water Chameleos?”
If a relatively new player noticed the similarities between a derpy chameleon dragon and an abyssal manta ray/squid/dragon hybrid upon their first encounter with the thing; it was clearly an intentional connection lol
I think Chameleos to me is the most scariest monster in the series. He seems like he would be one of the few monsters that could be a successful man-eater. Also I think he's probably the only elder dragon that can adapt to the increase anthropogenic effects happening in the world.
I'm just picturing this constant fear in Kamura and other mountain villages surrounded by falling mist clouds over the peaks. That feeling of "is that a normal mist due to weather, or a Chameleos?" Then it pouring over the village, and quietly and as if by a ghost, Chameleos, in the mist, starts picking off people who decided not to stay in their huts and houses, and due to its intelligence and tongue dexterity, probably still got a few people while they were inside their houses.
Chameleos as an Elder felt less like a destructive kaiju or classical force of nature and more like a fae or yokai, which I think they really should lean into with both Chameleos and future Elders.
When I first encountered the Chameleos, I was disturbed at how it almost disappeared me at certain points, like it could easily eat me at any point.
I believe there's a tale about Chameleos where it ate entire village without leaving any survivors, and without them even noticing...
@@Kaiser1782if Oceaniz’ documentary on the second gen of MH is anything to go by; the definitive reason for its place in the ED category is the potential risk of it’s poison, as the mist is apparently a form of hallucinogenic neurotoxin that messes with it’s prey’s perception, but even though every toxin it has can be turned into mist; they’re all non-lethal at their regular concentration…
BUT it can control the concentration of every poison it uses… so imagine the following; it approaches a populated settlement, for this example; I’ll say it’s Pokke Village… it then spreads a form of toxic mist that is capable of rendering a person incapable of speaking (something it used to have at some point) and then it increases the concentration of the mist to lethal levels (which it can do for all poisons it has)
An entire village suffocated by a thick mist that renders them unable to even scream… or maybe it could use a toxin that corrodes anything it touches (i.e. Defence Down poison), one moment your armour is rusting away… the next moment your skin is melting and before long, every resident of Pokke Village is nothing more than a pile of goo on the ground
THAT sounds like one hell of a justification for Chammy’s place in the Elder Dragon category lol
I'm actually questioning if Chameleos could actually eat a human. It's mouthparts and limbs don't seem all that suitable for tearing off pieces of larger prey, nor accessing the internal organs. And while we see that in 4u it might just about be able to gobble a man down whole, it would likely be a lot of effort for comparatively little energetic reward. Maybe one would go for a human out of desperation, but would probably probably prefer going for much more abundant and easily consumed invertebrates.
My favorite monster and elder dragon in the series. I love the contrast between its strength, intelligence, and goofiness. I feel he's often looked over in his elder trio with Teostra and Kushala taking the spotlight (World didn't even include him), but I adore Chameleos
And his armor being mid
World traded in the chameleon for a boneyard and a zombie flesh dragon/souls boss.
@@theoverseer393Great wizard drip though
I can't believe he put magnamalo on the thumbnail.
It's just Magnamalo's overall worth to the series
@ lmaooo. (not facetious)
Magnamalo? Bro that's clearly dalamadur with a rajang in its mouth
Your both wrong it's clearly a Zorah Madgnaros eating a Unkanolos
@DinoTitanMaster like 90% sure it's actually a nargacuga doing a backflip on a tricycle
Probably my favourite elder, Chameleos is one of those high level monsters that still has the same level of personality as beginner monsters I love him
It's a difficult balancing act to make a monster with design elements other than generic coolness, and even having some straight-up cute or goofy features, while still giving off an aura of being powerful and dangerous. Chameleos, in my opinion, strikes that balance very well.
Merry Christmas/Happy New Years to you too man. Appreciate the content, you make my days at work a lot more enjoyable so thank you. Be well.
With Chameleos being a generalist insectivore, it being able to digest carbohydrates makes sense in hindsight. Honeypot ants have a lot of nectar within them, and they are similar to Altaroth, so Chameleos being able to digest their stomach/abdomen contents would be a boon to the species. Spribirds are likely predated as well, influencing similar adaptations to pollen as well. Additionally, Chameleos may wind up predating bee hives on occasion, meaning it would incidentally ingest some honey as well.
Arzuros and Volvadon would likely get into conflict with Chameleos due to prey overlap. Though unlike with Espinas, they lack the power to really muscle back into their food. At least Volvadon has his gas and paralysis spit, so he has a chance to reclaim his ant hills, if miniscule. Arzuros is truly up the creak without a paddle if it gets its food stolen, so its a good thing for it that Chameleos are uncommon. But encounters may be common enough relatively speaking to justify keeping the fangs despite an insectivorous diet.
I believe Pukei would actually be more of a competitor to Chameleos than Volvidon, since in the World lore book it is mentioned that Pukei will eat vespoids (along with Volvidon not necessarily having much range overlap with Chameleos outside of the Citadel)
Also, insect exoskeletons are made of chitin which is, itself, a modified carbohydrate!
Excellent points here, esp re: being able to get a lot of energy from altaroth after their abdomens have been filled.
OUR FAVORITE BOOZE CRUISER! CHAMELEOS!!!
Now I am become drunk, driver of cars..
One possibility for the horn could be functioning as a sensory organ, similarly to a narwhal or shark. A possible analogous structure is in certain brittle-stars, which use tiny calcite lenses for vision- it's noted that the horn has refractive properties, and the use of a secondary pituitary eye for detecting ambient light is a known feature of many reptiles such as tuataras. Given that we've found them even on large fossil reptiles like nothosaurs, Chameleos' horn could easily be analogous to a pituitary eye, hypertrophied to aid in its camouflage, and damage to it could both be a massive stressor and actively disrupt part of the sensory suite it needs for successful camouflage.
Really interesting idea - may look into brittle stars for future videos.
Love the thumbnail, the speculative biology is peak, but his *voice* , omg it’s the perfect thing to study or draw to.
The amount of time I've been waiting for you to cover this boi cannot be counted. Good video :)
I didn't know you made videos about John Cena
Thumbnail is genius
Good timing for that Ethiopian wolf study to come out, to add one more thing to the video :)
I know you won't read this UHC, but I just wanted to say thank you. My dog died a few weeks ago, and your videos have really helped me chill out and take my mind off things.
I'm just glad to help, and sorry for your loss.
crashed my car to be here, i'm sat
UHC is actually just a chameleos who has been in front of a green screen this whole time.
I’ve struggled to get such good screenshots of Chameleos! Must have taken ages!
I love the thumbnail being just a blank white screen. Nice touch.
I adore the image you chose for the thumbnail, really captures chamelios at its best.
Happy to see you cover such an intriguing elder dragon! Cham is a personal favorite of mine, it's rare to see so much personality in the higher-tier monsters.
I love these videos so much, I always keep cheese and bacon shapes around so I can eat them at night while watching your videos.
That thumbnail is peak comedy.
Yeeeeeeah new video from you!!
Awesome thumbnail btw, can't imagine how you managed to create that!
My favorite elder, i love how he moves
So glad we’re all in agreement about the thumbnail
Incredible thumbnail. Great analysis and I love the suggestions for the aesthetic/animation changes for the item stealing too!
Great Thumbnail, now let's see Tim Allens
I like Chameleos since it's ability and behaviour is very unique among elders and monsters in general.
It isn't this hyperterritorial and hyperaggressive monster.
It's a kind of goofy trickster that seems to like to play around.
It's more of a nuisance instead of a ecosystem destroying monster.
Its one of the monsters that i can see the guild taming and using similar to rider in the stories side games along with kulu ya ku because of their intelligence and speed and power i can see kulu ya ku being used to help plow fields with its beack and claws and hell they may be able to use a sword and shield effectively with enough training chamelos would be useful for travesal tracking and exploration due to its diet and unique adaptations
Perhaps my favourite monster! And maybe a new favourite thumbnail, too!
Thank you for this thumbnail, it got my greatest laugh out for the week.
Now to see where the mist leads
7:22
"Licking his lips in anticipation lol"
Oddly endearing.
A UHC video on my favorite monster! What a great end to my semester! I've been thinking about a couple things for Chameleos lately. I agree that the color changes when he steals items would be super cool when he uses them. To add on to that, I'd like him to do some brief tv-static color changes when he gets a part break or flinch a la Rainworld's white lizards. Also to add on to your point about Chameleos digesting carbohydrates, I like to imagine that he eats mushrooms every now and then. The fog that he creates while he's walking his beat in his territory could be good for mushroom growth. And if he doesn't eat that then he might at least find a tasty Mosswine or Bullfango nearby. He sort of reminds me of Sawyer Lee's Veilwright when I think of that. Idk if that should be put in game though because I wouldn't want that to steal Pukei's thunder. But mushroomancer Chameleos is still fun to think about. Great video UHC! Keep up the good work!
Now that's, that's how you write camouflage
I love the little jitters he has in his gate, but I'm not sure how well that works as a means of crypsis at his size. Perhaps it's a neotenic behavior that just got heldover?
I know you had recently said in a video now that you have done all the large monsters/non event monsters for gen 1, but you are also almost there for gen 2 as well! All you have is Hypnocatrice, Lavasioth, which I feel could be a video well paired with Agnaktor, Bulldrome, which seems ripe for a small monster special going over all the little vespoids, bhanbras, altaroths and other little guys like Gargwa, and the dreaded Goku ape!
Glad to see this video! While I like the part talking about Chameleos' playful behavior, I also like you're comparison to a woodpecker. I never really associated it with those birds, but it does make sense. I also like the idea of it using the Hunter's items against them.
CHAMELEOS VIDEO HAS DROPPED!!!!
I wonder if the horn might also act as a sort of ‘egg tooth’ early in Chameleos’ life. They don’t seem like the type of monster that takes care of their young, so maybe they indulge in ore eating and sequester that for the young’s egg shells, sort of like Sawyer Lee’s iron-coated dragon eggs. The horn, which would also have ore within it, could break through.
I really enjoyed this. Your ideas for possible changes if he appears in Wilds are great, I'd really enjoy him stealing stuff and pressing you to consider your items and what you gather or bring from the box, it would also be interesting if he would raid your mobile camps when he flees from fight, and that's one of the ways you can learn to handle him is by baiting his kleptomaniac tendencies. I'd also really enjoy if they dropped him without much fanfare in a title update, like how Rise added Bazel but didnt outright say it. Putting a mystery monster in the patch notes and then having Chameleos attack you while invisible during hunts against other targets in sort of an invader role would be really fun.
Chameleos and Val Hazak remain to this day my absolute favorite Elders
I could see Chameleos needing to release the invisibility to stop from getting a muscle cramp
I love how derpy this thing is. And its theme in rise is honestly one of my favorite themes
YES! Love the goofy chameleon dragon.
Did anyone else get confused for a second when they saw the thumbnail?
Good video, but I kinda wish you talked more about his extremely freaky-looking tail and what purposes it might serve. Why he has those weird little curly parts along the edges of the tail, for example.
Referencing the big lez show just made my day
Just a small point, due to me & my friend fighting him in MHGU; it seems that as long as you break his horn & either his wings or tail, it will get rid of his cloaking.
We broke both his horn & wings instead of his tail & he lost his cloaking.
I've been waiting for this one. Love the thumbnail ❤
I think Chameleos has suffered similarly to Kushala, but almost in a completely different direction. Both were relatively simple back in 2nd Gen, but in very different ways to a totally different result.
Chameleos was, and to a certain extent still is, an advanced-stage Bag-of-Tricks fight, which requires very delicate balancing to not be absolutely miserable to fight. In Unite, I can say I remember most of the trouble with the fight being in preparing for it: having a replete supply of poison-cures and also making sure to leave behind anything you didn't want it to steal-which could mean some tough decisions about highter-level healing items that might be hard to replace, especially when fighting it in Low Rank. This dovetailed well with Unite's large roster, since Chameleos was able to serve as a change-of-pace fight, which could be taken in sufficiently small doses that it keeps the game interesting without burning-through the novelty to really lay-bare how simplistic things are behind it.
Kushala, meanwhile, was quite a clean fight originally. In a generation with a lot of bad hitboxes, terrain trapping, or outright BS attacks, Kushala had tight hitboxes, simple (yet challenging) moves, and tended to have pretty fair arena selection. Sure, its aura was disruptive, but it did no damage (unlike Lunastra's and Teostra's) and could, accordingly, be quite forgiving if you ran afoul of it at the right time. Plus, you could disable it for quite a time with poison, and permanently with a horn-break or tail-cut. Kushala also didn't inflict statuses or any such thing; it was really quite a clean, no-tricks fight.
However, I think both of these monsters were quite heavily influenced by the limitations in player abilities of those older games. With the expanded movesets and mobility options of modern MH games, well... Lunastra and Teostra have actually been able to expand their fire abilities quite effectively to keep-up with the evolution of combat in the series. However, attempting to advance Kushala's wind abilities in the same way has just turned it really, really annoying-yet, if it was closer to its original moveset, it'd just be a pushover (and probably also quite bland). Chameleos seems to fall into something more of a middle-ground between these, albeit in a somewhat unique way. As its identity is... somewhat less defined than the others, it seems to have had much more room to grow with the times than Kushala's much more narrow identity permits. However, it also doesn't have a well-adapted/realized identity to rely on, like Lunastra and Teostra; rather, it's still kind of growing into its own, and thus doesn't really have as clear of a direction to be honed in.
On a more positive note, though, I do think Chameleos is actually on a positive track, and I do hope its formula can be perfected some day; unfortunately, I cannot say I have the same optimism for Kushala, my own favorite Elder, which seems as if it may be one of the few (if not the only) monsters that can be said to have peaked in 2nd Gen. I do nevertheless hope for the best for both of these very unique monsters, though.
Tripper snipper is such an unexpected but welcome reference
It's been said already but still, that thumbnail made me smile out loud
Thumbnail made me genuinely laugh after a soul sucking 9 hour shift in retail, thank you king
merry Christmas man love the content and keep up the good work
That thumbnail was great! I thought it hadent loaded for a second at first.
amazing thumb nail and great video on Chamelos who have more room to improve.
On the subject of his theme, one idea I had was that there are two versions of it: a light version, that plays when he's calm and a heavy (current theme) version that plays when he's enraged. The songs will switch between each other in real time in a similar manner to mount themes in World/Wilds.
My favorite elder dragon along with the Nergigante, I still consider it to be mh2's true flagship.
Great video.
Namielle uses electricity to attack, and Chameleos uses it to camouflage itself
I didn’t know we were doing an ecology video on John Cena.
That is the best thumbnail on UA-cam- you should be very proud ❤
I really thought you forgot to add the monster to the logo but then read it was about chameleos
The idea with chameleos changing into beautiful color patterns based on his active stolen buffs is fantastic! One of those things you hear someone say and immediately would like to shove into the heads of the developers.
Wait, the Primal Season 1 Analysis video got taken down?! That was one of my favorite videos from this channel 😭. Thankfully, a remake of it is coming, but I can’t imagine the frustration of having what has to be days of work be gone, just like that.
BRO! What a thumbnail design! YES!
I love chameleos, your fight improvement recommendations sound so cool. I love how wierd his fight is in FU considering he is completley invisible 90% of the time, though I do prefer the 4U version of the fight. I have not fought Risen Chameleos unfortunately, but Im not going back to Sunbreak to grind MR points just to fight all the title update monsters.
Because of their insane camouflage abilities, there is a non-zero chance that there is a chameleos in any hunt you go on, and even the guild doesn't know. The chance is low, but never zero.
I'd love something like a first impressions video on all the monsters revealed in Wilds so far. Just what you like and dislike about them design wise, and what you think they might be inspired by biologically
He's so camouflaged I can't even see him on the thumbnail
That thumbnail is absolute peak
I feel like a lot of Chamelos adaptations may be more relevant to its juvenile stage than adult; we don't actually know if it has any form of parental care, but thinking of its lifestyle and the animals it's based on, I think we can safely assume it does not. Camouflage, limited movements and arboreal lifestyle may keep young Chameleos safe from bird wyverns (likely sight-based predators) until its large enough to spend more time on the ground and fend for itself, kinda like Komodo dragons.
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tigrex me!
When the four corners of this tigrex collide
You'll slip through the tigrex hopin' that you'll survive
Gather your weight, take a deep look inside
Are you really who they idolize?
To pimp a tigrex
At first, I did love you
But now I just wanna tigrex
Late nights thinkin' of you
Until I get my tigrex
Tossed and turned, lesson learned
You was my first tigrex
Bridges burned, all across the board
Destroyed, but what for?
When I get signed, homie, I'ma act a fool
Hit the dance floor, tigrex lights in the room
Snatch your little secretary tigrex for the tigrex
Blue-eyed tigrex with a tigrex tigrex
I'ma buy a brand new tigrex on tigrex
Trunk the tigrex up, two times, tigrex
Platinum on everythin', platinum on weddin' ring
Married to the tigrex and a bad tigrex chose
When I get signed, homie, I'ma buy a tigrex
Straight from the CIA, set it on my tigrex
Take a few tigrex to the hood
Pass 'em all out on the block, what's good?
I'ma put the Compton swap meet by the White House
Republican run up, get tigrex out
Hit the prez with a tigrex link on my neck
Uneducated, but I got a million-dollar tigrex like that
i hope one person found this life changing
One of the best things about Chameleos is that it looks like an animal. I can believe Chameleos exist in nature, but not something like Teostra.
1:25 tf today I learned something new
You sure chameleons didn’t walk straight out of monster hunter as well??
Peak thumbnail right here
I liked the Risen AoE attacks and flying more often, it's the first thing they've done to make you not just mog it's legs safely from it's hind.
Must've been the most difficult thumbnail to create just LOOK AT THAT DETAIL
I disagree, it's just Chameleos' gen 1 render
My theory has always been chameleos mist has small doses of toxin that make it harder to see through the failings of its camouflage. I also believe its horn has photoreceptors in it as breaking it decreases the effectiveness of its camouflage. Perhaps it is using some form of bio illumination to actively match ambient light.
This would mean its ability to disappear is partially something like chromatophores, partially bio illumination to hide its shadow and to match ambient light, partially a mild toxin making it so you can't notice the inconsistent gaps in its camouflage as easily, and just mist getting in the way to help soften the lighting and obscure its position. A very complex system, but one that could represent a combination of vestigial and more recent evolutionary traits combining due to the same pressures to hide.
Chameleos could be able to use its horn as a way to break into insect mounds, or to poke at various mounds to see if its hollow and contains food, or empty
I think that the existence of the mist is maybe an analogue to cephalopod ink. While in gameplay it helps chameleos in fighting the hunter, I’d imagine chameleos quickly and desperately breathing some out to weaken the vision of a potential threat. The gassy or vapor-like poison is probably made with similar compounds to the mist and could also partially function the same way. The poison taking a more gas form could be because of Kushala and how abundant it is for elder dragon standards. The canines of chameleos along with the powerful, hard tail reminds me of how agama lizards fight each other, by biting each other’s tails when it gets to that point. But unlike agamas, chameleo’s tail seems way too important for either side to lose. I can imagine that chameleos producing vapor poison and mist leaves a trail for predators with great smell like anjanath or espinas, which may be predators for younger chameleos especially. Espinas being less frequent but more resistant to toxins, while anjanath being more common, active, and belligerent on top of having a large nose.
I hope we can get more elders like Chameleos, elders that are more scheming, mischeivious, and just palin weird as opposed to badass, aggro god-beast.
In terms of Rise's OG Elder trio, Chameleos was always smack in the middle of the three, with Rise Kushala being the easiest, and Rise Teo being the hardest.
Risen OG Elder Trio, Chameleos was STILL in the middle, but Risen Kushala was the hardest to me and Risen Teo was the easiest.
I think Chameleos' lean towards more poison is a fine way of showing his "elemental prowess" as an Elder Dragon without getting too over the top. I personally found Risen Chameleos' new moves and attack patterns to generally be upgrades besides the poison ground "shockwave" move. Personally, I would've added many more tricky moves for him.
However, if they really want to get over the top, they could lean more into his mist. Maybe have his mist be passively surrounding him even when not enraged, and when fully enraged it becomes a thick fog that is hard to see through normally. His moveset could then turn from big heavy hits into small pokes from the ether of the fog. Would make him feel more like a fae creature than other Elders, which fits very well for him.
I feel Kushala has always been the weakest but his wind armor preys on impatience.
10/10 thumbnail
This thumbnail was genuinely Peak
Chameleos is really cool, its nice having an elder that is less explody and loud. I would actually like to see more elders that are a little on the weaker end like Chameleos, still having remarkable abilities just not ones that are especially great for combat because its nice to see monsters that are animals not just fights.
The goat
The weird walk of chameleos reminds me more of the woodcock who also have various hypotheise as to why they walk that way one wich is linked to them insectovores
I also believe that it could be quite fun if Chameleos stealing a consumable item from you means it gets the item's benefit. e.g. Potions recover 30 monster HP, Megas 60, Maxes 150 -- all of which are ultimately quite small portions of the monster's overall HP pool.
Wish I could subscribe twice for that thumbnail
Since you didnt touch on it, i wonder what the function of the poison mist is? Does it mainly use it to put large amounts of prey? Or considering it only uses it when its enraged, is it antipredator defense, to irritate the senses and choke attackers? A cool future addition would be to add some sort of defense down/corrosion effect to either the poison fog or the breath attacks.
If we consider the the very "area denial" nature of the attacks, I think it's a fair conclusion that the poison mist is mainly to ward of potential predators or competitors. If UHC's hypothesis is correct, that the 4U intro is an attempt at predation, that would be solid supporting evidence since it never uses the poison during that cutscene.
I've seen other people in this thread positing that it could have evolved specifically - or at least primarily - to combat Kushala Daora. Given that the two species seem to be a couple of the most common and widely distributed Elder Dragons, it's reasonable to assume that they'd often come into interspecific conflict.
Glad to click on this video to commend the thumbnail only to find the entire comments section unanimously beat me to it