Jeremy Cruz

"Rise and shine, Marines. This isn't a drill and you aren't in Kansas any more."

―Capt. Cruz (from Aliens: Colonial Marines)

Captain Jeremy Cruz was a member of the United States Colonial Marine Corps. He was in command of a search and rescue mission sent to LV-426 aboard the USS Sephora in 2179 to investigate the disappearance of the USS Sulaco and its crew 17 weeks earlier.

Cruz and the Colonial Marines under his command from the Sephora discovered Weyland-Yutani were undertaking extensive research of the Xenomorph species on LV-426, and became the targets of private military contractors hired by Weyland-Yutani to protect that research. The USS Sephora was ultimately destroyed in orbit and Cruz and the other survivors were forced to take refuge inside the ruins of the Hadley's Hope colony on LV-426.

History

Early life

Cruz was born in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He was soon recruited by the USCM and earned top honors at the officers candidate school. Cruz proved himself qualified for advance hostile environments while training at Camp Hanneken, Valles Marineris and Mars. In 2172, under the orders of the I.C.C., he was dispatched to Marine Space Force, Sol. Cruz possesses a strong combat leadership, giving a high battle success ratio. Though he becomes temperamental under pressure, he still manages to bring the squad back alive. At some point in his life, Cruz lost his right leg and replaced it with a prosthetic leg.^[5]

Trivia

Cruz has an artificial right leg.
Prior to the release of the game, Cruz was given the rank of Sergeant or Lieutenant (as can be seen in the dossier image in the gallery on this page). However, in the final product, Cruz is a Captain.
On the same dossier image, it gives his age as 37, but, based on his date of birth, Cruz would turn 37 on April 16, 2180.
A Marine in the Aliens: Infestation NDS video game (a game with a very similar plot to Aliens: Colonial Marines) named Frank Heston, was nicknamed "Bonesaw" because he used his Smartgun to blow off another Marine's leg after their APC was flipped over due to a magmine, and later carried the legless Marine out of the ambush. Cruz's character may be a nod to that marine, as both games were developed by Gearbox Software