Hunting Characters

Media has created several compelling hunter characters. They have been portrayed as heroes, villains and comical fools. Some have become very well known, to the point of representing hunters as an archetype in fiction.

Ahab

Ahab is the unstable captain in the novel Moby Dick. He has his leg bitten off by the titular white whale and becomes obsessed with hunting it down. Ahab puts the lives of his entire crew in danger in his pursuit. At the end of the story, his thirst for blood costs him his life and ship.

Burt Gummer

He initially started off as a minor character in the comedy horror film, Tremors. A new species of giant underground worms terrorises his local community. He and his wife manage to fight off one, thanks to their comically large collection of firearms. After several sequels, Burt has become the main character in the Tremors series. He regularly hunts down the deadly monsters.

Elmer Fudd

Fudd serves as the comic foil to Bugs Bunny in the Looney Tunes animated series. He is always trying to hunt the rabbit down. However, his attempts often end up with him injuring himself or annoying other characters. Fudd can be seen as a mocking depiction of the hunting community. He is dimwitted, accident-prone and buffoonish.

Van Pelt

In the original Jumanji film, a brother and sister play a magical board game which unleashes many dangerous creatures into the world. One of them is Van Pelt, a trigger happy hunter who wants to kill Alan, a man played by Robin Williams. Interestingly, Van Pelt is played by the same actor as Alan’s father. This suggests that the image of the hunter is being used to represent fear of aggressive authority figures.

Crocodile Dundee

Crocodile Dundee is one of the more positive representations of hunting. He is an Australian who targets large crocodiles and alligators. He uses his skills to save a woman from one of these dangerous reptiles. Dundee has become an international icon after the success of the film of the same name.

Robert Baratheon

In Game Of Thrones, King Robert Baratheon enjoys hunting wild boar. He engages in this activity instead of doing his royal duties. One day he gets too drunk while hunting and ends up getting mortally wounded by his target.