Did You Know the Predator's "Dreadlocks" Aren't Actually Hair? Here's Their Real Purpose

With the return of the Alien franchise in Alien: Romulus, the Predator is also demanding its place back on the big screen. While Prey was excellent, it only streamed; however, Predator: Badlands will hit theaters. Our favorite Yautja will once again show off its iconic "dreadlocks" on the big screen. But wait! Those aren't just regular hair, even though it might seem like the Predator is a Bob Marley fan. Let's dive into what they really are!

Thanks to Slashfilm, we're breaking down the Yautja's fascinating anatomy. The design, first introduced in the 1987 sci-fi classic, gave the Predator its signature appearance, including what looked like dreadlocked tendrils. Even back then, it was clear these creatures were highly intelligent and complex hunters, far from humanoid. Once the mask comes off, we're faced with a monstrous face featuring its distinctive, mandible-like jaws. This alone hints that the "hair" hanging from the Predator's head—adorned with rings for flair—isn't really hair. Instead, they are highly evolved sensory organs that enhance the Yautja's perception and movement, making it an even deadlier hunter than any human familiar with weapons or the jungle.

According to Slashfilm, supplemental media like comics explore the Yautja species in more depth than the films, which primarily focus on human characters. (Interestingly, Badlands flips this, with the Yautja taking the protagonist role.) One example is Predator: Strange Roux by Brian McDonald, where a Predator hunts prey in the Louisiana swamps. During the story, a local trapper shoots the Predator in the head with a shotgun, damaging its tendrils—better described as vines—rather than hair. Unlike human hair, these tendrils bleed when injured. They lack bones but contain tissues and blood vessels. When damaged, the Predator becomes disoriented, allowing the trapper to set a trap, kill, and even cook it.

Jeff VanderMeer's Predator: South China Sea further clarifies the tendrils' function. This novel confirms that these appendages significantly enhance the Predator's perception, improve its balance far beyond human capabilities, and even sharpen its reflexes.

While these sensory organs are far more advanced than human hair, they aren't entirely unrelated. In David Bischoff's Predator: Hunters' Planet, a woman ends up among a group of Predators and allies with them. To fit in, she grows dreadlocks, but when she considers cutting them, she worries about being unattractive to the Yautja. This story reveals that the Yautja adorn their tendrils with rings for decorative purposes, as they consider them beautiful. Essentially, the Predator's tendrils serve both a biological and aesthetic purpose, making the creatures more functional and more appealing to their kind.

So, while the Predator's "dreadlocks" may look cool, they're far more than just a stylish choice—they're key to the Yautja's deadliness and allure.

This is all fascinating lore from the expanded stories, but what were these tendrils originally meant to be? Stan Winston, who designed the original Predator (he also worked on The Terminator, Jurassic Park, and Aliens), revealed in an interview on the 1987 film’s DVD that when he came up with the "dreadlocks," he was inspired by the feathered headdresses worn by tribal peoples and Native Americans, as well as the quills of a porcupine. In his vision, the tendrils were more decorative and part of the creature’s outer appearance, not functional sensory organs.

We'll see if Dan Trachtenberg and his team address this in Predator: Badlands! The film is currently set to release in November 2025.