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The Combistick,[1][2] also known as the Telescoping Spear,[3] is a spear-like Yautja weapon. The Combistick is telescopic, making it relatively small and easy to store when not in use but extending to its full length when required in combat. It is made of incredibly light, sharp, thin but strong material. It can be used both as a close-quarters hand-to-hand weapon and thrown like a spear.

Overview[]

Combi stick

Retracted Combistick

A Yautja receives a Combistick when they have finished all of their training, and have shown themselves ready to begin their first Hunt.[citation needed] Yautja have been known to decorate their Combistick over time with skulls and mementos of different Hunts and moments in their long life, making the staff its prized possession.[2] When a Predator dies an honorable death, they are buried with their spear.[citation needed]

CombiStick

Combistick (in the Yautja Language)

The spear's advantage is that it is extremely fast, well balanced and extremely strong, while also offering greatly increased range in hand-to-hand combat over common Wristblades. It can also parry melee attacks, deflecting claws, teeth, bullets and blades as if they were hardly relevant. The weapon is also light and balanced, making it easy to throw over considerable distances with great force.[4][5]

Yautja Spear Masters tend to train solely in the use of these weapons and have displayed their mastery in combat by holding back hordes of enemies. They also teach young predators in the art of wielding the powerful weapon. A Spear Master is the second highest rank next to Elder.

An ornate Combistick was given to Lex Woods by an Ancient Yautja as a Trophy for defeating a Xenomorph Queen. It can be assumed that this was given to her as a sign that she had gone above and beyond the requirement for possessing one as she killed not only multiple Xenomorphs, but a Xenomorph Queen, something only few Yautja can ever accomplish during a Xenomorph Hunt.

Other Variants[]

Separable Combistick[]

Feral Predator carried a Combistick variant that had mace-like bottom end for bludgeoning along with jagged, almost blade-like spear tip suitable for slashing as much as stabbing not unlike those of glaive. In addition of can be split into two separate weapons for dual wielding, this Combistick variant can be retracted via. an unspecified function to handicap the opponent who managed to rob it from its wielder.

Behind the Scenes[]

During the production of Predator 2, the special effects team quickly realized it would be impossible to construct a prop that could extend from the Combistick's fully retracted position to its fully extended position, as the change in length between the two was simply too great. As a result, two prop spears were built — one that could extend the first telescoping section on either side, and a second with those sections already extended and fixed in place that could then extend the final sections out to the weapon's full length.[3] The switch between the two props in the film was masked either through clever cutting, or by having the spear pass out of frame so that a member of the crew could hand Kevin Peter Hall (who played the Predator) the other prop while the Combistick was out of sight of the audience.[3]

For Feral Predator's Separable Combistick, Farzad Varahramyan came up with four designs; first iteration had small spearheads with retractable hooks as well as pump-action and counter-twist mechanisms to extend both ends and separate halves of the weapon respectively, second had jagged blade-like spearhead at one end while another a mace with retractable plates, third foldable ends and blade-like spearhead with three retractable curved spikes, and fourth basically same as the second albeit with more stake-like tip that had retractable flanges which prevented the weapon from beings easily removed once pierced the victim's limb. Out of four, it was eventually the second which used and subsequently finalized for the film proper.[6][7]

Trivia[]

  • In the novelization of Predator, the Jungle Hunter (which is very different in the book to the creatures now known from the films) carries a telescoping spear similar to a Combistick as its weapon.[8] A similar weapon was at one point going to be used by the Jungle Hunter in Predator, but the weapon was dropped during production.[9]
  • According to the description of the weapon in Predator: Hunting Grounds, the Combistick is a favorite among hunters and a very popular weapon.

Appearances[]

Gallery[]

References[]

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