The Predator’s Yautja are considered the greatest hunters in the cosmos due to their unparalleled combat skills and advanced technology, though Alien’s Xenomorphs prove that expert killers aren’t made, they’re born, as even the Predator’s deadliest weapon is useless against the Xenomorphs–and one Alien vs Predator story proves it.
Fans got a clear understanding of how a Predator hunts and what kind of weaponry they are working with in the very first installment of the franchise, 1987’s Predator–and since then, they’ve only become more skilled, and more advanced. In the first film, a Predator was shown using a cloaking/invisibility device, a plasma shoulder-cannon, a double-claw extending from one fist, and a wrist-sized mega bomb. Later in the franchise, Predators have added constricting nets, spears, and shurikens to their arsenals–not to mention the enhanced Super Predator introduced in The Predator. All of these weapons and upgrades are meant to complement and enhance the training every Predator goes through throughout their violent lives, and one technological enhancement always proves to be the greatest advantage of them all–if only it worked against their ultimate prey.
The Predator’s Cloaking Device is Useless Against the Xenomorphs (For One Reason)
In Aliens vs Predator #3 by Randy Stradley and Phill Norwood, a team of Predators has seeded a world with Xenomorphs in order to hunt the alien creatures and complete their Blooding Ritual (a rite of passage every Yautja must undergo to reach full maturity). Unfortunately, this planet has already been colonized by humanity, so these settlers have found themselves in the middle of an all-out war between the two deadliest creatures in the cosmos. This issue opens with one human, Machiko Noguchi, running from a horde of Xenomorphs after she witnessed that same horde ruthlessly tearing apart a Predator. Moments later, Mochiko notices a strange shimmer behind her, one that looks vaguely humanoid, but could have easily been a trick of the light. Sure enough, that shimmer was a Predator who was using its cloaking device–and Machiko only learned that after witnessing this Predator get attacked by the Xenomorphs as well.
Fans of the Alien franchise are well aware that Xenomorphs don’t have eyes, as even the rare glimpses through their translucent heads reveals nothing but empty eye sockets, confirming that there is nothing beneath their chitinous hood. This means that Xenomorphs have to sense their surroundings in other ways, and while those have never officially been disclosed (thus adding to the mysterious cosmic horror surrounding its species), fans can confidently say that it has nothing to do with eyesight. Therefore, a device that makes one invisible would have absolutely no effect on something that doesn’t use eyes to see.
This revelation is indeed a shocking one as a Predator’s cloaking device has proven to be incredibly useful throughout every installment of the Predator film franchise. It is a pretty established cliché within Predator that the Yautja will use its cloaking device until it is damaged by one of the characters it is hunting right before the third act, just in time to face off one-on-one with the main protagonist. However, before it’s rendered useless, the Predator’s invisibility is how it is able to take out most of its victims throughout the whole first half of the movie. In fact, one could argue that the Predators only face legitimate danger once their cloaking devices are damaged, because time and again, they are killed not long afterwards. Based on this evidence, it is clear that the cloaking device is a Predator's greatest weapon–but Alien vs Predator confirms that this weapon is useless against Alien’s Xenomorphs.