Jungle Hunter Biographical information Rank Unknown Physical description Species Yautja Gender Male Height 7'3" Chronological and political information Affiliation Jungle Hunter Clan Notable Facts Killed most of Alan Schaefer's private military team Status Deceased as of 1987[1] Portrayed by Kevin Peter Hall Peter Cullen (voice)
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The "Jungle Hunter" Predator was a Yautja from the Jungle Hunter Clan. He is widely known as the Predator that stalked and killed several American military personnel in Val Verde in 1987, including members of an elite mercenary unit led by Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer.

Dutch eventually faced the Jungle Hunter in hand-to-hand combat, mortally wounding it and leading the creature to commit ritualistic suicide with its Self-Destruct Device.

BiographyEdit

Pre-1987Edit

At some point prior to 1987, the Jungle Hunter began hunting humans he considered worthy prey in the jungles of Val Verde, 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 teamEdit

In 1987, the Jungle Hunter returned to Val Verde, now host to an ongoing guerrilla war between the American-backed government and a communist insurgency. When several CIA agents under the command of Al Dillon were shot down and captured by the guerrillas, Dillon dispatched a team of Green Berets 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 and hung from the treetops as trophies.

Hunting Dutch's squadEdit

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 its 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 isolated himself from the rest of the squad, the Jungle Hunter struck, killing him with his Wrist Blades, disembowelling him and hanging his corpse from a tree.

The other men immediately instigated a search for the body. Finding Blain alone, the Jungle Hunter attempted to kill him with its Spear Gun but succeeded only in grazing his shoulder. Before he could retaliate, the Predator finished him with his Plasma Caster, blowing a hole clean through his chest. As it moved in to retrieve the body, the Jungle Hunter was spotted by Mac and was wounded when the soldier opened up with an M134 Minigun. After escaping, the Predator retreated to the treetops to tend to its wounds with its Medi-Kit. That night, the Predator stealthily infiltrated the squad's well-prepared and heavily defended night position and successfully recovered Blain's body.

The following 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 it waiting for them; after using its Plasma Caster to shoot Mac in the head and then blow off Dillon's right arm, it moved in and finished Dillon with its Wrist Blades. Shortly afterwards, the Jungle Hunter encountered Billy making a suicidal last stand armed only with a combat knife and quickly slaughtered him as well. After killing the injured Poncho with its Plasma Caster, 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 infra-red vision. The creature returned to Billy's corpse and took it up into the trees to remove his skull as a trophy.

EndgameEdit

The Predator was later alerted to Dutch's survival when it heard him screaming through the night, challenging it to one final duel. 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 arrows he had built from the jungle. Although the Predator's Cloaking Device was destroyed and the creature itself was wounded, it eventually turned the tables on Dutch and dropped him into a pool of water, thereby removing his camouflage and making him visible once more.

Impressed by Dutch's strength and ingenuity, the Jungle Hunter discarded its weapons and its Bio-Mask and confronted Dutch hand-to-hand. After pummelling its prey mercilessly, Dutch triggered one of his remaining traps and dropped the counterweight directly on top of the creature, crushing it. Mortally wounded, the dying Predator activated its Self-Destruct Device and, mimicking Billy, laughed manically at the human standing over him. Dutch ran for cover as the creature's Wrist Gauntlet detonated, killing it and igniting the jungle in a massive explosion.

After deathEdit

Following the Jungle Hunter's demise, its ship automatically returned to Yautja Prime, taking with it a record of everything that had happened in Val Verde in the form of recordings automatically relayed through the creature's Bio-Mask and stored aboard the vessel.^[2] 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.^[3]

Weapons and EquipmentEdit

The Jungle Hunter was fairly lightly equipped by Yautja standards, carrying only a few weapons and basic equipment on its hunt.

• Cloaking Device
• Wrist Blades
• Plasma Caster
• Spear Gun
• Bio-Mask
  • Vocal Mimicry
• Wrist Gauntlet
  • Self-Destruct Device
  • Sat-Com
• Medi-Kit

TriviaEdit

• 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.^[4] In its basic form, it is a tall, humamoid creature with crimson, scaly skin and three-fingered hands.^[5] It's only weapons are a telescoping spear that it throws (incidentally similar to the Combi-Stick from Predator 2) and a static, spider web-like trap capable of shredding anything caught in it (similar to the net fired by the Net Launcher, again introduced in Predator 2). Instead of a Cloaking Device, the creature uses its shapeshifting ability and chameleon-like skin to hide.^[6] The Predator is also able to possess any animal it chooses (but not humans, one of the reasons it is so interested in them).^[7] It's blood is translucent and amber in color instead of green, although it still glows at night.^[8] The Predator does not kill men for sport, but rather out curiosity; the way it horrifically mutilates its prey is merely an attempt to study and better understand human beings.^[9] It does, however, keep trophies taken from those it kills on board its ship.^[10]
• The Crucified Predator in Predators was designed after the Jungle Hunter.
• Dark, the playable Yautja from the 2010 video game Aliens vs. Predator, was also based on 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. 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).
• In the original Predator script there were going to be three Predators instead of just the one.
• The Jungle Hunter is the only Predator that appears to see in "true infrared" when its mask is removed. Other subsequent Predators seen on film continue to have infrared heat vision distinguished from the surrounding environment when their masks are removed. This difference is likely just an oversight by the film-makers.

AppearancesEdit

• Predator/novel (First Appearance)
• Predator: Concrete Jungle (mentioned only)
• Predator 2/novel/comic (mentioned only)
• Predator: Concrete Jungle (video game, mentioned only)
• Predators (mentioned only)

GalleryEdit

Jungle Hunter lifting Dutch off his feet.

The Jungle Hunter's final moments.

The Jungle Hunter searching for Dutch.

The Jungle Hunter Figure by Hot Toys

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ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Jim Thomas, John Thomas (writers) and John McTiernan (director). Predator [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
2. ↑ {{cite book|title=[[Predator 2 (novel)|Predator 2 novelization|author=Simon Hawke|publisher=Warner Books, Inc.|year=1990|page=21}}
3. ↑ {{cite book|title=[[Predator 2 (novel)|Predator 2 novelization|author=Simon Hawke|publisher=Warner Books, Inc.|year=1990|page=35}}
4. ↑ Paul Monette (1987). Predator novelization. Warner Books, Inc., 140. 
5. ↑ Paul Monette (1987). Predator novelization. Warner Books, Inc., 156. 
6. ↑ Paul Monette (1987). Predator novelization. Warner Books, Inc., 85. 
7. ↑ Paul Monette (1987). Predator novelization. Warner Books, Inc., 103. 
8. ↑ Paul Monette (1987). Predator novelization. Warner Books, Inc., 127. 
9. ↑ Paul Monette (1987). Predator novelization. Warner Books, Inc., 43. 
10. ↑ Paul Monette (1987). Predator novelization. Warner Books, Inc., 133. 

External linksEdit

• Hot Toys 1/6th scale Predator collectible model kit