The Yautja Honour Code is a rule which governs the Predators’ conduct during the Hunt.
It details under what circumstances a hunter may kill a prey creature and when they may not.
The code is strict, and to break it - purposefully, accidentally, or even unwillingly - is a near irredeemable offense in many situations.
All hunters are expected to hunt and kill while adhering to the code and traditions.
If they breach the code, Yautja are expected to submit themselves for punishment honourably; failure to do so marks a Yautja as a Bad Blood.
In either case, he is then excommunicated altogether from society and considered fair game for the remaining honourable hunters.
Some Predators are specifically tasked with hunting down code-breakers that flee from punishment or hide their failures, these are called Enforcers or Arbitrators.
It is not entirely impossible for a Yautja that has in some way broken the code to regain their honour.
Such opportunities are rare and limited to very specific circumstances as seen with Scarface.
In order to even be offered the chance at redemption, the Yautja in question must have acknowledged their breach of code and willingly accept the punishment for that violation.
In the case that they are offered a chance to redeem themselves, they are assigned a mission that must be completed, or die trying.
Those who break the code are branded as “Bad Bloods”, they are considered an insult to Yautja culture, and are to be killed on sight when encountered.

When hunting, the hunter must be sure that his prey is considered game and lawful to hunt.
Worthy game must be strong enough to defend itself and/or capable of killing the hunter; of age, meaning hunting children or the elderly is not honourable; not linked directly to other lives e.g. pregnant women, and not weakened by disease.
Killing prey when using less equipment is considered a greater prize, and hunters should give their prey a fighting chance. If the prey demands close-combat, the hunter is to fight to their prey's standards, and should minimise the use of their Plasmacaster or other projectiles.

To take the Trophy of another Yautja, living or dead, is considered to be a great insult. For example, two Un-Blooded go on their first Hunt: one Yautja takes on a Xenomorph, and both are mortally wounded. While the wounded hunter is dying, the other hunter conveniently finishes off the prey and claims the kill as his own, abandoning the wounded Yautja. This is a crime that can be paid for with abandonment, or death.
To kill another Yautja intentionally holds severe consequences. This excludes self-defence and killing an opponent in a fight to settle a dispute. Murder is the worst crime a Yautja can commit.
Those that have defeated a Predator in a fair fight, or fought bravely alongside them, should be considered a worthy adversary or ally, and shown respect If they are of an intelligent species and capable of rational thought; also if this is the case, they will often be given a gift, as a token to show they have earned the Yautja’s respect.

Those who have done no harm should have no harm done to them. (It can be inferred that this rule must pertain only to harming other Yautja in their society since they hunt and kill members of many species one could call "innocent". It can also be inferred that Bad Blood Predators would ignore this rule either in part or in whole.)
If the prey is sick or already injured it is not considered honourable, the exceptions being if the Predator himself was the one who injured it, then he is allowed to finish the prey off; or if the sick or wounded attacks first, then the Predator can kill it in self-defence

Weapons of Warfare like the Blazer and Electroshock Missile Battery are forbidden by non-Military Caste hunters. These are considered too destructive to constitute a hunting weapon.

While the idea of an honour code does make Predators unique compared to other movie creatures, and I do like the idea of them giving the prey a bit more of a level playing field to make the hunt more challenging; but I do feel that it gets taken a little bit too literally, as if it is like the Predators version of the ten commandments, and they follow a literal set of rules to the letter like a religion; where, in the actual films themselves, I feel it seems more like the Predators do that themselves rather than them following a law or something.
The idea of an actual code of conduct for them seems to come more from the expanded universe like comics and things, rather than the actual films.
To me from how I always interpreted it, was that the individual Predators just wanted to savour the hunt, and get more satisfaction from fighting their prey, or in the case of not killing the unarmed, I thought it was just because they didn’t care about them, so wouldn’t even be interested in killing them, as opposed to that being demanded from them by their own laws, or a sense of duty.

#predator #avp