Jeremy Cruz

"Rise and shine, Marines. This isn't a drill and you aren't in Kansas any more."

―Capt. Cruz (from Aliens: Colonial Marines)

Captain Jeremy Cruz was a member of the United States Colonial Marine Corps. He was in command of a search and rescue mission sent to LV-426 aboard the USS Sephora in 2179 to investigate the disappearance of the USS Sulaco and its crew 17 weeks earlier.

Cruz and the Colonial Marines under his command from the Sephora discovered Weyland-Yutani was undertaking extensive research of the Xenomorph species on LV-426 and became the targets of private military contractors hired by Weyland-Yutani to protect that research. The USS Sephora was ultimately destroyed in orbit and Cruz and the other survivors were forced to take refuge inside the ruins of the Hadley's Hope colony on LV-426.

Cruz would later sacrifice his own life to kill the Second Acheron Queen, giving the survivors enough time to get off world to safety.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Jeremy Cruz was born on April 16th, 2143 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma in the United Americas. He was soon recruited by the USCM and earned top honors at the officer candidates school. Cruz qualified for advance hostile environments training at Camp Hanneken, Valles Marineris on Mars.

In 2172, under the orders of the ICC, he was dispatched to Marine Space Force, Sol. At some point in his life, Cruz lost his right leg and had it replaced with a prosthetic.^[3]

Second Hadley's Hope Xenomorph infestation[]

Discovering the Sulaco[]

Cruz was in command of the 118th Battalion that was sent to investigate the disappearance of the USS Sulaco and its crew over LV-426 in November of 2179 after intercepting Corporal Dwayne Hicks' distress signal that was sent in August of the same year.

Upon arrival at Acheron in the USS Sephora, the Marines discovered the Sulaco orbiting the planet. Cruz had several Service Skiffs and UD-4 "Cheyenne" Dropships, including one piloted by Lieutenant Lisa Reid, scout the exterior of the ship. He also had Keyes and Rhino 2-3 be the first Marines to scout the interior of the Sulaco after the umbilical was extended, sending Private O'Neal and Rhino 2-1 in soon after with more Marines to follow. These teams soon encountered the Xenomorph and PMC threats onboard the previously thought to be derelict Marine vessel.

When O'Neal and Doc returned to the Sephora, they were met by Cruz who was preparing to thaw out a new batch of Marines from cryo. Cruz sent O'Neal and some more Marines back onto the Sulaco as he thawed out Corporal Winter and the rest of the Marines who were still in hypersleep.

Battle for the Sulaco[]

TBA

Trivia[]

Prior to the release of the game, Cruz was given the rank of Sergeant or Lieutenant (as can be seen in the dossier image in the gallery on this page). However, in the final product, Cruz is a Captain.
On the same dossier image, it gives his age as 37, but, based on his date of birth, Cruz would turn 37 on April 16, 2180.
A Marine in the non-canon Aliens: Infestation video game (a game that was originally being developed as a handheld port of Aliens: Colonial Marines) named Frank Heston, was nicknamed "Bonesaw" because he used his Smartgun to blow off another Marine's leg after their APC was flipped over due to a magmine, and later carried the legless Marine out of the ambush. Cruz's character may be a nod to that marine, as both games were developed by Gearbox Software.
Cruz and O'Neal are both aware of and actively engaging the Weyland-Yutani PMCs in the prequel comic Aliens: Colonial Marines - No Man Left Behind, but in the game, they are completely unaware of the PMCs presence at all and do not recognize who they are until Bella informs them that the PMCs are Weyland-Yutani.