"Predator" technology development

[StarTrek1701]

Next week, Nimrod Antal / Robert Rodriguez's Predators is coming out, so I am on a high. It's been too long since a good Predator movie came out and am psyched about it. So thoughts about the Preds are generally swimming in my head.

One thing that is bugging me lately, is how did the Predators develop their absolutely advanced tech? Their technology is, if we take the AvP comics/movies as canon, thousands of years advanced than that of humans. But how did they develop their tech??

If you notice you'll see Predators cannot really see anything beyond visual mixups of heat generation without their hunting masks. Are we to presume they had those hunting masks from their own ancient times? Or how did they even get to create the intricate electronic mechanisms needed to have their techs working properly and advance their civilisation?? Has this point ever been covered in any novel or comics? I am interested to know if this point has ever been tackled?

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

Next week, already? I have yet to even see a trailer or tv spot for it yet. They probably prevailed against a rival alien species that invaded their planet and then found their tech to be useful so they reversed engineered it and assimilated it into their culture.

 

[StarTrek1701]

Next week, already? I have yet to even see a trailer or tv spot for it yet. They probably prevailed against a rival alien species that invaded their planet and then found their tech to be useful so they reversed engineered it and assimilated it into their culture.

That's the question: how the hell do they even see properly to understand, much less create intricate machinaries?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Several possibilities:

- The Predators whose blurry unassisted vision we saw were nearsighted, and others have more detailed IR vision.

- The Predators enslaved a technically-minded but vastly outnumbered or pacifistic worker race also living on their planet.

- The Predators were slave soldiers taken from their homeworld by a spacefaring race (perhaps the Space Jockey species from 'Alien') and rebelled against them, keeping their technology.

- Their initial technology was biological in nature or bred from existing animals/plants and did not require the visual acuity that operating on circuitry does. After perfecting biological vision enhancements they advanced to artificial systems.

- The Predators might have evolved different castes or specialized subspecies with warriors, workers, etc. Perhaps those who do not hunt have clear vision and build the technology.

- Eyesight might improve as a Predator ages. The older Predators build the technology and train the younger generations. By the time they stop apprenticing their eyesight has improved to the point where they are even more effective hunters and can pilot craft, construct technology, and train new hunters themselves.

- In Predator 2, we saw that the Predators can see in multiple spectra and with varying clarity with their helmets on. Perhaps they possess this ability in a limited fashion without their helmets as well, but choose to use their most limited IR vision when fighting a worthy adversary out of a desire for fair play.

- Perhaps they make up for their lack of visual acuity with their others senses, like the blind. Their claws and fingers might give them amazingly detailed impressions of what they touch. They clearly hear extremely well over great distances to be able to imitate voices so exactly even without their helmets on. Perhaps they have very precise sonar-like hearing.

Bear in mind that I've only seen the movies and haven't read any of the AvP or Predator books or comics or played any of the games, so I don't know if they give more background on this.

 

[Plan 9]

Several possibilities:
- The Predators enslaved a technically-minded but vastly outnumbered or pacifistic worker race also living on their planet.
- The Predators were slave soldiers taken from their homeworld by a spacefaring race (perhaps the Space Jockey species from 'Alien') and rebelled against them, keeping their technology.
- The Predators might have evolved different castes or specialized subspecies with warriors, workers, etc. Perhaps those who do not hunt have clear vision and build the technology.
- Perhaps they make up for their lack of visual acuity with their others senses, like the blind. Their claws and fingers might give them amazingly detailed impressions of what they touch. They clearly hear extremely well over great distances to be able to imitate voices so exactly even without their helmets on. Perhaps they have very precise sonar-like hearing.

Those are the most likely culprits, with the bolded one being the most probable. A society can't exist with warriors/hunters alone.

The other big reason may simply be that their eyesight may have developed over the millenia that they've been using their supertech. If you constantly rely on technology to see for you, why bother with your own vision?

In all likelihood it's probably a combination of all of these things. We do know that the Predators take trophies from their quarry. So if they were hunting a more highly technologically evolved species, why wouldn't they snatch various gear from them?

 

[The Badger]

If you notice you'll see Predators cannot really see anything beyond visual mixups of heat generation without their hunting masks.

I've not seen all the Predator movies, just the first two (the 'proper' two). Have we ever been shown a Pred's POV without helmet in a non terrestrial environment?

Perhaps, on their own world, they can see well without the helmets. Perhaps there's something in Earth's atmosphere that blurs their vision.

 

[bigdaddy]

AvP is not considered Canon to the new movie.

My guess is at some time they could see and then it evolved that they couldn't so when that started to happen they made the tech?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

^^^ Possible, if there was some kind of situation where having subdued infrared vision was a better survival trait, like a change in the output of the planet's star or something.

Alternatively, disease or a disaster could have affected their eyesight.

 

[Showdown]

Next week, Nimrod Antal / Robert Rodriguez's Predators is coming out, so I am on a high. It's been too long since a good Predator movie came out and am psyched about it. So thoughts about the Preds are generally swimming in my head.

One thing that is bugging me lately, is how did the Predators develop their absolutely advanced tech? Their technology is, if we take the AvP comics/movies as canon, thousands of years advanced than that of humans. But how did they develop their tech??

If you notice you'll see Predators cannot really see anything beyond visual mixups of heat generation without their hunting masks. Are we to presume they had those hunting masks from their own ancient times? Or how did they even get to create the intricate electronic mechanisms needed to have their techs working properly and advance their civilisation?? Has this point ever been covered in any novel or comics? I am interested to know if this point has ever been tackled?

I always assumed their early tech is very different from their current tech. Early predators use old tech to help them see a little better and led to developing more advance stuff. Early humans started with a magnifying glass to help them see, and now we have digital microscopes.

 

[sojourner]

I'm going with an environment on their homeworld being better suited to their vision. Just like us they have to wear special gear when going to other planets.

 

[Brikar99]

I'm going with an environment on their homeworld being better suited to their vision. Just like us they have to wear special gear when going to other planets.

This is what I'd always assumed, as well.

 

[StarTrek1701]

Okay, been watching TV a lot and there are NO tv spots being shown. Isn't Fox wanting a big return on this movie??

 

[nx1701g]

Okay, been watching TV a lot and there are NO tv spots being shown. Isn't Fox wanting a big return on this movie??

Strange I've been seeing commercials a lot. I just saw one a few minutes ago on my Fox affiliate.

 

[the_wildcard]

This movie is going to rock!

 

[nx1701g]

I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but FX is showing AVP and AVPR sponsored by the movie Predators this week.

 

[Silent_Bob]

This thread is taking a far too human approach to things. The Predators vision is poor by what we are used to, but they have evolved with said vision. Just because we lack the capacity to identify specific details within an infrared spectrum does not mean the Predators are as lacking. The slightest variation in colour could impart a great deal more information to them than it does us, they've had their entire existence to acclimatise afterall.

 

[nx1701g]

They just announced on Adult Swim that there will be a special sneak peek of Predators Thursday night on Adult Swim.