Dek (Predator: Badlands)

Dek is the main protagonist of the 2025 science fiction action film Predator: Badlands. Unlike previous entries in the franchise, the film reverses the typical narrative, following Dek – a young, ambitious Yautja (Predator) hunter—on his dangerous quest to hunt the “unkillable Kalisk” on the planet Genna. The character was designed by Studio Gillis, with visual effects contributions from WETA, and was portrayed by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi.

Appearance

Dek’s design distinguishes him from previous Predators; he is smaller, leaner, and younger. Key features include a darker skin tone, a less pronounced cranial crown, and dreadlocks tied back in a knot. Consistent with traditional Yautja hunters, he wears armour plating across his body and is equipped with advanced wrist gauntlets.

Biography

Yautja Prime

On a Predator home planet, Yautja Prime, Dek is training with his brother Kwei in a cave so he can earn his cloaking device. Kwei has the upper hand and sends Dek falling off a cliff. Dek manages to pull himself back up and they leave the cave. On Kwei’s Predator ship, Dek observes his trophy room containing beasts that he has hunted. Kwei places a Shoulder Cannon on Dek’s shoulder that he has fixed for him. Kwei tells Dek he needs to earn his place in the clan and he has to pick a prey and hunt it. He chooses the planet Genna – The Death Planet – as his hunting ground, which is the home of the ‘unkillable Kalisk’. Genna is a hostile planet including deserts, jungles and dangerous flora and fauna.

As they’re planning Dek’s journey, Dek and Kwei’s father, Njohrr, joins them and chastises Kwei for not killing Dek, whom he deems the runt of the clan and can only bring honour to the clan through his death. Kwei says he deserves a chance to hunt. Dek’s father forces restraints on Dek and tells Kwei to kill him. Instead of killing him, Kwei frees his brother and forcibly sends him back to his ship. Kwei begins to activate the ship via his wrist computer. His father is angry at his betrayal and they have a sword fight while Dek watches on from the ship.

His father slices off Kwei’s arm. Kwei can either grab his sword or grab his severed arm. He chooses to grab his arm and activate the ship while his father delivers the fatal blow. Kwei is dead and Dek travels to Genna to hunt a great beast called the Kalisk.

Genna

Dek ejects from his ship in a pod, which crashes on the planet Genna in a forest, whilst the ship crashes in another area. He assembles his weaponry but is attacked by killer vines and manages to get away. At the river, he heals his wounds and reaches a field.

Dek Meets Thia

The flora begins to react to his presence. A Weyland-Yutani synthetic called Thia is trapped in a vulture’s nest and she asks for Dek’s help. A flying vulture appears and deliberately drops a rock into the field, which causes the flora to explode with a pink mist. Thia tells it that if the needles hit him, he will be paralysed and the flying creature will eat him. The flying beast drops more rocks, causing more flora to explode. Dek runs but is hit by a needle. He manages to throw Thia a blade for her to free herself before he collapses.

As the flying Predator swoops in towards Dek, Thia pounces on it and kills it with the blade. After Thia gives Dek an antidote for the venom, Thia offers to help Dek look for the great beast he is here to hunt – the Kalisk in exchange for helping her find her legs that have been severed in a previous encounter with the Kalisk. Dek reluctantly takes Thia along with him.

Dek and Thia travel through a river and encounter Spray Snakes that spit corrosive acid. In the forest, Dek makes a harness out of vines to carry Thia on his back. They rest for the night in a cave. Thia tells him that her group arrived on Genna two years ago and they built a base. Then Thia was in the vulture’s nest for 13 days. She was hoping Tessa would rescue her. Tessa and Thia have a higher sensitivity than the rest of the synths in the group and are created to work in tandem. Thia was meant to be in the lab and Tessa out in the field. One day, Tessa let Thia out with her. They were exploring Genna when the Kalisk appeared and attacked them.

Dek and Thia arrive at a field of razor grass and see four-legged beasts called Bone Bison. They are joined by a small creature that Thia later names Bud. Bud dashes into the grass and startles the Bone Bison. Dek scales the trees and chases after a Bone Bison. Dek manages to jump onto its back and runs into the forest. Dek and Thia fall off and Bud appears. Dek pounces on it and grapples with it. The Bone Bison returns and charges at them. Dek throws his sword and it cuts the creature in two.

Dek & Thia Attacked By a Luna Bug

Immediately, a huge creature with tentacles called a Luna Bug attacks them and drags them into the treetops. As they are pulled into its mouth, Bud appears and jumps into its mouth, forming a ball. The Luna Bug’s teeth shatter when it tries to bite into Bud’s hard shell. The Luna Bug drops Thia and Dek and they fall to the ground. Thia, Dek and Bud run back into the field with Luna Bug in pursuit. Bud rolls through the razor grass and lures the Luna Bug out into the open. Thia tells Dek to run, but he wants to kill the creature. He slices down a tree and scales it. The Luna Bug catches Bud. Dek runs off the falling tree, pouncing onto the Luna Bug, stabbing its sword into its body and killing it.

Dek, Thia and Bud rest at a campfire for the night. Dek eats some of the carcass and gives Bud some to eat. Bud spits on Dek to show his appreciation. The next day, Dek and Thia find the ruins of the Weyland-Yutani team that Thia was a part of. Thia finds her legs in the wreckage and Dek carries Thia and her legs into a unit. Thia uses the technology inside to regain control of her legs. Thia reveals to Dek that she has called Tessa and he should leave immediately. She tells Dek that Weyland-Yutani sent us here to capture the Kalisk. Dek demands to know where the Kalisk is.

Dek Battles The Kalisk

Dek goes outside to find and uses the gasoline to create an explosion, which lures the Kalisk to the wreckage. Dek wields his sword and prepares to battle the creature. The Kalisk throws Dek and breaks the tip of his sword. Dek uses a vehicle’s door as a shield and thrusts the rest of the sword into the Kalisk’s underbelly.

He throws his spinning blade at the beast, which explodes in its face. As it turns around, Dek slices off its tail and it simply regenerates. After throwing Dek into Thia’s unit, the Kalisk grabs him with its tongue-like appendage. As it pulls Dek to its mouth, Dek severs its tongue and frees himself. Thia uses a nearby gun and shoots the Kalisk. As the Kalisk charges towards Thia, Dek throws a chain into its mouth. He operates a machine and it drags the Kalisk towards him. Dek runs towards Thia and grabs the gun.

Dek fires at the beast and it uses its tail as a weapon. Dek traps its tail in a unit and he runs on the Kalisk’s back. He pounces toward its head and uses his sword to decapitate the beast. It still regenerates and reattaches its head to its body. The Kalisk restrains Dek and is about to kill him when it smells the scent of its offspring, Bud, on his body. Tessa and her team arrive and she throws one of Dek’s spherical ice grenades she found earlier and it completely freezes the Kalisk and Dek.

Dek & Thia Are Captured

Thia, Dek and the Kalisk are transported back to Weyland-Yutani’s main base. Dek regains consciousness and finds himself in restraints. He asks Thia to free him, but it’s actually Tessa standing near him. Tessa tells him he is property of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation and she reactivates Thia. Tessa injects Dek with a blue fluid and attaches two probes to his head.

Thia says they can salvage his weapons and leave the Yautja. Tessa wants a sample of the Yautja for research, which causes great pain to Dek. Thia switches the machine off. Tessa says she didn’t come back to rescue Thia – she came to complete her mission. When they first encountered the Kalisk, Tessa tried to protect Thia and that almost cost her everything. A Weyland-Yutani tells Tessa there is a message for her. Tessa asks another Weyland-Yutani synthetic to motivate the Yautja to explain how its weapons work and she leaves. Dek and Thia trick a synthetic into looking inside a gadget, which explodes. Thia frees Dek and opens the rear of the transporter. Dek jumps out before Thia is restrained.

Dek finds his crashed Predator ship with his equipment inside and heals his wounds. Dek begins to prepare for battle and begins using the flora and fauna on the planet to create weapons. He makes a mask out of the Bone Bison he slayed earlier. He returns to the river and befriends one of the creatures that fired acid at him. Dek sees Bud and realises that Bud is the Kalisk’s offspring. He returns to the site of the Weyland-Yutani wreckage where he was originally captured and frees Thia’s detached legs, which gets up and wander off.

Attack on the Weyland-Yutani Base

Dek reaches the Weyland-Yutani base and begins killing the synthetics. He uses the acid-spitting Spray Snake he befriended at the river as a makeshift shoulder cannon, which corrodes through the synthetics. Bud, Dek and Thia’s legs attack the soldiers. Thia’s legs free Thia and she attaches them back to her body. Dek tells Thia he came to rescue her and free Bud’s mother – the Kalisk. Dek lures dozens of synthetics to his location, but has set a trap for them. He uses the creature on his shoulder to initiate a chain of explosions, which kill them all.

Tessa appears in a huge Power Loader and has Dek’s shoulder cannon on her shoulder. She fires a shot, which the creature that Dek befriended jumps in the way to protect him. Tessa and Dek begin fighting. Dek hides behind a container which Tessa lifts up. Dek drops from the container onto Tessa but she activates the shield. Thia has freed the Kalisk, which joins the attack on Tessa. Tessa thrusts a saw through the Kalisk and Dek sabotages the Power Loader from behind. Tessa throws another spherical ice grenade towards the Kalisk, which Dek knocks into the Power Loader’s arm. It freezes the arm completely and the Kalisk completely destroys the Power Loader.

As Tessa is about to fire another shoulder cannon shot, the Kalisk seemingly destroys her and flips the Power Loader over. The Kalisk and her child, Bud, reunite. Tessa, who is still alive, uses another spherical ice weapon against the Kalisk, which freezes it and the Kalisk shatters. Tessa readies her shoulder cannon at Thia and calls her, her sister. Thia replies that they are not sisters. Dek thrusts a weapon through her back, which finally disables her. He removes his shoulder cannon from her. Bud pulls Tessa’s head off.

Return to Yautja Prime

Dek, Thia and Bud return to Yautja Prime and Dek’s father, Njohrr, greets him. Dek tells him he’s here for his cloak and throws Tessa’s head at his feet, declaring that this is his trophy. Njohrr asks two accompanying Predators to kill Dek. Dek uses his wrist blades in the battle, but kills them quickly with his telescopic spear. Dek and his father duel. Dek thrusts part of the spear into his father’s leg. They run towards each other and his father cloaks. Dek activates his ship, which causes a dust storm to appear, which disrupts his father’s cloak.

Dek slices off Njohrr’s arm and throws a disabling device at him. Njohrr falls to his knees. Dek uses the spear to remove Njohrr’s mask. Njohrr says, “Yield now and take your place in our clan”. Dek says he already has a clan and Bud, who has grown substantially bigger, appears behind Njohrr and bites his head off. Dek picks up his father’s severed arm and removes the cloaking device, and puts it into his own gauntlet. Dek sees another Predator ship approaching. Thia asks if it is more friends of is, but Dek says that it’s his mother arriving.

Weapons & Equipment

Dek possesses an assortment of weapons for his hunt on Genna. A lot of his weapons were in his ship, but when he ejected in a pod, he was only able to carry a few. He frequently uses his sword, which easily cuts through any material. When he first lands on Genna, he assembles his equipment: his Medi-Kit, Spherical Ice Grenades, a Telescopic Spear and a Bow. He is soon attacked by killer vines and loses his bow, shoulder cannon and ice grenades. He gives his spinning blade to Thia to help free herself and she kills the vulture with it. He later throws his sword at a Bone Bison, which cuts it clean in two and uses the sword to kill the Luna Bug he encounters.

After he escapes from Weyland-Yutani, he begins using the flora and fauna on the planet to create weapons. The vulture’s beak is used to create wrist blades on his left gauntlet. Dek also befriends one of the Spray Snakes, which he uses as a shoulder cannon. He uses the Bone Bison he slayed earlier to create a mask. The small worms that explode and spikey plants were used to set a trap against the Weyland-Yutani synthetics.

Personality & Traits

Dek is characterised by his fierce determination and a desperate need to prove his worth, driving his self-imposed, high-stakes hunt on Genna. Though initially inexperienced, his actions quickly demonstrate immense courage and a growing resourcefulness essential for survival.

• Code of Honour & Loyalty: Dek is driven by a profound sense of justice and loyalty, best evidenced by his devastation over his father Njohrr’s killing of his brother, Kwei. His subsequent journey to Genna is fueled by a mission to succeed where his father claimed he would fail.
• A Hunter’s Pride: His core instinct is that of a traditional hunter. When Thia reveals Weyland-Yutani’s intent to capture the Kalisk, Dek becomes furious, viewing it as a sacrilege to the hunt; he demands the right to slay the creature as a trophy.
• Capacity for Compassion: Despite his species’ reputation, Dek shows a unique capacity for alliance and reluctant compassion. He initially viewed the synthetic Thia as a means to an end to find the Kalisk, but his eventual decision to return to the Weyland-Yutani base to rescue her and free Bud’s mother, the Kalisk, shows he develops a powerful sense of loyalty. When he returns to Yautja Prime, he tells his father he already has a clan with Thia and Bud.
• Adaptability and Ingenuity: On Genna, when stripped of his standard weaponry, Dek exhibits significant ingenuity by rapidly adapting to the environment. He uses the local flora and fauna to create new tools, weapons (like the Bone Bison mask and the Squirt acid cannon), and traps, solidifying his role as a capable survivor and warrior.

Behind-The-Scenes

Dek was designed by Studio Gillis, who made the costume. Dek was portrayed by 6ft New Zealand actor Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi. Trachtenberg specifically wanted a stuntman for the role. Unfortunately, people who have portrayed Predators in past films have been incredibly tall and very few actors who are this tall are stuntmen. Schuster-Koloamatangi wore the suit as well as performed motion capture. Schuster-Koloamatangi’s face was physically exposed in the costume, as Dek’s face was made completely digitally by WETA. This allowed the VFX team to use Schuster-Koloamatangi’s real facial expressions as a guide for the CGI Predator face added later.

Schuster-Koloamatangi went back and studied the previous Predator films. He also listened to the Australian rap group Onefour and many of their lyrics contain dark themes.  Schuster-Koloamatangi says, “it translated to Dek’s mentality. Violence is the culture he grew up in. Yautja society is built on hunting, so Dek sees it as honourable.”

Schuster-Koloamatangi also had to learn and deliver all of his lines in Yautja – a newly invented language, created by Britton Watkins, previously a Klingon consultant on the Star Trek films.

“It was so detailed, Different words for singulars and plurals. The most difficult was the ‘click’ sound, deep in the throat.”

Schuster-Koloamatangi spent a lot of time with Elle Fanning on his back. “She was literally on my back, I did have wires and stuff, to be honest. But a lot of it was yes, carrying her on my back. I didn’t think much of it when I read the script, but then when we got on set, it was like, ‘Wow, I’m really carrying her around!’”

Dek has a couple of other companions in the film. Bud and Squirt. SFX expert Alec Gillis mentioned Squirt in a recent interview: “So one of the ideas we had was, what if [Dek]… finds a life form that is this sort of snake-like character that he can coax, somehow train, that sits on his shoulder, and it has this ability to spit two chemicals that when they combine in the air, they become explosive and fiery. So that’s what got him nicknamed Squirt.”

Regarding Bud, stunt coordinator Jacob Tomuri says, “We’ve got Ravi Narayan playing Bud, and he’s a performer that I’ve known for a long time. We had Bud running around, beating people up, and jumping off things in wire-assisted rigs.”

Trivia

• The Yautja language that Dek uses was developed by the mentee of the person who invented the Na’vi dialect in 2009’s Avatar.
• Trachtenberg was inspired by the video game Shadow of the Colossus, where a sole protagonist is paired with someone “who provides color and connection.”

Gallery