Ever since 1987, when the first film in the Predator franchise, titled Predator, was released, the world has been asking the same question over all these years: Why humans?
Why do the greatest hunters in the galaxy go on these sacred “hunts” and come to Earth to battle it out with the humans, and why not any other planet? This question had been bothering the world for too long. That’s where director Dan Trachtenberg jumped in to solve the age-old question. The answer actually makes a lot of sense and also solves a complicated question about the Alien franchise!
Predator: Killer of Killers confirmed the reason for their ‘hunt’
Known as Yautja or Hish-Qu-Ten, these so-called “Predators” go on a hunt to collect trophies to bring to their homeland. This has been going throughout the history of humanity as the franchise explores the different eras and periods when these Predators would come for a hunt.
Predator: Killer of Killers is the second installment by Dan Trachtenberg in the Predator franchise (the first being Prey), and although it is an animated movie, people have showered it with love and praise.
The storyline of Killer of Killers follows the Predators coming to Earth to hunt for sport. There are three storylines (namely Vikings, feudal Japan, and World War II) in Killer of Killers that converge in the end of the film for an epic finale.
However, in the franchise’s first, Predator: Killer of Killers might have just explained why the Yautja are hunting and targeting humans for all these years. At the beginning of the movie, an excerpt from the Yautja codex (the code of honor for the Predators) is shown. Here’s what the excerpt read:
Go forth among the stars and seek only the strongest prey.
They shall be your trophy.
Become the killer of killers.
Since every time a Predator comes to Earth, the humans have evolved to newer heights of technology, we become one of the strongest prey for the Predator to hunt.
The stronger the prey, the more fame and glory the predator would bring back to his planet. This is the reason that Earth is the favorite place of the Yautja for their sport and hunt because we are strong.
The Yautja codex helps explain the plot of Predator: Badlands
In Dan Trachtenberg’s upcoming movie, Predator: Badlands, a young Predator is exiled from his clan and finds an unlikely ally and goes on a perilous journey to find the ultimate adversary.
The predators who break the code of honor are deemed as “Bad Blood,” and young Predator Dek, who is the protagonist of Predator: Badlands, seems to have broken the Yautja codex, and hence, was exiled for his crimes against their code.
Hence, the outcast will have to fight the ultimate adversary so that it can rejoin the clan after its discharge and live its life while following the code of honor for the rest of the days to come.
It can be said that the Yautja codex is quite an important way for the Predators to live. Funnily enough, the codex is also part of the reason why the Alien vs. Predator movies are not considered canon to the franchise.
The Yautja codex also explains the canon of the Predator franchise
In 2004 and 2007, two movies were released titled Alien vs. Predator and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. People have generally never considered these movies to be canon to the Predator franchise, and for good reasons, too.
In the Alien vs. Predator movies, Predators feed humans to Aliens so that they can reproduce, thus creating a stronger prey for them to hunt. This is a direct violation of the Yautja codex, because this is a highly dishonorable way of hunting prey.
During the initial attack, the Predators kill innocent bystanders and civilians, and many more. In Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, there were several other moments as well that essentially broke the Yautja codex.
Although there may not have been a thing such as the Yautja codex when the Aliens vs. Predator movies were being made, it’s nice to see how the franchise is still continuing while keeping the past logical and intact. Of course, the Yautja codex will have some significance in the upcoming movies, and the world will wait in awe to see how this code of honor is followed by the galaxy’s greatest hunters.
Predator: Killer of Killers, which was released very recently, stands at a rating of 7.8/10 on IMDb and a whopping 97% on Rotten Tomatoes (some of the finest scores in the franchise).
Predator: Killer of Killers is available to stream on Hulu (USA).
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
