Thia

Thia
Biographical Information
Date of birth	After 2381
Relatives	Tessa (twin "sister")
Affiliation	Weyland-Yutani Corporation (formerly) Dek's clan
Status	Alive
Physical Description
Species	Synthetic
Gender	"Female"
Hair color	Light blonde
Other Information
Portrayed by	Elle Fanning

Thia was a synthetic and the twin sister of Tessa.

Biography

Tessa and Thia were created as research synths after the re-emergence of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, and were part of a new generation of synthetics. Thia spent most of her life in a laboratory.

Thia was part of the workforce at a Weyland-Yutani Corporation colony on the planet Genna; one of the expedition's primary goals was to capture the Kalisk. She and her sister spent two years on the planet. One day, Thia managed to get Tessa to agree to take her on an expedition. The Kalisk attacked the group of synthetics, leaving her one of only two survivors (along with Tessa), and only with her upper torso intact.

She later allied with the Yautja Dek, who was also hunting the creature. The pair formed a bond as they faced the threats of Genna together. Thia promised to take Dek to the lair of the Kalisk. Along the way, they came across a lifeform which Thia named Bud, though Dek left the creature behind. They came to the WY site where Thia and her team had originally been attacked. Thia revealed that she had lied to Dek; that she had used him to get to the site. While Thia repaired herself, Dek battled the creature. It had Dek at its mercy, but hesitated, as Bud (actually a Kalisk) had marked Dek with its scent. This hesitation gave Tessa and her fellow synths the opening to freeze the Kalisk using Yautja technology captured from the ship Dek had arrived in.

The sisters reunite

Dek and Thia were placed in a transport. While Thia was overjoyed to see her sister, Tessa's reaction was frosty.

Personality and traits

Thia was a synthetic designed to look like a young human woman, with fair skin and blonde hair.

She was smart, witty, enthusiastic, and unflappable. Thia also had an innate disregard for danger due to her naivety.

Behind the scenes

Thia is one of two female leads of the film Predator: Badlands, both of whom were portrayed by Elle Fanning. In the character's pre-casting description, Thia is described as "female or non-binary, open ethnicity, mid 20s – mid 40s. Thia has spent most of her life in a laboratory and is now embarking on her first big adventure in the world. She is incredibly smart, witty, enthusiastic, and unflappable. She has an innate disregard for danger, not because she’s fearless, but simply because she’s naive. Strong comedy chops required." In the case of both characters, Fanning imbued them with more emotion than previous synthetic characters. The in-universe reason was that as Badlands is set further in the future than any previous Alien or Predator film, the synthetics of this era are more emotive than previous incarnations.

Prior to release, it was suggested that Thia was not human but rather synthetic and/or was related to Weyland-Yutani. When asked, Dan Trachtenberg said "No comment...I want to save the fun." He further commented that Thia's character arc had its roots in Prey, in that there is a character seeking to prove herself (presumably a reference to Naru), but that Thia's was different thematically and would involve proving herself in a different manner.

The circumstances of Thia and Dek were pitched by Tratchenburg. In said pitch, he referenced the characters C-3PO and Chewbacca from the Star Wars franchise, specifically the film The Empire Strikes Back, where in said film's final act, 3PO is carried by Chewbacca on his back, having been damaged previously. Tratchenburg was "tantalized by the fun of that," and wanted to do something similar for Badlands. Similar to the afforementioned characters, Thia is carried by Dek on his back throughout the film.

The relationship between Thia and Dek was inspired by video games such as Shadow of the Colossus, where there is a sole protagonist paired with something/someone who provides "color" and "connection." In this sense, Thia and Dek were designed to be opposites in terms of personality, and to have different capabilities.

Trivia

• A Thia animatronic was present in the Badlands exhibit at SDC 2025.

Appearances

• Predator: Badlands