Rathalos is one of the wyverns created for the Playstation 2 game Monster Hunter.
They are one of the more impressive species of wyverns. Rathalos stand about seven feet tall at the hip and have a length of about fifty feet from nose to tail tip which they are fully stretched out. Their wings span is close to thirty feet from tip to tip. Though their size sounds large they are only medium sized wyverns (in the game). What makes the Rathalos so impressive is their naturally spiked hide. A long ridge of plate scales runs down their spine, spaced three feet from ridge to ridge, growing higher and sharper from the neck to the crest of the back, at the point where the wing bones meet, and then growing smaller again as they move down the tail.
The scales of a Rathalos are reddish brown, similar in color to that of dirt with heavy iron content with jet-black tips. In addition to their rough scales Rathalos have large horns on their head, wings, and tail. The horns on their head are placed on either side of it’s skull, emerging from the skin at the back of the lower jaw and curving forwards like tusks. The wing horns are large, seven feet long, located at the tip of each of the wings. Sometimes a second pair is located in the center of the wings as well. The tail holds the most horns, eight total. Four of these are three feet long, two are four, and two are two, with the longest at the end of the tall, growing smaller as one moves up the tail. There is about two feet of space between each of the tail horns.
Rathalos are bipedal, moving mostly on two legs, positioned at the center point of their body. Flight is generally only used for distance travel or for reaching places that can not be reached on foot. For hunting purposes a Rathalos will fly and attack like a hawk to kill and carry off its prey. In combat, they attack with their jaws or with their horned tails, impaling smaller enemies on the massive horns. They also possess the unusual ability to spit fire from a sack in their chests. These fireballs explode when they strike a solid object, causing a lot of damage to whatever they hit.
Humans hunt Rathalos for their horns, scales, hide, and wing webbing which came be used to make powerful armor. Only the best hunters, or large groups of hunters, stand a chance of taking down one of the best beasts. They also dig out the fire sacks to use in medicine.
Rathalos build large nests, usually in caves, in which to lay their eggs. The nests are filled with the bones and leftover hides of the animals the wyverns kill and can be a treasure trove of bones for any hunters brave or foolish enough to find and enter them. However, Rathalos are very protective of their nests and their eggs so getting into one of their nests of usually a bad idea. However, if one can get in, they may have a chance to steal on of the wyverns’ eggs. Rathalos are very valuable because of their powerful medical properties.