Monster Hunter Stories follows a wide cast of characters. Some of them are important allies who help you with your objectives, while others are villainous foes that push the plot along. You have several factions and regions of specific NPCs that are also important to figure out the mysteries of the Black Blight.
Several characters that you meet and befriend here are also reintroduced in Monster Hunter Stories 2; some of them are NPC party members for you to cooperate with. Monster Hunter Stories serves as an origin story for Lilia and Cheval, who both appear in important roles in both installments.
10 Ol' Dede
The Wise And "Handsome" Channeler Of Kinship
Ol' Dede appears shortly after you rescue Avinia and follows Frostfang to his hut in Darj Snowfields. He's an old wyverian with a taste for steamed moss dumplings and is a wizened sage of knowledge for monster hunters and riders. He is also known as the Channeler, due to his ability to draw out the powers of monsties.
In Monster Hunter Stories, he introduces the Rites of Channeling, where you can take your main monstie and combine its traits and genes with another monstie. He returns to Monster Hunter Stories 2 to help the heroes calm Razewing Ratha during his rampage.
9 Debli
The Wannabe Rider
Debli is a former hunter who aspires to be a rider. He was first seen trying to sell fake kinship stones in Gildegarn until you and Lilia caught him. Later on, he joins your journey as a commentator character once you reunite with Ratha and make your way to the Dovan Volcano.
He's pretty much the comic relief character, being there for plot-based exposition or suffering a punchline or joke at his own expense. After the Dovan Volcano adventure, Debli can be seen relaxing at Paupau Beach. He also has a series of side-quests meant to help him find his ultimate monstie, which ends up being the Great Poogie.
8 Simone
Leader Of The Scrivenar's Research
Simone is the captain of the Royal Paleontology Scriveners, who are responsible for studying monsters and investigating unusual phenomena affecting them and their environment. You first see her when you save Lilia from an Iodrome on the outskirts of Pondry Hills. She takes Lilia under her wing, training her to be the scrivener she grows up to be in Monster Hunter Stories 2.
Simone, alongside her student and other team members, is the second most prominent group of characters throughout your adventure in Monster Hunter Stories. As you come across stronger and more dangerous blighted monsters along with purifying the giant crystals, you will also come across clues to the lore of the White Dragon and the legendary rider Redan, with the scriveners detailing their findings and making attempts to help stop the Black Blight with their research.
7 Dr. Manelger
The Mad Scientist That Manipulates Monsters
On the opposite spectrum of Simone and her scrivener colleagues is the atypical mad scientist character of the setting, Dr. Manelger. After a mishap with a rampaging monster nearly killed him, he has become convinced that the best thing to do against monsters is to control them through special enhancement stones he uses in his laboratory in Dovan Volcano.
He's the primary human antagonist of the story and does his best to oppose you on your journey with his enhanced mind-controlled monsters. He may not look like a serious character, but he nearly brought the world to destruction due to his desire to control nature. His actions further the dark descent of Cheval, trigger calamities around the world, and even drive a celestial dragon to be dangerous.
6 Beats
Fiery Leader Of The Numbers
Beats is the leader of the Numbers, a group of modified Felynes you meet in Dr. Manelger's lab. His ability is breathing fire, and he uses this ability for all kinds of utilities. Together, he and the Numbers organize a plan to escape and destroy Dr. Manelger's lab with their invention, the Rath-of-Meow.
After their escape, you can see Beats and the other Numbers living out their freedom at Paupau Beach, a Paradise Island for Felynes to live out their lives. They have other moments of involvement as you progress through the story, but mostly, Beats takes care of the group here and doesn't get involved in other plotlines.
5 Navirou
Your Electrifying Cat Buddy On The Adventure
Navirou is your felyne companion, who's practically the face of the Monster Hunter Stories franchise. Similar to how you meet him in Monster Hunter Stories 2, Navirou makes a grand entrance by messing around with an egg you're trying to hatch for your rider trials. After that, he becomes the voice of your character and is involved in most of the dialogue in the story.
Navirou's origins are explored in Monster Hunters Stories, explaining his unique appearance, where he got his electrical powers, and how he made his way to Hakum Village. He was one of five felynes that were experimented on by Dr. Manelger. After his escape, he drifted to Paupau Beach and stayed there until he left to wander the world. Navirou's backstory and character development are well-done here, while his inclusion in the sequel felt unnecessary and had no decent explanation.
4 Reverto
A Hardcore Monster Hunter With A Chill Attitude
A radically cool monster hunter. Reverto works ly with the scriveners and acts as their bodyguard on the field whenever he's not slacking at home in Gildegarn. Reverto has a rather friendly approach toward the different lifestyles of hunters and riders. Even as a hunter, he genuinely respects the world and the monsters he goes after.
He's a very relaxed and well-mannered guy and is also an accomplished hunter. These two sides of his character come forward when he faces his worst fears, spiders. Yet despite that fear, he showed his quality by saving you and Navirou from a Nerscylla's webbing. He also provides a lighthearted outlook compared to Simone's serious business. This dynamic carries over when you see him again in Monster Hunter Stories 2, where he teams up with a grown-up Lilia.
3 Lilia
The Young Student Scrivener
Lilia is your childhood friend, who was part of your training for being a rider in Hakum Village. She is curious and precocious, a fun combination for young characters and the demographic for Monster Hunter Stories. After meeting Simone, captain of the scriveners, Lilia left the tradition of being a rider and followed Simone to study at Gildegaran. For players who've experienced Monster Hunter Stories 2 first, the remaster covers her origin story.
You can find her in the Hall of the Scriveners doing all kinds of research and reading as she learns more about the world around her. She is a prevalent character throughout the story and plays the second most important role as your support and exposition as the legend of Redan begins to unravel. Monster Hunter Stories 2 has Lilia returning much older and succeeding Simone as the captain of the Scriveners. She has become much sterner, and much of her older energy is gone, yet her lighthearted personality still remains under the surface of her stressful position.
2 Avinia
The Fellow Young Rider Facing The Black Blight
A young rider with her companion, a Barioth named Frostfang. Avinia came from a different village of riders who were ravaged by the Black Blight. You first see her injured in a cave, and Frostfang is protecting her. Avinia offers a new perspective as a different rider. She is wary of strangers, but after helping her, she becomes a ally on your journey, joining you to help take care of Ratha when the blight starts affecting him.
Avinia also tends to be at odds with Debli, due to her perceiving him as not taking being a rider seriously, among other aspects of his attitude. Avinia and Frostfang return as party members you can travel with in the sequel Monster Hunter Stories 2, where her backstory with Frostfang is more explored, and she is shown helping her village recover after the Black Blight.
1 Cheval
Your Friend Turned Rival On A Vengeful Crusade
Cheval is the biggest and most important of the major characters. His journey parallels yours, and while you are having a rather light-hearted adventure to save the world, Cheval's journey takes on a darker, more serious tone. As one of the returning characters to appear as a Battle Buddy in Monster Hunter Stories 2, his backstory is explored in full detail here. After witnessing his mother getting killed by a blighted Nargacuga, Cheval becomes jaded and bitter, no longer believing in the bonds of riders and monsters.
After hatching a Rathian and leaving Hakum Village alone, Cheval becomes your rival and foil, berating you for your bonds with monsties and criticizing your mercy towards victims of the Black Blight. As your rivalry intensifies, he joins up with Dr. Manelger as he pursues more power throughout the plot of Monster Hunter Stories. He is the most frequent main story boss, and much of his character arc follows his descent into darkness and redemption when he becomes humbled by the power of the Blight.
