- "They've got stealth technology that makes a B-2 bomber look like a fucking GoodYear blimp wrapped in neon."
- ―Det. Schaefer, regarding Yautja cloaking tech (from Predator: Cold War)
A Predator with his Cloak activated.
The Cloak,[1] also known as the invisibility system[2], Chameleon Field[3] or shiftsuit,[4] was an advanced piece of Yautja technology that was able to render the user invisible, or nearly invisible, to the naked eye, as well as many forms of electronic scanning. The Cloak warped light around the user's body in such a fashion that surfaces behind the creature were visible through the Predator's body. The effect was not perfect, often leaving a visible silhouette similar to heat haze, but in certain environments (and when the Predator remains motionless), it could effectively help a Predator to hide in plain sight.
The device which generated the Cloak equipped by an individual Yautja during their hunt was quite small, needed to be installed into Wrist Gauntlet in order for it to work.[5]
While the Cloak was very effective when employed against prey that primarily relied on vision, it was notably useless when engaged in a Xenomorph Hunt as the Xenomorphs were still able to "sense" the Yautja warrior even when the cloak was engaged.[6][7] Yautja starships had similar cloaking systems capable of giving the entire vessel camouflage. Cloak use was very common during a Hunt, due to stealth being a major concern for Predators.
At least in the case of one particular clan, a Cloak needed to be won through ritual combat.[5]
Limitations[]
The Jungle Hunter's Cloak malfunctioning in water.
Despite its advantages, the Cloak was not perfect. When the user moved, there was a man-shaped "bubble" (or simply a distortion) in the air, that, dependent on background conditions, may be quite noticeable.[8] This may explain the Yautja species' apparent preference for jungle hunting grounds, as the dense, non-uniform foliage found there helped to mask this distortion more effectively.[9]
The effect of the Cloak could be notoriously short-circuited when they came into contact with even a small amount of water,[8] although the effect was not terminal and once the Predator removed himself from the water source the cloak could be re-engaged. They could also be damaged and/or deactivated when the user was physically attaxked, causing the Predator to become visible; both projectile impacts and direct physical assault have been shown to cause this effect.[10][7] Similarly, an electromagnetic pulse would disrupt the cloak, although again it caused no long-term damage to the system and it could be re-engaged once the effect had worn off.[7] Contact with a large amount of dust could also render the user visible.[5]
Visible lasers, such as weapon-mounted laser sights, would be refracted by the field and the extra-long Wristblades or Scimitars favored by some Yautja were often not covered by the cloaking effect, leaving them visible. Some models appeared to be easier to disrupt than others; the Cloaks issued to Scar, Celtic and Chopper on their first Xenomorph Hunt deactivated simply as a result of bullet impacts to their armor. Cloak devices were also employed on Yautja starships, where they were incredibly effective; owing to the generally featureless nature of space, there were often no major visual references that could be distorted by the field, rendering Predator vessels essentially invisible.
Variants[]
Cloaking Field Device[]
These devices shrouded large Predators bases. They appearedto be large, cuboid objects with an integrated Plasmacaster, much like the one on the Pred-Gun. Immobile, these devices could only be found in three of the Marine levels.
The Cloaking Field Device was mostly used by Elders to hide their hidden Ancient location.
Aliens versus Predator 2 Cloak[]
The Cloak simply makes the user partially transparent, as the game engine was unable to wrap light around the Predator sprite and lets the player see what they are doing.
Aliens vs. Predator Cloak[]
Yautja tend to flash their eyes while cloaked to intimidate their prey.
The traits of the Cloak have appeared to progress overtime. The Yautja hunter appears almost nonexistent to the human eye as there are no longer ripples standing out to the same extent as the Jungle Hunter's. This allows the Yautja to have a larger advantage than previous Yautja. Despite these advances, the camouflage system still suffers the same weaknesses as it did decades ago.
The Predator Cloak[]
The Predator introduces a new portable cloaking device: a small metal sphere (roughly the size of a marble) which camouflages its wielder, even if ingested by said wielder.
Predators Cloak[]
The Super Predators utilize a more advanced version of the cloak used by the normal Yautja; in addition to having a different sound when de-cloaking, it appears to completely camouflage its user, only generating the "typical" distorted effect when the user deactivates it to reveal themselves.
Prey Cloak[]
Compared to most other Yautja, the Feral Predator had a unique cloak, as it rendered him almost completely invisible, as well as possessing a red field disruption if the body of the Yautja was hit rather than blue in Jungle Hunter and City Hunter's. This cloak also was not limited by the effects of water as others (barely while in running water), but much like the Jungle Hunter's, his wristblades were easily visible when in use. That said, it was prone to malfunction if its user either moved too much (ie. fighting) or got struck by even soft materials blown by the wind, the latter of which was shown during his hunt against the French voyageurs at the burnt out forest where they set up a trap for him, during which he noticed flown ashes disrupt his cloak.
The cloak was arguably activated via his Bio-mask, as aforementioned field disruption could be seen when Taabe and Naru knocked it off his face on separate occasions.
Killer of Killers and Badlands Cloak[]
Cloaks utilized by Njohrr's clan, as well as those of "Grendel" and Oni Predator appeared to be derived from model utilized by Feral Predator since they emanated red field disruption if the user got attacked or exposed to soft materials blown by the wind.
Trivia[]
- The Cloak is among the most commonly copied or reverse-engineered items of Yautja technology — for example, in the video game Aliens vs. Predator, advanced combat androids employed by Karl Bishop Weyland are fitted with a Cloak, rendering them invisible when they are not firing their weapons. Humans also use cloaking technology in the game Predator: Concrete Jungle.
- The look of the Predator's Cloak, with its numerous vague outlines within the shape of the creature, was developed from an invisible man that appeared in a vivid dream experienced by screenwriter Jim Thomas.[11]
- Following its release, Predator was screened at the Pentagon, and among the audience was a General in charge of military procurement who was so impressed by the Predator's Cloak that he subsequently started a research program looking at developing a real-life equivalent.[11]
The "INVISIBILITY SYSTEM" in Alien vs Predator: The Last of His Clan.
- In Alien vs Predator: The Last of His Clan, the entire name "INVISIBILITY SYSTEM" cannot fit on the screen, forcing it to be written as "INVISI (next line) BILITY SYSEM".
- Yautja's frequent usage of Cloak was what inspired superstitious humans who either encountered them or at least heard their exploits to erroneously describe them as supernatural entities.
- Jungle Hunter's Hunt at Guatemala prior to 1987 earned him the title "El Diablo que hace trofeos de los hombres", literally "The demon who makes trophies of men", by locals.[9]
- Vega's mistress continued to utter "El Diablo vino por ellos", literally "The Devil came for them" regarding City Hunter's onslaught upon Jamaican Voodoo Posse who ritualistically murdered her lover with his Cloak activated.[8]
- When informing Wasape about her encounter with Feral Predator, Naru described him to resemble Mupitsl, a giant human eating owl from their folklore. When luring the same Yautja into a trap with the handicapped Big Beard as the bait during the nightfall, she also whistled for a good measure despite such act considered taboo in many Native American cultures as it would attract evil spirits, indicating that she assumed Feral Predator to be one of them.
- Kenji Kawakami believed Yautjas to be demons because of Oni Predator's use of cloak which put his and Kiyoshi's ability to be astute to their surroundings as well as teamwork into a test because of how easily the latter's guards got struck down by his unusual weapons.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Predator: Concrete Jungle, PlayStation 2, Xbox version, Eurocom, 2005.
- ↑ Alien vs Predator: The Last of His Clan
- ↑ Aliens vs. Predator: Deadliest of the Species
- ↑ Steve Perry, Stephani Perry. Aliens vs. Predator: Prey, p. 61 (1994), Bantam Spectra.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Predator: Badlands
- ↑ Randy Stradley (writer), Phill Norwood, Robert Campanella (illustrators). Aliens vs. Predator #3 (1990), Dark Horse Comics.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Aliens vs. Predator, Microsoft Windows version, Rebellion, 2010.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Jim Thomas, John Thomas (writers), Stephen Hopkins (director). Predator 2 (1990), 20th Century Fox [DVD].
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Jim Thomas, John Thomas (writers), John McTiernan (director). Predator (1987), 20th Century Fox [DVD].
- ↑ Paul W. S. Anderson (writer and director). Alien vs. Predator (2004), 20th Century Fox [DVD].
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Jim Thomas, John Thomas. Predator 2 audio commentary (2005), 20th Century Fox [DVD].
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 Yautja weapons
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|---|---|---|---|
| Blunt instruments | |||
| Short bladed mêlée weapons | |||
| Long bladed mêlée weapons | |||
| Pole arms | |||
| Flexible bladed mêlée weapons | |||
| Thrown weapons | |||
| Projectile weapons | |||
| Directed energy weapons | |||
| Placed explosives | |||
| Thrown explosives | |||
| Mobile sentry guns | |||
| Related articles | |||