12 Best Monster Hunters

If there’s something strange, in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? Your local monster hunter of course! There are so many fun characters throughout fiction of people who professionally hunt monsters, and I wanted to celebrate them, because they’re fun. Also, because the second season of The Witcher just finished filming, and I am excited. Interestingly, at least five of the hunters on this list hunt vampires, with three of them being primarily vampire hunters over other monsters.

Geralt of Rivia

Of course, the first one on my list is going to be The Witcher himself. Geralt is the ultimate monster hunter, having no greater vendetta or ultimate purpose, but instead hunting monsters because it’s literally just his job. He has an ultimate knowledge of the monsters in the world, is equipped with different types of swords and potions for the job, and *claims* to stay out of human drama. Go read/play/watch The Witcher and enjoy!

Abraham Van Helsing

The man who hunted down Dracula, Van Helsing is the oldest character on this list, and can be given credit to popularizing the monster hunter character. Where some of these characters are hunters of all kinds of monsters, Van Helsing really had a specific fascination with Dracula himself, and focused his efforts on defeating the ultimate vampire.

Special note for Rudolph Van Richten, the Van Helsing type character in the Dungeons & Dragons adventure Curse of Strahd, or whatever Ravenloft adventure is your favorite.

Hellboy

Summoned by Nazis in World War II, and adopted by an American scientist, Hellboy is a demonspawn who is particularly good at fighting monsters, while looking like the most dangerous monster himself. This popular comic book character has spawned three movies, of wildly different quality. Between the beautifully unique art style of Mike Mignola, and the fun dark storytelling, Hellboy is a fun monster hunter.

The Winchester Bros.

Two brothers travel the country, killing monsters, saving people, getting drunk and laid, while driving a 1967 Chevrolet Impala and listening to ’80s rock. The show finally came to it’s conclusion last year, after 15 seasons. While the show drifted from it’s vampires and ghosts roots, and became a bit more angels and demons, it’s still a great show that is easy to watch, and has a huge fanbase.

Link

That’s right, Link from The Legend of Zelda is totally a monster hunter. He travels Hyrule fighting bokoblins, lizalfos, centaurs, giant moths, robotic guardians, and more. While his ultimate goal is (usually) to stop Ganon from doing whatever it is he does, Link takes out a lot of monsters along the way.

Newt Scamander

While maybe not a hunter in the traditional sense, Newt is the wholesome version of the monster hunter trope, as he wants monsters to live free, just away from people. Most of the creatures in his case are ones he wants to return to their homeland, and some are safer and happier under his protection. He’s just a magizoologist after all.

Mystery Inc

The most family friendly on this list, Scooby Doo and his friends aren’t truly monster hunters, because almost none of the monsters end up being real in the end. However, they do go town-to-town, finding vampires, mummies, ghosts, and more, and trap them so they can no longer terrorize the local populace.

John Constantine

This DC Comics hero uses his occult magic to fight angels, demons, zombies, vampires, elementals, ghosts, and more. He usually rocks it himself, but he has been known to join different teams, such as Justice League Dark, or the Legends of Tomorrow. He’s a cool British dude, who smokes, wears trench coats, and is fun to watch work.

The Mandalorian

While his main job is hunting down criminals, Din Djarin has also had to hunt down and kill monsters, such as the Mudhorn, which is now on his shoulder pad, the Krait Dragon, working with the Tuskens, and even big ice spiders with that frog lady. Most of the show is more about him working with Baby Yoda-Grogu, but we get a few glimpses of his monster hunting ability, and he is incredibly talented.

Buffy Summers

Buffy, the vampire slayer, is merely a teenage girl of the ’90s, who wished to have a normal life, but realized that her job as Slayer is too important, and accepts her destiny to save the world from monsters and other dark forces. Buffy, like a few other members of this list, was magically enhanced along with her advanced training. Interestingly, a Slayer is a job that is passed down, with a female randomly chosen every generation. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.

Blade

This Marvel character (who will soon be a member of the MCU) has all of the strengths of a vampire, and none of the weaknesses, and uses this unique opportunity to be a vampire hunter. While he usually works alone, he has been known to team up with the great-granddaughter of Van Helsing, Dracula himself, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Doctor Doom, and more. The first Blade movie from 1998 had Wesley Snipes as the titular character, but now Disney+ is working on their own series, with Mahershala Ali playing the demi-vampire vampire hunter.

Ash Williams

The Evil Dead, the first in this series featuring Ash Williams, was a more straightforward supernatural horror movie, set in a cabin in the woods, where most of the main characters die from demonic possession. However, the sequel was a parody itself of the original, even though it was directed and starred the same people. Where Ash was the only survivor of the first film, he becomes the main character of this bizarre series of films and show, having a chainsaw for an arm in the second film. The series becomes more comedy horror, with the show lasting three seasons.

Who is your favorite monster hunter? Let us know in the comments below!