Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
116,612
edits
Monster Hunter International: Difference between revisions
fixed unconverted camelcase link
No edit summary |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (fixed unconverted camelcase link) |
||
| (12 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{work}}
[[File:mhi1 7517.jpg|thumb|350px]]
{{quote|You know what the difference between me and you really is? You look out there and see a horde of evil, brain eating zombies. I look out there and see a target rich environment.
|Dillis D. Freeman Jr., as quoted in foreword}}
''Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable [[Warmup Boss|boss]] out of a fourteenth story window, he woke up in the hospital with a [[Good Scars, Evil Scars|scarred]] face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer.''
Line 13 ⟶ 14:
''Welcome to '''Monster Hunter International'''.''
MHI is a contemporary fantasy/horror/
MHI was originally self-published in 2008, but high sales through word-of-mouth advertising, especially on gun-related forums, attracted the attention of [[Baen Books]], which picked up the series.
Line 21 ⟶ 22:
The third book in the series, '''Monster Hunter Alpha''', picks up some time after Vendetta, with a change of protagonist. Earl Harbinger heads to a remote town in Michigan, to settle some old scores with one of his oldest foes, a vicious werewolf who served the KGB, and take him down for good. But there's another force waiting in the darkness, working to bring about a new breed of werewolves, and the only thing in their way are a handful of locals and a Determinator Earl Harbinger who won't die.
Following these first 3, which are collected in a hardcover omnibus, the series continued with '''Monster Hunter Legion''', '''Monster Hunter: Nemesis''',
The series has repeatedly reached #1 on Audible, proving popular enough in audio format that Audible's executives have solicited the author to provide advice for writers seeking to make their books better suited for audio release. Sample chapters of his work and several original stories can be found [http://monsterhunternation.com/ on Correia's blog], and a free ebook copy (in most common ebook formats) of the first work can be obtained from [https://www.baen.com/monster-hunter-international.html the publisher's website].
If you're looking for a completely different Monster Hunter, which is a video game, [[Monster Hunter|check here]]!
Line 30 ⟶ 31:
{{tropelist}}
* [[Ace Pilot]]: Skippy.
* [[Acronym Confusion]]: Invoked by MHI in ''Legion'' to mock unfriendly rival team PT (Paranormal Tactical), with each member coming up with mocking alternate meanings.▼
* [[Action Girl]]: Julie and Holly.
* [[Alliteration]]: Jerome Jermaine Jones, aka Trip to friends.
* [[All of Them]]: Milo's answer when asked how many gun laws Abomination breaks.
* [[Always Save the Girl]]: [[Playing with a Trope|Played with.]] At the big climactic showdown, {{spoiler|Koriniha cuts Julie's throat to encourage Owen to use the artifact's power. Owen realizes this would fubar the whole world by letting in the Old Ones, so he doesn't. As he's carrying Julie past what's left of Captain Thrall, Thrall uses the last of his appropriated artifact juice to heal her.}}
* [[Ascended Demon]]: {{spoiler|Agent Franks, who is told at the end of ''Nemesis'' he'll now actually be judged when he dies instead of being sent back to hell straight away.}}. There's at least one succubus with a PUFF exemption, but this is a result of being useful to the US government and willing to help them than actually becoming ''good''.
* [[Artifact of Doom]]
* [[Angels, Devils, and Squid]]
Line 46 ⟶ 47:
* [[Banging for Help]]: A French Hunter team trapped on the ''Antoine-Henri'' communicates this way with the MHI teams. {{spoiler|Well, they ''were'' a French Hunter team before the vampires got 'em.}}
* [[Black Dude Dies First]]: {{spoiler|Intentionally subverted, as the black guy, the Asian, and the stripper all survive to the end.}}
* [[Butt Monkey]]: Paranormal Tactical. Not so bad in ''Legion'', but blatant in ''Nemesis''.
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: When Owen is first briefed on how the world is secretly a [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink]], he asks about several types, many of which appear latter. Of particular note is {{spoiler|ghosts, which Owen is told exists, but MHI doesn't hunt because there is no body and thus no way to claim the PUFF bounty. Latter MHI struggles to deal with a ghost because they have no experience with them as a result of the before mentioned non-coverage}}.
** {{spoiler|Owen being named for the Owen gun used by his dad is a [[Prophecy Twist]].}}
Line 51 ⟶ 53:
* [[Cool Guns]]: Abounds with plenty of them, many with [[Gun Accessories]]. Subverted by Earl, who uses a basic M1928 Thompson submachinegun.
* [[Chosen One]]: {{spoiler|Lord Machado, the villain, and Owen, the hero, are both described in an ancient prophecy as being able to control an artifact that can grant power over time itself.}}
* [[Church Militant]]: A reference is made to the Vatican's own team of Hunters. {{spoiler|They show up in ''Nemesis''}}.
* [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe]]: Holy symbols have power over undead monsters by virtue of the belief placed in them. However, the biggest act of [[Holy Hand Grenade|faith-based ass kicking]] comes from {{spoiler|Milo, who shares the author's Mormon beliefs}}.
* [[Crazy Prepared]]: Most Hunters become this in the course of their work. The combat suit Hunters use is designed to be prepared for as many situations as possible.
* [[Dark Is Not Evil]]: The orcs wear mostly black, have warty green-grey skin, yellow eyes and tusks but are definitely good guys
* [[Dragon with an Agenda]]: {{spoiler|Koriniha, priestess to the Old Ones.}}
* [[Enlistment-Ending Minor Malaise]]: Owen was raised to be a perfect soldier by his decorated veteran father {{spoiler|who knew from his ow encounters with the supernatural that one of his sons was doomed to be central to the battle against [[Eldritch Abomination|the great old ones]]}}. When it came time to enlist, Owen was rejected for childhood asthma (which he no longer has) and flatfoot. Effectively free of his father's [[Training From Hell|harsh training]], Owen decides to become an accountant to get as far as possible from soldiery, until an encounter with his serial killer werewolf boss thrusts him into the world of professional monster hunting. Aside from being a poor runner, which is as much attributable to his massive size and heavy gear as it is his flatfoot, these health problems cause Owen little trouble.
* [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink]]: Pretty much every monster myth known is true. Most can be killed with sufficient application of [[More Dakka|dakka]], [[Stuff Blowing Up|explosives]], [[Kill It with Fire|fire]], or combinations of the above.
* [[Friendly Sniper]]: Being team sharpshooter, and an all-around nice girl, Julie is this.
Line 62 ⟶ 65:
* [[Government Agency of Fiction]]: The Monster Control Bureau.
* [[Gun Porn]]
* [[Highly-Visible Ninja]] The {{spoiler|Catholic Church's Secret Guard}} are ''very'' good at stealth, even called ninja by observers, but really bad at disguise, still openly being {{spoiler|very religious with lots of crosses and Latin prayers}} even when they're supposed to be disguised as "normal" people.
* [[Intimidating Revenue Service]]: MHI facing an audit is considered only ''slightly'' less vicious than the monsters they deal with.
* [[Interrogation as Framing Device]]: Used in ''Nemesis''. {{spoiler|It's actually Heaven, not the US Government, interrogating Franks.}}
* [[Implacable Man]]: Captain Thrall is very durable.
* [[A Man Is Not a Virgin]]: Subversion with {{spoiler|Trip}}. He is twenty-seven. Holly likes to playfully needle him about this.
Line 70 ⟶ 75:
* [[Named Weapons]]: Abomination, as noted above. Being a Saiga-12 shotgun, it's probably a [[Shout-Out]] to Firefly.
* [[Noodle Incident]] One team is unavailable when Earl calls all Hunter Teams to Alabama to deal with the threat, due to hunting a luska in the Bahamas. Owen is told he's better off not knowing what it is; the very name of the thing makes [[The Big Guy|Sam Haven]] shudder.
* [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup]]: Dippel ''did'' keep notes on his creation of {{spoiler|Franks}}, but his creation destroyed the notes by accident shortly after working. ''Nemesis'' is a [[Gone Horribly Right|successful]] attempt to reverse engineer the work.
* [[Nuke'Em]]: The MCB's backup plan for taking care of Lord Machado. {{spoiler|It misses him and instead annoys an Old One}}.
* [[Older Than They Look]]: {{spoiler|Harbinger is actually over one hundred but looks middle aged.}}
* [[Our Elves Are Better]]: Subverted. The elves live in the Enchanted Forest, a trailer park in rural Mississippi, and Queen Ilrondelia fits every [[White Trash]] stereotype in the book [https://web.archive.org/web/20131008064803/http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/tanya-princess-of-the-elves/ to a sickening degree].
* [[Our Orcs Are Different]]: They work for MHI as healers and as the pilot for their Mi-24 Hind; each has a special skill that makes them the best at what they do (Gretchen = Ultimate Healer; Skippy = Ultimate Hind Pilot). In Vendetta, Owen's brother speculates that this is the true origin of [[Badass Driver|The]][[Top Gear|Stig]].
* [[Prophecy Twist]]: {{spoiler|Owen fulfills the prophecy's requirements as well as the Cursed One did.}}
Line 99 ⟶ 105:
* [[Dead Guy, Junior]]: Milo's newborn daughter, named after {{spoiler|Sam Haven}}.
* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: {{spoiler|One of the Old Ones is killed when the protagonists use a doomsday weapon against it.}}
* [[Die or Fly]]: MHI's preferred method of recruitment is finding those who have survived (and preferably prevailed against) monster attacks already, showing they have the "Flexible Minds" to not be a liability on a hunt. They ''try'' to introduce those who survive but lack this ability to the only pair of mental health professionals that will actually give them care instead of paint them as nuts to protect the [[The Masquerade]], but the nature of the Unearthly Forces Disclosure Act they struggle to find such people.
* [[Ditch the Bodyguards]]: Owen is instructed by the Monster Control Bureau to stay at MHI's compound as bait for the [[Religion of Evil|Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition]]. However he's a pro-active kind of guy, and prefers to take the fight to them.
* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: The aforementioned {{spoiler|shoggoth}}, who pulls a [[Heel Face Turn]] when ordered to kill the only person who has ever loved it.
Line 122 ⟶ 129:
* [[Religion of Evil]]: The Sanctified Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition serve the [[Eldritch Abomination|Old Ones]], and want to deliver Owen to them to curry favor. Oh, and they're [[necromancer]]s.
* [[Shapeshifter Guilt Trip]]: Invoked repeatedly while the team tries to beat some information out of a Doppelganger.
* [[Take That]]: When Owen finds out the Monster Control Bureau are fighting the above mentioned [[Religion of Evil]] he asks why the feds don't just burn their church to the ground [[wikipedia:Waco siege|like they normally do]]. When he doesn't get any bites he notes the agents present either don't get the reference or are too [[The Stoic|stoic]] to fall for his taunt.
----
== Monster Hunter Alpha adds the following tropes ==
* [[And Now for Something Completely Different|And Now For Someone Different]]: After following Owen's 1st person perspective for 2 books, ''Alpha'' shifts to Earl, with a 3rd person perspective for events in the present, and 1st person for Earl's diary.
Line 149 ⟶ 157:
* [[The Southpaw]]: Earl is right-handed, but shoots a sniper rifle left-handed so he can maintain his sight picture and work the bolt faster.
* [[Tastes Like Chicken]]: Averted with the luska. Earl doesn't care for the taste, but he was ravenously hungry on a full moon.
* [[Thirteen Is Unlucky]]: It's mentioned that monster hunting organizations, a very high risk profession, use a "Type 13" Federal Firearms License. This wouldn't be too unusual, but there are only 11, not 12, types of FFL in the real world and in universe monster hunting predates the scheme's creation. It seems someone in the government (which doesn't like civilian hunters) intentionally gave them the unlucky number.
* [[The Vietnam War]]: Elaboration is given to hints in ''Monster Hunter Vendetta'' that Earl and Owen's dad served in the same black ops team in Nam.
----
== Monster Hunter Legion adds the following tropes ==
▲* [[Acronym Confusion]]: Invoked by MHI in ''Legion'' to mock unfriendly rival team PT (Paranormal Tactical), with each member coming up with mocking alternate meanings.
* [[Broke the Rating Scale]]: On a 1-10 scale where werewolves are 2, nukes are 5, zombifying a nation is 8 (7 if it's an island) and dealing with an [[Eldritch Abomination]] is a 10, one should be very wary of anything ranked 14.
* [[Mistaken for An Imposter]]: Mosh is mistaken for a Mosh impersonator. Justified, he's in a costume store at the time.
* [[Take That]]
{{Quote|I ever tell you how much I despise [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Reid Nevada’s jackass senator]? The minute he heard there were Hunters on the hook he came sniffing for a deal. Only time he’s worried about a budget is when it comes to screwing over Hunters. Cutthroat rat bastard.}}
{{reflist}}
| |||