Ultimate Predator

The Ultimate Predator or known as the Upgraded Predator or the Assassin Predator is the main antagonist of the sci-fi action horror movie The Predator, the fourth installment of the Predator franchise. He is a genetically modified Predator whose mission is to assassinate the Fugitive Predator and prevent him from delivering the "Predator Killer" to humanity so that they could fend off an invasion of some kind.

Biography
The Ultimate Predator appears in his ship pursuing another spaceship. The ship contains the Fugitive Predator who is later revealed to have stolen some important Predator technology from him. Ultimate does some severe damage to Fugitive’s ship but he jumps into hyperspace, escaping Ultimate. Fugitive’s ship crashes on Earth and is captured by a government agency.

The Ultimate Predator arrives in Earth’s orbit and begins scanning for his target. Meanwhile, Rory McKenna is in his basement and is playing with a Predator device. Ultimate flies into Earth’s atmosphere and activates the ship’s cloaking mechanism. Rory inadvertently decloaks the Ultimate’s ship using the device which in turn, makes his ship appear on the military radar. Ultimate reactivates the cloak while the military sends some F-22’s to check out the anomaly.

Rory is still using the device and decloaks the ship again, this time in front of the F-22s who have to make a swift manoeuvre. Ultimate flies over the base where Fugitive is escaping while being pursued by two F-22s. The F-22 manage to attack the Predator ship but Ultimate fires off a blast which destroys one of the F-22s.

Ultimate later lands his ship in the middle of a forest and exits the ship with two Predator Dogs. He lets the dogs sniff a rag to track down the Predator device. The dogs attack Rory and The Loonies at the school and then the Fugitive Predator hunts Quinn and Rory inside of the school. As Fugitive throttles Quinn, the Ultimate Predator punches through a wall and drags Fugitive through it, stunning him. Ultimate changes his skin to give himself armour and asks Fugitive where the stolen technology is. Fugitive manages to fire a blast of his Plasma Caster towards Ultimate but misses. Fugitive then uses his wristblades which simply snap off against Ultimate’s tough armour. Ultimate quickly kills Fugitive by smashing his face in with a punch before he pulls off his head and spine.

The Loonies escape and Ultimate sends a transmission back to his clan informing them that the traitor has been eliminated and he will track down the stolen cargo. His clan asks if there are any human leads and replies “Several”. Ultimate later arrives at Quinn’s residence, killing several government agents and scans the basement for clues. Rory has drawn a map to the location of Fugitive’s spaceship. The government agents make their way to Fugitive’s ship while the Loonies attempt to free Rory. Lynch is acting as the sniper for the team but Ultimate severs his arm with a plasma blast. Ultimate descends onto the site, killing many military personnel and enters the Fugitive Predator’s ship.

The military have set up a translation device to interpret the Predator language. The Ultimate Predator uses this and tells them that he has come to that location to destroy the vessel and that they should run. He says that he detects one among them who he considers a true warrior – the one called McKenna. The group initially think he’s talking about Quinn but instead it is his son Rory. The Ultimate gives the group a seven and a half minute head start to escape. Ultimate prepares the ship’s self destruct mechanism and exits the ship. He pursues the group into the forest while the ship explodes.

Ultimate catches up with the group, kills numerous military personnel and is seen in the trees biting the head off a soldier. He descends from the trees and attacks the group. He fires his wristblade at Casey who uses the Fugitive’s mask to deflect it. The masks falls to the ground and accidentally fires off a blast which hits Ultimate. Ultimate falls back into a trap the team had created which covers him in a highly flammable gas. Nebraska fires a shot, igniting the cloud of gas which sets Ultimate on fire. Baxley jumps onto Ultimate, stabbing him numerous times. Ultimate throws Baxley, impaling him on a tree branch while he fatally wounds Coyle. The Predator falls off the edge and into the water. Ultimate then confronts the remaining survivors and takes Rory as a prisoner back to his ship.

As Ultimate is about to take off, Quinn, Nettles and Nebraska jump onto the ship. Ultimate activates the ship’s forcefield, but Quinn hides underneath it while Nebraska jumps on top and unfortunately, Nettles' legs are severed in half. Nebraska throws himself into one of the ship’s engines which causes it to explode sending the ship back to the surface. Quinn enters the ship and attacks Ultimate but the Predator fires a harpoon weapon which restrains him. Quinn falls out of the ship and it crashes to the ground.

A badly injured Ultimate chases after Quinn. As he is about to kill him, a cloaked Casey appears behind him and jumps on him, firing multiple shots into the Predator’s head. Quinn pushes him off the edge and he falls back towards his ship. Rory activates the ship’s forcefield which severs Ultimate’s arm. As Ultimate attacks Quinn, the surviving Predator Dog attacks the Predator. Quinn manages to retrieve the Predator’s severed arm and adds an explosive onto the wristblade. He fires a shot into the Predator’s leg which explodes. Ultimate is fatally injured in the blast, losing all of his limbs. Quinn fires multiple shots into his head, finally killing him for good.

Description
The Ultimate Predator is a product of hybridisation, that is to say, his DNA is made up of many different creatures from different worlds which give him even more powerful abilities. The whole idea of him kidnapping Rory is that he sees Rory and his autism has the next step in human evolution. Standing at 11ft, he was taller, faster, stronger than a normal Predator and he could manipulate his body to give him a tough armoured exterior. He also didn’t need a mask to have thermal vision which suggests he could have some form of implant. Unlike regular Yautjas, he has bulletproof exo-skeletal skin that can reflect gunfire at close range and even shatter Wristblades that make forceful contact with his skin, terminating the need of extensive use of body armor during the hunt. It is revealed that it isn't natural as he has taken DNA from other dangerous creatures from different corners of the galaxy and used them to alter his genetics, enhancing his size and strength in process.

His biology may not be his own doing, but the collaboration of several research-caste Yautja to create a form of super hunter of their race. Stargazer reveals that the Fugitive Predator had human DNA, meaning this hybridizing is not unique to the Ultimated Predator. Also, the Ultimated Predator has Predator hounds to assist him in the hunt similar to the Tracker Predator on the Game Preserve Planet.

Trivia

 * The Upgraded Predator is a purely CGI creation, though the actors that portrayed the Fugitive Predator were stand-ins on set.
 * While all previous Predators were plantigrades (feet resting on the palms) like humans, the Assassin Predator is digitigrade (feet resting on the toes), even if that getup is impractical for heavy bipeds.
 * Despite never wearing a Bio-Mask, the Assassin Predator is shown using optical features that should be impossible without one, it is possible that he possesses some never before seen implant version of the Bio-Mask.
 * The motivation behind Upgraded Predator's hybridization is questionable when taking into account established canon; the Yautja race's disdain towards a Predalien showed that they frowned the practice of hybridization between their kind and other species. It is possible however, that Assassin Predator hailed from a clan that condemned as Bad Blood for the practice of hybridization.
 * The said possibly is much more likely, as Shane Black explicitly referred him as a cheater.