- "I hate this place..."
- ―Eric (from Alien3)
Eric Buggy[1] was an inmate at the Fiorina "Fury" 161 Class C Work Correctional Unit, one of several who stayed behind after the facility was officially closed down by Weyland-Yutani. He was involved in battling a lone Xenomorph that was born in the prison in 2179.
Eric was killed acting as bait during a desperate attempt to lure the Xenomorph into the lead mold at the foundry alongside the prison.
Biography
Early life
Eric was a serial killer who abducted and murdered six teenage girls between 2157 and 2158. When he was finally caught, he was sentenced to life imprisonment on Fiorina 161.[1]
On Fiorina 161
Eric worked as a cook in the prison's kitchens.[5]
The bait and chase
Eric survived the devastating quinitricetyline explosion that killed several of the prisoners, and was one of the inmates who ultimately elected to act as live bait in a desperate plan to lure the Dragon into the mold at the prison's lead works facility, where it could then be drowned in molten lead; bearing a meat cleaver as a weapon, Eric was given the task of activating the piston to drive the Runner into the mold.
When the Dragon passed through the piston chamber, Eric panicked and attempted to activate the piston, and had to be physically restrained by Ripley to prevent him from doing so. Ripley eventually calmed him down and the two returned to guarding the piston chamber.
Eventually the plan deteriorated into chaos, with most of the prisoners being killed acting as bait. When Kevin was attacked by the Runner and seriously wounded, Dillon intervened and dragged him to the piston chamber, pursued by the Xenomorph. Ripley ordered Eric to stay at the piston lever while she tended to the injured Kevin — however, he bled to death.
Death
Ripley finds Eric's body.
Seconds later, the Dragon followed the survivors into the piston chamber, before seizing Kevin's corpse and returning into the hallways. Panicking, Eric started the piston prematurely, forcing Eric and the others to desperately attempt to lure the creature back in to the mold before the piston sealed the access. Moments after running into the hallways, Eric was attacked and killed by the Runner; his presumed corpse was discovered by Ripley shortly afterward.
Special Edition
In the Special Edition, Eric who discovered Golic sat in the prison's mess after he escaped from the Dragon in the tunnels following the deaths of Boggs and Rains. Upon discovering Golic, covered in blood and calmly eating cereal, Eric dropped his dishes in shock. The others were informed, and Clemens, Dillon, Andrews and Aaron returned to the mess hall and subdued and restrained Golic.
Personality and Traits
Unlike many of his fellow inmates, Eric appeared quiet and reserved, and did not fit in with his loud, foul-mouthed fellow inmates — a deceptive appearance that belied his serious crimes. He was also terrified of the Dragon, and on several occasions his fear almost led him to lose all rational control as the bait-and-chase plan played out; ironically, it was this fear that led to his death when he started the piston in a panic, releasing the Dragon which killed him shortly afterward.
Behind the Scenes
Alternate death
Several early drafts of the Alien3 shooting script had a deranged Golic murder Eric along with several other inmates in the prison's abattoir when they attempt to flee the facility following the Dragon's escape from captivity. Golic later shows Eric's corpse to Michael Bishop and his team when they arrive at the prison.[6]
Trivia
- Eric is one of the few inmates on Fiorina 161 who are not of British descent — he is Irish.
- He is never actually seen being killed in either cut of Alien3. He is presumably one of several unidentified bodies discovered during the bait-and-chase sequence. In the novelization of the film, Ripley finds Eric alongside William, their bodies "all mixed up together", soon after piston is started prematurely.[7]
Appearances
- Alien3/novel/comic
- Deep Black (indirect mention)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 S. D. Perry. Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report, p. 135 (2014), Insight Editions.
- ↑ Eric's actor (Niall Buggy) listed himself as being 5ft 11 (180.3 cm) in Spotlight, so that is also how tall Eric would have been.
- ↑ Vincent Ward (writer), David Fincher (director). Alien3 (1992), 20th Century Fox [DVD].
- ↑ S. D. Perry. Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report, p. 136 (2014), Insight Editions.
- ↑ Alan Dean Foster. Alien3, p. 136 (1992), Warner Books.
- ↑ "Weyland-Yutani Archives - Alien 3 Unseen: The December 18 1990 Draft". Retrieved on 2014-09-29.
- ↑ Alan Dean Foster. Alien3, p. 235 (1992), Warner Books.