Greyback

"Take... it."

―Greyback (from Predator 2)

Greyback,^[2] also known as Golden Angel, was a Yautja Elder encountered by Mike Harrigan aboard the Yautja Mother Ship hidden beneath Los Angeles in 1997. He was the leader of the Los Angeles hunting party.

Biography[]

18th century[]

Greyback first visited Earth in 1718, when he encountered pirate captain Raphael Adolini and assisted him in fending off his mutinous crew. At the end of the deadly battle, Adolini gifted the Predator with his flintlock pistol before succumbing to a gunshot wound. Greyback then buried the captain and gifted the dead man with his otherworldly sword.

20th century[]

Greyback returned to Earth, along with a small hunting party, in 1997. Even though there were a few members within his gang, only one actually actively hunted the armed citizens in Los Angeles. Greyback presumably watched the duel between LAPD detective Mike Harrigan and the City Hunter without interfering. After the latter was defeated in hand-to-hand combat aboard their ship, Greyback and the rest of the hunting party surrounded him. Contrary to Harrigan's expectations, they did not attack, but rather carried away their fallen comrade's body. Before Greyback himself left, he gave to Harrigan Adolini's flintlock pistol as a trophy, signifying the respect he held for the man who had defeated one of his ilk in a fair fight. Greyback and the others then left Earth on the ship with their dead comrade.

Equipment[]

Bio-helmet
Cloak
Wristblades
Wrist gauntlet
Cutlass
Extendable sword (formerly)
Sword
Plasmacaster

Trophies[]

18th century flintlock pistol (formerly)
Dog tags
United States 2nd Infantry Division patch

Behind the Scenes[]

Greyback's suit was actually made from the original Jungle Hunter outfit from Predator, with different armor pieces applied.^[2] The Elder's head was likewise recycled from the Jungle Hunter outfit, and was modified with foam latex appliances to alter its appearance. According to special effects artist Shane Mahan, "We changed the structure and the look of it a bit, and broke a tusk on it to make it look older."^[3] Greyback was played by an uncredited Kevin Peter Hall, who portrayed the Jungle Hunter in Predator and the City Hunter in Predator 2.^[2]

Trivia[]

Greyback is never named in the film or its novelization; his name is only given by the film crew in behind the scenes interviews and merchandise.
Greyback's Plasmacaster is unique in that the laser pointer is built into the weapon itself, rather than mounted on the Predator's bio-helmet.
In the novelization of the film, it is Greyback who kills the City Hunter, not Harrigan — Harrigan merely severely wounds the City Hunter with the Smart-Disc, at which point Greyback and the others arrive. The City Hunter then willingly allows Greyback to behead it.^[4]
Among Greyback's trophies is a sword, dog tags and a patch from the United States 2nd Infantry Division, which is on his left arm.
Greyback's cutlass appears in the game Predator: Hunting Grounds as the elder sword. A flintlock pistol also appears in the game is worn similarly to how Greyback wore Adolini's, which is worn differently than all the other trophies in the game. The elder predator class is also visually very similar to Greyback.
His Clan's Mother Ship looks very similar to the one depicted in Aliens versus Predator 2, suggesting that this could be the same clan as Prince's Clan. Also, both are active since the XVIII century as it's first suggested by the flintock pistol and then depicted in the 1996 comic Predator: 1718 in the case of City Hunter's Clan and depicted in Primal Hunt during the first alien level and the first and second predator levels in the case of Prince's Clan. Note that Primal Hunt came out in 2002 while Prey come out in 2022, so it could only be referencing Predator 2 and the 1996 comic. Since the events of Primal Hunt take place in approximately 1730, it's also possible that Golden Angel (Greyback) and the Ancient Predator were companions before the second remained trapped in stasis in LV-1201 and maybe even that Golden Angel might have visited the planet at certain point in time and/or have been present during the 1730 Primal Hunt events, although he's never spotted in the game.