Hunter (Benji)

"Hey! Get outta here!"

- The Hunter shooing Benji away from the cougar he shot

The Hunter is the primary antagonist of Disney's 1987 film by Joe Camp, Benji the Hunted.

He was portrayed by Red Steagall.

Role in the film
The Hunter is first seen when he shoots down a cougar. Benji attempts to comfort the dying animal, but he is chased away by the Hunter, who then retrieves the dead cat and marches off with her draped over his shoulders. Benji subsequently encounters four orphaned cougar cubs, belonging to the killed cougar, and he attempts to shield them from predation.

After Benji decides not to kill the rabbit to feed the cubs, he instead decides to steal one of the Hunter's chickens while he cooks the dead cougar.

As Benji tries to steal another chicken the next day, the Hunter ties him to a tree and plans to kill him. The Timber Wolf tries to kill Benji and the Hunter doesn't see him after the Timber Wolf flees from being caught. The Timber Wolf comes back to the Hunter's cabin again and the Hunter shoots at the Timber Wolf, but misses, which ends up with the Timber Wolf running off into the forest. After he unties Benji and cleans up the mess, Benji finally steals one of his chickens to feed the cubs.

Personality
The Hunter is shown to be cruel, heartless, murderous, sadistic, and somewhat protective.

Appearance
The Hunter is a slender tall man with brown hair. He wears a red shirt with stripes, blue pants, black shoes, and a tan vest.

Quotes
"Hold it, pal!"

- The Hunter captures Benji

"Awesome, you know, they got a new reward out for you."

- The Hunter recognizing Benji by his name license

"It won't be long now."

- The Hunter planning to kill Benji after tying him to a tree

"Sure don't want to turn you loose in the house."

- The Hunter after trying to shoot the Timber Wolf "You want to show me how you did this?"

- The Hunter wondering how the rope on Benji got through the chair during his encounter with the Timber Wolf

"Now you stay put until I get this mess sorted out."

- The Hunter before trying to clean up the mess after Benji's encounter with the Timber Wolf

"Hey!"

- The Hunter's last words

Trivia

 * The Hunter is similar to Abdullah from Disney's 1989 film Cheetah. Both are poachers who capture the heroes and want to kill them (The Hunter wants to kill Benji; Abdullah wants to kill Duma), but still end up failing.
 * It is possible that the Hunter could be Man from Bambi.
 * While not shown, it is implied that the Hunter hunts down black-footed ferrets as well, as they are an endangered species and were shown after the scene where Benji meets the owl.