PREDATOR CITY HUNTER
The City Hunter (also known as the Los Angeles Predator or 'El Diablo') is an aggressive Yautja warrior from the Lost Tribe who arrived in Los Angeles during a 1997 summer heatwave. Designed by Stan Winston for Predator 2 (1990), he expanded the franchise lore with a versatile close-quarters arsenal and a reckless urban hunting style before meeting his end against LAPD Lieutenant Mike Harrigan.
Cronologia
Biografia
The City Hunter was a newly Blooded Yautja who arrived on Earth in July 1997 aboard the Lost Tribe's mothership. Overseen by the clan's leader, Elder Greyback, and senior hunters, the eager warrior was assigned to conduct a solo hunt in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles. Capitalizing on an escalating turf war between Colombian and Jamaican drug cartels, he targeted heavily armed targets across the city to test his combat prowess.
Demonstrating reckless overconfidence, the City Hunter slaughtered members of the Colombian Scorpions cartel and massacred the Jamaican Voodoo Posse inside a luxury penthouse. Following the Yautja Honor Code, he spared unarmed targets, including gang leader Ramon Vega's mistress and later LAPD Detective Leona Cantrell upon discovering she was pregnant.
However, his brutal kills—including decapitating gang lord King Willie and skinning LAPD Detective Danny Archuleta—drew the intense focus of LAPD Detective Lieutenant Mike Harrigan and Peter Keyes' government task force (OWLF). After decimating Keyes' thermal-dampening unit inside a cryogenic slaughterhouse, the City Hunter fought Harrigan across Los Angeles rooftops. Harrigan used the creature's own Smart Disc to sever its left arm and gauntlet, disabling its nuclear self-destruct device. Severely wounded, the Hunter retreated to his subterranean spaceship to treat his injuries, where Harrigan pursued him and mortally wounded him in a final duel. Following his death, Greyback and the Lost Tribe retrieved his body and honored Harrigan with an antique 1715 flintlock pistol before leaving Earth.
Storia
The origins of the City Hunter trace back to his initiation as a newly Blooded hunter within the Lost Tribe (Lost Hunter Clan).
Under the command of Elder Greyback, the young Yautja embarked on his first off-world hunt to establish his reputation among his peers.
The Lost Tribe positioned their mothership in the sewer networks beneath Los Angeles in 1997, choosing the city during a sweltering heatwave and drug war. Greyback and senior tribe members monitored the City Hunter's hunt from afar, evaluating whether the overzealous young warrior possessed the skill and discipline required to survive an environment filled with armed human prey.
I PEZZI DI PREDATOR CITY HUNTER
Poteri & Abilità
* **Bio-Helmet / Mask:** Bronze, angular helmet providing visual targeting, vocal mimicry, and multiple vision modes including Infrared, Ultraviolet, and Tech Modes. * **Cloak:** Advanced optical camouflage that renders the Yautja virtually invisible to the naked eye. * **Combistick:** A telescopic, collapsible spear used for thrusting, throwing, and channeling ambient electrical charges. * **Smart Disc:** A circular, razor-sharp homing blade stored on the right thigh that can slice through multiple targets. * **Netgun:** A calf-mounted launcher that fires high-tensile wire mesh to constrict, trap, and slice prey. * **Plasmacaster:** A shoulder-mounted energy cannon capable of firing armor-piercing plasma bolts.
* **Speargun:** A silent projectile weapon integrated directly into the left wrist gauntlet. * **Wristblades:** Retractable dual blades mounted on the gauntlet for close-range melee strikes. * **Wrist Launcher / Energy Flechette:** Wrist-mounted projectile system firing explosive flechettes. * **Wrist Gauntlet & Self-Destruct Device:** Tactical gauntlet housing Sat-Com systems and a emergency nuclear self-destruct charge. * **Medicomp:** An emergency field medical kit containing blue cauterizing gel, surgical staplers, and anti-septic compounds. * **Superhuman Physicality & Agility:** Enhanced strength, durability, and urban maneuverability, allowing him to leap across skyscrapers and withstand multiple shotgun blasts.
Apparizioni
* **Predator 2 (1990):** Feature film debut directed by Stephen Hopkins, introducing the City Hunter and expanding Yautja culture. * **Predator 2: Official Movie Novelization (1990):** Novelization by Simon Hawke expanding on the creature's thoughts and telemetry lore. * **Predator 2 (Dark Horse Comics, 1990–1991):** Two-issue comic book adaptation featuring slight narrative variations on the film. * **Predator 2 (1991):** Top-down action game for MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, and ZX Spectrum where players pursue the hunter. * **Predator 2 (1992):** Sega Genesis isometric shooter following Lt. Harrigan against cartels and the City Hunter.
* **Predator 2 (1992):** Side-scrolling platformer for Sega Master System and Game Gear adapting the movie's climax. * **Predator: Concrete Jungle (2005):** Console video game that officially coined and formalized the name 'City Hunter'. * **Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013):** Multiplayer DLC field order reward featuring playable Yautja gear and sounds inspired by the City Hunter. * **Mortal Kombat X (2015):** Guest DLC fighter featuring combat variations and weapons directly pulled from the City Hunter's arsenal. * **Predator: Hunting Grounds (2020):** Multiplayer title featuring a dedicated City Hunter DLC pack and OWLF lore audio logs. * **Predator Comic Legacy (1991–2026):** Expanded universe comics from Dark Horse and Marvel referencing the 1997 L.A. hunt.
Relazioni
* **Lt. Mike Harrigan:** LAPD homicide detective who became the City Hunter's main rival and ultimately killed him in single combat. * **Greyback (The Elder):** Leader of the Lost Tribe who supervised the City Hunter's trial, retrieved his body, and honored Harrigan. * **Peter Keyes:** OWLF agent who attempted to capture the Hunter in a slaughterhouse before being bisected by the Smart Disc.
* **Danny Archuleta:** Harrigan's partner, killed and boned by the City Hunter after retrieving a lodged spear tip. * **Jerry Lambert:** LAPD detective whose skull and spine were claimed as trophies during the subway ambush. * **Leona Cantrell:** LAPD detective spared during the subway attack when the Hunter's vision mode detected her pregnancy. * **King Willie:** Voodoo Posse gang leader, decapitated by the City Hunter to decorate his trophy wall. * **Lost Tribe Members (Boar, Scout, Warrior, Snake, Borg, Shaman, Guardian, Stalker):** Clan members who accompanied the Earth hunt and carried away his remains.
Evoluzione
Director Stephen Hopkins and creature creator Stan Winston redesigned the Yautja aesthetic for Predator 2 to give the City Hunter an 'urban and hip' look distinct from 1987's Jungle Hunter. FX artists sculpted a shallower, steeper forehead, a circular horned brow ridge, visible gums, and mandible spikes, paired with darker brown skin tones.
Unlike the original suit where armor was molded directly onto the body, the City Hunter featured separate, worn bronze armor pieces and an angular bio-helmet. In terms of lore, the character transformed the Yautja from stealthy jungle ambushers into aggressive urban gladiators who favored close-quarters combat tools like the Combistick, Smart Disc, Netgun, and Speargun. Originally referred to on set and in credits simply as 'The Predator,' the name 'City Hunter' was retroactively formalized in the 2005 video game Predator: Concrete Jungle and has since been adopted across official novelizations, comics, NECA action figure lines, and video games.
Da Collezione
For action figure and high-end statue collectors, the City Hunter is one of the most sought-after designs in the Predator franchise. Leading manufacturers including NECA, Hot Toys, and Hiya Toys have produced multiple scale renditions of his iconic bronze armor.
NECA cemented his status with figures across 7-inch and 1/4 scales, culminating in the 35th Anniversary 'Poster Series' City Hunter figure (2025–2026), which features cel-shaded paint deco and a wall-mountable skyscraper gargoyle display base recreating the original 1990 movie poster. For high-end 1/6 scale collectors, Hot Toys released premium articulated figures equipped with real fabric body mesh, light-up LED bio-helmets, interchangeable articulated mandibles, battle-damaged armor plates, and a severed arm accessory. These figures remain highly valued on the secondary market due to the comprehensive weapon loadout including the collapsed and extended Combistick, Smart Disc, and Netgun accessories.
Curiosità
* Following the scene where the City Hunter's arm is severed, wide shots were performed by uncredited one-armed stuntman R. David Smith. * The City Hunter stands 8 feet tall, making him slightly taller than the original 1987 Jungle Hunter.
* The official name 'City Hunter' was not used in the 1990 movie, but was introduced in the 2005 video game Predator: Concrete Jungle. * During the slaughterhouse confrontation, the City Hunter finishes Lt. Harrigan's phrase ('You're one ugly motherfucker'), having learned it from past mask recordings or victim Jerry Lambert.
