In the world of Monster Hunter, Elder Dragons are the most fearsome creatures that can be encountered and often share the ability to lay waste to large areas of civilisation or even cause unnatural changes to the ecosystem, necessitating the use of highly skilled and experienced hunters to deal with them. Even amongst the Elder Dragons, though, are a series of more formidable creatures again, Elders that are so powerful that they are considered to be on a whole other level entirely. They are known as ‘first-class dangerous monsters’, and have been given the label of Black Dragon in several games. Across the series’ mainline games, there are only five of these monsters known to exist, with a few additional ones appearing in some of the short-lived online games. The Black Dragons are described as living calamities with the power to cause incomprehensible destruction, so violent and deadly that their mere existence threatens the balance of nature and the survival of humanity. Three of these creatures are different versions of the fan-favourite Fatalis, a traditional fire-breathing dragon that served as the final boss of the online hunts for the very first Monster Hunter game.
Fatalis-or, strictly speaking, the White Fatalis-is unanimously considered to be the most powerful creature to ever exist, and it infamously wiped out an entire kingdom in a single night. The fourth, Dire Miralis, looks very unusual, with large rocky formations along its wings and back, and a mastery over molten lava that supposedly causes the oceans to boil. It is very much its own individual creature, but something about it is vaguely Fatalis-like and it is possible that it evolved from one years ago. The last of the five main Black Dragons is Alatreon, a formidable creature with two large horns emerging from its forehead and the only one that is demonstrably not related to the Fatalis family in any way. It has been called a living, breathing natural disaster, and has mastery over all of the elements. All records of its existence, too, have been destroyed for reasons unknown. Many of the series’ other monsters and final bosses have come close to earning the title of Black Dragon, but none have ever been officially given the title, just like none have ever rivalled these five terrible monsters in terms of power level. Until recently, that is.
The Emperor
Monster Hunter World revolves around investigating the Elder Crossing, where various Elder Dragons migrate across the ocean and leave the landmass assumed to have been the location of all previous games so they can head for the New World. Once there, they die from presumably natural causes and there is an incredible release of bioenergy from within them that meets in the Everstream. That’s all very wordy, but bear with me. When the protagonists find the point where the Everstream culminates, they discover an enormous cocoon that births a brand-new Elder Dragon; Xeno’jiiva. Whether the cocoon was formed from this bioenergy or if it was there all along and simply absorbed the Everstream for sustenance is unclear, but Xeno’jiiva is a large, otherworldly dragon that must be stopped lest it grow to maturity and do some real damage to the outside world. With the release of the Iceborne expansion and its subsequent updates, this comes to pass and the adult form of this new Elder Dragon, now known as Safi’jiiva, must be fought to prevent it from causing untold destruction. Interestingly, Safi’jiiva no longer has an alien appearance and simply looks like a large red dragon, more ordinary and pedestrian-looking than most of the exotic beasts this series is known for. That usually spells trouble, though. Capcom love subverting the expectations of players by making the most important and dangerous beasts look a lot less interesting than the others roaming the lands. On a sidenote, there is a theory that Xeno’jiiva is an alien creature from another world that crash landed in the New World and used the Everstream to grow to the size we find it at. There is some evidence to support this theory, too, like the story of the Sapphire Star-a large blue comet that sailors from another time used to navigate the oceans-as well as a crater that can be seen on the world map roughly where Xeno’jiiva is found. Those who subscribe to this theory believe that, as it matured, it purposefully moulded its appearance to model itself on monsters native to the planet it now found itself on to appear as though it belonged, which is why it looks so normal as an adult. That isn’t what I’m going to be talking about, but it is an interesting theory and has more merit than it might sound like it does from my brief rundown.
What I really want to emphasise is how powerful Safi’jiiva is, especially compared to the other monsters in Iceborne. During the fight, Safi’jiiva will periodically heal itself by absorbing residual bioenergy from the earth until it is depleted, essentially making the fight last much longer than it would if the player simply had to chip away at its health like they do with every other monster. This process will have a physical effect on the beast later on, where it will enter what is called a ‘supercritical state’ to become more powerful, but it will also take more damage as a result. During this, its entire body pulses with an ethereal glow. Its wings, too, start to show a pattern reminiscent of constellations and the star-studded night sky, another possible hint to its cosmic origins. At various points, Safi’jiiva will also perform its ultimate attack, the ‘Sapphire of the Emperor’, which is a guaranteed one hit kill if the player does not take cover in time. Also worth noting is the fact that Safi’jiiva-along with its juvenile form-does not breathe fire like one would assume, but rather it shoots beams of powerful energy from its jaws and it can also use this energy to cause explosions in the environment to damage any hunters attempting to kill it. It is unlike any Elder Dragon seen before, and even the other characters in World and Iceborne believe it to be an unparalleled threat that could end up responsible for unimaginable death and destruction if it was allowed to roam free. The Third Fleet Master, in particular, posits that Xeno’jiiva relies on the absorption of energy from other living beings in order to survive, an enormous dragon with the ability to suck the life out of other powerful monsters and empower itself in the process. We see Safi’jiiva doing this with the energy present in the Secluded Valley, where it is discovered, but it seems undeniable that it would also set its sights on large monsters to drain if it went out to explore the world.
The Third Fleet Master also suspects that Xeno’jiiva used some kind of pheromone to lure other Elder Dragons to the New World so it could feed on their energy to become stronger, using the environment and the continent’s locales to orchestrate this plan. There is an air of almost godlike power around Xeno/Safi’jiiva and its unique abilities should, logically, earn it the title of Black Dragon given how almost everyone agrees that it is far too dangerous to leave unchecked. If its penchant for absorbing bioenergy from the earth didn’t leave ecosystems barren and lifeless, its desire to drain the life from other living creatures certainly would. And yet, nobody refers to it as a first-class dangerous monster. Perhaps Capcom have decided to leave the term Black Dragon in the past, with the five main monsters that bear the title doomed to remain the only ones. Or perhaps Safi’jiiva is something else entirely, a new breed of monster on par with the Black Dragons that seeks to challenge them.
Blazing Black Twilight
During the investigation into Safi’jiiva and the hunt to slay it, several NPCs will refer to it as the Red Dragon, as does the title of the quest where it is fought. It would appear as though this isn’t simply a throwaway nickname, but rather a classification of monster. Safi’jiiva is a Red Dragon, the first of its kind, and it has its sights set on the big five in its quest to absorb the energy of powerful monsters. There is one interesting detail to note about the Secluded Valley, also, one that I missed during my first visit there. While Xeno’jiiva is depicted as a unique monster before being slain, a one-of-a-kind individual, it can be fought multiple times after the main story concludes. It was assumed this was merely a way to facilitate gameplay so players could continue to experience the fight and gather materials to craft weapons and armour. However, there are actually several cocoons in the Secluded Valley resembling the one Xeno’jiiva emerges from at the end of Monster Hunter World. We know there is energy within the earth here, enough perhaps to incubate several powerful Elder Dragon babies. Plus, there is a concern over what Safi’jiiva would be capable of upon leaving the Valley, but it never does. Watching over the younger of its species, maybe?
What’s even more interesting is the fact that Alatreon actually shows up late into Iceborne’s post game content. When players go to investigate, they find the Blazing Black Dragon laying waste to the entire area. It is easy to miss at first and get lost in the inferno being created by one of the series’ most dangerous living things, but it looks as if Alatreon is intentionally targeting these cocoons. It is not unthinkable that it came from the Old World to wipe out what it perceived as a threat so that there could never be any other Red Dragons to challenge it at a future date. Maybe it even came to kill Safi’jiiva, only to find several incubating Xeno’jiiva embryos that it then decided needed to be destroyed. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe there has ever been a monster so dangerous as to attract the attention of a Black Dragon before. Alatreon senses the presence of the Red Dragon and knows just as well as the human characters that it must never be allowed to leave the Secluded Valley lest it set its sights on larger prey. It might be the first time a Black Dragon has feared anything else in existence. Or maybe it just sees the unnatural evolution of this alien Elder Dragon that lives off of bioenergy as an insult that it takes it upon itself to eradicate. Either way, the message seems clear enough. If Alatreon is the King of Monsters, Safi’jiiva is their Emperor, and with each new powerful monster whose energy it absorbs it works its way up the ladder until it will be strong enough to take on the God of Monsters; Fatalis.
A Whole New World
Monster Hunter World was a first for the series, where a predominantly handheld IP was suddenly made available on all platforms and its signature style was westernised and made more accessible for new players. The birth of Xeno’jiiva at the end, too, feels very much like some not-so-subtle symbolism to ring in the birth of a new direction for the series. On the other hand, Monster Hunter Rise felt like a return to form and a reminder that players who did not love World and Iceborne-of which there are surprisingly many-would not have to despair, as the portable games would not be going anywhere and the traditional Monster Hunter experience would be preserved. Though I’ve made a few leaps and assumptions during this, my main theory is this; Monster Hunter World will be its own series going forward. In an attempt to go their own direction, the team behind World and Iceborne brought us to an entirely different continent, the New World, and introduced us to the first creature whose threat level could potentially rival Fatalis’s. Safi’jiiva wasn’t meant as a one-off threat for us to go up against during Iceborne’s post game and then forget about, it was meant as the new series’ answer to Fatalis.
Rise’s upcoming expansion, Sunbreak, and future portable games will no doubt stick with the existing Black Dragons and Fatalis as their aces in the hole, but the World series is sure to explore Safi’jiiva and the effects it will have on the New World as it roams the landmass. Some might argue that we have seen all there is to see of the New World already, but that would just be wasted potential, as well as being quite off-brand for Capcom. No, there’s a whole side to the New World that hasn’t been seen just yet, and I believe we will get to explore it when the inevitable sequel to Monster Hunter World releases. Where the old games and future portable games would introduce Fatalis or Alatreon, the World series will have Safi’jiiva, and we will finally see just how powerful it can be. One day, perhaps Safi’jiiva and Fatalis might even face off against one another in the turf war to end all turf wars, but only time will tell. There’s only one thing we know for sure; Safi’jiiva is coming, and it won’t stop until all life bows before its might.
Comments