Hunter O'Nion

This article is about . For other uses of "Hunter", see Hunter (disambiguation)|The name or term "Hunter" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Hunter (disambiguation).}}
Hunter is an Autobot-allied human Headmaster from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
"Help! Scooby Doo, where are you?!"

If you crossed Scooby-Doo's Shaggy with The X-Files' Fox Mulder, Hunter O'Nion is who you'd get. With scruffy ginger hair, a green "Alien Death Ray" T-shirt and a VW Kombi van, you'd be forgiven for writing him off as some hippie slacker, but Hunter O'Nion (that's Oh-Nigh-On, not un-yun; he's a little sensitive about his last name) is really a modern-day questing knight. He runs the Mechatopia.com website, a repository for information about the presence of gigantic extraterrestrial mechanoids on Earth, and is willing to personally scour the back-roads of continental North America for further evidence.

If there's one problem with Hunter, it's that he's not the most sensitive of people; also, in his drive to uncover the truth, he can get very blunt and direct when someone who may know more than they let on gets evasive—even if that someone has good reason to dissemble.

A chance encounter with Verity Carlo, though, gives him more than he could have wished for: Not only does he achieve personal contact with an actual alien robot in disguise, he's dropped right into the middle of a covert war. The question is, now that Hunter's found his proof, what will he do with it?

{{#if:Hunter comes to grips with his new abilitiesDevastation #6|
“ We're-I'm... SUNSTREAKER! And I'm out! ”
{{#if:Hunter comes to grips with his new abilities|

—Hunter comes to grips with his new abilities{{#if:Devastation #6|, Devastation #6}}

}}

}}

Fiction

[edit]

2005 IDW continuity

[edit]
Yeah, and the first part is "Hoon-Tear". Alright.

Hunter came to believe in the theories that alien robots lurked in disguise on Earth, embarking on a cross-country road trip in his van to uncover the truth himself. Infiltration #1

Hunter picked up the hitchhiking Verity Carlo while driving across the Arizona desert. She was understandably skeptical of his quest to track down giant alien robots and his intentions when he stopped to investigate the broken-down bus that Verity had just been on before meeting him. Suspecting he was on to something big, Hunter and Verity were soon attacked by Thundercracker, who destroyed Hunter's van. They were rescued by Ratchet Infiltration #0 and after boarding him, Hunter realized that he had finally stumbled onto what he had been looking for. Ratchet managed to lose Thundercracker, and after a highway battle with the Battlechargers, Verity directed them to stop at the garage of Jimmy Pink in Riverside. While there, Hunter confronted Verity over the palmtop computer she had stolen and believed it was the reason they were being targeted. Ratchet confirmed this just before the Battlechargers caught up to them and tore open Jimmy's garage. Infiltration #1

Forced to flee aboard Ratchet again, now with Jimmy joining them, Verity had a panic attack and made Ratchet stop alongside the road after they eluded their Decepticon pursuers. While Jimmy talked her down, Hunter and Ratchet got to know each other briefly before the quartet had to flee again from Thundercracker. They were rescued by Prowl, Ironhide, and Sunstreaker Infiltration #2 and brought back to Ark-19 under Lake Michigan. Placed in a holding cell, Hunter and the others anxiously waited until Ratchet's holomatter avatar came to retrieve the palmtop computer from Verity. He examined its contents and found evidence of an abandoned bunker in Nebraska, explaining why the humans had been targeted. After having the imminent danger to Earth explained to them, Hunter and the others insisted on helping Ratchet investigate the Nebraska bunker, which he reluctantly agreed to. Infiltration #3

Joined by Bumblebee, Hunter and the others drove to Nebraska and prepared to explore the seemingly abandoned bunker. With Ratchet and Bumblebee watching them from above ground, the three humans rappelled down and began their investigation, but Blitzwing and Skywarp soon arrived to carpet bomb the entire area. Infiltration #4 Hunter and Jimmy managed to climb out, but Verity lagged behind, with the other two adamant about not abandoning her even under Decepticon attack. The bunker began collapsing in on itself just as Verity began climbing back out, with Hunter barely managing to grab her hand and haul her to safety. The humans got aboard Ratchet and vacated the area just as Megatron emerged from the bunker's wreckage. Infiltration #5 On their way back to Ark-19, Hunter comforted Verity as the enormity of the day's events set in and once they had returned, met the recently arrived Optimus Prime Infiltration #6

After this mission, Optimus ordered that Hunter and the other humans be sent home. However, as the Autobots escorted them away from the Autobot base, a Machination assault team attacked. It appeared that Hunter and Sunstreaker were killed by the Machination, Escalation #1 but upon examination of Sunstreaker's husk, Ratchet discovered that it was a fake. Escalation #2 Meanwhile, Hunter was being operated on by the Machination, his body becoming the host for mysterious implants. Escalation #4 Abraham Dante presented Hunter to a pleased, mysterious, and damaged Transformer (later revealed to be Scorponok) who ordered mass-production to begin. Dante, gesturing to a wall of headless Sunstreaker bodies, implied that Hunter may still play a role in the Machination's "new world order". Escalation #6

"I SAID 'OH-NY-ON', OKAY?"

The Machination subjected Hunter to an extensive regimen of brainwashing, after which Dante was informed that the boy was a blank slate, an organic machine that they could do with as they wished. Quality control for this process was apparently lacking, as Hunter was able to retain his own thoughts through a mantra of useless science fiction trivia. Skulking unseen through the Machination facility, Hunter was surprised to discover the severed but still functioning head of Sunstreaker, begging him for death! Devastation #2 Sunstreaker explained Scorponok's new Headmaster technology to the boy, and Hunter realized that he had been made into a Headmaster himself! In order to fight back against the Machination, Hunter asked Sunstreaker to teach him how to use his new modifications. Devastation #3 Hunter submitted himself to the process of linking mentally to Sunstreaker, which the Autobot warned would hurt. A lot. (It did) Devastation #4 A traumatized Sunstreaker would later falsely recall that Hunter gave him no choice in the matter. Replay

It's Holly Hunter!

Hunter emerged from the process, finding his physical abilities greatly enhanced after he effortlessly decked an intruding scientist, and immediately headed for one of the Machination's Sunstreaker clone bodies. Devastation #5 Just as a freshly restored Scorponok broke through a wall to kill him, Hunter was able to transform into Sunstreaker's head. With Sunstreaker's consciousness now willingly linked to Hunter, the clone body attached the new head, transformed and escaped Machination HQ. Devastation #6

Hunter, now carrying all of Sunstreaker's mind, began running raids on Machination facilities in an attempt to track down Sunstreaker's real head. Unlike Scorponok, the pair still existed as distinct individuals, and were both set on breaking up their partnership once they found a way to set everything right. At one facility in Massachusetts, Hunter found data relating to "Dinobots", and, hoping it would be a lead, they headed for Dallas. Maximum Dinobots #1 Hunter later wondered if they shouldn't head for Fallon instead, given that's where the Dyno/Dinobots actually were, but Sunstreaker argued that by retrieving his head, they'd be able to disable all the Headmasters at once. Maximum Dinobots #2

When they arrived in Dallas, seeing that the facility was far bigger than anything they had come across before, Hunter realized they needed a plan and forced Sunstreaker to sit it out while they watched and waited, citing that he was the more level-headed of the pair and that it was nice to just be Hunter O'Nion every now and then. Maximum Dinobots #3 When the time came, he reconnected with Sunstreaker and barged into Machination Central to find his head (stopping to talk with a damaged Hot Rod and slagging a couple of his clones). Hunter disconnected after Scorponok found them and blasted a hole in Sunstreaker's chest. Reluctantly and remorsefully, Hunter severed the connection to Sunstreaker's original head, deactivating him. Maximum Dinobots #4

And Hunter lived happily ever af—OH WAIT.

Hunter, however, stayed conscious and survived the rest of the battle. He accompanied Sunstreaker aboard the Ark-32, where the comatose Autobot was put into a CR chamber for heavy repairs. Sunstreaker's original head was reattached, and his battered body was rebuilt into a slightly different form. Ratchet claimed that "though physically separated, Sunstreaker's spark sustained him". Ratchet was able to minimize the mental link between Sunstreaker and Hunter, but he was afraid to try removing Hunter's implants, and the human was left feeling like half of himself was missing. However, he still enjoyed a happy reunion with Verity and Jimmy. Maximum Dinobots #5 The happy atmosphere was not to last however, as Verity stowed away aboard Ultra Magnus' spaceship and left a goodbye letter for her two friends. In Word and Deed

Eventually Ratchet did successfully sever their link, but the Headmaster experience had left deep wounds on Sunstreaker's psyche. He turned his back on Hunter and never wanted to speak of the incident again. All Hail Megatron #7 Replay In fact, Sunstreaker eventually helped Starscream in a plot that, while intended to result in Megatron's death, had the side-effect of banishing the Autobots from Earth. All Hail Megatron #8

The key to this was capturing Hunter. Ratchet dropped him off at his sister's and the man went off intending to catch up on all the TV shows he was behind on but, as soon as the Autobot was gone (and Hunter left bemused at his brusque goodbye), he was attacked by Bombshell. Our Steps Will Always Rhyme

Sunstreaker had hoped that all the humans would die under Decepticon rule, but Hunter's actual fate was arguably worse: He was victim to Bombshell's experiments, half-dissected in a lab. Numerous cables streamed in and out of his torso; even his right eye socket had a tube coming out of it. His expression was of slack-jawed horror, and he looked very much like Sunstreaker did under the Machination's experiments. All Hail Megatron #8 Bombshell was able to use Hunter's hybrid body to create a "hub" that helped the Decepticons find the Autobots and deactivate their defenses. All Hail Megatron #10

When the Autobots returned to Earth and fought the Decepticons, Bombshell taunted Sideswipe by claiming to have toyed with Sunstreaker's mind using information gleaned from dissecting Hunter. After the battle ended with the Decepticons driven away, Sideswipe found Hunter in Bombshell's lab, still attached to the machinery and barely alive. Sideswipe turned off the life-support and allowed Hunter to expire. All Hail Megatron #12

Hunter's death deeply affected his friends—Verity got a tattoo of an alien head in memory of his obsession, Last Stand of the Wreckers #1 while Jimmy's anger at his death at the hands of Transformers caused him to fall in with Spike Witwicky. Signals, Calls, and Marches. Jimmy also kept a photo of himself, Hunter, Verity, and Prowl together in memory of the good times. Vs.

When Joe Colton and Scarlett discussed the Cybertronian influence on Earth, they reviewed Ratchet's initial encounter with the human trio. Secret Raiders

Hail and Farewell

[edit]
Due to the abrupt cancellation of several related stories and the emergence of All Hail Megatron, the following events can't occur in the mainstream timeline.

Hunter's family was shattered when he was eight—his father died and his mother descended into alcoholism as a result. His sister left when she was old enough, while he stayed until his mother's death. The only thing that kept him going was "a dream of something else, something bigger".

Two years after meeting the Autobots and becoming a Headmaster, Hunter went back to his house with Sunstreaker. As Hunter gathered a few effects, he reminisced on his scattered, mostly-dead family, and on how much had happened to him. He had been to other planets, even another dimension. He'd fought Scorponok, allied with the Dinobots, and faced a planetary Decepticon invasion. And now he wasn't just Hunter; he had become one with Sunstreaker in both mind and body. As he converted back to Sunstreaker's head, he mused that it was true what they said about never being able to go home again. Hail and Farewell

Beast Wars: Uprising

[edit]

A Cyberdroid hailing from the colony planet Rebirth, Hunter was loyal to the ruling Optimus triumvirate. At their behest he and other Optimus loyalists pursued the rebel Malignus organization and ultimately drove them underground. A Brush With Infamy–Prologue

Notes

[edit]
{{#if:Nick Roche, talking about Hunter at a comic signing in Dublin|
“ If me or James do a story on Earth, we're going to have Verity and Jimmy and Hunter's corpse, like [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Weekend at Bernie's|{{#if: Weekend at Bernie's}}]]. ”
{{#if:Nick Roche, talking about Hunter at a comic signing in Dublin|

—Nick Roche, talking about Hunter at a comic signing in Dublin{{#if:|, {{{3}}}}}

}}

}}

  • As a character, Hunter was clearly meant for a bigger and better destiny than he ended up receiving. Writer and creator Simon Furman set him up as an audience-surrogate, the eyes through which the world of the Transformers was revealed. The affable young protagonist in over his head, Hunter's tale began to reflect the [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Monomyth|{{#if:archetypal heroic journey|archetypal heroic journey|Monomyth}}]], particularly the belly-of-the-whale experience of being kidnapped and experimented upon, which he escaped by bravely subverting his captors with his newfound powers and emerging as the first Autobot-human hybrid. A hint of Furman's designs was seen in the flash-forward "Hail and Farewell" Mosaic, which showed Hunter acknowledging that he and his world had changed irreversibly, listing a series of grand accomplishments, and achieving a literal and figurative union with his own elevated state. Unfortunately, all of this would be cut short (and the flash-forward entirely negated) by a new writer who decided it would be cooler <ref>Interview with Shane McCarthy</ref> to make both Hunter and his partner in mythic ascendancy suffer protractedly and die.
  • The children's storybook "I Am Optimus Prime" features a human ally to the Autobots based on Hunter. Likewise, the two other human allies in the story are based on Verity Carlo and Jimmy Pink.

Foreign names

[edit]
  • Japanese: Hunter O'Nion (ハンター・オナイオン Hantā Onaion)

References

[edit]
<references />
Retrieved from "https://tfwiki.duckdns.org/index.php?title=Hunter_O%27Nion&oldid=1809340"