The Predator franchise's human survivors have ranged from forgettable to true warriors. 1987's Predator first introduced the world to the eponymous alien hunter (also known the by the name "Yautja"), with the heat-seeking extraterrestrial swiftly becoming one of the most popular movie monsters in history. Predator's success would not only lead to numerous sequels, but an entire expanded Predator mythology in other media like comics books and video games, including the Aliens vs. Predator crossover franchise.
In Predator, Arnold Schwarzenegger's special forces soldier Dutch was the first human to battle a Yautja on-screen and live to tell about it (with Schwarzenegger improvising an iconic one-liner in Predator, as well.) However, Dutch certainly has not been the last. The Predator franchise has followed a wide assortment of different human protagonists, but naturally, their skills and the harrowing stories they are placed does not show them all as being on equal footing. Here is every human survivor of the Predator franchise, ranked from worst to best.
7 McKenna, Rory, & Brackett - The Predator
At the end of 2018's The Predator, the fearsome Yautja hunter of the movie is defeated in the final showdown when its ship crashes, with Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) and Casey Brackett (Olivia Munn) teaming up to defeat the alien adversary. The Predator, sadly, ranks low among the seven Predator movies, with an ending that fails to rise much higher above the middling story preceding it. McKenna and Brackett work out a decent strategy to defeat the Predator and rescue the former's son Rory (Jacob Tremblay), but as a Predator movie showdown, it is a forgettable hunt.
6 AVP-R's Survivors - Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem
Aliens vs Predator: Requiem goes out of its way to deliver on the R-rated gore that 2004's Alien vs. Predator lacked, and wraps the movie up on a nuclear blast, a first for the franchise. All told, it is a memorable maneuver to end a Predator movie with an Aliens-style ticking time bomb finale (and a much more upbeat outcome that Aliens vs. Predator Requiem's far bleaker original ending.) Even so, the paper-thin characters who make it out are some of the least engaging of the series.
Iraq war veteran Kelly O'Brien (Reiko Aylesworth) has a warm moment with her young daughter Molly (Ariel Gade) as she asks "Are the monsters gone?", while Steven Paquale's Dallas has the most actively anti-Predator engagement with his makeshift laser canon. With them and his wounded brother Ricky (Johnny Lewis) the final survivors of the movie, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem is better than its general reputation, but its survivors still add little to the franchise beyond simply surviving.
5 Alex Woods - Alien Vs Predator
The Xenomorph and Yautja finally clashed in 2004's Alien vs. Predator, which had already ruffled feathers with its PG-13 rating, but which has a relatively strong lead in Alex Woods (Sanaa Lathan). Woods's team-up with a Predator plays out surprisingly well, and she also s Sigourney Weaver's Alien heroine Ripley in being one of the few humans to defeat a Xenomorph queen. Any character gifted a Predator's spear has earned their place in the pantheon of the Predator franchise's human protagonists. That being said, censoring Woods' "You are one ugly mother-" instead of cashing it in as Alien vs. Predator's one permitted PG-13 F-bomb is a lamentable shortcoming.
4 Detective Mike Harrigan - Predator 2
With the Predator franchise making the move to Los Angeles in Predator 2, Danny Glover brings all of his Arnold Schwarzenegger's absent Dutch in Predator 2, and what really makes him stand out is his brain. Unlike most humans in the Predator franchise, Harrigan knows that he is up against an enemy that he does not understand, with that basic respect better preparing him to face the Predator than most.
Harrigan also has guts to spare, casually asking "Okay, who's next?" when surrounded by Predators after slaying the movie's central Yautja hunter. The Predators themselves recognize Harrigan's formidability, leaving him with a flintlock pistol as a token of their respect and establishing such a tradition in human-Predator relations in the Predator mythos.
3 Royce & Isabel - Predators
Being hunted by an alien visitor is one thing, but it is a completely different situation to battle a trio of Predators on their home turf, as seen in 2010's Predators. Royce (Adrien Brody) and Isabel (Alice Braga) are the last to survive and face the final black Super Predator (one of 8 different kinds of Predators), with Royce using fire, mud, and a specially fashioned ax as his weapons of choice, and getting some much-needed sharpshooting help from Isabel. Royce and Isabel consistently have everything stacked against them, and while they remain stranded on the game preserve planet at the end of Predators, they're still two of the strongest warriors of the franchise.
2 Dutch - Predator
With how much the Predator franchise has evolved and built upon the Yautja's warrior culture, it is easy to forget that the original Predator was a product of Arnold Schwarzenegger's '80s action hero peak, and Dutch is still one of his greatest characters. In Predator, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch is his first hero to genuinely find himself at a disadvantage against the much-larger, better armed, and frequently invisible Predator.
Dutch's battle plan of punji sticks, makeshift bows and arrows, and mud-based camouflage are right out of the Stone Age, and he still takes a thorough beating from his Yautja enemy before his ultimate victory. The '80s action movie bombast of Predator helped it stand the test of time, with the same being true for Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch.
1 Naru - Prey
The Predator franchise soared to new heights with 2022's Naru also one-ups Dutch in Prey with her methods against her Yautja enemy.
Additionally, Naru crosses paths with a group of French fur trappers in Prey, and does not take long to gain the upper hand on them either. Prey's end credits tease more Predators landing on Earth for Prey 2, which could mean Naru herself will be back in action. If so, that would make Naru the Predator franchise's first repeat protagonist, a fitting outcome indeed with Naru also being its greatest one.
