Xenopedia
Register
Advertisement
Xenopedia


"You kids know you're not supposed to be on this level!"
Lydecker (from Aliens Special Edition)

Brad Lydecker,[1] originally known as M. Lydecker, was a Weyland-Yutani Corporation employee and assistant operations manager at the Hadley's Hope colony on Acheron. He was caught up in the Xenomorph infestation that overran the colony in 2179.

Lydecker fell victim to the Xenomorphs when they overran the colony, either perishing outright or being captured alive by the creatures and taken to the Hive to be cocooned and impregnated with a Chestburster.

Biography[]

On the colony[]

Lydecker worked as assistant to Hadley's Hope administrator Al Simpson in the main operations center at the colony.[5] He often had to chase children from the operations level, an area from which they were officially barred.

Hell unleashed[]

"Remember you sent some wildcatters out to the middle of nowhere last week, out past the Ilium Range?"
"Yeah, what?"
"One of them's on the horn, a mom-and-pop survey team. He says he's on to something. He wants to know if his claim will be honored."
"Why wouldn't his claim be honored?"
"Well, because you sent them to that particular middle-of-nowhere on company orders, maybe? I don't know."
Lydecker and Simpson, discussing the salvaging issue (from Aliens Special Edition)

When prospectors Russ and Anne Jorden called in to clarify whether anything they found whilst investigating coordinates passed on to them from Weyland-Yutani would be theirs to salvage, Lydecker raised the issue with his boss Simpson. Simpson merely asserted that in his personal opinion the Jorden's could lay claim to anything they found. Unfortunately, the Jordens located the derelict and its cargo of Xenomorph Eggs, and Lydecker perished during the Xenomorph infestation this unleashed on the colony.

Personality and traits[]

Being assistant operations manager of the colony, it was clear that Lydecker was a trained professional. In addition, his decision to raise the salvaging issue with his superior rather than take matters into his own hands indicates that he was a cautious individual.

However, he also seemed to display a sarcastic side to his personality, as indicated by his reply when Simpson asks why the Jordens' salvage claim wouldn't be honored. He also expressed irritation when having to deal with children breaking the rules on the colony, although given the circumstances and his constantly being forced to deal with them, his reactions were arguably understandable.

Equipment[]

As a Weyland-Yutani employee, Lydecker wore standard employee attire, which included an ID tag on his right breast pocket. He also briefly wore a headset whilst in the operations room, though he removed the device as soon as he spotted Simpson in the room. Per his job requirements, Lydecker carried a multitude of pens on his person, and he also wore a watch on his left wrist.

Trivia[]

  • In James Cameron's original treatment for Aliens, the name Lydecker is actually assigned to one of the Colonial Marines, a female Corporal who acts as the unit's medical technician (a role filled by Corporal Dietrich in the final film).[6]
  • Lydecker was cut from the theatrical release of Aliens when the studio complained that the film was too long. The scene featuring him was later reinstated for the extended Special Edition.
  • While Lydecker was cut from the original film, the name, M. Lydecker, can still be seen labeled on a transparent cubicle partition behind Newt while she's being interrogated by Lt. Gorman. It wasn't until the release of the 2014 novel Alien: River of Pain that Lydecker was given the first name Brad.
  • Additionally, the cubicle next to Lydecker's is labeled W. Simpson.
  • The scene featuring Simpson and Lydecker is almost identical to a scene in James Cameron's later film Terminator 2: Judgement Day: an employee flags down a supervisor in a busy office and they walk together, discussing the behavior of their employer — Weyland-Yutani in Aliens, CyberDyne Systems in Terminator 2 — before the more senior man ends their conversation with a line about their employer always responding to sensitive questions with the phrase "don't ask".
  • The headset Lydecker is briefly seen wearing appears to be an unmodified Beyerdynamic Headmicrophone HM 560 (with M560), which is better known as the base of the Head Mounted Sights used in the film.

Appearances[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Christopher Golden. Alien: River of Pain, p. 147 (2014), Titan Books.
  2. Lydecker's actor (Bill Armstrong) listed himself as being 5ft 10 (177.8 cm) in Spotlight, so that is also how tall Lydecker would have been.
  3. James Cameron (writer and director). Aliens Special Edition (1991), 20th Century Fox [LaserDisc].
  4. Christopher Golden. Alien: River of Pain, p. 289 (2014), Titan Books.
  5. Alan Dean Foster. Aliens, p. 43 (2014), Titan Books.
  6. Alien II treatment (September 21, 1983) by David Giler, Walter Hill and James Cameron
Advertisement