Tessa: Profile Of Thia's Android Sister

Tessa was a high-functioning synthetic android created by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation and served as one of the main villains in Predator: Badlands. She was designed as part of a new generation of research synthetics intended to operate autonomously in extreme and hostile environments. Throughout the film, Tessa functioned as a counterbalance to her twin android Thia, embodying a more rigid, mission-focused interpretation of artificial intelligence.

Thia's "Sister" Android

Tessa was constructed alongside Thia as her twin counterpart, with both synthetics sharing identical origins, baseline programming, and physical design. Their designation as sisters reflected their parallel development rather than any biological relationship. Both were deployed by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation to the planet Genna as part of a long-term expedition aimed at cataloging and capturing dangerous native lifeforms. Over time, the two androids diverged in behavior and outlook. While Thia gradually demonstrated emotional development and moral hesitation, Tessa remained committed to efficiency and mission completion.

Damaged By The Kalisk

During the expedition's early phase, Tessa and Thia encountered the Kalisk, an apex predator native to Genna. The encounter resulted in catastrophic losses, including the destruction of their entire combat synthetic support team. Both sisters sustained severe physical damage and were separated during the chaos. Tessa's damaged body was later recovered by Weyland-Yutani forces and transported back to her ship, where she was placed into an automated repair capsule. The restoration process rebuilt her damaged systems and reinforced her operational parameters. Upon reactivation, Tessa was informed that her continued existence depended on completing the Kalisk retrieval mission.

Finding Kwei's Ship

While tracking Yautja activity across Genna, Tessa's unit located the remains of a crashed Yautja spacecraft, belonging originally to Kwei, the brother of Dek. The wreckage provided critical insight into the Yautja's origins and the broader conflict unfolding on the planet. Within the debris, Tessa recovered a bandolier of Yautja cryogenic grenades capable of generating extreme freezing effects, and a Yautja shoulder cannon. These devices represented one of the few tools capable of neutralizing the Kalisk without conventional weapons.

Capturing Thia And Dek

After her repair and the retrieval of the Yautja gear, Tessa learned that Thia had been captured by a Yautja known as Dek. She returned to the field accompanied by a new group of synthetics, intent on recovering both the Kalisk and her sister if doing so aligned with Weyland-Yutani priorities. When Dek fought the Kalisk, Tessa intervened with the Yautja grenade, capturing both Dek and Thia. She wanted to take them both off planet, but Dek managed to escape with the help of a diversion created by Thia. Dek, now stripped of his gear, created new organic armor and weapons from the local flora and fauna, and set out to rescue Thia together with Bud, the offspring of the Kalisk.

Fight With Dek And The Kalisk

Tessa's final confrontations occurred while she was operating the Weyland-Yutani Super Power Loader, a large industrial mech suit never intended for sustained combat. While piloting the loader, Tessa independently operated a captured Yautja shoulder cannon mounted directly to her body rather than integrated into the suit itself. She engaged Dek when he attempted to interfere with Weyland-Yutani operations and killed his organic shoulder cannon, nicknamed Squirt, during the encounter. The confrontation escalated when the Kalisk entered the conflict, drawn by Dek's interactions with its offspring. Despite the loader's immense strength and reinforced frame, its limited speed and lack of combat systems left Tessa at a disadvantage.

Final Fate Of Tessa

The Super Power Loader was ultimately overwhelmed. During the battle, the Kalisk tore off the loader's saw-bladed arm and physically ripped the mech suit apart, exposing the cockpit. Tessa continued firing the shoulder cannon even as the suit failed around her. The Kalisk then tore open the cockpit and swallowed Tessa whole. From inside the creature, she deployed a Yautja cryogenic grenade, killing the Kalisk from within and emerging from its body shortly afterward. Dek stabbed Tessa through the neck while, simultaneously, the Kalisk's offspring, Bud, tore off her head. In the end, Tessa's android skull was taken to Yautja Prime and presented to Njohrr, the father of Dek, who was not impressed with it.

Behind The Scenes

Tessa was portrayed by Elle Fanning, who also played Thia. Several stunt performers were used to simplify filming both characters together. To emphasize the androids' unnatural qualities, Fanning incorporated controlled physical movements, including demonstrating her naturally double-jointed elbows, which reportedly startled her co-stars during filming. She also performed scenes with her eyes held open for extended periods to simulate synthetic shutdown without relying entirely on visual effects. Production required careful staging and effects work to differentiate the twin characters on screen, with selective CGI used to enhance their artificial nature.

Similar Androids

Tessa's role echoed earlier synthetic characters in the Alien franchise, most notably Ash from Alien. Ash's hidden loyalty to Weyland-Yutani Corporation placed corporate objectives above human life, a trait shared by Tessa, and both androids ultimately lost their heads. During the events of Alien: Resurrection after which Badlands takes place, some synthetics, including Call, were classified as autons, advanced androids built by other synthetics rather than humans. Although Call displayed a greater emotional range, she retained white synthetic blood, a trait also seen in Tessa. The android Andy from Alien: Romulus also featured the Weyland-Yutani logo eye motif seen on Tessa.

Conclusion

Tessa was a Weyland-Yutani research synthetic deployed to the planet Genna as part of a corporate operation to capture the Kalisk. After being severely damaged during the initial encounter, she was repaired and returned to service with reinforced mission parameters. Unlike her sister Thia, Tessa remained loyal to Weyland-Yutani and viewed emotional deviation as a threat to operational success. She later led android forces against Thia and Dek, piloting a Super Power Loader in an attempt to secure the creature and reassert corporate control. She was damaged beyond repair by the Kalisk, Bud, and Dek.

Tag Categories: Predator: Badlands Lore, Predator: Badlands Characters, Alien Universe Androids