38 Years Later, a Major Detail About the Original Predator Has Been Confirmed

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The Predator series remains popular, as demonstrated by the success of Predator: Badlands. The film earned approximately $80 million worldwide during its opening weekend, with $40 million coming from North American theaters. Director Dan Trachtenberg has consistently delivered hits for the franchise, including the streaming prequel Prey, the animated streaming feature Predator: Killer of Killers, and now the blockbuster Badlands. Beyond creating successful films, Trachtenberg has developed a connected storyline that expands the Predator universe, linking his new installments with the established lore of the original Predator movies and even the Alien franchise.

The comic Predator: Badlands offered a deeper look into the culture of the Predators (also known as Yautja) by telling the story from their point of view. While the story of a lone Predator trying to prove himself didn’t reveal a huge amount about their culture, it did establish a key fact about the Yautja seen in the films: they aren’t a single, unified group – they come from different clans and backgrounds.

Predator: Badlands Confirms There Are Different Yautja Clans, With Different Codes

The original Predator film showcased a skilled hunter perfectly adapted to jungle warfare. However, Predators (2010) introduced a surprising twist: the classic jungle-dwelling Predator was replaced by a new, more advanced race. These new Predators, dubbed “Super Predators,” were larger, stronger, and had darker skin, along with superior hunting technology and equipment – including alien dogs, a drone bird, and upgraded armor and weapons. To emphasize this shift, the film featured a final battle between a Super Predator (the “Berserker”) and a traditional Jungle Hunter, clearly demonstrating the immense power of this new class of hunters.

Director Dan Trachtenberg’s three Predator films (Prey, Killer of Killers, and Badlands) all focus on warriors from the desert regions of the Predator homeworld, Yautja Prime. These are the powerful Super Predator types we saw in Predators. So far, we’ve met two different desert clans. The first is the clan led by Njohrr, a strict leader who believes strongly in the Predator’s code of strength – so much so that he’s willing to kill his own son, Dek (whom he considers weak), to uphold it. Dek ultimately becomes a legendary hunter in Predator: Badlands. The second clan is the “Warlord’s Clan,” led by the intimidating Grendel King. This clan sent the “Feral Predator” to Earth in the 1700s in Prey. Killer of Killers showed that the Warlord Clan has been hunting Earth’s warriors for centuries, and they’ve broken with traditional Predator rules in a significant way.

One Predator Clan Has Broken The Code

With Predator 2, the series expanded beyond simple horror into a larger universe. The film showed a group of Predators collecting their fallen member and gifting LAPD Lieutenant Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) with a unique flintlock pistol – a trophy originally taken by the Feral Predator, and later owned by the warrior Naru who defeated him. This pistol became a recurring item throughout the franchise, and the film also hinted that the Predators were more than just monsters – they were an alien race with their own culture and history, including a tradition of respecting and rewarding worthy opponents.

…Or so we thought.

The film Predator: Killer of Killers revealed a key detail about the Yautja (Predators): not all groups follow the same strict rules. The Jungle Clan, seen in Predator and Predator 2, appeared ‘honorable’ because they only hunted armed opponents. They even showed mercy – sparing a pregnant police officer and willingly giving up advantages to fight fairly. They also respected worthy human opponents, allowing them to live or gifting them valuable trophies.

Unlike their jungle counterparts, the Desert Clans – particularly the Warlord Clan – aren’t known for their honor. The films Predators and Killer of Killers demonstrate that the Super Predators within this clan will readily hunt, capture, and kill other, less technologically advanced Predators. They also have a much more flexible understanding of the Yautja Code of honor. While traditional Predators either claim trophies from worthy opponents or earn their respect in death, the Warlord Clan prioritizes winning at any cost, even when using vastly superior technology to defeat their prey.

The Warlord Clan operates with its own goals, differing from the common traditions of other Yautja. Their leader, known as the “Grendel King,” is planning an unprecedented hunt. Instead of traveling to different worlds for prey, the clan is collecting the most dangerous killers from across the galaxy and pitting them against each other. While the ultimate purpose isn’t explicitly stated, it’s likely they aim to prove themselves as the ultimate hunters by defeating opponents that no other Yautja could conquer.

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2025-11-11 04:12