The Most Powerful Predators, Ranked

The Predators—or Yautja as they're sometimes known—have been around for over 35 years now, ever since audiences got their first glimpse of the alien who hunted Arnold Schwarzenegger and his platoon through the jungle in 1987. Unlike the Xenomorphs to which they're often compared, the Yautja are not all identical. They're each an individual with unique abilities, technologies, and motivations.

Although by now, the Yautja should probably have learned that traveling to Earth (or messing with humans at all) is a bad idea, their search for a dangerous hunt keeps them coming back. While some never posed much of a threat beyond their intimidating appearance, others put up one hell of a fight. Here are all the franchise's Yautja hunters, ranked by who's strongest.

Updated on November 17th, 2025, by Evan Regan: 2025 has been a great year for the Predator franchise. First, there was Predator: Killer of Killers, an animated anthology that features four distinct stories of human warriors facing off against a Predator. Then, in November, Predator: Badlands hit theaters, telling a story of survival and redemption from a Yautja youngblood's perspective for the first time in the series, along with providing more contextual overlap between the Alien and Predator franchises. These two films introduced five new Predators into the series canon, and as such, this list has been updated to see where those newcomers rank amongst the strongest Predators of all time.

25 Chopper

Dies Quickly Without Doing Anything Impressive

Out of any Predator to appear in any medium across the series' history, Chopper is by far the least memorable one to ever make an on-screen appearance. He is literally just a target for a Xenomorph kill, and beyond that, has no memorable characteristics or moments.

In total, Chopper probably owns a grand total of one minute of screen time. He plants his boot firmly into a human when he first appears and then is impaled by a Xenomorph tail mere seconds later. So ends Chopper, the least impressive Yautja ever. At least his bio-helmet is kind of cool.

24 Ultimate Hunter

The Least Memorable Part Of A Forgettable Movie

It's a shame that The Predator turned out to be such a down moment for the Predator franchise, and a big part of that was the focus on the Ultimate Hunter. Shane Black's directorial entry into the franchise (he also played Hawkins in the 1987 film) was a significant misstep, reportedly brought about by the studio meddling with Black's vision for the film.

The Ultimate Hunter lacks any kind of backstory or motivation for being on Earth (or any justification for being called "Ultimate"). He has next to zero impressive kills, no unique abilities or technology, and even though he looks cool visually, it's not in a particularly noteworthy way. There's just not a lot that draws in (or scares off) viewers with this Yautja.

23 The Pilot

Heavily Reliant On His Spaceship, And Is Defeated By A Fighter Pilot Anyway

The Pilot is a fascinating Predator. He's at least half cybernetic and lacks the telltale dreadlocks sported by most Yautja, which suggests that he was once in one hell of a fight and emerged victorious, but not entirely whole. As such, he's completely confined to his spaceship and uses exclusively midair tech to hunt his prey.

As cool a concept as this is, The Pilot is, undeniably, not particularly powerful on his own. He's so heavily reliant on his tech that he literally can't hunt without it, which is a pretty glaring weakness. Not only that, but even with his tech being as advanced as it is, The Pilot is eventually killed by a virtually untrained pilot flying a plane that barely starts and only has one engine. As a spin on the Yautja mythos, The Pilot is one of the coolest Predators we've ever seen, but in practice, he's also one of the weakest.

22 The Falconer

His Cool Helmet And Drone Make Good Use Of Little Screen Time

Another Predator that doesn't get a lot of screen time, at least the Falconer has a strong enough showing to deserve a bit more attention. His standout bio-helmet and unusual drone technology make him unique among the Yautja on this list, and although he doesn't survive for long, he puts up a great fight.

That fight is against Hanzo, the Yakuza enforcer who was kidnapped and brought to the Yautja hunting grounds where the movie takes place. Hanzo and The Falconer have an epic showdown, exchanging blows that demonstrate the combat skills of both parties. The Falconer also demonstrates some adherence to the Yautja code of honor, something his fellow Super Predators fail to do.

21 The Fugitive

An Exciting Intro Is Wasted, As He's Killed Off In Favor Of A Less Interesting Predator

Some of the most apparent evidence for the idea that The Predator suffered from studio meddling is the film's use of The Fugitive Yautja, who is by far the more intimidating Predator in the movie, but is killed off midway through and replaced with the aforementioned Ultimate Hunter. It's hard to know if that was director Shane Black's original intention or not, but it was certainly a letdown.

The Fugitive explodes onto the scene, effortlessly killing several armed human guards while he himself is unarmed. Killing more dangerous enemies while not making use of Predator technology is worth serious clout among the Yautja. Then there are his parkour abilities, which would make a Predator significantly more deadly in an urban jungle environment, but oddly, it is not something that other Yautja hunters make much use of in the franchise.

20 The Assassin

A Stealth-First Predator That Falters In A 1-On-2 Fight

The Assassin leans heavily on his cloaking device, so much so that it actually works to his detriment. He arrives on Earth in 1609 and steps smack into the middle of a feud between two samurai brothers. The Assassin lurks in the background, watching as the brothers sort out their issues at swordpoint, before revealing himself when it appears that one of them had killed the other.

The Assassin uses a retractable grapple mounted on his wrist, along with a handful of small explosives. He also wields a large spear that can expand into a three-pronged weapon when needed. However, none of this amounts to much. The Assassin is no slouch, but once his cloak is down, he's outmatched multiple times. Both brothers (who had each recently fallen off a building) land several painful blows on the Yautja, and while The Assassin manages to mortally wound one of them, the other tricks the Predator into grappling one of his own bombs, blowing himself up shortly afterward.

19 Tracker

The Only Yautja To Bring Other Creatures Along For The Hunt

As far as any Yautja not named Berzerker goes, Tracker gives the fugitives in Predators the most trouble in the movie's early going, and he does so without even revealing his presence. True to his name, Tracker employs a pair of hunting hound-beasts that flush out his prey. The beasts themselves are no pushovers, and once they're vanquished, in comes Tracker and his awesome bio-helmet to finish the job.

Tracker does manage to isolate his prey, trapping Nikolai away from the rest of the group, stunning him, and impaling him on a wristblade. It's only Nikolai's willingness to blow himself up in order to take his enemy down with him that catches Tracker off guard. It's a memorable death, but it's unfortunate that Tracker isn't given more screen time before he goes down.

18 Dark

Fights Humans And Xenomorphs Using The Weaponry Of Fallen Predators

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Aliens vs. Predator (2010)

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February 16, 2010

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There is an unfortunate lack of backstory for this Predator, who is one of the most prolific killers in the Predator franchise. After earning the title of Elite, Dark is dispatched to investigate a distress call sent by a squad of youngbloods hunting on an alien world (BG-386). Dark arrives with a significantly reduced arsenal—just a wrist blade, shoulder cannon, and a bio-helmet with reduced vision modes—and instead claims his weapons from the corpses of other Yautja.

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Dark kills dozens of Xenomorphs and human Marines while he is on BG-386, and even takes down a Predalien (a cross between an Elite Yautja and a Xenomorph) while taking minimal damage himself, all before destroying the Yautja hunting grounds and escaping the ensuing explosion alive. He acquires the mask of a Legendary Predator and is last seen making his way to the Xenomorph homeworld. A brave venture indeed.

17 Celtic

Seeks To Avenge Chopper And Goes Toe-To-Toe With A Xenomorph

Chopper's presence in Alien vs. Predator really only serves to provide motivation for Celtic, his youngblood brother. After Chopper's death, Celtic seeks revenge on the Xenomorph that killed him, and while he doesn't quite get it, he certainly gets his shots in.

Wearing one of the coolest-looking bio-helmets in the entire franchise, Celtic's battle with the Xenomorph is a showcase of the brute strength and fighting prowess of the Yautja. Using a unique reversible wristblade, Celtic very nearly takes down the alien but was seemingly unprepared for the creature's acid blood, which eats through first his body armor, and then the net he captures the Xenomorph in. Eventually, one misstep grants the Xenomorph the upper hand, but prior to that it was anyone's fight, and it's hard not to root for Celtic as he tosses the Xenomorph around like a child's toy.

16 The Crucified

Does Battle With The Clearly Superior Berserker, And Exemplifies The Yautja Code

This is an example of a Yautja who makes use of a small amount of screen time to leave a huge impact, both in terms of his character and the lore of the Yautja species. The Crucified is discovered by Royce and the remaining human survivors, and Royce makes the bold decision to set the imprisoned Predator free.

That decision is rewarded, as the Crucified adheres to his code of honor and protects Royce from the attacking Berserker Yautja who arrives shortly afterward. While the Crucified is eventually killed in that battle, he exemplifies the Predator code and drives home the raging conflict between Yautja sub-races that would otherwise have remained a mystery.