There is no creature more frightening in Umbrella’s arsenal than the Hunter. This fearsome reptilian beast hunts you down with no remorse, it will not stop until it has taken your head clean off.

Umbrella created the Hunter by fusing a fertilized human egg with reptilian DNA along with the T-virus. Their goal was to create a B.O.W. that can contend with well-prepared opposition and even take simple commands. Unlike the mindless zombies, the Hunters could be trained to become weapons; they embody everything Umbrella wanted out of the T-virus. Umbrella mass-produced the first batch of Hunters, called Hunter Alpha under the code name MA-121, in the Spencer Mansion lab.

The Hunters first true test came on that one night of July 1998 that changed everything. The STARS operatives were proceeding through the mansion with fairly easy opposition. That all changed when one of the STARS members returned to the mansion after defeating Plant 42 in the guardhouse. The Hunters had been unleashed throughout the house. From that first moment the STARS team heard that shriek, which made your hair stand on end, they knew this was a worthy foe. Ultimately the STARS team was able to defeat the Hunters and escape the mansion but it was not the last they would see of the Hunters.

After the failure of the Hunter Alpha, Umbrella began production of the Hunter Beta. This new type of Hunter was quicker but less powerful. It had horrific looking mutations on its skin so one would be able to tell the difference instantly. Umbrella needed to make sure they were battle ready so they released the Hunter Beta into Raccoon City after the outbreak as a test before mass production. Once again this line of Hunters failed and never reached full mass production.

Meanwhile in the European branch of Umbrella they were trying to create an amphibian like Hunter by using the Alpha and Beta models as a base and mixing it with a fertilized amphibian egg. The result was a more amphibian looking creature, which resembled a giant deformed frog. This Hunter had to stay in wet environments. They were also set free during the outbreak of Raccoon City but they only occupied areas near water. They would use their tongue to catch humans and eat them; much like a frog would do to a fly. But the Gamma’s lack of strength and mobility made this Hunter another failure.

The perfected form of the Hunter did not come from Umbrella; instead it was created by a rival company, using the help of one Albert Wesker. This new Hunter was named the Hunter II it is the most powerful and smartest of the Hunter family. While it looks nearly identical to the Alpha model, the Hunter II actually follows orders from a detection system called an Automated Surveillance Device. The device will scan the area; if it detects an enemy it will sound the alarm which will bring the Hunter II in like a rabid dog waiting to attack its prey.

Wesker was able to test the Hunter II battle skills against his archenemy Chris Redfield at Rockfort Island. The Hunter II came in two variations, the normal kind and a poisonous kind called the Sweeper, which had a purple hue to it. The crafty Chris Redfield was able to escape from these killing machines but make no mistake they are a force to be reckoned with. They are the model B.O.W., vicious, extremely deadly, controllable and easy to mass produce. We have not seen the last of the Hunter.