Meet the Monsters #1 - Yakka

Monster: Yian Kut Ku

Name: Yakka (from YKK)

Role: Leader of M.H.H.

Bio: He is the only actual competent wyvern of MHH but ultimately, it is his loyalty to his pathetic and incompetent friends which keeps him down. He is critical of other members of MHH, often insulting them. While not always correct, the other members of MHH rarely question his judgment. Overbearing and impatient, he nevertheless puts up with the various idiosyncrasies of his gang. He has a weakness for a particular female hunter that shows up from time to time. He is secretly in love with her but will not admit it to the MHH crew and this leads to many problems which he invariably blames on others.

Meet the Monsters #2 - Hacha

Monster: Gypceros

Name: Hacha

Role: No. 1 Sidekick / Moron

Bio: Unlike most Gypceros, Hacha is not a coward but this is because he is totally stupid and doesn't know any better. Born with a complete lack of danger sense, he will pick fights with bigger monsters, expecting his gang to back him up. This gets him and the gang beat up quite often. Clumsy beyond belief, he is more likely to harm his fellow MHH members in a fight than do any real damage to the enemy. He is genuinely good with young monsters (due to the comparable intellect). Other than that, his only saving grace is his complete loyalty to his friends. He never tries to do harm, he just is a walking accident waiting to happen.

Meet the Monsters #3 - Bokki

Monster: Khezu

Name: Bokki

Role: MHH Lieutenant / Ladies Man

Bio: Bokki is a lover, not a fighter. It's true that while some female monsters can be swayed by his sweet talk, he is of absolutely no use in a fight. As he is blind and lacks any sort of combat ability, he is a major threat to everything and everyone around him. Yakka's current standing orders are to "Unless I say so...never, ever, never, EVER use your shock attacks...ever!" Bokki's only useful talent is the ability to recognize female pheromones from just about any female animal at great distances. However, if he uses it too much, he may become overcome with lust and uncontrollable until knocked out by a swift blow to his head.

Meet the Monsters #4 - Runtalos

Monster: Rathalos

Name: Ryu / "Runt-alos"

Role: MHH Junior Member / Whipping Boy

Bio: A junior member of MHH, Ryu is a runt among Rathalos'. Doted on by his mother (a powerful Rathian), she reluctantly allows Yakka and MHH to show him the other environments of the land because he is too reluctant to leave Forest & Hills. Yakka believes that Ryu will ultimately be his "ace in the hole" when Ryu grows up. An unrepentant, self-professed coward, Ryu is constantly losing his tail in fights. Ryu is called "Runt-alos" by the members of MHH, but never when his mother is present.

Meet the Monsters #5 - Apsy

Monster: Apceros

Name: Apsy

Role: MHH Junior Member

Bio: Of the few times Hacha has managed to capture his own prey (usually, he relies and Yakka to feed him), he usually lets them go out of pity. In once such incident he captures a young Apceros. Unable to bring himself to eat it, he leaves it to the others to eat. However, just as they are about to chow down, members from the rival gang of Velocipreys steal their meal. Ultimately, MHH manage to defeat the Velociprey and retrieve their still living meal. Hacha breaks down and begs Yakka to allow him to adopt the young Apceros who he refers to as Apsy. For some unknown reason (perhaps due to trauma), Apsy cannot speak.

Meet the Monsters #6 - Ko'u & Yo'u

Monster: Kelbi

Name: Ko'u & Yo'u (pronounced KOH-OO and YOH-OO)

Role: Oracles / Creepy Bastards

Bio: Kou and You are pretty clever as far as Kelbi go. In fact, they are smarter than average monsters and their ability for reasoning is even above the capacity of humans. This quirk has made them quite mad and they have decided that in order to ascend to an even higher state of consciousness, they must consume the flesh of humans. This makes Kou & You and the MHH natural allies. MHH protect Kou & You from the Velociprey gangs and they, in turn, give MHH leads on where to find humans to hunt as well as detailed plans and tactics as to how to take down humans. Their biggest pet peeve is being called "the twin kelbis". First, they are not twins. Second, "kelbi" is the plural form of "kelbi"...there is no "S" goddammit.

Meet the Monsters #7 - Red

Monster: Velocidrome

Name: Red

Role: Leader of V-Prey Gang / Yakka's Rival

Bio: Red leads a band of Velociprey, all of who look identical to each other. He tried to learn their names but gave up since they couldn't even learn their own names. He is Yakka's equal in intellect but whereas MHH members are rowdy, uncontrollable, and stupid, Red's gang is merely stupid. They follow their orders to the best of their ability and without question but often get in each other's way trying to impress Red. A powerful fighter, Red is nevertheless weaker than any wyvern but uses his speed and agility to great advantage. He is never alone and can summon hordes of his Velociprey followers at a moments notice. Red lives to thwart the plans of MHH and often hunts for Kou & You to "put an end to their meddling".

New Banner Coming Soon!

Hey Guys!

I've been working on a new banner and some avatars for the cast! Above is one I'll use for the signature on forums. I'll be updating with more art soon! ^__^ Thanks and enjoy!

UPDATE 1:11pm - I've updated the blog banner and added a little drawing of a Felyne mascot on the profile. :3

Stay Tuned!

Greetings Fellow Hunters and

Welcome to Monster Hunter Hunter!

Monster Hunter Hunter is a comic about Monster Hunter taken from the perspective of the game's true stars...the MONSTERS!

Art is by me and story is written by Joseph Wong and we are both avid Monster Hunter fans! We've worked together on previous projects such as the "Islands in the Sky" comic. Check back soon for the first comic... for now, here is a preview of a few of the cast!

Happy 2nd Anniversary, Monster Hunter!

Ever since my friend introduced me to the PS2 version, I became a Monster Hunter evangelist and tried getting more and more people into the game. When Freedom came out, I was working at Shaba Games and each day gathered my friends around 5pm to quest. I helped train them and created laminated Combo Cards made from Combo Lists, Felyne Kitchen Recipies, and art from the original Japanese Monster Hunter game manual. I laminated them and gave these to each of my fellow hunters as a little cheat-sheet when learning the game.

I bought and played every version of Monster Hunter released in the US from PS2 to present. I have never pirated any import Monster Hunter games due to my loyalty to Capcom, and therefore I try to buy official copies from Japan when I can.

On September the 21st, 2006 I celebrated the 2nd Anniversary of the North American launch of Capcom's Monster Hunter for PS2.

For the occasion, I threw a Monster Hunter Anniversary Party for my fellow hunters! I actually  drew Poogie on a cake with icing, and prepared some snacks based on the game! Buffalo Butter was Cookies & Cream Ice Cream, Clam Chips & Fruity Jam were Doritos and Salsa, Meat Scraps was Beef Jerky, Meganuts (my nickname for Mega Nutrients) were caramelized nuts!

Then we went on a quick Kut-Ku hunt on Monster Hunter Freedom for the PSP. Here are some pics from the party and of the snacks and cake! Mmm, roooks tasty!!

Capcom Monster Hunter Freedom Photo Contest

These were taken on October 23rd, 2007 at Electronic Arts Redwood Shores, where I worked at the time. I gathered up my Monster Hunter friends and took a photo for the Capcom Monster Hunter Freedom Photo Contest. I even brought my little Poogies.

When I was teaching my friends how to play I gave them a customized Combo Card I created listing all the possible combos for items, as well as recipes for the Cooking Felynes; I also used some art from the original Monster Hunter Japanese manual.

We were SO excited to have won the contest!! ^___^

Namja Town!

One of my favorite moments in Japan, was when I went to Namja Town and they were featuring a whole Monster Hunter Airu Village theme! When you enter Namja Town, it's like a theme park inside the Sunshine City mall. There are rides and attractions for kids, a haunted house, and an awesome huge arcade (the Taiko Drum Master featured the Monster Hunter theme song, one of the many things you'll never find here in the US!! I love Japan!!)...

But most importantly, there are Japanese festival-style booths where you can find MONSTER HUNTER THEMED FOODS. I tried to eat all of them but I got so full after the 5th meal! When you order the food, they give you a sticker of the Monster Hunter item it represents.

I was soooo excited to be here, I was bouncing around, my heart was racing so hard and I was making tiny *squeeee* noises at every Monster Hunter thing I saw!

Khezu - Ice cream with wafers! This is one of my favorite wyverns in the original game! Ten points if you can guess why! I can't say why because it's NSFW! XD

Hermitaur Gyoza - Fried crab shell with pocky-like biscuits & potstickers smothered in seafood sauce.

Airu Village Hut - Cake filled with custard, topped with wafers, strawberries, cookies, and cream-cheese icing.

Tigrex Head - They made this on the spot! Cut and shaped frozen sherbet into a Tigrex head and painted it with strawberry, blueberry and lemon flavors. The eyes were made of chocolate pieces.

Well Done Steak - When I think about Monster Hunter, one of the most iconic things I think about is MEAT ON A BONE! This was actually two buffalo wing drumsticks wrapped with delicious BACON!

Poogie in a Blanket - Strawberry gelato with whipped cream, wafers and white chocolate inside a crepe!

This is a huge model of the Airu Village, completely made from sugar--perhaps marzipan or fondant? Look at the detail and the humor and love put into everything! What I would give to have this in my collection!

Airu Village mascot (nya!) in front of the area where people can sit at a table and play Monster Hunter or Poka Poka Airu Village!

Watermelon Poogie!! SO CUTE!! :3

OMG, I'm roasting a giant meat on a BBQ Spit. I even sang the song out loud! There's also a game in the "cafe" where you buy a ticket to roast a meat similar to this (it even plays the actual BBQ'ing song while you spin) and a marble drops out. You get Monster Hunter prizes according to the color of the marble!

There is also another game where you pay to buy a random prize ticket. Each ticket has a letter corresponding to one of these prizes below--but this pic just shows a small sampling of it!! I wanted that vinyl Tigrex soo badly!!

Tokyo Game Show 2010

The purpose of my quest to Japan was to attend Tokyo Game Show 2010 knowing they would debut the new Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, and in hopes I would get my hands on it!

I woke up at 4am in the morning and got there at around 6:00am, and the line was already huge--it wrapped around the TGS building (which seemed the size of two airplane hangars side by side) three times. I waited 4 hours to get in and it was muggy and hot. Nearly everyone carried handkerchiefs and towels to wipe down sweat, and DS's/PSP's to occupy the time. I was delirious from thirst, excitement and lack of sleep all at once, it reminded me of the scene in Genshiken where Madarame and the gang were waiting in the endless line for Comiket!

Capcom MHP3 Booth! Sugoi ne!!

Tables where 4 players can gather and play a quest!

I bought practically everything MH in the TGS Capcom store--unfortunately, some stuff sold out before I could get in!

I found tons of awesome MH cosplayers...

Banewulfe's MH Collection

I love Monster Hunter SO MUCH I am willing to HUNT for anything related to the game. In fact, besides going to Tokyo Game Show just to play Monster Hunter Portable 3rd and buy up the Capcom store, the other part of my QUEST in visiting Japan--TWICE--was of course, to acquire tons of Monster Hunter treasures.

This is why I love Akihabara in Japan, because you'll find things there you'll never knew existed... when I first walked into one of the stores flanked with Monster Hunter stuff, I felt like I had died and went to Heaven, or I was walking through a blissful dream...

This is a 20000 Yen ($200) silver pendant I bought in Akiba.

...and a silver Airu pendant!

I have three display cases full of figures and stuff... Here is the top of my Monster Hunter-themed display case.

Re-enacting a Gordiant battle scene from Lost Planet 2 PS3, where you get Monster Hunter costumes!

Baby Gordiant discovers Monster Hunter camp!

I have a pet hermit crab, named Daimyo, after the Daimyo Hermitaur! When I first got him, I planned to chop up a plastic toy Triceratops Head and paint it like an aged skull to mount it to the top of his shell. However, I read that the glue and paint would harm the crab so I decided against it. 

Two Hunters: "Shh, don't move. A Daimyo's broken into our camp and is raiding our supply box looking for peanut butter and human flesh..."

"Oh shit! He spotted us!"

"RUUUUN!!!!"

Rathian, Rathalos, Khezu, and Kutku chompin' on a Rare Steak!

Monster Hunter University backpack, and Hunting Club sweater, surrounded by some of my Poogie and Felyne plushies! Note the exclusive TGS 2010 Capcom Special DVD!

Just a couple of my favorite MH soundtracks, especially the Orgel which plays the MH themes with xylophone so it sounds like a music box. I own every MH soundtrack as far as I'm aware of.

MH towel I use for a banner above my living room.

Full collection of the fully-articulate MH figures (I wish Revoltech had made these because the joints aren't as tight so they are difficult to stand on their own, but they can interchange weapons which is cool!) And yes, that is real MH TOILET PAPER! Also, a shirt I bought in 2010.

These are the stickers you collect when you order the snacks at Namja Town!

Vinyl Rathalos, Salt and Pepper Shaker Felynes, Airu Village cups.

Poogie stack! The bottom one plays music and walks, the middle one wiggles his nose to sound. Monster Hunter mochi (I bought a box to eat and a box to keep)

Airu pen prize from Namja Town, Rathian keychain from TGS 2010.

Kutku wants to eat the poogies!

Monster Hunter books and games.

I love this little supply box, you can open and close the lid, so cute! I wish you could take out the mega potions, too! I also have a mega potion and meat keychain on my cellphone!

Namja Town prize from roasting the Well Done Steak and getting the golden ball!

Mugs

Poka Poka Airu Village for PSP!

Flip-flops! They make paw prints on the sand when you walk!

Quest stamps!!

Closeups of Ian/Los keychains.

Airu Village hut plushie "stool," but it's tiny so it's kinda hard to sit on. XD

Meat cookies!

Felyne cookies in vanilla and chocolate!!