The Yautja were known for seeking out difficult prey on a variety of worlds, including animals far larger than themselves. Accounts from comics, novels, and expanded universe material describe their clashes with oversized creatures found on both Earth and alien environments. These stories show that their hunts included wildlife, prehistoric animals, and large extraterrestrial organisms. This article rounds up all of the encounters of Yautja and large beasts.
Ahab vs. Giant Centipede
During the events of Predator: Fire and Stone, the Elder Predator known as Ahab spent about a year stranded on LV-223, where he encountered wildlife mutated by the Black Goo accelerant. One of these creatures was a giant centipede that he fought using a crude spear he crafted from local materials. Ahab relied on these improvised weapons because his advanced gear was damaged or unavailable. He killed the centipede as part of a series of encounters with dangerous fauna on the moon. Although his main trophy was that of an Engineer, he greatly enjoyed these hunts.
Underwater Predator vs. Giant Squid
Predator: Hell And Hot Water features a Yautja operating off the Chilean coast, where volcanic activity had heated the surrounding waters. The Predator hunted a giant squid in the region, showing that he was actively tracking large marine life. Afterward, he entered a submerged cave system and encountered an unidentified tentacled creature. The fight took place underwater in enclosed spaces, and the story ended with the Predator dying inside the cave. The identity of the sea creature was left unknown, although it was most likely of terrestrial origin.
Dek vs. Kalisk
On the planet Genna, the young Yautja Dek attempted to earn his standing by seeking out the Kalisk, a creature widely regarded as unkillable. Although Dek also hunted and killed several other creatures on Genna (including the Bone Bison, and the Vine Creature), the Kalisk was the most powerful one. The Kalisk, also labeled specimen XX0522, was covered in spikes and long tendrils and had previously fought a Weyland-Yutani synthetic and survived. Dek tracked it across the Badlands and managed to behead it during their encounter, only to see it regenerate its head. Their encounter was left unresolved for the time being, as both the beast and the Yautja were captured by Weyland-Yutani.
Predators vs. Dinosaurs
Evidence of Yautja encounters with dinosaurs appeared in several sources, including the trophy room in Predator 2, where a skull resembling a Tyrannosaurus rex was displayed. Additional material, such as Tarzan vs. Predator depicted Yautja hunters entering Pellucidar inside the Earth, where dinosaurs like T-Rexes and Triceratops were still alive. The hunters engaged several prehistoric species during their expedition. Later on, a Triceratops herd trampled multiple Yautja and destroyed their ship, ending their expedition.
Predator vs. Orca Whale
The Predators enjoy hunting the wildlife on Earth, including animals like wolves, tigers, and bears. However, one of the largest Earth animals ever targeted by the Predators was the Orca, or Killer Whale. This unusual hunt appeared briefly in the Wolverine vs. Predator comic, which depicted Yautja activity in the Alaska Territory around 1900, where they also pursued several smaller species. A solitary Predator was shown riding on the back of an Orca while attempting to stab it with a Yautja spear. The outcome remained uncertain, as no Orca trophy later appeared, and the whale may have escaped by diving and dislodging the hunter.
Guard Predator vs. Arena Creature
In the last segment of Predator: Killer Of Killers, a Guard Predator oversaw a gladiatorial event in which a massive quadrupedal creature was released into an arena containing human prisoners. Although not directly meant for a Predator hunt, the beasts attacked the Guard Predator and swallowed him up. Later, the human named John Torres was also swallowed by the creature, but managed to survive and attack the creature from the inside. The beast was killed by the surviving fighters afterward, who then took on the Warlord Predator.
Predator vs. Sea Monster
In Predator: Black, White & Blood #3, the short story Demon of the Deep by Jim Zub and Pat Boutin followed a pirate crew stranded on a wreck in the Caribbean in 1686. A Predator climbed aboard, speared the armed pirates with its combistick and spared an unarmed cabin boy. Then a giant tentacled sea monster rose roaring from the water beneath the ship. Its fanged mouth alone dwarfed the hunter. The Predator leaped from the deck and drove its spear into the beast's head, spilling green blood across the waves. The dead monster sank, and the boy rode the swell to the hunter's ship.
Predator vs. Bigfoot
Apparently, Predators have also hunted Bigfoots, who are real in the Predator universe. In the short story The Monster from the Predator: Eyes Of The Demon anthology, a Yautja encountered a creature similar to the Bigfoot legends of Earth. However, Bigfoots have another connection to the Predator series, through the Harry and the Hendersons comedy film, released the same year as Predator. Harry was played by Kevin Peter Hall, the same actor who played both the Jungle Hunter from the first Predator and the City Hunter from Predator 2.
Predator vs. Yeti
A Himalayan cousin of Bigfoot appeared in Black, White & Blood #2, in Steve Foxe and Phillip Sevy's The Expedition, set in 1939. Two wealthy hunters, Rhodes and Plunkett, climbed toward sacred caverns with their guide Llewellyn to track a yeti. The beast burst out of the snow and killed Rhodes. A Predator in a fur cloak then stepped out of the storm and fought it hand to hand at the cave mouth. The yeti stood roughly as tall as the hunter and matched it blow for blow. The Predator finished it with its wristblades and tore out its skull and spine as a trophy, leaving the two survivors alive.
Predator vs. Purple Beasts
In Ed Brisson's Predator: The Preserve from 2023, the Yautja stocked their hunting preserve with huge purple beasts alongside the humans they had abducted. The survivors watched crates fall by parachute over the jungle and hoped for food, but the first crate they reached had carried something alive. A long-limbed beast with a mass of tentacles around its head and a heavy tail burst out of the trees and went straight for the group. Rifle fire did little to it, and it threw the humans around until a heavy blast finally dropped it. Over the body, the survivors realized that the Predators were collecting deadly creatures as game.
The beast was not finished. Its eye lit up as it rose again, and its tentacles lashed into the face of one of the Soldiers who had come too close. A Predator crouched on a tree branch above them then blasted the creature apart with its shoulder cannon, leaving a shattered purple carcass at the foot of the tree, before it turned on the humans. The beasts resembled the River Ghosts that the Yautja released onto the same kind of preserve, with similar pale purple hides and tentacled heads, so they might have been related or even the same species.
Conclusion
Across different stories, the Yautja encountered giant creatures, including mutated alien animals, prehistoric species, marine life, and cryptids. These creatures offered big trophies for the Yautja seeking worthy prey. The hunts appeared in various periods and settings, ranging from alien worlds to ancient or remote areas of Earth. Some of the encounters ended with the Predator successfully killing the creature, while others remained unresolved or fatal for the hunter.
Tag Categories: Predator Universe Creatures | Predator Hunt | Alien And Predator Crossovers | Predator Lore
