A Chronological Guide to the Predator Franchise
The Predator franchise is built on a simple yet terrifying concept: humanity is not the apex predator. The films follow the bloody encounters between humans and the Yautja, a technologically advanced alien species that hunts other dangerous lifeforms across the galaxy for sport and honor. Their "Hunts" are governed by a strict code, valuing worthy prey and forbidding the killing of the unarmed or infirm.
What began as a classic 80s action horror film has expanded into a complex universe with sequels, prequels, and controversial crossovers with the Alien franchise. The timeline jumps from the 18th century American plains to the urban jungle of Los Angeles, and even to distant game preserve planets.
This guide organizes every film in the saga, including the upcoming releases, into its proper in universe chronological order, providing the definitive timeline of the Yautja's long and bloody history with humankind.
The Complete Predator Chronology
The films are presented in their in-universe chronological order.
Predator: Killer of KillersAnimated Film (2025)
Timeline: Various historical periods (Viking era, Feudal Japan, WWII). This animated anthology film explores the long history of the Yautja's hunts on Earth through three distinct stories.
The segments follow a Viking raider on a quest for revenge, a ninja battling his samurai brother for succession, and a WWII pilot investigating an otherworldly threat. Thematically, this film solidifies the Yautja's code of honor.
They do not hunt randomly; they seek out the most formidable warriors of any given era, viewing the hunt as a sacred test of skill and strength for both hunter and prey, thereby establishing the ancient and respected tradition of their presence on Earth.
PreyFilm (2022)
Timeline: 1719. Set on the Great Plains, this film follows Naru, a highly skilled young Comanche warrior who seeks to prove herself as a hunter.
The film introduces a "Feral" Predator, a subspecies with a more raw, less refined arsenal, emphasizing a primal and brutal hunting style. This story is a masterful tale of the hunted becoming the hunter, stripping the conflict down to its core elements: cunning versus technology, and primal instinct versus alien intellect.
Naru's victory, using her wits and knowledge of the terrain, reinforces the franchise's core theme that true strength is not about technology, but adaptability. The flintlock pistol she acquires is a pivotal piece of lore connecting directly to *Predator 2*.
PredatorFilm (1987)
Timeline: 1987. The one that started it all. The film serves as a deconstruction of the 80s action movie trope. An elite paramilitary team, the supposed pinnacle of human fighting prowess, is systematically dismantled by a single, unseen hunter.
The Yautja, later nicknamed the "Jungle Hunter," turns their jungle mission into its personal hunting ground. The film's brilliance lies in forcing its hero, Dutch, to abandon his military hardware and regress to a primitive state, using mud, traps, and fire to face the creature on its own terms.
It's a primal showdown that establishes the Predator's respect for a worthy opponent.
Predator 2Film (1990)
Timeline: 1997. The hunt moves to the "urban jungle" of Los Angeles during a sweltering heatwave. This film is crucial for expanding the Yautja lore.
It shows they are drawn to heat and conflict, making a gang war the perfect new hunting ground. The climactic scene aboard the Predator ship reveals their ancient history with Earth.
We see a trophy room with skulls of various species, including the iconic Xenomorph skull, and the leader of the Lost Tribe gifts Lieutenant Harrigan the same flintlock pistol from Prey, proving they have been testing humanity for centuries and adhere to a strict code of honor, sparing the pregnant and rewarding a worthy victor.
Alien vs. PredatorFilm (2004)
Timeline: 2004. This crossover event reveals the ancient, symbiotic relationship between the two iconic alien species.
We learn that the Yautja built the Antarctic pyramid as a ritualistic hunting ground, a place where their "Young Bloods" must face the Xenomorphs, the "ultimate prey," to earn their status as true warriors. This reframes the Predators not just as hunters, but as a civilization with deep traditions, a complex societal structure, and a history intertwined with humanity's own myths.
It establishes that for the Yautja, the Xenomorph is the perfect organism to test their skills against in a sacred rite of passage.
Aliens vs. Predator: RequiemFilm (2007)
Timeline: Immediately following AVP (2004). The film introduces a new, vital role in Yautja society: the "cleaner." The veteran Predator, nicknamed "Wolf," is dispatched to Earth not to hunt for sport, but to contain a catastrophic failure: the birth of a Predalien hybrid. This abomination represents a stain on the honor of the Hunt.
Wolf's mission is to erase all evidence of the Xenomorph outbreak and the rogue hybrid, showcasing the Predators' ruthless pragmatism and their commitment to maintaining the secrecy and integrity of their culture, no matter the collateral damage.
PredatorsFilm (2010)
Timeline: Ambiguous (post-2010). This film reveals a schism within the Yautja species itself. A group of Earth's most dangerous killers are abducted and dropped onto a game preserve planet, hunted by a larger, more ruthless clan known as the "Super Predators."
The film introduces the concept of "Bad Bloods," a faction that has abandoned the traditional code of honor for a more sadistic and technologically superior style of hunting.
The presence of a captive classic Predator suggests a brutal civil war, adding a new layer of complexity to their culture and showing that even among apex predators, there are ideological divides.
The PredatorFilm (2018)
Timeline: 2018. This installment controversially reframes the Yautja's motivations. It reveals that at least one faction of Predators is engaged in a desperate arms race, using genetic hybridization to upgrade themselves with the DNA of the species they hunt, including humans.
A "Fugitive" Predator comes to Earth not to hunt, but to deliver a gift to humanity: the "Predator Killer" suit, a weapon to help humans fight back against the larger, genetically modified "Assassin" Predators.
The film shifts the central conflict from a simple hunt to a complex civil war where humanity has become a pawn, and potentially a key to survival, for a divided species facing an existential threat.
Predator: BadlandsFilm (2025)
Timeline: The Future. While plot details remain under wraps, this film is confirmed to feature a female protagonist and is set at some point in the future.
This setting opens up numerous possibilities for the lore. It could explore the consequences of the genetic upgrading seen in The Predator, pit advanced future humans against the Yautja, or return the franchise to its survival horror roots in a new, futuristic environment. The film promises to be a standalone story, offering a fresh perspective on the enduring conflict between humanity and the galaxy's greatest hunters.
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