- "It's a manhunt, and they won't stop until we're both dead!"
- — Leo Kasper to Daniel Lamb
A group of Bloodhound Hunters in Manhunt 2
Hunters, also known as Gangs, are the merciless and relentless enemy groups hired to murder the player character on sight, usually by the main antagonist. Quite persistent in their duty, Hunters come in great numbers to overwhelm the player, and are tough opponents even in one-on-one battles. The player therefore must avoid confrontation in order to isolate and pick them off, to progress safely, as the Manhunt series' genre are stealth and survival horror rather than action, meaning the player should not be reckless at fighting enemies. The player must kill and/or avoid Hunters to complete each level, by using stealth to execute them or with firearms later in the game. Though all Hunters pose a threat, some gangs are more dangerous than others; For example, in Manhunt, the Wardogs, Innocentz, and the Smileys are significantly more armed and organized than the Hoods or Skinz, while in Manhunt 2, the Watchdogs, Bloodhounds, and the Legion are superior to the Red Kings or Dixmor's inmates. Despite the increasing level of danger, however, in both Manhunt games, all Hunters, including the antagonists, are very aggressive and have similar controls as the player during combat, making them a challenge to kill, dodge attacks, or escape from being chased regardless of any gang. In addition, with the exception of Lionel Starkweather at the end of Manhunt, all Hunters armed with firearms have infinite ammunition (but can still reload), and are accurate shooters. Because they each share the same AI, the tactics required by the player to sneak up and execute them, and how Hunters search for and attack the protagonist are virtually identical for all enemies, although the various antagonists (such as Piggsy or Leo), who serve as bosses, may need a different approach to successfully defeat them.
At the beginning of each game, like the protagonist, Hunters tend to be unarmed or armed with melee weapons, but progressively acquire more powerful weapons such as firearms to increase the difficulty. When an armed Hunter is killed, they will drop their weapon for the player to obtain as a reward.
If a Hunter is unaware of the protagonist's existence, they tend to calmly mutter to themselves and casually walk about. But, if they are searching for the player, they will try to taunt him into showing himself (eg. "Yeah, you keep hiding in the trash where you belong" and "I know where you are. I can smell the shit in your pants"). When they do spot the protagonist, they will give chase to attack and sometimes continue to taunt (especially when unarmed or having melee weapons).
In both Manhunt and Manhunt 2, when playing the Fetish/Sane difficulty, a radar appears in the bottom-left of the HUD during gameplay to show the player the proximity of Hunters to the protagonist, represented by colored arrows, to show which direction they're facing and how aware the Hunters are to the player. If the Hunter is at a higher floor, they will be shown as an up-facing triangle and vice versa if below. It is also used to tell how much noise the player makes to lure enemies to their location. If a Hunter is killed, they are represented by a black dot. In Hardcore/Insane difficulty, to increase the challenge, the radar is disabled. Therefore, the player has to work their own way around, using the music to gain hints of their enemies' awareness (in Manhunt).
- Idle - The arrows of Hunters in the radar are yellow when they are completely unaware of the player. The Hunter will calmly stand or casually walk around the map, sometimes speaking to themselves about their surroundings or personal beliefs, but still occasionally searches. This can give the player an easy chance to execute them.
- Suspicious - The arrows of Hunters in the radar are orange when they are searching for the player but still aren't fully aware of where the protagonist is. They become suspicious when they hear a loud noise or if spotting a fellow dead Hunter (which will cause more nearby to join the search). Often, it is necessary for the player to make a Hunter become suspicious to lure them into their whereabouts in order to execute them.
- Aware - The arrows of Hunters in the radar are red when they become fully aware of the protagonists' location, and therefore the player is under attack. This happens when the Hunter spots the protagonist or if the player makes too much noise at close range (especially when firing firearms). At times, a Hunter or antagonist can be aware by default and must be killed by the player. They cannot be executed when in this level of awareness. When any Hunter is aware and sees/attacks the protagonist, the Status icon (or the health meter in Manhunt 2) flashes red to warn the player of the danger. If an aware Hunter spots the protagonist entering a shadow, the player will not be able to hide from the enemy.
In Manhunt, when being shot by the Tranquilizer Rifle, the arrow becomes gray when they fall to the ground temporarily unconscious from the dart. In Manhunt 2, there is a feature that when Hunters are in a location where loud noise prevents them from hearing the protagonist while idle, their arrows will become cyan. In the former game, the Tramp or the Journalist, represented by a green arrow, becomes dark blue (as well as their health bar) when they enter shadows to hide from Hunters, similar to the Status icon. Cash's family are shown as a blue arrow.
Hunters in Manhunt[]
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Hunters in Manhunt 2[]
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Bosses[]
Eventually, the protagonist will face off against a specific antagonist from time to time, who play important roles in the game. They are much tougher to kill and some cannot be executed normally, but a few of such have similar stats to regular Hunters. Ironically, in Manhunt 2, the protagonists themselves can be fought as bosses (though Leo Kasper is the canonical main antagonist of this game).
Bosses in Manhunt[]
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Bosses in Manhunt 2[]
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Beta Hunters[]
These are hunters that were originally going to be in Manhunt, but were cut by Rockstar North before its release.
Bosses[]
Trivia[]
- The manner of the Hunters proceeding to search for the protagonists to kill them under the main antagonist's orders is similar to a real manhunt, which is law enforcement, with the help of the public, search for wanted criminals/fugitives in order to capture them after a serious crime.
- Ironically, all of the protagonists have a major criminal record, though in Daniel Lamb's case, it is due to Leo Kasper controlling his mind.
- All the Hunters and antagonists in both Manhunt games share the same height and more often than not the weight of the protagonists themselves. They also share the same animations as the player in using weapons, reloading, running backwards, and even when they die (except executions).
- In Manhunt, most gangs appear in three levels each. The exceptions are the Skinz, SWAT, Cerberus, and the Monkeys, whom appear between one to four scenes.
- Due to the notoriously high difficulty of Hunters in Manhunt, in Manhunt 2, while still aggressive, they are toned down by having less accuracy during gunfights and are slightly easier to escape while being chased or attacked.
- 464 Hunters exist in total in Manhunt.