Celtic Predator

Posted by Darkness on June 28, 2014 (Updated: 06-Sep-2023)

Celtic Predator Celtic PredatorThe Celtic Predator is one of the Predators that appears in the 2004 film Alien vs Predator directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. Unlike the previous films, the Predator was designed by Amalgamated Dynamics and portrayed by an uncredited Czech stuntman.

The Predator comes to Bouvetøya Island in Antarctica with two other Predators as part of an ancient training ritual. They came to Earth to hunt xenomorphs in an underground pyramid as a rite of passage. He is eventually killed by the Grid Alien after a ferocious battle.

Biography

October 10, 2004

The Celtic Predator, along with Scar and Chopper, came to Earth in order to take part in a rite of passage ritual which takes place every 100 years. Adolescent Predators go there to hunt xenomorphs so that they can prove themselves to the Elder Predators. It’s revealed that the Predators were using a Queen Alien in the pyramid to breed xenomorphs to hunt and three shoulder cannons were hidden down there for them to use.

The Predator mothership arrived at Bouvetøya Island, Antarctic and drilled a hole through the surface to an underground pyramid. The heat from the laser attracts the attention of Charles Bishop Weyland who discovers the pyramid and sends an expedition team down there. The mothership drops the three Predators off in pods and they quickly dispatch the mercenaries on the surface. They eventually reach the underground pyramid and realise the humans have stolen their shoulder cannons.

 Celtic Predator

The Celtic Predator used his net launcher against Stafford and eventually kills him with his combi-stick. After Chopper is killed by the Grid Alien, a huge battle between Celtic and Grid takes place. Celtic manages to sever part of the xenomorph’s tail which in turn melts his wristblades. Grid splashes acid onto Celtic and his armour begins to melt. The Grid Alien disappears and pounces towards Celtic and he managed to use his net launcher just in time.

The xenomorph falls through the floor into the room below and Celtic is about to kill it with his dagger. The acid from the xenomorph begins to melt through the net, allowing Grid to escape. It pounces on Celtic and uses its head-bite, killing the Celtic Predator.

 Celtic Predator

Personality

The Celtic Predator is much bigger than Scar and Chopper and relies more upon its size and menacing appearance to win fights rather than skill. He also appears to be the leader of the three Predators in Alien vs Predator. He is seen a few times taking the lead, reading the holographs and directing the other two Predators where to go. Celtic was perhaps a little too over-confident, not realising that some of his weapons were not resistant to xenomorph acid which cost him his life.

Abilities, Weapons & Equipment

Celtic had lots of weapons and equipment. He could double the length of his Wristblades and they were reversible. He had a Medi-Kit on his left shoulder, a Combi-Stick on his back which he may have used on the battle on the surface. He definitely used it to kill Stafford later on. The Net Launcher returns and is incorporated into his gauntlet. He used it against Stafford and it appears to impervious to any kind of material. Celtic later used it against Grid Alien and perhaps didn’t expect Grid to break free. The Wristblades, Net and Armour seems susceptible to acid damage but other weapons weren’t. Celtic possesses the Shuriken which is retracted on his belt and we did see the Ceremonial Dagger which he was about to use against Grid.

 Celtic Predator

He was able to cloak rendering him invisible to humans but could still be detected by Xenomorph. Celtic’s mask included various vision modes to detect humans or Xenomorphs. His gauntlet was also capable of holographics showing the pyramid and where Weyland’s team were. His gauntlet presumably had a Self-Destruct device too.

Behind-The-Scenes

 Celtic Predator

Sculpture of Celtic’s mask.

The Predators were designed by Amalgamated Dynamic in Alien vs Predator as opposed to Stan Winston. The Predators were much bulkier in appearance with armour covering more of their body.

Originally, designer Steve Johnson conceptualised completely new Predator designs but Anderson felt the designs were too far removed different from what came before it. He wanted the Predators to be different from the original films so they were made more muscular and menacing and borrowed from the original comics.

The filmmakers felt that since the Predators would be battling Aliens as well as humans, they would need more protective armour. The armour of Jungle Hunter in Predator had more Asian and tribal influences where as City Hunter in Predator 2 was more ornate, almost insect-like. So ADI had to try and combine the two. Much of the ideas for the armour was provided by concept artists Farzad Varahramyan and Joe Pepe.

For the Xenomorphs, ADI reused moulds from their work on Alien Resurrection but for the Predators, they hadn’t any previous experience in creating Predators so it all had to be done from scratch. To reflect their look in the comics, they were given wider shoulders, a smaller waist, smaller heads and the dreadlocks were made longer.

The Predator weapons were refined more this time round and the Combi-Stick/Spear became sleeker and more elegant. The Disc was changed into a multi-bladed, collapsible buzz saw. The twin wrist-blades were updated and made longer. Five different helmets were created.

The shoulder cannons were made much bigger than previously seen and their thermal heat vision was changed from blue to orange as Anderson thought it looked cooler. Celtic Predator was played by an uncredited Czech stuntman.

Merchandise

McFarlane released Series 1 of their Alien vs Predator figures in August 2004 which included the 8.5″ tall Celtic Predator figure. McFarlane later released Series 2 in July 2005 and one of the figures Celtic Predator Throws Alien featured Grid and Celtic fighting. Hot Toys released a 14″ Celtic Predator figure in 2006 and released an updated version of it in 2013/2014. NECA released a Celtic Predator figure as part of Predator Series 14 in 2015. Celtic was released the following year as part of a 2-pack Celtic Predator vs Grid Alien.

Trivia

  • Celtic Predator was the biggest out of the three Predators and was the leader.
  • Celtic’s mask is very similar to the Guardian Predator’s mask in Predator 2 but it was actually based on an early design of the mask that was done for Jungle Hunter in Predator.
  • Celtic’s mask can be seen in AvP Requiem when Wolf gets his mask off of a wall.
  • The Predator Hunter in the 2010 video game Aliens vs. Predator is similar in design to Celtic’s mask.

Gallery

Chopper & Celtic Predator Chopper & Celtic Predator
Quinn vs Celtic Predator Quinn vs Celtic Predator
Chopper & Celtic Predator Chopper & Celtic Predator
Celtic vs Sebastian Celtic vs Sebastian
Celtic Predator Celtic Predator
Xenomorph Attacks Celtic Xenomorph Attacks Celtic
Celtic Predator Celtic Predator

Concept Art

Alien vs Predator Alien vs Predator
Predator Armour (Farzad Varahramyan) Predator Armour
Predator Armour Predator Armour
Predator (Farzad Varahramyan) Predator
Predator (Carlos Huante) Predator
Predator (R.K. Post) (R.K. Post) Predator (R.K. Post)
Predator (Farzad Varahramyan) Predator
Elder Predator (Chris Ayers) Elder Predator
Shoulder Cannon (Carlos Huante) Shoulder Cannon
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Comments: 9
  1. The 3 are all teen aged predators. Its obvious Celtic was the leader. Scar was 2nd showing he had human skulls. While Scar was probably the newbie of the 3. The guy who fell down the huge hole woke up and saw Celtic and Chopper walking away, leaving Scar to do the easy work, finishing the guy off.

    As for the 2 the were killed by the alien drone… lets not down play the value of the xenomorph, to the predator. It is one of the hardest to hunt and considered one of the highest achievements to kill one. Just turned out that the underdog, Scar, was the smartest.


  2. Ok Celtic was the strongest but he was to confident in himself. Chopper was a klutz and no wonder he died first. Celtic did not plan his moves out and was to focused on force and not tactics. The only reason scar survived is because he stalked is prey before killing it and didn’t attack without planning his moves. Also they were all about 13 or 14 in human years. This hunt was basically a barmitzwa for them.


  3. Scar may have survived longer, but I think Celtic is still the strongest of the 3. Scar was actually going to die too if that girl wasn’t around and Celtic pretty much won over Grid if it weren’t for his arrogance.


  4. Celtic wasn’t as unskilled and unintelligent as people make out for the following reasons:
    Why was appointed leader?
    His reaction time was proved to be very fast as shown by when he was able to react and shoot his net launcher to grid as he was ambushed.

    AVP


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