Ahead of the release of Prey on August 5, many people don’t realize that there are different ranks in the Predator (Yautja) lore. Not many people that watch the movies are fully aware that this alien is actually more in-depth than they realize.
So what types are Predators are they exactly?
Young Blood
The “Young Blood” Predators are juvenile Predators who have not been blooded yet. This means they have not participated in an official hunt to gain them a blooded status. Usually, on this hunt, the Xenomorphs are being hunted. The Young Bloods use a multitude of different weapons but are more focused on their melee capabilities. Often, the young blood Predators are killed on their first hunt which happened in Antarctica in 2004 in the events of the Alien vs. Predator movie.
Blooded
The next step in the rank for the Young Bloods is becoming “Blooded”. In most Yautja clans, this is only achieved by hunting and killing a Xenomorph and marking the Predator’s own skin as well as the bio-mask with the clan symbol with the Alien acid. Only Scar managed to kill a Xenomorph and blood himself. Blooded rank is one of the most common ranks and is sometimes even given to humans as well.
Elite Predator
Elite Predators (my favorite) are experienced hunters who have not yet reached the status of Elder. They are blooded warriors who have many trophies and have gone on many hunts usually on different planets to hunt different species. Only when needed are sent on “special” missions like saving and teaching Young Bloods, clearing out Alien infestations, or stopping Predator technology from falling into the wrong hands. One notable Elite Predator is Wolf from the Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem movie.
Elder Predator
The Elder Predator is a leader of a tribe or a clan of Predators. They are centuries old and have gone on several hunts and gained many trophies. Generally more wise than their young companions, they choose to stay in the background and evaluate the hunt in the end. The first Elder Predator that was shown on screen was in Predator 2.
Super Predator
The Super Predators are different subspecies of Yautja who are physically stronger and more vicious than the regular Predators. They are more reptilian and have red eyes, their dreadlocks are more swept back and their face is longer than the regular Predators. When on a hunt, the Super Predators tend to use traps and Hell-Hounds to flush out their prey. 3 Super Predators, Berserker, Tracker, and Falconer were the main Predators in the Predators movie who hunted on a game preserve planet and were all killed by humans.
Fugitive Predator
While not confirmed if the Fugitive Predator can be considered a new Yautja type or rank, he could have easily been an Elite Predator who turned into a Bad Blood and became wanted by the Assassin Predators, however, as explained in the expanded Yautja lore there were others like him who share the same armor, motivations, and spliced DNA that make them unique to other types. Finally, there are the Emissary Predators, who share the same masks but chose to wear human military-styled armor.
Assassin Predators
The Assassin Predators (known also as Hybrid Predators) are a group of Predators who genetically enhance themselves from species on several planets, including Earth. This is one of the physically biggest types of Predator, even bigger than the Super Predators and about the same size as the black goo-infected Predators. They are dispatched to hunt down other Predators as this is the storyline of The Predator movie where a lone Assassin was sent to kill the fugitive Predator and did so with ease. The Assassins employ Predator dogs in their hunts to help track down their prey.
Feral Predator
The latest Predator rank/type from the Yautja Prime will debut in PREY. According to Dan Trachtenberg, this new Predator is from a different hemisphere of the Predator Homeworld and a little bit of a different breed. While recent Predator films have gone bigger and stronger in the Predator line, the Feral Predator is a much more slim and agile Predator. He is also more tribal in nature, moving away from the class metallic heavy-armored Predators from the AvP movies. Wearing a bone mask and using a gauntlet shield, a piece of Predator equipment not seen before.
This is just SOME of the Predator (Yautja) in their lore. Other ranks/types include the following;
- Bad Blood Predator
- Enforcer Predator
- Ancient Predator
- Highest Predator Rank: Predator King
- Biggest Predator Variant: Infected Predator
- Earliest Yautja type: Alpha Predator
- Exiled Predator
- Heavy Predator
- Female Predator (I Hope to see one in live-action soon)
- Human Predator
- Emissary Predator
- Meta Predator (DC crossover)
- Predator subspecies: High-qu-Ten
There are just many ranks and types of Predators…
You can learn more on YouTube as there are many great youtube channels that cover Yautja and Predator lore, as well as Xenomorph.
