- "This piece of shit is even older than I am."
- ―Ripley 8 (from Alien Resurrection)
The Betty was a Hawker Systems Mantis-class resupply starship[1] formerly captained by the late Frank Elgyn and crewed by a cadre of smugglers and mercenaries.
History[]
The Betty was a very dated ship by 2381, having been constructed in the 2100s. It was originally stolen from orbit by Elgyn and his crew in 2374, at which time the vessel was known as the Almayer's Folly. Elgyn subsequently renamed the vessel the Betty after his mother, French prostitute Beatrice Martin.[2] Owing to the ship's advanced age, it required constant repair and maintenance. At one point Ripley 8 commented that the Betty "is older than [she was]", presumably referring to both herself and the original Ellen Ripley, who had died 200 years before.
Events on the USM Auriga[]
At some point, Elgyn was commissioned by General Peréz of the USM to "acquire" a group of human hosts for the Xenomorph cloning project aboard the USM Auriga. To this end, the crew of the Betty hijacked a ship and kidnapped the crew travelling aboard in stasis, eventually delivering the unfortunate people, still in their hypersleep capsules, to the Auriga. Following the catastrophic Xenomorph outbreak on the Auriga, several survivors — including Ripley 8 and several surviving members of the Betty's original crew — used the Betty to escape from the doomed science vessel, escaping to Earth.
Byzantium Station[]
At some point after the events that took place on the Auriga, Ripley 8, now the captain of the Betty[3], traveled to Byzantium Station to steal information regarding the Xenomorphs and their location.
Layout and Modifications[]
It has rear thrusters and is fitted with magnetic docking clamps. There are aspects of the ship that share a likeness to mid 20th century cargo vessels like the rear cargo door, the cockpit design and the artwork on the ship's side.
Crew[]
Original crew[]
- Frank Elgyn — Captain (formerly)
- Sabra Hillard — Pilot (formerly)
- Gary Christie — Mercenary (formerly)
- Ron Johner — Mercenary
- Dom Vriess — Chief Mechanic
- Annalee Call (synthetic) — Engineering Assistant
Later additions[]
- Ripley 8 — Captain
- Bolero — Pilot
- Krakke — Mercenary
- Rama — Mercenary
- Simoni — Stowaway
- Angie Philipakos - Botanist
Behind the scenes[]
The Betty's design was created not as a traditional drawing, but as a "kitbash" physical model assembled from the parts of various home modelling kits. Included in the original mock-up was the hull from a Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II close support jet aircraft, better known as the "Warthog".[4] The ship's cockpit was originally going to be far more open with all-around windows, but was made more claustrophobic due to budget constraints.[5] The ship's interior was inspired by the look of industrial equipment, including jackhammers and forklift trucks, and also took inspiration from the Power Loader from Aliens.[6]
The final shooting miniature was built from foam core and cardboard. It was constructed to the same scale (1/32) as the miniature Auriga docking bay set, so that the two could be easily filmed together, thus sparing the need for expensive compositing work.[7] The various moving components — the independently articulated engine pods, the arms that connected to them and the horizontal stabilizer — were all actuated by motors contained within the model, which had to be custom designed due to the limited space available and to limit weight.[8] In the original script for Alien Resurrection by Joss Whedon, the Betty had two additional crew members named Rane and St. Just. Rane is taken by a Cloned Xenomorph during the swim through the flooded mess (a fate given to Hillard in the film), while St. Just is sucked into space when the Auriga's hull is breached during a major action sequence in a botanical garden.[9]
Appearances[]
- Alien Resurrection/novel/comic
- Alien Resurrection: The Official Junior Novelization
- Alien Resurrection (video game)
- Aliens versus Predator 2 (multiplayer only)
- Aliens: Original Sin
- Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report
- Alien: The Blueprints
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Graham J. Langridge. Alien: The Blueprints, p. 106 (2019), Titan Books.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 S. D. Perry. Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report, p. 146 (2014), Insight Editions.
- ↑ Michael Jan Friedman. Aliens: Original Sin, p. 49 (2005), DH Press.
- ↑ Mark Salisbury. Alien: The Archive, p. 312 (2014), Titan Books.
- ↑ Mark Salisbury. Alien: The Archive, p. 306 (2014), Titan Books.
- ↑ Mark Salisbury. Alien: The Archive, p. 311 (2014), Titan Books.
- ↑ Paul Taglianetti, Geoff Topping, Bob Gould. Sci-Fi & Fantasy FX #48, p. 21 (2000), Next Millennium Publishing.
- ↑ Paul Taglianetti, Geoff Topping, Bob Gould. Sci-Fi & Fantasy FX #48, p. 23 (2000), Next Millennium Publishing.
- ↑ Alien Resurrection script (September 14, 1995 draft) by Joss Whedon