Thesis

Perhaps one of the most pronounced differences between us and them is longevity. ‘Leader' as I will call him, fought and defeated a band of pirates in 1718 and took a gun made in 1715 (Decade of Dark Horse #1 of 4) which in 1997 gave to Harrigan in Predator 2. The resulting 279 years, excluding the years ‘leader' was growing up, shows Predator longevity.

This longevity suggests that sons live with their mothers for much longer then we would before leaving, for it takes longer for them to grow up and fend for themselves, and daughters stay with their mothers for the protected environment to raise their own children and maintain dominance over their clans territory. It seems reasonable that more females in a clan means they can control a larger area.

Mothers during this time would teach their young to fight and survive and they hunt for and protect their own children and are viciously and relentlessly protective.

A female clan would thus be made of succeeding layers of generations; daughters, mothers, grandmothers etc. It would be easy to consider such a clan would be led by a single matriarch.

Considering longevity once more, it takes a lot of energy to raise a child, and so individual females would probably only have a child every decade or two and would be very particular about who was to be the father, and perhaps choose favourites, but do not have permeant pair bonds. This leads to very high competition among males.

Considering this difference, males live in packs of generally unrelated males and females live in clans of related females and their children.

The nomadic nature of males suggests that they have no ‘home territory' of sorts, but that their home is what they carry with them. Their ships for example, are the territory that they carry with them.

Sons would be more interested in who their fathers were then daughters, for it may reflect their rank when they leave.

Since females rule over their territory and generally run internal affairs, Predators have a matriarchal society. Rarely is it ever needed to be enforced however, males do not involve themselves with female politics and females are uninterested in male socialization.

Should the need to enforce this arise however, the male would not only be against a female physically larger then himself, but also her sisters, and their mothers and grandmothers etc. The brethren of this unfortunate male would offer no support, only their derision.

Also, there is always the threat of castration for males, not only does it eliminate his chances of continuing his line, but also any rank he may have had in male society. Such males would most likely kill themselves in such a situation. It seems reasonable that only females would ritually castrate, males giving each other the respect of killing their opponent instead.

In this atmosphere of high competition for breeding rights among males, for it is the male who must attract the female, there are many males who never get the chance to breed. These frustrated males may turn on their subordinates.

But the males who do breed have proven themselves by hunting dangerous prey and gaining many impressive trophies. A second windfall of this accomplishment is the admiration of their clan brothers which they spend most of their time. Basically, males hunt for one reason, status.

It is a grey area why females would hunt for trophies. Females DO hunt for trophies (A vs P: Deadliest of the Species #5 ie. Big Mama's trophy case) but it may be for somewhat different reasons then males. Dominance may certainly be a factor yet I doubt if it is the only reason. Perhaps to show their ability to protect their territory, from enemy female clans. Perhaps to show ability in protecting their children, both their own and their sisters. Perhaps just for a laugh. But this is entirely speculation.

To conclude, the role males play in their society, that I have postulated, is keeping any outside race from interfering with the internal affairs of theirs. Basically, they intimidate other races into submission to protect their females breeding grounds, plus the fact it is very amusing to them. Thus my thesis about Predator society can be summed up by the phrase;