Yautja Vehicles: Land-Based Transports Of Predators

Although the Predators use exotic and fast starships to arrive at their hunting locations, they sometimes rely on land-based vehicles as well. These rarely-seen vehicles are mostly for transport, but some serve other purposes as well. Here is an overview of all the land-based machines in the vast Predator inventory of advanced technology, many of which use hover technology to traverse the terrain.

Giant Drill

The exact purpose of the giant vehicle seen on the Game Preserve Planet in Predators is not clear, although the movie seems to indicate it is for drilling or mining purposes. It had been on the planet for a longer time and had been abandoned, to become a makeshift shelter for Ronald Noland. Most likely, the Predators had exhausted the resources in the area and re-purposed the planet for their Game Preserve. The drill moved on giant tracks, like a tank, and did not employ any hover or cloaking technology. It is possible that the giant drill was not built by the Predators themselves, but stolen, like some of the other technology in the Yautja's arsenal, which was taken from the Amengi race.

Blade Fighter

The Predator Blade Fighter is a hovering vehicle that is built not for transport purposes, but for battle, as it's name implies. The Blade Fighter is the only known Predator toy vehicle and was initially released by Kenner in 1993. Two decades later, NECA made a bigger re-imaging of the vehicle, releasing one of their largest toy packages to date. The Blade Fighter came armed with ball-joined cannons (with spring-loaded projectiles) and included a storage for Predator gear and weapons. The pilot of the hovercraft was Viper Predator, but any other Predator could take the reins of this Yautja vehicle.

Predator Hover Bike

Similar to the Blade Fighter, the Predator Hover Bike appeared in one of the weirdest Predator comics ever - JLA vs. Predator. In this crossover story, a group of genetically enhanced hybrid Predators took on the entire Justice League. These so-called "Meta Predators" had gained most of the powers of the superheroes, including Superman and Plastic Man. The Predator with the plastic man powers drove around on a hoverbike, taking pot-shots at the heroes. In a bizarre twist, he later turned himself into a Predator plane to take the fight even higher to the skies. Predictably, these Predator hybrids and their strange vehicles were defeated by the superheroes.

Alien Egg Transporter

The first Aliens vs. Predator comic series contains a blink-and-you-miss-it Predator vehicle that was used for transporting Alien eggs. The Predators had captured an Alien Queen and brought it to their massive Mothership, building an assembly line around her for fast egg extraction. Near the end of the assembly line, an oddly shaped vehicle took a trio of eggs and transported them on a saucer-like appliance to another assembly. This would then most transport them onboard a scout ship, ready to seed a planet with Alien eggs. The Predators could then hunt the emerging Xenomorphs, born from the local fauna or helpless humans.

Hunting Platform

The hunting hover platforms were used the an offshoot sub-species of Yautja called the Hish-qu-Ten. Appearing in the reviled book Predator: Forever Midnight, this species was a lazier version of the Yautja, not following the Predator Hunting rules and taking every shortcut available to them. This laziness manifested in these hover platforms, allowing them to move around in the jungle without climbing the trees or making an effort for stealth. The Hish-Qu-Ten could just snipe their prey from the platforms and be picked up by their ships later. However, the platforms proved ineffective and the whole hunting party was wiped out.

Predator Shrine

Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction is the only real-time strategy game involving Predators, and not surprisingly, it does feature a few Yautja vehicles. The Predator Shrine serves as the main hub and movable base for the Predator race, allowing many different capabilities to be used. It serves as a communications center, a place of worship of the Yautja gods, and a storage of weaponry and trophies. Furthermore, this structure boasts a formidable array of multi-targeting laser weaponry, allowing it to engage multiple adversaries simultaneously. It's vulnerabilities include difficulty with fire-resistant and close-quartest enemies, or enemies with very long range. Another automated vehicle in the game is the "Pred-Gun", a robotic turret and mobile turret that hovers off the ground.

Conclusion

The Yautja, with their sophisticated technology and unwavering commitment to the hunt, are a formidable and fascinating species in the realm of science fiction. While their land-based transports play a vital role in their hunting operations, they are only one facet of the broader Yautja culture. These vehicles reflect the Predators' dedication to their craft and their ability to adapt to diverse environments in their relentless pursuit of the ultimate prey.