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Predator the Hawk is a former soldier of the Battle Bird Armada who deserted to the Babylon Rogues until he left them as well to join the Fearsome Foursome under Mammoth Mogul. Eventually he became a member of the Destructix along with the rest of the Foursome. A mercenary who, with his cohorts, has clashed several times with the Knothole Freedom Fighters and Chaotix, he has also worked under Dr. Finitevus, Sleuth Dog, and Fiona Fox. Having decided to follow Scourge, he has promised to do so as long as he is provided with adequate challenges, or else Scourge becomes his next target.
History[]
A Bitter Battle Bird[]
While Predator Hawk's exact origins are unknown, it is known that years ago he enlisted into the Battle Bird Armada. Hawk worked hard to exceed expectations, becoming a highly skilled soldier, and eventually was promoted after many years of vigorous physical and mental training. Predator thought that this would bring new challenges and new purpose, but discovered there were simply more rules and restrictions to follow. His dissatisfaction wasn't helped by the fact that Speedy, the "weak" son of the Battle Lord, was given his top place by simply being born into the role, rather than earning it. Predator eventually attacked Speedy out of anger, grabbing him by the neck, only for the Battle Lord to slam Predator into a wall and promise severe punishment for his insubordination. Hawk was jailed, showing no regret for his actions. (SU: #30)
Fortunately for Predator, the Rogue Wave the Swallow freed him from his cell and in an ironic twist, he joined the Babylon Rogues—the very group he pursued while serving the Armada. Though he enjoyed hunting the Armada, Predator found the Rogues' obsession with hunting treasure to be unfulfilling. He also quickly tired of Jet, whom he thought was weak like the Battle Lords and didn't deserve his position as leader. One day, Jet attempted to sell a heavily overpriced artifact to Mammoth Mogul. Mogul agreed to the price, but only if the living weapon—Predator Hawk—would come and work for him. Seeing the chance to find new purpose, Predator Hawk consented, was granted even more flying power by his new master, and became a member of the Fearsome Foursome. (SU: #30, CSE)
In the Fearsome Foursome[]
Like the rest of the Fearsome Foursome—Sergeant Simian, Lightning Lynx, and Flying Frog—Predator Hawk debuted as an agent of Mammoth Mogul's, attacking the Chaotix on his orders and specifically countering Charmy Bee's aerial abilities. After being defeated and retreating from this battle, he would return to help Mogul in his bid to claim the Sword of Acorns by pitting the Chaotix and Freedom Fighters against each other. Hawk's purpose involved serving as the substance behind Mogul's illusions of Charmy Bee and Miles "Tails" Prower, which initially had the two groups fighting. When the more level-headed members of each team noticed the errors in these illusions, however, the scheme was blown and Hawk was captured along with his teammates. (SMM, SSS: #1)
Escaping Devil's Gulag[]
Along with the rest of the Fearsome Foursome, Predator Hawk was sent to Devil's Gulag and imprisoned for some time. However, due to the actions of an as-yet concealed Dr. Eggman, the teammates were able to escape along with fellow criminals Snively Kintobor, Nack the Weasel, Sleuth Dog, Drago Wolf, Warlord Kodos, and Uma Arachnis. Joining the assemblage of villains under Snively's leadership, Hawk confronted the Freedom Fighters again in capturing Nate Morgan, a venture that proved much more successful than his previous encounters with the heroes. Hawk himself succeeded into abducting the aged scientist through a skylight in Deer John's while the rest of his team distracted the Freedom Fighters. Sadly, his success was short-lived, as most of the future Destructix were defeated and captured by the Royal Secret Service under Geoffrey St. John. Predator Hawk was the only member of the Fearsome Foursome who managed to escape, along with Kodos and Uma Arachnis, who flew off with him in the Winged Victory. (StH: #62, #63, #69, #70)
In the Destructix[]
Following another escape by the Destructix from Devil's Gulag, Predator Hawk and his teammates—which now included Sleuth and Drago—would take up residence in a factory that had once belonged to Dr. Ivo Robotnik, keeping Tommy Turtle as a convenient punching bag. Later, Sonic the Hedgehog infiltrated this factory to liberate his old friend Tommy, only to watch as the villains attempted to make a deal with Dr. Eggman to sell him the factory, which by rights he already owned. Hawk and the others were then subjected to Roboticization, becoming Robians in service to Eggman. Due to Sleuth's apparently suicidal attempt to prevent his own transformation, it seemed briefly as though the group had been destroyed, but they in fact survived and were De-Roboticized by the Bem. Later, robotic doubles of their Robian forms would attack Sonic as part of a ruse to get an Auto Automaton of Tommy Turtle into Knothole. When recovered by Eggman, these doubles were found to contain video of the team seemingly making a deal with "Anonymous", a mysterious being who would later turn out to be Eggman's computer virus son A.D.A.M.. (StH: #117, #135, #168)
Once the team officially reorganized itself as the Destructix, all of its members set out to recapture Mammoth Mogul's Chaos Emerald in order to release him. Predator Hawk engaged the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix yet again, but as usual was outclassed and outnumbered and so defeated. He and the others were taken to prison, only to be liberated when Mogul escaped from the Emerald himself. When Ixis Naugus arrived and challenged Mogul for the Crown of Acorns, Hawk fought against his Arachne as well as the arriving Freedom Fighters and Chaotix. When Mogul and Naugus joined forces, the battle continued between only two sides, but then ended with the destruction of the Sword and Crown of Acorns and the capture of the villains by the Egg Fleet. Hawk and his compatriots were then teleported to the Egg Grape Chamber, where Mogul briefly protected them before lowering his shields and leaving them at Eggman's mercy. Luckily for the criminals, Dr. Finitevus arrived shortly thereafter with Scourge the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat to liberate the Destructix. The doctor called upon them for their muscle, first requiring Hawk and his teammates to play the part of reformed mercenaries by defending the helpless Echidnas of Angel Island from the Dingoes (StH: #162, #163, #164, #165, #171)
Predator Hawk and his compatriots revealed their true colors soon enough by ambushing and capturing Knuckles the Echidna when he returned to Angel Island and handing him over to the Dark Legion. Following his brainwashing and transformation into Enerjak, the Destructix—now joined by Fiona Fox in place of Rouge—were set to watch over a device created by the Brotherhood of Guardians designed to destroy Enerjak in the event of his return. They were soon challenged by Sonic, Julie-Su, and Locke as they attempted to claim the device, only to be thwarted by Archimedes the Fire Ant; their mission was then rendered unnecessary by Sonic's destruction of the weapon. Unnerved by the ensuing battle between Enerjak and Super Sonic, Predator Hawk and his allies fled through one of Finitevus' Warp Rings, having decided to become full-fledged mercenaries. (StH: #181, #183, #184)
The group soon found themselves once again employed by Mammoth Mogul, who commissioned them to bring him Sonic's running shoes. After a brief fight with Sonic, Sally, and fellow mercenaries Bark the Polar Bear and Bean the Dynamite—whom Mogul had also hired but who had switched sides on Sally's offer of better payment—they captured Sonic and took him to Mogul's casino. It was during this struggle that Bean revealed Predator Hawk's origin as an "Armada deserter", though Predator replied that he was "one to talk". They were all then defeated by Sonic, Sally, Amy Rose, and Geoffrey St. John, only for Rouge to pass the word to them that Mogul's plan all along had been to humiliate Sonic by capturing him and then having him confront Mogul without evidence that Mogul had been involved. (StH: #187, #188)
Later, Predator Hawk appeared with the rest of the original Fearsome Foursome—minus Lightning Lynx, who had left the group to rejoin the Raiju Clan—in the Dragon Kingdom with Fiona Fox to menace Sonic, Tails, Sally, and Monkey Khan after their meeting with Lord Yagyu of the Yagyu Clan. The Hawk and his two teammates had agreed to work for Fiona after being forsaken by Sleuth and Drago, promising their loyalty in exchange for help in bringing Lightning back into the group as he was with them from the beginning. After fighting briefly with Tails, Predator and his teammates allied themselves with Sonic's group in order to storm the Iron Fortress, their joint goal being to break ties between the Raiju Clan and the Iron Dominion while getting Lightning to rejoin his former comrades. In their plan to gain entrance, Predator flew Fiona over the fortress walls, and then joined Tails and Flying Frog in fighting off Raiju ninja while Fiona and Sally worked to unlock part of the gate. Once Lightning was subsequently defeated by Sonic and banished from his clan, Predator and the others welcomed him back as they left with Fiona, Hawk saying they would not turn on Lightning as the Raiju would have eventually. (SU: #14, #15)
Jail Bird[]
With the team reassembled, Fiona had the muscle needed for her next goal; to break Scourge the Hedgehog out of Zone Jail. The Destructix broke the Zone Cops' ban on inter-dimensional travel by making their way onto the Cosmic Interstate with help from Dr. Finitevus and reacted with extreme violence when confronted by the authorities, thus getting themselves intentionally thrown into jail. However, Scourge had been physically and mentally broken by the time they arrived, and lashed out when the team arrived to help him. Feeling unappreciated, Hawk and the others continued to follow Fiona's orders in saving Scourge from King Maxx, but now believed he was a lost cause. (SU: #29)
However, after seeing Scourge talk with Sergeant Simian, Hawk decided to listen to what Scourge had to say when the hedgehog approached him in the recreation yard. When asked what he wanted from Scourge, Hawk explained the disappointments of his past and his desire to have purpose, to be presented challenges appropriate of his skills. Scourge said that by working with him, Hawk would have new targets to hunt, and Hawk consented somewhat... adding that should Scourge fail him, he would become his next target. (SU: #30)
After the rest of the Destructix agreed to follow Scourge, Predator waited until the next evening when their plan was set into motion, and escaped into a mass riot of released prisoners with his Control Collar deactivated. During the chaos, Predator sought out fellow inmates Verti-Cal and Horizont-Al on Scourge's orders and brought them to him, watching as their own Collars were broken off to release their demigod forms and inflict even greater damage to the prison. When Fiona revealed that someone had taken their gear, Scourge had Predator hunt down the thieves once Lighting detected them. He then lead the Destructix back to the processing center, finding Jeffrey St. Croix and King Maxx trying to escape through their stolen Warp Ring, and joined in viciously beating them before they could. Back in his regular effects, Predator escaped to Moebius' Grand Forest with the others and Scourge before the F.O.E. Inhibitors could catch them. While preparing to complete their deal with Finitevus however, Scourge announced a change in plans as he placed himself in charge, stating Predator and the others would do as he said from that point on. (SU: #31, #32)
Abilities[]
As a hawk, Predator Hawk can fly through the air, making him a suitable rival for Charmy and Tails. His natural flying abilities were also enhanced by Mammoth Mogul. He has a strong love for hunting live prey, especially those which provide him with a suitable challenge, making Predator an excellent assassin or hitman for whomever employs him. As a formerly decorated soldier of the Battle Bird Armada, he's had plenty of formal training and prefers swift aerial strikes when it comes to combat, but also is versed in tactics and use of firearms. Predator's time with the Babylon Rogues has also granted him access to Extreme Gear in order to hone his riding skills, in addition to applying his hunting talents to locating treasure.
Personality[]
The tactician of the Fearsome Foursome, Predator Hawk is the outspoken "wild card" of the group, being the most unpredictable. He is somewhat cold and arrogant, often keeping his personal opinions separate from his current duties. His only real loyalty is to his long-time comrades, as shown by his depression after Lightning left the group and his fierce determination to retrieve him. He finds that he needs his abilities challenged to have purpose in life and is a great believer in personal strength; he has no respect for those who don't earn their positions through hard work and dedication.
Background Information[]
- Predator Hawk was seen escaping along with Kodos and Uma Arachnis in StH #70, though was later be amongst the other members of the Fearsome Foursome in StH #117.
- Predator was the third character to make reference to the Battle Bird Armada, leading fans to believe that he, the Babylon Rogues, and Bean the Dynamite were all deserters of that group. Bean and Jet of the Rogues' membership was confirmed in the Sonic Universe Blog [1], while Predator Hawk's is confirmed by association with Bean [2].
- Predator Hawk is the only member of the original Fearsome Foursome whose name doesn't form an alliteration with his species.
Appearance[]
Predator Hawk is a blue hawk with blue eyes. He's often depicted with a white front and has spiked blue feathers on his head as well as partial wings attached to his arms. He typically wears a red headband, tall red boots and long red gloves with large cuffs and clawed fingertips. He sometimes sports a bandolier and/or belt as well, usually red or silver in color. Many artists accidentally omit the tail.
As a member of the Battle Bird Armada, Predator wore a standard blue helmet and armor, eventually donning a uniform similar to Speedy's once he was promoted. In Zone Jail, he wore an orange prison uniform.