Dutch to Jungle Hunter: "What the hell are you?" Predator. 20th Century Fox, 1987. Movie.
Intro
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The Yautja (pronounced Ya-OOT-ja) are a large, intelligent, extraterrestrial species with long lifespans. In spite of their advanced technology and the ability to travel interstellar distances, they prefer a tribal structure and a warrior lifestyle, infamous for killing other species, traveling from world to world in search of prey.
Unlike humans, they do not pollute or strip mine their worlds, breed so excessively that they need to colonize other worlds to support their needlessly expanding population, or exterminate whole species.
Warriors who have experience in combat are respected, and gaining respect can only be gained through battle. The majority of them hunt for sport, and often target opponents who are real threats, like Dutch's mercenary team in 1987.
There is evidence that the Yautja are hunting on Earth since 11,993 BC, maybe even earlier, although Dr. Bergstrom believes they are originally from Earth. It has long been suspected that they hunted dinosaurs to extinction. Nevertheless, they still exist in 4001 A.D.
Most Yautja do not engage in grotesque experimentation, fundamentally alter natural laws/dynamics, conquest, enslavement, torture, or alteration of other sentient species.
As of yet, they have not indicated intentions of invasion; however, events of 2018 are threatening that notion. At least some factions of Yautja (including the Super Yautja) were taking trophies as a means of gathering DNA. Casey Bracket uncovers the Yautja are stealing traits from the "best" humans before the human race is wiped out by climate change. According to her, they may be gathering genetic material from other species for the same reason.
Casey Bracket: So, remember how I told you how they take people’s spines, right?
Quinn McKenna: Yeah, for trophies.
Casey: Yes! Yes! From the strongest, smartest, the most dangerous species on every planet they visit.
Quinn: Collecting survival traits from the most high-end specimens.
Casey: I think they’re attempting hybridization.
Quinn: You’re just pulling this out of your ass.
Casey: Did you not see the new Predator? It’s evolving.
Quinn: Or being upgraded. The Predator. 20th Century Fox, 2018. Movie.
Stories, myths, and fables associated with the Yautja range from the fables of the Choctaw cannibal spirit to the Rakshasa myth or even hoblings and will 0'wisps. As they pass through thickly wooded forests or across rooftops, they appear as sliver of "shimmering air." It remains an unforgettable sight - if one survives long enough to remember it.
The Yautja sometimes visit planets with intelligent game and hunt them for trophies. Several deadly species, including Kiande Amedha, have been encountered by Yautja.
There is an honor code most Yautja follow. Despite showing mercy to the young and the weak, they slaughter and behead their enemies who they consider worthy prey, and they show respect and gratitude to their enemies. It is more than common for the Yautja to reward even humans with a rare weapon as a sign of respect to their fallen comrades.
It has happened on several occasions that when the prey beats the Yautja, the prey is let go; other Yautja will not avenge their comrade. If the Yautja is barely alive, he will either fall on his own sword or be willingly executed by another Yautja. There are some exceptions to this, such as "Bad Bloods".
In addition to using high tech smart weapons, hunters often use low-tech blades and spears to hunt and kill their prey. After capturing their prey, they usually remove a part of their body as a trophy, most often their skull and spine.
In their culture, the Yautja have a coming of ageceremony in which they hunt Kiande Amedha, which are considered the ultimate prey. When one defeats a Kiande Amedha, they earn the tribe's respect. The Yautja mark their helmets or foreheads with the acidic blood from the Kiande Amedha to indicate their success in hunting it.
Sometimes, the Yautja ally with another species based on a mutual threat, such as an emerging Kiande Amedha infestation.
Origin
Billy: I'm scared Poncho.
Poncho: Bullshit. You ain't afraid of no man.
Billy: There's something out there waiting for us, and it ain't no man. We're all gonna die. Predator. 20th Century Fox, 1987. Movie.
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It is true that the Yautja are aliens from another world. During the Ice Age in 11,993 BC, a Yautja ship landed in the Andes, South America, but was unable to leave due to the Earth's gravitational pull. They landed inside a dormant volcano. Jungle Hunter's ship flies toward Earth in 1987, and a smaller vessel descends from it into the atmosphere. Two Yautja fought in space in 2018, causing one to crash-land on Earth.
Dr. Bergstrom speculated about the origins of the Yautja while an unidentified government agent (possibly from OWLF) sought to suppress any knowledge about the Yautja. She theorized that the Yautjas seen in Yellowstone were on a pilgrimage back to Earth, to return to their roots or spawning grounds, as part of some homing instinct across space. Evolution has so many gaps, with creatures seemingly disappearing virtually overnight. According to Dr. Bergstrom, the Yautja were evolutionary descendants of Therapsids - primitive mammalian precursors who somehow left the Earth to be fulfilled by a greater intelligence. However, none of her theories were backed up by significant evidence.
Perhaps they did evolve here. Mountains once contained some of the largest game species (dinosaurs, etc.). The Yautja could have survived, but after running out of challengers, moved on. Wherever they went, conditions were different. Someone once speculated that crocodiles would be dragons if they had better circulation.
Magnetic fields are used by migratory animals to navigate. Space may have a conductivity of some sort. They could pick it up with their ships. That's why returning is such a rare privilege. Normallly, someone like the Yellowstone Yautja would be permitted, but not Bad Bloods.
Dr Bergstrom: Different predators require responses, you know. With some, you must stand your ground, or they perceive you as prey. While with others, confronting them is seen as a challenge. Predator: Homeworld #2
Homeworld
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From where Wolf came originally is likely to be an ancestral Yautja world. There is no visible vegetation on this hot planet with flowing lava. The planet has a rough terrain with canyons and mountains. The horizon is filled with large stone structures, including pyramids like those on Earth. There were also tall buildings in the distance, possibly a city with skyscrapers. A few Yautja spaceships are present, including Wolf's ship.
Wolf appears to live in a penthouse-type apartment, displaying trophies and having easy access to his equipment. Due to Wolf's fast ship, he can travel from this planet to Earth in a matter of hours in 2004.
The Game Preserve Planet, on which the Super Yautja hunted in 2008, was believed to be the Super Yautja's homeworld. Furthermore, due to its proximity to other planets orbiting them, it was thought that this planet was orbiting a Homeworld.
The Yautja visiting Earth in 1999 appeared to come from a rock-based planet with little vegetation. There is one green moon and a smaller red moon. As in Native American tribes, the Yautja on this planet live in simple tribal communities, such as caves or simple structures.
A bio-mask hologram shows Upgrade Yautja an image of a red planet in 2018, possibly a Homeworld; and Four Yautja are watching him as he is injected with an upgrade serum, causing a rapid DNA reaction, on the table.
Originally an offshoot of the Yautja, the Hish-Qu-Ten homeworld is full of swamps, and they developed from swamp creatures.
By 2692, the Yautja warriors have a duty to visit their Homeworld at least once in their lifetime, and it is considered an honor for them to do so. A drophole (probably similar to the one Fugitive used to reach Earth) might be necessary to travel several months or even years to reach this planet, which is considered very far away from Earth.
Yautja Variations
Noland (Regarding the Super Yautja): Anyway, there's two different types of them out there. Hmm? Now, they're similar, but they're different. It's kind of like the difference between dogs and wolves. The one's that are running things up there, the larger ones, hunt the smaller ones. It's some kind of blood feud, I guess. Been going on for a long time.
Royce: They do this just for sport?
Noland: Oh, yeah, they bring in fresh meat season after season. I mean, shit you wouldn't believe. Bring it in, hunt it and kill it. In that order. Predators. 20th Century Fox, 2010. Movie.
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As clans don't often interact with each other, there may be differences between clans and Yautja sub-species. As a result, Yautjas differ in their features, evident in the difference between Jungle Hunter and City Hunter. Colors and magnitude may differ slightly (but they are still present).
The Game Preserve Planet has two Yautja types, with the difference being comparable to that between a dog (Classics) and a wolf (Super Yautja), as Noland noted. The Super Yautja (Berserker, Tracker, and Falconer) battled with the Classic clan. The Super Yautja (who are actually cousins to Yautja) have larger heads, different eyes and a more protruding mouth than the Classic clan. There is currently no known reason why Super Yautja differ physiologically from their regular counterparts.
Yautja Hybrid
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- Rank: Unknown.
- Bio Data: Yautja Male. 12'.
As a result of being infected with Black Goo, the android Elden transformed into a monstrous mutated being. Elden bites a Yautja, and the infection mutates it quickly. The Yautja grows in size and grows extra arms and manbibles. The Infected Yautja becomes a mindless killer who can take down any opponent in hand-to-hand combat.
Having devoured its allies' flesh, the Infected Yautja then destroyed a horde of kiande amedha. Eventually Elden defeated the crazed Yautja.
Captive Yautjas
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The pursuit of a living Yautja for scientific study and observation has been attempted many times.
- In 1997, Agent Keyes tried capturing City Hunter with the help of OWLF.
- Tyler Stern built a biosphere to study the Yautja in its own environment in 1998, but his compound was raided by a military attack team called Nimrod Squadron.
- In 2018, Project Stargazer captured Fugitive who, while escaping Upgrade, crashlanded in Mexico. At the Stargazer base, he was strapped to a table with both arms and legs restrained. When Upgrade arrived, Fugitive had no problem escaping when the humans were distracted.
- A few young Yautja of the Dark Blade Clan (such as Stone Heart and Long Spear), while hunting, were captured and experimented on by Borgia Industries in 2030. Their blood was also drained, and blood packs were made to store it, after which autopsies and augmentations were performed on their bodies. During his hunt for them in Neonopolis, Scarface killed them.
- The "Area 52" Yautja was captured and taken to the secret Colonial Marine base. In the course of his experiments, he was impregnated with a Facehugger and gave birth to a Predalien called "The Abomination" - who was killed by a second Yautja. This caused "Area 52" Yautja to self-destruct and the whole base exploded after the second Yautja escaped in the ship.
Stolen Yautja Tech
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The Yautja are technologically advanced, and tend to use technology to enhance their culture, individuality, and capabilities, rather than becoming complacent and overly dependent on it. They have used some of their weapons and crafts for millennia. Their technology is extremely valuable to them, and they will go to great lengths to prevent others from obtaining it, even to the point of self-destruction.
On numerous occasions, humans have adapted stolen Yautja technology to turn against the Yautja themselves. Among them are:
- Strikeforce utilizes their technology
- Gideon Lee has also copied their technology so that he can use it for his own purposes
- The technology Scarface leaves behind in 1930 is used to develop new technologies a century later.
Clans
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The Yautja are organized into groups or clans. Clans seem to be somewhat familial, with clear hierarchical structures and leaders. Their technologies and customs are distinct, though they are mostly the same. Clans are usually led by an Elder and comprise at least three Yautja.
Every 100 years, the Antarctic Clan sends their young blood to Bouvet Island for a blooding ritual. The clan was based on a big mothership in 2004, with smaller scout ships attached. They failed to detect the Predalien in Scar, who spawned on the ship and caused a scout ship to crash to Earth. Wolf was brought in later to clear up the mess. It's unknown if Wolf was related to his clan.
As of 2224, Dachande's clan had visited several planets, sometimes planting Ovomorphs from captive Queens held in the ship's hold to "seed" a planet with Kiande Amedha prey. During the visiting of Ryushi, Dachande's lander ship was destroyed, leaving him unconscious. After Tichinde took over command, Kiande Amedha killed the majority of them. Dachande recovered shortly thereafter and defeated Tichinde. In the end, Dachande died from injuries he sustained fighting Kiande Amedha and the Queen. Despite these odds, a small number of the clan survived aboard the mothership and Machiko Noguchi later joined them.
Since Dark Blade Clan members hunted every 100 years on Earth and wore similar armor, it was probably related to the Antarctica clan. They were known for their plasma-forged weapons. Several members of the Dark Blade clan (Heart, Swift Knife, and Long Spear) were abducted, experimented on, and brainwashed by Borgia industries. When Scarface killed Hunter Borgia, this rivalry ended.
The small Elite Clan hunted on BG-386, as well as several other worlds. The Kiande Amedha is sacred for the clan, and one must kill one in melee combat to become a member. Dark was one of the most formidable Elite Clan of all time. Dark fought Specimen 6 and lost; as a result, he was harvested by a Facehugger and gave birth to a Predalien. A few other notable members were Spartan and Serpent Hunter - who wore a Kiande Amedha mask.
Under the influence of the kill gland, the Hish's Karepta Clan leader launched a nuclear attack on his rival clan.
Hish's Kuk clan held exclusive control over Safari Planet 3998 (aka Midnight). Shesh-Kuk leads the clan. There is no information on how many of the clan members (if any) survived the incident on Safari Planet.
The Killer clan, considered heretics by mainstream Yautja, were Bad Bloods. It was common for the Killer clan to engage in more killing than hunting, which was considered dishonorable by many Hunters. It was in Africa at the beginning of the 21st century that the Killer clan first appeared. By the end of the 22nd century, they were involved in a civil war with the regular Hunters. Another departure from Yautja laws was using kiande amedha and dogs for hunting, since these were not regular Yautja practice. In order to destroy the Killer clan once and for all, Machiko Noguchi joined forces with traditional Yautja and Colonial Marines.
In 1997, the Lost Hunters clan made Los Angeles their hunting ground during a heatwave, but only City Hunter ventured into the city. The other hunters remained on the ship. The trophy wall on the ship displayed the achievements of the Lost Hunters, including the head of a Kiande Amedha. Greyback, the elder of the clan, had a long hunting career that began in the Caribbean in 1718 when he fought pirates. After City Hunter died, the Lost Hunters clan left Los Angeles.
During the ice age, a Lost Colony clan ship landed in the Andes, South America and could not leave because it could not escape Earth's gravitational pull. They landed in a dormant volcano, Viejo Abuelo, and lived underground.
The LV-742 Clan clan was granted exclusive hunting rights on the planet LV-742. The Council of Ancients pitted this clan against the LV-742 Poacher clan and won.
In the late 24th century, Smiley and his clan hunted on a human-colonized world. Humans on the planet were largely ignored by the clan, which focused on taking Kiande Amedha trophies. After Kiande Amedha emerged from an old temple and wiped out the rest of the clan, Smiley went on a rampage and killed a Queen. Smiley was the sole survivor of his clan and the last person on the planet after the humans left.
A clan of large and hostile Yautja with a long-standing rivalry with other Yautja clans, the Super Yautja are racially and culturally distinct. Nightstorm, a Yautja who disowned Yautja ways and distanced himself from the traditional hunters, started the Super Yautja clan over 40,000 years ago. Nightstorm became their elder, carrying his genetic characteristics - as well as being rebellious - in the clan. Their heads were more elongated and they stood taller. In the Game Preserve Planet there are three people considered outcasts, possibly forced there as punishment. Yautja dogs were used to track and weaken their prey. The three Super Yautja managed to kill more than half of the humans before they themselves were killed.
The Tartarus clan was a small clan that hunted on Tartarus with Ahab. Hornhead was the clan's champion. To gain control of the clan, Ahab fought him and won. Along with Colonial Marines, they fought hordes of Kiande Amedha. Even though some clan members died, the Elder and Ahab survived along with some other Yautja.
In the Widow clan there are female Yautja who lost their mates during hunting expeditions. As seasoned warriors themselves, the females of the clan were highly respected by other Yautja. Members of the group include Hashori and Yaquita. Hashori attacked her prey aggressively and tortured them with whips and other devices. Yaquita lost her legs during a hunt and became a wheelchair-bound scientist.