Hunter (Spyro the Dragon)

Hunter (ハンター Hantā in Japanese) the Cheetah is a character native to Avalar who first appeared in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!.

Personality
Hunter is a laid-back, physically talented, and somewhat gullible character. While he's a loyal friend of Spyro and is knowledgeable about basic tasks (e.g. jumping), he seems to have 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.

Like 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 pride when he doesn't. He also seems to be a bit of a conspiracy buff, with an interest in space and extraterrestrials (especially sheep in Flying Sheep Saucers).

Like most cats, Hunter hates to get wet. 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, something which he despises, as stated in Spyro: Year of the Dragon.

Hobbies
Hunter is a very skilled adventurer and is very good at hunting, as his name reveals. Hunter 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, etc.. He also likes to compete and test his limits.

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!
It was Hunter's fault that Ripto entered Avalar in the first place, as Hunter's suggestions for Super Portal coordinated 22475 - his birthday (22/4/75) 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 had doubts about Spyro, and was concerned that it was a bad idea to bring a dragon to the realm after reading the Professor's book about Dragons, knowing that they sounded much more dangerous than Ripto himself.

Despite these doubts, he continued to help Spyro throughout his quest, and developed a close friendship with the dragon after the Ripto's defeat, changing his opinions on all Dragons. In the epilogue, it is revealed that Hunter's scuba diving career got cut a little short after being attacked by a black 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 told Elora, the Professor, 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 in the Fireworks Factory world.

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

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

Spyro: 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 lost fireflies for Spyro.

Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs
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.

Spyro: 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 things 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. Hunter even came to Spyro's rescue when the young dragon was captured and imprisoned within the Ice Citadel by Red's forces.

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.

Gallery

 * Hunter the Cheetah/Gallery

Trivia

 * In Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, Hunter entered in the code 2-2-4-7-5 on the Superportal keypad, claiming that it was his birthday as he entered it. Making his birthday 2/24/75. However, Insomniac Games, the original developer, has indicated it was meant as April 22, 1975, making him 24 years old in Ripto's Rage!.This makes sense when you realize that this follows the European date format, so it would be 22/4/75.
 * 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, if you find him, you can play as Hunter in a series of mini-games, all dealing with his attempt at thwarting an alien sheep invasion.
 * Unlike many anthropomorphic animal characters, Hunter does not wear any clothing in most of his appearances, though he does wear pads and helmets, a wetsuit for the manta ray minigames in Ripto's Rage and Year of the Dragon as well as a pair of shorts, for the skateboarding minigames in Year of the Dragon.
 * 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 second "Dragon Realms"-scene 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.
 * 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 resembles his Legend counterpart's.
 * In Mushroom Speedway, when Hunter is been hit by the UFOs, he can be heard screaming.
 * Sometimes, Hunter's coat is not lit correctly to the rest of his body.
 * His appearances in the Stephen Squirrelsky and Friends' movie spoof travels in The Secret of NIMH, Nikki's Adventures of Sing Along Episode 6, The Little Mer-Lioness 2: Return to the Sea, Skunkules, Home on the Range, Kermit's Winter Wonderland, and The Little Jungle Boy and will hopefully be in more.

Cazador Хантер