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"WHAT'S IN-FUCKING-SIDE ME?!"
Purvis (from Alien Resurrection)

Larry Purvis[4] was a civilian kidnapped while in hypersleep by the crew of the Betty, at the request of General Martin Peréz of the United Systems Military. Purvis was subsequently used as an unwilling host in Dr. Mason Wren's Xenomorph breeding project aboard the USM Auriga.

Purvis was one of the last to perish as a result of the Auriga incident, actually dying aboard the smuggling vessel the Betty after escaping the Auriga. He was killed when the Chestburster inside him hatched as he was about to go into stasis.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Purvis was preparing to move to a new life on the planet Xarem, where he had found employ at a nickel refinery run by the Xarem Corporation.[4] Prior to this, he had lived for several years on Luna. Two years before making the move to Xarem, he had gone through a hostile divorce from his wife, and he viewed his new career as the first stage in moving on with his life.[5]

Kidnapped[]

"I was in cryo, right? On my way to Xarem, right? Work crew for the nickel refinery, right? I wake up... I know, I don't understand. Oh, God. Uh, I s-I saw— I saw horrible things."
Purvis (from Alien Resurrection)

En-route to Xarem, Purvis' transport was boarded by the crew of the Betty and the smugglers kidnapped Purvis and nineteen other passengers as they slept in cryo.[6] Unbeknownst to the sleeping civilians, they were delivered to the USM aboard the Auriga, to be used as hosts for the Xenomorphs bred from the Cloned Queen that Dr. Wren and his team had created. Purvis and the other civilians, still in their cryotubes, were each placed before an Egg and woken as the Facehuggers emerged.

Due to unintentional alterations in the Xenomorphs' genetic structure as a result of the cloning process used to create them, the new creatures developed far more quickly than usual and were at an adult stage within mere hours of impregnation.[7] However, Purvis suffered from a genetic disorder of his own in the form of a low thyroid function, and this slowed the development of the Chestburster inside him, delaying the birth for a significant period of time.[8] He witnessed the Chestbursters emerge from the other captive civilians, but was himself seemingly unaffected. When the Xenomorphs aboard the Auriga escaped and began slaughtering the crew, Purvis was likely spared as a direct result of the creature within him, similarly to Ellen Ripley on Fiorina "Fury" 161.

Found by the survivors[]

Terrified and confused, Purvis simply hid aboard the Auriga. He was later discovered unconscious by a small group of survivors who were attempting to reach the Betty and escape the ship. Noticing that he lacked the horrific chest wounds that all the other civilians had, Ripley approached him, startling him back awake and causing him to back himself against a wall, grabbing a baton and threateningly warning the other survivors to stay away from him. Mercenary Christie ordered him to drop the weapon, and he complied, dropping the baton on the floor. Annalee Call and Christie elected to bring him along, but Ripley 8 explained that he had a Chestburster inside him and would die horribly when it birthed. Nevertheless, the survivors elected to take Purvis with them in the hope that they could take put him into stasis so that he could be brought back to Earth and have the Chestburster surgically removed at a later date.

Sharing the pain[]

Purvis Death

Purvis as the embryo attempts to rip through his chest.

Purvis was one of five survivors to reach the Betty. As he was about to be put into stasis, the group was then ambushed by Dr. Wren, who shot Purvis in the shoulder and held the group at gunpoint. Wren planned to avert the impending crash of the Auriga so that he could continue his Xenomorph research. At that moment, the Chestburster inside Purvis finally began to birth. Purvis, overcome with pain, jumped up and ran at Wren. Despite Wren shooting him nearly a dozen times, Purvis attacked him and virtually beat him to death before holding his head to his chest; the emerging Chestburster burst straight through Wren's skull and out of his face, killing him instantly. The dying Purvis was then finished when the remaining survivors on board opened fire on the Chestburster, killing him via collateral damage.

Personality and Traits[]

Purvis was mild-mannered and almost totally unsuited to the horrendous situation he found himself in. In particular, the knowledge of what was growing inside him threatened to send him into a hysterical panic. However, he managed to pull himself together and helped himself and the other survivors escape the Auriga. When the Chestburster inside him began to hatch, Purvis seemingly accepted his imminent and horrible death and actually used the very creature inside him to exact bloody revenge on Wren, the man responsible for his situation.

Purvis also seemed to develop a friendship of sorts with Call even after her Auton status is exposed. He also seemed to be one of the few who Johner treated with any respect, although this could be simply Johner sympathizing with Purvis, owing to his indirect involvement in his situation.

Equipment[]

Purvis briefly armed himself with a baton in a panic after being found by the survivors until he was forced at gunpoint to drop it.

Trivia[]

  • The fact that it is never explained in the film why it takes Purvis' Chestburster so long to emerge creates a huge plot hole, as the rest of people impregnated alongside him die hours or even days before he does. While the novelization explains the extended incubation period is due to his thyroid deficiency,[8] this information was completely left out of the film.
  • Purvis was the last Xenomorph host in the Alien film franchise.
  • An entire dialogue by Purvis and specifically his line "WHAT'S IN-FUCKING-SIDE ME?!" was repeatedly used by the industrial metal band Dawn of Ashes as a part of a song entitled "Abyss" on their 2006 album In the Acts of Violence.

Appearances[]

Gallery[]

References[]

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