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Hunter Gathers
The Venture Bros. character
Frameless
First appearance

Assassinanny 911
Voiced by

Christopher McCulloch
Information
Aliases Agent Kelley Clarkson
Colonel Gathers
General Gathers
Occupation Head of OSI
Secret Agent (Former)
Current
Alliances

Office of Secret Intelligence
Prior
Alliances

S.P.H.I.N.X.
The Black Hearts
Enemies

Guild of Calamitous Intent
Phantom Limb
The Sovereign (deceased)

Hunter Gathers is the commanding officer and leader of the Office of Secret Intelligence, and is a reoccurring character on The Venture Bros.

Abilities & Personality

Hunter is the definition of the aggressive, gruff, and firm military type. He was a very harsh but effective teacher, as his methods led to the former rookie agent Brock becoming the effective and professional agent he is today. Hunter had a rule that he enlisted to the then-newcomer Brock which was "No women, no children. It's what separates us from the baddies. He later went rogue and had a sex reassignment surgery in order to infiltrate Molotov Cocktease's Black Hearts mercenary group, then had his operation reversed and became the leader of the revived organization S.P.H.I.N.X. Later on, Colonel Gathers returned to the O.S.I., where he was given full control by Timothy Treister and promoted to the rank of General. Whenever Hunter went undercover he had a tendency to always disguise himself as a woman, foreshadowing his transition. Despite his sex reassignment surgery being part of his plan to infiltrate the Black Hearts, and despite its later reversal, Gathers is very vocal about still missing his "beautiful breasts" from his time as a woman. Despite this, he maintains his masculine identity following his reinstatement would never show that feminine side again for the rest of the series.

History

Hunter's early history before the O.S.I. is unknown, but he has been a member of the O.S.I. for most of his adult life. Twenty-seven years ago, Hunter was approached by Brock Samson. Believing Brock to be an enemy, Hunter immediately attacked the young rookie agent by stabbing him in the hand when the latter told him he was a rookie who wanted training. Hunter proceeded to give Brock training and as the years went by his training paid off, with Brock becoming his partner in many missions.

In The Invisible Hand of Fate, Hunter and Brock ran a secret operation at State University to uncover and expose The Guild of Calamitous Intent. As part of the operation, Hunter went undercover disguised as a female cheerleader named Kelly Clarkson, and recruited Billy Quizboy to infiltrate Phantom Limb's (then known as Professor Fantomas) class. When Billy started to have second thoughts and wanted to quit the mission, Brock and Hunter attempt to physically force Billy to cooperate, but Billy managed to escape. The mission was considered a major failure by the OSI, and Hunter was reassigned to Guam and separated from Brock by Sergeant Hatred (then known as Sergeant Haine).

Sometime after that incident, Hunter went rogue and left the O.S.I. with forty million dollars and kidnapped a plastic surgeon from an unknown enemy. His actions led to the O.S.I. putting their resources into eliminating him. After leaving the O.S.I., he underwent sexual reassignment surgery and used her new operation to avoid being killed by other O.S.I. agents--specifically Brock Samson. Brock was able to locate her, but couldn't bring himself to carry out the act as Gathers had taught him everything he knew, serving as a surrogate father to him, and left her in peace.

Hunter later became a stripper and gave Brock information on Operation Rusty's Blanket. When Brock Samson was hunted down for failing to kill Dr. Venture and believed that the O.S.I. wanted him dead for disobeying orders, he turned to Gathers for help. Gathers gave Brock a car and a list of ex-O.S.I. agents that could help while he was on the lam. It was later revealed that Gathers and Molotov Cocktease misled Brock into killing mercenaries that Brock believed were sent after him by the O.S.I., clearing the way for Gathers and Molotov to form an all-female assassin group called The Black Hearts without any competition.

Gathers was later seen in the offices of The Black Hearts' organization discussing matters with a solo Brock Samson and an agent of S.P.H.I.N.X. separately trying to eavesdrop on the conversation, when the ceiling collapsed and they fell on Molotov. Gathers was quickly confronted by Brock, whom she was reluctant to shoot, but Molotov was more than willing. Brock and Gathers were later shown tied up in a dark room where Brock complains about his situation while Gathers is calm about the incident. Brock slowly realized that Hunter's defection from the O.S.I. was just a ruse for her to infiltrate Molotov's organization. When Brock told Hunter that he finally got everything, the lights turned on, and Gathers now in a S.P.H.I.N.X. uniform, grabbed his re-attached penis through his shorts. Hunter's actual plan was to revive the old organization of S.P.H.I.N.X. with the sole purpose of fighting villainy, without being burdened by the bureaucratic red tape that he felt had bogged down the present-day O.S.I.

In Operation P.R.O.M., Gathers and his men went through many events dealing with the villain Monstroso as well being captured by the O.S.I., all of which lead to a confrontation with General Treister. After Treister suffered a heart attack, he revealed to Gathers that he is "a Hulk", citing as evidence his exposure to gamma rays from his cancer therapy sessions and his weekly destruction of his own office, concluding (to Gathers' horror) that he is dying of prostate cancer. Once outside the office Gathers was informed by Cardholder and Doe that they were responsible for destroying the office as well as convincing Treister he was a Hulk due to his blind rants on a frequent basis. Gathers initially acknowledged that he misjudged the two, until they revealed that the board of the O.S.I. was going to hand power over to them--which caused Hunter to realize they were Guild moles. Before he could take action, he and Sky Pilot were captured. Taken to the secret bridge of the O.S.I. base, Hunter was met by Treister flying the headquarters before handing it to Hunter, who attempted to explain the situation to him. Treister, reveals he was already aware of the agents' treachery, having implanted a mole in S.P.H.I.N.X. who turned out to be Sky Pilot, as well as planting a decoy Monstroso to capture the two when they try to eliminate the fake. Treister then admitted his cancer was not curable, and because of that he was no longer fit to run O.S.I. Treister announced his retirement and handed full control of the O.S.I. to Gathers.

In What Color is Your Cleansuit?, Henchman 21 finds himself in S.P.H.I.N.X.'s headquarters to find himself surrounded by armed O.S.I. agents led by Gathers. With full control of the O.S.I. , Gathers and all of his S.P.H.I.N.X. agents return to the O.S.I., with the remaining S.P.H.I.N.X. technology and headquarters left to Henchman 21 because the rent was already prepaid for the remainder of the year.

In S.P.H.I.N.X. Rising, Henchman 21 inadvertently interfered in O.S.I. business, first while trying to investigate the criminal group Long Division and then by accidentally recruiting former S.P.H.I.N.X. agents to his new organization. Gathers consequently had what remained of S.P.H.I.N.X. destroyed.

During O.S.I. Love You, Gathers had his men track down Monstroso and Molotov Cocktease, proceeding to capture them both and bring them in to the O.S.I. Hover-Quarters for questioning. During Monstroso's interrogation, the O.S.I. learned of the Council of 13 for the first time. Molotov Cocktease escapes and attacks OSI agents. Gathers sent his men to capture her, placing the Venture family in a stable room to keep them safe and prevent them from interfering. When Brock ultimately defeated Molotov and prepared to throw her into one of the ship engines, Gathers stopped him by revealing that the agents Molotov killed were double agents he had assigned Molotov to eliminate. He further explained that as a mercenary Molotov would work for anyone and would be loyal to the O.S.I. as long as they paid well.

After the Molotov incident, Gathers and the agents were interviewed by three Mister O.S.I. agents as part of an internal affairs investigation and warned that they will be monitored for further incidents. Upon the agents' departure, Gathers officially classified Molotov as dead and responded that he had "no idea" about Monstroso's whereabouts when asked by Brock. Two of the same O.S.I. Misters then walked in, prompting Gathers to ask why they came back. Quickly realizing that they were the real board members, Gathers dashed into the hallway after the imposters. The imposters were revealed to be The Investors, who were behind Monstroso's disappearance and had returned for information. The Investors left the hovership by phasing through the floor and leaving only their hats behind, which Gathers found on the floor when he turned the corner.

In All This and Gargantua-2, Gathers and his men had learned of the The Sovereign killing off the Council. The O.S.I. had just recently learned that The Guild of Calamitous Intent was run by a thirteen member council and were in the process of identifying and tracking down council members when several of those identified were reported dead while several other members went missing. Gathers was then contacted by Brock, who tried to inform him of The Investors but their connection was cut. Gathers was later visited by the missing Council members who agreed to reveal the location of The Sovereign in exchange for pardons. The O.S.I. located the Sovereign's secret hideout, though he was slain entirely by an accidental misfire by Headshot.

In Red Means Stop, the Council of 13 contacted Hunter Gathers and O.S.I. for help catching the new Blue Morpho, whom was conducting unsanctioned murders of Guild villains. The O.S.I. and the Guild engaged a stake-out attempt at VenTech Tower with Red Death as bait. Hunter Gathers was disguised as Dr. Venture. The infiltrators played a game of volleyball in the pool afterwards.

In The Inamorata Consequence, Hunter Gathers and other O.S.I. representatives met with the Guild at the Treaty of Tolerance Summit II to resign the old treaty binding both parties to the terms of organized aggression. Treaty negotiations broke down into petty bickering, as it was Dr. Thaddeus Venture of all people that shamed the arguers and gets the discussion back on track. Ultimately, the treaty is resigned. In addition, Hunter Gathers learned from new O.S.I. recruit Dermott Fictel that Agent Kimberly McManus had a secret love affair with Guild Stranger S-464. Gathers praised Fictel and told him he'll go far in the O.S.I. if he keeps this up. However, Gathers failed to realize the significance of the "peepee belt" of S-464, as he mistook it as literal urine instead of the P.P. symbolizing the Peril Partnership.

In the Unicorn in Captivity, Gathers has setup an OSI office inside VenTech Tower to monitor and spy on Dr. Venture, and recognizes that his invention of the teleporters is a "game changer" and therefore a threat to the economy. Hunter and Brock Sampson attempts to get Venture to surrender the teleporters to the OSI, but Venture refuses. They resort to employing a highly realistic virtual reality simulation on Rusty to fool him into believing that there is an Illuminati that he can join if he gave up the teleporters. While the tactic worked, the teleporters were stolen anyway by The Guild.

In The Terminus Mandate, Gathers was contacted by his old enemy, Phantom Limb, for a final arching before Phantom Limb retires from active, individual villainy in order to retain his seat on the Guild Council. Gathers jokingly suggested they resolve things with a literal penis-measuring competition, though Limb took him up on it. Limb later claimed victory at the following Council meeting and said he surpassed Gathers by a full inch, though Limb's word should not be taken as gospel since he still claims to be the victor of the Battle of Cremation Creek.

In Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart, Gathers allows and assists Brock and Dean Venture in trying to find Hank who is still missing. After Mantilla's attack on an OSI lab, he calls off the search to focus on the investigation. When the VenTech tower begins to plummet back to Earth, Gathers concerned about the damage to the Earth the impact of the building would cause, orders the hovership to destroy the building. Upon seeing the Ventronic pulling the building and slowing it's descent, Gathers rescinds the destroy order and instead, assists the Ventronic robot in safely lowering the building back to Earth over the Venture Compound.

Relationships With Other Characters

Brock Samson

Hunter was Brock's first contact at the O.S.I. and his training was largely responsible for turning Brock into the professional and efficient field agent he is today. Having been raised by a single mother, Brock saw Hunter as the closest thing to a father he had in his life. Brock was shown taking Hunter's teachings to heart and followed the one most important rule Hunter taught him, which was "No women, no children. It's what separates us from the baddies." Indeed it was this rule that saved his/her life when Brock was assigned to kill Gathers: he was shown to be conflicted at the thought of killing the person who taught him everything he knew, and consequently spared Gathers.

Despite his harsh teaching and frequently insults, deep down Hunter regards Brock with a father-like sense of pride and adoration, considering him the best of the best.

Shore Leave

In the past, Shore Leave taunted Hunter and Brock about their shared belief of The Guild of Calamitous Intent's existence and found no evidence whenever they went undercover to find information to support their theory. In return, Hunter was shown annoyed with Shore leave's taunts and arrogance.

Despite their rocky past, Hunter had enough faith to allow Shore Leave to join the newly revived organization of S.P.H.I.N.X. and they are shown to get along. Now that Gathers has command of the O.S.I., he has brought Shore Leave back to the agency with him.

Phantom Limb

Phantom Limb and Hunter Gathers are apparently old enemies, and this animosity seems to go beyond the professional into the personal, as demonstrated with Phantom Limb's final arching with Gathers in The Terminus Mandate as a literal penis-measuring competition. This enmity may contribute to breakdowns on the rare occasions the Guild and O.S.I. have cooperated on joint missions. Still, Phantom Limb's rivalry with Gathers does not seem to be entirely hateful, as Phantom Limb had Gathers' phone number on hand to negotiate their final arching and discussed the reasons behind his final arching in a semi-friendly manner with Gathers.

Timothy Treister

Despite his rocky history with the O.S.I. which lead him to revive S.P.H.I.N.X., Hunter still still held a deep respect and reverence for his former commanding officer, and appeared genuinely worried when his health appeared to be in jeopardy. When Treister handed over control of the O.S.I. to him, Hunter appeared both humbled and uneasy, feeling he wasn't worthy to take command, a sentiment Treister loudly disputed, showing a mutual respect.

Episode Appearances

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Movie

Christmas Songs

Trivia

  • Hunter is modeled after famed political journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson in both appearance and mannerisms, including never being seen without wearing sunglasses and smoking using an extended cigarette filter. He also has multiple aspects of Marvel super spy Nick Fury, leader of S.H.I.E.L.D., being a highly trained spy who leads an entire espionage organization.
  • He is a collector of antique pipes.
  • Hunter is never seen wearing long pants, always managing to work shorts into whatever uniform he is wearing at the time. This may be an indication of his deeper effeminate tendencies, though it is never commented on.
  • During his brief transition into a female, Hunter still sported a gruff masculine voice and maintained a 5 'o clock shadow.
  • His drink of choice is Gin served neat.

Gallery

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