Poachers are evildoers who hunt immorally illegaly, often for prey that is endangered or otherwise protected by the law. There are many forms of poaching: they could be hunting or capturing endangered species for zoos and pet trades (e.g. Abdullah), hunting on land where animals were protected (e.g. Amos Slade and Shaw), or animals that were legal to hunt while doing it the wrong way (e.g. Man and Grimmel the Grisly). Many of them tend to be illegal fishermen, farmers and lumberjacks as well.

A common motivation for poachers is pure greed. If a prey is extremely rare or highly valuable, the temptation of money will be enough for them to disregard the environmental catastrophe the prey's extinction would cause (e.g. Sloan Blackburn, Giovanni). Sometimes, the poachers are only hunting to make ends meet for their families.

Note: do not put all villains who hunt in this category, only if the work clarifies that their hunting is breaking the law add them to this category. For example, Elmer Fudd is a villain and a hunter, but it is established that he hunts prey only when they are in season, hence all his talk about Rabbit and Duck Season, thus making him not a poacher. Also, do not add farmers who kill their own animals since they have a right to do so. For example, Mrs. Tweedy and Mr. Tweedy have the right to butcher chickens since they are farmers. Therefore, they are not breaking the law despite how cruel they are to their chickens, they should go under Animal Cruelty instead.