Dutch Major Alan "
Dutch"
Schaefer (
Arnold Schwarzenegger) is the leader of the team and the
protagonist of the first movie. Dutch is depicted as a highly skilled and experienced
special forces operator. Schaefer and Dillon
served together in Vietnam during the
Battle of Huế. Schaefer is sent on a mission in
Val Verde, under the belief that presidential cabinet members of
Guatemala were kidnapped by
guerrilla forces. After attacking the guerrilla's post, they discover that the men were actually
CIA agents. It is also known that Dutch and his team fought in
Afghanistan for a time as stated by Poncho. After the Predator kills all of Dutch's team and Dillon, and with Anna being rescued, he is the only man left in the jungle with the Predator. Using a knife and vines to fashion primitive weapons and traps including a spear (with the knife as the blade), and a bow with an explosive-tipped arrow made from a 40 mm grenade, he covers his body in mud after discovering the Predator sees in the infrared field, effectively making him invisible. Though the Predator falls victim to a number of Dutch's traps, they fail to kill. Eventually, the Predator catches him and the two fight hand to hand. Despite his impressive physique, Dutch is no match for the monster, only surviving when he manages to lure it into a trap where it is nearly crushed by a log. The badly injured Predator then activates a self-destruct device for its suicide and to kill Dutch, but Dutch escapes the blast radius just before detonation and is rescued by the rescue helicopter that saved Anna. Dutch is referenced in both
Predator 2 and
Predators. In the former, Keyes mentions that a creature identical to the one they are pursuing stalked and slaughtered Dutch's team in the jungle ten years prior, and in the latter, Isabelle says the creature they just saw matched the "detailed description" by the only survivor of the 1987 Guatemala mission. As a cyborg, Dutch also appears as one of the playable characters in the
Alien vs. Predator arcade game, and 2020's
Predator: Hunting Grounds, with Schwarzenegger reprising his role.
Dillon Al Dillon (
Carl Weathers) is a former teammate of Dutch and current
CIA officer, sent along with Dutch's team for the mission. He and Dutch were comrades during the Vietnam War and saw heavy combat during the
Battle of Huế. Having not served in the field for some time, Dillon nearly shows the team's position to the rebels while en route to the rebel camp in the jungle. He and the CIA have a secret agenda for the mission; the Army told Dutch that it was Guatemalan cabinet members that were kidnapped and needed to be rescued, but it was actually CIA agents, and also to discover what happened to American soldiers led by Jim Hopper (the leader of a team that previously tried to recover the CIA agents). Dillon and Dutch clash frequently when the latter realises that he and his men have been used, something Dillon is disdainful of. He insists on taking Anna with them, escorting her personally most of the time. He volunteers to go after Mac, who chased off after the Predator in a suicide revenge mission, knowing he is unlikely to live. He spots the Predator and starts shooting at it but the Predator shoots his arm off and he is impaled by the Predator and being the third-last victim of the Predator, his dying scream warns the others of the Predator's proximity. Dillon returned in a video game
Mortal Kombat X (2015), as Al Dillon who is in form of the fighter
Jax, also voiced by Weathers.
Anna Anna Gonsalves (
Elpidia Carrillo) is a
guerrilla, captured by Dutch's troops following a battle with the rebels. She later tells them of a legend inspired by the Predators, of an "old
demon" that during hot summers attacks people from violent areas who are later found skinned and hollowed. Anna is the only one to reach the rescue helicopter that later picks up Dutch. She is the only character other than Dutch to survive, mostly since the Predator never attacked her. After the extraction, she is seen aiding government agents in a video tape on
Predator 2, showing the devastating after-effects of the Predator's self-destruct device to the U.S. Army.
Poncho Jorge "
Poncho"
Ramirez (
Richard Chaves) is a
Chicano. He speaks fluent Spanish, for he can translate to his group for Anna when she speaks. Though not as physically imposing as his teammates, he is a competent and intelligent soldier with a sarcastic sense of humour, although his composure begins to crumble as the attacks increase. Poncho is the first to find Hawkins' remains. He is badly wounded when the Predator inadvertently uses one of the traps set by the commandos against them and a tree trunk slams into his waist after the Predator shot it to swing right at him. Poncho is the last victim of the Predator, shot in the neck as Anna and Dutch attempted to carry him to the helicopter. His weapon of choice is a grenade launcher.
Billy Billy Sole (
Sonny Landham), is a
Native American. Billy is the first one to notice the Predator is hunting them. Throughout the film, it is alluded that Billy has a strong jungle sense. At several points during the film he feels the presence of the Predator and becomes spooked. Billy dies shortly after presenting a formal knife fight challenge to the Predator (he discarded all of his equipment before doing so), in order to buy Dutch, Poncho, and Anna more time to escape. The manner in which he is killed is unknown, but the Predator is later seen dragging Billy's body up a tree and placing him on a branch before removing his spine and skull as a trophy. Billy's laughter is mimicked in the Predator's dying scene as it activates its self-destruct device. In August 2022, Bennett Taylor confirmed that the script for
Prey revealed Billy to be the
reincarnation of
Taabe, a
Comanche war chief and older brother of
Naru who is ultimately killed by a Predator, portrayed by Dakota Beavers, reframing Billy's "
last stand" with the Predator as being due to subconscious memories of a
past life.
Blain Blain Cooper (
Jesse Ventura) fought alongside Mac in the
Vietnam War and were the only members of their platoon to survive a night-long battle. He often
chews tobacco, and wears a battered old
cowboy hat. He dislikes Dillon and makes that clear on a helicopter ride by spitting on his boot. His weapon of choice is a modified
minigun he calls "Ol' Painless", he also carries a submachine gun when he needs to be stealthy. As he is searching for
Hawkins' body, the Predator shoots him through the chest with its plasma caster, killing him instantly.
Hawkins Rick Hawkins (
Shane Black) is the team's radio operator and technical expert. He tells sexual jokes (often badly to the point that he has to explain the punchline) and reads comic books. He uses a submachine gun as his main weapon. As he captures Anna trying to escape, Hawkins becomes the first on-screen victim of the Predator, presumably slashed to death by its blade. Apparently, the Predator eviscerates him in one swift motion, leaving behind a pile of his organs. The Predator takes his body, but leaves his pack and weapon, giving Dutch the first indication that what's following them isn't the rebels of the area.
Mac Sergeant "
Mac"
Eliot (
Bill Duke) is a close friend of Blain's; they served in Vietnam together and were the only two members of their platoon to make it out alive after a night-long battle. Both he and Blain are unfriendly towards Dillon. After Dillon lags behind and potentially makes their presence known, Mac threatens to kill him. He is the first to harm the Predator, by shooting him in revenge after Blain's death. He is also the first of the team to see the Predator (albeit in its camouflaged state). Enraged and saddened by the murder of Blain, he swears that he will avenge Blain's death. Later Mac and Dillon go after the Predator together, which kills Mac by shooting him in the head with its plasma caster. His lines, "Over here", "Turn around" and "Anytime" are mimicked by the Predator throughout the film, in a mocking fashion.
Hopper James "
Jim"
Hopper was an old friend of Dutch. He was the leader of an experienced and well-armed unit of Green Berets. They were the first team sent to raid the rebel encampment, but were waylaid by the Predator. Dutch and his men find them hanging from trees with their skin ripped off and can only identify them by their dog tags. The novelization states that Hopper served with Dutch in
black ops in Malaysia.
General Phillips Major General Homer Phillips (
R.G. Armstrong) sends Dutch's team on the mission. He is later seen in the rescue helicopter sent to get the team. Phillips appears in the
Dark Horse Predator comics, where he forces Dutch's brother Detective Schaefer to help him with fighting Predators in exchange for telling him Dutch's fate. Phillips is last seen being interrogated by Schaefer under the threat of violence.
The "Jungle Hunter" Predator The
titular humanoid
extraterrestrial (
Kevin Peter Hall) is a member of a monster warrior race, the Yautja, which
hunts aggressive members of other species for sport, uses
active camouflage, a plasma weapon and can see in the
infrared spectrum. It eventually kills every member of Dutch's team and then engages Dutch in a hand-to-hand fight, nearly killing him until Dutch traps it under a log. The Predator, however, commits suicide with a self-destruct device, though Dutch escapes the explosion. ==Introduced in
Predator 2 (1990)==