- "If it bleeds, we can kill it."
- ―Dutch, regarding the Jungle Hunter (from Predator)
Major Alan Schaefer, better known as "Dutch", was the leader and sole survivor of a private military team hired by the U.S. military and the CIA for a "rescue mission" in the Republic of Val Verde in 1987. After discovering that their mission was a set-up to dupe them into eliminating the rebels in the area, Dutch's squad came into contact with a Predator that stalked and killed the elite mercenaries one-by-one.
Dutch was a specialist in guerrilla engagements and had been posted in both Da Nang and Cambodia during and after the Vietnam War, alongside Al Dillon. He was one of only two survivors of the encounter in Val Verde, the other being guerrilla member Anna Gonsalves. He was subsequently interrogated by the Other World Lifeform Taskforce regarding the incident, but he later escaped from their custody and disappeared.[2]
Biography
Early life
In his school days, Dutch had been a football star.[3] After leaving college, he attended boot camp with Jim Hopper in 1967[4] and had a brother in the NYPD. He went on to serve in the Vietnam War alongside his close friend Al Dillon, seeing action at Da Nang.[5] At one point during the war, Dutch was captured and brutally tortured by the Viet Cong; the prolonged interrogation eventually caused him to become resistant to pain. Following the Vietnam War, he served in various commando units, including a mission in Malaysia in 1979 with Hopper that nearly claimed both of their lives.[4] He later reunited with Dillon for operations in Thailand, and while serving there the men obtained matching lighters of personal significance.[6] In 1980, Dutch left the United States Army and set up his own private military company, mainly recruiting other US Army personnel.[7]
Dutch's team saw operations in Angola, Cambodia, Lebanon and Afghanistan.[8] More recently, the team dealt with a terrorist siege at the Sudanese Embassy in Berlin, Germany, assaulting the building and eliminating seven terrorists in under ten seconds. Not only did the operation in the center of the city go totally unnoticed by the world's press, the terrorists were eliminated before they even had a chance to call in their demands.[9]
A notable condition of employment for Dutch and his men was that they only ever operate as a rescue team, and he refused to take on any mission, where the prime objective was the elimination of enemy personnel, such as a proposed operation in Libya that he turned down.[1]
Mission to Val Verde
In 1987, Dutch and his men were deployed to Guatemala in Central America, meeting there with Al Dillon, who now worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. The team had been hired for a mission to rescue a Guatemalan cabinet minister and his aide, who had been kidnapped by guerrilla forces in neighbouring Val Verde. After being inserted into Val Verde aboard Redbird Two Two, Dutch's team quickly discovered the wreckage of the helicopter that had been carrying the captured cabinet ministers and, later, several US Army Special Forces soldiers, who had been skinned alive and hung from the trees; one of the dead men was Dutch's old friend Jim Hopper. Dutch and his men pressed on to the guerrilla camp where the hostages were being held, arriving just in time to witness a Soviet military advisor executing a hostage. Dutch's team launched their attack, wiping out the camp in short order, although they found that the other hostages were also already dead.
Dutch and his men quickly deduced the "cabinet ministers" had actually been CIA agents, and, after confronting Dillon, he learned the mission had been a set-up from the beginning — the agents had been captured reconnoitring for an attack and, after Hopper's team vanished while attempting to rescue them, Dillon created the cabinet minister story to manipulate Dutch into destroying the guerrillas. Angered that a once close friend had betrayed him, Dutch and his men made for their extraction point, although Dillon ordered them to take along the sole surviving guerrilla, Anna, as a prisoner.
Last stand
It soon became clear something was stalking Dutch's team. Despite Dutch's improvised attempts to kill the creature, including an elaborate ambush involving traps constructed from the forest itself, over the next 24 hours Hawkins, Blain, Mac, Dillon, Billy and Poncho were all killed, leaving just Dutch and Anna alive, the latter apparently spared, because she was unarmed. After sending Anna on ahead to the extraction helicopter, Dutch made a stand against the Predator that had hunted his team, although he was quickly outmatched and lost most of his equipment in a desperate escape over a cliff and down a waterfall. However, when he accidentally covered himself in wet mud, he unintentionally rendered himself invisible to the Predator's thermal vision, thereby learning a crucial lesson.
Dutch confronted by the Predator.
After constructing improvised traps and weapons, including a bow, spears, incendiary grenades and several explosive arrowheads (using unfired rounds for his M203 grenade launcher), Dutch once again covered himself in mud to mask his thermal signature and confronted the Predator one final time. Though the creature fell victim to a number of Dutch's traps, they failed to kill it. The situation deteriorated when Dutch fell into a pool of water during the confrontation, stripping him of his camouflage, and he was forced to face the Predator in a hand-to-hand duel. Despite Dutch's impressive physique, he was no match for the creature and received a savage beating. In desperation, Dutch managed to lure the Predator underneath the counterweight for one of his traps, triggering it and causing the huge log to crush the creature. The Predator, mortally wounded, activated its Self-Destruct Device and Dutch narrowly escaped the resultant explosion, eventually being picked up by the extraction helicopter.
Disappearance and legacy
After being rescued from Val Verde, Dutch began experiencing adverse health effects akin to radiation sickness, apparently from exposure to the explosion of the Jungle Hunter's Self-Destruct Device.[2] While hospitalized, he was interviewed by Peter Keyes of the OWLF regarding what had happened in the jungle. Dutch subsequently escaped from hospital and disappeared.[2] Several years later, Dutch's older brother would encounter the Predators while searching for him.[citation needed]
In certain circles, it seems Dutch's story became legendary. Even the Yautja race became aware of Dutch's activities, through records automatically returned to Yautja Prime aboard the deceased Jungle Hunter's ship.[10] The information led some Predators to revere Dutch and his achievements, most notably the City Hunter, who regarded Dutch, and by extension the human race in general, with great respect.[11] Ten years later, Keyes would make mention of Dutch's encounter with the Predator whilst he and his OWLF taskforce attempted to capture another Yautja in the city of Los Angeles. Likewise, Isabelle told the individuals stranded with her on the Game Preserve Planet about Dutch and his team, including the mission to Val Verde and details of the creature that stalked and killed them.
Personality and Traits
- "We're a rescue team, not assassins."
- ―Dutch, on turning down the mission to Libya (from Predator)
Dutch was an intelligent and resourceful leader and was both liked and respected by the men under his command. His extensive experience in the military had made him gruff and battle-hardened, but at the same time he was always sure to protect his team from unnecessary risks and always adhered to his strict moral code to only undertake rescue missions.
In battle, Dutch was a lethal combatant, both aggressive and inventive, often improvising and adapting to great effect. Physically he possessed incredible prowess, able to lift huge weights single-handed, although he was still no match for the Predator in unarmed combat.
Equipment
Dutch fires his M16.
Dutch carried an M16A1 with an underslung M203 grenade launcher as his primary weapon in Val Verde. He also had a holstered Desert Eagle as a backup sidearm, although he never had a chance to use it. In addition to his firearms, Dutch carried an array of hand grenades, M18A1 Claymores and satchel charges, as well as a large combat machete.
After losing virtually all of his equipment escaping from the Predator, Dutch constructed a bundle bow from materials found in the forest, along with an array of arrows and spears. He used the warheads from two 40mm grenades that he had left to create an explosive-tipped arrow and spear, while he used the propellant to create several leaf bombs.
Behind the Scenes
Cancelled reappearances
Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally intended to reprise the role of Dutch in Predator 2, and the actor was supposedly close to signing up. However, according to producer John Davis, a pay dispute amounting to $250,000 meant that the deal fell through and Schwarzenegger walked away from the project.[12] The Dutch role was subsequently rewritten as Peter Keyes.
When Robert Rodriguez came to make Predators, he also intended to have Schwarzenegger reappear as Dutch, in the form of a cameo at the film's end — after defeating Berserker, Royce and Isabelle sit bloodied and exhausted in the jungle when a Yautja ship lands nearby and a host of Predators emerge.[13] Too tired to fight, the survivors await their fate, but the Predators do not attack. Instead they split into two single-file lines flanking the doorway, and through the gap in the center their leader emerges from the ship, his armor covered in trophies. The leader would then remove his helmet, revealing it to be Dutch, who tells Royce, "Not bad, kid... Not bad at all."[13] The scene was dropped due to Schwarzenegger being unavailable, but Rodriguez has mentioned a desire to include the sequence in any potential Predators sequel.
Trivia
- Dutch Schaefer actor Arnold Schwarzenegger played the titular Terminator in the Terminator franchise, the first two films of which were written and directed by Aliens director James Cameron.
- In the novelization of Predator 2, Keyes mentions Dutch's "Olympian physique";[14] this is likely a humorous nod to Schwarzenegger, who won the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition seven times before becoming an actor.
- The 1994 game Alien vs. Predator features a character named Dutch Schaefer as an homage to the character in the film. Additionally, Dutch Schafer in the game has a mechanical arm and is said to be a cyborg, likely a reference to Schwarzenegger's starring role in the Terminator series, particularly the second film which features a famous scene where Schwarzenegger strips the skin from his left arm, revealing the robotic structure beneath.
- A picture of Dutch appeared on the packaging for the NES game Contra, along with an image of John Rambo from the Rambo franchise. Contra is about human military soldiers battling extraterrestrial beings.
- The real-life goblin spider species Predatoroonops dutch is named after Dutch Schaefer; every member of the Predatoroonops genus has a name that references Predator, due to the perceived similarity between the spider's mouthparts and the Predator's mandibles.[15]
Appearances
- Predator/novel
- Predator: Concrete Jungle (mentioned only)
- Predator 2/novel/comic (mentioned only)
- Predator: Cold War (mentioned only)
- Predator: Dark River (mentioned only)
- Predators (indirect mention)
- Predators: Beating the Bullet (appears in flashback)
Gallery
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jim Thomas, John Thomas (writers) and John McTiernan (director). Predator (1987), 20th Century Fox [DVD].
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Simon Hawke. Predator 2 novelization, p. 137 (1990), Jove Books.
- ↑ Paul Monette. Predator novelization, p. 199 (1987), Jove Books.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Paul Monette. Predator novelization, p. 37 (1987), Jove Books.
- ↑ Paul Monette. Predator novelization, p. 110 (1987), Jove Books.
- ↑ Paul Monette. Predator novelization, p. 20 (1987), Jove Books.
- ↑ Paul Monette. Predator novelization, p. 118 (1987), Jove Books.
- ↑ Paul Monette. Predator novelization, p. 3 (1987), Jove Books.
- ↑ Paul Monette. Predator novelization, p. 9 (1987), Jove Books.
- ↑ Simon Hawke. Predator 2 novelization, p. 21 (1990), Jove Books.
- ↑ Simon Hawke. Predator 2 novelization, p. 35 (1990), Jove Books.
- ↑ "DigitalSpy - Arnold Schwarzenegger 'almost did Predator 2'". Retrieved on 2014-10-10.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "JoBlo - What could have been: Schwarzenegger's Predators cameo". Retrieved on 2014-10-10.
- ↑ Simon Hawke. Predator 2 novelization, p. 136 (1990), Jove Books.
- ↑ Brescovit, Bonaldo, Santos, Ott & Rheims, 2012: The Brazilian goblin spiders of the new genus Predatoroonops (Araneae, Oonopidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, n. 370, pp. 1–68 (whole text).