Predator/Yautja - 'Facial Hair' Concepts

It’s clear that yautja hair/dreadlocks/tresses is not hair in the manner we know our own hair and animal pelt to be. Various visual media depicts them as being fleshy, with their own weight, and feed venously - that’s why they bleed when severed. A yautja skull or a yautja with its tresses removed will show base-like protrusions around the sides and back of the skull where these fleshy lengths grow from. They do not seem to be able to regrow once removed from the base, but whether a severed length cut at its half can regrow from the split end is still unconfirmed. It is likely that, as a growing appendage of sorts, it can.

We know, from various novel sources, that yautja use their tresses as extra sensory organs that further contribute to their prowess. The definite role of these sensories are unclear. We can speculate that they may be able to pick up temperature, air pressure, and movement. I also headcanon that when yautja are secreting their oily musk, the musk coats the tresses and when their move or shake their heads the tresses help disperse that musk into the air better. Musk is often use as a communication aid, signalling aggression, lust/estrus, and other physical and emotional states of the yautja, so the easier this musk can waft into the air and picked up by others, the better.

As far as what material these tresses are made of? Difficult to tell. We know they are organic, they bleed when cut or severed, come with a variety of patterns and colors, and even grey out at elder years. As an interesting side note, it looks like the longer the tresses the more attractive a yautja is to another. This detail was mentioned in Alien versus Predator: Hunter’s Planet, from Machiko Noguchi, when she had to cut off her own hair to escape the grasp of an Alien Queen, mentioning she would look less attractive to the Hunters. We can further speculate that tresses aren’t just for sensory, but for show as well. It’s possible that yautja seeking a partner will be looking at a potential other’s tresses as a display of the individual’s health. The longer, meatier, and strong colored it is, the more likely that individual is in their prime.

The quill-like hairs on the rest of their bodies is likely made of the same material, but that would be completely speculative at this point. There are currently no canon sources as to what these hair-like quills are made of or what their functions are.

These beards/facial hair is a nod to these quill-like growths that are seen on their bodies. I see the facial ones as being less coarse, more akin to barbel on catfish rather than true tresses. Meaning they’re are lengths of skin growth or cartilaginous. I do like to concept that both males AND females can grow these ‘beards’ in their old age, but not all of them do.