10 Coolest Predator Movie Weapons Ranked (And How Powerful They Really Are)

Since it started 1987, the Predator franchise has introduced many iconic weapons utilized by the titular extraterrestrial hunters, all of which carry their own power and deadly design. The Predator franchise centers on a race of aliens known canonically as the Yautja, whose culture prizes warriors ethos and hunting skill as the highest of virtues. While the Predators hunt a wide array of different species across the universe, including the Xenomorphs of the Alien franchise, the franchise also show the Yautja venturing to Earth to hunt humans throughout various cultures and periods of human history.

While the Predators themselves are much larger and stronger than humans, the fact that numerous humans have triumphed over them is proof that raw strength alone is hardly the greatest asset of the Yautja culture. That distinction instead belongs to the Predator’s ingenuity and ability to design some of the deadliest – and coolest – weaponry in sci-fi movie history. Here are the Predator’s 10 coolest weapons, along with the lethal capabilities of each.

10) The Predator Shuriken

While it originates in one of the less beloved entries in the Predator franchise, 2004’s Alien vs. Predator, the Predator’s shuriken is nonetheless one of the most eye-popping killing tools in the Predator’s arsenal. Folding into a circular disc for easy transport, the shuriken extrudes a set of deadly blades upon usage, and functions pretty similarly to how actual ninja shuriken do. As seen in Alien vs. Predator, the shuriken is sharp and precise enough to slice through the tough skin of a Xenomorph Queen, so it’s clearly no joke as a Predator weapon.

9) The Predator Blade-Whip

First seen in 2007’s Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, the bladed whip is wielded by the movie’s lone Yautja hunter, Wolf, and is designed for anything but Indiana Jones-style adventures. In the hands of a skilled Predator, the blade-whip ensnares the limbs or even neck of the Predator’s target, slicing through flesh, muscle, and bone with ease. While it requires great skill to be utilized effectively, a veteran Predator like Wolf makes it a very daunting Predator weapon indeed.

8) The Cut Clamp

One of the Predator’s most deceptive weapons, the cut-clamp is featured in 2022’s Prey as one of the weapon’s of choice of the movie’s Feral Predator. The cut clamp functions similarly to the Predator’s blade-whip, ensnaring an opponent’s limb or head for easy severing. However, the cut clamp has to additional benefit of being able to be held in both a coiled and straightened form, with the Predator able to straighten it upon taking the weapon out and wrap it around an object or enemy with a single powerful strike. From there, the cut-clamp’s slicing capabilities are unquestionably deadly.

RELATED: Predator’s Dan Trachtenberg Talks Killer of Killers

7) The Net Gun

One of the most torturous Predator weapons is introduced in Predator 2 in the form of the net gun. Far from being a simple net designed to trap an enemy, the net is made of razor sharp metal, with specially designed screws meant to pin a target to a wall as the screws drill in. As they do, the mesh of the net itself painfully slices into the prey’s flesh, immobilizing and eventually killing them. Most Predator weapons at least promise a quick death, but the Yautja’s net gun offers anything but.

6) The Self-Destruct Bomb

One of the most iconic Predator weapons isn’t intended primarily as an offensive hunting tool, but as a last resort in the event of the Predator’s defeat or imminent capture. The Predator’s self-destruct bomb is used for two purposes, one being to allow the Predator’s an honorable death not unlike the samurai practice of haka-kiri when faced with defeat. The second is to wipe out the Predator’s killer and as many other possible related life forms in the immediate are as possible. As revealed in Predator 2, the blast radius of the self-destruct bomb is at least enough “to cover three hundred city blocks”, while the self-destruct device’s explosion in Alien vs. Predator looks even larger than that. While it’s impossible to fully determine how powerful the Predator’s self-destruct device is, it’s quite clearly among the most powerful weapons in the Predator armory.

5) The Smart Disc

Projectiles are an essential weapon for any Predator to carry into battle, and Predator 2 introduces one of the most effective in the Predator’s Smart Disc. Functioning essentially the same way as a standard boomerang, the Smart Disc soars through the air slicing anything in its path in to, with Peter Keyes (Gary Busey) meeting quite a gruesome end indeed on the receiving end of it. Detective Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) manages to turn the Smart Disc against his Predator foe in the final showdown, and with its lethal capabilities, the Smart Disc is another of the most effective Yautja weapons ever devised.

4) The Combistick

One of the Predator’s coolest melee weapons made its debut in Predator 2, the Combistick. Essentially combining a spear with a bo staff, the Combistick is an effective tool of combat when the Predator’s are faced with armed adversaries, or very swift and strong opponents like the Xenomorphs. In turn, the speared end of the Combistick makes it very effective for landing a quick killing strike in combat. Like the Predator’s wrist blades, the Combistick is primarily designed for single combat, but its most certainly gets the job done.

3) The Plasma Pistol

Predators value improvisation as much as they do hunting and fighting skill, and Wolf shows all of the above in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem when he devises an entirely new weapon on the fly, the Plasma Pistol. After his standard issue Plasmacaster malfunctions, Wolf modifies the weapon into the Plasma Pistol, the reconfigured firing arm charging up with a countdown before blasting off a powerful plasma attack. While it takes a bit longer to be ready to launch an assault, the Plasma Pistol is still one of the coolest Predator weapons for both its capability in battle and how much it exemplifies the Yautja’s talent for inventiveness and ingenuity.

2) The Wrist Blades

The Predator’s most reliable melee weapon is, of course, their trusty wrist blades, held in the gauntlet worn on the wrist of every Yautja hunter. The wrist blades are designed primarily for close-range combat, and are very effective at slashing Predator opponents into the grave. However, Aliens vs. Predator and 2010’s Predators also both show the wrist blades have a secondary function in which they can be fired as projectiles. With its lethal capabilities, no Predator ever begins a hunt without their reliable wrist blades by their side.

1) The Plasmacaster

Easily the most recognizable Predator weapon, by far, the Plasmacaster is the shoulder mounted mini-canon Predator’s carry with them on each hunt. The Plasmacaster is a truly devastating weapon of combat, emitting plasma blasts that can blow holes through virtually any target with ease. Humans, Xenomorphs, and just about any living creature have no defense but to simply dodge a Plasmacaster’s blast, lest they find themselves with a limb vaporized from their body or a gaping hole in their chest or head. With so many cool Predator weapons to choose from, the Plasmacaster is easily the most definitively cool weapon in the Predator arsenal, by far.

Predator: Killer of Killers is now streaming on Hulu, and Predator: Badlands with be released in theaters on November 7th.