Brad Hunter (Ballad in the Japanese version) is a fictional character from Zoids: New Century. He is one of the main characters.

Brad Hunter
Brad Hunter
Appearances	Zoids: New Century
Debut	Zoids: New Century Episode 1
Affiliation	Blitz Team
Age	17
Primary Zoids	Command Wolf LC/AC (former) Shadow Fox (current)
Japanese Name	バラッド・ハンター (Ballad Hunter)
Voice Actors	Masaya Matsukaze (Japanese) Samuel Vincent (English)

Contents 1 Overview 2 Manga 3 Personality 4 Appearance 5 Ability as a Zoid Pilot 6 Relationships 7 Zoids Legacy Database Entry 8 Trivia

OverviewEdit

Brad Hunter is a mercenary who works for the Blitz Team. He made his debut fighting alongside Leon and Leena Toros against the Tigers Team. Brad began the series piloting a blue Command Wolf LC, but later upgraded to a Command Wolf AC. He initially doubted Bit Cloud's skill upon Bit's joining their team, but later came to befriend him.

After the destruction of his Command Wolf in episode 20, Brad would pilot the Backdraft Group's Shadow Fox for the remainder of the series, helping to hold off the Berserk Fury while Bit rearmed his Liger during the Royal Cup.

MangaEdit

Brad features in the New Century manga. He plays a similar role as the anime, although no mention is made of him being a mercenary. There are also many omissions in the manga, for example, despite being shown on the fourth page, Brad's name isn't mentioned until chapter 3. He initially pilots a Command Wolf, but the Shadow Fox is shown briefly (it is never used in combat). Brad proves instrumental in defeating Pierce and Raid's Storm Sworders in chapter 3, where he uses flares to impede their vision.

PersonalityEdit

Brad has a rather laid-back attitude, often seen lying around or leaning against the wall when nothing is happening, but shows determination in battle. He has good friendships with Leon, Leena, Dr. Toros and Jamie, and while he initially dismissed Bit as an amateur, he soon became friends with him as well. Due to his mercenary nature, in some situations he will only do something if he's paid (an example being in Episode 4, where he only partook in the battle against the Backdraft Group to save Leena after Steve Toros promised him Bit's pay cheque from the next battle).

Brad and Naomi Fluegel develop feelings for each other early in the series, and these feelings carry on throughout the entire series.

AppearanceEdit

Brad Hunter is often seen wearing a long, sleeveless blue outfit with a turn-up collar. He wore brown gloves, black pants and long black boots with this outfit. When Brad is not in a battle, his leisure outfit consists of a greyish-blue vest over a blue singlet and tan pants. He has long, brown spiky hair and blue eyes that match his clothes. He also seems to have gold bands tattooed around his biceps.

Ability as a Zoid PilotEdit

Brad performs well in short-to-mid-range combat. His Command Wolf at the beginning mounted an LC cannon, but he later had it upgraded to use the heavy long-range cannons of the Command Wolf AC to deal more damage with firepower. Upon stealing the Shadow Fox, he began improving significantly in terms of close combat, to the point that he was able to match with Bit Cloud's Liger Zero Jager in a Strike Laser Claw duel.

Brad's skills are often masked behind his demeanour, he doesn't strike a brilliant performance during the pilot rankings trials. However, he is shown to be a more than capable Shadow Fox pilot, something that none of the Backdraft pilots working with Laon had been able to achieve.

In battle, he has a tendency to sustain heavy damage and yet remain undefeated. Strangely, this has worked to his favour and allowed him to perform extremely effective surprise attacks in many battles.

RelationshipsEdit

Brad has the following relationships with these people:

Bit: While he was initially skeptical of the idea of a junk dealer joining his team, Brad eventually became friends and comrades with Bit Cloud. Brad often interjects into Bit's business, usually being drawn in with the incentive of prize money, and disregarding Bit's personal situations.

Leena: Brad's stingy personality sometimes clashes with Leena's. Such as focusing on ammo conservation or personal points in battle.

Leon: Before he left the team, Leon appeared to have a good friendship with Brad.

Dr. Toros: Brad often reminds the Doc to remember his pay, but all in all continues to respect him as the team's manager.

Jamie: Brad is good friends with Jamie, although he does not always follow his strategies in battle, sometimes preferring to work on his own tactics.

Naomi: When they first fought, Naomi took out his Zoid easily, causing Brad to get frustrated, but they began to develop feelings after Brad saved her from the Sand Stingray gang.

Zoids Legacy Database EntryEdit

The following text pertains to information sourced from the game Zoids Legacy. This game used a translation format that differs from the one used by the Zoids Wiki. It also contains grammatical and typographical errors. As such, any quoted content that appears to be incorrect should be cross-referenced with the game before being edited.

"B. Hunter. A freelance warrior. Pretends to be a stingy man, but his heart is pure and gentle. Employed by the Blitz Team."

TriviaEdit

• Brad's last name was never revealed in the anime, but supporting materials, such as Zoids Legacy and his New Century DVD profile, have listed it as Hunter.
• Brad doesn't like carrots. He says in the episode, "The Dragon Under the Sea: In Search of the Ultimate X" that they are "rabbit food".
• In Zoids: Battle Legends, his name is listed as "Ballad Hunter".
• Brad's HMM Command Wolf box lists his name as "Barad".