Corporal Dwayne Hicks
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Aliens (film). (Discuss) |
| Corporal Dwayne Hicks | |
|---|---|
 Corporal Dwayne Hicks, as portrayed in Aliens. |
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| First appearance | Aliens |
| Last appearance | Alien 3 |
| Created by | James Cameron |
| Portrayed by | Michael Biehn |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Hicks |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Date of death | 2179 |
| Occupation | United States Colonial Marine |
| Title | Corporal |
Corporal Dwayne Hicks is a fictional character in the 1986 science fiction movie Aliens. The character is portrayed by Michael Biehn.
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[edit] Character History
Corporal Hicks is a member of the fictional military unit USCM (United States Colonial Marines) that is deployed to the moon LV-426 aboard the Sulaco to investigate the sudden loss of contact with the colonists on that moon. The events of this investigation are depicted in the movie Aliens.
Corporal Hicks is portrayed as a soft spoken and level-headed heroic leader, providing contrast to other members of the team, including the hot-tempered Private Vasquez, the emotionally unstable Private Hudson, the inexperienced Lt. Gorman and the greedy Carter Burke. Hicks is mostly calm in the film, although he does attempt to attack Burke after learning of his betrayal.
At the start of the movie Corporal Hicks is third in command of the military unit, but after they venture in the Xenomorph nest, he becomes acting commander when the majority of his team are killed and the actual commanding officer, Lieutenant Gorman, is knocked unconscious. Ripley, protagonist of the film, points this out when she comes head-to-head with Burke over the next course of action after the danger of the Xenomorph becomes apparent. Hicks, as acting commanding officer, declares that they will leave immediately and use a thermonuclear warhead to destroy the colony. However, this plan does not work, and they're forced to face the Xenomorph threat head-on until an alternate method of escape can be implemented. As they escape, Hudson, Burke, Vasquez, and Gorman are killed. Hicks gets injured when acidic alien blood hits his chest, but Ripley still manages to get him to the ship, only to go by herself to rescue Newt. In a deleted scene, right before she leaves, they reveal to each other their first names. In the conclusion of the film, he goes into hypersleep with the other survivors.
[edit] Alien 3
Although Corporal Hicks survives the events of Aliens, he is killed at the very start of Alien 3, when the Sulaco's escape pod is jettisoned and crash-lands on Fiorina 'Fury' 161. The sleeping corporal is impaled by an overhead safety support, dislocated during the crash. Hick's death upset many fans of the previous film, with Aliens director James Cameron calling it "a slap in the face". Actor Michael Biehn cited not being asked to reprise the role of Hicks as one of the biggest disappointments of his career.
[edit] Alternate Sequels
Before production began on Alien 3, Dark Horse Comics produced a comic book series that follows-up on the characters after Aliens. In that series, Hicks, Newt and Bishop all survive the escape from the Sulaco with Ripley and continue to fight the Xenomorphs. With the release of Alien³, this comic books series was considered an alternate universe from "official" Alien series canon and when the series was redone for release (the black and white art was coloured and characters reworked) the Hicks character was renamed to Wilks (with one missed panel still referring to him as Hicks the only reminder of the original text).
Renowned science fiction writer Wiliam Gibson also wrote a moviescript, available on the web (Alien III. Revised first draft screenplay), for a sequel where Hicks, Newt and Bishop survive the return trip to fight an airborne transforming virus of the aliens DNA. In this script, Hicks is the main character.
[edit] Similarity to other characters
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Michael Biehn's portrayal of Corporal Hicks is similar to his portrayal of the character Kyle Reese in the movie The Terminator. Both Aliens and The Terminator were directed by James Cameron and in both movies Michael Biehn plays sympathetic but heroic military men that bond with the strong female protagonists.
[edit] Memorability
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (May 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
One of the most memorable aspects of Hicks lies in him having a catchphrase which is closely associated with a particular weapon he wields. Much like Tony Montana in Scarface, whose "say hello to my little friend" is closely associated with a grenade launcher (especially the M203), Hicks' catchprase "I like to keep this handy...for close encounters" is closely associated with a shotgun. More recently, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare paid homage to this on the first level, Crew Expendable, where one of the SAS operators is heard saying "I'd like to keep this for close encounters" as he equipped his Winchester 1200 shotgun.
