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Hunter/The Golden Guard

Voiced by: Zeno Robinson, Matthew Rhys (while possessed by Belos)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/golden_guard_masked.png

"The Emperor ordered me to slay one. I'm just following orders."

^{Click here to see him unmasked.}

^{Click here to see him in the epilogue}

"Oh, and try to stay out of trouble? The Emperor is not a merciful man. [Beat] Byeeee!"

Emperor Belos's nephew and right-hand man, a highly skilled fighter despite his young age. Hunter became the head of the Emperor's Coven after Lilith's defection, though as he learns more about the world outside the Emperor's Coven, his loyalty slowly gets put to the test...

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A-C

Absurd Phobia: He's been raised to distrust wild magic, including Palismen, to the point where he nervously shies away from Flapjack, a tiny little bird, while telling Luz he's dangerous. In the charity livestream, he believes Flapjack has to be evil and tries provoking him into revealing his true, evil nature, while adding that he's in full armor in case the tiny cardinal tries retaliating. As he bonds more with Flapjack, his phobia of Palismen slowly fades. Ironically, said phobia was likely the reason why Hunter was able to survive long enough to reach "Hollow Mind" and find out the truth about his 'Uncle' and his plans for the Boiling Isles. Belos makes it quite clear that he is willing to kill him for too much disobedience, in contrast to his intended purpose, so by embracing his anti-wild magic views for so long Hunter was able to avoid the fate of his predecessors.
Ace Pilot: He may not have much natural aptitude for magic thanks to his biology (or lack thereof), but he's phenomenally good at flying. It's why Willow drafts him into the Emerald Entrails.
Affably Evil: His tone of voice and attitude towards Luz and Eda is rather casual for someone threatening to arrest them. Later episodes reveal that Hunter is a genuinely good person, but that his moral compass is incredibly skewed due to growing up in toxic and abusive environment. In fact, this seems to have been the case for all the Grimwalkers Philip created, as he repeatedly killed them when their morals drove them to disobey him and defy his manipulations.
All-Encompassing Mantle: His cloak is shown like this in his first appearance, hiding any hint as to what he looks like underneath, though the Season 2 opening does show a hint as to his facial features. It's implied this is done on Belos' orders to hide to others how his right-hand man always has a similar appearance to each other, despite being different people.
All for Nothing: He spends "Any Sport in a Storm" trying to prove to Darius that he deserves to wear the sigil of the Golden Guard and by the end is able to earn it back. In "Hollow Mind", he learns Belos is a murderous fraud and all the previous Golden Guards were Grimwalkers he's been making and killing for centuries. After escaping the mindscape, Hunter tears off his cloak in horror and leaves it on the floor of the Owl House when he runs off. This effectively applies to nearly everything else he's done to contribute to the Emperor's Coven since he believed that he was doing the right thing.
Alliterative Name: Well, his title of Golden Guard is anyway.
Amazon Chaser: Downplayed. It's implied he has romantic feelings for Willow, and he has blushed whenever near her. He's also blushed when Willow saved him from falling to his death and flexing her arms.
Ambiguously Human: Literally. After The Reveal that he's actually a Grimwalker and therefore a copy of someone Belos once knew, Hunter confesses he doesn't know if he's a witch or a human.
Ambiguously Related:
- Hunter grew up thinking he was Belos's biological nephew. However, "Hollow Mind" reveals that Hunter is an artificial construct known as a Grimwalker in a long line of several throughout centuries of Belos' stay in the Boiling Isles, based off of Belos's brother. So depending on how you look at it, Hunter is either Belos's brother, nephew, son, or completely unrelated to him.
- The memory portraits in "Hollow Mind" and the hay ride in "Thanks to Them" show that Evelyn, Caleb's witch lover, had a similar messy hairstyle and outline as the Clawthornes, greatly implying she's their distant ancestor, and Caleb's child started the Clawthorne lineage. Combined with the hints that Caleb was born with albinism, and Eda and Lilith's notably pale skin amongst the other witches of the Isles, it's greatly implied that Hunter, a somewhat biological clone of Caleb, technically counts as a member of the Clawthorne family, emphasized by his Palisman Flapjack, who fits the Animal Motif of birds for the Clawthornes and looks almost identical to Dell's own Palisman — in fact, it's implied the family's bird motif might have started with Flapjack. Compounding this, both Eda and Hunter (on the rare times he's feeling happy or confident) have a remarkably similar way of cheekily saying 'Byyeeeee!' when exiting a scene.
Animal Lover: He gets easily attached to animals. He finds the dog-like King "weirdly endearing", forms a very close bond with his bird Palisman Flapjack, and while staying in the Human Realm, develops a fascination with wolves.
Animal Motifs:
- Not nearly as heavy as Eda or Lilith, but he has an association with birds. The mask of his Golden Guard uniform resembles a barn owl, he has a cape with a bird on the sigil, and Flapjack, his Palisman, is a red cardinal.
- Speaking of cardinals, they're often believed to be the souls of people who have passed away, or guides who bring souls to the afterlife. It's rather fitting that he would watch over Hunter, himself a clone and Replacement Goldfish of a man long dead (plus Flapjack ends up making a Heroic Sacrifice to revive Hunter, who was otherwise as good as dead).
Antagonist Abilities: Just like Belos, he's capable of casting magic without drawing circles: a single swing of his staff will do the trick. This is balanced by him being unable to cast magic without said staff, though he can still carry himself regardless.
Anti-Villain: "Hunting Palismen" shows that he is actually a pretty good kid, who works for Belos in order to repay him for giving him his staff and a place to belong. Over the course of Season 2, he starts to slowly rebel more and more, until he learns that everything Belos has told him was a lie, leading to his defection from the Emperor's Coven.
The Apprentice: The Distant Finale shows him working as a professional palisman carver, with it being all but stated that he studied under Eda's father Dell.
Armored Villains, Unarmored Heroes: He wears a golden mask and his cloak comes with a pauldron, which obscures his visage and thus prevents anybody realising the physical similarities between the Golden Guards past and present. He seems to have ditched both of them for good, throwing away his cloak onscreen, after the undeniable proof of Belos' true nature prompts his Heel–Face Turn.
Armor-Piercing Question: He reveals to Luz he hasn't told anyone he's a Grimwalker, but when Luz tries convincing him to open up, he asks if she's told anyone about helping Philip.
Artificial Family Member: As a Grimwalker, he is basically a clone of Belos' brother Caleb. He is treated as Belos' nephew and Belos' abusive treatment of him is very similar to Parental Abuse.
Artificial Human: First hinted at in the opening scene of "Eclipse Lake", and later confirmed in "Hollow Mind", Hunter isn't an actual witch, but a Grimwalker based on Belos's brother. He later confesses to Luz that he doesn't know whether he qualifies as witch or human, and he does possess traits of both, such as a witch's Pointy Ears, and a human's lack of innate magic.
Atrocious Alias: When pretending to be a Hexside student, Hunter needs to come up with a fake name on the spot. With Flapjack's help, he introduces himself as "Caleb Jasper Bloodwilliams".
A-Team Firing: He sends a barrage of lightning blasts at Amity, yet even despite them ricocheting all over the cave they're in, he fails to hit anything. Justified, since he's unused to using his Palisman staff, and demonstrates difficulty with it when the fight starts.
Awful Truth: He starts to break down when he learns Belos is a fraud plotting on killing everyone in the Boiling Isles and that Hunter's entire life has been a lie as he is just Belos' latest Grimwalker. When he tries to question Inner Belos about it, the emperor decides to kill him before he can betray him like all the other Golden Guards did. Upon surviving the attempt, he has a severe panic attack and runs away.
Backseat Driver: He gets on Alador's nerves when the man is trying to pilot the airship everyone's taking to the Head, with Hunter trying to grab the controls and insisting he can get them there faster. Gus rightly points out he shouldn't be distracting the pilot, though after a snack break thing calm down and Alador invites Hunter to help.
Badass Bookworm: He's a scrawny witch with no magic who's knowledgeable about the Boiling Isles, being able to spot the various dangers in the caverns on the way to Eclipse Lake and quickly catching onto Luz's plan to make a sleeping mist due to having read up on wild magic. However, he's also the emperor's right-hand man and can hold his own pretty well in a fight.
Badass Cape: Well, at least he thinks so. While switching into his uniform to reveal himself as the Golden Guard to the Emerald Entrails, he's not wearing his cloak and admits he'd look cooler with it on. He later gets rid of it upon realizing the emperor is a horrible person and looking to kill him and switches it out with a very mottled looking blue cape. He ditches wearing capes altogether as of "Clouds on the Horizon."
Badass in Distress:
- Subverted at the end of "Clouds on the Horizon". It appears Kikimora has successfully made off with him, only for it to be revealed Luz had Gus switch her and Hunter's appearances with an illusion, meaning Hunter was never actually taken.
- Played straight in "Thanks to Them". Belos subjects him to Demonic Possession, during which time all of his friends hold back significantly while fighting Belos for fear of harming Hunter. The latter tries to drown both of them, and after Camila saves him, Belos exits Hunter's body, implicitly draining his life force in the process, and Hunter would have died if Flapjack hadn't made a Heroic Sacrifice for him.
Badass Normal: He's a powerless witch but can hold his own in combat without a staff to supply him with magic. It makes him stand apart from other witches who usually rely purely on magic, while Hunter is much more adept at physical combat and uses his magic to aid him in that.
Bad Liar: When pretending to be a Hexside student, he does an incredibly bad job of trying to quell Gus's suspicions surrounding him being a student the younger boy has never seen or heard of before, which is not helped by Hunter giving the alias "Caleb Jasper Bloodwilliams" in the most unconvincing tone possible. However, the Golden Guard is otherwise alright at lying.
Because You Were Nice to Me: In "Labyrinth Runners", he exposes himself as hiding out at Hexside to save Gus from being forced into the Abominations Coven via Graye forcing a sigil on him, simply because Gus gave him a sandwich earlier after Flapjack led him to where Hunter was hiding.
Being Evil Sucks: While he holds the emperor and the Emperor's Coven in high regard, he starts to have trouble completing his missions after meeting the protagonists, slowly realizing the assignments go against his morals. Also, when Steve points out all the horrible things the Emerald Entrails will have to go through due to Hunter forcing them to join the Emperor's Coven, he becomes distressed and ultimately decides to save his new friends from getting branded.
Benevolent Boss: While he's rarely seen conversing with those ranked beneath him, in contrast to Belos, Hunter is a lot nicer to his subordinates from what's been shown. He's mildly upset when Skara punches Steve for locking her and the Emerald Entrails in a cell and is willing to the listen to the scout gripe about the Emperor's Coven's Training from Hell.
Bequeathed Power: Lying prone after being possessed by Belos, Flapjack sacrificed himself to heal Hunter. The next episode shows that Hunter also inherited the ability to use magic from Flapjack, now being able to use his Flash Step innately.
Big Brother Instinct: Hunter is incredibly protective of his younger allies, even if he doesn't always realize it himself.
- In "Any Sport in a Storm", he steps between Darius and the Emerald Entrails as the former is raising a scythe to kill them, claiming they're violent agitators who have no place in the Emperor's Coven, and that he's not worthy of being the Golden Guard. When Darius raises his scythe-arm, Hunter, who believes he's going to get hit, doesn't even try to shield himself, just closes his eyes and braces for the blow.
- In "Hollow Mind", after the Inner Belos reveals his true form, Hunter moves from right beside Luz to in front of her, despite just having found out that Belos will have absolutely zero qualms about killing him for disobedience. He also saves Luz from Belos's attack by creating a massive wall of vines, and after Luz dives to the ground to grab the walkie-talkie, he crouches over her to shield her with his body.
- In "Labyrinth Runners", he physically fights two Coven Guards when they try to arrest Gus, and doesn't run away after they've caught him, despite the fact that they're clearly very intent on taking him back to the Emperor's Coven. After Gus is captured by Graye, Hunter joints the rest of the school in fighting to get him out, knowing that if he fails, he'll be dragged back to the Emperor's Coven and killed. He even pushes through some of his most traumatic memories in order to get to Gus, and, despite the fact that reminders of his trauma can trigger severe panic attacks, opens up to Gus about his own feelings to try and help him.
- In "King's Tide", he shields Willow from falling debris, and uses his Flash Step to carry Gus out of the way of a rampaging Belos, despite still being terrified of Belos himself. After escaping the horrors of the Collector and the Day of Unity, and after Gus starts quietly crying after realizing they're stuck on Earth now, the group arrives at Camila's house with Hunter's arm wrapped protectively around Gus's shoulders.
  - Later art by Dana Terrace shows that, after arriving at Camila's house, Hunter let Gus and Willow sleep curled up against his side, with his arm around both of them.
Big Damn Heroes: In "Hollow Mind", he's cast into Belos' subconscious to die, and ends up dragging Luz's jacket into the ground with him when she tries pulling him out. When the Inner Belos prepares to murder her, Hunter is able to use the plant and ice glyphs in the jacket to create a barrier and give the both of them the opportunity to escape.
Bizarre Alien Biology: Luz brings this up as a potential problem with getting Hunter medical treatment as, even if he's a clone of a human, Hunter is a still a Grimwalker from the Demon Realm whose biology may not be something a human doctor would understand.
Blaming the Victim: Lilith hated him for "getting special treatment," as in he was forced to work as a child soldier instead of getting to go to school like all the other kids. Darius and Eberwolf scorned him for his obedience to Belos, which is the only thing that kept Hunter from being murdered, and was enforced through grooming that made ample use of both gaslighting and violence. Kikimora, who was aware of Hunter's true nature and the fate of all his predecessors, somehow still found it in herself to hate him just for being created to die.
Blind Obedience: During his debut, when asked about why he has to kill the selkidomus, he casually replies that he was told to, with no indication he knows what the reason for it is. He also loyally follows his uncle and never questions what 'big plans' the Titan has for him, nor any of the orders he carries out. Darius thinks of him as an Extreme Doormat as a result. This is actually the entire reason he was created in the first place. Philip was determined to bring his brother Caleb back, but wanted a 'better version' of Caleb that wouldn't go against his genocidal plans for the Isles, unwilling to accept what his brother was actually like or that witches weren't evil beings deserving of death. To this end, he repeatedly cloned Caleb through the Grimwalkers and tried to condition them into following his plans to have a variant of his brother beside him, only for that to fail because he Copied the Morals, Too. It's implied Hunter's relative youth compared to the other Grimwalkers seen onscreen is because a young child is much easier to manipulate and follow the orders of their 'parent' out of a desire to place them/make them proud.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: His upbringing has given him some very screwed up ideas about right and wrong. He befriends the Emerald Entrails and then tries to make them join the Emperor's Coven despite their vocal hatred for the idea, with Hunter even having to keep them in a cell. He genuinely doesn’t understand why being forcibly separated from your family, put through Training from Hell and worked to the bone would be a bad thing if you get to join the Emperor's Coven, or that backstabbing your friends is not a perfectly normal thing to do. However, he starts to grow out of this.
Body Double: Kikimora reveals the emperor knows about the CATs' plans and that she intends to hand Hunter over to be killed. However, Luz convinces Gus to create an illusion to switch her and Hunter's appearances in order to be captured instead and save both Hunter and Eda from Belos.
Body Horror: His possession by Belos is not pretty. First, Belos' slime gets into his cut and then starts coming out of it while growing along the back of his head, before his arms turn to slime and elongate and the rot spreads over his face and neck, mimicking Belos' marred appearance. Afterwards, to leave him, the slime appears to almost be sucked out of him, leaving Hunter with gigantic scars all over him.
Boomerang Bigot: As mentioned below, Hunter looks down on Luz, like many of the other inhabitants of the Boiling Isles and will often derisively refer to her as "human". However, "Hollow Mind" reveals that he's likely a Grimwalker of Belos' long-dead human brother, meaning he's closer to Luz than to any of the other demons and witches of the Isles. Furthermore, Hunter lacks innate magic, making him no more powerful than a human.
Boring, but Practical: Downplayed. When chasing down Luz, she uses an ice glyph to send her onto a roof, but rather than use magic to follow, he resorts to parkour to vault himself up. This is because without his staff he has no power and must instead use a Mundane Solution.
A Boy and His X: A boy and his Palisman in this case. He's approached by the cardinal Palisman, Flapjack, after he returns home from failing to kidnap the Palisman from Hexside. Hunter then forms a bond with the bird and for once defies Belos by not handing him over to be consumed. Furthermore, Flapjack starts providing Hunter with the unconditional support he sorely lacks in his life. This sadly comes to an end after Belos possesses Hunter, forcing him to mortally wound Flapjack and leaving him almost dead, only surviving the ordeal thanks to Flapjack deciding to give up his life for him.
Brandishment Bluff: He keeps a staff on hand at all times, which no one bats an eye at since staffs are pretty common. However, this serves to hide the fact that he can’t use magic at all without one, unlike most witches. In "Hunting Palismen", Luz takes Hunter's staff but doesn’t realize he's been effectively rendered harmless until he's forced to scale a wall with parkour rather than a spell.
Bratty Teenage Daughter: He's seen as a male equivalent by the Emperor's Coven, who believe him to just be a teenager with an ego who thinks he can boss the adult coven heads around because he's the emperor's nephew. As a result, he isn't taken seriously and, upon finding out he's supposed to lead a meeting, the coven leaders decide to reschedule.
Break the Haughty: In "Hollow Mind" he laughs in Luz's face when she suggests the emperor could be evil, praises his own knowledge of the mindscape and goes on about how awesome Belos is. He then spends the episode learning that Belos is a False Prophet who uses his lies to facilitate a genocide, and that he's only the latest in a line of numerous Grimwalkers Belos keeps killing off. By the end, Hunter is nearly killed by Belos, and upon surviving, throws off his cloak and runs off in a panic.
Brilliant, but Lazy: He has Eda and Luz do the dirty work of killing the Selkiedamus for him and doesn’t even bother to check if the creature is actually dead.
Broken Ace: He's introduced as a Teen Genius who's gifted in magic and combat, having become the emperor's right-hand man. It turns out he's a horribly abused kid raised to believe he has to constantly prove he's worthy of love and terrified of ever disappointing his uncle, to the point of even trying to dig his own grave rather than coming back empty-handed.
Broken Pedestal: Hunter looked up to Belos all his life in spite of the abuse he endured, but is horrified to discover his uncle is a fraud who wants to kill everyone in the Boiling Isles and isn’t even really his uncle, as Hunter the latest in a long line of Grimwalkers that Belos keeps killing and remaking every time they start to question him. After escaping Belos's mind, Hunter has a panic attack, tears off his cloak in horror and runs away, later pulling a full Heel–Face Turn after Gus finds him hiding out at Hexside.
Hunter: It's... hard, when you can't trust yourself. I spent my whole life believing I was doing something good, for someone good. But it was a lie... And part of me still wants to believe in that lie.
Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: With Willow. Hunter starts out as a very serious and taciturn boy, but when he meets the friendly and sweet Willow little by little he begins to open up more.
Brought Down to Badass: Played with. When stripped of his staff and therefore magically powerless, he still shows a keen strategic mind and Le Parkour skills to make up for it.
But Not Too Bi: Downplayed. Hunter was confirmed to be bisexual in a post-hoot, yet he never shows an interest in any male characters. That said, with the sole exception of Willow, he shows no interest in female characters either, making it far more likely to be an instance of Single-Target Sexuality.
Butt-Monkey: He's typically insulted at least once per appearance. As early as his second episode, he's rocketed off his own ship and disarmed of his staff by Luz, who slaps him across the face and generally gets the best of him in their spats throughout the episode. Eda, King and Amity don't exactly hold him in the highest esteem when they meet him in "Eclipse Lake", and after going on the run, Edric and Emira describe him as looking sickly, and Gus stage-whispers to (a fake) Willow that Hunter has very obviously not showered in a while.
By the Hair: His forelock is occasionally used as a leash by Flapjack.
Calling the Old Man Out: Belos mortally wounding Flapjack while possessing Hunter causes him to wrench control over his body back, and tell Belos exactly what he thinks.
Hunter: You know what I'd like, Belos? (grunts in pain) I'd like to leave the Emperor's Coven, and never step foot in that throne room again! I'd like to study wild magic, and learn how to carve Palismen! I'd LIKE to attend Hexside as a regular student, and play Flyer Derby with my friends! But most of all, I'd like to make sure you NEVER HURT ANYONE AGAIN!
Cannot Spit It Out:
- In "Labyrinth Runners", when Gus asks Hunter why he ran away from the Emperor's Coven, Hunter opens his mouth as if trying to explain... but no words come out, and he settles for glaring at Gus instead. It takes him the rest of the episode to tell anyone what the Day of Unity actually is, and even then, he doesn't seem to have elaborated on what actually happened in Belos's mind.
- Hunter is so insecure about the fact that he's a Grimwalker that he can't even bring himself to say the word, trailing off mid-sentence while trying to talk to Luz about it. Even after months of living in the human realm with his friends, he's not even able to entertain the idea of telling anyone who isn't Luz, and in the end, Luz blurts it out before he gets the chance to.
Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: Played for laughs in "Thanks To Them". He gets very into a sci-fi bookseries from the 90s, and is under the impression that it's an accurate prediction of the future. He also doesn't know that the year it's set, 2008, happened over a decade ago.
Came Back Strong: When Flapjack heals him after his possession by Belos, sacrificing himself, Hunter becomes capable of using magic on his own.
Cassandra Truth: He, King, Eda and Amity come across what appears to be Titan's blood on the way to Eclipse Lake. However, Hunter warns them not to touch it since it's really Fool's Blood that will cause serious damage to the cave if disturbed. Believing Hunter is lying to take the blood for himself, Eda ignores him and breaks into the Fool's Blood, creating a chasm to open up in the ground.
Character Development:
- He starts out fully willing to kill a selkidomus no questions asked just because he was ordered to by the emperor. Slowly, he starts to think for himself as he makes connections with people outside his coven and even begins defying Belos before being forced to flee the emperor after learning the Awful Truth. He later opens up to Gus regarding his feelings surrounding what he learned about himself in Belos' mind in a genuine attempt to help the younger boy and divulges to everyone what he knows about the Day of Unity, making a full Heel–Face Turn.
- Hunter starts out as a backstabbing, arrogant jerk who feels that the other people are beneath him. Slowly forming bonds with Flapjack, Luz, Willow, Gus, Amity, and others has him gradually lose each of these toxic traits. By season 3, he has transformed into a loyal, humble, friendlier (even dorkier) individual.
Character Tics: He has a tendency to exaggerate the way he says 'bye' by stretching out the 'e', similar to Eda.
Chekhov's Gag: In "Any Sport in a Storm" he suggests vetting recruits for the flyer derby by forcing them to participate in a witch's duel, sticking them in a maze of traps and stranding them on the top of a mountain and see who survives. Later, it turns out all these things are part of the Emperor's Coven's Training from Hell, and a reminder of that and Belos' habit of taking Palisman from Steve causes Hunter to change his mind about forcing the Emerald Entrails to join the coven.
Childish Tooth Gap: "Hunting Palismen" reveals that he has a prominent gap in his front teeth. This shows how, despite his high position in the Emperor's Coven, he has a rather casual and sometimes immature demeanour.
Child-Like Voice: Granted he actually is a child, but Kikimora and Eda finds his voice rather annoying. When Eda tells him this to his face, he does seem genuinely hurt that people keep saying that.
Eda: Don't you recognize that annoying voice?
Hunter: ...Why does everyone say that?
Child of Two Worlds: A strange example. Hunter grew up in the Boiling Isles believing he was a powerless witch whose family was destroyed by wild magic, only for it be revealed he is actually a Grimwalker Belos created from who was almost certainly his human brother. Hunter is shown to be conflicted over this revelation, refusing to tell anyone and not knowing whether he is a witch or a human.
Child Prodigy: If Lilith saying he was a teen prodigy when he's still 16 years old is true, it's implied that he was this. Complicated in "Hunting Palisman" with the reveal that he cannot cast spells innately, though with the staff he is on par with a fully grown witch.
Child Soldier: He’s sixteen and is apparently the second in command of the emperor’s army. It's implied that he’s had this position for at least a few years now.
The Chosen One: Belos states that the Titan has big plans for him, and that it would be difficult to find a replacement. However, this has lead Hunter to believe he's being less useful than he should be, thus making him go out on unprompted missions such as in "Eclipse Lake." Subverted hard with the reveal that he's nothing more than a pawn to Belos, who says that Hunter will do as he says if he peppers it with implications of this trope. Considering Belos could always just make another Golden Guard if something would happen to the current one, it's very unlikely he's important to Belos' plans at all beyond being an errand boy.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder:
- He's been in several Enemy Mine scenarios, and almost always chooses to at least try backstabbing the other person no matter how much kindness they show him due to his fear of failing Belos.
- Played with. All Golden Guards, including Hunter, were Grimwalkers Belos kept making to serve as tools in his quest to kill everyone in the Demon Realm. However, he killed each and every one of them for betraying him and when Hunter learns the Awful Truth, the emperor decides it's better to kill the boy before he gets the chance to turn on him too.
Clones Are People, Too: Played with. It's clear Hunter is an expendable tool in the emperor's eyes, as talks about replacing him and killed the previous Grimwalkers. However, Belos also says their betrayals personally hurt him, but phrases it as though Hunter and all the other Grimwalkers are all a single person. Hunter is also merely described as a 'better version of an old friend'. Luz of course, sees Hunter as a full person.
Clone Angst: After finding out he's a Grimwalker, Hunter becomes very insecure about his identity, only knowing he's a copy of someone Belos killed but unsure if he's a witch or a human. Even after befriending Willow and Gus he's too nervous about how they'd react to admit to what he is and asks Luz to keep it secret. It's later revealed that what he's afraid of isn't everyone learning he's a Grimwalker, but that they'll hate him if they learn who he's meant to be a copy of, believing the person he was cloned from was an evil witch hunter like Belos.
Close-Range Combatant: While he is capable of attacking from a distance with magic, he prefers to get up close and personal with his opponents by teleporting around them and beating them with his staff. This is in a very sharp contrast to most other witches in the series, who tend to favor using their magic to fight from a distance.
Color-Coded Wizardry: He shares the Emperor's red-colored magic, since it's artificial magic. When using Flapjack, it's yellow instead.
Color Motif: Being the Golden Guard, he primarily wears shades of yellow, alluding to his high status within the Emperor's Coven. While masquerading as a Hexside student, he sports the yellow potions track uniform, his magic is yellow while using Flapjack, and his runaway outfit, while mostly green and blue, sports a bright yellow shoulder bag.
Comically Serious: Downplayed. He's not nearly as serious as Lilith and has a sense of humor, but his upbringing and complete lack of friends result in him being overly stiff at times. When he tries shaking on a truce with Luz, he's genuinely upset when she jokingly steals her hand away with a 'too slow'.
Conditioned to Accept Horror: Actually finds the Training from Hell for coven scouts fun, among other things.
Conflicting Loyalties: "Hunting Palismen" shows that he has a deep desire to study and understand wild magic which is at odds with his loyalty to Emperor Belos who despises wild magic. If it leads Hunter to discover a way to eliminate the Emperor's condition, then it's worth it. After realizing Belos' true nature and escaping his mind, he hides out of fear of being killed, and by the end of "Labyrinth Runners" he finally accepts that Belos isn't the good intentioned person he hoped he was and warns Hexside about the truth about the Day of Unity.
Conspicuous Gloves: He always wears a pair of dark gloves, even when playing Flyer Derby or going on the run. His hands are implied to be very sensitive, so it's likely that the gloves are meant to protect his palms, or hide injuries. It's not until he reaches the comparatively much safer human realm that he stops wearing gloves.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Compared to Lilith, an adult with an estranged relationship with Eda and generally professional demeanor, the Golden Guard is a teenager who had no established dynamic between himself and the residents of the Owl House, along with having a much bigger sense of humor. He also uses a staff similar to that of Belos to perform magic rather than anything like Eda and Lilith's circle magic.
Copied the Morals, Too: One of the problems Belos has with Grimwalkers is that all of them betrayed him at some point. It's unknown if the one they originated from was a good person or would disprove of what he does, but comments from Belos suggests he's been trying to make a Grimwalker that won't turn on him again. Hunter is apparently the most successful attempt, but him learning the Awful Truth is enough for Belos to decide betrayal is inevitable.
Cosmic Plaything: He never seems to catch a break. His backstory is one of the darkest in the series, and any time he shows up, bad things almost always happen. Even when things start looking up, expect some awful event to occur or whatever he accomplishes to be horrific in retrospect.
Covered in Scars: "Hunting Palismen" revealed that he's got a large scar on his cheek and a notch in his ear, and when he starts wearing shorts and T-shirts in "Thanks to Them", he's shown to have a scar on the inside of his bicep, and another on his ankle. After being possessed by Belos however, Hunter is left with massive scars all over his body, with one taking up his entire left forearm, another spreading halfway across his neck, and another taking up about a third of his face.
Crush Blush: While not as bad as Amity, Hunter blushes when he sees Willow again in "Labyrinth Runners" and later blushes again when he receives a group hug from Willow and Gus.
Curb-Stomp Battle: He runs circles around Eda (who admittedly has been recently depowered) and Luz in "Separate Tides" with ease and even comes very close to actually killing them. The only reason he doesn't is because he wants them to do the dirty work for him. Luz returns the favor by ambushing him in his next appearance by knocking him off his own ship.
Curb Stomp Cushion: While he and Amity are equally matched during their fight, he ultimately wins in the end by threatening Luz, which causes Amity to give him the portal key to keep her safe.
Cuteness Proximity: Downplayed, but in "Separate Tides", he finds King waking up/falling asleep whenever he lifts/drops the curtain of his cage to be "oddly endearing".
Cutting the Knot:
- At Eclipse Lake, he and Amity fight over the key and arrive at a deadlock. At this point, Hunter admits she could very well escape with the item, but if she does, he can still come after her and Luz later with the rest of his coven. This is enough to force Amity to hand over the key.
- Hunter learns that his whole life he's been told nothing but lies- the emperor is a psychopath hellbent on killing everyone in the Demon Realm and Hunter is his latest Grimwalker in a line of Golden Guards he keeps killing. When he tries to get answers from Belos, the emperor doesn't bother trying to keep Hunter on his side or explain anything, opting instead to just kill the boy and make a new Grimwalker. Luckily, the attempt fails.

D-F

Dark and Troubled Past: His life has not been nice. He was born without magic and came from a family of powerless witches who were killed by wild magic and was taken in by Belos. However, he was regularly abused by Belos, emotionally and physically, in order to cultivate Blind Obedience, and made to believe he needed to prove himself worthy of love. It gets worse when it turns out that this backstory was a complete lie, and Hunter is really a Grimwalker, only the latest in a long line that Belos keeps killing off for betraying him. Belos showed him so little kindness that Hunter doesn't even know what a hug is. Furthermore, he was named Hunter as a sick joke on Belos' part.
Dark Magical Girl: A Rare Male Example. He's The Dragon to Belos, his abusive uncle who cultivated Blind Obedience and a craving for Belos' approval in Hunter by instilling him with a belief that he must prove himself worthy of love. Hunter is also shown to be a decent person, if a bit socially awkward due to his lack of friends, but frequently clashes with the protagonists in his attempts to serve Belos and is seen more as pitiable than evil. Eventually, he makes a Heel–Face Turn and joins the heroes after learning the Awful Truth about him and Belos.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Token Good Teammate. Hunter has Undying Loyalty for the emperor, being the only one who wants to help Belos without ulterior motive, and is a fairly decent person with morals. However, Hunter was brought up to believe the emperor is a good man despite the massive pile of evidence to the contrary, and his loyalty stems from a life of calculated abuse, resulting in him failing to see anything wrong with the Emperor's Coven even when his conscience starts getting in the way of his missions. It takes a long time for him to finally get away from Belos and Hunter is left traumatized from, on top of the abuse, knowing his life was a lie and he was actually helping a monster the whole time.
Decoy Backstory: Hunter was raised to believe that he was a powerless witch, raised by his uncle Emperor Belos, after the rest of their family was wiped out by Wild Magic. It turns out that this backstory was a complete lie, and Hunter is really a kind of Artificial Human called a Grimwalker, based on Belos/Philip Whittebane's brother Caleb, and is only the latest in a long line that Belos keeps killing off for betraying him.
Defector from Decadence: In "Hollow Mind" he ends up fleeing from the Emperor's Coven after discovering the truth, and in "Labyrinth Runners" he helps fend off Graye's attack on Hexside and ends the episode telling the students and teachers the truth about the Day of Unity.
Dehumanization:
- Belos refers to Hunter and the other Grimwalkers with a singular "he", signaling that he doesn't see them as individual people. After he tries to murder Hunter in his mindscape, Belos laments about how he thought Hunter would last longer than the others, and flippantly tells Luz that he now has to make another one thanks to her. He also blames the previous Golden Guards for their own deaths ("It hurts every time he chooses to betray me"), and it's heavily implied that he enjoys killing them when they step out of line.
- The Collector calls Hunter and the previous Grimwalkers "things", and talks about them like a child would about a toy.
Demonic Possession: Belos is able to get inside him after Hunter touches his slime with the cut on his finger, allowing his creator to exhibit influence over him until he's able to fully puppet Hunter's body. It's especially horrifying as Hunter's arms turn to slime and elongate while green rot spreads partly across his face and horns sprout from his head. Belos then forces him to fight everyone and even badly wounds Flapjack before Hunter takes back control. After his uncle leaves, the boy's body is left covered with massive scars.
Despair Event Horizon:
- Briefly crosses it in "Eclipse Lake" when he finds the lake of Titan's blood is completely dried up. He flips wildly between giggling mania and complete apathetic depression, and, believing that he can't come back empty-handed, starts digging his own grave, while cheerfully asking Amity if she wants one too.
- He learns in "Hollow Mind" that he's a Grimwalker, his uncle doesn't care about him, his entire life has been a lie and the emperor will be after his life. The result is a very realistic panic attack, during which he tears off his Golden Guard cape and runs off blindly into the woods while hyperventilating. "Labyrinth Runners" shows that, while he's had a bit more time to process things, the idea of going back to the Coven terrifies him so much that it triggers another panic attack.
Dig Your Own Grave: In "Eclipse Lake", when he finds the titular lake empty of Titan's Blood, he starts digging his own grave. Whilst initially seen as a comical overreaction to his failure, "Hollow Mind" greatly implies that he was right on the money about Belos fatally punishing him for his actions and disobedience if he hadn't successfully obtained a sample of Titan Blood with the portal key
Disability Immunity: In "King's Tide", his lack of magic seemingly allows him to resist the Draining Spell better than anyone else can, remaining in fighting condition after everyone else but Belos, whom the spell has caused to degenerate into his monster form, has passed out. However, he's barely able to stand by the end, implying he would have eventually died.
Dishing Out Dirt: When fighting Amity in "Eclipse Lake", at one point he uses an Earth spell to create a giant fist that punches them into the air. He also manipulates the sand Eda and Luz are on in "Separate Tides".
Disney Death: In "Thanks to Them", Belos possesses him and controls his body, draining his lifeforce in the process. By the time Hunter manages to drive him out, the Possession Burnout is implied to have killed him — Willow shaking him doesn't wake him up, and just after checking his pulse, Camila bows her head and starts to tear up. However, an already-mortally-wounded Flapjack gives his life to revive Hunter.
Disproportionate Retribution: For the crime of blasting him off his ship, the Golden Guard threatens to have Luz imprisoned for life in the worst cell in the Conformatorium. When she retorts that she keeps escaping, he tells her he'll just have zapped to dust.
Dissonant Serenity: He arrives at Eclipse Lake and discovers it completely dry, with there being no Titan blood left, meaning he can't complete his mission. Amity then finds him digging in the empty lakebed and Hunter happily explains he's a useless failure the emperor will replace and is therefore digging his own grave. King finds it incredibly disturbing. Even worse, "Hollow Mind" shows that he was completely correct about Belos' reaction.
The Dog Bites Back: After spending his entire life being abused and conditioned by Belos as part of a twisted scheme to make Hunter a perfect version of Caleb, and forced to run or face death after learning the Awful Truth, Hunter is possessed by Belos and used to mortally wound his own Palisman. This causes him to wrench control back and he tells Belos everything he wants to do with his life, including making sure he never hurts anyone else ever again and throwing away the Titan's blood.
Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Downplayed. Eda recounts that, during her story about what happened in Latissa, Luz described Hunter as a "bad, but sad boy". Hunter's response is to go beet red and start threatening Luz's life under his breath.
Dope Slap: On the receiving end of one from Luz when she attempts to wake him up after their crash landing in order to escape from Kikimora's hungry pet dragon.
Doppelgänger Gets Same Sentiment: It's heavily implied that Flapjack initially bonds with him because he recognize him as being Caleb's clone, though how similar or different their dynamic is to the one Flapjack and Caleb shared is unknown (literally the only thing confirmed about Flapjack's relationship with Caleb is that he played a role in him and Evelyn getting together).
Doublethink: He's implied to engage in this in order to maintain the lies that hold up his worldview. Even when his conscience starts to interfere with missions — like when he let the Emerald Entrails go after seeing how desperate they were to avoid joining the Emperor's Coven — he can't stop seeing Belos and the Emperor's Coven as complete paragons of everything good in the world. When he's shown undeniable evidence that Belos is a terrible person that plans to wipe out all life on the Boiling Isles, he starts throwing out increasingly flimsy justifications for Belos's actions, up to and including outright calling himself an idiot who doesn't know how mindscapes work, despite earlier bragging about how much he's read about the subject.
The Dragon: He takes over as the (literal) poster boy for the Emperor's Coven after Lilith's defection, and acts as Belos's right hand man.
Drama-Preserving Handicap:
- Him being unable to cast magic without his staff makes him a lot more manageable than if he was a smaller, younger Belos.
- During "Eclipse Lake", he's stuck using Palisman magic he's unfamiliar with while fighting Amity, making the fight much more even between them.
The Dreaded: He serves as this for most people when he's in the costume of the Golden Guard, as he serves as Belos's primary enforcer and is in charge of the Emperor's Coven. Outside the mask, people seem to think of him as just another kid.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: A running theme is that no one in the Emperor's Coven seems to like him much. In "Any Sport In A Storm", when Belos puts him in charge for the day, the Coven Heads apparently decide to reschedule a meeting just to avoid having to deal with him.
Early-Bird Cameo: His very first appearance was a background cameo during Lilith's meeting with the Emperor in "Agony Of A Witch"
Ear Notch: Has a small one in his left ear.
Elites Are More Glamorous: He's effectively second only to Belos himself, and he has an unique costume that employs Gold and White Are Divine to emphasize his higher standing.
Empowered Badass Normal: A side effect of Flapjack sacrificing his lifeforce to save Hunter's life is that the previously magically inept Grimwalker can now use Palisman magic innately, something which was revealed when he saves Willow and Gus during the climax of "For the Future".
Enemy Mine:
- Briefly forms a truce with Luz when Kikimora tries to kill him.
- Establishes another truce with Luz when stuck in Belos' mindscape.
Establishing Character Moment: His debut episode has him hunting down the selkidomus and upon trying to arrest Luz and Eda, threatens them, casually explains he's carrying out the emperor's orders, before threatening them again and then tells them to kill the selkidomus in exchange for their freedom. He also finds it funny when the two realize they're on a flesh-eating plant and returns King as promised when they appear to have fulfilled the mission. It neatly demonstrated him as a loyal official in the Emperor's Coven, but also quite young and more Affably Evil, as well as more trustworthy.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- He loves his uncle despite the fact that Belos emotionally and physically abuses him, and Hunter's main goal is to aide him in whatever way he can. However, he is utterly terrified when he finds out about Belos killing off the previous Golden Guards who were all Grimwalkers like Hunter.
- He adores his Palisman, Flapjack, and upon getting trapped in Belos' mindscape, one of his main priorities is making sure the little bird is okay. He even yanks Luz's walkie-talkie out of her hands just to tell Flapjack he loves him, prompting an "Aww!" from Eda and King.
Even Evil Has Standards: In his introduction, he threatens to torture Luz and Eda by dangling them over the Boiling Sea where the steam will burn them alive before stating he "[doesn't] have to be that mean." Also, he slowly becomes less ruthless as a result of his Character Development, as while he was okay with doing it initially, he eventually finds he can’t separate innocent kids from their families and Palismen to join the Emperor's Coven.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Played with. Hunter isn't a psychopath without morals, but has difficulty understanding the idea of healthy and mutually supportive relationships, due to Belos' systemic and calculated abuse and Gaslighting of him having been focused on enforcing Blind Obedience to his plans over Hunter's emotional wellbeing.
- He immediately assumes Luz's strange texts to Amity are threats, when they were actually helpful warnings and compliments for her girlfriend, with the idea that they could be anything else never even crossing his mind.
- He doesn't understand the idea that the current system of government is corrupt and needs to be changed, nor the idea that someone would even want to do that.
- In the charity livestream, Hunter decides to test for his Palisman's 'evil' nature by feeding Flapjack a goreberry, knowing the Palisman won't like it, and expecting him to freak out in a violent rage, while wearing full armor as protection. He's utterly taken aback when Flapjack splits the berry in half and tries to share it with him.
- When told that friends don't stab each other in the back, he casually replies "Sure they do!"
Evil Counterpart:
- For Eda, and he fits the role even better than her sister Lilith, being what Eda would've become had she joined the Emperor's Coven when she was young. Like Eda, he's brilliant and immature, even sharing a few of her quirks, such as the exaggerated way they say "Bye!", and wears a mask which makes him resemble an owl. Lilith apparently hates working with him, another indication of how misspent her time was trying to get Eda to join the coven.
- For Luz. Both of them are teenagers learning magic under a powerful witch (Eda for Luz, Belos for the Golden Guard) and both cast magic in a rather unorthodox manner. Luz uses glyphs, while the Golden Guard seems to use a modified staff and can cast spells without spell-circles, much like Belos himself. They also share a playful attitude and a fondness for cute things, as they both quickly grew fond of King.
- For both, he's revealed to be fascinated by Wild Magic, which Eda and Luz both wield. In addition, he's powerless without the artificial magic from his staff, while Eda (after Season 1) and Luz need glyphs to use magic themselves.
- For Amity, he's revealed to have a burning desire to prove themselves to those that they love: Hunter wants to prove he's useful to his uncle, Belos, and Amity wants to prove she's an awesome girlfriend to Luz. While Amity learns that she doesn't have to prove anything to Luz since she loves her for who she is, Hunter is completely consumed with his need for Belos' approval that he'll do anything, including sabotage or backstabbing others to get it.
- For Willow and Gus, all of them are looked down at for the specifics of their magical talents and Willow and Hunter outright called themselves 'Half-a-Witch' for it. Both Gus and Hunter are also prodigies whose talent is far ahead of their respective ages. However, Willow and Gus are by far a lot more friendly and, because Hunter lacks the same loving parents and friends that they have, Hunter's attempts to be a friend or a good person are warped.
Evil Doppelgänger: Invoked and Subverted. Every single Grimwalker Belos has ever made has turned on him, despite his attempts to create one that will follow him unquestioningly on his quest to eradicate everyone in the Demon Realm, implying they Copied the Morals, Too. Hunter is the closest he's ever come to creating a perfectly obedient Grimwalker, but falls through once again when Hunter is horrified by the atrocities Belos has committed.
Exhausted Eye Bags: "Hunting Palismen" reveals that he's got deep bags under his eyes. "Any Sport In A Storm" reveals that 6 AM is considered sleeping in for the Emperor's Coven, which explains how he got them.
Expendable Clone: He is only but the latest in a long line of Grimwalkers, clones of someone Belos once knew that the emperor's been making for hundreds of years to serve as his Golden Guards, which have each been disposed of upon inevitably betraying him.
Extreme Doormat:
- Darius accuses him of being one in "Any Sport In A Storm", claiming he is unable to think for himself and only does what he is told. Ironically, Darius himself unintentionally contributed to this... Belos indoctrinated Hunter from birth to brainwash him into being a perfectly obedient soldier, and one of the reasons he was able to manipulate the boy so deeply was that Hunter was completely isolated from everybody else. As Hunter was forbidden from talking to the other Scouts and as all the Coven Heads openly despised him, he ended up with nobody but Belos and his gaslighting to listen to. Hunter only starts developing his own will after Flapjack finds him and gives him his very first non-Belos source of positive attention.
- It gets darker when it's revealed that all the Grimwalkers before Hunter at some point turned on Belos and were killed for their betrayals. Belos states he's much more obedient than the other Golden Guards, implying one of his goals was to make a Grimwalker that would remain loyal. This is probably why Hunter is a kid, while the other grimwalkers were older: children are much easier to indoctrinate.
Eye Color Change: After Belos leaves him and Flapjack dies to save Hunter's life, Hunter's eyes turn a normal brown color instead of pink.
Failed a Spot Check: In "Clouds on the Horizon", he somehow manages to not notice his appearance has been swapped with Luz's until he realizes the person Kikimora just kidnapped is himself.
Fanboy: "Reaching Out" reveals that he's a fan of Ruler's Reach (King's novel from "Sense and Insensitivity"), to the point of naming his Penstagram account RULERZREACHF4N.
Fantastic Ableism: He's initially believed to be a powerless witch, and admits that if not for Belos, he wouldn’t have a future in the Boiling Isles. He also mistakenly thinks the reason Darius sees him as an Inadequate Inheritor to the previous Golden Guard is due to Hunter's lack of innate magic.
Fantastic Racism: Like most witches, he's not especially nice to Luz, only referring to her as 'human' and, while talking to Amity, 'your human'. It takes until "Hollow Mind" for him to actually call her by her name. Possibly falls into Boomerang Bigot territory as he learns in "Hollow Mind" that he's a human himself... kind of.
Fantastically Challenging Patient: When Camila instructs Vee to call an ambulance when Hunter is lying in Willow's arms unmoving following his possession, Willow questions if they would be able to help with a supernatural illness and is completely shocked when Luz adds that Hunter is a Grimwalker and might not be able to be treated.
Fashionable Asymmetry: He wears a golden shoulder pauldron on his right shoulder while his left shoulder lacks armor. This extends to his staff, which has only one wing, like Belos' own.
Fatal Flaw: His "Well Done, Son" Guy attitude is tripping up his Character Development. Blind loyalty to Belos, and fear of being replaced motivate him to take underhanded actions to complete each task. Case in point, Luz has to call him out for Hunter attempting to break their temporary truce, and Amity complains that he's an utter manipulative jerk after her attempt to give him a pep talk reveals that the owl portal key has the Titan's blood that he seeks. It's revealed Belos has been actively trying to cultivate perfect obedience in his Grimwalkers because they keep betraying him, and Hunter is the closest he's ever come, though after discovering the Awful Truth, he's shown ripping off his cloak in horror.
Fictional Disability: He's a witch without the ability to use magic, leaving him reliant on his staff. Without it, he's as powerless as any human. Subverted when it's revealed that he's actually a Grimwalker clone of a human, so there's actually no biological fault as to why he can't do magic.
Fights Like a Normal: Hunter is one of very few witches who doesn't entirely rely on his magic to fight. He's shown using his mechanical staff and Palisman as melee weapons, and when he doesn't have either, he switches to kicking, punching, and headbutting people. When he does use magic in a fight, it's mostly Super-Speed and short-range teleportation to allow him to break through his opponents' defenses with a physical strike.
Fire-Forged Friends:
- He and Luz are initially hostile with each other, but slowly become more amicable after being forced to make multiple truces. They go from attacking and undermining each other to Hunter keeping Luz's secret of having helped Philip and Luz performing a Heroic Sacrifice partly to save Hunter from Belos.
- Gus is originally suspicious when Hunter, pretending to be a Hexside student, joins Willow's flyer derby team, and is later wary of him when Hunter turns up at the school again since becoming homeless. The two later bond while helping each other get through panic attacks and saving the school from Graye, becoming close friends as a result.
Five-Second Foreshadowing: In "Hollow Mind", in Belos' memories, both previous Golden Guards have the same voice as Hunter does. It's later revealed in the same episode that the Golden Guards are all Grimwalkers, meaning they're all clones.
Flaw Exploitation: At least part of the reason he can keep up with Amity is because of him exploiting Amity's drive to succeed and insecurities to trip her up.
Flash Step: The Golden Guard seems to favor this tactic in battle and for intimidation, as seen in "Hunting Palismen". It later becomes a Signature Move for him and the only spell he uses regularly. In "For The Future" the realization that he has magic of his own now comes when he accidentally uses his Flash Step to save Willow.
Foil: Is one to Willow in terms of reputation. At at least one point they were both considered "half-a-witches." However, the way they developed over the course of time was different. Willow was looked down upon for having weak magic in her childhood, but it turned out that she was just a late bloomer and with some encouragement she was eventually found to be very talented in plant magic. Hunter, on the other hand had a very high status for being regarded as one of the most powerful witches in the Boiling Isles, but it turns out that he can't actually cast his own magic and has to rely on his staff to appear like he can.
Forced into Evil: Ever since Belos created him, he has forced Hunter to act as ruthless and merciless as he is, even though Hunter is an incredibly Nice Guy who doesn't want to hurt anyone. It's when he meets Luz and friends that he finally learns that he doesn't need to follow his uncle's mad crusade, and has been trying to sever ties with Belos ever since.
Forced Transformation: In "Clouds on the Horizon", Gus casts an illusion without Hunter's knowledge to change him into Luz while she acts as a Body Double. He only realizes what's happened when Kikimora captures and presents the disguised Luz to the group before fleeing, prompting Hunter to look down at his hands and discover his new appearance. However, the illusion dissipates soon after.
Foreshadowing:
- He never makes spell circles and is only seen casting magic with his staff, also later tells Luz it's how he got back onto his ship after she blasted him off. This foreshadows his dependence on it for power and his lack of innate magic. This also foreshadows that he isn't a real witch, though whether he's an artificial human or witch remains ambiguous.
  - It's also notable that when Luz and Eda attack him during his debut as, unlike the majority of witches, he retaliates with ordinary combat and only uses magic to threaten them. It's later shown that he's skilled in non-magical feats like parkour and primarily Fights Like a Normal, presumably to compensate for his lack of power.
- In the charity livestream, he recalls learning his Palisman's name is Flapjack, though as he has no idea what that means, he asked Belos who told him it means 'pancake', which wasn't any more helpful as Hunter still doesn't know what that is. It serves to hint at the fact that Belos is really a human, and that Flapjack himself once had a connection to another human who named him.
- The instructions for how to create a Grimwalker as seen in "Eclipse Lake" depict a humanoid creature with magenta eyes, the same color as Hunter's. Several episodes later, he's revealed to be a Grimwalker.
- There are several hints that Luz has switched places with him in "Clouds on the Horizon".
  - After the illusion is cast to make Hunter resemble Luz, he performs his signature Flash Step to shove Willow out of the way of Kikimora's mech. His yelling is also synched with Luz's mouth.
  - His tooth gap can briefly be seen through Gus' illusion, and Luz's lip curl at one point becomes visible while she's disguised as Hunter.
  - Hunter as Luz repeatedly sticks up his fists to fight which makes sense for him to do since he prefers hand-to-hand combat supplemented with his Flash Step, but not for Luz, who primarily uses glyphs.
  - Luz as Hunter blows a raspberry at Kikimora before she's grabbed, and looks more annoyed than scared after getting captured. This makes sense for her, but not for Hunter, who is a Nervous Wreck so terrified of being taken back to Belos that it has caused him multiple panic attacks.
  - When he sees Luz get captured while disguised as him, Hunter looks far more distressed and confused than the others and can afterwards be seen checking his hands as he notices the illusion.
  - Just before the illusion dissipates, Hunter looks panicked when Alador and Amity move to pat him.
- In "Any Sport in a Storm", when trying to come up with an alias when going undercover, Flapjack gives Hunter the name "Caleb," which he uses to create his Atrocious Alias. Later, it's revealed that Hunter is a Grimwalker based off of someone which Belos once knew. That someone was largely implied to be Belos' brother, whose name was speculated by fans to be Caleb and bears a strong resemblance to Hunter. In "King's Tide", Belos becomes enraged upon seeing Flapjack and utters the name "Caleb," confirming that "Caleb" is the name of his brother and that Flapjack was once associated with him.
Fragile Speedster: He's physically quite scrawny and doesn't possess innate magic of his own like most witches on the Boiling Isles, so he heavily relies on his Super-Speed and Flash Step abilities paired with physical combat. This is especially notable in "Eclipse Lake" in his battle with Amity. Also, in "Any Sport in Storm" Willow picks him out for her Flyer Derby team when seeing him speed through the air to escape Viney's pet Puddles and has him perform quick flying to attract other members to the team.
Freak Out:
- After learning that he's a Grimwalker in "Hollow Mind", that Belos never really cared about him, and after very narrowly escaping death by Belos's hands, Hunter has a severe and horribly realistic panic attack. He stammers out that he can't go back, starts to hyperventilate, flinches away from Eda when she offers him a hand to help him stand, and roughly tears his Golden Guard cloak off his shoulders while gasping for air. He then turns and runs out the door, blindly sprinting into the woods while hyperventilating and Trying Not to Cry.
- He has another panic attack in "Labyrinth Runners" when he learns that Belos has sent a search party after him. This one comes with more hyperventilating and pacing while he babbles about needing to find a place to hide, before he curls up in the Troubled Fetal Position and starts pulling on his own hair. He also flinches badly when Gus touches him to get his attention, though he does calm down when Gus takes him through a breathing exercise.
- During the Time-Passes Montage of "Thanks To Them", Hunter sees flashes of both Caleb and Belos staring back at him when he looks in the mirror, as he now bears a greater resemblance to both of them after growing his hair out. This startles him so badly he leaps backwards and ends up in a heap on the floor, and Willow later catches him frantically chopping his own hair off with kitchen scissors.
"Freaky Friday" Flip: Downplayed. Luz has Gus use his illusions to switch her and Hunter's appearances, capitalizing on the fact that Kikimora will be specifically targeting Hunter to get captured in his place.
Friendless Background: Implied. He's horribly out of touch with teens his own age, and when Eda tells him through Luz's walkie talkie that his friend — referring to Flapjack — wants to speak with him, he looks confused until he hears birdsong through the receiver. Eventually confirmed in "Thanks to Them" as he tells Gus he wasn't allowed to socialize with the other scouts while growing up in the Emperor's Coven.

G-K

Gem Heart: As a Grimwalker, his heart is made from a Galdorstone.
Generation Xerox: Implied. Details regarding Caleb's life on the Boiling Isles are incredibly sparce, though there are several clues that hint at him having become a palisman carver (namely his talent for woodcarving and being an ancestor of the palisman carving Clawthorne family). Rather appropriately, this is the same career that Hunter pursues as an adult, with him even studying under one of Caleb's descendants.
Ghostly Chill: When viewing one of Belos' memories, Hunter's past self runs straight through him, causing him to gasp and shiver while clutching his torso.
Given Name Reveal:
- In "Hunting Palismen", Luz repeatedly needles him for his name, which he refuses to tell her. When he betrays her and tries to take the Palismen by force, she says she thought he was her friend, but that he's really just the Golden Guard. His expression then turns to guilt, and he pulls his mask off while telling her that his name is Hunter.
- His Palisman goes unnamed for numerous episodes, including "Eclipse Lake" where the bird tells Hunter their name, though it's indiscernible to the audience. Finally, in "Hollow Mind" it's properly revealed to be Flapjack, though it was stated in the charity livestream.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: When possessed by Belos, his eyes glow a bright, electric blue.
Gold and White Are Divine: He wears a white cloak and gold mask, similar to Belos. This overlaps with Light Is Not Good.
Good Costume Switch: After ditching his Golden Guard uniform since running from Belos and wearing his flyer derby one due to having nothing else while homeless, Hunter is later seen sporting a much plainer grey and brown outfit.
Green Thumb: To save Luz from Inner Belos, he takes her plant glyphs to create a massive wall of vines.
- He seems to have a strong grasp of Boiling Isles flora in general, in his first appearance identifying flesh-eating plants that Luz and Eda were standing on.
Grew a Spine: Much of his Character Development has to do with Hunter making his own choices and learning to defy Belos, though it's hindered by his deep-rooted belief that he must prove he is worthy of being loved. It turns out Belos has been intentionally trying to create a Grimwalker that will never do this. In "King's Tide", Belos tries to manipulate him with a Shapeshifter Guilt Trip, though his response is to call out the emperor on his lies, despite his obvious terror. In "Thanks to Them", after spending days being haunted by the idea that Belos has returned, manipulated into helping him and finally possessed and forced to mortally wound Flapjack, Hunter makes it clear to Belos that he never wants anything to do with him ever again.
Hammerspace: Several times he's been seen pulling the staff Belos gave him out from his cape, despite it being far too big to hide and can't be summoned. Hunter later does this with his Palisman staff, though it makes far more sense given Flapjack is a small cardinal who can be hidden in his clothes.
Harmless Villain: Downplayed. He's frequently sent off on missions to do less than noble deeds, but his own morals often get in the way of him actually going through with it.
Heel–Face Turn: After "Hollow Mind", Hunter defects from the Emperor's Coven and goes on the run. He properly makes one at the end of "Labyrinth Runners", when he tells the students and faculty of Hexside what's really going on with the Day of Unity, and "Clouds on the Horizon" has him formally join the fight against the Emperor's Coven.
Heroic BSoD: While he was already starting to break upon realizing Belos is just a fraudulent monster who never loved him, Hunter really shatters when he sees a hall full of smashed Golden Guard masks with portraits of how they died, followed by Belos revealing he's a clone and trying to kill him too. It's enough to send him into a horrifyingly realistic panic attack and run away in horror.
Hidden Depths: Despite being a high ranking member of the Emperor's Coven and the right-hand man to the emperor himself, "Any Sport in a Storm" reveals that Hunter has No Social Skills when casually interacting with other teens, likes to wear novelty socks and has an interest in sewing, though he's not very good at it.
History Repeats: Every Grimwalker Belos made betrayed him and Hunter is horrified when he learns of Belos' crimes. However, expecting this trope to occur once again, Belos decides to kill Hunter before he even has the chance to betray him — in fact, Hunter is pointedly branded with the Emperor's coven sigil despite having no natural magic to drain from, and thus being functionally useless on him, implying that Belos either expected him to eventually betray him from the start or never planned to let him live beyond the Day of Unity no matter what he did.
Holding Hands: He and Willow hold pinkies towards the end of "For the Future."
Hopeless with Tech: Not so much tech in general given how his staff appears to be Magitek, and he can use a walkie-talkie but both "Any Sport In A Storm" and "Reaching Out" show that he has yet to get the hang of using a scroll. In the former episode Willow comments on how slow a typer he is, and his messages to Luz in the latter have periods in place of spaces, random capitalization, and a comma in the middle of an ellipsis.
Horrible Judge of Character:
- Despite the abuse Belos inflicts on him on a regular basis, he sees the emperor as a good man and tries to justify his blatantly immoral actions. As the show goes on, it becomes blatantly clear he's simply learned to live with the abuse heaped upon him by his only living relative, and thus justifies everything Belos does as right out of his unconditional love for him. He also considers Luz and her friends threats and is initially wary of Flapjack, even though they're the only people who are nice to him.
- He subverts this in "Labyrinth Runners" as, while Gus is fooled by an illusion of Willow, Hunter realizes it’s a fake since she's frightened of him and he knows the real Willow is much too strong to ever fear him.
How Do I Shot Web?: In "Eclipse Lake" he's forced to leave behind the staff Belos gave him to conceal his identity, leaving him with no choice but to use his Palisman to fight Amity. However, he the discovers the staff doesn't function like his regular one and has trouble teleporting as he normally would. Although, he gets more familiar with it as time passes and is able to fight seriously with Flapjack by "Labyrinth Runners".
Hypocrisy Nod: Luz learns that Hunter has been refusing to tell anyone about him being a Grimwalker and tries convincing him to open up. However, he correctly guesses she has no intention of informing anyone of her own traumatic revelation in the mindscape that she helped Philip. Luz then realizes she can't justify making Hunter reveal anything and agrees to keep his secret.
Hypocritical Humor: He makes fun of Luz for being afraid of eyeballs after she becomes afraid of what appears to be a twisted Inner Belos, only for him to jump with a high-pitched yelp when her walkie-talkie goes off.
I Am Not Weasel: Implied. After learning he's really a Grimwalker, in "Labyrinth Runners" while talking to Gus, Hunter calls him a witch but his wording implies he wasn't including himself in the statement. Though, he doesn't mention this fact to anyone.
Iconic Sequel Character: His relation to Belos is very important to the show's lore, yet Hunter didn't have his proper debut until season two.
Identity Breakdown: He has this big time at the end of "Hollow Mind". After he and Luz escape the mind of Emperor Belos, he begin to start freaking out saying that he knows where he is and runs out of the Owl House thinking about the fact he discovered that he is not actually the Emperor's nephew, but a Grimwalker simply to replace his older brother Caleb that he murdered.
Idiot Hair: He has a pronounced forelock that curls over his forehead while the rest of his hair is brushed back, similar to what Caleb had. He cuts it off at the start of Season 3 to get rid of the resemblance.
I Hate Past Me: Played with. He is ashamed of being the clone of Caleb, the older brother of Philip who was also a witch hunter, believing the man was evil like Belos. Hunter is terrified that if his friends ever find out who he's a copy of, they'll hate him.
I Have No Son!: More like 'I have no creator'. After breaking through Belos' possession, he makes it clear he never wants anything to do with Belos ever again.
I Gave My Word:
- While he does leave them stranded on an island afterwards, he does give King back after Luz and Eda (seemingly) hold up their end of the bargain as he promised. But, he does remind them that he will arrest them if he catches them defying the emperor again.
- At Eclipse Lake, he threatens to come after Luz if Amity refuses to hand over the key, which she reluctantly agrees to if he stays away from her girlfriend. Hunter holds up his end and leaves the residents of the Owl House alone, only meeting Luz again when seeks him out herself.
Implausible Deniability: During "Hollow Mind", even after he watches Belos blow up a town full of innocents and leave a group of his followers catatonic on a mountaintop to die of exposure, Hunter continues to insist Belos isn't evil, and that his actions were all for the greater good. It takes hearing Belos admit that the Titan having big plans for him was just a lie to keep him obedient, and seeing evidence of the many, many murdered Grimwalkers that came before him to break his resolve. Even then, he admits in "Labyrinth Runners" that despite knowing it was all a lie, some part of him still wants to believe it.
Important Haircut: During the Time-Passes Montage in "Thanks To Them", Hunter — who has grown out his hair to shoulder-length — sees flashes of both Caleb and Belos in the mirror, as he now bears resemblance to both of them. This startles him so badly that he leaps backwards, then starts wildly chopping off his own hair to get rid of the resemblance. Willow helps him fashion it into something more presentable. Tragically, his possession by Belos's slime matter makes his hair grow wildly again, making him again resemble Caleb through Belos' control over him.
Improbable Age: He's sixteen yet replaces Lilith, a woman in her forties, as head of the Emperor's Coven, and is also the youngest person to become the Golden Guard. However, as a result, the other coven heads don't respect him much. It's also heavily implied that he's only this because of being a Grimwalker made and groomed by Belos as his right-hand, rather than any legitimate merits that he's proven to his "uncle", and being a young child makes it easier for Belos to groom and shape him to his desired 'better version' of his old acquaintance.
Innocently Insensitive: When Luz panics over the idea of everyone hating her for accidentally aiding Belos, Hunter tries comforting her by saying there's no way they'd hate her more than they would hate him for being the clone of a witch hunter. Unfortunately, only serves to make her feel worse, and the two agree not to reveal their secrets until they're ready.
Instant Costume Change: In one of his few non-violent uses of magic, Hunter dramatically reveals himself as the Golden Guard after posing as a Hexside student by suddenly changing into his uniform and mask with a sweep of his staff, with added bonus of cleaning up the liquid the Emerald Entrails dumped on him.
In the Hood: His outfit includes a white cloak and hood.
Inadequate Inheritor: "Any Sport In A Storm" reveals that he isn't the first Golden Guard. Darius (who was mentored by his predecessor) considers him to be an unworthy replacement, though he does start to change his tune when he shows some backbone by standing up to him. It turns out Darius' dislike of Hunter was likely due to his complete and utter obedience to Belos while his predessor betrayed the emperor and was killed for doing so.
Insufferable Genius: Downplayed. He's knowledgeable when it comes to magic and the Boiling Isles, and has a slight tendency to treat other people as idiots. When trapped in the mindscape with Luz, he praises himself for having read on up on it.
Interspecies Friendship: As the sole known living Grimwalker, all of his friendships qualify as this by default, which by the end of the series include witches, humans, and demons.
Interspecies Romance: He has a fairly obvious crush on Willow (who is a witch in contrast to him being a Grimwalker), and it's heavily implied that the two are dating by the time of the epilogue.
I Reject Your Reality: When he and Luz get trapped in Belos' mind, Luz tries to find evidence on Belos' villainy and prove it to Hunter. Although he mocks it at first, he is shown heinous actions done by his uncle and his deceitful nature, but keeps denying it to Luz, desperately trying to convince himself, that his uncle is a good man, despite abusing Hunter his whole life and him fearing that Belos would replace him, which ironically is surprisingly accurate.
Irony:
- In his debut, he's sent on a mission to slay the selkidomus and later tries threatening Eda and Luz into killing it for him, only leaving when he's tricked into believing it’s dead. It turns out, as a Grimwalker, his body is partly comprised of selkidomus scales, and it's implied the mission was secretly Belos ordering Hunter to get more ingredients in case he ever needed a replacement for him.
- He taunts Luz and Eda for being unable to use magic, and does not hide his contempt for Luz being a human, even referring to her as though she's Amity's property at one point. It's later revealed Hunter is actually powerless and may even be partially-human himself.
- During "Escaping Expulsion" Odalia and Alador bow to him while he explains the emperor will be buying their entire stock of abomatons and threatens them against arming private citizens. It’s pretty funny to see two people who have spent the entire episode cruelly wielding power over teenagers forced to kneel before a sixteen year old boy.
- He's been taught to revere the Titan as a sort of god by Belos, making it pretty funny that he doesn’t show King, an actual Titan, much respect and even takes him hostage during their first meeting.
Is It Something You Eat?: Inverted. He mistakes pancakes for being some sort of Artifact of Doom in a charity livestream due to the dish not existing on the Boiling Isles.
Jerkass Has a Point: When Luz tells him her plan to prove the emperor is evil by interviewing Hunter, he starts laughing that she would think he would help her. While he's unnecessarily rude, it's doubtless that a plan hinging on Hunter betraying the emperor's secrets isn’t well-thought through, given he absolutely idolizes Belos.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's introduced as an extremely loyal subordinate of Belos who threatens Eda, Luz and King, and his second appearance has him attempting to kidnap innocent Palismen. However, underneath it turns out he's actually a decent guy and his more villainous behavior is the result of him desperately trying to please Belos, who deliberately raised Hunter to believe he must prove himself worthy of being loved. Once he cuts ties with Belos, he shown to be significantly nicer.
Just Following Orders: When Eda asks why he's hunting the selkidomus, he states this trope verbatim, saying he was told by Belos to slay one, an early hint of the Blind Obedience that Belos was specifically aiming to groom in him.
Know When to Fold 'Em: Played with. While fighting Amity for the portal key, Hunter admits she's strong and he probably won’t be able to stop her from escaping, so he gives up the fight. He then proceeds to threaten Luz if she won't hand over the key to him, which is enough to scare Amity into giving it.
Kung-Fu Wizard: Unlike most other witches, Hunter prefers physical combat over long-ranged magic attacks, and uses his Palisman more as a Martial Arts Staff than as a magic focus. Considering he's a magic-less witch, it makes sense that he would pick a combat style that would allow him to hold his own even when disarmed.

L-N

Last Episode, New Character: He showed up for a few brief seconds in "Agony of a Witch" standing beside Belos' throne, and in "Young Blood, Old Souls" when Belos nodded to him upon stating that they'd be keeping an eye on the inhabitants of the Owl House, hinting as his role as The Dragon for Belos upon Lilith's defection.
Late-Arrival Spoiler: His physical appearance and real name stopped being hidden pretty much immediately after they were revealed.
Laughably Evil: While evil, the Golden Guard is entertainingly humorous in his antics such as with trolling King by repeatedly taking the blanket off King's cage to invoke some response from him.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: When abducting the palismen (and Luz) in "Hunting Palisman", he's whistling a slowed version of the main theme.
Legacy Character:
- "Any Sport In A Storm" reveals that he wasn't the first Golden Guard, and that the previous one, who could use magic, was Darius's mentor.
- It's revealed all the previous Golden Guards over the centuries were Grimwalkers- effectively clones of someone Belos knew and had to kill off when they turned on him, and Hunter is only the latest in that line.
Le Parkour: When chasing Luz in "Hunting Palismen", he shows some noteworthy agility. Especially in scaling a wall that Luz had vaulted using a pillar of ice magic.
Leitmotif: A Drone of Dread plays whenever he makes his presence known, even after his Heel–Face Turn.
Light Is Not Good: He might be wearing white as his primary color, but he's serving Emperor Belos.
Like Brother and Sister: With Luz. When Luz first sees Hunter maskless in "Hunting Palismen", she slaps him awake, he licks her hand when she covers his mouth, she smears his spit back onto his face, and the two of them get into a slap-fight. As they grow closer, their initial dislike of each other develops into a Vitriolic Best Buds-esque relationship. They get much closer after the events of "Hollow Mind" force them to become each other's Secret Keepers, and after several months of living together, Luz outright tells Hunter that he's family now, which brings him to tears.
Literal-Minded: Highlighting just how out of touch he is with teenagers his age, when Willow tells him his flying skills are sick, he feels his forehead and confusedly states he doesn't feel ill.
Locked Out of the Loop:
- While he was aware of Belos making a portal and even helped out with making it, he was not in on Belos' deal with the Collector nor the fact that Belos is actually Philip- a witch hunter.
- In "Clouds on the Horizon", Hunter is changed into Luz with an illusion by Gus, but doesn't notice until Luz, disguised as Hunter, is captured by Kikimora. He doesn't understand what's happening until Luz is long gone and the illusion dissipates, at which point Gus reveals Luz had him do it as part of her plan to protect Hunter from Belos and get to the Head in time to warn Eda that the emperor knows of the rebels' plot.
Logical Weakness:
- He does not have a good track record against Abomination magic. This is due to how it can easily be used to trap his hands, thereby preventing him from utilizing his staff which he relies on for power.
  - Really, getting his staff away from him is the logical first step to defeating him. While he's not helpless without it, not having access to magic places him at a significant disadvantage when battling those that can still use magic.
- While his teleportation is tricky to deal with since he can strike from any angle, a yellow blur shows up wherever Hunter is about to appear which can be used to predict his attacks. Amity exploits this during their battle, giving her the opportunity to deck him in the face.
Luminescent Blush: He starts blushing fairly frequently during and after "Labyrinth Runners" and, while not the extent of Amity, it's fairly noticeable, especially since Hunter's ears also turn bright red when he blushes. Possibly crosses over with Crush Blush as well considering that it happens when he's around Willow.
Magic Missile Storm: Summons a barrage of lightning bolts from his staff during his fight with Amity.
Magic Staff:
- He wields a crystal-tipped staff similar to that of the Emperor, though lacking the obvious technological bits that make the latter's stand out as unusual. It channels artificial magic to compensate for the fact that he can't use magic himself.
- At the end of "Hunting Palismen", Flapjack decides to become his Palisman, forming a more conventional staff in the process. He can even use it in place of his regular staff, with his magic being yellow instead of red when he does.
- In the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue we see he has become the apprentice of Eda's father making palismen as a profession. He has also at some point carved a Blue Jay named Waffle as his new staff.
Malevolent Masked Men: Wears a gold mask that covers his whole face. The only times he removes it in public is to go undercover at Hexside, and when only Luz is around. This might serve Belos the dual purpose of hiding that Hunter is of a long line of clones both to himself and the public. Though this is unlikely given Belos has also implied the Grimwalkers don't always look identical.
Mark of the Supernatural: Played with. It's hinted in Belos' book that Hunter's unique magenta eyes denote him as a Grimwalker. However, after Flapjack sacrifices himself to revive Hunter, the boy's eyes turn brown like his Palisman's.
Mask of Confidence: Hunter is significantly less hampered down by the effects of Belos' emotional abuse when wearing his mask in uniform, something which he lampshades when he and Luz are checking to see if Belos is still alive in "Thanks to Them". Luz then decides to invoke this by handing him a Halloween mask that the wind happened to blow up to them.
Maybe Ever After: The epilogue of "Watching and Dreaming" doesn't specifically state if he and Willow have become a couple, though the two are fairly affectionate with one another.
Meaningful Name: He's frequently seen hunting things down for the emperor, with his debut having him on a mission to slay the selkidomus. It takes on a much deeper layer after the revelation of Belos's origins as a witch hunter and his long-deceased brother, as Hunter was intended to be a "better" version of Caleb who agrees with Philip's genocidal ambitions.
Metaphorically True: As he is a clone of Belos' late brother Caleb, that would make Caleb Hunter's father, so technically, that would then make Hunter the nephew of Belos.
Mirthless Laughter: Amity finds Hunter digging in the ground at Eclipse Lake and wonders what he's doing. He tells her that there's no Titan blood left and starts laughing as he explains that since he's failed his one shot at redeeming himself for Belos, he's digging his own grave. Amity is understandably disturbed. Even worse is that its later made clear he was completely correct about Belos' reaction if he hadn't managed to secure the Titan Blood inside the portal key.
Modified Clone: He's a Grimwalker described by Belos as 'a better version' of his brother Caleb, and has been said to be the Grimwalker that looks the most like Caleb. However, in order to blend in with the people of the Boiling Isles, Hunter still has the big, pointed witch ears, and being a Grimwalker always gives him magenta eyes.
The Mole: In "Any Sport in a Storm", he goes undercover as a student at Hexside in order to recruit people for the Emperor's Coven. He is roped into joining Willow's flying derby team, but genuinely enjoys playing with them. Unfortunately, he blows his cover when he reveals his ulterior motives, ruining their friendship...briefly.
Morality Pet: With all the reveals in regards to him, this may not be the best wording, but considering what this trope means, then he is definitely one for Darius, who Hunter seems to bring out a protectiveness in. He, along with Raine and Eberwolf, seem to bring out the best in Darius.
More than Mind Control: Belos employs emotional and physical abuse to keep Hunter obedient, constantly holding the threat of replacement over the boy and convincing him he's worthless if he can’t carry out his uncle's will. This results in Hunter being fanatically loyal to Belos, to the point that it takes watching multiple memories of the emperor's atrocities firsthand for him to realize Belos is evil. Even after fleeing the Emperor's Coven, Hunter admits there's a part of him that still wants to believe the lies he was told.
Muggle Born of Mages: He has the pointy ears of an Isles native but is unable to use magic, and was told it was a condition that runs in his family. He's later revealed to be a Grimwalker and Hunter explains he is either a witch or a human, but doesn't know.
My God, What Have I Done?: In a similar vein to Luz, he's freaked out to find that he has been unwittingly helping a fraudulent psychopath in a plot to kill everyone in the Boiling Isles.
Mysterious Past: Supposedly, he's the emperor's nephew and is a powerless witch coming from a family of many other powerless witches, though he was taken in by Belos after something happened to them when he was young. However, the fact that Hunter resembles a 'Grimwalker' and Belos is almost certainly Philip Wittebane -a human- puts this information into question. It turns out that he is indeed a Grimwalker, and background information suggests he was literally 'grown' in the ground akin to a plant.
The Needs of the Many: Hunter goes into denial upon seeing a memory of Belos revealing he bombed a town and blamed it on wild witches to scare people into joining his coven system. When Luz tries pointing out it's obviously bad and screwed up, Hunter tries to justify it as for the greater good.
Nephewism: Was taken in by his uncle Belos after their family was wiped out by wild magic. This is subverted as "Hollow Mind" reveals he is actually a grimwalker, the latest in many created by Belos in his attempts to recreate his brother Caleb as "a better version of an old friend".
Nerd in Evil's Helmet: His first appearance has him look mysterious and intimidating, but he is really a dorky teenager.
Golden Guard: (ominously) Oh, and try to stay out of trouble. The Emperor is not a merciful man. (cheerfully) BYEEE!
Nervous Tics: When he's talking about an emotionally charged topic, Hunter often avoids eye contact and fidgets with his fingers.
Nervous Wreck: Underneath the Golden Guard persona, Hunter veers into this territory - he flinches, he's hyper-vigilant of possible punishment from Belos, and he's terrified of failing missions for the emperor. And this is on his better days. Once he's forced to go on the run, he gets even more paranoid, and starts having panic attacks at the thought of going back. Arguably even worse is the fact that this attitude isn't an overreaction to the way Belos is, as he's implied to have physically punished him beforehand, resulting in the scars on his body, and is chillingly casual about the prospect of killing Hunter if he fails to show absolute Blind Obedience to him.
Never My Fault: "Hollow Mind" opens with him yelling at Luz for trapping them in Belos' mind. A flashback shows that he was actually the one responsible as while he was berating Luz for letting some conspirators escape him, Hunter accidentally broke the vial that activated the spell for entering the mindscape while they were in the spell circle.
Nice Guy: Although Hunter's "father" may be the worst person to ever set foot in the Demon Realm, Hunter himself is absolutely nothing like that, and is a genuinely kind person who is always willing to help his friends, and only commits evil because Belos forces him to against his will.
Not Me This Time: Kikimora gets paranoid about him interfering with her mission to get the Titan blood after he and Luz prevented her from capturing the Palismen earlier. While Hunter does try, he is immediately captured by Eda and Amity, and spends the majority of the episode as their prisoner. Kikimora fails because of Eda and Amity, along with her own short-sightedness.
Not So Above It All: He is quite serious and has extremely little experience with anything outside his job for the emperor, so he tends to view the other characters' goofing around as foolish. However, when he's given the chance to actually act his age, Hunter's childish side shines through.
- In "Hunting Palismen", Luz covers his mouth to keep him quiet, and he responds by licking her hand. When she rubs her slobber-coated hand all over his face, he pushes her back, and it quickly devolves into a shoving match.
- In "Any Sport in a Storm", Hunter initially used Flyer Derby as a means of scouting potential recruits for the Emperor's Coven, but once he gets into it, is shown to really enjoy the game. After they win, Hunter cheers along with the rest of the team, comes up with the team name, and shows off one of the most sincere smiles we've ever seen from him in their team photo, before awkwardly, yet sincerely thanking them for giving him another chance.
- In "Hollow Mind", he panics when he hears Flapjack is with Eda, and rips the walkie-talkie out of Luz's hands twice to talk to them. He even quietly whispers to Flapjack that he loves them, prompting a loud "Aww!" from Eda and King.
No Social Skills: "Any Sport In a Storm" reveals that he has no idea how to interact normally with teens his own age. By "Clouds in the Horizon," he's considerably better at socializing to the point where he has a Secret Handshake with Gus. A week amongst teenagers his age taught Hunter more about how to be a normal social individual than years growing up under Belos' control.
Hunter: Teens are probably into the same things as me. Like authority! And rules!
"Not So Different" Remark:
- He explains that he and Amity are alike in the sense that they can't bear to fail their loved ones. While she at first rejects the idea that they could be similar, Amity later agrees that she used to operate under the mindset that she had to always prove herself to be worthy of love, but she eventually learned she could be with people who'd love her unconditionally and tries to convince Hunter he can be the same.
- Hunter tries to comfort Gus while he shuts down in a panic attack, upset that he allowed himself to be tricked. Hunter explains that like Gus, he now has trouble trusting himself as he served Belos only to learn his guardian was always deceiving him.
  Hunter: I spent my whole life believing I was doing something good for someone good. But it was a lie... And some part of me still wants to… believe in that lie. Just like you want to believe you're dumb, or whatever. But it's not true!
Not So Similar: Ultimately, while Hunter is right that he and Amity both have people they don't want to disappoint, the difference is that Luz unconditionally loves Amity and truly cares about her while Belos sees Hunter as merely a tool and only values him as long as he proves himself useful.
Nurture over Nature: Subverted, but Belos really tried his hardest. It's revealed that Hunter is a Grimwalker and all the previous ones eventually turned on Belos and were killed as a result. The emperor tried creating a clone that wouldn't betray him and Hunter is apparently the closest he ever got, employing emotional and physical abuse to keep him in line. However, just like the others, Hunter is ultimately unable to stomach the atrocities Belos committed.

O-S

Obliviously Evil: It's revealed he doesn't understand the issues with the coven system or the government, having been raised to believe that joining the Emperor's Coven is the best thing in the world and genuinely not getting why people wouldn't want to be separated from their families after being recruited. This pairs alongside Belos/Philip's own lack of care for the denizens of the Isles to help enforce Hunter's Blind Obedience, but gradually, after spending time with the different members of Luz's social circle and coming to recognise the flaws in the coven system, Hunter slowly starts to understand that the Emperor's rule isn't as benevolent as he was raised to believe. This culminates in "Hollow Mind", wherein seeing Belos's true nature sends Hunter into an outright panic attack as he sufferers a breakdown about the Awful Truth.
Oblivious Transformation: He takes a while to notice when Luz switches places with him, only realizing after Kikimora makes off with the girl by mistake and he looks down at his hands to discover his new appearance. Justified since it was an illusion cast by Gus rather than an actual transformation.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Steve recounts that training for the Emperor's Coven has recruits compete in a witch's duel, go through a maze of traps and survive alone on a mountain. Hunter however, is a powerless witch and only received a staff to supply him with magic after being promoted to Golden Guard, stating he was the youngest scout to become one. This would mean that Hunter went through the entire training process without magic before he even turned sixteen.
Offscreen Teleportation: Luz hijacks his ship and blasts him off it, but while the camera focuses on her trying to figure out how to land it, Hunter suddenly appears back on the ship. Justified, since he can literally teleport.
Offing the Offspring: After learning about Belos' true plans for the Boiling Isles and his status as one of the numerous clones Belos keeps making and killing off, the emperor decides betrayal is once again inevitable and tries to murder Hunter. Given that Hunter was branded with a Coven sigil long before he ever showed signs of doubting Belos, it's implied his mad creator had long since come to consider such an outcome an inevitability, and never really intended for Hunter to live past the Day of Unity.
Oh, Crap!:
- Causes this reaction when a demon realizes they just tried to solicit the Golden Guard for teeth, which is illegal.
- He has this reaction to realizing the monster in Belos' mind is actually the souls of the Palismen the emperor has consumed and the child who's been accompanying him and Luz was the Inner Belos all along.
- A really painful one when he realizes that Belos considers him a traitor and will be planning to kill him.
- Kikimora captures Luz who is disguised as Hunter and presents her to the group before escaping. Hunter can only look on in fear as he realizes Luz switched their appearances and is being brought to Belos in his stead.
Once an Episode: In nearly every episode he appears in, something horrible happens to him.
Only One Name: His first name is Hunter, but his full name is never given. Given he's a Grimwalker, it's possible he doesn't even have a last name. It was revealed in a livestream by Dana Terrace that 'Hunter' is actually the same name given to all the Grimwakers after Belos tired of the practice of naming them individually after the first few betrayals, referring to them all with the same uniform moniker as a sick joke. Not only does this highlight his lack of care for their individuality it means that Hunter's name isn't even a real name, but more akin to a label.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Like most Boiling Isles residents, he does not think highly of humans and only refers Luz as 'human'. However, after learning the Awful Truth and nearly getting killed by the emperor, Hunter saves Luz and calls out to her with her name, signifying he can no longer view himself as above her.
Our Homunculi Are Different: Hunter is confirmed to be a Grimwalker in "Hollow Mind", meaning he's an Artificial Human clone of Belos's brother Caleb. He looks identical to any other witch from the outside save for his distinctive pink eyes, but his body is made of Palistrom wood, selkiedomus scales, a Galderstone, and one of Caleb's bones. "For the Future" reveals that baby Grimwalkers are grown in the ground like plants, and signify that they're ready to be dug up by sticking a hand out of the soil.
Our Mages Are Different: He initially relies solely on his staff for magic, lacking the magic everyone else on the Boiling Isles has. He later uses the glyphs in Luz's jacket in Belos' mindscape during "Hollow Mind".
Out-of-Character Alert:
- He's quickly able to deduce that "Willow" is really an illusion as she demonstrates fear of Gus's out of control illusions and is frightened when Hunter threatens her, while he knows the real Willow is much too strong to ever be afraid of him. Justified since unlike Gus, who is fooled, Hunter only met Willow well into her Character Development and isn't aware she ever lacked confidence.
- In "Clouds on the Horizon", he doesn't put up a fight against Kikimora and sticks his tongue out when she captures him, which is odd given he typically reacts with panic at the prospect of being taken back to Belos. It serves as a clue to the fact that it's really Luz disguised as him trying to get caught.
- In "Clouds on the Horizon", "Luz" is seen holding up "her" fists rather than taking out glyphs while preparing to fight, signifying that it's actually Hunter who's primary method of fighting is mundane combat.
Pet the Dog:
- In "Hunting Palismen", when Kikimora is about to blast Luz with a spell, he jumps between them and stops the blow with his staff, saving Luz. He also lets Luz get away with the Palismen, even though he could easily teleport to the saddle of the dragon to stop her and retrieve them.
- After spending all episode plotting to force the Emerald Entrails into joining the Emperor's Coven, once he's reminded of the hell they'll have to go through, he puts his life on the line to prevent them from being recruited.
Pointy Ears: Is shown to have this like all regular witches do in the second opening intro. His left ear has a chunk missing, complementing the Rugged Scar on the right side of his face. It's a bit strange given the person he's based on was almost certainly a human. Hunter admits he might be a human, meaning it's possible Belos gave him pointed ears to look like a witch.
Poisonous Captive: When he's captured by Amity and Eda, he starts getting under Amity's skin with his comments about letting loved ones down. He then makes it worse by reading one of Luz's strange texts as a warning to come back with the Titan's blood or there will be consequences. However, it's ambiguous as to whether he was intentionally trying to manipulate Amity.
Precision F-Strike: In the charity livestream, during audio segment for Hunter, he learns his palisman's name is Flapjack, and finds out from Belos it means pancake. However, not knowing what that is, Hunter angrily theorizes pancakes are what took his family and screams "damn you, pancakes".
Promotion to Opening Titles: He is given a spot in Season 2's Title Sequence between Lilith and Kikimora.
Psychological Projection: In "Eclipse Lake", he assumes that Luz's emoji messages to Amity are some kind of cryptic warning to come back with results or else there'll be bad consequences, when they're really just Luz using the emojis to literally spell out words vertically, due to his history with Belos.
Psycho Pink: Downplayed. He has a pair of dark pink eyes and undergoes Sanity Slippage in "Eclipse Lake" after realizing the titular lake is empty, digging his own grave while laughing before desperately attacking Amity for the portal key.
You really want to help? Then give me that KEY!
Purple Is Powerful: When unmasked, his eyes are revealed to be a reddish purple color that is so far unique to him. This proves both fitting and ironic when noted that he is a magical prodigy favored by Belos and also Belos' nephew, but is also a Muggle Born of Mages who is powerless without his staff.
Pyrrhic Victory:
- Discussed. While fighting Amity for the key, he points out that she could probably beat him and escape with it, but he can render that victory meaningless by sending the Emperor's Coven after her and Luz later.
- Hunter's main goal is to cure Belos of his curse at any cost. He and Luz are later tricked by Inner Belos into acting as bait for the tormented souls of Palismen stuck inside him, allowing the emperor to finally conquer the creatures. Unfortunately, by that point, Hunter knows what kind of horrible person Belos really is and that he just gave a genocidal sociopath a serious leg up.
Queer Colors: While showing off a sweater he made, one of the patches has a rainbow in the colors of the bisexual pride flag. He never shows attraction to anyone other than Willow during the series, but Dana specified in a post-series livestream that he is indeed bisexual.
Rank Up: His promotion to head of the Emperor's Coven happened almost immediately after Lilith's treachery.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: The opening of Season 2 reveals him to have reddish eyes. Reinforced in "Hunting Palismen" after his mask comes off. The opening scene of "Eclipse Lake" reveals that this eye color is a distinctive feature of a Grimwalker, and Hunter is confirmed to be one in "Hollow Mind".
Redemption Demotion: Justified. Flapjack is weaker than his normal staff, so his magical ability takes a massive hit when he's separated from the latter and no longer able to retrieve it in "Hollow Mind". Most prominently, the distance that he's capable of teleporting has been reduced to a few yards at best. After his panic attack from finding out the truth, he spent the next few episodes as a fugitive which left him physically and mentally exhausted. In "Labyrinth Runners", he couldn't even fight off two scouts from the Emperor's Coven despite being their former second-in-command.
Rei Ayanami Expy: Downplayed. Similar to Rei, Hunter is the latest in a line of red-eyed clones of the Omnicidal Maniac Big Bad's deceased loved one. However, unlike Rei, who is an important catalyst for the Big Bad's ultimate plan, Hunter is nothing more than a side project for Belos to do in his spare time, unneeded for the Day of Unity in the long run.
Replacement Goldfish: In "Hollow Mind", we learn that he's only the latest in a long line of Grimwalkers Belos has created as "better versions of an old friend" — his brother Caleb.
Replacement Scrappy: He initially serves as this for Darius In-Universe. Darius' beloved mentor died in mysterious circumstances, and it left Darius full of grief and bitterness. When the Emperor brought in a new Golden Guard who appeared to be nothing like the old one, Darius allowed that grief and bitterness to blind him to the terrible abuse that was going on right under his nose, and make him assume the worst of the kid and treat him very harshly. He immediately changed his tune and started helping Hunter after realising his mistake, but by then Hunter had been horribly abused for years.
Rousseau Was Right: He was raised to believe that the Emperor's Coven is the best thing in the world, that wild magic is evil and that he must constantly prove himself worthy of being loved. While he's introduced as evil, he's also shown to be a pretty nice guy when he isn't obsessively trying to make Belos happy. It turns out, he's a Grimwalker much like the previous Golden Guards, who were all killed for betraying Belos, and Hunter is likewise horrified when he realizes how awful the emperor is, to the point that the he decides to preemptively kill the boy before he can turn on him. It's further revealed Belos has been trying to rid his Grimwalkers of this trait.
Royal Brat: He's Belos' nephew and those within the Emperor's Coven don't see him as much more than an immature child with too much power, with Lilith even describing him as a brat when he's first mentioned. In reality, he's not as self absorbed as others believe, and is mostly just incredibly obsessed with helping his uncle.
Rugged Scar: He has a scar on the right side of his face that goes from his jaw to his cheek.
The Runaway: Of the abused variety. At then end of "Hollow Mind", the emperor decides he needs to kill Hunter for learning the Awful Truth, and the boy has a panic attack upon realizing Belos will murder him if he goes home, forcing him to flee. He hides out in Hexside, living in the auditorium and surviving off of snack foods and whatever Flapjack can fish out of the trash for him.
Running Gag: Anytime he has to interact with King, he refers to him as whatever species Hunter thinks he is, which always happens to be wrong.
Sanity Slippage: In "Eclipse Lake", finding the lake empty of the Titan's Blood Belos needs, he starts digging his own grave and even offers to dig one for Amity. Seeing Amity has the portal key causes him to snap out of it.
Scars Are Forever: Asides from the one on his face, he's shown has multiple scars on his arms and legs, likely from his Training from Hell in the Emperor's Coven. Later on he ends up getting much larger scars all over his body after Belos possesses him.
Secret-Keeper: It's revealed that during "Hollow Mind" he was able to overhear Belos and Luz, learning that the girl accidentally helped him back when the emperor was Philip. However, Hunter does not tell anyone about this while Luz respects Hunter's wishes to keep his Grimwalker status a secret.
Secret Secret-Keeper: He runs off in "Hollow Mind" after escaping mindscape and doesn't tell Luz he could hear everything she and Belos were saying while he was buried. He proceeds to keep it to himself that Luz accidentally helped Philip until he finally tells her in "Clouds on the Horizon".
Selective Obliviousness: Hunter is absolutely convinced Belos is an amazing person and follows him unquestioningly despite the fact that Belos regularly subjects him to abuse. While viewing the emperor's memories, he goes straight into denial after seeing his uncle staged attacks to force people to join his coven system, saying it was for the greater good, and soon after tries to justify Belos' blatant attempt at murdering several witches. However, he eventually finds himself unable to explain away the rest of Belos' atrocities.
Seriously Scruffy: After running away from the Emperor's Coven, Hunter is left homeless and is forced to live in Hexside's abandoned auditorium for several days. When we next see him he has dirty hair, scratches all over his face, and is wearing a ratty cape over his Flyer Derby uniform since ditching his Golden Guard one. According to Gus, he smells pretty bad as well.
Ship Tease: Starting with Season 2B, he gets a lot of this towards Willow.
- Near the end of "Any Sport In A Storm", he very briefly blushes after Willow indicates that she still wants him to play Flyer Derby with the Emerald Entrails despite him trying to kidnap them.
- In "Labyrinth Runners", he blushes when he first sees what turns out to be Coven scout disguised as Willow, and his ability to quickly see through the ruse is based on his deep respect for her. Later on, he really blushes when the real Willow pulls him into a group hug with Gus and thanks him for helping.
- While they're being attacked by Kikimora, Hunter teleports himself into Willow to push her out of the way of the Abomitron. Later, when it appears he's been captured by Kikimora (actually Luz in disguise), an enraged Willow comes after the demon with a wave of giant vines, and is the first to give chase while Kikimora is flying off.
- In "King's Tide" When an abomaton knocks Hunter off his staff to fall to his death, he can be seen blushing when Willow catches him. He soon helps her up after the airship crashes and later protects her from debris while everyone is fighting Belos. Willow is also seen trying to shield him from Belos and lets Hunter lean on her for support when the Draining Spell makes him too weak to stand on his own.
- In "Thanks to Them", Willow finds him in distress trying to cut his own hair (and doing a poor job). He looks embarrassed when she walks in on him, and blushes quite a bit when she takes over and cuts it for him. She's the first person to compliment his Cosmic Frontier outfit and finds it so cool that she snaps a picture, once again causing him to blush. And when Hunter has a Disney Death after being freed from Belos's Demonic Possession, Willow is one of the most distressed and frantic out of the whole group, and lays his head into her lap.
- In "For the Future," he can't stand to hear Willow talking bad about herself, and tells her that she is better than she thinks she is. He confesses that she (and the others) mean the world to him. Towards the end of the special, she confesses that he means a lot to her too, and they link pinkies. As of now, the status of their relationship is unclear.
Shock and Awe: His offensive spells tend to be lightning-based.
Signature Move: Super-Speed and Teleport Spam. He teleports rapidly and frequently to get around during fights and hit enemies from various angles with his staff, and after his Heel–Face Turn, he starts using his super speed to pull his friends out of danger.
Sixth Ranger: After learning the truth about him and Belos and performing a Heel–Face Turn, Hunter joins Luz, Amity, Gus, Willow and King in "Clouds on the Horizon". He then remains with the group after everyone but King is sent to the Human Realm.
Skewed Priorities: He and Luz get trapped in the emperor's mind with the Inner Belos after them. When they're contacted by Eda, his main concern is making sure Flapjack, who was not pulled into the mindscape, is safe.
Smug Snake: When he's in control of a situation, he tends to be glib and playful with his opponents. When he's not in control, he becomes moody and utterly humorless.
Sole Survivor: Of the Grimwalkers. Since Belos has killed every other Grimwalker that preceded him, this makes Hunter the only one alive by the end of the series.
Spanner in the Works: The rogue coven heads neglect to take Hunter into account while enacting a plot to enter Belos' mind, resulting in him wrecking their attempt and almost blowing their covers. While in the process of trying to arrest them, Luz tries getting Hunter to participate in an interview, allowing the coven heads to escape and resulting in Hunter breaking the mindscape spell potion while berating her.
Speaks Fluent Animal: While he's initially unable to understand his Palisman, after bonding more in "Eclipse Lake", Hunter gains the ability to comprehend Flapjack's chirps.
Spotting the Thread: In "Labyrinth Runners" he quickly realizes "Willow" is really a scout in disguise as she appears to be afraid of him and Hunter knows she's much too strong a person to ever fear him.
Stealth Hi/Bye: He literally does this to Luz when she blasts him off his ship, teleporting himself back on when she isn't looking and greeting the girl with a drawn-out 'hi'.
Stranger in a Familiar Land: Downplayed. He's implicitly a clone of Philip's brother Caleb, who was last in the Human Realm around 350 years ago. Not to mention that Hunter himself has been born and raised in the Boiling Isles as a witch; even though his template was born in the Human Realm, Hunter knows very little about it beyond what Belos told him, leaving him just as clueless as Amity, Willow and Gus post-"King's Tide".
Stepford Snarker: Downplayed. He isn't on the same level as Eda and King in terms of sarcasm, but he has an inclination to mock people when he has control over a situation, best seen during his debut. However, when he lacks control, the mask slips and he becomes serious and moody, making it painfully obvious life hasn’t been kind to him.
Super-Speed: In addition to his Flash Step, Hunter can significantly speed himself up. The fact that both spells have the same visual and sound effect implies that they're actually the same spell, making his super speed a slower version of his teleportation.
Sympathy for the Devil: According to Eda, Luz has described Hunter as a "bad but sad boy". Amity also expresses sympathy for his intense belief that he can only be loved if he constantly proves his worth.

T-Y

Tainted Veins: When the Draining Spell is activated, glowing veins start spreading out from his sigil, causing Hunter pain and slowly killing him. Notably, the effects of the spell are considerably slower for him, as Terra's veins spread to her forehead in seconds and cause her to quickly pass out, while Hunter's only reach that point near the end of "King's Tide" and he remains standing until then. Presumably, this is due to him being a powerless Grimwalker.
Tears of Joy: When Luz tells Hunter he's family now, he gets so overwhelmed with love that he starts breaking down in tears.
Teen Genius: Is described as a "teen prodigy" by Lilith in "Separate Tides". Word of God confirmed he's only sixteen years old, but he already managed to score himself a high position and special treatment in the Emperor's Coven.
Teleportation: While he starts off utilizing many different forms of magic, the variety eventually dwindles until he only uses magic to teleport, typically to supplement his mundane combat skills. This move appears to be unique to him as no other character is seen performing it, with him disappearing and reappearing somewhere else unlike the Ball of Light Transformation Eda and Lilith do. However, while he's initially seen travelling vast distances with this magic, after switching to his Palisman staff the range is significantly decreased to only a few yards.
Teleportation with Drawbacks: Typically he can appear and disappear as he pleases, but when fighting Amity, his unfamiliarity with his Palisman staff results in him having trouble teleporting and it takes him a few tries before he can get it right, making the battle more even. Also, Word of God is that Palismen aren't quite as strong as regular witch magic, which is seemingly proven when he has to make multiple jumps to Darius's ship with Flapjack, yet had been seen travelling vast distances with the staff Belos gave him. It also seems he can't teleport with another person, instead only being able to move with increased speed.
Teleport Spam: His fighting style utilizes a lot of short range teleportation.
Tempting Fate:
- Claims it would take more than Luz disarming him to stop him from completing his mission, cue Kikimora's dragon making its appearance and dropping both teens straight out the sky.
- In "Hollow Mind", he laughs at Luz's belief that the emperor could be evil. The rest of the episode is a horrifically painful Trauma Conga Line in which Hunter learns his entire life has been a lie and Belos plans on killing everyone in the Demon Realm.
Terms of Endangerment: Downplayed. While mocking him for being an Extreme Doormat to Belos, Darius calls Hunter "Little Prince".
They Look Just Like Everyone Else!:
- Beneath his mask, he looks like an ordinary teenaged witch. This works against him in "Hunting Palismen" when he tries ordering around some Emperor's Coven scouts, only for them to refuse to belive that he's the Golden Guard since, without his mask or staff, he didn't have any way of proving his identity to them.
- He uses this to his advantage to infiltrate Hexside and scout new recruits for the Emperor's Coven as, while wearing the uniform, he doesn't look out of place among the student body.
Thousand-Yard Stare: He tends to very briefly space out with wide-open eyes when encountering something triggering. Come the end of "King's Tide", this is his default expression.
Token Good Teammate: Hunter is firmly on Belos' side, but isn’t a sadistic psychopath like Terra and Kikimora. He's capable of genuine kindness and, as relentless as he is in his goals, there are some lines he realizes he can't cross. Furthermore, he follows Belos because he can’t stand letting his uncle down, rather than for his own personal glory, and wants to heal the emperor's curse. He's horrified to find that Belos really just wants to kill everyone in the Boiling Isles and Hunter has been helping a complete psychopath. It's then revealed that all the other Golden Guards were this as well, since Inner Belos decides it’s time to do away with Hunter once he's learned the truth, as his predecessors all ended up betraying the emperor.
Tomato in the Mirror: Hunter lived his life believing he was a descendant of a family of many other powerless witches who were wiped out by wild magic so he was taken in by Belos, his uncle. However, he learns in "Hollow Mind" that that isn't remotely true- he's a Grimwalker, a type of clone, and only the latest in a long line, though all the previous Grimwalkers were killed off by Belos when they turned on him. Hunter is understandably horrified by the revelation, and even more so when Belos, expecting a betrayal is near, decides to kill him.
Training from Hell: Anyone recruited into the Emperor's Coven must endure a witch's duel, a maze full of traps and being left to survive alone on a mountain. He seems to look back on it fondly.
Trapped in Another World: During the season two finale he ends up trapped in the Human Realm along with Luz, Amity, Willow and Gus after the portal to the Demon Realm is destroyed by the Collector.
Trauma Button:
- He tends to noticeably flinch whenever someone, especially an adult, touches him or brings their hand near his face, which has extremely bad implications given the scar on his cheek, the notch in his ear, and the general way Belos treats him. He also freezes in terror upon seeing an illusion of Belos in "Labyrinth Runners", and starts having panic attacks at the notion of returning to the Emperor's Coven after "Hollow Mind".
- When fighting Belos in "King's Tide", the emperor suddenly fixating on him and trying to guilt-trip him for attacking causes Hunter to freeze and struggle to hold his gaze, his voice shaking in terror as he retorts that Belos is lying.
- After growing his hair out to shoulder-length, Hunter hallucinates seeing both Caleb and Belos in the mirror when looking at his own reflection, as he now bears resemblance to both of them. This scares him so badly he falls over backwards in his attempts to get away, and Willow eventually catches him chopping his own hair off in a blind panic.
Trauma Conga Line: "Hollow Mind" is this for him. He spends the episode learning that Belos is a liar who only wishes for power and to hurt the inhabitants of the Boiling Isles and that Hunter himself is just one of many Grimwalkers Belos created to serve him. He's then almost killed by Belos' inner self and upon returning from the mind scape, Hunter promptly has a full-on panic attack and runs into the woods. Afterwards, with nowhere else to go, he hides out at Hexside for several days, terrified that the emperor will be hunting him down and knowing he's just a copy of someone Belos killed.
Troll: When the Golden Guard kidnaps King in a birdcage, he realizes closing the covering puts King to sleep and opening it wakes him again, and proceeds to do so over and over again. Later, while Luz searches for a way to land a ship after blasting him off it, he teleports back on, lies down on the controls, and tells her how to land while waiting for her to notice him.
Troubled Fetal Position: Hunter runs away from the Emperor's Coven after learning about Belos' true intentions and knowing the emperor now wants him dead. Later at Hexside, he escapes a pair of guards looking to return him to Belos and goes into a panic attack, curling in on himself while hyperventilating.
True Companions: With The Emerald Entrails. "Labyrinth Runners" shows that they still hold him in very fond and close regard and several times they go out of their way to protect him: with both Viney and Skara saving him and outright openly vouching for him as a trustworthy person while being very pleased that he’s around and to Willow and Gus pretty much taking him under their wings and explicitly giving Hunter his very first hug ever. By the end of the episode, it’s made clear that they all absolutely trust him without hesitation and it’s that same trust in him that allows Hunter to have the emotional strength to reveal what The Day Of Unity truly is to all of Hexide. Alongside Darius, they are easily the most positive relationship he's ever had.
Trying Not to Cry: The kids are forced to back up King's claims that "Owl House" is an amazing game to trick the Collector into saving everyone. However, as this comes directly after their confrontation with Belos where the emperor tried to manipulate and kill Hunter before being gruesomely splattered against a wall by The Collector, the most enthusiasm the boy can manage is a fake smile and a pitiful squeak with visible tears in his eyes.
Tsurime Eyes: His eyes are quite sharp, which serves to present him as serious and pessimistic. He also lacks the visible eyeliner that Lilith and Amity have, adding to his exhausted-looking appearance. They're drawn more rounded after his Heel–Face Turn.
Tyke Bomb: Belos has been creating Grimwalkers for centuries to serve as his Golden Guard, but always ends up killing them when they betray him. Hunter is the latest Grimwalker and was groomed by Belos via emotional and physical abuse to forever be blindly obedient towards him. However, while this largely works, Hunter starts losing faith once he learns of the atrocities Belos has committed and plans to commit.
Ungrateful Bastard: In "Eclipse Lake".
- He shows contempt for Luz, in spite of their Enemy Mine situation in "Hunting Palismen". Though it could just be him overstating his annoyance at Luz calling him a "bad but sad boy," as well as resentment because Luz told Eda about his secret of being magicless, which he had revealed to her in confidence.
- He convinces Amity to release him so he can escape, only to immediately trip her and try to reach Eclipse Lake first. After that doesn't pan out, he goes to any lengths he can to steal the key from her, even though she tried to help him. Amity even complains that kindness usually works for Luz. He does, however, genuinely thank Amity for handing over the key.
Undying Loyalty: He is extremely loyal to Emperor Belos, to the point that when he believes he's failed a mission, Hunter's first instinct is to start digging his own grave. Darius doesn't think too highly of this behavior, seeing the Golden Guard as a complete pushover, and only starts respecting Hunter when he demonstrates the ability to think for himself. Once he finds out that he's just one of Belos' many Grimwalker minions and his past crimes that got him to the position of Emperor, and knowing that Belos himself knows he's aware of all of this, he freaks out and runs away. He later defects completely as he relays all he knows about the Day of Unity to the students and faculty of Hexside.
Unfortunate Names: It turns out being called Hunter doesn’t have the best connotations in this setting, considering Belos, the one who raised him, is a witch hunter who works with the Collector, AKA the Grand Huntsman, to commit genocide. According to Dana Terrace in a livestream, Belos gave him, and the majority of the other Grimwalkers, the name intentionally as a sick joke.
Unskilled, but Strong: His technique while using Flapjack as a Palisman leaves a lot to be desired, but he's still the Golden Guard for a reason. If he had been at full power, Amity would've had a harder time.
Un-Sorcerer: He's a powerless witch and in fact comes from a line that suffers from this condition. He does his best to keep this fact a secret from everyone else. It turns out he's a Grimwalker rather than a real witch, the implication that he's a copy of a human may have something to do with his lack of magic.
Unwanted Assistance: Downplayed. He's determined to cure Belos of his curse, though Belos is only okay with having Hunter help by bringing him new Palismen to consume, getting physically abusive when Hunter suggests wild magic as a cure. Nevertheless, the Golden Guard decides he will learn about wild magic anyways to save his uncle.
Victory Through Intimidation: How he obtains the portal key. Hunter battles Amity for the key, but upon arriving at a deadlock, he tells her she's strong and he's tired enough that she'll likely beat him and take the key for herself. However, he then changes tactics and threatens to come after both her and Luz with the rest of the Emperor's Coven later if she doesn't hand it over now. The threat is enough to force Amity to surrender the key to him.
Villain Has a Point: He threatens to come after Luz to get the portal key from Amity, explaining that he knows where they live. As underhanded as this is, Hunter is correct in that if they have something the Emperor's Coven wants, winning one fight with one official isn't going to prevent anyone from coming after Amity and Luz later.
Villain Teleportation: Teleportation is a tactic he likes to use to get around. Upgrades into Teleport Spam during his fight with Amity. Surprisingly, he maintains this skill even after performing a Heel–Face Turn, with it remaining a critical part of his fighting style.
Villains Want Mercy: He starts panicking when he's tied up by Amity on the way to Eclipse Lake and hears Kikimora making her way through the tunnels, looking to kill him. He pleads with Amity to either take him with her or release him so he can at least escape. She obliges, but unfortunately, he takes the opportunity to trip her and rush off while Kikimora captures her.
Vocal Evolution: In his debut episode and the beginning of "Hunting Palismen", his voice is deeper and more aggressive, most likely to sound more serious and intimidating. By the end of "Hunting Palismen" and onward, however, his voice is more high-pitched and youthful, especially around people who know him outside of his Golden Guard persona, such as Luz and Belos.
Walking Spoiler: You can't really mention him without revealing what happens to Lilith at the end of season one. It's also really hard to talk about him after "Hollow Mind" without bringing up some serious spoilers, such as Belos' true identity as Philip Wittebane, or the fact that Hunter's species is actually a Grimwalker.
Weaksauce Weakness: Just keeping his staff out of reach renders him completely powerless and even more vulnerable than Luz since he doesn't have the knowledge to draw glyphs.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Or nephew in this case. Hunter does not want to disappoint his uncle Belos, and often fears facing him when he messes up really badly. Plus, Belos is not willing to so much as entertain the idea of studying wild magic, which is what caused his condition. But, Hunter believes that if his study of wild magic leads to a cure, then his uncle will be grateful. Even after learning the truth about Belos' plans, that his supposed uncle never loved him and plans to kill him, Hunter admits there's still a part of him that wants to believe in the lies he was told.
- By "Thanks to Them", he's dropped this completely, immediately trying to hunt him down the second he realizes Belos is alive. Later, Hunter confronts him, telling him everything he wants to do with his life free from his uncle's control, and that he will never let him hurt anyone else ever again. After Belos escapes following Flapjack's death, Hunter tells Luz that all the witch hunter does is trick people and pleads with her to go after him, having lost any care he had left for his former guardian.
Well-Intentioned Extremist:
- It's revealed that he is more of this than Belos is. When forced to ally with Luz, he says that he serves the Emperor because the latter saved his life as a kid, giving him a staff and a purpose. While he has no compunctions initially about kidnapping the Palismen that are sapient, it's because absorbing them is the only way Belos won't succumb to his mysterious curse and Hunter doesn't want his uncle to die. Luz convinces him that he doesn't want their deaths on his conscience, or the fragile trust they built ending in betrayal. Eventually, Hunter decides that he will study wild magic against Belos' orders to save him and protect the Palismen at the same time.
- He tries using this to justify Belos' actions, explaining he had to do some bad things so people would listen to him and only ever wanted to help people. However, Hunter is completely broken upon realizing all of that was a lie, and therefore his own Well-Intentioned Extremist acts were meaningless since he was just aiding a fraud and murderer.
What the Hell, Hero?: He calls Luz out on trying to make him open up to everyone about his status as a Grimwalker when she herself is refusing to tell anyone that she helped Philip. This causes her to back down and they agree to keep each other's secrets.
Luz: I don't know what you three went through but they seem to like you.
Hunter: So I shouldn’t worry about how they'd react, right? If that's the case, have you told them about helping Philip?
Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: Belos has killed off every Grimwalker he's ever made and plans to do the same thing to Hunter after he realizes the truth about the emperor. Belos' justification is that he totally doesn't enjoy killing a facsimile of his brother repeatedly and totally didn't want to murder them, but he had to because they betrayed him.
Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises:
- He undergoes a bit of Sanity Slippage in his desperation to get Titan's blood for the emperor and his eyes get like this as he struggles to get the portal key from Amity.
- His eyes get like this again when he realizes what the Emperor has done to the previous Golden Guards and is about to be killed himself.
What You Are in the Dark: When Flapjack follows Hunter home, Hunter for a moment considers handing it over to Belos, as that would earn him the approval that he so desperately craves. But when he accidentally squeezes Flapjack too hard and it chirps in pain, Hunter immediately lets go, apologises, and pets it gently while softly telling it that it needs to leave for its own safety. After that Hunter never once even entertains the possibility of sacrificing Flapjack, not even in "Eclipse Lake", when he is so desperate to please Belos that he'd rather dig his own grave than return with nothing.
Will They or Won't They?: He gets a lot of Ship Teasing with Willow, but the show never confirms their status as Beta Couple.
Wounded Gazelle Gambit: In "Eclipse Lake", Hunter sounds genuinely terrified when he begs Amity to take him with her to save King and Eda, or if she's not willing to do that, at least untie his hands so he can escape Kikimora. She begrudgingly unties him — at which point he sweeps her legs out from under her and takes off towards Eclipse Lake by himself.
Worf Had the Flu: Hunter isn't at full power in "Eclipse Lake" because he isn't using his advanced Magic Staff (which would've given him away to Kikimora). Later, when using Flapjack, he has a learning curve with how to use a palisman in a fight, finding the magic he can use different from what he's used to. It's also a 1 VS 2 fight, since Amity is being helped by King. All of these factors make it much easier for Amity to fight against him, to the point he's forced to admit he'd likely lose in a straight-up fight; Hunter has to resort to Victory Through Intimidation instead of physically defeating Amity.
Worthy Opponent:
- He and Luz aren't exactly friends at the end of "Hunting Palismen", but he seems to have some respect for her and her viewpoint.
- He acknowledges Amity as strong enough to escape him at the end of "Eclipse Lake", so he threatens Luz to get her to cooperate.
Wrong Context Magic: Like Belos, he can cast magic without drawing circles. Unlike Belos, the Golden Guard is still reliant on his Magic Staff.
You Can't Go Home Again: He learns of Belos' true plans and lies, plus the fact that he's just the latest Grimwalker Belos made to serve as his Golden Guard. Expecting Hunter to betray him as all the other Grimwalkers did, Inner Belos decides to kill him but Hunter is able to escape into reality. However, upon reappearing in the Owl House he realizes he's now considered a traitor and can't return.
Hunter: He knows. H-he knows we were in there! I can't— I can’t go back...!
You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Despite knowing her name, he always condescendingly refers to Luz as 'human'. However, after learning the truth about himself and Belos and nearly being killed by the emperor, Hunter steps in to save her from being beheaded and calls her by her real name. It serves to illustrate his panic and inability to think of himself as above her anymore.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once Hunter discovers the truth about Belos' plan to wipe out everyone in the Boiling Isles and that the emperor only views him as a mere tool, Belos decides to once again kill off his Golden Guard, only lamenting that he'll have to make a new one.
Younger Than They Look: Implied. Grimwalkers typically aren't born as babies, and Belos generally only views them in terms of usefulness, so it's highly doubtful he wasted an entire decade or so raising baby Hunter. While Hunter looks and acts like a sixteen-year-old witch, it's unknown how long ago he was actually 'born.'
Your Days Are Numbered: Implied. In "King's Tide", when the Draining Spell is activated, Hunter sees his brand glowing and looks concerned, silently coming to the realization that he won't make it through the day if the spell isn't stopped. This means even if the emperor wasn't going to harm him prior to then, Hunter never had a chance to begin with.
You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Luz disarms him and fires a few warning shots before threatening Hunter with his staff. However, he merely laughs, correctly deducing that she doesn't have it in her to kill and won’t just escape since she'll be abandoning the Palismen to Kikimora.

Characters / The Owl House - The Golden Guard

This character is a Walking Spoiler. Therefore, all spoilers will be unmarked on this page. You Have Been Warned.

Hunter/The Golden Guard

Voiced by: Zeno Robinson, Matthew Rhys (while possessed by Belos)

Alternative Title(s): The Owl House Hunter

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Characters / The Owl House - The Golden Guard

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This character is a Walking Spoiler. Therefore, all spoilers will be unmarked on this page. You Have Been Warned.

Hunter/The Golden Guard

Voiced by: Zeno Robinson, Matthew Rhys (while possessed by Belos)

Alternative Title(s): The Owl House Hunter

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