| “ | We're a rescue team, not assassins. | „ |
| ― Dutch to Dillon |
Major Alan Schaefer, better known as "Dutch", is the primary protagonist of Predator (1987). He is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Dutch fought in the Vietnam War together with Dillon. He later left the Army. In the present he is the leader of a private military team, that is hired by the US military for special missions all over the world.
He is an intelligent, charismatic and resourceful leader and is both liked and respected by the men under his command. His extensive experience in the military has made him gruff and battle-hardened, but at the same time he is always sure to protect his team from unnecessary risks and always adheres to his strict moral code to only undertake rescue missions.
Mission in Valverde[]
He is sent to Central America on a bogus rescue mission orchestrated by his friend Dillon to act against russian military advisers there. He is successful, but also pissed off with Dillon because of what he did. There he also finds a mysteriously massacred Green Beret team led by Jim Hopper. Later, after leaving the area because of rebel activity, he and his team discover someone who is following them. It turns out to be a Predator, who wants to kill them, when he realises, they are good warriors to hunt.
The Predator´s appearance[]
It kills his team one by one. He realises whoever is doing this murdered Hopper and his team, too, who were sent there before by Dillon and disappeared. He realises that because of the identical killing procedures in both events. In time, he also realises the killer must be alien, when he realises, it can use the trees for hunting purposes easily, even carrying one of his own killed men with him as a trophy at night, while he and his team were on guard using their advanced equipment for that.
Scared, in order to deal with it, he allies himself with the guerrilla prisoner Anna, who they captured during their mission and mysteriously survived one of his attacks. He gathers hope when he finds out through her, they can wound it and assesses therefore it can also be killed. He and the rest of the team set up a trap for him using traditional methods. He also finds out through Anna, that this creature has already acted in this region before and has become a legend because of it.
The trap fails and the rest of the team dies one by one, including Dillon, with whom he reconciles, when he sacrifices his life to give them a chance to survive as penance for what he did. When he realises, that it doesn´t kill unarmed humans, because that would be no fun, which would explain Anna´s survival, he tells Anna to go to the helicopter and report them everything, while he alone deals with it since all the others members of his team were dead by then.
Showdown with the Predator[]
Realising it cannot see him, because of the mud he has on his body at one moment while he was hiding from him, he sets up a trap on him and challenges him for battle. The Predator accepts his challenge and begins the hunt. He finds the place Schaefer has chosen for his trap. Not seeing him Schaefer is able to use his remaining weapons on him and wound him. Still the Predator is able to trap him and forces him to a deadly duel that Schaefer is condemned to lose because of the Predator´s superior strength. Still he narrowly defeats him by luring him into one of his last traps that he had built for him. Still, badly wounded and in a last act of defiance, he self-destructs with a mini nuclear weapon device he had in the hopes of killing him. It fails.
Aftermath[]
The helicopter, with Anna on board and aware of what is going on, becomes witness to this event and then takes him home afterwards, when its crew find him in the destroyed place. He goes away from the place traumatized, but his achievement also turns him into a legend. His whereabouts since then are unknown.
Legacy[]
The event is mentioned in Predator 2 and Predators.
Trivia[]
- The original plot had Dutch Schaefer pitted against the Predator alone, but Arnold Schwarzenegger thought this was a bad idea. That´s why the script was rewritten to include a team of crack commandos.
- Dutch Schaefer was originally intended to reappear in Predator 2, and the actor was supposedly close to signing up. However, the deal fell through and the Dutch role was subsequently rewritten as Peter Keyes.
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