Huntsman (American Dragon: Jake Long)



The Huntsman is the leader of The Huntsclan and the main antagonist of the Disney Channel animated series American Dragon: Jake Long.

Background Info/History
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The Huntsman (referred to as the Huntsmaster by his subordinates) is the leader of the Huntsclan and the show's primary recurring villain, as well as the main archenemy of the show's protagonist, Jake Long. The Dragon Council rates him as the #4 threat to the magical community. He is an extremely bitter man with an absolute deep hatred towards all magical creatures, most especially dragons, believing them to be freaks of nature.

Extraordinarily ruthless, the Huntsman is obsessed with killing magical creatures, has no problems with killing any normal humans who get in the Huntsclan's way or even allies with magical creatures (he would consider them "traitors"), and even with disposing of his own subordinates if they fail or betray the Huntsclan (in the episode "The Academy", he threatens a student with death in a stern warning never to betray the Huntsclan, and is also shown forcing failing students to fight an imposing monster known as the "Kraken").

The Huntsman's personality is normally menacing and level-headed, and he is seldom shown losing his temper or displaying strong emotions other than hatred.

The Huntsman has an intimidating stature. His fighting skills are superb; he has impressive agility and acrobatic ability, as well as nearly superhuman strength and durability (in "Breakout", he is shown punching through a brick wall, and in "Homecoming" he is barely phased by being slammed headfirst through a metal elevator door, and even yanks the elevator pulley out with his bare hands in a fit of rage). Nonetheless, in most episodes he leaves most of the physical work to his apprentice Huntsgirl, and limits his role in a fight scene to firing energy blasts with his staff weapon.

In contrast to the Huntsman's generally serious behavior and performance, a running gag of the show is that he is often defeated in a comical way. An example is him being defeated with Jake's flaming flatulence (see "Old School Training"). In one episode, Jake goes back in time and embarrasses the Huntsman in front of his peers.

Though he is supposedly the leader of the Huntsclan, Season 2 makes it appear that he has superiors. He may have been demoted due to his failure and for Huntsgirl's disobedience in "The Hunted".

Character History
In the episode "Hero of the Hourglass", Jake travels to the past of 1986, where he meets a teenage Huntsman. As a teenager, the Huntsman was a Huntsclan apprentice with a scrawny physique and a high-pitched voice that earned him the derision of his Huntsclan peers. Because of Jake's time-travel, the Huntsman's first assignment was kidnapping Jonathan Long so the Huntsclan could force him to reveal the identity of the dragon (Susan Long) he was dating back then. The Huntsman attempts to slay Jake several times. Jake finally accidentally drops him into a monster pit, where he is mauled by a vicious large beast. He barely got out. When the Huntsman emerges from the pit, by this experience resulted him being "deformed", and his voice has changed to his present, deep voice which made his peers fear him. This also result his hatred for magical creatures in general (dragons personally), and he vows to one day slay all dragons on the face of the Earth. Whatever his first assignment was in the original timeline has never been revealed.

Much of the show's 2nd season is devoted to a story arc where the Huntsman is attempting to gather 13 mystical Aztec Crystal Skulls which have the power to destroy all magical beings if brought together. The 2nd season also shows a degree of tension and mistrust between the Huntsman and his apprentice Rose, due to Rose having (unknown to the Huntsman) fallen in love with Jake and started to act as a double agent against the Huntsclan.

In the Season 1 episode "Act 4, Scene 15", Rose referred to the Huntsman as her "uncle" (though they are not related). In "Dreamscape", it is revealed that the Huntsman stole Rose from her parents after she was born, and raised her as his apprentice while leading her to believe her parents were dead. In "Homecoming", the Huntsman finds out about Rose's change of allegiances and reveals that he knows the whereabouts of Rose's parents, and threatens to kill them if she does not bring him the three Aztec skulls held by Jake Long, forcing her back to his side.

Demise
At the end of the Season 2 episode "Homecoming", the Huntsman manages to gather all 13 Aztec skulls, after a major battle in which Jake and his allies are defeated by the Huntsclan. The Huntsman begins to use the skulls to wish for the destruction of all magical creatures, but Rose knocks and kills him with a shot from her staff weapon. Rose then uses the skulls to wish for the destruction of all Huntsclan (the show's dialogue refers to the Huntsclan members being sucked into a vortex, but the actual animation merely depicts them as being vaporized by the skulls' power. It is likely a vortex would have required additional effort to depict, and vaporization was simpler to animate). The Huntsman is then lifted into the air and is incinerated by the skulls. All that is left of the #4 threat to the magical world is his cape and pieces of his dragon skull helmet (which are last seen falling down the elevator shaft).

The Huntsman's Appearance
For most of the series, the Huntsman's face is never shown. During Season 1, he was depicted as a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes underneath a black hood. In Season 2, after the show underwent a major change in production staff and art style, the Huntsman's character design was altered to a somewhat more human appearance; he now wears a ninja-like face mask, and has clearly visible human eyes.

The Huntsman's face is finally revealed in the Season 2 episode "Homecoming", after his helmet is destroyed when Jake slams him through an elevator door. The Huntsman is revealed to be a bald but otherwise normal-looking human, with a large full-body dragon birthmark that partially covers the left side of his face (this contradicts a scene in the episode "Act 4, Scene 15", where the Huntsman's birthmark is shown to be a small dragon on the palm of one of his hand.). The American Dragon is shown taller than the Huntsman when they were fighting.

The discrepancy between his true appearance as seen in "Homecoming" and what was revealed of his face in "Act 4, Scene 15" can be attributed to the change in art style between Season 1 and Season 2 of the show. It's also possible that Jake's time-travel may have resulted in his conflicted appearance.