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"It changed colors, like the chameleon. It uses the jungle."
Anna (from Predator)

Anna Gonsalves,[4] was a member of a Communist guerrilla force operating in Guatemala, where she was captured in 1987 by Alan "Dutch" Schaefer's private military team. Following the completion of their mission, Dutch's squad subsequently came into contact with a Predator that stalked and killed the elite mercenaries one-by-one.

While she had no prior experience of the Predator herself, she knew of its existence through folk legends of a "demon" that, during hot summers, would kill people and horribly mutilate their corpses as trophies. She survived the incident in Guatemala virtually unharmed, apparently spared because she did not carry a weapon. She would go on to provide details of the encounter to Peter Keyes and the OWLF.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Anna spent most of her youth in a convent.[5] However, despite the best intentions of the nuns raising her, she later joined the communist rebel movement in Guatemala, and took part in several bombings of government buildings and embassies in the country's cities.[1]

In the jungle[]

"Only in the hottest years this happens. And this year, it grows hot..."
Anna (from Predator)

When the guerrillas prepared to make a major push into neighboring Guatemala, Anna was reassigned to a group operating in the jungles. The rebels later captured several CIA agents shot down whilst reconnoitering their positions, and was the only occupant of the jungle camp to survive the subsequent assault by Dutch and his team, despite her attempt to ambush Dutch from behind and kill him. When the mercenaries pulled out, Dillon insisted Anna be taken along as a prisoner.

MovieQuiz 1039-8

Anna splattered with Hawkins' blood.

While marching towards the extraction point, Anna made a bid for freedom despite her wrists being bound. However, she was chased down and caught by Hawkins, only for him to be killed by the Jungle Hunter moments later. Anna, covered in Hawkins' blood, was too traumatized to escape and was soon recaptured by the others. While she initially refused to comment on what she had seen, she later admitted to Dutch that she knew of the Predator, at least by reputation, from folk legends and its previous victims. She also revealed that she had earlier found traces of the creature's blood following a confrontation with Dutch and his team, giving Dutch some hope that it could be defeated.

With the rest of his team eventually killed, Dutch sent Anna on ahead to the rescue helicopter while he stayed to fight the Predator, correctly guessing the creature would have no interest in killing her. She was successfully picked up and returned to base, where she informed Major General Philips of what was happening in the jungle. The following day, Anna and Phillips returned aboard the helicopter and rescued Dutch, who had by then defeated the Jungle Hunter in hand-to-hand combat.

Legacy[]

Following her escape from the jungle, Anna was interrogated by Peter Keyes of the OWLF regarding what she had seen.[6] Mike Harrigan later saw footage of Anna's interrogation, when he was briefly captured by the OWLF in Los Angeles in 1997.[3]

Personality and Traits[]

"We begin finding our men. We found them sometimes without their skins... and sometimes much, much worse."
Anna, describing previous encounters with the Predators (from Predator)

As would be expected from a guerrilla fighter, Anna was resourceful and strong-willed, managing to stay calm throughout the events in Guatemala. When she was captured by Dutch's team, she was also shown to be, initially at least, manipulative and untrustworthy, pretending she did not speak English, refusing to answer questions and repeatedly trying to escape. However, as the reality of the situation became apparent to her, she began lending whatever assistance she could to Dutch and his men, including when the survivors constructed an elaborate net trap for the Predator made from the jungle itself.

Judging by footage of her interrogation, she was traumatized by her experiences in Central America and likely carried the harrowing memories with her for the rest of her life.

Equipment[]

Anna was armed with a Walther PP pistol before she was knocked out by Dutch. When she was later released from captivity, she briefly attempted to use Poncho's HK94A3, but was quickly disarmed once more by Dutch (by kicking the submachine gun out of her hands), who pointed out that she had been spared thus far because she had been unarmed.

Trivia[]

  • Anna is the only character to appear in more than one Predator film; while Dutch was originally supposed to feature in Predator 2, his character was changed to Peter Keyes when Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to return. Originally, Anna was to feature in several scenes in Predator 2, but this was cut back to a mere cameo appearance on a television monitor in the finished film.
  • The Walther PP used by Anna is likely intended to stand in for the Makarov PM pistol, which looks somewhat similar and would be appropriate for a guerrilla force being supplied by the Soviet Union.
  • The real-life goblin spider species Predatoroonops anna is named after Anna Gonsalves; 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.[7]

Appearances[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Paul Monette. Predator, p. 102 (1987), Jove Books.
  2. Gonsalves' actress' (Elpidia Carrillo) height is 5ft 4½ (164 cm), so that is also how tall Gonsalves would have been.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Jim Thomas, John Thomas (writers), Stephen Hopkins (director). Predator 2 (1990), 20th Century Fox [DVD].
  4. Paul Monette. Predator, p. 76 (1987), Jove Books.
  5. Paul Monette. Predator, p. 108 (1987), Jove Books.
  6. Simon Hawke. Predator 2, p. 137 (1990), Jove Books.
  7. 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).
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