Shadow

*"Come on out, motherfucker!"* —Dark's mimic cry

**Shadow** was an Elite Yautja from the Elite Clan. He was aboard a Yautja ship with his clan brothers Wolf, Chopper and an unnamed Super Predator when they intercepted the distress call from the planet Nexus. He subsequently became involved in a large-scale Xenomorph outbreak on the planet and also came into conflict with the United States Colonial Marine Corps. Shadow appears to be the protagonist Predator in the 2016 novel ***AVP: Evolution***.

Shadow stalked and killed numerous Xenomorphs and Colonial Marines during his time on Nexus, and was one of few Predators to have successfully defeated a Praetorian in close combat. However, Shadow is probably most well known for his relentless hunt of the Nexus Predalien, which he ultimately killed in the bowels of the Yautja Pyramid on the planet. Shadow apparently was the only one of the three Predators to escape the planet's surface alive.

## History

### Arrival on Nexus

Shadow was aboard the Yautja ship alongside Chopper, Wolf and the Berserker Super Predator when the distress call from Nexus came. Once on the planet surface, Shadow begun hunting the Marines on the planet in search of the missing Young Bloods. Shadow managed to quickly locate the first of the Young Bloods deep in the jungle and encountered Xenomorphs. He then located the second Young Blood in a lab located in the swamps. Upon finding them, he set their Wrist Gauntlets to self-destruct to vaporize their remains, ensuring their technology did not fall into the hands of the humans.

### On the Hunt

Shadow was then assigned by Wolf to track down the Xenomorph Queen, and tracked her to the refinery at the human colony of Nexus Prospect. Proceeding into the Hive, Shadow encountered the remains of a Colonial Marine assault force, including Major Kev Veenstra, who requested immediate execution. Shadow complied with the major's request and proceeded deeper into the Hive where he encountered the Queen in her chamber. The Predator was then beset by Warriors summoned by the Matriarch.

Shadow overpowered the Warriors before engaging the Queen herself. The Elite used all weapons at his disposal against the Queen, and during the battle, the generators below their floor ignited. As the Hive collapsed around them, both Shadow and Queen. While the Queen was caught under the debris, Shadow successfully escaped the refinery, where he briefly spotted a Predalien, but the creature escaped. Wolf then contacted him and informed him that he must hunt and kill the Predalien, which was an "Abomination" to their race.

Faced with fighting the Predalien alone, Shadow moved into the ancient ruins of a Yautja temple, which had once served as hunting grounds for his kind, to recover more advanced weaponry to aid him in his quest. He eventually discovered an ancestral Bio-Mask, which belonged to a legendary Yautja. Shadow put on the royal mask, and it revealed to him a holographic record of the third "Serpent" victory made by the Yautja. Shadow learnt that within the temple lay the ancient Yautja's Wrist Gauntlet. Taking the mask in place of his own, he proceeded to search for the Gauntlet, only to find that it had been stolen by Weyland-Yutani and taken to their research facility on the planet. Shadow's mission was now to purge all humans from the planet by retrieving the Gauntlet and using it to destroy the colony entirely.

Shadow soon reached an ancient Yautja combat arena, where he became trapped. A single Praetorian and its Warrior minions set upon the Elite Predator, but Shadow successfully defeated them all, acquiring an ancestral Combi-Stick for his troubles. Shadow ventured further through the tombs and found himself outside the Weyland-Yutani facility, which was built over the top of a Yautja Pyramid. After infiltrating the base, Shadow found the Gauntlet in one of the labs. He then escaped through an elevator that led underground to the Pyramid's interior, where the finale of the prophecy awaited him.

### Fighting the Predalien

Finally, Shadow arrived at the ancient tomb of his ancestor and witnessed the holographic record of the Yautja's successful capture of the Matriarch on Nexus, but was nearly caught off-guard by a horde of Xenomorphs. After the battle, Shadow discovered that not only was the legendary hunter his ancestor, but that he had been buried within the very Pyramid, too. Shadow honorably placed the Wrist Gauntlet on the coffin and set it to self-destruct, but not before retrieving coordinates to the Xenomorph homeworld.

Before he could leave, however, the Predalien suddenly appeared and tackled him to the ground, knocking them into an ancient battle arena set amidst a lake of molten lava, where they began a fight to the death. Shadow emerged victorious, and he dragged the Abomination's carcass to the very roof of the research facility above the Pyramid where he hurled it to the ground in a display of his superiority. With his mission complete and the facility set to explode, Shadow escaped the planet aboard his ship. As he walked through the halls, the other Yautja bowed in his presence, in awe of the feats he had achieved.

Shadow commanded the ship's navigational systems to plot a course for a planet that would be the site of their greatest Hunt yet: Xenomorph Prime.

## Equipment

* **Cloaking Device**
* **Wrist Blades**
* **Plasma Caster**
* **Combi-Stick**
* **Smart-Disc**
* **Proximity Mines**
* **Bio-Mask**
	+ **Vocal Mimicry**
* **Wrist Gauntlet**
	+ **Self-Destruct Device**
	+ **Sat-Com**

## Notes and Trivia

* Shadow, along with Wolf, are the only Predators who survived the events of the book.