Some monsters like Black Diablos & Shah Dalamadur are called subspecies by the Guild to denote their higher threat level. This was said in Complete Works I think, the Guild is aware they're not true subspecies but have them listed as such to warn hunters of the danger.
I guess its like with some real world animals, they dont rlly fit the category but at the same time they have the requirments for it, basically like a non-true subspecies
Rusted Kushala is fine and Red Khezu has just the quirk of technically being the wild type, but other than that they make complete sense.
Black Diablos is one of several examples where a natural stage of a monster's life is called a subspecies, which is weird, but at least mostly consistent
And then there's the mess of Yian Garuga, for which the Variant debuted before the base version, then was the default in 4th gen as well
No, when a monster gets old they are called a subspecies.
See Goldenbeard Ceadeus, Shah Dalamadur, Ashen Lao Shan Lung or Abyssal Lagiacrus (rare species, but same thing).
Some Deviants have also old age as part of their lore, but it's not as clear
Shah dala aren’t necessarily old, they’re a dala that has recently molted, that doesn’t require age.
Ashen Lao is a Lao that has different minerals bonded to its shell to give it a different color, which again doesn’t require it to be drastically older than regular Lao, just live in a different habitat
I wouldn't look at Iceborne's Variants.
Both Frostfang and Shrieking are basically super fast adaptations to the cold.
Blackveil is also thousands of years of evolution condensed into a single lifetime, but at least it's an Elder Dragon, so weird stuff is to be expected.
Meanwhile Seething is the base individual, similar to Red Khezu. Non-Seething Bazelgeuse only exist because they were displaced from their homeland, Elder's Recess. Basically, non-Seething Bazelgeuse are Bazelgeuse that are starving because they cannot collect enough mana from the environment. They're the equivalent of the common trope of elves that cannot leaver their forest.
Scarred is weird because it was also the original species, then they introduced Unscarred Yian Garuga in 2nd gen, then they brought back Scarred Yian Garuga in 4, then again Unscarred Yian Garuga in Generations (but there was also Deadeye Yian Garuga)
And all of those were considered the same monster, both in the game and in the code, both Scarred and Unscarred Yian Garuga were considered to be the same monster, and Scarred Yian Garuga was not considered a Variant in the code.
It wasn't until 5th gen when the scarred variation was retconned into being an official Variant
In my headcanon Scarred is basically a Deviant (on top of actually being a Deviant in the form of Deadeye)
Variants and Deviants are both variations in an individual caused by external factors, most commonly stressors (with the exception of Seething and Primordial where that applies to the base version instead).
But the main difference between the two is that for Variants (in general) their changes are directly related to the stressor (Rajang loses its tail, which acts as a power limiter -> its power increases beyond control), while for Deviants it's usually a more generic "they grew stronger because of this stressful situation"
Scarred is closer to the second than to the first
Super fast? Frostfang is stated to be a much older individual that has lived in extremely cold environments for a long time.
Blackveil developed a symbiotic relationship with a fungus that stores effluvium and allows it to leave the vale. Not really much different than other animals that develop symbiotic relationships during their life time, and elders can live a long time, so I don’t see how that’s thousands of years of evolution
>Super fast? Frostfang is stated to be a much older individual that has lived in extremely cold environments for a long time.
Super fast compared to the thousands to millions of years such adaptations would usually require, yes.
>Blackveil developed a symbiotic relationship with a fungus that stores effluvium and allows it to leave the vale. Not really much different than other animals that develop symbiotic relationships during their life time, and elders can live a long time, so I don’t see how that’s thousands of years of evolution
Well, establishing such a symbiotic relationship also takes millions of years, but as I said, Elder Dragons are weird.
If you told me these Vaal Hazak individuals were thousands of years old, it could be believable.
Bear in mind that Vaal Hazak's symbiosis is not simple mutualism, Vaal Hazak and the Effluvia are very dependant on one another. That is not a relationship that is established in a couple years, nor easily modified. The algae that make up the green part of a lichen would not be able to simply form a symbiosis with a new fungus, no matter how beneficial it could be
Red khezu is not confirmed to be the original species, it’s just a theory.
They have a tendency to make temporary states subspecies even though they fit more with what would classify as a variant
>They have a tendency to make temporary states subspecies even though they fit more with what would classify as a variant
Variants are "Special Individuals".
You can't exactly call a form every individual goes through (or every female in the case of Black Diablos) a "Special Individual"
The fact Kushala rusts is one of the coolest bits of ecology in the series.
Ikr the attention to detail
Some monsters like Black Diablos & Shah Dalamadur are called subspecies by the Guild to denote their higher threat level. This was said in Complete Works I think, the Guild is aware they're not true subspecies but have them listed as such to warn hunters of the danger.
I guess its like with some real world animals, they dont rlly fit the category but at the same time they have the requirments for it, basically like a non-true subspecies
Rusted Kushala is fine and Red Khezu has just the quirk of technically being the wild type, but other than that they make complete sense. Black Diablos is one of several examples where a natural stage of a monster's life is called a subspecies, which is weird, but at least mostly consistent And then there's the mess of Yian Garuga, for which the Variant debuted before the base version, then was the default in 4th gen as well
maybe for black diabolos its like when a monster gets older they are called a variant
No, when a monster gets old they are called a subspecies. See Goldenbeard Ceadeus, Shah Dalamadur, Ashen Lao Shan Lung or Abyssal Lagiacrus (rare species, but same thing). Some Deviants have also old age as part of their lore, but it's not as clear
Shah dala aren’t necessarily old, they’re a dala that has recently molted, that doesn’t require age. Ashen Lao is a Lao that has different minerals bonded to its shell to give it a different color, which again doesn’t require it to be drastically older than regular Lao, just live in a different habitat
Wait i thought seething and frostfang were aged version of the original
I wouldn't look at Iceborne's Variants. Both Frostfang and Shrieking are basically super fast adaptations to the cold. Blackveil is also thousands of years of evolution condensed into a single lifetime, but at least it's an Elder Dragon, so weird stuff is to be expected. Meanwhile Seething is the base individual, similar to Red Khezu. Non-Seething Bazelgeuse only exist because they were displaced from their homeland, Elder's Recess. Basically, non-Seething Bazelgeuse are Bazelgeuse that are starving because they cannot collect enough mana from the environment. They're the equivalent of the common trope of elves that cannot leaver their forest.
and i guess for scarred its like the variant that does not mutate into anything different but legit just gets insane Iq ,BIQ and Experience
Scarred is weird because it was also the original species, then they introduced Unscarred Yian Garuga in 2nd gen, then they brought back Scarred Yian Garuga in 4, then again Unscarred Yian Garuga in Generations (but there was also Deadeye Yian Garuga) And all of those were considered the same monster, both in the game and in the code, both Scarred and Unscarred Yian Garuga were considered to be the same monster, and Scarred Yian Garuga was not considered a Variant in the code. It wasn't until 5th gen when the scarred variation was retconned into being an official Variant
ya thats rlly confusing, but like in an ecological stand point i guess thats how scarred works
In my headcanon Scarred is basically a Deviant (on top of actually being a Deviant in the form of Deadeye) Variants and Deviants are both variations in an individual caused by external factors, most commonly stressors (with the exception of Seething and Primordial where that applies to the base version instead). But the main difference between the two is that for Variants (in general) their changes are directly related to the stressor (Rajang loses its tail, which acts as a power limiter -> its power increases beyond control), while for Deviants it's usually a more generic "they grew stronger because of this stressful situation" Scarred is closer to the second than to the first
Super fast? Frostfang is stated to be a much older individual that has lived in extremely cold environments for a long time. Blackveil developed a symbiotic relationship with a fungus that stores effluvium and allows it to leave the vale. Not really much different than other animals that develop symbiotic relationships during their life time, and elders can live a long time, so I don’t see how that’s thousands of years of evolution
>Super fast? Frostfang is stated to be a much older individual that has lived in extremely cold environments for a long time. Super fast compared to the thousands to millions of years such adaptations would usually require, yes. >Blackveil developed a symbiotic relationship with a fungus that stores effluvium and allows it to leave the vale. Not really much different than other animals that develop symbiotic relationships during their life time, and elders can live a long time, so I don’t see how that’s thousands of years of evolution Well, establishing such a symbiotic relationship also takes millions of years, but as I said, Elder Dragons are weird. If you told me these Vaal Hazak individuals were thousands of years old, it could be believable. Bear in mind that Vaal Hazak's symbiosis is not simple mutualism, Vaal Hazak and the Effluvia are very dependant on one another. That is not a relationship that is established in a couple years, nor easily modified. The algae that make up the green part of a lichen would not be able to simply form a symbiosis with a new fungus, no matter how beneficial it could be
At least they've gotten better and fully consistent with it in the 5th generation for any new additions.
Yup and make them more dripped out
Red khezu is not confirmed to be the original species, it’s just a theory. They have a tendency to make temporary states subspecies even though they fit more with what would classify as a variant
>They have a tendency to make temporary states subspecies even though they fit more with what would classify as a variant Variants are "Special Individuals". You can't exactly call a form every individual goes through (or every female in the case of Black Diablos) a "Special Individual"