Facebook – Top 100 FAVORITE Fictional Characters: 83

****SPOILERS TO FOLLOW****

83: The Predator

Created by Jim and John Thomas and played by Kevin Peter Hall (and voiced by PETTER CULLEN!?!) for the John McTiernan directed film “Predator”

First Appearance: 1987

In a move that may shock and disappoint, I’m putting a “movie monster” in the list of characters. Why? Well, probably because he’s badass and, even though he’s an alien monster from another world, he’s still amongst the most well-developed and interesting monsters in movie history and, to be quite blunt, the most interesting character in the film he’s featured in. During a 90-minute film, none of the other characters – aside, somewhat, from that badass Native American dude – have enough real screen time to develop them. Its just a Predator and Arnold playing “Dutch” and no one else. And even then, Dutch is one-note and bland. The Predator is multi-fasceted and a curious specimin.

Now it would be very easy to simply talk about how much of a mother fucker this guy is, how cool he is. So I will. Say what you will about the way the guy looks, but his dreds, his strange mouth, is fish-net pants, his mask, and everything down to his glowing green skin makes him a dude that looks the part of a movie monster. But where a film like “Alien” or “Jaws” fails to compare is in the realm of development of character. That shark isn’t a character; he’s a shark. The Xenomorph in the first “Alien” film? Just a blood-hungry monster. They both appear as monsters and are easily identified as such, but they don’t have any depth to them. They just kill in order to survive. The Predator kills in order to collect trophy. It does it for sport. It doesn’t eat people and it doesn’t even hold a grudge. It sees a challenge and takes it on. That screams personality and intelligence.

Granted, the guy clearly has a ship (which he crashes, so… hunter first, pilot… very much further down the list than hunter) so the intelligence thing isn’t really a question. His slick-ass, shoulder-mounted laser cannon, his in-helmet tech that provides him a kind of heat-vision, and his cloaking device showcase that his people are really advanced, despite the fact that they dont’ make shirts or pants. But its the way he hunts and reacts to being hunted that are far more interesting. Picking people off one at a time, showcasing a sense of honor when fighting an unarmed Dutch, and even the fact that he won’t kill a defenseless woman that would yeild him no sport of any kind depicts the guy as someone that respects the rules of a good hunt, which shows a deeper level of intelligence than one based entirely on the technological.

If there’s any one spot to really blast this guy in regards to his sportsmanship, its the fact that he’s a sore loser and a dick. He can’t just admit he’s lost, so he decides to fucking nuke the entire jungle in order to get a last “fuck you, Governator” in before he kicks the bucket. You can make the claim that he does this in order to keep his corpse from being studied and his tech taken and reverse-engineered and yadda yadda yadda. But, I mean, the dude laughs a nasty-ass laugh after he hits that self-destruct button and sees the look in Dutch’s eyes as he realizes what is going to happen. He isn’t doing it for the preservation and protection of his people. He doesn’t give a flying fuck about that. He just wants to go out with a bang. And take Arnie with him.

But even that makes him a bit more complex. The whole film we see how his people work, the tribal nature he exhibits and the level of dedication to his honor code that he sticks to throughout. It is quite cool, then, to see him have even the slightest twinge of spite in him, even if a twinge is a nuke. Its give him an almost… dare I say, “human” like nature. And its that nature that helps create in this monster something that goes against the standard idea of a simple movie monster. Compare him again to Jaws or the Xenomorph and you’ll see a stark contrast between the creatures we’re meant to fear.

And, then, at the end of the day, you can even compare the Predator of this film to those of the sequels and the horrible, awful “Alien vs Predator” films, all of which feature Predators that are stale, lifeless clones of the cool-ass monster from the first film. While these movies tend to further flesh out the character and its species, it does little to make compelling monsters that are fun to watch. Those guys are jokes. The original film features not only the best of the bunch, but one of my all time favorite movie monsters in the history of cinema. He’s a real badass and a pleasure to watch. So much so, in fact, that you almost wish he’d win, just because of how cool he is.

Favorite Portrayal:
Optimus Prime. Done and done.

Favorite Quote:
Dutch: “What the hell ARE you?”
Predator: “What the hell are YOU?”

Favorite Moment:
Watch him rip that spine and skull out and flail it around like an asshole. There is such a sense of jubilation to be found in this small sequence and the joy the Predator has over his prize. Its just another moment of pure bad-ass tendencies from a dude that more or less defines the word.

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Added April 6, 2016
The final Facebook post and not even that far into my list of “Favorite Fictional Characters” – I was accused, later, of quitting Facebook so that I didn’t have to finish this list. That’s partially true. I liked my list but writing the entries became less and less fun.
#1 on the list was Boba Fett. Or was going to be.
Hope that doesn’t surprise anyone.