Alan “Dutch” Schaefer
Posted by Darkness on February 5, 2021 (Updated: 08-Sep-2023)
Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer was a soldier and the leader of a team of commandos. In 1987, the U.S. military and the CIA hired Dutch and his team for a rescue mission in the jungles of South America. He later finds out it was a set-up to get his team to take out the rebels in the area. Dutch’s team encounters a Predator who stalks and kills them all one by one. He survived the ordeal, along with Anna Gonsalves, a member of the guerrillas and disappears after that.
Dutch appears in 1987’s Predator, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzengger was rumoured to reprise his role as Dutch in every Predator and Alien vs Predator film thereafter but it never transpired for one reason or another. Schwarzenegger did, however, lend his voice and his likeness to the 2020 video game Predator: Hunting Grounds.
Biography
Early Life
Dutch was born in April 1948 and he had a brother called John who was a detective in the NYPD. During school, Dutch enjoyed playing football. After leaving college in 1967, he went to boot camp where he met Jim Hopper. Dutch later served in the Vietnam War alongside Al Dillon, fighting battles in Da Nang. At one point, he was captured and tortured by the Viet Cong. After the Vietnam War ended, he went on a dangerous mission in Malaysia in 1979 with Jim Hopper. After that, he went on a mission with Dillon in Thailand.
Dutch left the U.S. Army in 1980 and created his own private military group, recruiting members who had left the U.S. Army too. Dutch had one stipulation and that is his team was a rescue team and wouldn’t agree to a mission if the primary objective was to kill enemies. Dutch had missions in Angola, Cambodia, Lebanon and Afghanistan and recently took on a terrorist siege at the Sudanese Embassy in Berlin, Germany. He turned down a potential mission in Libya as it wasn’t a rescue mission.
1987 Mission to South America
In 1987, Dutch and his squad landed on a beach in Conta Mana, Central America where Dutch met his former commanding officer General Phillips. He had hired Dutch and his team, Poncho, Billy, Mac, Blain, and Hawkins, to rescue a Guatemalan cabinet minister and his aide. They had been kidnapped by guerrillas and taken to a country in South America. Also, there was Dutch’s old friend Al Dillon. Dillon was now working for the CIA and wanted to go along with Dutch. Dutch objected at first, saying his team only worked alone but eventually agreed that Dillon could accompany them. A helicopter transported Dutch and his team into South America and dropped them off in the jungle.
Dutch soon discovers the wreckage of a crashed helicopter that had been carrying the cabinet ministers. Three skinned bodies hanging in the trees were also found which Dutch realised were Green Berets out of Fort Bragg from their dog tags. One of them was Jim Hopper, Dutch’s old comrade. At this point, Dutch was very suspicious of the reasons they were there. The squad pressed on to the guerrilla camp where a number of hostages were being held. Dutch witnessed a Soviet military officer executing a hostage. The team launched their assault on the camp, killing almost everybody including the Soviet officers.
Dutch realised the other hostages were already dead and the team realised the “cabinet ministers” were actually CIA agents. Dutch confronted Dillon who confessed the mission was a set-up so they could retrieve intelligence from the CIA operatives. The Green Berets in the helicopter were part of a failed rescue mission from weeks earlier. Dutch was furious and wanted to get to the extraction point. There was one survivor from the guerrilla camp – a woman called Anna. Dillon ordered Dutch to take her with them much to Dutch’s protests.
Dutch and his squad make their way to the extraction point unaware they are being tracked by an unidentified creature. Anna attempts to escape but is caught by Hawkins. The creature spares Anna but kills Hawkins and drags his body away. Dutch organises a search to find Hawkins’ body. During the search, Blain is killed and Mac and the team open fire into the jungle, injuring the creature. Dutch and his squad regroup and realise something is out there in the jungle stalking them.
They set up camp for the night and put traps all around the camp. A wild pig inadvertently enters the camps setting the traps off. In the mayhem, the team discover Blain’s body has been taken and Dutch realises the enemy is using the trees to get around. The next day, his team set up another trap made from a net and waited until the creature came back. The trap is successful but it doesn’t hold the creature for long. Poncho is injured by a falling tree and the creature escapes. Mac and Dillon pursue it while Dutch and Anna carry Poncho to the extraction point with Billy behind them.
Billy stands off against the creature while Dutch and Anna continue on. The creature attacks them, killing Poncho and wounding Dutch. Anna escapes to the extraction point and Dutch ends up falling into a river and over a waterfall, losing all of his weapons and equipment in the process. The creature pursues him into the river and mud-covered Dutch drags himself into the tree roots. As the mystery creature emerges from the water, he becomes visible, revealing himself to be an alien creature – a “Predator” – with advanced weaponry. Dutch realises the creature’s vision is based on heat and therefore can’t see him covered in mud.
The Predator wanders off while Dutch prepares for battle. He constructs traps and weapons including a bow, spears and grenades. He covers himself in mud again to hide his heat signature and calls out into the jungle to the Predator. The Predator arrives and Dutch manages to damage the creature’s cloak with an explosive arrow. Dutch fell into some water, removing his mud and was caught by the Predator. The Predator removes his mask and Dutch is forced to fight the Predator in melee combat.
Dutch is beaten badly but manages to lure the Predator under a counterweight for another one of his traps. Dutch triggers it and a huge log lands on the Predator fatally injuring him. As Dutch stares at the dying Predator, the creature initiates something on his wrist computer. A countdown begins and Dutch realises an explosion is going to occur. He escapes just in time before the subsequent explosion damages a huge area of the jungle. The extraction helicopter arrives who had picked Anna up earlier and picks up Dutch.
After 1987
Dutch was suffering from radiation sickness. While in hospital, government agent Peter Keyes (leader of OWLF – Other Worldly Life Form) interviewed him and asked him what happened in the jungle. Dutch escaped from the hospital and travelled back to Val Verde, to the location of the explosion. The area was now in lockdown, sealed by American intelligence for study. Dutch began touring the nearby villages, asking about the creature and he learned that Predators have been coming here for decades, maybe centuries. In June 1992, Dutch was on a dock near the Val Verde border when he saw Agent Keyes and two other government agents. Dutch and Keyes shook hands and went to a bar and talked about the Predator and how he chose his victims. Keyes left and Dutch tracked Keyes and his team for the next few weeks but didn’t learn anything new.
Mission to Congo
Around 1996, Dutch joined a private military company in search of a Predator. He eventually created a team himself going on missions around the world. His last mission was an evac op in Congo. A private munitions base had gone dark and when Dutch and his team got there, bodies were strung up on the floodlights around the base. They secured the site and waited for backup. That’s when the Predator struck. Bullets were fired and one of them hit a crate of RPGs causing a string of huge explosions. The Predator was dead but so were all of Dutch’s men. Dutch took samples of its blood and what technology he could find and then he burned everything and disappeared.
Return to Los Angeles
In 1997, Dutch needed to get back to the States and he travelled to Mexico aboard a cargo ship bound for the Port of Altamira, before reaching Tijuana. He saw on the news how Los Angeles was having a record-breaking heatwave as well as gang wars on the streets. He suspected a Predator would be there. Unfortunately, by the time he got there, it was already over. Dutch breached quarantine and was captured by OWLF. Hoping to be bailed out by Keyes, he found out he was dead and OWLF was leaderless. He traded the alien materials he salvaged in the Congo mission for his release. Dutch offered to work for OWLF as a consulting advisor so he could hunt down the Predators.
Over the next ten years, Dutch and OWLF found and killed more Predators, each time bringing in more technology and more research. Each time, the Predators sent even better hunters. The last Predator they encountered in 2008 was in Laos when they found a female Predator, smarter and deadlier than ones seen prior to it. She wiped out Dutch’s entire team. Dutch encountered her in a nearby village when she pinned him with a razor net. Instead of killing Dutch, she cloaked and disappeared into the jungle.
Stargazer
In 2018, another organisation joined the hunt for the Predators – Stargazer. They took OWLF’s funding and got it shut down. Dutch said they lacked clear leadership and were arrogant. Dutch knew Stargazer had recovered a Predator pod in Mexico and even captured a live Predator. After the Predator escaped, the government cut ties with the agency. Stargazer still pressed on, giving contracts to guerrilla factions and private military companies to set up bases in locations where a Predator might appear. Dutch believed that Stargazer was going to soon become a dealer of alien weaponry.
Endgame
Sometime before 2025, Dutch had an encounter with a female Predator which left him critically wounded. Dutch agreed to experimentation, to use the Predator technology on himself. The cells in his body stopped ageing. At 78 years old, he felt like he was in his 40’s. OWLF had been reinstated and Sean Keyes, son of Peter Keyes, had been saved from Stargazer and was now part of OWLF. Due to climate change, countries became warmer and warmer, creating more hunting grounds for the Predators. Over the years, Dutch hunted many Predators but they kept sending more and more. Dutch has no choice but to continue fighting them.
In Other Media
Predator Hunting Grounds (2020)
Arnold Schwarzenegger reprised his role as Dutch for the 2020 video game Predator Hunting Grounds. Developer Ilfonic released a downloadable content pack in May 2020 for the video game Predator: Hunting Grounds. This allowed users to play as an aged, battle-scarred Dutch. Dutch Tapes were also added in patch 1.08 which featured Dutch mission logs from his time after the 1987 incident. Ilfonic released another DLC pack in September 2020 where you could play as a 1987 Dutch, complete with a voiceover from Schwarzenegger.
Predator: Stalking Shadows (2020)
Dutch makes his proper reappearance in the 2020 Predator novel Stalking Shadows. The story follows what was in the Dutch Tapes in Predator: Hunting Grounds where Dutch is travelling around the world hunting Predators. Scott Devlin is the central character who ends up working with Dutch going on operations to find the Predators.
Predators: The Movie Adaptation (2010)
In the comic book adaptation of the film Predators, there’s a flashback scene when Isabelle recounts the story of Dutch fighting a Predator in South America.
Predator: South China Sea (2008)
In the 2008 Predator novel Predator: China Sea, a character called Onyx is supposed to be Dutch. It’s never revealed to be Dutch but it’s strongly implied that it is.
Personality and Traits
Dutch was a strong and resourceful leader and was well-respected within his team. He had a lot of military experience, having served in the U.S. Army before forming his private group. He tried to adhere to a strict code of conduct, only taking on rescue missions and made it clear his men were not expendable. Dutch was physically strong, being able to lift huge weights. As we saw in the final fight with the Jungle Hunter, he was able to improvise traps after he lost his weapons and equipment. Despite being physically strong, he was no match for the Predator in unarmed combat.
After the 1987 mission, Dutch was a changed man, obsessing over the Predators and trying to learn more about them. He created a new team under his command who he said were expendable in his quest to find more Predators. He allowed his team to believe he was a legend if it meant he could further his desire to hunt Predators. Working with OWLF, Dutch hunted and killed many Predators and even in his 70s, he was still an efficient killer.
Behind-The-Scenes
Producers Joel Silver and Lawrence Gordon approached Arnold Schwarzenegger with the lead role. Arnold had previously done 1985’s Commando which Silver had produced. Filming of Predator was delayed by several months because Arnold had other things going on. Filming began in March 1986. On April 25, filming was suspended so that Schwarzenegger could get to his wedding on time. He flew to Hyannis Port in a Learjet chartered by Joel Silver. Schwarzenegger was married on April 26, 1986, to Maria Shriver, and his honeymoon lasted for three days before filming resumed on May 12.
Filming ended in late June 1986. Schwarzenegger said that filming was physically demanding and he had shipped gym equipment to Mexico and trained intensively every day before shooting. He lost over 25 pounds over the course of filming. Arnold had to swim in very cold water and spent three weeks covered in mud for the final battle with the Predator.
Future Sequels
Following on from 1987’s Predator, Arnold Schwarzenegger has been rumoured to reprise his role as Dutch in every Predator and Alien vs Predator film thereafter but it never happened.
Predator 2
For 1990’s Predator 2, Dutch was in an early version of the script and Schwarzenegger was close to signing up. There is conflicting reports as to why he rejected Predator 2. Initially, it seemed Arnold just didn’t like the story and he thought setting it in a city was a bad idea. Producer John Davis previously said in 2011 it was down to pay and the deal fell through over $250,000. AvPGalaxy spoke to Predator 2 director Stephen Hopkins in January 2021 and he told us that it was really because James Cameron said that if Arnold did Predator 2, he wouldn’t be allowed to do Terminator 2 which was released the following year. Had Arnold returned in Predator 2, he was going to use the government and the police to get to the creature and eventually team up with Harrigan to take down the Predator.
Predator 3 Scripts
After Predator 2, there were a few scripts for Predator 3 moving around Hollywood. The first, written by Sam Park, is called Predator 3: The Deadlier of the Species and features Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character, Dutch, in New York during a blizzard. A Predator comes to New York and tracks down Dutch to try and kill him. The Predators script from Robert Rodriguez is set a game preserve where Dutch has been taken. Rodriguez’s script formed the basis of 2010’s Predators and Rodriguez did end up producing that film. The third and final script that we know about is called The Zoo which brings back both Dutch from Predator and Harrigan from Predator 2 and they are captured and brought back to the Predator homeworld because they were the only two people to have ever killed a Predator.
Other Films
For 2004’s Alien vs Predator, Dutch was going to appear in the final scenes and picks up Lex in a helicopter at the end. Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed to do it but it was only on condition he didn’t win the 2003 California Governor election and that his scenes would be filmed in his backyard. He won the California election and therefore didn’t do the cameo appearance.
For 2010’s Predators, Dutch was going to appear at the end. After Royce and Isabelle are stranded on the planet, a Predator ship appears and a dozen Predators appear. Their leader steps forward and removes his mask. It turns out to be Dutch who says to Royce “Not bad, kid. Not bad at all”. The filmmakers really pushed for Arnold Schwarzenegger to do the cameo but it was just bad timing as it was towards the end of his California governorship.
When 2018’s The Predator was in production, rumours circulated that Dutch may make a cameo appearance. Arnold Schwarzenegger openly turned the movie down saying he didn’t like the script and his part in it was going to be very minimal. His scene was going to be at the very end when Casey, McKenna and Rory are resting after battling the Upgrade Predator. A helicopter lands and Dutch exits. He tells them to come with him. Rory asks if he should come to and Dutch replies “Especially you.”
Merchandise
Hot Toys released a 1/6 Scale Dutch figure in 2009. NECA released five Dutch figures based on the likeness of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Each with a different style and accessories. Jungle Extract and Jungle Patrol were released as part of Predator Series 8 in 2013. Predator Series 9 featured Encounter and Disguise Dutch. Predator Series 11 in 2014 featured a thermal version of Dutch. The Jungle Patrol Dutch was also released in 1/4 Scale. In 2018, NECA released Dutch & Linn figures based on the 1994 AvP video game.
Trivia
- Dutch’s full name is never spoken on screen. His full name is in the script. His surname “Schaefer” is given in the Predator’s novelization while his first name “Alan” is given in the Predator 2 novelization.
- A character called Dutch Schaefer appears in the 1994 arcade game Aliens vs Predator. He has a mechanical arm and is a cyborg – a likely reference to Terminator.
- A real-life spider species is named after Dutch – Predatoroonops dutch – because the creature has similar mandibles to a Predator. Many of the species of Predatoroonops are named after characters from the film.
- Agent Peter Keyes refers to Dutch as having an “Olympian physique” in the Predator 2 novelization – a reference to Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Olympia competition which he won numerous times.
- The country that Dutch and his squad go to is called Val Verde which is a fictional place in Joel Silver films where they need a country in Central/South America to avoid any political problems. Dutch mentions Val Verde in his tapes for Predator Hunting Grounds. However, Isabelle in Predators as well as the Predator novelization refers to the country as Guatemala.
- The 1989 comic book series Predator: Concrete Jungle and its sequels Predator: Cold War and Predator: Dar River was originally supposed to feature Dutch but instead was changed to his brother John Schaefer.
- Predator is the third film in which Arnold Schwarzenegger wears a Seiko model H558-5009 diver’s watch. Since nicknamed “The Arnold”, it is highly sought-after by collectors and regularly trades for values in excess of its original retail cost.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger lost over 25 pounds during filming in order to better fit the role of a special warfare operative, who would be lean as well as muscular.
- The weapons that Dutch has are an AR-15/SP1 Assault Rifle with an M203 Launcher, a Desert Eagle, M67 hand grenades and Satchel Charges.
- During filming Predator, many of the cast including Arnold got sick after drinking unfiltered water in the hotel.
- Jesse Ventura found out from the wardrobe department that his arms were 1″ bigger than Arnold Schwarzenegger’s. He suggested to Schwarzenegger that they measure arms, with the winner getting a bottle of champagne. It turned out that Arnold’s were 3 inches bigger. Ventura lost because Schwarzenegger had told the wardrobe department to tell Ventura that his arms were bigger.