Why The Predator’s Species Is Called “Yautja” | Screen Rant
The Predators are some of the deadliest monsters in all of cinema, but there’s a lot more to their name and origins than people realize.
The Predator series has turned into a robust franchise with a lot of life left in it, and while the titular creatures are a frightening sort, there’s lots about their species audiences still don’t understand, including the origin of their name, "Yatuja".
What makes the Predator movies stand out from other monster franchises that dominated the ‘80s and ‘90s is that the films effectively toe the line between action blockbuster and horror movie. The original movies highlight some of the biggest action stars of the time that are just as much the focus as the deadly Predator that’s hunting everyone. The Predator movies have mixed things up over the years, whether it’s through battles with Xenomorphs from the Alien movies or getting creative with the different environments that become their hunting grounds. Through all of these changes, the Predators themselves have relatively remained the same.
The joy of the Predator franchise is how these expert extraterrestrial hunters are so easily able to turn elite professionals into their unsuspecting prey. The movies often turn into thrilling and over-exaggerated cat-and-mouse scenarios that set out to prove truly who is the deadliest animal. Characters are forced to fight for their lives like they never have before. Also, the films are filled with creative kills and a thoroughly fascinating alien race that can’t seem to leave humans alone.
The creatures are typically referred to as Predators or Hunters in the movie, but this is merely the name that humans have given these unexplainable aliens. The Predator comics and novel explore their stories from the creatures' perspective, which provides insight into what they're actually called. The term "Yautja" first appears in Aliens vs. Predator: Prey, a novelized adaptation of the Aliens vs. Predator comic series. These works were formative for the Predator series for how they dig into their species and highlight that there is a complex Yautja culture with its own language and hierarchy. It strangely humanizes the deeply alien threat.
The supplemental Predator stories also introduce a kind of Predator known as the Hish-qu-Ten, which seem to be the same as the Yautja, except they possess a "kill gland" that triggers a homicidal berserker mode in them. The material doesn't elaborate on whether the Hish-qu-Ten is independent of the Yautja or just a subspecies of the race that's unique due to geographical differences.
Curiously, while Yautja is the predominant term used for the Predator species, they've even explicitly referred to themselves as such in the comics; some materials show that the Predators exhibit ignorance towards the term. The Widow Clan are actually confused by the term when humans use it on them. which could just be an inconsistency in the supporting novel. This could also be deeper evidence supporting that Yautja is simply one of the Predator races. It's possible the Widow Clan were members of the Hish-qu-Ten, for instance. The Predator series deserves some respect for how they haven't over-explained the Predator/Yautja origins and have allowed audiences to come to their own conclusions. Until the term comes up in a Predator movie or something else is brought up to disprove it, Yautja is currently the most appropriate and widely accepted moniker for these fictional beasts.