Chief Engineer Parker
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Parker (ID# 313/S4-08M) was the chief engineer on the commercial towing vessel The Nostromo in the 1979 science fiction film, Alien. He was played by actor Yaphet Kotto.
As chief engineer, Parker was responsible for overseeing and/or carrying out all repairs and maintenance functions on the ship while it was underway. He had one assistant, Brett to help him with his duties. Parker was a working manager, or crew foreman, who would perform the required tasks, as well as act as a bridge between the workmen and the command crew. He appeared to be a long-term Company man, who had possibly worked his way up the ranks.
Parker, like Lambert, was never reluctant to voice his opinions. However, Parker was much more aggressive and assertive than Lambert. He was constantly at odds with Ripley, and there was a slight animosity between them throughout the film. Parker was the only black member of the crew. He wore a blue headband, and could be heard voicing his displeasure with the inequitable bonus pay scale for their mission.
Parker was part of Ripley's team when the crew split up to search for the "chestburster" with the portable incinerator units. Parker ordered Brett to retrieve the cat (after Brett had let it escape), to prevent them from again picking it up on their tracking device.
Parker helped Ripley escape from the robotic grasp of Science Officer Ash. After he helped reanimate Ash's head for a final interrogation, Parker blasted the remains of Ash with the incinerator, melting down the artificial composite skull of the android. Parker died only shortly before Lambert, who was the last character to die. He was killed by the alien while he and Lambert were gathering and loading coolant bottles for the escape ship's life support system when the decision was made to abandon and self-destruct the Nostromo. His mangled corpse was found by Ripley during her race out of the ship.
Like the Nostromo itself, Parker and all other crewmembers' official whereabouts remained unknown for the next 57 years. He was missing and presumed dead from 2122 until 2179, when an off-course Narcissus escape ship returned Ripley and Jones to civilization (and solved the riddle of the missing Nostromo, which had mysteriously vanished without a trace).
Memorable Quotes:
- "This is a commercial ship, not a rescue ship. It's not in my line of duty to do this kind of work. If you want to give me some money, I'll be happy to do it."
- "I don't want to hear it. I want to go home and party."
- "It's a robot!?! Ash is a goddamn robot!?!"
- "Look, I've heard enough of this [the reanimated head of Ash], and I'm asking you to pull the plug."
