The Hunter (Superman)
Contents |
Biography
The Hunter's origins were traced to the Phantom Zone that served as a prison for criminals from the planet Krypton. Amongst them included General Zod and two female Kryptonians who were punished with banishment but managed to survive the fate of Krypton after it exploded. Whilst there, they were trapped helplessly and watched through the dimensional barrier to see Earth where they saw Superman, the son of Jor-El who were responsible for their exile. Not only did Zod and his comrades want to get their freedom but also revenge on their enemy's son. One of the female Kryptonians revealed her plan when she showed her comrades a chemical pool she had created. This pit of green liquid contained carbohydrates, xenopeptides and carbites that were all the building blocks of a genetic scientists dream. Whilst the renegade Kryptonians could not escape the Phantom Zone barrier, they decided to craft an organic unliving construct to accomplish this feat. Through concentration, they began to envision what they believed to be the perfect hunter that merged all the qualities that they saw in the task. Thus, this mental concentration saw the creation of the Hunter who declared that he existed for one purpose which was the extermination of the son of Jor-El. Upon asking the location of his prey, General Zod revealed that Superman lived in Metropolis on Earth and urged the Hunter to begin his mission. With ease, the Hunter managed to pierce the barrier between the Phantom Zone and Earth where he arrived on humanity's homeworld. In Metropolis, his arrival came within the city where drivers crashed their cars in order to avoid hitting him as he stood at a junction on the road. The Hunter examined a ruptured fire hydrant and look at the water that emerged when a police officer attempted to arrest him. Using his natural abilities, the Hunter's body took on the consistency of water and sent a burst of water to deal with the police officer. After which, as a stream of moving water, he moved into the sewers where he sought Superman who the Hunter saw as the "hated" son of Jor-El.
He would learn of Supermans closeness to Daily Bugle reporter Lois Lane and kidnapped her in order to force a confrontation with the Kryptonian. However, he quickly learnt that Superman was a powerful foe to face and thus the Hunter resorted to more sinister means at defeating Superman which resulting in him acquiring Kryptonite. It appaared as though the Hunter had killed Superman with the substance after which the artificial alien attempted to free his creator from the Phantom Zone. However, Superman arrived and interrupted the process allowing only General Zod through. The Hunter this time attempted to finally kill Superman and morphed into an electric being but his power was turned back against himself and he was destroyed.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In terms of appearance, the Hunter was a large humanoid with green skin and a head that held two large circular red eyes. His hands had three digits on their surface whilst his feet had only two.
The nature of the organisms creation meant it was a dedicated vessel of revenge against Kal-El as intended by its creators. This was to the point that the Hunter claimed that it sought Superman who was referred to as the "hated" son of Jor-El. In fact, the creature stated to its creators that it existed for one purpose alone which was the extermination of the son of Jor-El. The Hunter had a cruel streak as when it attacked Superman with an electrical onslaught it demanded that he beg for his life. It was seemingly completely focused on its prey as the Hunter ignored policemen and stated that humans held no interest to it. Instead, it adopted the approach of a hunter looking for its prey and determined that if it could not find its quary then it would draw Superman out to it by attacking his friends. Despite this being the case, the Hunter did seem to be a creatures of its word and promised its masters that it would free them in exchange for finding the means to destroy Kal-El.
Powers and abilities
In terms of powers, the creature held seemingly greater than human strength as it was easily able to lift a human such as Lex Luthor and crush a desk with its bare hands. It also demonstrated the ability to fly and had some form of enhanced speed as when it was within one of its forms it managed to move at such speed in order to capture Lois Lane. Elements of its abilities seem to be based on shapeshifting as the Hunter was able to take on the appearance of Clark Kent's adoptive human mother to such an extent that it was able to fool Kal-El.
The Hunter was seemingly a being that held the unique talent of altering its own molecular structure and tranforming its body into any other element. Such a process required only physical contact and allowed the creature to take on the characteristics of the object it had touched. Thus, by putting its hand into water, the Hunter was able to turn itself into a liquid state and control its composition allowing it to send blasts of water to push back its foes. Alternatively, it was able to become a stream of water in order to navigate its environment and even merge with larger bodies of water to escape. It was able to return to a physical form by simply moulding its body into a humanoid form and touching another substance to gain that ones consistency. An example of this was seen when the Hunter journeyed through water and went onto land where it took the form of mud. Higher levels of this ability were used to impart greater endurance to the Hunters physical form such as taking the consistency of steel and even a diamond that was one of the hardest materials on Earth. These traits allowed the creature to engage in a physical confrontation with a Kryptonian such as Superman whilst under a yellow sun and even rip large structures to throw at its foe and even smash through such obstacles. More unique forms included the ability to turn its body into Kryptonite after discovering some of the substance and using its radiation in an attempt to kill Kal-El. Another power the creature gained was by touching electric lines which allowed the Hunter to become a being of electrical energy and it was able to discharge this power into deadly attacks.
Some unknown reason that was perhaps linked to the creature's unique origins meant that the Hunter had the capacity to travel from the Phantom Zone without being trapped by the barrier. Furthermore, it seemed to be capable of communicating with its creators telepathically and used this connection to gain important intelligence for its mission.
Notes
- The Hunter was voiced in his animated form by Peter Cullen.
Appearances
- Superman: The Hunter (1988)
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
