A lot of good ones, but I feel one type is missing:
Revenge pred: This type of pred hunts other preds out of revenge, perhaps a pred ate it's friends or family. it would probably be ruthless and may
either be hunting the one that hurt it and the others are just casualties or it's trying to kill them all.
it may either be caring towards other prey or it's cold towards them too, not wanting them to get in it's way.
Also, all of these just sound awesome
Humbug wrote:How about The Mystique?
The type of predator who sort of appears out of nowhere and is hard to read. They're often gentle or playful while remaining aloof. A lot of people make these types of preds giggle as if they know something the prey doesn't know, but that's not a prerequisite. They also often have hypnosis abilities of some sort, but, again, not a strict prerequisite.
An example would be Kaa, or the typical depiction of a kitsune from folklore. Fey creatures are good for this too.
RedBoggle wrote:I've got a few too:
"Cat & Mouse" preds would be a general term for preds that like to toy with their prey, physically or psychologically, because it's fun for them. Their motivations can vary from sociopathy to consensual foreplay to being a willing participant in the requests of their prey, who may be acting the part if that's the case.
Punch-Clock preds would mostly, possibly entirely, prey on others as part of a job. They can love it, hate it or feel apathetic to it, but their predation is how they earn a living. The most likely example would probably be assassins.
Cowrie wrote:This reminds me of another favorite of mine, albeit not one I find myself using very often: "The Mentor", an experienced predator that enjoys taking novice predators under their wing to show them the ropes, or even introduces potential predators to the experience of eating someone for the first time. Personality can be gentle and caring (to other preds, if not necessarily their prey) or more domineering with a tendency to tell novice predators stuff like, "Get on with it, already!" More caring examples often act as much as emotional support as teachers to new preds, comforting them as they struggle to cope with what they've done.
A minor variant of the mentor is "The Instructor", a member of a culture or species where predation is widely accepted who teaches younger predators as their job, or at least part of it, in a more formal educational setting. More likely to work with a group of students, as opposed to the typical mentor that usually focuses their energies on a single pupil. Because of this, they are typically more professional and less familiar in their interactions with novice predators. Also more likely to eat the occasional student, since there are always more, though this depends on the setting.
Chameleonette wrote:I don't see my favorite/preferred type on the list here, so I'll throw it in---
The Possessive Pred/ Single-Target Pred - As the name would imply, they become focused on one prey and go through whatever means they have to in order to get them, utterly consume them, and completely encompass them inside of themselves (whether fatal/digestion or not). Fear-play and betrayal work really well with this type of pred (also being driven by love or even rejection) depending on their relationship (or lack thereof) to the prey. They like to get to know their prey first and are often a lot less gluttonous than hungry preds whose focus tends to be just filling their guts. These preds can often be charming (such as gentlemen) or two-faced, luring their prey or be sneaky/unnerving like stalkers. But they develop an almost obsessive need to have their prey all to themselves and are prone to things like jealousy. They can either be patient and take their time cornering their prey or luring them or be sparked by an absolute need to have their prey at all costs and lose control until they have what they want. They can be anything from strangers to friends, coworkers, lovers, spouses----all sorts of pred/prey dynamics work with this.
stearwing wrote:You seem to have a lot of very, very hungry or very, very sadistic preds - may I introduce an alternate approach:
A predator who fancies himself a scalpel in a world where other preds are clubs - seemingly weak and fragile, but extremely quick and precise, far easier to hide and no less dangerous. Someone whose actions might never be found out and linked to any crimes, giving his victims no names and their loved ones no closure, creating no spectacular police cases, merely padding the disappearance statistics. The stuff of urban legends, not of running for your life from a very concrete threat.
Instructions to reproduce:
Eat very little compared to most of the preds you've listed. Pick your targets carefully. Plan ahead. Make it a clean kill and clean getaway. Dispose of your prey, if you need to, someplace their remains can't be found. Train between hunts, both to get rid of incriminating fat and to stay in shape for maximum efficiency.
Avoid any kind of emotional involvement with your prey, including any desires to "humiliate" or "dominate" them. Try not to steal from your prey, if you can. Hunt for survival, self-empowerment or, at most, the thrill of being able to disappear anyone you wish. Hunt regularly, but not every day. Move around a lot if you can. Avoid patterns, and under no circumstances taunt your victims' relatives, let alone the police.
In short, this kind of predator is a calculating killing machine rather than an impulse-controlled serial murderer. That's not to say, of course, that it cannot enjoy the hunt - but that enjoyment will not affect its behaviour while planning and executing said hunt.