Xenopedia
Register
Advertisement
Xenopedia

Just a fun bit of trivia about Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report: the new book gives full names to a host of characters in the franchise, many of which had only a single name before. But in just a couple of cases, characters have now changed their identities...

Remember William Gorman? His first name was previously taken from the actor playing him, William Hope, as was the case with the majority of the Marines in Aliens (the exception being Dwayne Hicks, whose first name is given in dialogue in the extended Special Edition of the movie). While this was never outright confirmed as canon, this "name-shared-with-actor" trait was a known convention shared by the Marine characters in the film. However, his official name according to the report is now Scott Gorman — which may or may not be an homage of sorts to a certain knowledgeable forum member and all-round Alien franchise expert who actually helped to fact-check the book.

There's also John Vriess of the Betty crew. Like the majority of the characters in Alien Resurrection, Vriess' old first name was given in the novelization of the film. However, the report now names him Dom Vriess, ironically ditching the old, original given name in favor of following the name-shared-with-actor trait mentioned above (Vriess being played by French actor Dominique Pinon).

Lastly, there's Gilbert Kane. While it may not appear that his name has changed, several pieces of media related to Alien — most notably its novelization — gave the character the first name Thomas, which was contradicted by Aliens, in which Kane's crew profile, shown at Ripley's inquest aboard Gateway Station, give the name Gilbert Ward Kane. The Weyland-Yutani Report finally ratifies this discrepancy, giving the character's actual name as Gilbert Ward "Thomas" Kane, making Gilbert his legal name and Thomas his commonly used pseudonym.

Advertisement