To keep things straightforward and fair, we’re focusing solely on the movie characters. Venturing into the comics, books, and video games complicates things, as some are considered canon while others aren’t. And yes, for the sake of completeness, the “Alien vs. Predator” series is part of this discussion. After all, if the legendary filmmaker James Cameron appreciates the beautiful chaos of the initial crossover, so should the rest of us.

With that in mind, here’s a ranking of the strongest characters in the “Predator” franchise. Feel free to debate the order and inclusions, but remember, click, click, click—which translates to, “We do not mention Shane Black’s ‘The Predator,’ ever!” in Yautja speak.

The original Predator was always going to make an appearance, right? Without this jungle warrior’s achievements in the 1987 film, the Yautja might have faded into action movie obscurity. This particular Predator combines intelligence with brute strength, demonstrating exceptional skill and an uncanny ability to use his environment to eliminate a team of elite mercenaries. Quick, powerful, and relentless, he hunts his foes with precision while learning about them in real-time. Standing at an imposing 7 feet 2 inches, thanks to the late Kevin Peter Hall, he was a true force.

The Yautja don’t limit themselves to human prey; they seek out the greatest predators on the planet, including animals. In “Prey,” the Feral Predator (portrayed by Dane DiLiegro) isn’t as technologically advanced as his modern counterparts. Exhibiting a primal and savage nature—evidenced by his skull mask—he relies more on raw talent than technology to defeat his enemies. While he still uses gadgets, it’s clear that he prioritizes his training and instincts.

What’s most impressive about this hunter is how he goes after the toughest guys to test himself. He could have chosen one single worthy mercenary to track and engage in combat, but he decides to prove his strength against several of them without ever breaking his code of honor. Sure, he might have bitten off more than he could chew with Dutch Schaefer in the end, but he still lays waste to some of Earth’s most lethal men. Seriously, did he even break a sweat until he fought Dutch? The “Predator” franchise started here, and this Yautja made his clan proud upon debut. Rest in peace to this one ugly … Well, you know the rest here.

The Yautja aren’t only confined to testing themselves against humans; they want to battle against the greatest predators alive. This includes animals. In “Prey,” the Feral Predator (Dane DiLiegro) who arrives on Earth isn’t quite as sophisticated as some of his modern-day counterparts. There is a primal and feral quality to him — just look at his skull mask as an example — as he relies more on his natural abilities rather than technology to overcome adversaries. Yes, he still has the gadgets intact, but it’s obvious that he prefers to focus on his training and instincts.

While he demonstrates aptitude in fights against humans like Naru (Amber Midthunder), the Comanche, and the French voyagers, it is his conquests of a wolf, rattlesnake, and a grizzly bear that stand out as his greatest displays. Against both the wolf and rattlesnake, the Yautja uses agility and timing to overcome the speed deficiencies. However, the eye-opening bear scene in “Prey” should make anyone terrified to face him.

In the wild, the bear is renowned for being one of the strongest animals around, utilizing brute force and savagery to deliver bone-crushing blows to adversaries. Also, keep in mind that the bear has sharper senses than humans, so it would be able to sniff out its enemy even if he uses cloaking technology, which is exactly what happens here. The Yautja goes toe-to-toe with the bear in a slugging match, but he still comes out on top in the end. That’s simply a scary show of strength.

The three Predators from 2010’s “Predators” don’t like to play fair. Not only do they transport their prey — highly skilled killers from Earth — to their preferred alien habitat, but they also capture one of their own to brutalize. The leader of the pack is the unruly Predator known as the Berserker (Brian Steele). If he looks rough, tough, and frightening, that’s because he is all that and more.

The Berserker embraces a terrifying level of violence in how he deals with his prey and own brethren, living up to his esteemed name. He doesn’t seem to follow any code of honor, nor respect his opponents either, making him much more of a wild card than what’s traditionally seen in the series. He appears to hunt because he likes to enact pain and suffering on others — not due to the fact he needs to prove himself nor to test his abilities.

Expectedly, he shows off his sensational strength by ripping out Stans’ (Walton Goggins) skull and spinal cord from his body with one tug, but it’s his helmet that tells the full story of his power. If you look closely, his helmet features a Xenomorph’s mandible. This means that at some point in the past, the Berserker bested that annoying alien creature and ripped off its acid-soaked jaw as a prize to parade around. Wearing an enemy’s jaw is next-level bragging, really.

Paul W. S. Anderson’s “Alien vs. Predator” brings the two monsters to the big screen in one of the best crossover movies of all time. The setup is simple: Once every 100 years, a couple Predators come to Earth for the main event where they must face off against the deadly Xenomorphs. Yet, here’s the capper: The Yautja like to have a backup plan, since they know the Xenomorphs are way too powerful; they’ll detonate and blow up everything if they feel like they’re about to lose. Doesn’t sound too fair now, does it?

Can you blame them, though? The Xenomorph is one of the galaxy’s most lethal killers. They breed like flies and once they reach their adult form, they’re practically impossible to stop. On their own, the Xenomorph is strong, agile, and durable — plus, they have acid running through their bodies, so anytime someone pierces their skin, they excrete a type of acid blood that chews through nearly every known material.

Yet, the true danger of the Xenomorph remains their strength in numbers. They possess a hive mentality and understand how to hunt and kill in packs. Even the most seasoned Predator may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of aliens scrambling toward them in a constant flow of attack. Sure, fire and explosives are good ways to destroy the Xenomorphs, but they’re also highly intelligent. Just when someone believes they have escaped and destroyed them all, they quickly find out that another Xenomorph snuck onto their ship as a stowaway.

Poor Scar (Ian Whyte) learns the hard way that team projects always suck because your teammates let you down. After the Predators arrive on Earth in 2004’s “Alien vs. Predator,” Scar’s bros, Celtic and Chopper, get Xenomorph’d, so it is up to him to survive on his own and prove that he’s worthy of being a part of his clan. That he does, while also forming an alliance with the human Lex Woods (Sanaa Lathan).

In what turns into what can only be deemed as “The Raid” but with aliens, Scar taps into both his physical and mental strength, as he battles the overwhelming odds. Theoretically, he should not survive as long as he does, because he’s outnumbered by the Xenomorphs and he’s still a rookie on this mission. This Yautja, though, refuses to give up, using his smarts and strength in equal measure to ensure that the Xenomorphs do not escape from the battle arena to wreak havoc on Earth.

Well, sort of. Even though he defeats the Queen, he receives a lethal blow in the process. With the help of Lex, he makes his way back to his ship where his brethren put him to rest. However, they never check his body to see if there’s a “surprise” from the Xenomorph lurking inside of him. As it turns out, there is, which results in the birth of a far more dangerous and powerful creature.

The bold “Predator: Killer of Killers” doesn’t hold back on showcasing the Yautja in all their might and glory. The film features a number of powerful and unique Predators for fans to debate about which is stronger or weaker. However, there’s one who stands head and shoulders (and bones) above the rest: the Grendel King (Britton Watkins), as Ursa (Cherami Leigh) dubs him.

Not much is known about this imposing warlord. All that’s obvious from the 2025 animated movie is that the Yautja view him as their chief, and he loves violence as much as anyone else. Unlike the other Predators, though, he doesn’t hunt for others to test himself against. Instead, the warriors who successfully slay Predators are brought to a planet where they are forced to battle to the death in some kind of warped contest. The winner’s prize? They face the Grendel King in arena combat. Great ….

What’s left unsaid says it all here. If the Grendel King sits on the throne and rules over everyone, it’s for a reason. The fact he wants to face only the best of the best suggests that he’s a powerhouse who has defeated countless other champions along the way. Plus, he has more than a few other talented fighters stored in suspended animation for more battles –- talk about a healthy pipeline! The only reason he isn’t ranked higher in this list is because he lets John J. Torres (Rick Gonzalez), Kenji Kawakami (Louis Ozawa Changchien), and Ursa escape his clutches.

The planet Genna holds a variety of threats; however, the greatest menace is the monstrous alien titan known as the Kalisk. In “Predator: Badlands,” Kwei (Mike Homik/Stefan Grube) tells Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) that this creature is so feared that even their normally fearless father, Njohrr (Reuben de Jong), refuses to go anywhere near her. But what’s so special about the Kalisk?

Simply speaking, the Kalisk is an apex predator unlike anything that anyone has ever seen. That’s saying something when even the trees and grass on Genna can kill you. The Kalisk is big, she’s strong, she has more teeth than Pennywise the Dancing Clown in his Deadlights form, and she’s practically unkillable. Even if somebody manages to land a cutting blow on the creature, the Kalisk is able to merge her missing body parts back together and continue fighting like nothing ever happened. She’s a force of nature that needs to be respected and appreciated from a distance — preferably from another galaxy far, far away.

What’s even scarier to imagine is how Weyland-Yutani almost creates the perfect Xenomorph in “Predator: Badlands.” If this pesky corporation had managed to bring back the Kalisk and get her anywhere near the Xenomorph, oh boy! That’s it. Game over. While the Kalisk is eventually felled in the movie, her offspring, Bud, survives and carries on the legacy.

Dek doesn’t seem like much when he’s introduced in “Predator: Badlands.” His father, Njohrr, sees him as the runt of the litter, and even his brother, Kwei, remains apprehensive about Dek’s rite of passage — especially on Genna. He comes across as a petulant teen who’s about to have his butt handed to him in the harshest way possible.

The character, though, more than proves everyone wrong, revealing himself as the ultimate warrior and beacon of strength. Not only does he survive the dangers of Genna that lurk around every corner, but he also triumphs in his fight against the mighty Kalisk. As a matter of fact, one wonders what might have happened had Weyland-Yutani not intervened here in the first place.

That isn’t all, though. Dek loses all of his weapons and gadgets at one point in the movie. Instead of sobbing about it, he rebuilds himself a new arsenal using the natural resources available to him on Genna. Whereas other Predators often require their weapons and technology to battle others, Dek shows that all he needs is the belief in himself to succeed. And the final proverbial cherry on the cake? He returns to his home planet, Yautja Prime, and brutalizes his father, who rejected him and killed his brother. In his final act of defiance, Dek turns down the opportunity to join the clan, revealing that he’s strong enough to last without the other Yautja around him. A total boss move.

If people ranked the “Predator” movies, chances are high that they would place 2007’s “Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem” at the bottom of any list. Despite the film’s many (many) flaws, it does one thing right: It follows through on an idea introduced in “Alien vs. Predator.” The movie births the concept of a Predalien, a harrowing hybrid of a Predator and Xenomorph.

Of course, it’s as frightening as it sounds, combining the characteristics of two of the universe’s most dangerous creatures into one killer package. In typical Xenomorph fashion, though, it takes everything one step further. A Xenomorph’s strength is always greater than the host it inhabits, so when the Predalien is birthed, it’s significantly stronger than Scar, who was already a powerhouse to begin with. Consider this for a moment: This creature slaughters a group of Predators singlehandedly and without much fuss, establishing itself as the new apex predator of the universe.

As seen by the events in “Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem,” the Predalien is as close to invincible as it comes. In the end, the only way it’s defeated is by the authorities dropping a nuclear bomb on the town. It’s a drastic measure, for sure, but any other option would have resulted in Earth turning into Planet of the Predaliens within a week.

This might be a controversial take, but the Predator Wolf, who is named after Harvey Keitel’s character from Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction,” is the top dog Yautja here. Why? Well, when the Predalien attacks the other Predators, they send out a distress signal to Yautja Prime. The Predator who answers the call is Wolf, who embarks on a mission as a cleaner to rid the planet of the Predalien and its goons.

Throughout the film, Wolf never looks overwhelmed by the task at hand. He remains laser-focused on the mission, wiping out anyone who stands in his path with precision, power, and persistence. There’s no disputing he’s an accomplished veteran hunter, who uses everything he’s learned in the past and an array of fancy weapons to face off against his greatest enemy yet.

Wolf keeps cool in his final showdown with the Predalien. Once his equipment gets trashed, he tears off the armor and decides to fight alien versus hybrid — with no gadgets. Despite the Predalien having the physical advantage, Wolf still manages to tear off the creature’s jaw and hold his own in a battle of strength. In the end, Wolf dies via nuclear blast along with the Predalien, but if it wasn’t for him keeping the hybrid occupied long enough, one imagines that the humans would have never been able to set off the nuke in the first place.