Ash

Biography
Ash was a bio-mech android model 120-A2 constructed by Hyperdine Systems in the early 22nd century. He was contracted by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation and assigned to serve as Science Officer aboard the commercial towing vessel Nostromo under the command of Captain Dallas. Neither Dallas nor the rest of the crew were aware that Ash was an android, and as such, were unaware of his true mission. Weyland-Yutani sent Ash on the Nostromo under Special Order 937, which involved the procurement of an alien organism which was believed to originate somewhere in the Zeta II Reticuli System on the Outer Rim of the galaxy. All other matters were considered secondary and the crew was expendable.

In 2122, the Nostromo was returning from a job in the Solomons when the ship received a distress beacon coming from a nearby planetoid. They took a drop-ship to the planet's service and discovered the wreckage of a derelict space vessel as well as the fossilized remains of its pilot. The Nostromo's second in command, Kane, was attacked by an embryonic creature which attached itself to his face. Despite all quarantine procedures, Ash allowed Kane back onto the ship so he could analyze the organism. He attempted to surgically remove the creature from Kane's face, but when he made an incision on one of the phalanges, he found that the alien had concentrated acid for blood. He also determined that the so-called "Face Hugger" served as a sort of midwife to another species. It inserted a probiscus into Kane's mouth, which kept his body stable, but also impregnated him with a seed that gestated inside of Kane's chest. The Face Hugger eventually detached itself from Kane and died after serving its biological requirements.

The product of this process grew inside of Kane and adapted some of his physiological characteristics.

Notes & Trivia

 * Dan O'Bannon's original script treatment for Alien did not include the character of Science Officier Ash. Producers Walter Hill and Ronald Shusett felt that the film needed a secondary story element, so they added the sub-plot of Ash, the android spy who ultimately betrays the crew. O'Bannon was displeased with this, feeling that it was a cheap gag and disingenuous to his original vision. He referred to the new material as suffering from "Russian Spy" syndrome.


 * On the director's commentary for the Alien special edition DVD, Ridley Scott attempts to ratonalize the scene where Ash tries to kill Ripley. Scott ascribes a Freudian sexual conflict to the character of Ash, noting that as an Android, Ash is not anatomically correct, and vents his sexual frustration upon Ripley when he forces her to fellate a rolled-up pornographic magazine.