Species of the week #3 - Yautja

I'll confess to now knowing much of this species and therefore much of what I say will be mostly ripped from various wikipedia pages. The only real look I've had at them is seeing the closing section of the not so acclaimed Alien versus Predator film. While perhaps not as great as fans had hoped the film did deliver a very slick looking alien with a great enough presence to spur me to choose them as my article of the week

Yautja
Designation: Sentient
Homeworld: Unknown
Average Height: 7-7.5 feet






As I freely admit I have not seen any of the Predator films for sufficient length to claim to be a fan or any kind of expert of this species. But I know one when I see one and I know they have made their mark on Science Fiction and so more than deserve their place here. And so I commence covering them in one brief article with one last remark - an alien with dreadlocks?! That could never fail!!

The Yautja, also known as Hish-qu-Ten and more commonly referred to as Predators travel from an unkown homeworld in search of beings to hunt. In terms of stature they largely resemble humans that are larger and stockier and with their battle masks on they could at a distance pass for a human to those unfamiliar with them. When the mask is taken away it reveals a drastically different countenance with mottled skin and four mandibles surrounding a tooth filled maw. Physically they are highly resistant to injury of all kinds with only the most deadly attacks able to even slow them down.

A Predator unmasked








Their culture seems to revolve around hunting. They will go out and seek dangerous and worthy prey to hunt. They are known to even breed the highly deadly Xenomorphs (often known simply as Aliens ) in order to hunt them in honour rites and such. Little else of their culture has been seen other than when they descend to hunt their chosen prey, which is always a deadly and capable race. They have attacked humans on occasion, but only on a small scale and only those they deem worthy enough to hunt. It seems to be part of their honour code to only hunt those who can fight back and to leave the weak and defenceless unharmed - perhaps why they prefer Xenomorphs as they are all born deadly. With powerful skills and some of the best weapons technology ever seen, the Yatuja are likely to be able to continue their hunts on many worlds for many years to come.