Killer Vines (Predator: Badlands)

In-Universe Details
Homeworld	Genna
Size	Highly Variable
Abilities	High Intelligence, Prehensile Strands, Collective Hunting, Environmental Manipulation
Weakness	Fire, High-Calibre Gunfire, Slashing/Piercing Weapons, Limited Movement Range (Sessile)
Diet	Carnivorous
Production Details
Appears In	Predator: Badlands (2025)
Created By	Weta FX

The Killer Vines are a large carnivorous plant species native to the planet Genna. They are highly intelligent and aggressive, with territorial behaviour. They appear in the 2025 film, Predator: Badlands, where the Yautja hunter Dek encounters them

Appearance and Biology

The Killer Vines are rooted to the ground. While they cannot travel long distances, the individual vines showcase a remarkable ability to manoeuvre erratically and quickly.

Visually, the main vine stalks appear woody and textured, closely resembling dark, intertwining tree roots. The colour scheme is predominantly dark brown and reddish-brown, allowing the creature to blend seamlessly into the forest of Genna.

The individual vines, which can grow to significant lengths, appear to function as a highly decentralised organism, capable of hunting together. Two of them were seen to be “squabbling” with each other. The ends of the vines flare out into a brush-like mass of thin, reddish-brown strands. These strands allow the creature to grasp objects and prey, as seen when the vines steal Dek’s equipment. Despite their resilience to damage, they are still weak to slashing attacks, gunfire and fire.

Role in Predator: Badlands

When the Yautja Dek crashes into the forest on Genna, he quickly encounters the Vines. The Vines snatched a small reptile and then stole Dek’s equipment, including a medi-kit and a Spear, before launching a full attack. They drag Dek up into the trees, forcing Dek to use his Bow and Sword to injure and escape them by reaching a high cliff.

Later, the Weyland-Yutani team, led by the synthetic Tessa, encounters the Vines when investigating Dek’s crashed pod. The Vines attack the team and they fire at them and then use flamethrowers to injure the plants and capture some for transport back to their base.

During the film’s climax, Dek’s clash with a Weyland-Yutani soldier sends the synthetic into the Vine’s containment unit, where the Vine immediately attacks the guard. As Tessa attacks Dek in her Power Loader, the Vine attacks the massive Power Loader before it is presumably killed.

Abilities

• High Intelligence: The Vines exhibit high intelligence, given that they tried to steal Dek’s equipment.

• Grasping: The vines’ ends can splinter into multiple strands, allowing them to grasp victims and equipment.

• Hunting: Multiple vines can coordinate attacks, swarming victims from every angle.

• Resilience: Individual vines can sustain damage and continue to attack until heavily damaged further.

Behind The Scenes

The creature was brought to life by Weta FX, utilising advanced CGI to create the creature’s erratic movement.