City Hunter

"Want some candy?"

―The City Hunter (from Predator 2)

The "City Hunter",^[3] also known as Ghost, was a Yautja from the Los Angeles Hunting Party that conducted a hunt in the city during the heatwave and gang war of 1997. He eventually came into conflict with both a government taskforce attempting to capture him and veteran LAPD Detective Lieutenant Mike Harrigan.

The City Hunter was killed in hand-to-hand combat with Harrigan aboard its Mother Ship hidden beneath the city. Its body was collected by its brethren and taken off planet, presumably for burial.

Biography

Hunting the drug gangs

"'El Diablo vino por ellos.' The Devil came for them."

―Cantrell (from Predator 2)

The City Hunter was motivated to travel to Earth and hunt man after viewing records of the Jungle Hunter's activities in the Republic of Val Verde.^[4] Although part of a small group of Predators that landed in Los Angeles in 1997, the City Hunter was the only one of the creatures to actively hunt in the city during this time. Taking advantage of a ferocious turf war and sweltering heatwave in the city, the Predator soon set to stalking and killing the multitude of armed gang members the city had to offer, starting with a large group of thugs from the Colombian Scorpions cartel, bursting into their stronghold as they engaged the LAPD in a firefight and slaughtering them all single-handedly. Deeming its prey unworthy, the City Hunter left the bodies strewn across the room, although at least one victim was left hanging from the building's rafters and later collected as a trophy. On the building's roof, the City Hunter first encountered Detective Lieutenant Harrigan, although it did not attempt to attack him.

The Predator later struck at the Scorpions' rivals, the Jamaican Voodoo Posse, when several of the posse's members ritualistically murdered Colombian leader Ramon Vega in his luxurious down town apartment. Again the Predator easily overcame the large group of opponents, massacring the Jamaicans using its Plasma Caster, Net Launcher, Spear Gun, Combi-Stick and Wrist Blades, although it spared Vega's mistress, who was unarmed. When Harrigan and his team discovered the scene, now littered with skinned bodies hanging from the apartment's ceiling, Detective Danny Archuleta noticed a spear tip lodged in a vent in the ceiling; when he later returned to recover the item, the City Hunter was waiting for him. After killing him it boned the corpse like a fish.^[2]

Stalking Harrigan

"Want some candy?"

―The City Hunter, to Lambert (from Predator 2)

The City Hunter developed a great respect for Harrigan, whom it considered to be a great "warrior", and decided to draw hunting the detective out.^[5] The Predator began following him, studying his behavior and customs. After Harrigan met with Jamaican Voodoo Posse leader King Willie to discuss the brutal killings in the city, the City Hunter struck again, beheading Willie despite his attempts to fight the creature off with a rapier. The Predator took his skull back to the hunting party's ship to be a trophy on the wall.

After stalking Harrigan to the cemetery where Archuleta had been buried and leaving Archuleta's necklace there for Harrigan to find, the creature decided that killing Harrigan's colleagues would enrage the detective and make the final hunt more challenging and exciting.^[6] Consequently, it attacked Detectives Jerry Lambert and Leona Cantrell as they attempted to break up an armed confrontation on the city's subway. While Cantrell was spared when the Predator discovered she was pregnant, several armed civilians were killed, as was Lambert, who had his head and spine torn from his body. Harrigan soon arrived at the scene and gave chase to the Predator, finally losing it as it neared the city's slaughterhouse district. The City Hunter climbed a nearby skyscraper and presented Lambert's skull as a trophy to the world, attracting a bolt of lightning with its Combi-Stick.

The trap for the Predator

"You're one ugly mother-"
"Motherfucker!"

―Harrigan and the City Hunter (from Predator 2)

When the City Hunter subsequently returned to a slaughterhouse that it had been using as a source of food during its time in the city, it was ambushed by Peter Keyes and his Other World Lifeform taskforce, who sought to capture the creature alive for study. Despite the advanced equipment being used by Keyes' team to shield their body heat from the Predator's sight, the City Hunter quickly adapted, using its alternative vision modes to see the light coming from the team's ultraviolet torches. It quickly decimated the team with its Combi-Stick and Wrist Blades, before finally duelling a heavily armed Harrigan, who had also arrived on the scene. Despite its Plasma Caster being destroyed, taking several shotgun slugs to the abdomen, chest and leg and being temporarily incapacitated, the City Hunter fought Harrigan off, sliced Keyes in two with its Smart-Disc, and then continued the fight with the police officer on the building's roof.

When it found itself hanging perilously over the end of the building, the Predator attempted to activate its Self-Destruct Device, but Harrigan used the Predator's own Smart-Disc to slice its Wrist Gauntlet in half, destroying the device and cutting it's arm off below the elbow. The Predator fell into Ruth Albright's nearby apartment and administered emergency medical aid using its Medi-Kit to cauterize his arm before the chase continued down into the sewers.

City Hunter's death — Harrigan kills the City Hunter.

Harrigan eventually followed the creature to its Mother Ship and confronted it in a final hand-to-hand showdown, ultimately slicing open its stomach with its own Smart-Disc. The City Hunter's comrades collected the fallen Predator's body, and, knowing it had fallen in a fair match, honored Harrigan with an antique flintlock pistol before letting him go and leaving the planet.

List of Known Victims

Equipment

The City Hunter was well armed, carrying a significant array of deadly weaponry and advanced technology. Notably, this individual seemed to rely less on its Plasma Caster and apparently preferred utilizing close-quarters bladed weaponry against its prey.

Behind the Scenes

CityHunterConcept — Concept sketch of the City Hunter's head.

To help differentiate the City Hunter from the creature in the previous movie, the Predator design was modified, with director Steven Hopkins requesting a "more urban and hip" look.^[7] According to special effects designer Stan Winston:

"Broad concept's the same. The difference is, this is a different individual. A different individual of the same species. As is a snake is a snake is a snake, but different snakes are different. Their colorings are different, different parts of their characteristics, their facial structures, subtle differences."

―Stan Winston on the new Predator design^[1]

The changes were most noticeable on the creature's head — the forehead was made shallower and steeper, and now included a circular "horned brow ridge", while small thorn-like protrusions were added to the mandibles, the lower set of which were further embellished with visible gums.^[7] Stan Winston's effects team had more time to create the creature than they had had on the first movie, and as a result they were able to include far greater detail in the design. The City Hunter's skin tone was also darker, including dark brown tones.

As with Predator, two full-body suits were made for filming, along with an articulated "hero" head and a static stunt head. A special animatronic bust was also constructed, the head of which was capable of a greater range of fine movements, for use in closeups where the Predator is seen "talking".^[7] The City Hunter's Bio-Mask was redesigned, being more angular and bronze in color, while the Predator's armor featured more ridged patterns, and was colored to match the new mask. Notably, the City Hunter's armor pieces were manufactured separately and "worn" on the suit, unlike the armor in the first film which had largely been moulded as a part of the suit itself due to time constraints.^[1] Numerous weapons that had been conceived for the first film but were ultimately cut were resurrected for the City Hunter, including the Spear Gun and Combi-Stick. The new weapons were attached to the creature's armor when not in use — the Smart-Disc was held on the right thigh, the Net Launcher affixed to the right calf and the Spear Gun was housed in the left Wrist Gauntlet.^[7]

Trivia

After having the lower portion of its left arm sliced off, the City Hunter was played in wide shots by one-armed stuntman David Smith, who went uncredited for his work.^[1]
Originally, the Predators in the first and second movies were never given names and were simply known as "The Predator". However, in the video game Predator: Concrete Jungle, the two creatures appeared as alternate skins for the player character under the names "Jungle Hunter — Central America, 1987" and "City Hunter — Los Angeles, 1997". These names have subsequently been adopted by fans to denote the creatures.
The City Hunter seems to be slightly taller than the Predator in the first film. In the film's commentary it is stated that he stands 8 ft tall.
The fact that the City Hunter returned Danny's necklace to Harrigan in the cemetery could be evidence that the creature held some respect towards the cop, although it could also have been a means to taunt or intimidate him. The novelization of the film states that it is a little of both.
At one point when talking to the Predator, Harrigan begins to quote Dutch's line, "You're one ugly motherfucker," from Predator. However, the City Hunter grabs his throat before he can finish and says the rest of the line for him. This would imply that the City Hunter had either overheard the word before and simply predicted what Harrigan was going to say, or had somehow gained knowledge of the Jungle Hunter's exploits in Val Verde. The novelization of the film explains it is the latter; the Jungle Hunter's Bio-Mask recorded everything that happened in Val Verde and relayed it to its ship, which then returned home with this information after the creature's death.^[8] (While the Jungle Hunter was not actually wearing its Mask at the time Dutch says the line, it was lying on the ground nearby, and could still potentially have been recording.)
It seems strange that the City Hunter does not even attempt to put its Bio-Mask back on after Harrigan removes it in the slaughterhouse; the Predator didn't intentionally remove it out of some sense of honor, and the technological edge it provided would have aided the creature greatly. At the very least, the Predator apparently struggles to breathe without it, needing a hand-held mask to assist in this regard. The novel explains this plot hole, saying that the Mask was lost down a drain when the Predator hurls Harrigan away.^[9]
Also in the novelization, it is Greyback who kills the City Hunter, not Harrigan — Harrigan merely severely wounds the City Hunter with the Smart-Disc, at which point Greyback and the others arrive. The City Hunter then willingly allows Greyback to behead it.^[10]