A massive deep dive into the king of the Fanged Wyverns, the Zinogre! We cover everything about this Monster Hunter icon, from his design, to his ecology, to his lore, and everything in between. There’s a reason why he’s a huge fan favorite!
Thumbnail Provided by: pokemattiedesigns@gmail.com
email: volcanicyt97@gmail.com
Patreon: patreon.com/user?u=94932041
Footage used from:
4U Apex Zinogre: https://www.youtube.com/@CantaPerMe
Tri Ult Stygian Zinogre: https://www.youtube.com/@HeavyWings
Howling Zinogre: https://www.youtube.com/@Sera9145
FFBE Zinogre: https://www.youtube.com/@KitCgame
Immortal Zinogre: https://www.youtube.com/@Ygnaris
I don’t own any rights to this song.
Everything goes to rightful owners
DISCLAIMER
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
music used in this video:
Zinogre theme P3rd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtPN7_6q2vA
Zinogre theme Rise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLJPw90gSVE
Zinogre theme Iceborne: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUTcBVe6c7s
Zinogre mount theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLpEGPw7iXs
Yukomo village theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7hMeeJ6P3I
Seliana theme night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw3C0jdWqy8&t=2s
Misty Peaks Theme MHGU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2fYSU-w-qE
35 Comments
Another of my first loves that I met when I started playing over two years ago, and while he isn’t my favorite Fanged Wyvern anymore, Lunagaron is, I think he’s such an incredible creature. My bias as a wolf lover is very obvious and I’m not sorry.
Zinogre is pretty great, was one of my favorites when i first started with 3u and or 4u (idk in wich game i encountered it first probably 4u). Nowadays i am a bit more critical and think its a bit overdisigned, but the shire quality of the fight allows me to ignore that.
I like stygian its pretty cool and a lot more difficult, bit heavy on the edge though.
Thunderlord is the best Zinogre in terms of its fight, the disign is kinda silly but the fight is so good that i can overlook that, that and the colorsheme is way better than the other two.
Kinda wish Zinogre (and most of the flagships) could sit a game out, think they kinda loose their magic when theyre just a standart inclusion…
I loved how in the older games, the duel blades can be made from both the main and sub species’ parts to make what can best be described as the Deviljho knives in my knife drawer
Alright then this time not as much from me, since i only ever encountered him in Iceborne so far.
But thank you for delivering this lore to us. I did not know about Amatsu being the reason why Zinogre even became a worry to the hunter guild.
And him being a more powerful version in the New World might even have another reason, thanks to the Everstream and it being the place for Elder Dragons to go and die.
I feel like the monster populations in the New World have long been seperate from the ones in the old world, besides strong flying wyverns like Rathalos and Rathian.
Anjanath bridging the gap between all three wyvern classifications, further connects Zinogre to the other wyverns.
Anjanath has wings like flying wyverns, the general body structure of Brute Wyverns and (what he shares with Zinogre) a fur coat made from simple downy feathers.
But overall Zinogre is a fine monster for me. I like the unique ecology he got in Iceborne, like howling to the moon in the Ancient Forest, but as a fight i do not enjoy him as much as I do Nergigante for example.
And thanks to me being a CB main his weapon never really bothered me, looking way to thick in the shield part to have an sort of change to cute in the axe mode.
Zinogre has always been a guilty pleasure for me. I’m not the biggest fan of flash monsters but some how some reason I just can’t get over zinogre. His design doesn’t look like a wolf nor dose he have anything comparable to wolf out side of the howling tho I do think he’s suppose to look more like a raiju a scaly lupine creature so in that’s case I don’t mind it’s look compared to something like say magnamalo or some frontier monsters tho I will say the design is wee bit spiky tho the spikes do have a biological purpose for venting out the electrical heat and home for the fulger bugs.
For his fight I think 5-gen really helped, his old gen versions are a wee bit annoying essentially with the clunky movement and restricted options. He feels a lot better to fight in 5 gen with the bet movement and options.
My favourite version of zinogre is the new world base zinogre for its much more restrained and slim design compared to the large chunky body of the old world design. Also it could have potential for monsters to have a different physiology depending on the continent they live with a different body plan.
Really Impressed at the First Intro even Including games that are not in the Mainline Game. Good Job!
Timestamps:
0:00 : Ode to the Thunderwolf
3:14 : Introductions
7:03 : Lore
28:45 : Combat
37:55 : Design
50:08 : Gear
56:49 : variations
1:20:38 : Music
1:26:54 Conclusion
I have mixed feelings with this guy, i don't think its bad or anything like that but for some reason i just struggle so much when i have to fight him, doesn't matter if it is low rank or master rank, if it is Rise or GU, i alwayz hit a wall wich makes me hate him, BUT, when i finally manage to get the rythm of the fight and complete the quest it feels really really good, so i can't really hate him for real, it feels like a nemesis or something 😂
Amazing video! Keep up the good work. 🙌
Before getting into this epic poem to honor Zinogre, I thought I'd pop into the comments and give some fun memories. I started the series with Rise, and Rathian made me really learn the game, but by god it was Zinogre that made me understand it. This guy kicked my butt back to Kamura 3 times, to this day the most any (normal) monster has carted me before a triumph. Since then, I've come to love the big shock doggo, he's not quite a Top 5 monster for me, but he's certainly Top 10. One of my favorite fights in Rise, GenU, and 4U, and Stygian is my favorite fight in all of World. I may not be the most OG fan of MH, but ZInogre has an effect on all of us.
Bruh CR, here's your crown, you are officially the most influential and best MH youtuber. 👑
Wonderful video I found these videos after watching Oceaniz's Ecology videos. As you were mentioning the design for Zinogre as someone who is currently in school for creative writing for comics. I will mention flow of art isn't necessary, but usually is pleasing to the eye with conformity with the flow of his scales ,fur, etc. Hence that why teach it usually for the inexperience to create better art, but rules are usually just suggestions in art. I will agree Iceborne's design is sleek.
46:12 From what I know the World book states that Fanged Wyverns are generally the oldest grouping and most of the other wyverns branched off from them. You can really see it in Zinogre and especially Tobi-Kadachi how something like that would occur. Generally tho I split Fanged Wyverns up into two smaller clases personally, the Mammal-like Fanged Wyverns (Zinogre, Magnamalo those folks) and the Lizard-like (Great Jagras, Dodogama and them). Generally you can tell whos more closer to who by the structure of their hands, Zinogre, Magnamalo and the Tobi's have one or more extended digits specialized for specific tasks generally prey capture and have "Fur" which is probably more then likely something similar to Picnofibers in Pterosaurs which can also explain why Zinogre's fur is so electrically absorbent as Picnofibers evolved from scales as do true feathers.
Which brings me to an interesting point that Odogaron tho Mammal-like in appearance is probably more closely related to something like Great Jagras then it is to Zinogre seeing as its "extended digits" arnt even real fingers but bones from its wrist and the complete absence of any fur.
Extra: Love the video btw, glad to see some Howling representation, despite the fight seemingly being insane most of his moveset is rather tame in comparison with the rest of the monsters and is very doable. He's the first Mouso I intend to take down once I gather the adequate gear because as of right now I would get squashed so hard lmao
Great video not really the biggest fan of Zinogre personally but I can respect him also HES A GIANT LIGHTNING PANGOLIN got a good laugh out a me
an hour and a half video on everyone's favourite thunder dog , this is amazing
I love these video's because they shine light on monsters what we know but don't think about it that much
What a fantastic video! Your improvement from prior videos is clear, and the consistent quality (Especially when faced with this titan of a video) is more than impressive. While my opinion on Zinogre is: He's good! 🙂 I was really drawn in by your deep dive into his history and lesser known characteristics. You deserve much more attention than you are getting, though I'm confident that your time in the spotlight is well on its way. Have a damn good day.
awesome video as always, and to answer your question zinogre is indeed a reptile. Like every wyvern in the series, zinogre is part of the order saurischia and has a saurischian hip bone (shown in concept art from the mh-illustrations-2 book).
on the subject of design i can only speak for myself here i personally never found zinogre to be over design, merely just flashy. everything about his design plays a proper role with his ecology and theme, his horns and spikes aren't as obnoxious as say magnamalo or some of the late game frontier monsters. if i were to critique his design is that the way it functions simply does not make sense to me, we know the fulgur bugs resides in his shocker's to provide him with his power, so logically zinogre would need to have his shockers out when not charged to better gather the bugs and when he does become charged he would have them closed shut to securely trap the fulgur bugs inside of him to better use their electrical power. to me its really weird seeing him leaking out all those fulgur bugs whilst running around when fully charged, pretty much wasting all that potential electrical energy.
Rathalos may have main character status but zinogre have whole badass side character who steal the main character show form main character status
The Ode to the Thunderwolf was nearly perfect… but you used the wrong roar at the end. See, Zinogre's roar went through a… change in Worldborne that I and many others disagree with. Compare the roar you used… with this one!
https://youtu.be/Jd58MqlbGvk?t=225
Much better right?
Fantastic video as always! It's stuff like this that sets monster hunter apart from the rest of the genre, the love and attention to detail to things like ecology, biology, etc. And the intricate details of their behaviors and fight mechanics. All that being said, I would like to say I'd love for zinogre to take a break in MH6, as his inclusion is becoming a bit tired and expected, similarly to diablos and Tigrex. Still an awesome monster, but it'd be great to see a monster that hasn't seen some light in a while take his place in the roster. Ala Seltas Queen or Malfestio
Also a quick note: i believe the rise "apex" monsters was a localization mistake that was made by the company that capcom outsourced the localization to. In japanese it likely translates totally differently
This video surely strengthened the appreciation i have for Zinogre. Let me first tell you my story with this marvelous unreal 3D videogame enemy:
My first ever in-game contact with this beast was in Generations. World was my first MH game and, after i beat it, since Iceborne wasn't out yet, i asked my sister to lend me her 3DS so i could saciate my hunger for new MH content.
I wasn't completly oblivious to the existance of many Old World creatures though, despite being a 5th Fleeter, because there was this brazilian MH channel called "Canal do Sieg" i watched. Through it i learned about the many wyverns, dragons, villages and cultures of this fictional world that was so new to me. All this apprenticeship may have taken out the surprise factor for some of the encounters i had in Generations, but it surely served to fomentate my anticipation for the fight i would unevitably have against Zinogre.
Being cautious enough to aim for his elemental weakness, but still too inexperienced to know the Gammott Sword & Shield was absolute garbage, i went full force (or full Gammoth, equipment wise) against the beast, and it wiped my ass.
I may not remember it on full detail. After all, that was 4-5 years ago, but it certainly left a good impression on me… Specially because i thought that 1 kilometer-high jump he did every time he changed areas was canon and not a game thing 💀
But yeah, i had the benefit of going clash against Iceborne Zino not completly blind, unlike most of my fellow World hunters.
My opinion surrounding his fight and moveset is that it has always been greatly designed, from edge to edge. When i fought his most original form, in Portable 3rd, all i could think was that, despite the lack of some actions i had seen him perform in more recent entries, he still had all he needed. He was a complete monster from the start, and all he got afterwards just complemented what was already great. Jesus i think this comment is getting a little too long (i will split it in two)
(Continuation of my previous comment)
He had the velocity, the agressiveness, the long-range, the heavy hits, but that was all still punishable.
I fought him thinking of how easy it was to dodge the paw slams. They were timed in a way that, even if you started dodging a little late, you could still avoid all the three hits. His 360 tail whip could be countered simply by rolling towards the oposite direction of the swing, and he would only do the back slam after getting reasonably far away. All he did to harm you could be percieved, avoided, and then punished, but also never failing to keep you on your edge, always offering high-risk in exchange for some good retaliation.
I also love the way you judged his design. Instead of going for the "too spiky" or "too anime" argument, which is honestly ridiculous, you made a real analysis and pointed out exactly what's wrong. It isn't the spikiness, but how it's displayed over the monster's boddy. If some of the spikes deviate from the rest that form the silhouette, they draw unnecessary attention, breaking the harmony.
Have you ever heard of Avell's channel? He combines multiple versions of monster hunter themes, including those from orchestral arrangements, creating what comes close to the "ultimate versions" of said themes. He did a Zinogre mix that takes the new Rise part and adds World's drum beats from the mount theme, along with some extra chamisen to add more flavor. People say it's the hypest form of Zinogre's theme they've ever heard.
What a masterpiece of a video! Honestly I rarely watch videos this long on YouTube. You managed to keep me not only entertained, but fascinated for an hour and a half.
Zinogre has always been one of my favorite monsters in the game and I believe he's an icon for the Monster Hunters series itself, he deserves a deep dive into its lore, design and combat.
I love that you gave the Stygian Zinger the respect it deserves, it is my favorite subspecies ever (in its Iceborne iteration) and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who truly appreciates it.
Your videos show the passion and genuine love you have for the series, so its great to be able to relate.
Keep up the content and I'm sure you'll receive a much deserved popularity soon.
1:09:54 Actually if I remember correctly, it was a translation error. In Japanese I think they are referred as "Leaders of the Pack" so a more accurate term that wouldn't conflict with 4 Ultimate would be Alphas.
You going in depth into zin has made me realize two things
1. Zin is cooler than I give him credit for
2. They gotta do what they’ve been doing with zin and give some of that panache to gammoth
The guitar in Zinogre's theme always makes me think of rain. The drums obviously bring to mind thunder and lightning, and the woodwinds bring the wind aspect, but there's enough distortion on the guitar that it sounds like this constant wall of noise just pouring down on everything.
I do not agree, he isnt a good, friendly, chubby, wobbly, snoozy, fluffy boy. I hate him every time he gets enraged it gives me Vietnam Flashbacks and i despise this.
This guy is partially the reason I love all the Fanged wyverns.
Tobi kadachi is in my 10 favorite monsters.
Odogarons and Lunagaron are exceptional monsters.
Jagras, Dodogama and Girros are nicely put together.
And Magnamalo…. Idk. I can't hate or love him. He's been controversial for me since his release.
But Zinogre?
8 years. 8 YEARS. He was one of the most unique and special monsters back in the day. There wasn't anything like him.
I think that's what made him so popular.
With all that it pains me to say that he should honestly take a break. He's been in every game including frontier and stories.
He's a classic and a good monster don't get me wrong. But I want other monsters to get that pice of glory he enjoys.
Astalos and Lagiacrus are the perfect examples as both are my favorite thunder monsters.
Zinogre is and will always be a good Boi. And now he ain't alone anymore
Ooooh got to the raiju bit and Manetric also is based on the same thing and wondered why it was blue and yellow,man such a nice design
The male chorus really reminds me of some of the skyrim soundtracks, although it is more in the background and lets the instruments do most of the work
Kinda funny how you described Wyvern Rex without saying its name while you give your theory on why the Zinogre isn't a dog. Wyvern Rex is said to be the ancestor of all wyvern.
Im sorry that title belongs to Narga.
I've always had a mixed opinion on zinogre because there's a lot to love about him but from a design standpoint he'd had issues
To start with the Possitives zinogre has a great theme, fight over all games, gear, ecology and lore with a Intresting rock paper scissors dynamic with gargwa and fulger bugs, a cool dynamic with amatsu and a awesome turf war with Mizutsune, one of the best subspecies in stygian and a great deviant in thunderlord, a great gimmick in being able to catch fulger bugs off his back and the fact he can eat a shock trap and charge up off it is very cool, and he's makes great use of his yokai inspiration, and a specific note on the iceborne incarnation if you look at the back of his spikes and his horn structure they look like they have honeycombs structures like you would see in a bee hive for the fulger bugs to rest/nest which is such a stupidy small but awesome detail that makes him feel more like a creature to me it's fantastic, this is all great stuff
Now for the negatives, now keep in mind I'm a big ecology guy and a avid unnatural history channel enjoyer so that's informing my opinion here, first of his design in the old games was…. Messy, he didn't look like a animal, he looked like a flashy smashy ball of spikes and brightness, to me, he clashed a lot, however iceborne did a world of favours to zinogre and helped to massively shift my opinion on him, making him acutaly fit together as a animal with better proportions, colour pallet and a better flow to the design as you said, but il still not a fan of his chin spikes and I would rather he just didn't have them at all, icebornes modle is absolutely the one that needs to be used in future tho. Now my second problem is the environments they put him in , zinogre seems to be designed to be a mountain/jungle/forest monster and seems to be native to the continent where most of them are found, so why he's in polar regains escapes me and the fact he's in the coral highlands when there's no big game for him to eat is just a bit bizarre, I'm also not a fan on how stygian is both a artic and Volcanic subspecies, I would like them to pick a lane on that one, I also miss stygians hovering/homing dragon balls and hope he gets them back in future, I also feel in iceborne he didn't give a very good showing in his turf wars, they didn't show of his power, I also don't like how he will just casually go about fully charged as the noise and glowing would give away his position to potential prey, in his ecology cutscene he littery scares away all the viable prey in the area for no real reason other then to look cool, the charged glowing should be a threat display agienst other large monsters and hunters only in my opinion, so I hope they can build on ways for him the charge up quick.
Well done to anyone who acutaly read this all the way through this essay of mine lol had a lot of zinogre thoughts I was To to get out there
CR doing gods work! What a fantastic video of my Fav. Monster from the whole franchise👏
Excellent video!