In Regards to the Yautja Genus and its Species
For 23 years, the Predators, as far as I'm aware, were only shown to have one species, with racial differences (see: Jungle Hunter and City Hunter.) However, in 2010 with the movie Predators, we were introduced to Super Predators. The particular individuals shown were described to have a "blood feud" with the Crucified Predator's tribe. Once again, in 2022's Prey, yet another Yautja species has been introduced, this time 300 years prior in the timeline; they are the Feral Predators.
And of course, I must acknowledge NECA's lore for their Alpha Predator, a member of the Hish-qu-Ten, precursors to the Yautja as we know them. However, no attention will be paid to the individuals from the 2018 film The Predator, because fuck that movie.
As you may know, in the past, there were quite a few variants of humans. We are H. sapiens, though our ancestors lived alongside others of different species and subspecies, such as H. neanderthalensis. You likely also know that none of those exist anymore, due to many reasons: climate change, violence, interbreeding with H. sapiens, etc.
Therefore comes the main question of this post: why is it that Yautja, a people thousands of years older than humans, still have three separate species? Not only that, but their dominant culture revolves around hunting the most dangerous game, which would definitely lead to high death rates, so their genus would need extensively high birth rates to continue into the far future.
And so, using the films and expanded material, I've come to some crackhead theories educated guesses as to what the hell is going on with them.
Classics, Supers, and Ferals all evolved alongside one another, but due to Hish-qu-Ten migration after the rebellion against the Amengi, each came about in different hemispheres of their homeworld. Eventually they'd meet one another, and blood feuds would commence, leading to the majority of Supers to leave and colonize other planets. Over time, as their cultures grew, the species would become more accepting of one another, though it would be too late for the Ferals as they would soon go extinct in the early 20th century.
What do you think of this? Do you agree? Do you hate me? Please do discuss.
Posted Sep 27, 2022, 12:01 AM UTC
Who says there are only those 3? There could be 100 more that we just haven’t seen
[deleted]
How would that make less sense? A species that has access to space travel and visits planets across the galaxy having multiple sub-species variants is even more likely. Even on Earth alone birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, etc tend to have enormous variety. Just because humans have somehow combined into 1 genus doesn’t mean anything else ever does
You make a good point, but I'm operating on the idea of the before mentioned "blood feud" and of course the dominant hunting culture; the different species and subspecies would more than likely hunt each other to extinction.
However, you have opened my eyes on the concept of different Yautja evolving on different planets due to hundreds if not thousands of years of space travel. In such a case, I feel Yautja would only be more hostile towards one another, and the hunting culture may not persist in some variants.