Breaking Down The Best And Worst Predator Fan Theories

In 1987, John McTiernan introduced audiences to his muscular, musclebound movie, "Predator," turning a group of elite soldiers into prey for the titular extraterrestrial hunter. A creature, memorable for its mandibles, dreadlock-like head tentacles, infrared vision, and personal cloaking device. The film became a smash hit, spawning four direct sequels, two crossover films, and expanded universe materials, establishing the franchise as a staple of science fiction cinema. 

While the original film is an undeniable classic, "Predator 2," "Predators," and "The Predators" garnered mixed responses, as did the "Alien vs. Predator" crossovers (including the "Alien Vs Predator" anime we'll probably never see). However, the most recent entry, "Prey," is the best-reviewed film of the franchise, reigniting excitement for the venerable series. And now, fans eagerly await the new "Predator" movie coming from "Prey" director Dan Trachtenberg.

To date, the films have rigorously avoided explaining the motives of the Yautja, also known as the Predators, and we certainly never receive the story from their point of view. This leaves exactly what these aliens are doing and why wide open to interpretation, both by the human characters and the audience. Consequently, speculation and explanation abound, and fans have proposed many theories to fill in the gaps, ranging from the brilliant to the absurd. Let's look at the best and worst "Predator" theories that fandom has to offer.

One of the more plausible theories was posted by Reddit user GamingJay. It concerns the City Predator (Kevin Peter Hall) of "Predator 2," proposing that this Yautja targets drug lords specifically to entice a more formidable prey into joining the hunt: the feds. This mirrors the Predator's tactics in the previous film, where it preyed upon an elite force. Predators crave the challenge of truly perilous prey, not easily slain ones. As one respondent noted, killing the drug lords is akin to "catching minnows so you can use them as bait for bigger fish."

Supporting this theory is its explanation for why the City Predator carelessly leaves clues for the agents, such as the spear tip crafted from an extraterrestrial element, and deactivating its cloak in the penthouse, revealing itself to its final victim and the Columbian Girl (Teri Weigel). Additionally, its feeding schedule would draw the agents to the meat packing house at its chosen time. The theory also suggests that the Predators seen on the ship at the end act as a cleanup team to eliminate any evidence of the hunt that could potentially alert humanity on a significant scale.

One small drawback to this theory is that the City Predator appears surprised by the ambush in the packing house. Yet, this could simply be due to its underestimation of the humans' ability to devise such a trap.

This counterintuitive fan theory about the original film from Reddit user tooralghst suggests that the Predator is there to prey on the real baddies: the Americans engaged in unlawful activities abroad. The theory finds support in "Predator 2," where the initial targets are violent drug lords. Plus, in "Predators," the humans were all people of questionable character and morals. This theory posits that the actual "Predator" in the original film is Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) himself and that the Yautja uses its suicide bomb in an attempt to kill him and safeguard innocents. Arguments for it suggest the Predators are a neutral outside force acting as "peace enforcers."

The problem is it doesn't square with the original film or its immediate sequel. Why would the Yautja police small conflicts on Earth? Why in the fashion of a hunter instead of simply blowing all the mercs up? And what kind of cop disembowels, skins, and collects the skulls and spines of those it metes out justice to? And if they're peacekeepers, why does the "Predator 2" Yautja begin targeting the police who are peacekeepers themselves?

Again in the original, Anna Gonsalves (lpidia Carrillo) makes plain this isn't about ugly Americans invading her country. She tells of this happening to the men in her village during the hottest years by "el que hace trofeos de los hombres," or "the demon who makes trophies of man." Were all the local men killed of morally dubious character?

Reddit user Ogopog-stick proposed that the reason Predators have repeatedly hunted humans over the centuries is because creatures of intelligence and technological sophistication are exceedingly rare in the Predator universe, making humans a valuable prey species. We may not be the biggest or baddest physical specimens, but we have the capacity to outthink the Yautja and turn the tables. That makes humans irresistible. We're "The Most Dangerous Game" in the manner of the Urtext of humans-as-prey-stories, Richard Connell's 1924 story of that name.

This fits with what's seen throughout the film franchise. On the "Predators" game preserve world, the only non-human and perhaps intelligent prey creature depicted is a "River Ghost" that pursues Edwin (Topher Grace) before being gunned down.

Even if you accept the crossover "Alien Vs. Predator" films and the "Alien" franchise as part of the canon, the only other sapient and technological beings depicted would be the Engineers first seen in "Prometheus."

Explaining the entire Predator timelime is a fascinating subject, especially when it comes to connecting films set in modern times to the one set in the early 18th century. For instance, many fans have speculated on the significance of the pouch that hangs from Billy Sole's (Sonny Landham) neck in "Predator," and some have rightly interpreted it as a medicine bag, which agrees with page 80 of the shooting script. Naru wears a similar pouch around her neck in "Prey." Reddit user EvanUltraVulture suggested a direct connection between Naru (Amber Midthunder) in "Prey" and Billy in "Predator."

Other takes on this fan theory, preserved on the WayBack Machine, suggest that they are the same bag, and Billy is a descendant of Naru and inherited it, "along with a story of how it was integral to defeating a monster that came from the stars."

This is preposterous for several reasons. First, we have the extremely small likelihood that a small bag would survive almost four centuries of use without falling apart. Second, it would be an incredible coincidence if the First Nations character in the franchise kickoff would be of the same tribe, let alone directly related to, the hero of "Prey." Finally, and the real clincher, it would be rather unlikely that these two distant relatives, separated by 18 generations, would both happen to run afoul of alien hunters.

The Val Verde Cinematic Universe doesn't exist, at least not in the manner of official cinematic universes such as the Marvel Cinematic Unverse, etc. This "universe" is wholly the creation of fans who latched onto the fictional Nicaragua-esque country Val Verde that initially featured in unrelated films and TV series written or produced by Steven E. de Souza. 

Val Verde first appeared in "Commando" (1985), followed by an episode of "Supercarrier" (1988), and "Die Hard 2" (1990). The "Adventure, Inc." episode "Plague Ship of Val Verde" is set on an island of the same name. "Predator" doesn't name the country of the commandos' ill-fated mission, but de Souza told the Rogue Commentary podcast he believes it to be Val Verde, because both films were co-produced by Joel Silver. De Souza described his fictional land to Comic Book Resources as "something like Guyana, a country which encompasses lush Caribbean resorts popular with tourists, an unexplored mysterious rainforest, and a mix of Anglo, Spanish, African, Creole and indigenous cultures."

There are several variations on the Val Verde Cinematic Universe in fandom, and some connect everything with Val Verde to any "Predator" crossovers, including the "Alien" franchise... and way beyond. Sure, it's on pretty shaky ground, and teeters from fan theory to fan fiction, but it's fun to think about... as long as you don't think too hard.

JimmyAJames on Reddit suggests that Yautja and human perspectives are so alien to one another that the former's invitation to play this deadly game was completely misunderstood by the latter. The theory suggests that the helicopter found in the trees and the skinned bodies found nearby was the Predator's way of throwing down a gauntlet for would-be challengers in an "I dare you to step over this line" kind of way.  When Dutch's party discovers this and doesn't turn back, they unwittingly join in and become fair game.

A less plausible part of this speculation is the helicopter and bodies were a gift, an invitation. The team's attack on the guerrilla camp broke the rules of the game, provoking the fatal consequences.

It's a veritable certainty that any extraterrestrial's thought processes and customs would be "alien" and unfathomable to humans, who have evolved under a different sun. And unintentionally misreading social cues is familiar to anyone who's done much foreign travel. That all tracks. Whether this theory fits the facts of the story — let alone its sequels — is where it falls down. Why would the Predator slaughter the helicopter team but offer to play a game with those who followed? Because it assumed a second team would be of higher caliber (pun intended)? And as to rules, why would it care about Dutch's team wiping out the guerrillas unless the Predator wanted to use them as prey?

It's conventional wisdom that when Dutch finally defeats the Predator, it sets its wrist gauntlet self-destruct to ensure they die together. But one clever fan theory from a deleted account on Reddit (ghostofyourmom) is that the Predator accepted it had lost and was no longer trying to kill Dutch. Instead, the self-destruct was to erase any evidence of its presence. The theory also suggests that mimicking Billy's laugh was the dying Yautja's way of telling Dutch to get clear.

The question: why that sound? Did the Predator understand human humor? Camaraderie? And if so, was the Predator laughing with Dutch as in, "You beat me," or at him, like "We're both dead, sucker," manner? Perhaps it was dissing Dutch for showing mercy and not crushing its head with a rock. 

Of course, for this to work, we must ignore the "Predator 2" dialog describing the explosion as destroying an area of rainforest equivalent to 300 city blocks. That would be a blast radius of something order of 1,000 meters, which Dutch clearly did not run. The world record for such a distance is just over two minutes (set in 1999 according to WorldAthletics.org) ... and that's on a track. Not through a jungle.

One particularly out there fan theory by a former Reddit user goes the full Weyland-Yutani route, a la "Alien." It posits that, in "Predator," the CIA knew that an alien spacecraft and its extraterrestrial operator were in the Central American jungle and ordered Dillon (Carl Weathers, who passed away in February 2024) to assemble an elite team to go on a fake rescue mission as a cover, knowing they'd encounter the alien.

But this makes no logical sense. Sending in the group, including Dillon, blind to their real mission, with no intel and no clear goal regarding what to do, is a recipe for the disaster that ultimately happened. How could this possibly lead to success? Could the CIA expect them to kill the alien and drag its body to the chopper? Or get it to surrender? Had the Predator been less formidable, there's a fairly good chance these elite soldiers with their overpowered weapons would have blown it to bits and left those bits in the jungle, unlikely to be found again. But what would that accomplish?

If any team merited a "need to know," it was this one.

​​The biggest easter egg in "Prey" is the flintlock pistol Raphael Adolini gives to Naru: the exact pistol that Lieutenant Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) receives in the closing moments of "Predator 2." It's unquestionably the same weapon: the nameplate reads "Raphael Adolini 1715" in both, and Business Insider reported the "Prey" filmmakers used a Denix-made, Neny Dee-modified (seen in his YouTube video) replica of the "Predator 2" prop.

The significance of the Adolini pistol is an open question, as is how the Yautja will eventually lay claws on it. Reddit user drewgear speculates that the firearm won't be taken by Predators prying it out of Naru's cold dead hands, nor collected in the aftermath of slaughtering the village to claim it as a trophy. Naru's people won't be hunted by the Yautja hinted to be arriving in end credits sequence. Instead, Naru will give the weapon to one of the Yautja as a peace offering. This would perfectly mirror the ending of "Predator 2." At the climax of that film, Predators surround Harrigan, only to pick up their dead comrade and leave, and the Greyback gifting the centuries-old pistol to Harrigan.

The pistol would have little utility for Naru's tribe anyway, as they haven't the means for making gunpowder or balls (their form of bullets), so why keep a weapon symbolic of their would-be oppressors?

A former Redditor speculated on a Yautja crossover connection with antihero Riddick (Vin Diesel) of "The Chronicles of Riddick" franchise ("Pitch Black" (2000), "The Chronicles of Riddick" (2004), "Riddick" (2013), and the animated "The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury" (2004).) The theory suggests that a Predator took a young Riddick and trained him to be either a human Predator or the ultimate prey animal. Riddick's cunning, intelligence, exceptional combat abilities, survival instincts, and his trademark eyeshine — which allows him to see in the dark — would make him a dangerous quarry, even for a Yautja.

But as a theory, it's little more than a fun hypothetical what-if. While depicted as human in "Pitch Black," in subsequent films, Riddick is a Furyan, a humanoid species depicted as a warrior race. Such a background obviates the need for the Yautja training proposed in the theory.

Finally, the Riddick films have no connection to the Predator franchise, either through the "Alien vs. Predator" films or the Val Verde Cinematic Universe. That makes this particular theory about as likely as Klingons training Mandalorians, or vice versa.

Earth serves as a remedial planet for the Predators, where underperforming Yautja are sent for a chance at redemption ... or so suggests Reddit user wonderfool. Despite their technological superiority and hunting prowess, Predators are often defeated by individuals from our less advanced human civilization. Given this high failure rate, the theory suggests Earth is a destination for the Predators' worst cadets or students. In other words, we only see the Yautja equivalents of ineffectual Elmer Fudds. "Be vewy vewy quiet. I'm hunting humans."

But, as respondents to the original post were quick to point out, the films we see are the stories where humans win the day. The Yautja are established as having hunted game on Earth for centuries. Presumably, most of those hunts didn't result in humans winning. Even in those stories, look how many kills the Predators make before they're finally taken down. Aside from that, this could explain a lot about the failure of the Predators we see hunting humans, who, despite their technological superiority and hunting prowess, somehow manage to lose to the Mike Harrigans of the world. Best or worst theory? That depends on your point of view.

Looking back on these, one wonders what sort of fan theories we'd have if any of the many Predator movies we never got to see had been produced. All we can do is speculate.