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This article is about the character in the classic series. You may be looking for the character in The Legend of Spyro series.


“Is it just me, or is she kinda cute when she's angry?”
    —Hunter

Hunter, also known as Hunter the Cheetah[2][3], is a cheetah who is one supporting characters native to Avalar. He first appeared in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!.

Appearance

Original Design (1999-2000)

Hunter is a tall anthropomorphic cheetah, though, in the original PS1 trilogy, his fur color and patterns more closely resemble those of leopards. In Spyro 2 and 3, Hunter is a bright orange color with brown spots all over his coat, as well as a bright yellow underbelly and goatee, and lighter orange on his paws, he also has somewhat prominent brown eyebrows, as well as bright blue eyes. Interestingly, he has some sort of brace or clad piece on his right bicep that he is seldom seen without. He occasionally appears wearing different clothing, including scuba gear, large shorts, and a wingsuit among others.

Enter the Dragonfly Design (2002)

In Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, Hunter mostly retains the same basic design as he did in the previous two games; however his model is more detailed. He is noticeably chubbier, and his hands and feet have fully modeled digits. His eyebrows are tan, his underbelly (also tan) extends up to his neck, and his goatee matches his base fur coat. His spots are now even fainter as well. This design would be the basis for Hunter's appearance in the trilogy of Gameboy Advance titles in the series.

A Hero's Tail Design (2004-2005)

In Spyro: A Hero's Tail, Hunter had his design overhauled sufficiently. His fur was made a brighter yellow, and his spots redefined as a solid black or dark brown. Additionally, his underbelly, paws, and chin have all been made white to reflect the colors of real life cheetahs better. His tail has also been made more cat-like and has yellow, black and white stripes on it. His underbelly has been further extended down past his groin, as well. Claws have been added to his fingertips and toes. His former arm brace is gone, and his staple attire now consists of a green brace on his left forearm, a green sash, a quiver filled with arrows, and his bow. This design would serve as the basis for his appearance in the Crash and Spyro Fusion duology, as well as Shadow Legacy.

Reignited Design (2018)

In the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, Hunter now much more closely resembles an actual cheetah as far as fur patterns, and proportions go. He is wearing his bow and quiver gear with straps in the second game, just like in A Hero's Tail and wears additional protective gear in the skateboard parks of the third game, including a helmet and knee pads along with his blue jeans.

Personality

Hunter is a laid-back, physically talented, and somewhat gullible character. While he's a loyal friend to Spyro and is knowledgeable about basic tasks (e.g., jumping), he has trouble grasping the gravity of Spyro's missions. Hunter is, at times, naïve and cowardly, and he can be tricked relatively easily. He is also forgetful as seen when he told Spyro that he lost his running shoes and hasn't found them since.

Hunter is a very skilled adventurer and is very good at hunting, as his name implies. He seems to enjoy heading to far off places, as he appears happy in every game depending on his location. He doesn't do much but slack off, skateboard, scuba dive, etc. He also likes to compete and test his limits. As his name implies, he is an exceptional archer and is strong and agile enough to hold his own in a fight, if need be. He is also a phenomenal skateboarder and expresses jealousy when Spyro breaks his skateboarding records and boasts when he doesn't. He also seems to be a bit of a conspiracy buff, with interest in space and extraterrestrials (especially sheep in Flying Sheep Saucers).

Like most cats, Hunter hates to get wet, something which he despises in Spyro: Year of the Dragon. In Aquaria Towers, Desert Ruins, and Luau Island, he is seen underwater wearing a purple SCUBA suit and goggles. However, doing so protects his fur from getting wet.

Story

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!

Elora Hunter Spyro

Hunter's first meeting with Spyro.

It was Hunter's fault that Ripto entered Avalar in the first place, as Hunter's suggestions for Super Portal coordinated 22475, which was his birthday (22/4/75). The coordinates happened to bring Ripto, Crush, and Gulp to the realm. He made amends by helping Elora and the Professor bring Spyro to Avalar. However, Hunter was concerned that it was a bad idea to bring a dragon after reading the Professor's book about Dragons, knowing they sounded more dangerous than Ripto.

Despite these doubts, he continued to help Spyro throughout his quest, and developed a close friendship with the dragon after Ripto's defeat, changing his opinions on all Dragons. In the epilogue of the original Ripto's Rage!, it is revealed that Hunter's scuba diving career got cut a little short after being attacked by a shark.

Spyro: Year of the Dragon

After Ripto's defeat, Hunter had moved to the Dragon Realms where he participated in the Year of the Dragon festival, which left him, Spyro and the Dragons exhausted. While the dragon eggs were being stolen by mysterious creatures led by Bianca, she stepped on Hunter's tail by accident, causing him to release a yowl of pain loud enough to awake the other dragons to the thief's presence. However, they were unable to stop Bianca from stealing the last dragon egg.

Hunter followed Spyro to the Forgotten Worlds in order to return the dragon eggs stolen by the Sorceress. At this time, he fell in love with Bianca, whom he eventually managed to win over, and who helped them defeat her former mistress. After the Sorceress' defeat, Hunter instructed Bentley, Elora, the Professor, Agent 9 and Sheila to not tell Spyro where he went. It was later revealed and found out by Spyro that Hunter and Bianca were dating, watching the fireworks fired by Sgt. Byrd in the Fireworks Factory world.

In the epilogue of the original game, Hunter ended up babysitting several of the baby dragons and discovered that it was harder than it looked.

Spyro: A Hero's Tail

SpyroAHerosTail Hunter

Hunter as seen in A Hero's Tail

At the time of Red's attack on the Dragon Realms, Hunter came into his own by helping Spyro with tasks he could not perform by himself such as flying, jumping, and shooting targets from a distance using his trusty bow and arrow. He was seen with a green leather strap with a quiver on his back and his bow. When Spyro got captured by Red's minions, Hunter came to his rescue and freed the young dragon within the Ice Citadel. Along the way through the Gloomy Glacier, he met up with one of Spyro's old friends, Bentley the Yeti and helped him get rid of some troublesome yetis.

Spyro: Shadow Legacy

At the end of the summer, Hunter left the Dragon Realms and returned home to Avalar to visit his cheetah village in the Savannah. While there, he and the other cheetahs were trapped in the Shadow Realm but were soon rescued by Spyro. Kasi and the other cheetahs blamed Spyro for causing the Calamity, and soon blamed Hunter for siding with him, throwing them both in prison. Spyro escaped and brought a letter to Hunter's father, Akello, who then cleared their names.

Other appearances

Spyro: Season of Ice

When Grendor froze the realms' fairies into ice crystals, Hunter gave Spyro helpful hints on the world's Fodder.

Spyro 2: Season of Flame

Much like last time, Hunter mostly stuck around to help Spyro out with hints on how to glide and jump, use platforms, break rocks, and finds a couple of lost fireflies for Spyro.

Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs

Hunter(CTR)

Hunter as seen in the CTR TV interview

During the accidental opening of a portal to Ripto's home, Hunter can be found hanging out at the Cheetah Spot Spa. Being the "cool cat" that he was, he promised Spyro the Heart of the Spa if he can find some "cool" items.

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled

In the Spyro & Friends Grand Prix portion of Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled, Hunter appears as one of the unlockable racers at the pit shop with his signature kart being the Dragonfly. During an interview with CTR TV, the broadcast briefly went over to Hunter, who was eager to get the event over with to get back to Bianca, before he was interrupted by Gnasty Gnorc. In the game, Hunter is a balanced-based racer, which means he has middling turn, acceleration and speed.

Gallery

Main article: Hunter/Gallery

Trivia

  • According to Elora in Summer Forest, Ocean Speedway is one of Hunter's favorite speedways.
  • In Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, Hunter entered in the code 2-2-4-7-5 on the Super Portal keypad, claiming that it was his birthday as he entered it.
    • In Spyro Reignited Trilogy, the subtitles for all versions say "22475" except Norwegian where it says "22.4.75", making this the closest official confirmation that it is the 22nd April 1975.
  • Hunter seems to have an odd attraction to Flying Sheep Saucers, or at least, they have an odd attraction to him. In every Speedway level in Year of the Dragon, you can play as Hunter in a series of mini-games, all dealing with thwarting an alien sheep invasion.
  • In Year of the Dragon, he is the only character captured by the Sorceress not to be rescued by Spyro. Instead, he is rescued by Bianca.
  • Unlike many anthropomorphic animal characters, Hunter does not wear any clothing. He does wear pads and helmets, a wetsuit for manta ray minigames in Ripto's Rage and Year of the Dragon as well as a pair of shorts for skateboarding minigames in Year of the Dragon. He also wears jeans in the Reignited Trilogy.
  • In Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!/Spyro 2: Gateway To Glimmer and in other games such as Spyro: A Hero's Tail, Hunter's eyes are blue, but in Spyro: Year of the Dragon, his eyes are green or dark green, except for in the Dragon Realms-based part of the cutscene "An Evil Plot Unfolds," in which his eyes are mistakenly made grey-brown.
  • Hunter's Japanese voice actor is Hiroaki Hirata, the official Japanese dub-over artist of Johnny Depp. He also voiced Balthier in Final Fantasy XII, as well as Sanji in the anime One Piece.
  • In the GBA version of The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, the silhouette of Hunter's classic model was used instead of one that belongs to his Legend counterpart.
  • In the original version of Mushroom Speedway, when the UFOs hit Hunter, he can be heard screaming.
  • In Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled, Hunter's model appears to have undergone some alterations since the Reignited Trilogy, now possessing noticeably more realistic fur.
  • Hunter was designed by Insomniac's animator and character designer, Oliver Wade.
  • Hunter was considered as a possible playable character for Skylanders: Giants. But after the negative fan reception on Spyro in Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, Toys For Bob didn't want to risk more backlash so the idea was dropped.[4]

References

  1. Today is the release of the #spyroreignitedtrilogy and I play Hunter the Cheetah.. (Date Posted - Nov 13, 2018). Twitter.
  2. Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage! game manual, page 10
  3. Spyro: Year of the Dragon game manual, page 12
  4. Skylanders: Portal Casters 10th Anniversary Celebration Pt. 2 - Paul Reiche. (Date Posted - Oct 16, 2021). YouTube.
Characters
Main Characters
Spyro the Dragon - Sparx the Dragonfly - Hunter
Elora - Professor - Zoe - Moneybags
Villains
Ripto - Crush - Gulp
Colossus Yeti - Master Chef - Bombo - Ox
Non-playable characters
Agent Zero - Alchemist - Bazil - Big Gnorcs - Bonebuilders - Breezebuilders - Brother Kipp - Droids
Electrolls - Fairies - Fauns - Fisher - Foreman Bud - Gemcutters - Green Colosi - Greta - Handel
Hippos - Ice Builders - Inventor Droid - Juliet - Land Blubbers - Little Bo Peep - Logistics Droid - Mayor
Ooga and Mr. Bones - Queen Finny - Robot Farmers - Romeo - Scarlet Lizards - Seahorses - Turtles
Water Wizards - Water Workers - Wizards - Yellow Colosi Monks
Locations
Worlds
Summer Forest - Autumn Plains - Winter Tundra
Glimmer - Colossus - Idol Springs - Hurricos - Sunny Beach - Aquaria Towers - Skelos Badlands - Crystal Glacier
Breeze Harbor - Zephyr - Scorch - Fracture Hills - Magma Cone - Shady Oasis - Mystic Marsh - Cloud Temples
Robotica Farms - Metropolis - Dragon Shores
Speedways
Ocean Speedway - Metro Speedway - Icy Speedway - Canyon Speedway
Boss Arenas
Crush's Dungeon - Gulp's Overlook - Ripto's Arena
Terms
Talisman - Spirit Particles - Gems - Orbs - Cheat codes
Media
Snowman Ads - Mikey Ad
Characters
Playable Characters
Spyro the Dragon - Sparx the Dragonfly - Hunter
Sheila - Sgt. Byrd - Bentley - Agent 9
Villains
Sorceress - Buzz - Spike - Scorch
Bluto the Rhynoc - Sleepyhead - Colossus Yeti - Twin Fire Dragons - Moneybags - Sasquatch Six
Non-playable characters
Astor - Ami - Azrael - Bartholomew - Basho - Bianca - Buson - Crazy Ed - Egyptian Dogs - Elora
Fairies - Fireflies - Fluffy - Gnome Wizards - Greta - Gus - Handel - Holiday - Hummingbirds - Isabelle - Lindar
Lions - Marco - Mountain Goats - Nancy - Ooga and Mr. Bones - Pandas - Penguins - Polar Bears - Professor - Purple Villagers
Roy - Scarlet Lizards - Seals - Gus - Tara - Tikis - Weather Imps - Wyatt - Zoe
Locations
Worlds
Sunrise Spring - Midday Gardens - Evening Lake - Midnight Mountain
Sunny Villa - Cloud Spires - Molten Crater - Seashell Shore - Sheila's Alp - Icy Peak - Enchanted Towers - Spooky Swamp
Bamboo Terrace - Sgt. Byrd's Base - Frozen Altars - Lost Fleet - Charmed Ridge - Fireworks Factory - Bentley's Outpost
Crystal Islands - Desert Ruins - Haunted Tomb - Dino Mines - Agent 9's Lab - Super Bonus Round
Speedways
Mushroom Speedway - Country Speedway - Honey Speedway - Harbor Speedway
Boss Arenas
Buzz's Dungeon - Spike's Arena - Scorch's Pit - Sorceress's Lair
Sparx Areas
Crawdad Farm - Spider Town - Starfish Reef - Bugbot Factory
Terms
Dragon Eggs - Gems - Rhynocs - Cheat codes
Characters
Main Characters
Spyro the Dragon - Sparx the Dragonfly - Hunter
Bianca - Spirit Dragon - Zoe
Villains
Ripto
Crush - Gulp
Non-Playable Characters
Alligator Farmers - Bartholomew - Bears - Dragons - Dragonflies - Moneybags - Monkey Monks
Dragon Masters - Rodtikiney - Pigs - Professors - Thieves - Yetis
Locations
Worlds
Dragon Realms
Dragonfly Dojo - Crop Circle Country - Luau Island - Cloud 9 - Monkey Monastery
Honey Marsh - Thieves Den - Jurassic Jungle - Ripto's Lair
Terms
Dragonflies - Gems - Cheat codes
Characters
Playable Characters
Spyro the Dragon - Sparx
Villains
Grendor
Non-playable characters
Hunter - Zoe - Bianca - Moneybags - Professor
Locations
Fairy Realms
Autumn Fairy Home - Winter Fairy Home - Spring Fairy Home - Summer Fairy Home
Market Mesa - Lava Prairie - Mermaid Coast - Hummingbird Fort - Panda Gardens - Honey Marsh
Time Machine Lab - Roman City - Twilight Bulb Factory - Dusty Trails - Star Park - Grendor's Lair
Speedways
Stone Age Speedway - Ice Age Speedway - Aqua Age Speedway - Space Age Speedway
Boss Arenas
Grendor's Lair
Sparx Areas
Ant Farm - Wasp City - Caterpillar Gardens - Beetle Burrows
Terms
Fairies - Rhynocs -Gems
Characters
Playable Characters
Spyro the Dragon - Sheila - Agent 9
Villains
Ripto - Crush - Gulp
Non-playable characters
Hunter - Zoe - Bianca - Moneybags -Bentley - Professor
Locations
Worlds
Sunny Plains - Celestial Plains - Starry Plains
Country Farms - Shamrock Isle - Canyon Hop - Minty Mines - Temple of Dune - Tiki Tropics
Alpine Adobe - Crush's Dungeon - Candy Lane - Haunted Hills - Winter Mesa - Watertopia
Rumble Jungle - Lunar Ledges - Arctic Outback - Gulp's Overlook - Moon Fondue - Gypsy Road
Dreamy Castle - Volcano Vaults - Ripto's Mondo Volcano - Ripto's Volcano (Boss)
Terms
Gems - Rhynocs - Fireflies - Dragon Breaths
Characters
Main Characters
Spyro - Sparx - Ripto - Sgt. Byrd - Moneybags - Hunter - Bianca - Agent 9
Villains
Ripto
Dragon Shores
Worlds
Virtual Playground - Fairy Library - Yeti Serengeti - Byrd Barracks - Thieves' Guild - Rabbit Habitat
Banana Savannah - Kangaroo Hoodoos - Moneybags' Mansion - Cheetah Spot Spa - Professor's Secret Lab
Rhynocs n' Clocks - Chateau Ripto
Terms
Gems - Homeworld - Powerups - Dragon Breaths - Hearts of the Lands
Characters
Playable Characters
Spyro the Dragon - Hunter
Sparx the Dragonfly - Sgt. Byrd - Blink
Villains
Red (Mecha Form)
Gnasty Gnorc - Ineptune - Mammoth
Non-playable characters
Amp - Aqua - Astor - Bentley the Yeti - Ember - Flame - Fredneck - Freezia - Ice Princess - Lily - Magnus
- Mergatroids - Moneybags - Mrs. Shoutfire - Otto - Peggy - Phil - Professor - Teena - Titan
- Tomas - Trina - Turtle Mother - Wally - Zoe
Locations
Worlds
Dragon Kingdom - Lost Cities - Icy Wilderness - Volcanic Isle
Dragon Village - Crocovile Swamp - Dragonfly Falls - Coastal Remains - Cloudy Domain - Sunken Ruins
- Frostbite Village - Gloomy Glacier - Ice Citadel - Stormy Beach - Molten Mount - Magma Falls - Dark Mine
- Red's Lab
Boss Arenas
Gnasty's Cave - Watery Tomb - Red's Chamber - Red's Lair
Speedways
Island Speedway - Cloudy Speedway - Iceberg Aerobatics - Lava Palaver
Terms
Gems - Dark Gems - Light Gems - Dragon Eggs
Other
Credits - Cheat codes
Characters
Main Characters
Spyro the Dragon - Sparx the Dragonfly - Hunter
Bianca - Blink - Tomas
Villains
Sorcerer
Red - Ice Minion - Fire Minion
Non-Playable Characters
Adama - Akello - Amp - Aqua - Artigan - Astor - Bandit - Bears - Bonebuilders - Brigid - Bruno - Cho Lei - Conan
Dirt - Dragons - Ember - Fairies - Flame - Fonsworthy - Fransisco - Gronk
Isabel - Kaitlin - Kasi - Laird - Longorin - Lucia - Lumpy - Magnus - Marshall - Marvin - Maxwell - Merton - Midian - Moles - Moneybags
Mr. Funderlic - Mrs. Funderlic - Mrs. Moneybags - Neema - Old One Horn - Ooga - Pablo - Panthanitis - Pastemolle - Professor
Pullosin - Rabbits - Sensei - Sis - Skipper - Sofia - Teresa - Titan - Trina - Willard - Wizards - Zinc - Zoe
Locations
Worlds
Dragon Kingdom
Dragon Shores - Dragon Dojo - Dragon Village - Mountain of Magic - Big Forest - Cliff Town
Avalar
Savannah - Tree Tops - Skelos Badlands
Forgotten Worlds
Bunny Bayou - Moleville
Terms
Dragon Kata - Shadow Realm - Gems - Eggs - Magic - Shadowstone - Relics
Playable Characters
Classic series
Spyro - Sparx - Hunter - Sgt. James Byrd - Agent 9 - Sheila - Bentley - Blink
The Legend of Spyro series
Spyro - Cynder
Skylanders series
Spyro the Dragon (Dark) (Legendary) - Gill Grunt - Trigger Happy (Legendary) - Cynder - Terrafin
Stealth Elf (Legendary) - Chop Chop (Legendary) - Eruptor - Ignitor (Legendary) - Prism Break - Stump Smash
Flameslinger - Zap - Ghost Roaster - Voodood - Bash (Legendary) - Sonic Boom
- Drobot - Boomer - Whirlwind (Polar) - Dino-Rang - Zook - Wrecking Ball - Sunburn - Camo
Wham-Shell - Slam Bam (Legendary) - Drill Sergeant - Lightning Rod - Warnado -
Double Trouble (Royal) - Hex
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