Wrist Blades are the most basic Yautja weapon and are the weapon of choice for most Predators. They are retractable, usually twin, serrated blades between six and eighteen inches in length and two to eight inches wide that extend over the back of the hand from a gauntlet worn on the Predator's wrist. These deadly weapons are sharp enough to cut through bone and are intended for use against unarmored combatants. As a last resort, they can be fired as a projectile from their gauntlet.^[1]

CharacteristicsEdit

Wrist Blades, owing to their exclusively close-range nature, are considered among the most honorable weapons a Predator can use when killing prey.^[2] As a point of pride, the Brawlers arm themselves with these melee weapons exclusively, inflicting a crippling amount of damage without using ranged weapons.^[3]

Wrist blades are not without drawbacks. For example, some longer blades are not covered by a hunter's Cloaking Device and even when they are, they will sometimes be visible through the cloak if covered in large amounts of blood and gore. Not all Wrist Blades are resistant to the acidic effects of Xenomorph blood and will consequently melt during combat with Xenomorphs, though this problem seems to be rare as the Yautja have the ability to forge metals that are immune to Xenomorph acid.

On BG-386, Dark was able to open doors in ancient Yautja ruins by inserting his Wrist Blades into specific slots, indicating they have been in use for centuries and also carry non-combat uses, at least in ceremonial temples.^[4]

VariantsEdit

Several variations of the standard Wrist Blade design have been seen.

• The Jungle Hunter had slightly prehensile blades that could bend outwardly to pin down prey without damaging them.
• Wolf, Dark, Spartan and many Predators of the Elite Clan carried Wrist Blades on both of their arms.^[5][4]
• Celtic possessed blades that could reverse direction.^[1]
• The Cambodian Predator wore a triple-bladed wrist blade.^[6]

ScimitarEdit

Main article: Scimitar

A Scimitar is a single, lengthy blade carried on the forearm. While similar to Wrist Blades in function, Scimitars are far longer, offering increased range at the cost of greater bulk.

ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Paul W.S. Anderson (writer and director). Alien vs. Predator [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
2. ↑  Predator: Concrete Jungle [PlayStation 2, Xbox]. Vivendi Universal Games.
3. ↑  Aliens versus Predator: Extinction [PlayStation 2, Xbox]. Zono Inc.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1}  Aliens vs. Predator [Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360]. Rebellion.
5. ↑ Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett, Jim Thomas, John Thomas (writers) and The Brothers Strause (directors). Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
6. ↑ Marc Cerasini (2004). Aliens vs. Predator. ISBN 0-06-073537-6.