In Predator 2, the Predators gave Detective Harrigan a flintlock pistol after he killed the City Hunter, but it was unclear why this happened. Directed by Stephen Hopkins, Predator 2 was the sequel to the incredibly successful Predator, but it made a few changes to the franchise. It moved the action from the jungles to the city, had regular cops battle the alien invader instead of special ops soldiers, and then showed a little more of the honor code that Predators live by when they start a hunt.
It is that honor code that came into play in the Predator 2 ending, where Danny Glover’s Detective Mike Harrigan killed the City Hunter and then received a gift from a group of Predators that remained hidden, watching the hunt. After Hannigan killed the City Hunter Predator with its own disc, the other Predators showed up to retrieve its body and an elder Predator gave Harrigan a flintlock pistol as a trophy. This is all because of the Yautja Code these aliens live by.
The Elder Predator Gave Harrigan The Flintlock Pistol As A Trophy For Killing The City Hunter In Predator 2
The Gun Was A Gift Of Honor Via The Yautja Code
There is one huge difference between the aliens in the Predator franchise and the Xenomorphs from Alien. The Predator hunters all live by a code of honor known as the Yautja Code. This code exists because the Predators consider their hunts to be sacred, and they refuse to take an easy way out. If prey ends up unable to defend themselves, the Predators will not kill them. In Predator 2, the City Hunter didn’t kill Leona after learning she was pregnant.
The Yautja Code is simply that the Predators will seek out the strongest prey and gain them as a trophy. The more dangerous their prey, the greater the glory and honor of the hunt and kill. There is no honor in killing the weak. When the Predators kill someone or something, they take a trophy as their reward. When Harrigan killed the City Hunter, he ended up triumphant, and therefore, he deserved the trophy, which was the flintlock pistol.
Prey Confirms The Origin Of The Antique Pistol That The Predators Had In Predator 2
A French Trapper Gave The Gun To Naru
Prey is a prequel for the Predator franchise, taking place in 1719. This is possibly one of the first times that humans encountered a Predator species. The film follows a young Comanche warrior named Naru (Amber Midthunder). Naru, who dreams of becoming a great hunter, sees the Predator, and, ᴀssuming it is a large animal, starts tracking it with her fellow hunters. This doesn’t work out well, and most of her fellow hunters die.
However, when French trappers show up and kidnap Naru and other Comanche warriors to use as bait, the Predator arrives and starts tearing through them as well. It is at this point that Naru escapes and an injured trapper gives her the flintlock pistol to use against the Predator. She eventually defeats the alien invader, and Naru returns to camp. After painting the Predator’s green blood on her face, she becomes the new War Chief, the flintlock pistol still in her possession as a prize.
How Did The Predators In The Sequel Get The Flintlock Pistol?
The Predators Captured Naru After Prey
Originally, the story of how the flintlock pistol ended up with the Predators was found in the Dark Horse Comics comic book series. In this story, Raphael Adolini is a pirate captain and his crew comes into contact with a Predator outside Africa. When the Predator kills his crew, Adolini gifts his flintlock pistol to the alien as he dies. This is how they got it for Predator 2 – at least in the 90s telling of the story. This all changed when Prey was released.
The events in Prey make the comics non-canon. In Prey, Naru has the flintlock pistol at the end of the film, given to her by a trapper named Raphael Adolini. This eliminates the pirate story to move it to the Comanche tribe. This opens up another possibility for how the flintlock pistol gets to Predator 2. The post-credits in Prey showed more Predators arriving on Earth.
This is where the new Predators animated movie shows what happened to Naru and how the Predators got the flintlock pistol. In Predators: Killer of Killers, Ursa sacrifices herself so her allies can escape. However, the Predators do not kill her, but capture her and place her in a chamber in suspended animation. That is when the movie shows another chamber and Naru is in this one. It is unclear how they captured her, or why, but this shows how they got the flintlock pistol to give to Harrigan in Predator 2.
