Summary

• The Wrist Gun may be flashy, but it's not a favorite choice for the Yautja due to its lack of power and nuance.
• The Harpoon may resemble a human weapon, but its underuse makes it just a forgettable part of the Predator's arsenal.
• The Plasmacaster stands out as the most ruthlessly efficient weapon for the Predator in swiftly taking out targets.

Few alien races in cinema history have an arsenal as varied as The Predator, even if some of its hunting options are more optimized than others. Ever since 1987's Predator, the Yautja have displayed some extreme ingenuity and cunning with their ever-evolving armory throughout the many Predator films to follow. As impressive as each of their high-tech weapons are, some are simply more effective, stylish, and memorable than others.

Chasing down hapless humans for the thrill of the hunt, Yautja aren't usually keen to use weapons with a high degree of cold efficiency, preferring somewhat archaic tools that betray the high technological development of their warrior society. Even if they are purpose-made for killing, the various Predators across the film series won't typically go for their most deadly options right away. The upcoming Predator film Badlands could expand the devious weaponry of the Yautja even further.

9 The Wrist Gun

A superfluous ranged attack that trivializes prey

While the Predators may be more famous for their shoulder-mounted canons, these energy weapons are far from their only ranged attacks. The presence of a wrist-mounted blaster first appears in Predator 2, nailing Harrigan with a bright, sparking projectile. Possibly another plasma blast or some kind of rocket, the City Hunter of the second film only uses this after his primary Plasmacaster is damaged, suggesting the wrist gun might be a sort of secondary backup weapon.

The weapon shows up again in 2018's The Predator, used by the Upgrade Predator. Essentially a mini Plasmacaster, this weapon pales in comparison to its older brother in terms of both style and efficacy, seeming to be less powerful while altogether not an especially nuanced mode of attack. There's a reason the wrist gun is one of the least used and least remembered Predator weapons in the entire franchise.

8 The Harpoon

An alien take on a human hunting weapon

When the Upgrade Predator lands on Earth in The Predator, it seems to be relatively light on weaponry. Everything it carries seems to be integrated into a single wrist bracer, including a deadly harpoon launcher. The Upgrade Predator uses the piercing tip of the weapon, as well as the razor-sharp cord connecting it to the winch, to take out several unfortunate soldiers in a single strike. Not the most original entry in the Predator's arsenal, the Harpoon is undeniably similar to the signature weapon of Mortal Kombat's Scorpion.

As efficient and flashy as the harpoon is, it's criminally underused throughout the series, only appearing a single definitive time. That being said, the speargun which kills from off-screen in Predator 2 may be the same weapon, just without the attachment of the deadly wire cable connecting it to the wrist-mounted launcher. Certainly cooler than the generic projectile of the forgettable wrist gun, the harpoon isn't original or recurring enough to be any more noteworthy in the series.

7 The Cut Clamp

A miniature Combistick with a niche use case

True to is name, the Cut Clamp is a flexible weapon with two primary uses -- Cutting and clamping. At first, the blade appears to be a long, serrated dagger or machete, dangerous enough when wielded by the ferocious Feral Predator of Prey. But the innocuous edged melee weapon has a neat trick making it far more noteworthy than a standard blade.

Like a malicious slap bracelet, the Cut Clamp can rapidly reconfigure itself into a bladed circle, wrapping around objects to hold them down or saw straight through them like a buzzsaw. In Prey, the Feral Predator uses it to free himself from a French bear trap, making it a great practical tool outside its potential for killing. Certainly a unique option, the Cut Clamp has an admittedly niche area of use for the Predator, better at sawing through solid objects than people.

6 The Netgun

One of the Predators' most tortuous devices

While certainly cruel, the primary goal of the various individual Yautja of the Predator series isn't to torture their victims and prolong their pain, merely wishing to hunt worthy opponents for sport. That being said, weapons like the Netgun put this goal into question, seemingly purpose-built to give humans caught in its grasp one of the slowest and most painful deaths possible. More like a trap from the Saw franchise than a optimized alien weapon, the Netgun is one of the most fearsom options for the Yautja to reach for.

Firing a net made of a web of razor-sharp alien metal wires, the Netgun slowly bites into the flesh of its restrained victims, eventually turning them into cubes as it compresses around them. When used on Harrigan in Predator 2, the alloy that makes up the net is revealed to be impervious to Earth-made metals, only being able to be sliced open by the Yautja's own Smart Discs. An insidiously impressive weapon, it's unclear how the Netgun justifies its purpose, not efficient enough to be a dedicated killer but far too deadly to be considered a non-lethal capturing device.

5 The Arrow Launcher

A sort of prototypical Plasmacaster

The Plasmacaster isn't the only shoulder-mounted weapon shown off by the Yautja race, as exemplified by the arrow launcher in Hulu's original film, Prey. Rather than firing white-hot bolts of blue plasma, the arrow launcher fires homing arrows that can actually navigate obstacles and maneuver through the air, guaranteed to hit whatever is painted by the laser targeting system in the Feral Predator's bone mask. Of course, the alien metals of the arrows are incredibly tough, able to penetrate any Earthly surfaces with ease.

These laser-guided arrows seem to be an intentional downgrade from the Yautja's standard energy weaponry, possibly being given by the lower-ranked Feral Predator to prove itself with. The arrow launcher could also be a technological precursor to the Plasmacaster, used hundreds of years before the events of 1987's Predator. In any case, the arrow launcher is an incredibly unique weapon, held back by the fact that it was used by Naru to kill its own user.

The Wrist Blades

The most iconic melee weapon of the entire franchise

Few Predator weapons can boast the same recognition as the timeless wrist blades. Featured in every Predator film since Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch first encountered them in 1987, the melee weapons are good for slashing, impaling, and cleaning the corpses of the Yautja's victims to fashion their gruesome trophies. No Predator worth their skulls would be caught dead without keeping a trusty pair of wrist blades close at hand.

The Alien vs Predator movies made some additions to the iconic wrist blades, as well. These upgrades included blades that could extend to double the original length, as well as the capability to be fired as a projectile for a last-resort ranged attack. As enduring and iconic as the wrist blades are, they aren't the most unique tool made possible by the Yautja's technology, leaving them ultimately outclassed by other weapons, even if they are a workhorse of the species' repertoire.

4 Self-Destruct Devices

A literal ticking time bomb that gives the Yautja a daring final attack

The Yautja may respect the efforts of humans that can fight against or even beat them, but it can't be said that the aliens aren't sore losers. The self-destruct devices that seem to be standard-issue within the wrist-mounted computers of every Predator is proof enough of this, ensuring that every Predator gets the last laugh. Though they come with the obvious downside of forcing the Predators themselves to go out with a bang, these explosives are some of the most powerful devices in the Yautja's employ, able to devastate entire buildings or forests at a time.

The arsenal of the Feral Predator in Prey manages to overcome this requirement, trading in the wrist-mounted bombs for a series of floating discs that instead fire lasers in every direction, cutting down an entire forest. This is a great fire-and-forget self-destruct device for prey like the French trappers, deemed to be ultimately not worth hunting by the disappointed Predator. From the unique alien symbols counting down the explosion to the haunting alien laugh that signifies their activation, the Yautja's self-destruct devices are an iconic weapon indicative of the species' cultural values.

3 The Smart Disc

One of the most deadly automatic weapons in movie history

It's difficult to identify the single most unique weapon used by the Yautja, but a strong case could be made for the Smart Discs. Despite only appearing in a single Predator film, Predator 2, the Smart Discs have become a staple of the creatures' arsenals in other media, appearing frequently alongside the Predators in video games like Mortal Kombat X and AvP2. Vicious, technologically advanced, and versatile, it's shocking that the Smart Discs haven't had more screen time in the actual films.

Appearing as high-tech chakrams that hover in the air, the Smart Discs can brutally cut down targets at a range, guiding themselves to their victims before returning to the hands of their user. The Smart Disc appears to have some serious power behind its cutting ability, slicing through several frozen husks of meat before reaching Gary Busey's Keyes, having not slowed down in the slightest. There's a reason the Smart Disc has remained a fan favorite despite its brief history in the actual movies.

2 The Combistick

The Predator's single most versatile weapon

While the wrist blades may be more iconic to the Yautja, it could be said that their primary melee weapon is actually the humble Combistick. Also known as the telescoping spear, these polearms are capable of expanding and contracting at a moment's notice, piercing through targets like a hot knife through butter. In Predators, it's revealed that these weapons can even branch out and split into multiple points, expanding into a ball of spikes after being embedded within Mombassa in one particularly brutal kill.

Prey further expands on the uses of the Combistick, revealing that the weapon can split apart into two halves for dual-wielding action. The Feral Predator uses this to great effect, tearing through a crowd of French trappers in a whirlwind of blades. There's no denying that these size-changing weapons are some of the most compelling features of the Yautja's arsenal, enhancing the species' physical strength while showing off their technical ingenuity.

1 The Plasmacaster

Ruthlessly efficient with no frills

When killing hapless human targets as quickly as possible is the Predator species' ultimate goal, no weapon can compete with the legendary Plasmacaster. The second the weapons' three red dots appear, a fiery bolt of plasma is sure to follow, instantly taking out a threatening hunted human from an impressive range. When fired from the invisibility granted by the Predators' cloaking technology, the shoulder-mounted energy canon becomes even more dangerous, giving the series' humans precious little time to react.

It could be said that the Plasmacaster isn't the most sporting weapon for the Predator to choose, more-or-less instantly evaporating hunted humans while giving them little time to react. Still, its cool factor, effectiveness, and integration into the Yautja's iconic masks more than makes up for its relative "unfairness" in the already imbalanced hunt for humans. There's a good reason why the Plasmacaster has shown up in nearly every Predator movie.