Huntsman (Freakazoid)

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The Huntsman is a fictional character from the animated show Freakazoid. He is a superhero who lives in the woods outside of Washington, D.C. He was once Marty Feeb, an ugly, scrawny hunter. When Feeb rescued an elf from the clutches of a hungry crow, the grateful creature rewarded him with a pouchful of magic corn, eating which transformed Marty into The Huntsman, a dashing paragon of strength, bravery and hunting skills similar to Robin Hood.

The character's appearance is an obvious caricature of Charlton Heston in both looks and in voice. The Huntsman dresses in, naturally, a hunter green tunic and matching leggings. He wears leather gloves, boots and feathered cap. He is voiced by Jeff Bennett.

[edit] Super powers

The Huntsman seems to have several powers: he is tremendously strong (as shown in the opening to his segment of Freakazoid, he wrestles a grizzly bear and picks up Cave Guy rather easily), he has a devastatingly powerful punch, he is able to run extremely fast and is very nimble (again, in the opening to his segment, he is shown first outrunning, then jumping on top of, a speeding Ford Edsel). He can also jump incredible distances (from a sidewalk to the top of a skyscraper).

All of these powers are assumed from the title sequence of The Huntsman vignettes, which appeared rarely during Freakazoid to round out shorter episodes. Officially, the Huntsman is an ally of Freakazoid, although the two seldom work together.

The Huntsman appears to be on retainer to the D.C. police force: a gigantic hunting horn, called The Horn of Urgency, is mounted on the roof of the Police Headquarters. If it is blown, the Huntsman responds immediately.

[edit] Character notes

The Huntsman appears to be extremely confrontational while battling crime, diving into hand-to-hand combat at any opportunity. He also is equipped with traditional hunting equipment: a bow, arrows and a lasso. His teeth also sparkle each time he smiles... which is not very often. He seems to enjoy Berry Water, which he references often.

In fact, the Huntsman is a fairly morose fellow, constantly scowling, slamming his fist into his palm, and lamenting his bad luck (he often mutters, "DARN the luck!").

The running gag is that while The Huntsman is quite eager to fight crime, he never gets the opportunity to do so. This enforced idleness has led him to become depressed and perhaps even a touch paranoid.

The Huntsman appeared in two vignettes in the first season. His two vignettes had titles promising action: "Terror Palace" and "A Time for Evil". Both times, he arrives at Police Headquarters (once to check in, once because the Horn of Urgency was blown, which turns out to be a false alarm) and is turned away with no assignment. Thus, the Huntsman's "heroic capers" were not only bland, but extremely short--indeed, each Huntsman vignette's running time was slightly *shorter* than the running time of his theme song, as a further gag.

The Huntsman has also appeared in minor roles alongside Freakazoid:

• "In Arm's Way" -- The Huntsman was apparently the umpire for the Heroes vs. Villains Charity Baseball Game, in which he fails to settle a call between Arms Akimbo and Freakazoid (Freak slid under the tag: by baseball rules, he was safe.) The reason for him missing the play was he turned away to drink some berry water.
• "Handman" -- The Huntsman attends the wedding between Freakazoid's left and right hands.
• "The Freakazoid" -- In a scene based on The Godfather, The Huntsman laments to Freakazoid about his lack of crime to fight. Mirroring the Godfather's reaction to Johnny Fontaine, Freakazoid slaps Huntsman in disgust and tells him to stop whining. The Huntsman is the only other superhero not to attend the "Superhero Conference" because he lost the address. Curiously, when the Lobe's villainous plot renders Freakazoid unable to stop his rampage, the Huntsman doesn't appear, despite being the only hero available. He only appears at the end of the episode, serving Berry Water at Freakazoid's birthday party.

The Huntsman, like virtually every other "supporting" character (such as Lord Bravery and Fan Boy) that did not work directly with Freakazoid, were scrapped for the second season. True to the show's sense of humor, the trio appears at the beginning of an early second-season episode to confront Freakazoid about their dismissal. In his typically blunt manner, Huntsman asks "Why did you fire us?" while Lord Bravery more diplomatically suggests the whole thing was a misunderstanding. Freakazoid, stymied and embarrassed, hires them to wash The Freakmobile.

The Huntsman has not been seen since.

[edit] The Huntsman's Theme

Like Lord Bravery (Nigel Skunkenthorpe), The Huntsman's vignettes featured an introduction and theme, and even a title card, as if an independent cartoon show:

(The Horn of Urgency plays a hunting charge twice)

Hunt, hunt, hunt, he's The Huntsman!

"Into Action!" is his cry!

From the forest to the city,

He will run there in a jiffy,

to sock evil in the eye!

Marty Feeb was a poor hunter

Hungry, without dough.

'Til the day he saved a chunky elf

From being eaten by a crow!

The elf rewarded Marty Feeb

With a magic sack of corn.

He gained strength, and speed, and shiny teeth,

and as The Huntsman was reborn!

Hunt, hunt, hunt, he's the Huntsman!

He'll whip the pants off the bad guys

If there's an emergency,

Sound the Horn of Urgency...

...and summon The Huntsman...

"Into action!" is his cry!!

...Hunt..... (hunting horn)

Link to The Huntsman theme song: [1]