The reproduction biology of Gore Magala and Shagaru Magala from the Monster Hunter series resembles that of Xenomorphs from the Aliens Franchise.

Recently, a lot of fans have been involved in a discourse regarding new information about Gore Magala and Shagaru Magala in regards to how they reproduce, specifically whether they still share qualities similar to the Xenomorphs.

There is no doubt that the Monster Hunter community cares a great deal about the biology behind the fictional creatures in the series, considering the amount of online discussions popping up ever so often.

So when the Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak: Haunting of the Sun Official Art Book hit the shelf in Japan, many fans were quick to dive into it, translating and extracting as much new information as possible.

This is when Twitter user BannedLagiacrus made a discovery that the previously established lore of Gore Magala and Shagaru Magala has been changed and retconned slightly.

BannedLagiacrus is a prominent content creator in the Monster Hunter community, known for his contribution to the Fandom Wiki and translations of lore.

Stalking Shadow, Dark Eclipse 

For the uninitiated, Gore Magala was a creature that first made its shadowy appearance in Monster Hunter 4, serving as that game’s flagship.

Bestowed the title “Dark Eclipse”, Gore Magala is the juvenile form of the Elder Dragon Shagaru Magala.

In the established lore, it was described that Gore Magala shrouds the environment with its pollen-like scales to sense prey and predators as it is blind.

However, the scales also act to spread the Frenzy Virus, driving afflicted creatures into a crazed state before succumbing to their inevitable death.

While the juvenile uses the Frenzy Virus as a form of sense, the adult Shagaru Magala uses these pathogens for reproduction while preventing other Gore Magala from reaching adulthood to prevent competition.

It was noted by BannedLagiacrus that the Official Monster Hunter’s Law of Ideas 2: The Book of Forbidden Things initially described that a monster afflicted by the Frenzy Virus would serve as the nursery for the next generation of Magalas and eventually a Gore Magala would emerge out of them.

Now the new Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak: Haunting of the Sun Official Art Book noted that a Frenzied Monster simply becomes a new Gore Magala rather than getting burst open by the juvenile creature.

It is the Thing Now?

This discovery, of course, sparked many discussions online regarding the body horror nature of the reproduction cycle of Gore Magala and Shagaru Magala, while some say it seemingly contradicts the original Xenomorphs references.

In BannedLagiacrus’s words, he would describe the reproduction cycle as something akin to John Carpenter’s The Thing instead of the Xenomorphs from Aliens.

Lutyrannus, another active member of the community, then responded with a direct translation of the text from Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak: Haunting of the Sun Official Art Book.

“The scales it releases contain reproductive cells, and upon adherence to a living organism, they use it as a seedbed, and transform the compatible host into a Gore Magala.”

Xenomorphs Connections

Reddit user TheGMan-123 then noted that the connection to the Xenomorphs has not faded, highlighting the part where the text describes how the Magala embryonic cells would be attached to a host and use it as a seedbed or a breeding ground of sorts.

This description is noted to not necessarily mean that the entire host would completely transform into Gore Magala in a body horror limbs twisting kind of way.

As described, the Xenomorphs reproduce through the Facehugger, a parasitoid form of the species that latches themselves to a host and forcefully injects an embryo into them.

The embryo then actively injects mutagenic agents into the host’s cells and converts them, which seems similar to the newly expanded info on how the Magala reproduces.

Both creatures inject embryos into the host, actively convert their cells, and replicate said cells to the entire body.

In other words, this “transforms the compatible host into” the creature as their cells are now hijacked and genetically altered.

The corpse of the host would then be burst open by its own cells which are now the new creatures’ cells, so now imagine the horrors the hunters for Monster Hunter 4 have encountered.