Alien (franchise)/Characters: Difference between revisions

Dallas was the leader of the three to investigate the Space Jockey. Nominally laid-back and nonchalant, but easily capable of making the hard decisions once the shit hits the fan. Has access to the ship's computer, Mother. Often cared for Ripley, and he took it to the extreme when he volunteered to be the one to flush out the Alien in the Nostromo's ventilation system.

In ''Aliens'', part of his first or middle name says "Lenz.".

* [[Idiot Ball]]: The guy opts to go crawling about in dark, terrifying shafts in order to search for a creature they know absolutely nothing about and which killed one of his crew being born. And he does this ''by himself''. He mainly does it because Ripley volunteered, and he insisted to be the bait for the airlock trap.

* [[Team Dad]]: Of the ''Nostromo''.

The sole human survivor of the ''Nostromo'' Incident and the only constant character in the franchise apart from the Xenomorphs, Ripley is awakened from [[Human Popsicle|hypersleep]] 57 years later. She gets suspended by the Weyland-Yutani company for "questionable judgment" regarding the ship's self-destruction, finds out her daughter died a while ago (well, in the Director's Cut...) and that LV-426, the planet where they encountered the Xenomorphs, is now colonized.

* [[Action Girl]]: One of the most important and revolutionary in all of cinema.

* [[Action Survivor]]: After her tangle with a Drone, Ripley [[Took a Level in Badass]] in the sequels.

* [[Badass and Child Duo]]: With Newt in ''Aliens''.

* [[Badass Normal]]: The original Ripley was only a human, but managed to take down a Queen.

* [[Cassandra Truth]]: The prison superintendent doesn't respond favorably to her warnings of an "eight foot creature with acid for blood"."

* [[Kindhearted Cat Lover]]: She liked the ''Nostromo'''s cat.

* [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]: Subverted -: Ripley was doing the right thing trying to institute quarantine.

* [[Survival Mantra]]: ''You are my lucky star... lucky, lucky, lucky...''

{{quote|'' I say that we abandon this ship! We take the shuttle and just get the hell out of here!''

The second of the three to check out the Space Jockey, Lambert is pretty much the whiner in the whole movie. Scared shitless of the entire situation, she pretty much withdraws into the [[Damsel in Distress]]. She starts breaking into hysterics with the now-famous dinner scene and doesn't really do anything else until the end -... well, okay, sometimes she shuts up for a few seconds.

Highly resentful of being part of the team that checks out the Space Jockey (Kane volunteered, and Dallas said she was part of the group), and highly pissed at Ripley for trying to keep them outside the ship in quarantine after Kane got facehuggerFacehugger'd.

* [[Damsel in Distress]]: Parker gets killed trying to save her.

Probably the only character in the movie besides Ripley to have a known first name -: Thomas. (Despitedespite his profile picture in ''Aliens'' showing his initials to be G.W., but argued since it was only viewable in the special features.).

* [[Dramatic Space Drifting]]: During the [[Burial in Space]].

* [[Name of Cain]]: Yeah, you should have figured this the instant {{spoiler|Ash uttered "Kane's son" to mention the Xenomorph}}...}}

* [[Number Two]]: toTo Dallas, apparently. He’sHe's in charge when Dallas is off the ship, although this never happens.

* [[Not Quite Dead]]: Parker breathes easy once the android is decapitated... only for it to rear back up and come at him with karate-hands.

* [[The Smart Guy]]: Well, duh, he is the scientist.

* [[Token Minority]]: Parker is the only non-white crew member.

{{quote|'' You see, Mr. Parker and I feel that the bonus situation has never been on a-an equitable level.''

* [[Only in It For the Money]]: Like Parker, he'll take any chance to chime in if he thinks there's an opportunity to inflate his paycheck.

Portrayed by William Hope }}

Commander of the [[Space Marine|Space Marines]] sent to investigate LV-426, recruited by Burke. Disliked by the marines, very inexperienced (two combat drops...) and very slow to understand situations (Burke has to explain to him why it's a ''really'' bad idea to use guns in the colony's heat exchanger). Gorman relies heavily on the experienced Sergeant Apone from the start;: when he dies, you can guess what happens. He loses it in the general confusion from the first alienAlien ambush and gets knocked out. Later regaining consciousness, Gorman learns his lesson and lets Ripley and Hicks deal with the whole "organisingorganizing the colony's defence" part. Vasquez hates him because she thinks he's responsible for Drake's death. He redeems himself when he goes back for Vasquez during the air duct escape, and winds up blowing the two of them to smithereens when they realize the only alternative is to be captured by the Aliens.

* [[Ensign Newbie]]: Only his second combat mission, and his greenness shows.

* [[General Failure]]: His entire command is basically a massive failure.

Portrayed by Al Matthews }}

Senior NCO of the team sent to investigate LV-426, and the real leader of the unit. '''Much''' better liked by the marines than Gorman, and more competent to boot. Doesn't really get much screen time before dying in the first Alien ambush, but that didn't stop him from getting not one, but two epic speeches and generally being the codifier for Sergeant Rock. When he goes down in the colony, chaos ensues, Gorman freezes up, and Ripley has to take action. Despite his quick death, Apone seems to have had a big influence on pop culture depictions of the military;... ''Halo'' anyone?

* [[A Fate Worse Than Death]]: APC readouts show he wasn't killed in the attack, making it more likely he was cocooned by the xenomorphsXenomorphs. Though his chestburster probably didn't have time to burst before the reactor blew.

Portrayed by Michael Biehn }}

The guy who ends up in charge after Apone gets captured and Gorman gets knocked out. Much more level-headed, impartial and less macho than his colleagues, even if he's not very comfortable becoming leader. Hicks and Ripley end up calling the shots. Later wounded by a stray burst of xenomorph acid, {{spoiler|but manages to survive. Until ''Alien 3''}}.

* [[Ancestral Weapon]]: In the novelization of ''Aliens'', it is revealed that Hicks' shotgun ("I like to keep this handy for close encounters") is an heirloom that has been in his family for generations; Hicks' great-great-great-grandfather used it during the Vietnam War.

* [[The Lancer]]: To Apone and later Ripley.

* {{spoiler|[[Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome]]: He dies in the opening of ''Alien 3'', unless you count ''[[Aliens: Colonial Marines]]'' as canon}}.

Portrayed by Bill Paxton }}

The marine team's computer technician, played by a pre-fame [[Hey, It's That Guy!|Bill Paxton]]. At first, he acts all arrogant and overconfident, but once the marines get totally pwned by the xenomorphsXenomorphs, loses his shit completely and becomes the movie's Lambert-equivalent, being all scared and whiney. He later regains his composure and redeems himself via [[Heroic Sacrifice]] during the aliens' attack on the med-lab. '''Really''' pissed off once he finds out the truth about Burke.

'''Hudson:''' ''Well, that's a switch.'' }}

* [[Doomed Contrarian]]: Constantly questions the actions of his teammates, and meets a grisly (but brave) end.

* [[Took a Level in Badass]]: He's a whiny spaz for most of the movie. Then his unit starts dropping. And so do his balls.

Portrayed by Jeanette Goldstein }}

* [[Butch Lesbian]]: According to [[Alternative Character Interpretation]]. When she first sees Ripley, she twice comments on how pretty she is, and Drake has a twinge of regret in his voice when he tells her "You're just too bad."

** On the other hand, the reference to Ripley as "Snow White" could be taken as having a vague hint of disdain, as if thinking "what the hell is ''she'' doing here?", rather than finding her attractive. There's also signs that her bash brother Drake may be [[Ship Tease|more than that]].

* [[The Ladette]]: She's noticeably the butchest female in the film.

Portrayed by Mark Rolston }}

* [[The Big Guy]]: Don't mess with Drake... or he'll mess you up.

Portrayed by Lance Henriksen }}

{{spoiler|He survives the movie despite the severe handicap of being split in half. Last of the four survivors.}}.

Portrayed by Colette Hiller }}

The squad's pilot. Doesn't get much establishing character moments other than a lot of technobabble during the drop and being a bit of a bitch to her co-pilot. The latter results in her death: when Spunkmeyer finds some goo inside the dropship (from an Alien), she tells him to seal the ramp rather than look for the source. She's sliced-n-diced a couple seconds later.

* [[Cool Shades]]: She wears nifty reflective aviator shades while flying.

Portrayed by Cynthia Dale Scott }}

Portrayed by Ricco Ross }}

A rifleman, Frost is one of the more hard-living---and hard-loving, if the Arcturian tale is true---of the Marine squad. Got a fair deal of screentime due to his closeness with Hicks. His duties apparently included weapons management;: he's seen handing out rifles early on, and when Apone collects the ammo in the hive, he's the one who carries it (which doesn't work out so well when Dietrich incinerates him).

Portrayed by Daniel Kash }}

Portrayed by Tip Tipping }}

Portrayed by Trevor Steedman }}

=== Rebecca ‘Newt’'Newt' Jorden ===

Portrayed by Carrie Henn }}

Rebecca "Newt" Jorden is the only survivor of the former LV-426 colony after it loses contact with Earth. Her survival is largely due to her propensity for hiding and moving through ducts and air vents. [[Cute Mute|Doesn't say much at first]], what with the whole [[Heroic BSOD|hiding from aliensAliens for over seventeen days]]. Once she actually regains her voice, she quickly becomes attached to Ripley. Driving force behind Ripley's [[Big Damn Heroes|Big Damn]] [[Mama Bear]] moment at the end. Nobody calls her Rebecca except her [[Dead Little Sister|dead brother]]. The [[Directors Cut]] of ''Aliens'' shows that her dad was the first to investigate the Space Jockey and get implanted with a facehugger.

{{spoiler|Third of the four survivors.}}.

* [[Cute Mute]]: At first, when she doesn't say anything.

Portrayed by Paul Reiser }}

With the marines, Burke shows his real colors as a [[Dirty Coward]], planning to smuggle an alien back to Earth for bioweapons research by locking Ripley and Newt in a room with a facehuggerFacehugger and trying to get them impregnated. This is right after Ripley discovers that Burke sent the LV-426 colonists to check out the Space Jockey without any prior warning just so they could all get impregnated with chestbusters, making him basically responsible for the entire film's conflict.

He gets the most satisfying [[Karmic Death]] in the movie, running directly into an alien while trying to run away from the incredibly pissed-off marines. {{spoiler|He even suffers a worse fate in a hidden scene when Ripley and Newt see him cocooned in the LV-426 Reactor.}}.

* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Corrupt Corporate Middle Management]],: ''Very'' interested in making it to the executive washroom.

* [[Jews Love to Argue]]: Rebukes accusations of irresponsibility with condescending and patronizing sarcasm, and pours oil on the fire of hopelessness after Ferro's personnel carrier crashes by '''unnecessarily''' quipping "Why don't we make a fire, and sing a song.".

Portrayed by Charles S Dutton }}

* [[Badass]]: heHe fights a Xenomorph to a draw single-handedly.

* [[Better to Die Than Be Killed]] -: Agrees to this with another character that is... [[Chest Burster|pregnant]].

* [[Face Death with Dignity]] -: His penultimate speech on this subject (of which the above quote is only a part).

* {{spoiler|[[Heroic Sacrifice]]: He fights a Xenomorph to a draw single-handedly before they're both doused in molten metal}}.

* [[Offscreen Villainy]]: His past crimes are discussed, but by the time of the story, he seems past all of that.

'''Dillon''': ''Yeah, well you don't wanna know me, lady. I'm a murderer and rapist of women.'' }}

Portrayed by Charles Dance }}

Portrayed by Brian Glover }}

* [[Catchphrase]]: See the quote above.

* [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]: Doesn't believe in Ripley's tale, but his [[Surprisingly Sudden Death]] quickly convinces everyone else.

{{quote|''weWe ain't got no entertainment center, no climate control, no video system, no surveillance, no freezers, no fucking ice cream, no rubbers, no women, no guns. All we got here is shit!''

Portrayed by Danny Webb }}

Portrayed by Paul McGann }}

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: inIn the [[Recut]], the prisoners actually ''did'' manage to trap the alien. Unfortunately, Golic, who worships the thing as a kind of dragon, kills the guard and lets it out again. Oops.

Portrayed by Lance Henriksen }}

* [[Big No]]: When {{spoiler|Ripley falls into the fires to stop the Company from getting the Alien Queen inside her.}}.