Dwayne Hicks Biographical information Date and place of birth 2151 Rank Corporal Serial number A27/TQ4.0.48215E9 Physical description Species Human Gender Male Hair color Brown Eye color Grey Chronological and political information Affiliation USCMC Notable Facts Sole-Surviving Colonial Marine from Hadley's Hope Xenomorph Infestation.[1] Status Alive as of 2180[2] Portrayed by Michael Biehn James Remar[3][4]

[Source]

"We're all in strung out shape but stay frosty and alert, we can't afford to let one of those bastards in here."

―Hicks regarding the Xenomorph situation

Corporal Dwayne Hicks was a member of the military branch USCM (United States Colonial Marines) that was deployed to the moon LV-426 aboard the Sulaco to investigate the sudden loss of contact with the colonists on that moon.

Biography

Investigation Mission

Cpl. Hicks and the rest of his squad was sent in response of the losing contact with the colony Hadley's Hope on LV-426 in 2179. Under the command of Lieutenant Gorman, the squad also brought along two civilian advisors: Weyland-Yutani rep Carter Burke and Lt. Ellen Ripley. Hicks also made time during the last part of the journey bantering with several of his squad mates. The general feeling from Hicks and the rest of the squad was that they were going to find a bunch of colonists that just had communication failures. During the drop planetside, Hicks took a nap throughout all the turbulence.

At Hadley's Hope

After landing, Hicks and the squad made their way to the administrative building in the complex. After the building was clear and Gorman and the advisors joined the squad in the colony, Frost picked up a signal on the motion tracker. The signal was soon discovered to be a young girl hiding. Hicks then reached out to get the girl and was bit on the hand by her. After Ripley caught and calmed the girl down, the squad then investigated further to find the whereabouts of the missing colonists and found them in the atmospheric processor.

When they reached the atmospheric processor and proceeded to the sub levels, the station changed from machinery to being covered in a secreted resin which Hicks asked what it came from. Hicks and the rest of the squad then received an order to slung the Pulse Rifles and Smartguns so a stray shot doesn't overload the reactor. Hicks complied and pulled out his antique shotgun to compensate.

After a live colonist was discovered, and very soon after died from the emergence of an Alien Chestburster, both the creature and the body were torched by Apone. This action antagonized the hive and the creatures struck, taking two Marines and attacking the rest. In the chaos, Hicks rescued Wierzbowski from an explosion and would later call out to him when he was killed. Shouting what happened to Apone and being told by Hudson he's dead; Hicks ordered the survivors to pull back. By the time they made it back to the APC and just about had the door closed, one of the creatures, got its hands in the door forcing it open. Hicks the stuck his shotgun in the creatures mouth shouting "Eat This!" as blew the back of its away, but the acidic blood destroyed his shotgun and injured Hudson.

Taking Command

During the escape from the processor, Lieutenant Gorman was knocked unconscious by loose items in the APC, making Hicks the acting commander of the mission. Ripley, points this out when she came head-to-head with Burke over the next course of action after the danger of the Xenomorph became apparent. Hicks, as acting commanding officer, declared that they would leave immediately and use a thermonuclear warhead to destroy the colony. Hicks then radioed Ferro for an immediate evac to and would meet her at a designated landing spot.

Due to some interference with the creatures, the dropship lost control and crashed, stranding Hicks and the others planet side with the xenomorphs. Hicks then ordered Vasquez and Hudson to salvage what gear they could from the APC and dropship wreckages and meet back up at the administrative building. Once there, Bishop pointed out that the processor was using it's emergency venting stating it was about four hours before it went critical.

During this time Hicks and the others formulated a plan to get the space dropship down and to hold out in the meantime. As Bishop left to go link up to the main dish outside, Hicks and the others fortified their position by welding shut the doors and reinforcing the colonist's blockades on the doors and deploying sentry guns in the main corridor. Hicks also instructed Ripley how to use the M41A Pulse Rifle for self-defense. It wasn't too long until the creatures attacked the main corridor but were gunned down by the sentries' fire and exhausted their ammo completely. So Hicks and the others waited for Bishop to get the dropship down and anticipated the creatures to make another push at them.

Sometime later Hicks heard the alarm go off in the med lab portion of the station where Ripley and the girl where resting. When Hicks and others got there the door's lock was sabotoged and the two were stuck in the room with several of the specimens from the med lab running loose. Hicks shot out the glass and helped Ripley get the one that was strangling her off and killing it while Hudson dealt with the other one. Ripley managed to let the Marines know who set her up : Burke.

Ripley explained to Hicks and the others that Burke was the one who originally gave the orders to the colonists to check out the derelict and caused the infestation. Ripley also revealed that Burke wanted to get a live specimen back to Earth in herself and Newt, Hicks interrupted her saying that he and the others would know. Ripley said he could sabotoge certain cryotubes namely Hicks' and the others. Hicks was all for killing Burke right there but was interrupted when the creatures cut the power and Burke escaped.

Injury & Escape

As they escape, Hudson, Vasquez, and Gorman are killed in the ensuing fight. After, Gorman and Vasquez sacrifice themselves with a grenade, the force of the blast knocked Newt down into the sewers. Ripley; unable to leave the girl, talked Hicks into cutting out the flooring to reach her before the creatures came. Regardless of how fast Hicks moved the young girl was taken by one of the creatures. Unable to do anything for her, Hicks and Ripley had to escape before the creatures took them as well.

As they made it to the elevator one of the creatures got into the door and pried it open. The creature was cut down by gunfire and the blowback from the blood spray got on Hicks. He was injured when acidic alien blood hit his chest and the left side of his face even with Ripley frantically pulling off his armor. Ripley still managed to get him to the dropship, and he was stabilized by Bishop. Right before Ripley leaves to rescue Newt, they reveal to each other their first names. He was then passed out from the meds to stabilize him and relieve the pain of the burns. Dwayne Hicks was one of only four survivors who made it off Acheron alive. Newt, Ripley and Hicks all went into hypersleep for the journey back to Earth.

False Death

Although Hicks survived the events on Acheron, he and Rebecca Jorden were killed when her cryochamber failed following the crash landing on Fiorina 161, Hicks was impaled by a loose beam in the EEV when it crashed. His death was included in a report by facility superintendent Harold Andrews to Weyland-Yutani. Corporal Hicks was later cremated with Rebecca Jorden on Fiorina 161. After Weyland-Yutani came to deal with the incident at the prison colony; they kept the final fate of Hicks from the Colonial Marines and was assumed missing as late as thirteen years after his death.

Equipment

Hicks; as a Colonial Marine, was outfitted with fairly standard issue M10 Pattern Ballistic Armour with a Shoulder lamp attachment for illumination. Hicks also carried a Tracer Bracelet with him that eventually ended up with Newt. The Corporal also carried a handheld blowtorch which came in handy on fortifying baricades or cutting through obstacles. Hicks was also profficent with several types of firearms including the standard issued M41A Pulse Rifle and also his Ithaca M37 "Stakeout" shotgun that he kept as a back up.

Behind the Scenes

• Another Marine named Wilks in Steve Perry's Aliens novel Trillogy, mirrors Hicks' experiences on LV-426 from being the sole survivor of his squad to rescuing a girl from the infested colony to getting the acidic burns on his face. The reason for this is because "Wilks" was originally part of a Dark Horse Comic Book series, in which Hicks, Newt, and Ripley reunite to fight the Alien threat once more. When Alien 3 was released, Hicks's name was changed to Wilks and Newt's to Billy for continuity in the series. (Ripley still appears, although no explanation for this is given.)

• In the game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, on the mission "Crew Expendable", before breaching the ship's main cabin, Gaz switches to a shotgun and says the same line as Hicks "I like to keep this for close encounters", as another trooper says " Too, right mate."
• Corporal Hicks was originally portrayed by James Remar before being recast with Michael Biehn.^[5]

• Corporal Hicks had an action figure made in the Kenner line of Alien toys. (picture in Gallery).
• The shotgun that the player uses in "Doom" and "Doom 2" is based on the shotgun that Dwayne Hicks carries.
• In the original writing of the script in Alien 3, Hicks was the main character as he and another team of US Colonial Marines travel to another surveyed planet where colonists use the Xenomorphs as some kind of bio-weapon. But because of so many re-writes of the script, Michael Biehn (along with director James Cameron) dropped out of the movie entirely, causing Hicks to be removed from the movie.
• In the original writing of their script in Alien 3, Ripley supposedly was shown Hicks' dead body (with a Chestburster coming out). But Michael Biehn denied to give the filmmakers' permission to use his likeliness and even threatened to sue if they go ahead and use his likeliness anyway

Appearances

• Aliens (film)/Aliens (novel) (First appearance)
• Aliens: Newt's Tale
• Alien 3 (film)/Alien 3 (novel) (as a corpse)/Alien 3 (comic)
• Colonial Marines Technical Manual (mentioned only)
• Aliens: Earth Hive (indirect mention)
• Aliens: Nightmare Asylum (indirect mention)
• Aliens (1990 video game) (video game)
• Aliens: Colonial Marines (video game)

Non Canon

• Aliens: Book One (as Wilks, Retconned)
• Aliens: Book Two (as Wilks, Retconned)
• Aliens: Earth War (as Wilks, Retconned)

References

1. ↑ Aliens
2. ↑ Aliens: Colonial Marines
3. ↑ http://jimsmash.blogspot.com/2007/08/alienss-recasting.html
4. ↑ Preparing for Battle - Casting and characterization, Superior Firepower
5. ↑ Preparing for Battle - Casting and characterization, Superior Firepower

Gallery

Dwayne Hicks on LV-426.

Hicks during the mission briefing.

Cpl. Hicks (far right) investigating Hadley's Hope.

The Corporal Hicks & Alien King figures.

A rare photo of James Remar as Hick before he left the project

Hicks in the Kenner comicbook

Dwayne and Ellen

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