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"Anytime..."
―The Jungle Hunter mimicking Mac (from Predator)

The Jungle Hunter,[2] nicknamed "El Diablo que hace trofeos de los hombres" ("The demon who makes trophies of men") and whose actual name translated as Savage[citation needed], was a Yautja from the Jungle Hunter Clan that conducted a Hunt in Guatemala during a communist insurgency there in 1987. He is widely known as the Predator that stalked and killed several American military personnel in the region, including members of an elite mercenary unit led by Alan "Dutch" Schaefer.

Dutch eventually faced the Jungle Hunter in close quarters combat, mortally wounding him and leading the creature to commit honorable suicide with his Self-Destruct Device.

Biography[]

Pre-1987[]

At some point prior to 1987, the Jungle Hunter began hunting humans he considered worthy prey in the jungles of Guatemala, typically only during the hottest summers. He became something of a local legend among the people, and his gruesome butchery of his victims earned him the title "El Diablo que hace trofeos de los hombres", literally "The demon who makes trophies of men".[1]

Hunting Jim Hopper's team[]

Jim Hopper and his men

Hopper's men after being skinned by the Jungle Hunter.

In 1987, the Jungle Hunter returned to Guatemala, now host to an ongoing guerrilla war between the American-backed government and a communist insurgency. When a helicopter carrying several CIA agents under the command of Al Dillon was shot down and the operatives captured by the guerrillas, Dillon dispatched a six-man team of Special Forces led by Jim Hopper to rescue the agents and eliminate the rebels responsible. En route to the guerrillas' camp, Hopper's team was ambushed by the Jungle Hunter and wiped out, with Hopper and two of his men being skinned, disemboweled and hung from the treetops as trophies.

Hunting Dutch's squad[]

"Over here..."
―The Jungle Hunter (from Predator)
81249822 small

The Jungle Hunter about to eviscerate Hawkins.

Dillon later recruited his old friend Alan "Dutch" Schaefer to complete the mission, and after Dutch and his team had wiped out the rebel force, they too became targets for the Jungle Hunter. While the Predator initially observed the team from afar, Billy sensed his presence almost immediately and became uneasy at the unseen force stalking them. As the team moved out, Anna, a rebel they had captured, attempted to escape. When Hawkins set off in pursuit and caught the prisoner, isolating himself from the rest of the squad, the Jungle Hunter struck, killing him with his Wristblades, gutting him and hanging his corpse from a tree.

JH fixing his wounds

The Jungle Hunter tending to his wounds.

The other men immediately instigated a search for the body. Finding Blain alone, the Jungle Hunter attempted to slay him with his Speargun but succeeded only in grazing his shoulder. Before he could retaliate, the Predator attacked with his Plasmacaster, blasting a hole clean through his chest. The Plasmacaster shot through his rib cage, killing him instantly. As he moved in to retrieve the body, the Jungle Hunter was spotted by Mac and was wounded in his left leg when the soldier opened up with his M60 machine gun; when this stopped firing, he then raised Blain's M134 Minigun and sprayed the flora with suppressive firepower, causing the rest of the team to attack with their own weapons. After escaping, the Predator retreated to the treetops to tend to his wounds with his Medicomp. At night, the Predator stealthily infiltrated the squad's well-prepared and heavily defended camp and successfully recovered Blain's body while a wild boar rampaged through the camp, distracting everyone.

Predator searching for Dutch

The Predator searching for Dutch.

The Demon Who Makes Trophies of Man

The collection of the Predators skulls from Dutch’s Crew: Billy and Dillon. Including the hole in Mac's skull when the Predator killed him.

The next day, the Predator fell into an elaborate net trap set by the survivors but again managed to escape, critically and unintentionally wounding Poncho in the process. Mac and Dillon set off in pursuit of the fleeing creature only to find him waiting for them; after using his Plasmacaster to shoot Mac in the head and then blow off Dillon's right arm, he moved in and finished his prey with his Wristblades. Shortly afterwards, Jungle Hunter encountered Billy making a suicidal last stand armed only with a machete and quickly slaughtered him as well. After killing the injured Poncho with his Plasmacaster, the Jungle Hunter lost Dutch following a desperate chase when the latter unintentionally covered himself in wet mud, rendering him invisible to the Predator's thermal vision. The creature returned to Billy's corpse and took it up into the trees to tear out his skull by his spine. He later gathered the skulls of Mac, Billy and Dillon to admire his new trophies. It as unknown to him, but Dutch began setting up traps in the jungle to killl the Predator.

Endgame[]

"What the hell are you?"
―The Jungle Hunter, to Dutch (from Predator)
Predator Gif

Jungle Hunter Unmasked

The Jungle Hunter was later alerted to Dutch's survival when he heard him screaming through the night, challenging him to one final confrontation, seeking to avenge his squad. Seeking out the large fire Dutch had lit as a beacon, the Jungle Hunter found Dutch well prepared, again rendered invisible by the cold mud he had smeared over his body and now armed with spears, bows and explosive arrows he had built from what little equipment he had left, as well as the jungle itself. Although the Predator's Cloak was disabled and the creature himself was lightly wounded, he eventually turned the tables on Dutch and dropped him into a pool of water, thereby removing his camouflage and making him visible once more.

Predator 1987 Final Fight

The Jungle Hunter avoiding Dutch's trap in their final confrontation.

Impressed by Dutch's strength and ingenuity, the Jungle Hunter discarded his Plasmacaster and bio-helmet before engaging Dutch in hand-to-hand combat. Even in a fair duel, Dutch was still no match for the Predator and took a savage beating from him. The creature, although Dutch taunted him to finishing him, wisely saw through the trap he had prepared. Jungle Hunter avoided a trap he had set for him and trudged around it. Seeing his chance, Dutch triggered one of his remaining traps himself and dropped the counterweight directly on top of the creature, crushing him. When Dutch demanded to know what he was, the dying Predator mockingly repeated Dutch's question in garbled English, then activated his Self-Destruct Device as last-ditch effort to kill him. Jungle Hunter began mocking him with psychopathic laughter as Dutch ran for cover as the creature's wrist gauntlet detonated, killing him and igniting the jungle in a massive explosion. The aftermath of the detonation resulted in Dutch's rescue by General Homer Philips, who extracted him from the jungle.

After death[]

Following the Jungle Hunter's demise, his ship automatically returned to Yautja Prime, taking with it a record of everything that had happened in Guatemala in the form of recordings automatically relayed through the creature's bio-helmet and stored aboard the vessel.[3] These records were thoroughly studied by the Yautja and led to increased respect for humanity's capabilities. Notably, the City Hunter was motivated to travel to Earth and hunt man himself as a direct result of these recordings.[4] Knowledge of this event also found its way to other countries on Earth — for example, Isabelle, an IDF sniper captured by the Super Predators and dropped on the Game Preserve Planet in 2010, recognized the Yautja and their technology from classified reports she had read about the hunt in Guatemala.

Personality and Traits[]

The Jungle Hunter seems to enjoy toying with his prey as is shown multiple times. He has an aggressive, yet honorable personality as shown during the fight with Dutch. He strictly follows the Yautja Honor Code, which is proven when he spares Anna who's unarmed. He also only kills prey he deems 'worthy', unlike some other Yautja which don't follow or even believe in the code.

It appears Jungle Hunter believes in tradition throughout the film. It seems he prefers to hunt by the trees, stalking his prey from above. This could also be because it makes the Hunter feel superior to his quarry. The trees provide protection from bullets and keeps the Jungle Hunter hidden from the eyes of humans. This tactic proves very effective against humanity, as done by the heavily DNA spliced Assassin Predator who hunted a squad of ex-military men known as the 'Loonies'.

List of Notable Victims[]

Equipment[]

JH fires his PC

The Jungle Hunter fires his Plasmacaster.

The Jungle Hunter was fairly lightly equipped by Yautja standards, carrying only a few weapons and basic equipment on his hunt. This may be a result of traditional beliefs, relying more on skill that just firepower. Yautja also believe that it's more honorable for a hunter to pursue their prey with more basic weapons which make the fight more even and the kill more honorable.

Behind the Scenes[]

As the Jungle Hunter costume was created as a replacement for a previous creature that did not work, it had to be designed and built in only six weeks.[5] Two suits were made for the production, cast in foam latex. Owing to the tight schedule, the armor pieces (with the exception of the bio-helmet, the Plasmacaster and the wrist gauntlet) were sculpted directly onto the body and molded with it. The teeth were cast separately, from acrylic, while the dreadlocks were also molded from foam and applied as a single piece. The creature's skin coloration was based on a desert locust species, Schistocerca gregaria.[5] A simple red one-piece suit was also built for use in scenes where the creature would appear cloaked, acting as a base on which the special effects were later applied.

The Predator's head was built as a separate piece, and a total of three were created for the film — a "hero" head that was capable of facial articulation, a static stunt head and a head that was completely open at the front, for use in scenes where the Predator is wearing his helmet.[5] The animatronic face on the hero head was controlled by a set of 9 servomotors that enabled motion of the brow area and mandibles, as well as "a cheek squint"; an additional external servomotor was added later, hidden in the creature's backpack, to move the lower mandibles, which previously did not open as widely as intended.[5] Hall was able to puppeteer the creature's mouth with his own jaw, and wore contact lenses to finish the effect.

Originally, the Jungle Hunter had a very different, much more elaborate bio-helmet, designed to mimic the creature's tribal aesthetic. However, producer Joel Silver reportedly "hated it instantly", complaining that the complex design would lessen the effect when the Predator finally removes the helmet to reveal his face. As a result, it was redesigned to be far simpler and plainer. The original rejected helmet prop was later reused for Guardian in Predator 2,[5] and would go on to inspire the helmets worn by Celtic in Alien vs. Predator and Scarface in the video game Predator: Concrete Jungle. Several other pieces of the Jungle Hunter outfit were similarly reused for the ending of Predator 2; the body suit was recycled for Predator Elder Greyback,[6] while the bio-helmet actually used in the first film was given to Scout.

Unused weaponry[]

Several weapons were proposed for the Predator but cut from the finished film, including a spear gun (a projectile from which is glimpsed very briefly, wounding Blain before he is killed) and a spear — these later resurfaced as the Speargun and the Combistick in Predator 2.[5] Another weapon designed for the creature, but not recycled in the second movie, was a sword. Two swords were built from fiberglass and the weapon was actually incorporated into the first test suit, sheathed inside the Predator's backpack. However, it was removed when it was found the creature's head caught on the handle when Hall turned to look around.[5]

Quotes[]

  • Dutch: what the hell are you?  
  • Predator : WhAT thE hElL...aRe yOu..?

Trivia[]

  • 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.
  • In the novelization of the film, the Predator is very different from the creature that appeared in the movie. In the book it is a shapeshifter, able to mimic any form it chooses from just the slightest physical contact, and even capable of dissipating entirely, vanishing and becoming part of the blowing breeze.[7] In its basic form, it is a tall, humanoid creature with crimson, scaly skin and three-fingered hands.[8] Its only weapons are a telescoping spear that it throws (incidentally similar to the Combistick from Predator 2) and a static, spider web-like trap capable of shredding anything caught in it (similar to the net fired by the Netgun, again introduced in Predator 2). Instead of a Cloak, the creature uses its shapeshifting ability and chameleon-like skin to hide.[9] The Predator is also able to possess any animal it chooses (but not humans, one of the reasons it is so interested in them).[10] Its blood is translucent and amber in color instead of green, although it still glows at night.[11] The Predator does not kill men for sport, but rather out of curiosity; the way it horrifically mutilates its prey is merely an attempt to study and better understand human beings.[12] It does, however, keep trophies taken from those it kills on board its ship.[13]
  • A myriad of other Predators throughout the franchise are based on or are entirely identical to the Jungle Hunter design.
  • The Jungle Hunter is currently the only movie Predator to have successfully used his Self-Destruct Device to commit honorable suicide (not counting the unnamed Predator seen during a flashback sequence in Alien vs. Predator). The City Hunter attempted to do the same but was stopped by Mike Harrigan. No other Predators have been depicted making the attempt in the films (although Scar used his Self-Destruct Device to destroy a nest of Xenomorph Eggs from afar).
  • Notably, the Jungle Hunter also stands out as one of the few Predators in the film series (along with Tracker and Falconer) to not have his limbs or head hacked off. The City Hunter lost his left arm to Harrigan, Berserker Predator lost his left arm and head to Royce after the former decapitated the Crucified Predator. The Fugitive Predator was decapitated post-mortem by the Upgrade Predator, who eventually had all of his limbs blown off by Quinn McKenna.
  • According to the original toy released soon after the movie, the Predator's name (not mentioned) translates as "Savage".
  • In the original script for Predator there were three Predators, instead of just the one.
  • The playable Predator character in the Devastation DLC for Call of Duty: Ghosts is based on the Jungle Hunter, although it also includes elements of Scout from Predator 2 in its design.
  • The Jungle Hunter's bio-helmet makes a cameo appearance in The Predator, where it is seen in a display case at the Stargazer laboratory.

Notes[]

  • The predator examining Dutch to see if there was something different about him. When he sees he was just a man, no tech or tricks, that had gave him a hell of a fight without technology but basically with just his mind and what he could make from the jungle the predator decides to fight him man2man. Or man2pred. Nothing appeared different on the surface so it was like another round of testing to see if this was just a man or some kind of human not encountered before. The Predator had probably never had much of a fight from a human, when he trapped his head between the blades it was like a person trapping a bug or a species to examine it when he could have just killed him instead. Or not.
  • For the Yautja, the greatest honor comes from killing dangerous prey and collecting their skulls as trophies. By the time the predator caught up to Dutch at the waters edge, the yautja had seen Dutch as a worthy adversary and therefore grants him the right of a hand-to-hand fight. Killing him outright would have been “acceptable” in terms of their code but it is far more honorable to fight in the purest form of combat. Also, you have to keep in mind that they hunt for trophies to impress their fellow Yautja. All of their hunts are observed by elders and other elites. This Yautja had nothing but honor and a good show in his mind when he decided to fight him hand to hand.
  • Predator examines Dutch's skull and sees he's a powerfully built human specimen - so he decided to be a sport and square up with him: “No technology. No enhancements. Impressive that you were able to make it so far with so little. You’re good, not good enough of course, but good. You’ve earned a fair fight. It will be an honor to take your skull”.
  • Predators have a code of honor. In the movie Hawkins had his weapon out, but didn't have it up and wasn't scanning the environment for threats, so The predator didn't use his plasma caster. Instead he made noise until both Anna and Hawkins noticed, and then moved in on foot and killed Hawkins by hand. Blain had his weapon out and was not only actively scanning the environment , but actively firing into it. Shooting him from cover was therefore acceptable. Mac had figured out how to spot the predator even while cloaked, so there was no reason to turn the cloak off. He was so actively tracking the Predator, so it was fine for the Predator to shoot him, but only after using Mac's own action against him, letting him put himself in position to be shot. Dillon had his weapon out and was actively scanning his environment for the Predator, so it was also acceptable to shoot him, except the shot didn't connect solidly, and disarmed him. The Predator could have fired a second shot to finish him off at this point but didn't, he switched tactics and began to close the distance on foot, even slowing down to walk in order to give Dillon enough time to un-sling his second weapon and aim it at the Predator before it made the kill. We don't see Billy's death, so we can't say for certain how he died, though the last time we see him alive is through the Predator's point of view as he closes the distance on foot. Given his behavior elsewhere, and judging by the state of Billy's corpse later, is probably safe to say he was killed in hand-to-hand combat. Poncho was wounded, true enough, but he did have his weapons drawn and ready, and he was looking for the Predator, so it was still acceptable to circle around out of his line of fire and take him out by shooting him. Anna was unarmed and posed no threat so he couldn't kill her. Dutch was firing at the Predator the first time, so it was acceptable to shoot him, but he got away. During their second fight, as long as Dutch was using explosives and projectile weapons against the Predator it was fine for the P4edator to attempt to shoot him. However, once the Predator caught him, it became obvious Dutch was disarmed, and his breathing was distressed. The Predator therefore discarded this plasma caster and breathing mask, so he would have to fight Dutch disarmed and unable to breathe comfortably.... or in other words, on as even terms as possible. "But what about his blades" you might be thinking . "He pulled those out at the end of the fight" Yes, he did, but only after Dutch had been thoroughly defeated that he was literally crawling away from the Predator, dragging his legs behind him. As far as the Predator knew, he had crippled his opponent, which meant it was time to dispatch his prey in the most humane way possible.
  • the predator repeats dutch’s question in his own voice. like this is the one time he isn’t just mimicking the vocal pattern, but asking the question with his real voice out of genuine disbelief.

Appearances[]

Non-canon[]

Gallery[]

Behind the scenes[]

Figures[]

References[]

External links[]

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