The Predators’ Ultimate Prey Isn’t Humans or Xenomorphs

While fans might think humans or Xenomorphs are the Predators’ ultimate prey, that isn’t the case as AvP introduces one creature Yautja hate the most.

In almost every single storyline featuring a Predator, the Yautja is either hunting humans or Xenomorphs (or both), which leads most fans to assume that one of those two life forms are the Predators’ ‘ultimate prey’–though the truth is, neither of them are, but Alien vs Predator confirms what is.

Predators first appeared in the 1987 film Predator, and in the movie, the alien hunter traveled to Earth specifically to hunt humans. This would happen a few more times in a few subsequent films until finally in 2004, the Predators came to Earth not to hunt people, but to hunt Xenomorphs. Alien vs Predator was the first movie featuring a Predator that not only showed the Yautja hunting something other than humans, but actually teaming up with them to fight a common enemy–a conflict that would bleed into the sequel film, Alien vs Predator: Requiem. While these movies weren’t widely liked by fans and critics alike, they actually do a fairly good job of adapting the Dark Horse Comics’ series, Aliens vs Predator, and the sequel series, Aliens vs Predator: Duel–especially when it comes to one character in particular and its relationship with the Predator species: the Predalien.

Related: Alien vs Predator Accidentally Made The ‘Predalien’ Impossible

The Predalien is the Predator’s Ultimate Prey (for One Reason)

In Aliens vs Predator: Duel by Randy Stradley and Javier Saltares, a team of Colonial Marines are deployed to a far-off world to see if there were any remnants of useful material following a Predator attack on a human settlement roughly one year earlier. When they got there, all they found was the chaos that was left in the Predators’ wake–though the soldiers did find one thing of note: a Predator ship. Inside this ship was an unconscious and obviously injured Predator, so the Colonial Marines grabbed him and brought him back to their ship, patting themselves on the back for actually obtaining an alien specimen of this caliber. Unfortunately, this Predator wasn’t the only alien in the ship, as there was also a Queen Xenomorph and an entire chamber filled with Ovomorphs–not to mention the other Xenomorphs that were also lurking in the shadows of this make-shift hive. The Colonial Marines are suddenly surrounded by the deadliest creatures in the cosmos–though they were about to be attacked by something even deadlier. As it turned out, the Predator the soldiers abducted was impregnated with a Xenomorph, and before long, this host’s purpose was served and the first Predalien was born.

During its gestation, a Xenomorph will take on traits of its host in a process known as DNA Reflex. Usually, Xenomorphs are born from humans, which is why they look the way they do in most Alien media–but this time, a Xenomorph was born from a Predator, so it therefore took on some of the Yautja’s physical attributes. This gave the Predalien its iconic design, and while it is a cool-looking ultimate killer, the Predalien is an affront to everything the Predators believe in and stand for. As revealed in this issue, the existence of a Predalien is actually against the Yautja’s religion, as they believe in a cosmic balance of hunters and prey, with Xenomorphs being the Yin to Predators’ proverbial Yang, and the fusion of the two is regarded as an unholy abomination that must be destroyed immediately.

While the Predalien is essentially just a regular Xenomorph that has been amped-up to Predator-level strength, its deadliness isn’t why the Predalien is the Predators’ ultimate prey, it’s because it is against Predator religion to allow one to even exist. The Predators hunt humans because it’s fun, and they deliberately spread Xenomorphs around the universe for their ceremonial Blooding Ritual, but a Predalien is a creature that the Yautja hate with every ounce of their being–making it their ultimate prey.

More: Predator Confirms the Yautja’s Worst Enemy (& it’s Not Who You Think)