Yian Garuga

Yian Garuga is a Bird Wyvern that debuted in Monster Hunter Freedom, but received a design and ability overhaul in Monster Hunter Venture.

Physiology
Yian Garuga's body is covered in iridescent purple, thorn-like feathers that are largest on its back, the tips of its wings, and the end of its tail. These feathers are surprisingly tough, acting like the armored shells of most other wyverns, and the ones on the tip of its tail can be launched as venomous projectiles. Yian Garuga's head is tipped with a large, jagged beak, and it has two bright purple, batlike ears that fan out when it becomes enraged. It also has a silver mane of feathers around the edge of its face.

Behavior
Surprisingly aggressive for a Bird Wyvern, Yian Garuga will attack almost any creature that approaches it. It is relentless in its pursuit of prey, but rather than engage its stronger foes head-on, it uses its venom and natural cunning to wear them down to the point of exhaustion. In addition, it is also quite crafty and will avoid most traps.

Useful Information
Yian Garuga is clever, but it is possible to outwit. Once it enters its Rage Mode, it becomes so aggressive that it loses its wily demeanor and will leave itself open for attacks. The key to overcoming Yian Garuga is to keep it in Rage Mode for as long as possible, thus denying it the opportunity to lay traps and blindside hunters.

Placement in Food Chain
Yian Garuga is at the top of the food chain. Like Deviljho and Rajang, it has a tendency to roam from area to area. Since Yian Garuga are highly aggressive and have a propensity to brutally attack anything that comes near them, they have the potential to seriously disrupt the ecosystem of the areas they hunt in.

Behavior towards Other Monsters
A very aggressive creature, Yian Garuga will attack any creature that approaches it. Smaller threats may be subject to a barrage of its poison thorns or its fiery breath. Against bigger and more powerful opponents, it uses its sharp talons and hard-edged beak to slash at their faces, in some cases even attempting to peck and claw their eyes out.

Tracks
Like most monsters, Yian Garuga will leave behind Footprints on the ground. It can also leave behind Venomous Thorns embedded in the ground or into walls, Impaled Carcasses on the ground, and Scratches on walls.

Specific Locale Interactions
Yian Garuga does not have any specific locale interactions.

Special Behaviors
Yian Garuga will typically seek out areas with good environmental coverage (forests, rock formations, etc.) and use them to hide. From its hiding spot, it will take advantage of a hunter's blindspots and launch long-ranged attacks designed to harry, interrupt, and exhaust its prey.

Cutscenes
Ecology Cutscene: The Jungle Has Thorns

Late at night, the hunter follows a wounded Yian Kut-Ku deeper into the Verdant Jungle. This is only part of a larger assignment--recently, it has been reported that small monsters in the Verdant Jungle are dying at an alarming rate as if something is systematically eliminating them.

As the hunter goes deeper into the jungle, more and more bodies start to appear. Aptonoth, Slagtoth, Kelbi, Velociprey, and Bullfango appear in various states of decay--but strangely, none of them appear to have been eaten. The hunter examines the body of an Aptonoth and finds that it has several large purple thorns embedded in its side. After taking a research sample from the thorns, the hunter goes deeper into the jungle.

The hunter comes to one of the deepest, darkest parts of the jungle, almost entirely covered in dense foliage. Strangely, there are almost no carcasses in sight--until the sound of squawking and flapping draws the hunter's attention to the treetops. The treetops are laden with small monsters, and even what appear to be a few hunters: all impaled to the branches by the same purple thorns the hunter collected from the Aptonoth. But this is not the only thing that catches the hunter's attention. In the trees above them, the Yian Kut-Ku they were following is now fighting an unseen monster, and though the fight is obscured by the trees and the low light, it's clear the Yian Kut-Ku is fighting a losing battle.

Suddenly, there is a loud snap, and all goes silent. The Yian Kut Ku's body falls from the treetops above the hunter, its neck broken by its unseen adversary. And, once again, its body is wounded by the same purple thorns. As the hunter goes to examine the body, two baleful orange eyes leer down at them from the canopy...

Then, without warning, the unknown monster leaps down from the trees to attack the hunter. As it does, it lets out a loud howl that levels some of the smaller trees around it. In doing so, it reveals its identity--Yian Garuga! The hunter draws their weapon to take on the Yian Garuga, and the hunt begins.

Rage and Tired States
Rage State: Yian Garuga's ears will fan out, the thorns on its back will rise, and its beak will begin to emit wisps of smoke and fire. In this state, it is more frantic and direct with its attacks, but it is also much less subtle and thus easier to fight head-on.

Tired State: Yian Gargua's mane will flatten and it will drool from its beak. It will also get its beak stuck in the ground at the end of its pecking attacks.

Abilities
The venomous feathers lining Yian Garuga's body give it the ability to poison nearly anything it comes into close contact with, although the ones on its tail are the most potent. It uses this tail as a bludgeoning weapon, or to launch especially sharp feathers that act as venomous darts. Rather than engage its enemies directly, it prefers to launch these sharp feathers from a distance, then move in for the kill once its prey is weakened. It also possesses a loud, high pitched howl that can stop its enemies in their tracks, as well as blow down large trees. Yian Garuga strategically uses this roar to halt its prey so that they cannot react to its attacks.

Aside from its venomous feathers, Yian Garuga's main physical weapon is its chisel-edged beak. Once it flies into a rage, it will use this beak to rapidly and relentlessly peck at any living creature it believes it can kill. In this state, it will also spit out explosive fireballs.

Mounts
Yian Garuga can be mounted on its head and its side. Its small size and the thorns lining its body make it difficult to hold a position anywhere else on its body. When mounted, it will violently thrash about and attack wildly as if enraged in an attempt to rid itself of the hunter. Failing to mount a Yian Garuga properly can have disastrous consequences, as it will catch a hunter in its beak and repeatedly slam them into the ground.

Taxonomy

 * Kingdom: Animalia
 * Phylum: Chordata

Despite its appearance, Yian Garuga is only a distant relative of true birds and is more closely related to flightless monsters like Kulu-Ya-Ku.
 * Order: Saurischia
 * Suborder: Theropoda
 * Family: Caegnathidae
 * Subfamily: Aurisornithurae
 * Genus: Occicorvus
 * Species: O. spinovirosus

Habitat Range
Yian Garuga have been observed in the Vast Frontier, Wild Savanna, Verdant Jungle, Royal Forest, Black Mire, and Death Caverns of the Lost Continent. As the natural predator of Yian Kut-Ku, it prefers to live in areas with a high Yian Kut-Ku population. However, it is not averse to living anywhere that there is an abundance of smaller prey for it to consume.

Ecological Niche
Already one of the strongest and most feared Bird Wyverns, Yian Garuga are an even greater threat on the Lost Continent. They display a worrying combination of hostility and shrewdness, allowing them to prey on nearly anything they choose. By stunning their prey with their deafening howls and then impaling them with venomous spikes, they are some of the most effective hunters of small game--by contrast, their aggressive nature can cause even the bravest of predators to keep their distance. Only other super-predators like Deviljho and Rajang can hope to challenge a Yian Garuga--and even these can be sent fleeing from a strike of the Yian Garuga's tail.

Biological Adaptations
Yian Garuga is an exclusively nocturnal hunter. It is aided by a keen sense of hearing and excellent night vision. Its dark purple feathers allow it to blend in with the darkness, making it very hard to spot. Preferring to kill from a distance, it uses its venomous feathers as darts. Each one contains enough venom to kill a Bulldrome. These feathers have another use: once the Yian Garuga has slain a prey item, it uses its feathers to impale that prey to the ground or to a tree, to be eaten later. It regrows new feathers in a few weeks, so it rarely runs out of them.

Behavior
Due to their violent and sadistic nature, Yian Garuga is a monster that is best avoided. They react with extreme aggression to any real or perceived threat from another creature, even from their own kind. As such, Yian Garuga are mainly solitary, only coming together to mate in the spring. Even this is a brief and violent affair that, in many cases, ends with the death and consumption of the male. Yian Garuga do not raise their own young: instead, they are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of Yian Kut-Ku. Due to its low intellect, the Kut-Ku will raise the Yian Garuga chicks as its own despite how different they are from their Kut-Ku siblings--this inevitably ends with the Yian Garuga either outcompeting its siblings for food, or simply eating them. It then turns on its surrogate mother, and once this is done, it seeks out its own territory and prepares to begin the cycle over again.