Spoilers ahead for Predator #1!
There are few alien creatures throughout the Sci-Fi genre that are more deadly than the Predator as that species has developed highly-advanced technology which they use solely for the purpose of traveling the cosmos and hunting dangerous prey worthy of their time. With the Predators’ species-wide desire to kill the most dangerous game also comes an unspoken code of honor upheld by every hunter–though one of the latest Predator stories reveals that ‘code of honor’ actually has a twisted secret purpose.
The Predator (otherwise known as Yautja) is a space-traveling alien hunter who uses equal parts advanced technology and impressive fighting/hunting skills to kill even the most deadly organisms in the known universe–including the ‘perfect organism’ itself, the Xenomorph. Fans were first introduced to a Predator in the 1987 movie Predator, a film that launched the ever-growing lore of the Predator species spanning multiple movies, books, and comic book continuations. The franchise gave fans a deeper look into how the Predators choose their prey as well as how their hunts are conducted. One thing that has rung true from the very beginning is that the Predator’s code of honor which states that a Predator must only kill worthy prey. In other words, the code declares that can only kill prey that has a chance of fighting back. So, killing a helpless creature would be dishonorable. This means that anyone or anything incapable of putting up a good fight against a Predator is completely left alone, including children.
In Predator #1 by Ed Brisson and Kev Walker, readers are thrown into an all-new Predator story following a survivor of a Predator attack and her quest for bloody vengeance. As a child, Theta and her family were living on a far-off world as a part of an exploratory mission but, unfortunately, the explorers stumbled upon one of the most dangerous creatures in the galaxy: the Predator. The Predator kills everyone Theta cares about right in front of her but leaves her alive because she was just a child thus unworthy of the Predator’s wrath. However, that code the Predator must live by may be its undoing as Theta grew up to be the perfect ‘Predator-killer’ as she has acquired a number of kills under her belt while searching the cosmos for the one Predator who killed her family.
It seems as though the Predator living by its species’ code of honor was a huge mistake in this issue–unless the events that have unfolded have happened by design. What the Predator craves more than anything is a worthy hunt to prove itself the strongest in the universe, and their code of honor ensures that the Predator will never run out of prey. By leaving the weakest of a specific species alive after a hunt, those survivors are made aware of the unparalleled killing capability of the Predator and use that knowledge to become better killers themselves. Basically, Predators are creating their own perpetual cycle of increasingly challenging life forms to hunt, which makes them even stronger as well.
This idea that Predators only keep the weakest of a certain species alive so that they can get stronger and provide a greater challenge in the future makes way more sense than the Predators leaving some people alive just because they are unworthy prey. Predators regularly use their technological advantage over lesser species to kill them quickly and unfairly. Predators can camouflage themselves perfectly, use thermal vision, and plasma cannons that can destroy almost anything. There is nothing honorable about killing a less-evolved species, like humans, with such advanced weaponry regardless of whether that species wields weapons of their own or not. This implies that the Predator only allows children and other ‘weaker’ prey to live, not because it would be a question of honor, but because the Predator wants to give them the chance to become a threat. This proves that the Predator’s ‘code of honor’ has a twisted secret purpose.
Predator #1 is now available from Marvel Comics!
