Huntsman (American Dragon: Jake Long)

The Huntsman, also known as Huntsmaster, is the leader of The Huntsclan and the main antagonist of the Disney Channel animated series American Dragon: Jake Long. He is voiced by Jeff Bennett.

Background
The Huntsman, sometimes referred to as Huntsmaster by his subordinates, was the leader of the Huntsclan, as well as Jake Long's main archenemy, rated by the Dragon Council as the fourth greatest threat to the magical community. He was an extremely bitter man with an absolute deep hatred toward all magical creatures, especially dragons, believing them to be freaks of nature.

Extraordinarily ruthless, the Huntsman was obsessed with killing magical creatures and had no problems with killing any normal humans he would consider as "traitors" who got in the Huntsclan's way, or even allies with magical creatures, even going so far as to disposing of his own subordinates if they failed or betrayed the Huntsclan. Once he threatened 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 "Krakken".

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, even able to punch through a brick wall, another time was barely phased by being slammed headfirst through a metal elevator door, and even yanked the elevator pulley out with his bare hands in a fit of rage. Nonetheless, he left most of the physical work to his apprentice, Huntsgirl, and limited his role in a fight to firing energy blasts with his staff weapon.

Ironically, despite the Huntsman's generally serious behavior and performance, he was often defeated in comical fashion; such as being defeated by Jake's flaming flatulence. another time, Jake went back in time and embarrassed the Huntsman in front of his peers.

While the leader of the Huntsclan, it was discovered other members of the Huntsclan held "Huntsmaster" ranks similar to his own.

Character History
One time, Jake traveled to the past of 1986, where he met 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 a dragon known to be at their school, unknown to them to be Susan Long, due to rumors he was dating one. The Huntsman attempted to slay Jake several times. Jake finally accidentally dropped him into a monster pit, where he was mauled by a vicious large beast. He barely got out. When the Huntsman emerged from the pit, the experience resulted him in being "deformed", and his voice had changed to his present, deep voice which made his peers fear him. This also resulted in his hatred for magical creatures in general, and dragons specifically, and he vowed to one day slay all dragons on the face of the Earth. Whatever his first assignment was in the original timeline remains unknown.

Much of the Huntsman's plans were eventually revealed as attempting to gather thirteen mystical Aztec Crystal Skulls which had the power to destroy all magical beings if brought together with a ritual. In addition, he began to grow distrustful of his apprentice. A tension and mistrust developed between the Huntsman and his apprentice Rose, due to her having fallen in love with Jake and acting as a double agent against the Huntsclan.

Early on, Rose referred to the Huntsman as her "uncle" as she believed at the time they were related. However she later learned differently during an adventure in the dream realm ; the Huntsman stole Rose from her parents immediately after she was born, raising her as his apprentice while leading her to believe her parents were dead. Eventually, the Huntsman found out about Rose's change of allegiances and revealed he knew the whereabouts of her parents, threatening to kill them if she did not bring him the three Aztec skulls held by Jake Long.

Demise
Later, the Huntsman managed to gather all thirteen Aztec skulls after a major battle in which Jake and his allies are defeated by the Huntsclan. The Huntsman started the ritual to use the skulls to wish for the destruction of all magical creatures, but Rose knocked him aside with a shot from her staff weapon. She then used the skulls to instead wish for the destruction of all Huntsclan, where they started to vanish into thin air. However, all which was left of the #4 threat to the magical world was his cape, and scattered Huntsclan bases around the world.

The Huntsman's Appearance
At first, the Huntsman's face was never shown beyond glowing red eyes underneath a black hood. Eventually, after once again involved with their Academy activities, he wore a ninja-like face mask, his eyes clearly visible.

Something terrible happened to him at some point in his past. Seen from the behind, the back of his head is shown as bald and slightly deformed, as well as heavily laden with lines that are either large scars or extremely prominent veins, briefly revealed back of his head was mottled with burns with veins standing out as a mechanical arm lowered his helmet onto his head.

The Huntsman's face is finally seen without his masks after his helmet was destroyed when Jake slammed him through an elevator door. He as a bald, but otherwise normal-looking human, with a large full-body dragon birthmark partially covering the left side of his face. It is unclear if this is a second mark from the one the palm of one of his hands, or a continuation of the same marking. Since the American Dragon in dragon-form is obviously a fledgling, the Huntsman stood taller than he whenever they fought.

Another possible explanation for the seeming discrepancy between his true appearance and what was revealed of the back of his head may be attributed to Jake's time-travel stint altering something in the past.

Skills
The Huntsman was a highly skilled hunter strong enough to take down a full grown dragon with a little help; being able to hold his own against Jake and the strongest Magical Creatures. He was skilled in almost every single weapon, especially of Huntsclan technology.

Trivia

 * The scene where the Huntsman's burnt head with helmet lowered by a mechanical arm is homage to a similar scene in The Empire Strikes Back where the back of Darth Vader's head is likewise briefly revealed.
 * When compared to villains like Dr. Drakken, Hämsterviel, and Heinz Doofenshmirtz (from Kim Possible, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, and Phineas and Ferb, respectively), the Huntsman is definitely one of the more darker Disney show villains by virtue of his actions, goals, and intense desire for carrying them out.
 * Unlike other Disney show villains, The Huntsman is mostly just stern, serious and menacing. He's only funny when he gets beaten and whenever he intentionally makes a joke.
 * Although he has never been seen killing another, the Huntsman is the first Disney show villain since Demona to actually have committed murder, as apparent by the Dragon Skull he wears as a helmet.