Larry Purvis

"WHAT'S IN-FUCKING-SIDE ME?!"

―Purvis (from Alien Resurrection)

Larry Purvis
Biographical Information
Status	Deceased as of 2379.
Physical Description
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Dark
Other Information
Portrayed by	Leland Orser

Larry Purvis was a civilian kidnapped while in hypersleep by the crew of the Betty, at the request of General Martin Perez 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 just minutes before an attempt could be made to remove the creature.

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. 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 divorced from his wife, and he viewed his new career as the first stage in moving on with his life.

Kidnapped

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. 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. 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. 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.

Sharing the Pain

Terrified and confused, Purvis simply hid aboard the Auriga. He was later discovered by a small group of survivors who were attempting to reach the Betty and escape the ship; Ripley 8 explained that he had a Xenomorph inside him and would die horribly when it birthed. Nevertheless, the survivors elected to take Purvis with them in the hope that they could surgically remove the Chestburster before it emerged and save his life.

Purvis as the embryo attempts to rip through his chest.

Purvis was one of five survivors to reach the Betty, but the group was then ambushed by Dr. Wren and held at gunpoint, with Wren planning 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, brutally attacked Wren, virtually beating 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 off when the remaining survivors on board opened fire on the Chestburster.

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.

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, 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

• Alien Resurrection/novel/comic