Lore-Related Discoveries (spoilers ahead)

[Blinky Dorf]

I've got a few hours into the game now (more than a few), and I just wanted to share some interesting things I've witnessed in-game, as well as some (completely unfounded) theories regarding in-game events. I actually started a fresh character specifically so I could re-experience the early game and pay more attention to the background. Please post anything else interesting you have discovered here as well!

Ancient Forest:

The Mosswine, while out and about on its foraging routes, will sometimes leave the heavily forested areas. I followed one to see where it went; it wandered off to the western section of the map, sniffed some Rathian tracks, and then panicked and sprinted back into the forest.

Anjanath will occasionally head up to the higher parts of the forest. One particular spot overlooks the Gathering Hub back at Astera; its glittering red flags in full view. The Anjanath will sit down, stare at the Gathering Hub, and unfurl its fins for several minutes. My theory is that the Anjanath thinks the Hub is a rival monster, and is putting on a territorial display. This would also explain why the Anjanath is such a problem around Astera in the beginning of the game; the Hub's flags are riling it up.

Zorah Magdaros:

We understand that Zora is making its journey to die in the Rotten Vale , but that doing so would be catastrophic to the surrounding region (and Astera). And while we (the various fleets and hunters) do our darnedest to stop this, I think the problem would have sorted itself out with the appearance of Nergigante , who would have stopped this from happening, even without player interference. An ecosystem that takes care of itself.

Have you guys noticed things like this in your own playthroughs? Or, for the veteran Monster Hunters out there, were there events in previous games that disprove these theories (or clarify other events in World)?

[TheRaienryuu]

Brother the game is from 2018, no need to warn for spoilers lol. Love to see the theorycrafting and deep dive you're doing though :)

[Blinky Dorf]

Originally posted by TheRaienryuu:

Brother the game is from 2018, no need to warn for spoilers lol. Love to see the theorycrafting and deep dive you're doing though :)

With Wilds coming up, I wanted to be mindful of the new players that may try the older games. And thank you! There's a whole bunch of cool stuff that I glossed over the first time because my friends told me the story in World doesn't matter.

[Veritas]

I'm not going to bother marking stuff as spoilers since the title already assumes such and this game has been out a long time.

Rotten Vale is where MOST monsters in the new world go to die to sustain the entire ecosystem, however Zorah was lured away by Xeno'jiiva towards the Elder's Recess (where it would have ruptured the Everstream and caused a huge release of energy all at once). Most players miss this next bit, but the Handler actually comments (without voiceover) about the air in Elder's Recess, asking if "it smell sweet" to you when you first visit as an expedition, hinting further at the pheromones of Xeno'jiiva (and ultimately, Xeno is the cause of the Elder Crossing phenomenon)

What the origins are exactly of Xeno'jiiva are aren't clear, but it's very heavily implied it's from a comet that struck the new world (and from other games, namely Lost Planet 2, Capcom does love its extraterrestrial monsters that defy standard classification). From other Monster Hunter games, well... Fatalis lore exists, an alien monster isn't as out there as a dimension-hopping reincarnating black dragon that becomes powerful enough (white fatalis) to literally come out of dimensional portals during an eclipse (this is its opening cutscene in MH4U)

Anyway, back to Zorah, it was unusual as an Elder itself in that it stores a bunch of energy as it matures and travels, and we know from an adolescent Safi'jiiva in Iceborne its ultimate goal is to absorb enough energy to push through its lifecycle. Zorah's death in the new world would have been the kickstart Xeno'jiiva needed to more quickly reach maturity regardless of the consequences; after all it doesn't feed the same way other monsters do, and is probably some sort of alien-- what's to say it couldn't just leave afterwards?

Ultimately, we repel Zorah, and it dies out at sea and becomes the Guiding Lands. Like, what else would it be? You get Zorah materials for master rank versions of its gear exclusively from bonepiles there, and every ecosystem of the new world is represented in its corpse-turned-landmass because Zorah visited them all and absorbed the energy and essence of each. As for how monsters even got there, it's handwaived away, but IS addressed-- after all, there is the side quest for introducing Rajang,which starts off with a hornless kirin that managed to cross an entire sea without flight.

Naturally, the second sighting of the Sapphire Star (See: Tale of the Five, a book in your personal quarters by your bed in Astera, when you get the private suite; it has some in-game mythology and truth about the New World continent) was actually a second comet, and so a second Xeno'jiiva we didn't slay came out from its cocoon and migrated to the Guiding Lands, slowly maturing into Safi'Jiiva with the new, more plentiful energy there. We stop it because it's manipulating the ecosystem again, and probably luring monsters like it did before, and working to absorb the energy it needs to mature again. We never get to see what that would have been, since we're successful in slaying it, but there's a lot of emphasis in the pre-hunt dialogues that it would move from ecosystem to ecosystem to get enough energy, endangering all the lands in the world of Monster Hunter, not just the Guiding Lands

And finally, Nergigante is a natural solution to Elder Dragon related problems, but Nergigante is only so powerful. It probably couldn't have dealt with Zorah Magdaros, Xeno/Safi'jiiva, or Shara Ishvalda on its own, which is part of why we see an "evolved"version of it in Iceborne with Ruiner Nergigante. We'll overlook the actual gameplay aspects of Nergigante for the sake of lore because unfortunately it's a total pushover lol

[Blinky Dorf]

Wow. Cool stuff I didn't notice! I had no idea there was a connection between Xeno/Safi and Zorah changing course; I figured Safi was an alien that absorbs planetary energy before shooting off into space again, but it luring Elder Dragons is super cool.

[ominumi]

The monster ecology is far more interesting than the ancient civilization lore. Most players just gravitate toward the human aspect rather than the monsters.

[Veritas]

Originally posted by ominumi:

The monster ecology is far more interesting than the ancient civilization lore. Most players just gravitate toward the human aspect rather than the monsters.

well, we're probably in for a healthy dose of the latter with Wilds. Sorry

[Mander]

Originally posted by Snazzy Dragon:

Snip

Smallish correction about Zorah Ecology.
Elder Crossing (the phenomenon the Guild has monitored for decades and in the end pushed for the 5 exploratory fleets), was also manipulated by Xeno’Jiva, but at its root seems to be a normal part of the ecological cycle of Zorah. The “Monster with a mountain of Fire on its back” when reaches the end of its life traverses the ocean, detonate (or to be more precise, give back to the earth its energy) and create new islands.
The New World is the “Elephant Graveyard” of Zorah, sum of many cycles, with the Guiding Lands a testament to previous crossings. Afaik, there is no link between “our” Zorah and the Guiding Lands. It’s a nice interpretation, but lack in supporting elements: moreover, a complete ecosystem spawning in the short months /year between us slaying Xeno’Jiva and exploring the Guiding Lands feels… difficult to sustain as hypothesis.
Ofc, such a cycle ripened with energy attracts parasites (Xeno, Shara) and predators to regulate the ecosystem (Nergigante/Ruiner Nergigante).

[ᔑᓭ∴ᔑリ⊣]

there is no way anjanath sitting down is a 'territorial display', its more likely its using its fins for temperature regulation similar to what actual sails in dinosaurs is theorised to be used for. no doubt it does use them that way, but if it was trying to threaten something it wouldnt be sitting and chilling while doing so lol

theres a lot of neat little details like that you can find, one of my favourites i noticed is that small monsters such as shamos will actually lift their head above water when they cross through it, never even considered that could be a thing in any video game honestly (easy to see in guiding lands)

something else i always liked was to read the descriptions of monster parts and other items, they got downgraded in MHW unfortunately but for old games and thankfullly wilds it can be a good way to get a little extra worldbuilding out of the game, even the descriptions of equipment can be fun to check. for a random example fatalis armour claiming to grow over and possess the wearers of it :D

if you arent a vet / obsessed maniac, then theres probably lots of little things youre missing, have you heard that deviljho was originally classified as an elder dragon by the guild? its cool man monster hunter is so cool i love it
you should try browsing the fandom wiki and such if you want to read more for the lore side of things, not all of it is considered canon as people take info from things like art books and old concepts (such as equal dragon weapon) but its still fun to read through and theorise stuff. there isnt too much info on things like dragon element and the bioenergy introduced in world so its very open to different theories

[JPM岩]

Nergigante isnt theres to stop Zorah, it's there to stop the hunters. It WANTS zorah to explode to absorb it's energy, and the hunters trying to stop it are considered a "threat".

[Mander]

Originally posted by JPM岩:

Nergigante isnt theres to stop Zorah, it's there to stop the hunters. It WANTS zorah to explode to absorb it's energy, and the hunters trying to stop it are considered a "threat".

Considering Nergigante reproduction (they uses their quills as shards of themselves, lodging their “eggs” in any being with enough energy to sustain them and growing from there)…
Why not both?
While Hunters see Zorah as a monster to stop, Nergigante may look at Zorah like a host for their larva.
Coincidentally, Nergigantes using Zorah energy to develop from eggs would also diffuse its energy in a safe way.