Jonathan Clemens

Jonathan Clemens was the Chief Medical Officer on the Fiorina “Fury” 161 Class C Work Correctional Unit. He was a former inmate of the facility. When Weyland-Yutani closed down the facility, he elected to stay there along with many of the other inmates and become the Chief Medical Officer.

After Ellen Ripley crashed onto the planet, he became close to her. He was killed by a Xenomorph in the Infirmary unit.

Biography

Early Life

After Clemens graduated from medical school and began his first residency. At some point before this, Clemens became secretly addicted to morphine. During his residency placement, he went through a 36-hour shift in an emergency room. After this, he celebrated and got drunk.

There was an explosion at a fuel plant which led to him being recalled to the hospital. Clemens, while intoxicated, prescribed the wrong dosage of painkiller, which killed 11 of the 30 casualties.

Fiorina 161

Clemens was sentenced to 7 years in prison on Fiorina 161 for manslaughter. While in prison, he managed to overcome his morphine addiction. He served his full sentence but given his attachment to the inmates there and knowing he would most likely never find employment again in a medical role, he chose to stay there and became the prison’s Medical Officer.

His medical license was reinstated with a class 3-C rating. When Weyland-Yutani closed the prison down in 2175, he and some of the inmates chose to stay there.

Ripley’s Arrival on Fiorina 161

Clemens is walking alone on the planet’s surface when he sees an EEV wreckage offshore. He walks down to the beach and sees the only survivor, Ripley, washed ashore covered in oil and insects. Clemens, being the only medical officer, carried her inside and gave her aid. When she regained consciousness,

Clemens informed her that Newt and Corporal Hicks had died in the crash. Clemens goes with her to the recovered EEV wreckage and tells her about the prison. He told her Newt had drowned in her cryotube and Hicks had been impaled by a support beam.

Ripley, suspecting that Newt was carrying a Chestburster, asks to see Newt’s body. Clemens accompanies her to the morgue. After examining the body, Ripley asks Clemens to perform an autopsy on Newt as she believes there is a possible cholera contagion. He performed the autopsy which confirmed that Newt had drowned but he had suspicions that Ripley was looking for something else.

After the autopsy, Superintendent Andrews confronted him and asked why he did an autopsy without asking him first. Clemens explained that Ripley had suspicions about a possible contagion so he had to act swiftly. Ripley insists that the bodies be incinerated. At first, Andrews refuses, but Clemens convinces him otherwise.

The bodies of Hicks and Newt were cremated in the furnace as Ripley and Clemens watched on and Dillon delivers a prayer. Clemens takes her around the prison and shares its history. They end up sleeping together. Clemens asks why they had to cremate the bodies. Ripley notices that Clemens has a barcode on the back of his head but says he will explain later.

Murphy, one of the prisoners, is killed in a ventilation shaft. When Clemens arrives, Andrews and Aaron are already there investigating. Andrews is sure that it was a simple accident. Clemens is suspicious as he sees a burnt mark near the fan. Andrews asks him to come to his office later and leaves with Aaron.

Clemens then met up with Ripley who told her what he had seen. Despite Ripley not explaining her fears, Clemens agrees to help her. Clemens goes to meet Andrews in his office. Andrews confronts Clemens about his relationship with Ripley. They argue about it and Clemens leaves.

Later, Boggs and Rains are killed in the tunnels and Golic is the prime suspect. He is restrained in the mess hall by Clemens, Andrews, Aaron and Dillon and taken to the infirmary. Golic claims that a Dragon killed them and Ripley corroborates his story. Andrews doesn’t believe her and tells her to remain in the infirmary.

In the infirmary, Ripley questions Clemens about the barcode on the back of his head. Clemens tells her about why he was imprisoned in the first place. Clemens asks Ripley if she still trusts him with a needle. As Clemens injects her, the Xenomorph drops down from an air vent.

Ripley sees the Xenomorph and it attacks Clemens through the hospital sheets. It lifts him into the air and head-bites his skull before it throws his body to the side. The Xenomorph goes to attack Ripley but stops. It returns to the vents with Clemens’ body.

Personality and Traits

Clemens generally preferred to be alone, not really interacting with other prisoners or staff outside of his capacity as the medical officer. When Ripley arrived, he initially treated her like any other patient but the two became very close due to their loneliness.

Behind-The-Scenes

The character of Clemens is similar to two characters from previous Alien 3 scripts. In David Twhoy’s script, there is a character called Packard who is a medical officer at a prison and joins up with the lead character to escape.

In Vincent Ward’s Wooden Planet script, there is a character called Brother John. He sees Ripley’s EEV crash into the water.

Both Richard E. Grant and Charles Dance screentested for the role of Clemens. Director David Fincher wanted Grant as he really liked 1987’s Withnail & I and wanted to reunite Grant with co-stars Paul McGann and Ralph Brown. The studio and producers felt that Grant was too gentle for a hostile prison environment, and so the role was given to Charles Dance.

Other Media

Alien 3 Novelization (1992 Novel)

In the Alien 3 novelization by Alan Dean Foster, Clemens appears as in the film. The novelization mostly follows the same path as the Alien 3 Assembly Cut. It mentions the drug that Clemens was addicted to was a fictional drug called Midaphine. Clemens’s death is different. He is beheaded by the Xenomorph.

Alien 3 Comic (1992 Comic)

The Alien 3 Comic is a mixture of the theatrical and assembly cut with some new additions. Instead of being killed by a head-bite from the Xenomorph, Clemens is decapitated by the Xenomorph’s tail.

Trivia

• Throughout the film, Clemens only has full conversations with either Andrews, Aaron or Ripley while he only gives short answers to prisoners.
• Clemens’s line about Fury-161 being one of “Weyland-Yutani’s backwater prison planets” was the first time the name Weyland-Yutani was spoken out loud in the Alien franchise.

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