Meredith Vickers: A king has his reign and then he dies, it's inevitable. Prometheus. 20th Century Fox, 2012. Movie.
Summary
|
|
|---|
Humans speak different languages, have different skin tones, pray to different deities (or none at all), and dress in different ways, but one thing we all have in common is death. Animals feel grief too, as many animals will fall silent to mourn or remember the life of one of their own. Animals like whales, chimpanzees, elephants, and magpies have funerals and seem to make "rituals" out of their grieving.
The Yautja are no exception.
Honoring / Remembering the Dead
|
|
|---|
Venerating the dead is the belief that deceased family members have a continued existence after death. After death, the spirits of the departed exist to look after the family or provide assistance. Ancestor veneration remains an important part of various religious practices in modern times. Ancestor reverence differs from the worship of a deity or deities.
The Yautja honor their dead. In 1997, City Hunter's clan carried off his body in reverence. In 2004, a group of Yautja retrieved Scar's body, and kept him on a ceremonial table until a PredAlien burst from his chest.
The Yautja also honor the dead of other races. In 1718, Golden Angel and Adolini fought together against Adolini's mutinous crew. At the end of the skirmish, Golden Angel and Adolini are about to battle one-on-one when when a surviving crew member, hiding nearby, shoots Adolini in the back. Denied his trophy, Golden Angel blasts the crew member away. Dying, Adolini whispers "Take it..." to Golden Angel, throwing his flintlock pistol. Golden Angel respectfully buries Adolini and leaves the dead Captain his extendable sword... "Take it".
It is yet unknown if they also set to be a time where they remember the departed or commemorate the death, or have their own death ritual to pay their respects.
The Soul/ Black Warrior
|
|
|---|
The central issues concerning the meaning of our existence on Earth always question the possibility of an afterlife, and if we have a soul.
Though he may not be an actual deity, the Black Warrior is the Yautja's Grim Reaper. It is the eternal adversary to any Yautja, and the Black Warrior eventually wins all battles. Yet, it is also seen with great respect among the Yautja society, and it guides the honored Yautja to the afterlife.
For a brave being, one would probably care for the dead before its usl-kwe (final rest).
All Yautja are worried about their deaths and the proper manner of them. There might not be any witnesses to carry the tale to their friends and relatives. No one would know if they had died bravely or not. In the end they would know. All beings die, later, sooner, no one escapes the Black Warrior. However, if it happened in battle, did they not meet the gods with blood on their blades, their laughter at Death still echoing around them? That was the thing; that way laid honor.
Smiling into the face of Death was sometimes said to unnerve even the Black Warrior.
A noble death was as much a victory as a noble conquest.
Warrior God / "Extraterrestrial Odin"
|
|
|---|
The Yautja also worship the Warrior God. Worshippers are known to mark themselves with a thunderbolt symbol, which is done when members of the clan finally come of age and prove themselves to their peers.
Celtic, Scar, and Chopper prostrate themselves before a stoned carved effigy wielding thunderbolts as weapons.
In the Novelization of Aliens vs. Predator, Celtic, Scar, and Chopper all prostrate themselves before a unnamed warrior god. Referred to as an "Extraterrestrial Odin", this stoned carved effigy wielded thunderbolts as weapons. It is unclear if this may be, the Black Warrior, although some sources report that diety to be a Xenomorph. The Hunters of this clan mark themselves with Thunderbolts as a coming of age symbol, making it possible they all follow this religion and are a part of this particular clan.
It is unclear if this may be the Black Warrior.