Predator

Origin

Predators (Yautja by their native tongue) are humanoid aliens from the planet Yautja Prime. They are known on Earth (by few people) for their advanced technology, joy for hunting and their crude, inhuman ways of killing people (skinning people alive and hanging them with string, or removing the head of their victims with the spinal cord still attached).

Predators came to Earth and discovered the ancient people of Earth. The humans worshiped them as gods and they were taught how to build pyramids for them. Some of these pyramids were used for holding Xenomorphs for the Predators to hunt as a right of passage. If the aliens proved to be too great for the Predators, the Predators would detonate a giant explosive that would kill all of the surviving aliens in order to keep them from overrunning the Earth.

Predators still come to Earth to continue this ritual in a buried pyramid in the Antarctic. They also now hunt humans. If discovered and unable to escape they will use the same explosion to remove the evidence of their presence upon the Earth. Unlike before, when humans were used as host bodies for Xenomorphs, Predators also use humans as prey for their hunting rituals, as the humans no longer see the Predators as gods.

Hunter's Code

Most predators follow a strict code whenever they are hunting prey, no matter what it might be. Whenever they are hunting on Earth, they try to avoid killing pregnant females, children, and those who are physically weak like the elderly or people with severe health problems. They will make exceptions if they feel that they will make worthy prey or if they make threatening gestures at the Predators. Two notable examples from the films is when a Predator in Predator II almost killed a male child who pointed a toy gun at a cloaked Predator or when the rich and elderly Mr.Charles Weyland was killed in Predator vs. Alien after he attacked a Predator with a makeshift flamethrower, after the Predator had looked him over and discovered that Weyland was weak and suffering from a terminal disease.

Predators will try to make sure they are evenly matched with their prey, often hunting with the barest and most basic hunting essentials. A good example of this would be in the original Batman vs Alien comic book series when a Predator killed multiple boxers in hand-to-hand combat although he had other far more efficient weapons at his disposal. If someone like a human challenged a Predator to a fist fight or sword fight, the Predator would most likely accept the challenge and fight them under the challenger's conditions. The Predators place great pride in following the hunter's code and breaking the code would most likely cause them to be shunned within the Predator society.

Any human or similar species who manage to beat and/or kill a predator in a hunt usually receive a trophy or prize for their achievement. Predators are willing to work with their prey in order to defeat a much greater threat like a Predalien but when the greater threat is killed, the truce between the hunter and prey usually dissolves and the Predator may continue with his/her hunt.

If a Predator loses in the hunt and is about to be killed, is mortally wounded, or has been completely defeated by its prey, it will attempt to commit suicide via an extremely powerful explosive device located on its forearm. The explosive device does not usually detonate immediately, giving the prey a short amount of time to try to escape the blast radius. If the explosive device is damaged and becomes unusable, the Predator will find other means to commit suicide, even if it means using it own hunting equipment. One such notable case occurs in Batman vs. Predator when a Predator attempted suicide after being trapped and drugged by Batman. Batman was able to disable the explosive device with a high voltage wire so the Predator forced its way out of the Wayne Manor and stabbed itself in the stomach with its own sword, completely defeated. The Predators that arrived afterwards to retrieve the body gave the sword that the predator killed itself with to Batman as a trophy.

Weapons & Equipment

Predators are masters at a wide variety of melee and ranged weapons. They see in infrared and are much bigger and stronger than humans, standing at about seven feet tall. Some of their known weapons include a shoulder-mounted laser cannon known as a Plasma Caster, numerous wrist gauntlets, a retractable spearblade/staff known as a Combi-Staff or Combi-Stick, throwing disks that can cut through almost anything called Smartdiscs, and nets of thin mesh that can cut through the trapped foe. They have beyond human intelligence levels. Their suits have a chameleon power that allows them to turn nearly invisible, showing only a faint outline. These suit are the holding place for all their weapons as well as the bomb and survival gear kits. They are unsurpassed as hunters and evidence suggest they hunt many kinds of giant alien monsters and possibly hunted even the dinosaurs.

It is unknown how long the Predators have possessed their advanced technology, since they have been using it since well before the Ancient Egyptian era on Earth. However, it is safe to assume that the Predators did not always possess the technology that they have had for centuries as it would technically be impossible.

Other Media

Novels

Predator: Flesh And Blood - Humans have all but destroyed the Earth, creating an opportunity for unscrupulous moneymakers to take advantage of the destruction. One family, the Ciejek clan, have made their fortune exploiting Earth's misfortunes. But with power comes corruption. The members of the Ciejek clan are at each other's throats, enlisting the help of the fearsome Predators to settle the score . . . When the Predators arrive, however, the brutality the warriors unleash is far beyond what the Ciejek family could have imagined.

• Written by: Michael Jan Friedman & Robert Greenberger
• Publication Date: September 19, 2007
• Format: Novel, 250 pages, 4" x 6"

Predator: Forever Midnight - The year is 2117, A.D. Humanity has seized the stars, using reverse-engineered alien technology to explore the far reaches of space. For a hundred years the Predators, sadistic extraterrestrial hunters, have been a dim memory. For a hundred years, we've been safe.That ends now.

Cast in daylight for years at a time, the almost eternally lit jungle planet known as Midnight is the home to more than a thousand colonists, explorers building a haven on a new world. But the settlers aren't alone. The Predators have been on this planet all along. When the ravenous creatures attack an arriving spacecraft and capture the settlers as both slaves and prey for their hunt, terraforming the planet takes a back seat to a new fight for survival.

• Written By: John Shirley
• Publication Date: May 10, 2006
• Format: MM PB, 250 pages, 4 3/16" x 6 3/4"

Predator: South China Sea - On a remote South China Sea island, a deadly hunt is underway . . . but not the kind of expedition the participants expected. In this remote jungle-covered island somewhere between Thailand and Indonesia some of the most exotic animals in the world have been gathered as the prizes in a challenge of human against nature. The hunters come from all walks of life: a South African arms dealer, a Romanian ex-wrestler, two former KGB agents, a wildlife TV host, a Thai pirate, and John Gustat, a billionaire with a mysterious past. Each has come to the island for personal reasons, some secret, some deadly. But when the encampment's owner, ex-Khmer Rouge Colonel Rath Preap, finds the fences cut and his security men missing, it's clear that the game has turned. And as the hunters battle for survival, they discover there is another creature out for blood--a Predator with an unstoppable lust for conquest.

• Written By: Jeff VanderMeer
• Publication Date: October 08, 2008
• Format: b&w, 288 pages, Novel, 4 3/16" x 6 3/4"

Predator: Turnabout - Deep in the Alaskan forest, ranger Sloan comes across the torn and bloody carcasses of Grizzly bears. Searching a human cause for the massacres, he discovers a team of poachers hunkered within the Alaska wilderness, waiting for the chance to score a big kill. He also finds evidence of the most fearsome killers in the universe: the Predators.

• Written By: Steve Perry
• Publication Date: March 19, 2008
• Format: SC, 256 pages,Novel, 4 3/16" x 6 1/4"

Movies

The Predator has been featured in many movies, starting from 1987 throughout 2010.

Predator (1987)

The Predator was introduced in John McTiernan's Predator (1987). The movie was an instant hit and spawned two sequels and several spin-offs. The original Predator movie features a team of elite army commando's being violently hunted by an advanced extra-terrestrial warrior. The main protagonist, Dutch, has to find a way of killing the advanced alien before it threatens any more lives. Initially, critical reaction was mixed, but the movie withstood the test of time and is now considered by many now as a sci-fi classic.