The new Hulu movie Prey sees the return of one of the most iconic and deadly movie creatures of all time. Making its memorable debut in the 1987 film Predator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the alien of the Yautja species has since spawned several sequels, spin-offs, comic books and more. While the design of the character is one of the most unique and formidable, the Predator's popularity mostly comes from how efficient it is at killing.

Predators are raised to be expert hunters. They engage in elaborate and dangerous games in which they stalk deadly prey, kill them and take gruesome trophies of their victories. The Predators have a variety of weapons and abilities that help make them such formidable hunters.

Voice Decoy

The Predators enjoy a fair enough match when hunting their prey even going so far as to avoid killing unarmed targets. But that doesn't mean they aren't above using the occasional cheap trick like their voice decoy abilities.

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First seen in Predator, the alien records the voice of his prey and uses it in their hunting. It can be used simply to confuse them but Predators also featured a scene in which it uses the voice of one of the dead characters in an attempt to lure the others into a trap.

Net

The Predator's net restricting on a Xenomorph in Alien vs Predator

This is a weapon that has only been seen in the Alien vs Predator movies so far. The Predator is able to launch this net that covers the prey and pins them down quite effectively. Given that the Predators don't seem to like taking prey alive, catching them in a net might seem surprising. However, it is also deadlier than it appears. In Alien vs Predator, he met is shown to ensnare one of the victims and then slowly constrict, cutting them with its unbreakable wire. It might not be the most practical of the Predator's weapons, but it might be one of the most painful.

Claws

With all the fancy alien gadgets at its disposal, it is easy to forget that the Predator is also just an incredibly strong and imposing alien. Its vicious long claws on each of its hands are enough to do more damage than most of the enemies it will go up against. Clearly, the Predator likes to have a little more fun than just relying on its claws, but The Predator showed just how effective it can be as one of the aliens clawed a victim effortlessly and in gory fashion.

Armor

The Jungle Hunter looks to the camera in Predator searching for Dutch in Predator (1987)

Though these aliens are certainly powerful, they are also not indestructible. As Dutch says in Predator, "If it bleeds we can kill it," and given the deadly prey the Predators like to hunt, they certainly need some protection from time to time. Their slick-looking armor along with the iconic Predator mask provides an extra piece of mind when the prey decides to fight back. Along with looking cool, it also can withstand some heavy firepower which they often come up against.

Predator Dogs

Just as human hunters use dogs in their hunting methods, the Predators also bring some of their alien pets to their hunts. Predators introduced these terrifying cosmic hounds that are deadly enough in their own right as they could easily tear a victim apart.

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But they are shown to be used in a way that serves the Predator's killing methods. The hounds are shown to round up the prey or lure them into a place where they can be more easily picked off.

Wrist Blades

As much as the Predators like to pick off victims from afar, that can get a bit boring for them. Luckily, they are still extremely deadly when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. One of their favorite weapons to use in these scenarios are the wrist blades.

The long and incredibly sharp blades extend from the Predator's wrist gauntlet. In one quick slice, the Predators can do away with their targets. They've even been used to slice and dice the Xenomorphs in the Alien vs Predator films.

Drones

The jungle setting of the original movie gave the Predator plenty of places to hide, always keeping an eye on his prey and waiting for the right moment to strike. However, in 2010's Predators, the hunters have some help to keep an eye on things while they hunt on an alien planet. The Predators have robotic bird-like drones which follow the humans as they make their way across the dangerous landscape. This ensures the hunters can keep an eye on their targets and makes it extremely difficult for those targets to escape.

Bladed Disc

Predators seem to be big fans of blades when it comes to their hunting. Most of their weapons are used for these kinds of brutal kills and their bladed discs are among the most devastating. Unlike the wrist blades, Predators can use these discs to take out victims from afar. The small, circular discs are lined with large blades similar to the ones on their gantlets. They can throw them considerable distances and we've seen these discs are sharp enough to cut through more than one victim before returning to the Predators.

Spear

Despite being technologically-advanced beings with weaponry far superior to anything on earth, the Predators like to keep things old-fashioned. Many of their weapons are designed after more primitive combat tools, like their spears. Of course, just because they like to keep things more interesting with these old-school weapons, doesn't mean they aren't deadly.

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The spears they use are retractable, depending on the kind of combat they are involved in. They are also used as throwing spears, which the Predators wield with deadly accuracy.

Heat Detection

When someone comes face-to-face with a Predator, they can tell pretty quickly that they are outmatched. Rather than try to fight, the prey usually choose to run. While that's probably the smarter thing to do, hiding from a Predator is not easy at all.

One of their abilities includes seeing thermal readings with their special helmets. They are able to detect the body heat of their victims, so they can be found pretty much anywhere they hide. Dutch discovered that mud can hide his body heat leading to the movie's epic final boss fight, but the prey are in trouble if there's no big pile of mud around.

Shoulder Canon

The Predator writer teases alien mythology

As much as the Predators have fun with their spear and blades, sometimes they just like to show off the big guns. While they don't have a lot of firepower in their arsenal, the shoulder cannon usually seems to be more than enough. The small cannon is mounted on the Predator's shoulder, capable of firing powerful plasma blasts powerful enough to blow the heads clear off their targets and make for some of the best kills in the Predator franchise. They also seem to have unlimited firing ability, so they could take on a whole horde of enemies.

Cloaking Device

The Predator in the original film was so scary because for the first half of the film, you couldn't see it. The hunter watched his prey from afar, slowly picking off one or two along the way. But the others never saw him, because of his cloaking device. The cloaking is initiated on the Predator's gauntlet and allows them to blend into their background. An extra-terrestrial hunter is bad enough, but when you can't see it coming, these creatures become a lot more deadly. The stealthy sneaking has become a big trope in all Predator movies adding to its terrifying nature.

Resilience

Alien Versus Predator Requiem

Predators like a good fight. They are not interested in picking off unarmed or weak prey, they are more interested in hunting killers. Because of their choice in prey, more often than not, their prey fights back. It has been proven that Predators can certainly be bested and killed, but not easily.

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Predators can take more pain and punishment than humans. Bullets, blades, and other weapons can hurt them, but they are extremely resilient and it takes a lot to finally put one down for good.

Super Strength

Predator 2018 - Boyd Holbrook and Olivia Munn

With all the weapons they have on hand, sometimes the Predators just want to shed those and have a simple fight. Of course, fighting an unarmed Predator is still a very deadly thing to do. These aliens are immensely strong and can easily kill someone with their bare hands. They can throw a person around like a rag doll, punch through concrete and even swing a Xenomorph by its tail. They are also able to rip someone's spine out with one hand. That's pretty impressive.

Self-Detonation

The Predator 2018

With all their codes and rules to hunt by, Predators are still poor losers. Whenever a Predator is defeated in a hunt, they initiate a system on their gauntlet which causes a massive explosion, which would likely wipe out any of their prey that lived/the foe that somehow bested them. The self-detonation is meant to allow the Predator to die on their own terms, as well as cover up their existence, but it is a bit unfair to whoever actually managed to kill them. It pretty much ensures that even if you beat a Predator, you still usually lose.

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