Blog:Speculative Analysis on The Yautja and Their Culture - JEOC

( Updated as of 12/11/2020 )

Contact e-mail : jeoc0711@gmail.com

'Predator is a live-action film, print media and video game franchise, featuring a technologically advanced extraterrestrial species known as the Yautja (ya-OOT-ja), who hunt and kill other dangerous lifeforms, including humans, for sport and honour, which began with the 1987 science fiction action film Predator'', starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It also often appears in crossover media with the Alien franchise.'''

Hello, this time I am writing about my perspectives on the cultural modalities and other aspects of the Yautja.

Cultural Modalities of the Yautja
The Yautja (Ya-OOT-ja) are a classic example (and the best that I am aware of) of a technologically advanced extraterrestrial species that understands how and how not to use technology, meaning they only use advanced technology to enhance their culture, individuality and capabilities, not supplant them or become lazy and dependant on technology, nor do they use advanced technology to perform grotesque experiments, fundamentally alter natural laws/dynamics, conquer, enslave, torture or alter other sentient species etc.

They do not pollute or strip mine worlds, breed so excessively so that they must colonise planet after planet in order to support their needlessly expanding population, or exterminate whole species but simply hunt creatures (while allowing for the continued perpetuation of those species) they see as worthy game or; in the case of specific humans; other warriors to test themselves against in order to enjoy more skilled sport in the form of lethal, drawn out cat-and-mouse engagements, going so far as to spare the life of and even honor those skilled enough to best a Yautja, or in unique circumstances assist or save the life of a Yautja during a Xenomorph hunt etc.

They mostly keep to themselves (mostly) and do not interfere with; as a whole; other sentient species (they did interact with and influence older Earth human cultures, but did not do so in a way that altered the ultimate development of Earth humans in any sort of artificial or biased way and eventually withdrew their overt presence, presumably to allow a sentient species to develop of its own accord), except to observe and use the cover of armed human conflicts to hunt those whose skill makes them worthy of trophy hunting or at least ritualistic murder.

I also believe that the Yautja would for the most part likely ignore (mostly) the Mala'kak (except for one silly example in a recent comic book series spawned from the aberrant offshoot Prometheus lore) as despite potentially being excellent sport because they are large and very physically capable, are also a spacefaring species that are presumably technologically advanced enough in terms of being able to not only detect cloaked Yautja spacecraft, interstellar travel paths etc. but also quickly and effectively project; throughout the galaxy; a similarly competent military capability to pose a threat to the Yautja civilisation if they were to be treated as a game species by them, similar to how the Drukathi are described as being feared by the Yautja, though I believe my interpretation of Yautja protocols toward other technologically advanced extraterrestrial species is more accurate, that being not one or both sides in fear of the other, but simply as mature extraterrestrial species' with a mutual understanding of the benefits and logic behind cultural etc. preservation on either side and the folly of intergalactic warfare between two or more technologically advanced species.

Yautja Physiology and Hunting Techniques
To begin with, the head of a Yautja is very similar to what you would see if you were up close and face to face with a spider, this may even have been the original inspiration for the designer(s) of the Yautja's appearance.



This seems likely as they also have in common with spiders their skill at stealth, hunting and how they string up the skinned bodies of their victims in a similar fashion to how spiders cocoon and hang their prey, not to mention the equipment and weblike weaponry they use such as netguns, electroshock bolas, nooses etc. as well as the variety of mines and remote bombs they use as lethal traps. The segmented design of their armour and devices also look similar to the exoskeleton of various arthropods, and the multiple vision modes of their Bio-Masks could also be seen as analogous to the eight eyes of a spider.



And as I mention underneath the above picture, the variation in design of a Yautja's forehead pattern is similar to the abdominal patterns of spiders, and my creative suggestion to those who design Yautja appearances for use in various official media, be that they design the forehead pattern of each Yautja individual to correspond with a particular species of spider, whose hunting style etc. is similar to that of the specific Yautja.

A certain Yautja forehead pattern variation could also be used to distinguish Yautja clans or even subspecies, who have a particular hunting style and predilection for specific weaponry, based on the attributes of the species of spider whose abdominal pattern is similar, and this of course without actually naming any particular clan etc. directly after any kind of spider as this is best as a subtle style/design influence.

And the section at the end of that first picture featuring the wolf spider, I ask what is that, if not a pussy face...

Filmmakers etc. read this
And so you see, instead of making consecutive movies about steroid abusing bad blood Yautja (a much less prevalent niche in other Predator media) that also feature behaviour, competence/capability and designs that clearly deviate from what is the definitive Yautja style, the rich Predator and indeed AVP/Alien lore provides plenty of content variety to create more carefully planned, quality media instead of the sloppy incongruous messes that have appeared here and there, whose target audience seems to be those who are looking for a cheap flashy sci-fi thrill, but who do not really know much about the Predator franchise.



Yautja sexual dimorphism
Yautja females would exhibit sexual dimorphism primarily with a high hip-to-waist ratio differential, meaning they would be best described as wasp-waisted in having slim waists with proportionately wide pelvises. Not only is this the most visually (when properly developed) as well as structurally distinctive feature of humanoid female sexual dimorphism, but is also very practical and functional (attractive form does usually follow well designed practical function), meaning that not only is childbirth easier, but also that the broad female pelvis provides a larger and more stable skeletal base for greater muscular development, and this is certainly the sort of evolutionary adaptation I would expect from a species as physically active as the Yautja.

Being a species with diverse epidermis colouration and spots/mottling etc. Yautja sexual dimorphism could also likely have to do with such contrastingly subtle differences which are also a sexually dimorphic feature found in various terrestrial species of reptiles to which the Yautja display what is at least a superficial semblance.

On the 'Unknown Female Predator' from Predator: Hunting Grounds
The article says that the Unknown Female Predator was more serious and did not play around with the human prey like male Yautja do, this does not mean she is more skillful, this just means that she is less confident and does not have the surplus of aptitude required to enjoy The Hunt as a sport, instead of just as a cold mechanical assassination, this could possibly even be interpreted as Bad Blood-like behaviour.

Some may say that the Unknown Female Predator is simply more efficient than other encountered male Yautja, well efficiency is not the purpose of The Hunt, any individual Yautja if they wanted to could quickly and easily slaughter any group of modern day soldiers, Yautja have the weapons, equipment, skill and physical strength and toughness to do so easily and at little risk to their own life, this reality is really quite obvious and is why Yautja hone subtle skills when stalking and hunting human prey over a prolonged period of time, they want to see how their gunned up tough guy human prey reacts to an unseen predator who has every advantage, they know humans can be clever so they hunt humans for leisurely entertainment and may perhaps encounter a rare challenge and even learn a new trick or two, which is why it appears as if they are toying with their prey, which is in some ways true.

The Unknown Female Predator is basically described as anathema to this, completely different from how Yautja operate during a hunt, and I am offended that it is being wrongly portrayed as superior or even as honourable Yautja conduct at all.

Others might say that other male Yautja have been overconfident and then died because of it, but that is simply because they know what they are doing and have a very comfortable buffer to fall back on if something unexpected happens, as I said before Yautja actively seek out challenging humans knowing full well that they may be putting their lives at risk, so you would be looking at that the wrong way, this is simply a part of The Hunt, Yautja culture and their life cycle, and besides just think of how many humans they end up killing in between encountering a challenging individual.

So that Unknown Female Predator is not simply avoiding a mistake made by previous Yautja, because those previous Yautja did not actually make a mistake there as they were knowingly pursuing dangerous human prey at the risk of their own life which is a greater attraction to them, and if one would say otherwise then they are basically saying that the Unknown Female Predator is afraid to die in battle and will forsake the art of The Hunt to ensure she does not die, and that this is some kind of virtuous behaviour for a Yautja! Truly a grave insult to any honourable hunter.

Machiko Noguchi
This character's story is ridiculous misappropriation of the Amazonian warrior woman archetype, the notion that an East Asian woman of average height and physical ability etc. being able to keep up with; and excel amongst!; 7'+ tall extraterrestrial warriors who are capable of superhuman feats of strength and athleticism, and doing so while hunting in very dangerous environments, fighting Xenomorphs primarily with close combat weapons and also killing not only two Yautja in close combat, but also two Xenomorph Queens! Is nothing but utter nonsense in a franchise that should be striving to align itself more closely with the hard sci-fi aspect of the Alien franchise.

The unfeasibility of Predator hounds
The hell-hounds used by the Tracker Super Predator to flush out prey are a concept that is incongruent with what is known; and that which can be speculated as likely; from the Hunt and the Yautja Honour Code.In various human cultures, different sorts of hunting dogs have been and are used for a variety of purposes to assist with hunting animals of various sizes for sport and other reasons, though I can say that none of those reasons are relevant to the hunting style of the Yautja which could probably be best described as a combination of tribal warriors, monster slayers and stalkers.

It should be obvious that the use of hell-hounds to flush out prey is an impatient and lazy tactic requiring little effort from the Yautja himself and therefore a poor show of skill and if one were to speculate that the use of hell-hounds also extend to chasing down and assisting with the take down of larger and deadlier game, then that is even less likely as for it to be a fair kill and demonstration of the hunter's prowess, he would have to do so by himself with his own hands.

To help put this incongruity further into perspective, a Yautja is a 7+ ft musclebound extraterrestrial hunter that is not only extremely resilient but also capable of incredible feats of strength and athleticism including but not limited to, landing safely on his feet from a drop height of 10 stories, vertically jumping three times his own height and tearing off a man's head and spine out from their body single-handedly. And in addition to their incredible strength and durability they are also equipped with a variety of advanced close combat and ranged weapons constructed from extremely strong materials, so to think that they would use hunting dogs of any sort for any purpose is absurd.

I doubt that even bad blood Yautja would be so lazy as to use hell-hounds, though it is not entirely unfeasible that hell-hounds or; much more effectively; Tusked Xenomorphs could be used as a weapon of war instead of hunting to soften up an enemy position before assaulting it directly (as the Killer Yautja bad blood clan has been known to do). Though the use of Tusked Xenomorphs seems even less likely as they are a divergent strain showing differences from regular Xenomorphs at the most basic stages, indicating that they have been genetically modified by Yautja and; as I have mentioned elsewhere; genetic engineering is a science that would most likely have not been developed to such an extent by the Yautja as it is not congruent with other facets of their culture and use of technology.