Shantien is an Elder Dragon first introduced in Monster Hunter Frontier G1.
Shantien has a body structure similar to most Leviathan's with gray scales, jade colored blunt spines on its neck, back and tail, jade colored crystal-like structures two wing-like structures on its back, two large horns on either side of the head which also resemble wings, and blue and white fur running down its neck, along the arms and on the sides of the tail.
When Shantien starts taking the fight seriously and brings a storm the white on the fur gets noticeably brighter and more spread out, the horns, crystal wing structures, and the tail tips also turn a clear blue, and scar-like marks throughout the body will change color.
When the fight transitions to an unknown volcanic area Shantien's fur will gain red and yellow tips, the horns, tail tips and the crystal-like structures on the "wings" turn a mix of blue, jade, and even a bit of red.
It has the ability to levitate by collecting, charging and releasing air particles from the jade crystal-like organs along its body, most notably on the "wings" causing them to visibly swell when Shantien takes to the air.
Shantien appears fragile and slow initially, but as hunters anger the monster it begins to improve its own abilities, doing things such as creating lightning sphere's and smacking them against the ground, causing a large blast, and shooting large water beams, amongst other elemental attacks. By the third rage mode it is impressively fast in the air, and it will continue endlessly moving at this speed, taking quick sweeps at the ship in a attempt to hit hunters until forcibly stopped with a loud sound (like the ship's gong) or hooked with the Ballista Binder.
Upon angering it even further it will almost completely destroy the exploration ship with multi-colored lightning and fire, causing it to crash into a unknown, unmapped volcanic zone. In this state hunters will face the true horror and power that is Shantien to the death. This is where its most famed attack begins; it will smash the ground below and roar, which causes lava to burst forth at both random spots around the area and directly under all hunters, which in turn causes them to be launched in the air. Shantien follows this by assaulting the now-airborne hunters with lightning, commonly resulting in instant death and instant quest failure to the unwary. The attack is omnidirectional and extremely hard to evade if not close to Shantien.
Other attacks in this phase include briefly flying up then slamming to the ground causing lava to erupt around it, creating a large fiery whirlwind around itself and slowly moving towards hunters, whipping its tail about creating water pillars, and breathing out a beam that starts as just water, but then expands greatly, mixing in flames and multi-colored lightning.
Shatien are very territorial and aggressive monsters attacking any monster or airship that enters their territory. Depending on how dangerous the intruder appears can determine how violently they decide to attack at first.
Shantien have been sighted flying around far above in the skies, often over oceans or around volcanic areas, and they've also been reported near the Great Forest Peak. Usually the only way to get anywhere near them is with a Large Exploration Ship.
The color the scar-like marks change too depended on if HGE is on or not, if it isn't, they're a cyan-ish color, if it is, they're a light green instead.
Despite being an Elder Dragon, Shantien has a body structure highly similar to Leviathans, such as Lagiacrus or Agnaktor, and even uses some of the same physical attacks as them when battling on the airship's floor.
Like Amatsu another Leviathan-esque Elder Dragon, it is often followed by stormy weather.
Shantien can use thunder element, in a manner somewhat similar to a Lagiacrus.
Shantien's roar requires HG Earplugs to block.
In Chinese, lightning (闪电) is pronounced Shǎndiàn.
When angered, Shantien starts a violent storm and begins flying in midair around the airship.
When first released, Shantien could only be fought and repelled on the Large Exploration Ship, as an introduction to G-Rank. In Monster Hunter Frontier G2, if enough damage is dealt, Shantien will crash the airship into a fiery volcano area, where it can be fought to the death.
Sonic Bombs are effective against Shantien: They can be used to make it fall to the ground. If it's fought in the volcano, they will also remove its flame aura.
One of the points of bothering to level up in Conquest War quests is the rewards for reaching higher and higher levels are needed to upgrade G rank equipment.
It is one of the current four monsters with the leveling system (known as Conquest Wars), with a maximum level of 9999. Shantien is already capable of using its deadly lava thunder combo at level 1, and it will only become more deadly as the Elder Dragon rises in level.
In addition, it gains more health and also begins using new attacks (such as homing water beams), often catching hunters off guard with these and more unexpected powers.
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