Rathalos, the so-called ‘King of the Skies,’ has ruled the Monster Hunter franchise for too long. Despite his status as an apex predator and a mascot, lately his presence feels overdone. Capcom insists on making him a midgame staple, but at this point, I believe he should step down. There are far better monsters that could take his role, including one close to the king’s side.
Sorry to say but Rathalos is just not a fun monster to hunt. I mean, for a creature that appears in every Monster Hunter game, you’d think Capcom would make its appearance something to look forward to. Instead, he’s often a frustrating chore. Fireballs, tail swipes, non-stop flying, flying while shooting down fireballs, flying and doing tail swipes; you know what I’m talking about.
His combat pattern in older games was even worse. The red wyvern was notorious for his cheap, 0-frame startup attack, where he would dart around erratically like a headless chicken. Oh, sorry, you’re still recovering from a roar? Time to run you over. Fighting him felt less like a test of skill and more like enduring a buggy AI script.
Sure, it’s fair to say that Monster Hunter Rise improved him somewhat, by making his aerial moveset more varied. But that doesn’t change the core issue: hunting Rathalos is still a hassle. His constant flying and annoying hitboxes make him one of the more irritating monsters in the series. Honestly, I do think other Flying Wyverns have refined or even improved on his design, making him feel redundant.
After all, despite Rathalos’ identity revolves around Fire and Poison, he’s far from the only flying monster with that gimmick. Yian Garuga and Espinas are just two examples that basically fills the same niche, yet they manage to feel unique and more distinct than his counterpart, Rathian.
Yes, you got that right. I do think Rathian actually does his job better. First of all, as Rathalos’ weaker peer, the female green wyvern will show up earlier during your progress. She usually serves as your first ‘flying monster and status effects’ tutorial boss. It’s not weird for a mascot to appear early, and in turn, appear often as well, right?
Then let’s talk about her moveset. Unlike Rathalos, who constantly flies out of reach, Rathian stays on the ground more. It makes her more balanced and engaging as an introduction to monster hierarchy.
With that in mind, Rather than keeping both as midgame bosses, why not just roll Rathalos’ moves into Rathian’s kit and call it a day? Both monster having similar looks and attacks just make one of them redundant and a waste of roster.
If that was not enough, Monster Hunter is already overflowing with Poison monsters anyway. Basarios, Gravios, Pukei-Pukei, Gigginox, Gypceros, Nerscylla, Chameleos, and numerous other creatures make said status effects a common thing. I definitely would gladly take another type of Flying Wyverns like what they did with Rey Dau in Wilds.
Funny enough, despite being the face of the franchise, Rathalos wasn’t even the first monster Capcom designed for the series. The original Monster Hunter logo actually featured Rathian because she was the first creature created for the game. That also considered, Rathian can easily take over — and actually deserves — the mascot role.
If Capcom insists on keeping both Rathian and Rathalos, they really need to make their existence more interesting. Take Teostra and Lunastra in World as an example. The lion-like Elder Dragons have a powerful Bonding Attack when they appear together, engulfing the hunting area with unquenchable flames. Rathalos and Rathian, despite supposedly being an iconic duo, have never had anything like that.
Now, while I do advocate for the removal of ‘base’ Rathalos, I don’t mean Capcom should just scrub his entire family tree. Rather than making his role redundant in midgame, the team should reserve him for late-game content. The easiest way to do so is keeping stronger subspecies or variants like Silver Rathalos and ditch the base version.
By keeping a variant of Rathalos as a late High Rank or even G/Master Rank monster, players would actually feel like they’re hunting a king. His presence would be more impactful and make him a true test of skill. This way, he could still hold onto his apex predator status or mascot without feeling like an overused mid-tier boss.
I don’t think I’m alone in this radical opinion, though. I’ve seen plenty of Monster Hunter fans, especially those who’ve played for a long time, have voiced similar complaints. While undoubtedly some still love Rathalos — let’s be honest, that armor is iconic — many feel that he’s become a tacked-on tradition. Even in Generations Ultimate intro he jobbed to Astalos.
Capcom has done a great job of keeping the series fresh with new monsters and gimmicks, even if some don’t last. But letting Rathalos step aside for a couple of title could open the door for more creative monsters, I think. Seriously, please give Rathalos a break. I’ve fought him enough and he still barely drop those rare Plates.
