John J. Marachuk was a colonist and maintenance engineer[1] living at Hadley's Hope on Acheron. He was killed when the Facehugger attached to him was forcibly removed before it could implant its embryo inside his chest. The Facehugger was subsequently stored inside the colony's med lab.
Biography[]
Facehugger victim[]
Accounts varied as to when and where John J. Marachuk was attacked by a Facehugger—communications logs indicated that Marachuk was part of a team sent to investigate a derelict Engineer vessel near Hadley's Hope after Russ and Anne Jorden's ill-fated investigation,[3] while medical reports stated that Marachuk was set upon in the sub-level access tunnel to the Atmosphere Processor some time after Hadley's Hope was exposed to the Xenomorphs, where he was discovered. The attempt to surgically remove the creature before it could implant a Chestburster inside him ended disastrously: the colony's surgeon, Dr. Biggs, made an incision across the Facehugger's back and consequently was sprayed across the face and throat with acidic blood, which killed him. The Facehugger was then pulled off by two medtechs and secured in a specimen jar; Marachuk himself was killed in the process.[1]
Death[]
- "Body fluids dissolved the instruments as they were applied. They had to use surgical lasers to both remove and cauterize the specimen."
- ―Ripley (from Aliens (novel))
A CAT scan and MRI were used in the post-mortem along with blood panels by medtech Gaisford, who completed his report into Marachuk's death on July 17. Gaisford found evidence of a toxic chemical dump in the blood panels, which occurred when the Facehugger was pulled free; in essence, the Facehugger sensed its removal was imminent, and killed Marachuk with a chemical overdose as a result. The myocardial infarction (heart attack) brought on by traumatic shock and poisoning caused Marachuk's death.[1]
Lance Bishop reads Marachuk's chart.
The Facehugger survived the procedure and was eventually stored in a preservation tank in the colony's med lab, where it remained alive when the United States Colonial Marines from the USS Sulaco arrived, along with one other. Marachuk's medical chart, detailing the cause of his death, was found by Lance Bishop. The Facehugger removed from him was later released along with the other by Weyland-Yutani executive Carter Burke in an attempt to impregnate Ellen Ripley and surviving colonist Rebecca Jorden, before being killed by the Marines.[2]
Behind the scenes[]
While John Marachuk was first mentioned in the 1986 film Aliens, the film's novelization and the May 28, 1985 "First Draft" of the script mention Marachuk's middle initial is L., not J.[4][5]
In the film, Bishop reads Marachuk's chart, while Ripley reads his chart in the film's novelization.
Continuity issues[]
Marachuk's exact fate varies across official sources—Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report states that he was attacked in the service tunnel leading to the Atmosphere Processor,[1] while Alien: The Blueprints reveals that Marachuk—here spelled "Marachek"—was a member of the team that investigated the derelict Engineer vessel after Russ and Anne Jordan's foray, with the implication that he was parasitized by a Facehugger in the hold.[3]
Appearances[]
- Aliens/novel (mentioned only)
- Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report (mentioned only)
- Alien: The Blueprints (mentioned only)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 S. D. Perry. Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report: Marachuk, John J. autopsy report insert (2014), Insight Editions.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 James Cameron (writer and director). Aliens (1986), 20th Century Fox [DVD].
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Alien: The Blueprints
- ↑ Alan Dean Foster. Aliens, p. 119 (2014), Titan Books.
- ↑ http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Aliens.html