Huntsman (Snow White)

The Huntsman is a character in Snow White.

Fairy tale

When the Evil Queen had learned from her Magic Mirror that Snow White will be the fairest of them all, she orders an unnamed Huntsman to take Snow White into the deepest woods to be killed. As proof that Snow White is dead, the Queen demands that he return with her lungs and liver. The Huntsman takes Snow White into the forest. After raising his knife, he finds himself unable to kill her as she sobs heavily and begs him "Oh, dear huntsman, don't kill me! Leave me with my life. I will run into the forest and never come back!" The huntsman leaves her behind alive convinced that the girl would be eaten by some wild animal. He instead brings the Queen the lungs and liver of a young wild boar, which is prepared by the cook and eaten by the Queen.

Modern adaptions

Disney

The Huntsman appears in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs voiced by Stuart Buchanan. In this film, the Huntsman's name is Humbert. The jealous Queen orders Humbert to take Snow White into the forest and kill her. She further demands that the Huntsman return with Snow White's heart in a jeweled box as proof of the deed. However, Humbert cannot bring himself to kill Snow White. He tearfully begs for her forgiveness. After revealing the Queen wants her dead, Humbert urges her to flee into the woods and never come back. When the Evil Queen shows the Magic Mirror the heart in the jeweled box when she claimed that Snow White is dead, the Magic Mirror reveals that the heart in the box is a pig's heart causing the Evil Queen to take matters into her own hands. Humbert does not appear again afterwards in the film.

In the musical adaption, the Huntsman was seen with the Prince when they tell the King of the Evil Queen's plot to dispose of Snow White.

Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics

The Huntsman appears in the "Snow White" episode of Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics voiced by Mike Reynolds in the English dub. He is sent by the Evil Queen to eliminate Snow White. This plan fails when Snow White's friend Klaus buys Snow White enough time to get away. When the Huntsman goes after Snow White, he is attacked by a wild boar and knocked off the cliff into the forest below.

Muppet Snow White

In the four-part comic Muppet Snow White as part of The Muppet Show comics, the Huntsman is played by Sweetums. The Evil Queen (played by Miss Piggy) orders the Huntsman to kill Snow White (played by Spamela Hamderson). The Huntsman is unable to kill Snow White, tells her that the Queen wants her dead, and orders her to flee as far away from the kingdom as she can.

Once Upon a Time

The Huntsman appears in the first season of Once Upon a Time played by Jamie Dornan. The Huntsman is a nameless hunter who is a solitary recluse, raised by wolves. He considers the wolves to be his true family, and is greatly saddened by the deaths of animals. He is considered by the Evil Queen Regina the perfect assassin, and is hired to kill Snow White, though he spares her for selflessness. When he offers the Queen a stag's heart instead, she realizes she has been tricked and tears out the Huntsman's heart, keeping it in her vault and using it to make him her slave.^[1] When Prince Charming is led to his execution, the Huntsman helps him escape. The Prince asks him to assist him, but he states he cannot leave and not to let the sacrifice of his heart be in vain.^[2]

In Storybrooke, he is Sheriff Graham Humbert, the town's handsome and level-headed police officer. In the earlier parts of Storybrooke, Sheriff Graham helps Mayor Regina Mills in preventing Owen and Kurt Flynn from leaving town. When Emma Swan arrives, he is one of the few residents who go against Regina, making her his deputy. He and Emma are attracted to each other, though he has a secret sexual relationship with Regina, which Emma later discovers, feeling betrayed and disgusted. As he experiences flashbacks of his previous life, he seeks advice from Henry Mills, who tells him of his story. After Graham is unable to locate his heart, he ends his relationship with Regina and starts a new relationship with Emma, regaining his lost memories in the process. However, Regina crushes his heart and he dies in Emma's arms, shortly after thanking Emma for helping him remember who he truly was.

The Huntsman film series

Snow White and the Huntsman

The Huntsman appears as a main character in the film Snow White and the Huntsman played by Chris Hemsworth. Eric is a huntsman whose wife, Sara, was seemingly killed while he was fighting in a war. After Snow White escapes into the Dark Forest, Queen Ravenna and her brother Finn makes a bargain with Eric the Huntsman to capture Snow White, promising to bring his wife back to life in exchange. The Huntsman tracks down Snow White, but when Finn reveals that Ravenna does not actually have the power to do what she promised, the Huntsman fights him and his men while Snow White runs away. Throughout the movie, Eric becomes Snow White's ally in the fight against Queen Ravenna. His allegiance slowly becoming both absolute after finding himself being smitten by the same purity in the princess that he loved in his wife and resolute after the revelation of the Queens duplicity being the cause of the death of his wife.

The Huntsman: Winter's War

The Huntsman appears as a main character in the film The Huntsman: Winter's War (which is a prequel to Snow White and the Huntsman). Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as Eric the Huntsman, the film opening with a prequel scene exploring his growth as a Huntsman under the command of Freya, the sister of Ravenna, only to flee from her kingdom after his wife Sara was apparently killed due to Freya's attempts to make her huntsmen reject love (It is never clarified how Sara's death here can be reconciled with Finn claiming that Ravenna was responsible). Later on, after the original film, Eric is called upon to ensure the destruction of Ravenna's mirror, but in the process he is pitted against Freya and reunited with Sara, which reveals that her 'death' was staged by Freya, who used her magic to make Eric see Sara's death while Sara saw Eric apparently leave her behind. Eric is able to convince Sara of the deception, but Freya briefly uses the mirror to resurrect Ravenna, only for Freya to assist her huntmen in killing Ravenna when she learns that her sister was responsible for the death of her baby daughter.

At the end of the film, Ravenna's spirit is revealed to still be alive, in the form of a golden bird.

Ever After High

In Ever After High, the character Hunter Huntsman (voiced by Grant George) is the son of the Huntsman.

References