Eddie Hunter, better known by the nickname of Skate, in Japan known as Sammy Hunter, is Adam Hunter's younger brother and a major recurring character in Streets of Rage series.
Skate is a young teenage boy wearing a backwards baseball cap, fingerless red gloves, shorts, a yellow vest and a pair of red roller skates from where he gets his nickname. In Streets of Rage 3 he wears a black t-shirt underneath his vest.
History[]
Past[]
Eddie "Skate" Hunter was living with his older brother, Adam Hunter, in their apartment in Wood Oak City. A year after Adam had defeated Mr. X with his co-workers, he had agreed to meet back up with Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding to celebrate.
Streets of Rage 2[]
When Skate returned from school on that day, he found that their apartment had been broken into and Adam was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a photo was put on the front door, depicting Adam in chains at the feet of Mr. X. Skate contacted Axel and Blaze immedietly, and together with Axel's old friend, Max Thunder, the four set out to rescue Adam and take down the Syndicate once again.
After a hard fought battle they manage to fight their way to Mr. X, defeat him and rescue Adam before he comes to harm. Skate hugs his brother tight upon his rescue and the five heroes watch the sun rise over the now peaceful city.
Streets of Rage 3[]
Not long afterwards Adam recieves a phone call from Blaze regarding an investigation putting Wood Oak City in grave danger. Adam, not able to join his old friends due to his own obligations to the police force, sends Skate in his place. Skate teams up with Axel and Blaze once again, and together with Dr. Gilbert Zan, a man who knows more about the Syndicate than any other, they set out to stop Mr. X from destroying the city. Skate is suspicious of Zan at first, believing he is leading them all into a trap, but eventually comes to trust him as they finally defeat Mr. X once and for all.
Mr. X, now just a brain in a jar, psychically activates a detonation sequence, attempting to blow Skate, Axel, Blaze and Zan up alongside himself, but luckily Adam arrives in the nick of time and saves them with a helicopter.
Legacy[]
Ten years pass before the events of Streets of Rage 4. Skate is not mentioned in the game, and his role as the speedy fighter is taken over by his niece, Cherry Hunter. He is playable in his Streets of Rage 2 and Streets of Rage 3 designs however.
Trivia[]
Skate's absence from Streets of Rage 4's story was an intentional choice by the developers. As Skate was the youngest character he would have changed the most in the past ten years. As a result he'd have to be reworked completely both visually and mechanically with a new design more fitting of a man in his twenties. [1]
As a result Skate was considered possibly too similar to Adam Hunter in an older form. [1]
The team also avoided using an updated redesign even in cutscenes as they didn't wish to throw him haphazardly without considering how he'd potentially play.[1]
Skate is the only playable character from Streets of Rage to not get a visual redesign for Streets of Rage 4 as a result. Max Thunder and Shiva both appear as boss characters(both later added via DLC as playable characters), Dr. Gilbert Zan appears as a NPC, Roo appears as a bartender cameo in stage 5 working at Barbon's bar, and even Japan exclusive character Ash appears on a poster in Nora's quarters in the Cargo Ship stage.
Skate's actual age is never revealed although he appears to be about the same age as Cherry Hunter is ten years prior.
Despite being one of the four main playable characters in Streets of Rage 3, the American box art swapped Skate out for Roo, the secret boxing Kangaroo character.
In the end credits sequences for Sega 3D Fukkoku Archives 3: Final Chapter Skate acts as a censor bar, leaping in the way whenever Blaze Fielding performs a kick to hide her modesty. He also pranks Mr. X several times by placing a knife on his chair as he sits down, moving his chair out the way as he sits down and teaming up with Alex Kidd to drop a bucket on his head. This usually ends with Mr. X comically chasing him around whilst Skate gives a cheeky thumbs up to camera.
