Fender’s Monster Hunter guitar actually looks like one a musician would play

I love a good video game tie-in as much as anybody, but it seems kinda rare for them to get designs that could actually be used in the real world. This officially licensed Cyberpunk jacket, for example, is cool as hell but I’d never wear it outside a convention.

Not so with the Monster Hunter guitar from Fender. It’s cool as hell and it looks like an actual guitar an actual guitar player would play.

The official Rathalos Red Telecaster is, well, a Telecaster — an electric guitar with a heritage that your classic rock buddy could talk about until the beer tap runs dry. Instruments don’t get any more iconic this side of a Stradivarius. It’s covered in Monster Hunter iconography (most notably the Rathalos dragon logo on the neck) that’s all tied together by a pleasing red color scheme. The tortoiseshell pickguard fits right in.

Even the gigantic logo on the back of the guitar looks more like some obscure rock band symbol than something you’d see in a game that deliberately appeals to obsessive-compulsive min-maxers.

If that’s not enough to show your love for both music and gaming, the guitar also comes with a hard case that’s emblazoned with “an original collaboration badge.” An even more limited edition of the guitar — to be sold only in Fender’s Tokyo store — will get additional claw marks (which I think take away from the design).

How much will you need to shell out for that tortoiseshell? Two thousand American greenbacks… which isn’t too bad, since an equivalent model is going for $1,700. (The Japan-exclusive Special Edition will be $2,300.) Plus, other limited-edition guitars are a lot more expensive.

You can pick up the Monster Hunter Rathalos Telecaster from Fender in 2025, to coincide with the release of Monster Hunter Wilds.

Further reading: Important game releases still to come in 2024