Drake

Private First Class Mark Drake was a Smartgun operator with the United States Colonial Marines and was dispatched as part of a squad to investigate the sudden loss of communication of the Hadley’s Hope colony on LV-426. He was killed when the Marines were attacked by Xenomorphs in the hive and he was sprayed with acid. Drake appears in the 1986 film Aliens and is played by Mark Rolston.

Biography

Mission to Hadley’s Hope

In 2179, after contact is lost with the Hadley’s Hope colony, a team of Colonial Marines is dispatched to investigate LV-426 along with Carter Burke and Ellen Ripley. When the Sulaco reached LV-426, Drake exited hypersleep. He trained with Vasquez before getting dressed.

When the squad were having their breakfast, Drake ‘volunteered’ Hudson so Bishop could perform his knife trick. After breakfast, the squad listened to Ripley and Gorman outlining the mission but like Vasquez, he didn’t take Ripley very seriously. Drake and Vasquez readied their Smartguns in preparation for the mission.

The squad boarded the APC and dropped down into Hadley’s Hope. Apone led his squad into the complex. They found that there had been a big firefight but there were no signs of life. They picked up something on the motion tracker. As they investigated the source, Drake almost shot a little girl called Newt before Hicks pushed his Smartgun out of the way. The squad realised that all the colonists had been taken to the Atmosphere Processing Plant and the squad set off to investigate. Burke, Gorman and Ripley stayed inside the APC and kept in contact with the Marines over the radio.

Drake and the rest of the squad soon entered the Alien Hive. Ripley realised that shooting with their weapons would damage the reactor so Gorman ordered Apone to confiscate his squad’s ammunition and deactivate the Smartguns. Drake and Vasquez surrendered their Smartgun batteries but as soon as Apone turned his back, they both used spare batteries and reactivated the Smartguns. The group found the colonists cocooned on the walls. One of them was still alive and the squad watched on as a Chestburster emerged from her. Apone used Frost’s flamethrower and he and Dietrich set fire to the Chestburster.

The hive’s Xenomorphs awoke hearing the commotion and Apone and his squad were surrounded. Gorman ordered Apone to lay down suppression fire with the incinerators and fall back to the APC. Some Marines were quickly killed, and Vasquez and Drake were the only two Marines to provide effective cover fire for everybody else. As Ripley and Gorman feared, it damaged the reactor which later caused a meltdown. As Drake ran out of ammunition, he discarded his Smartgun and switched to the M240 Incinerator Unit.

As the rest of the surviving Marines had boarded the APC, Drake was still providing cover fire and didn’t see the Xenomorph nearby. Vasquez spotted it and shot it with her Smartgun. When the Xenomorph exploded, it sprayed Drake with its acid blood and caused him to turn in pain. He accidentally fired his incinerator unit at the APC before he died from his injuries. Vasquez was devastated and wanted to help him but Hicks said he had gone and managed to shut the APC doors. The rest of the survivors escaped.

Personality and Traits

Drake had a very close relationship with Jenette Vasquez and were found training together and often encouraging each other’s disruptive behaviour. Drake was a bit of a prankster, often making jokes and playing tricks on his squadmates. He ‘volunteered’ Hudson when Bishop performed his knife trick. Along with Vasquez, he didn’t think very highly of Ripley and didn’t take her encounter with the Xenomorphs as a threat. Similarly, he didn’t think very highly of Gorman and ignored his orders to deactivate his Smartgun when they were in the Alien hive.

Weapons & Equipment

Drake had the M56 Smartgun and had added the text “My Bitch” on the charging handle. On the back of his armour, he had added the phrase “Eat the apple and fuck the Corps”. Drake was also seen to be using the M240 Incinerator unit when his Smartgun had run out of ammunition.

Behind-The-Scenes

James Cameron asked Rolston and fellow Marine actor Cynthia Scott if they would come down to Pinewood Studios five days a week so she could train with a trainer. The trainer was John Lees who was the stuntman inside the Power Loader. Scott didn’t have a car so she took the underground to Rolston’s place and from there, they drove to the studio.

Rolston gained 35-40lbs for the role. When Rolston met Jenette Goldstein, they sat down and worked out their back story for their characters. The idea was that Drake was a conscript and took on the mission to LV-426 to get out of prison. Because his friend Vasquez was going on the mission, he would go and cover her back.

Other Media

Aliens Novelization (1986 Novel)

In Alan Dean Foster’s novelization of Aliens, Drake appears like in the film.

Aliens: Book One

Drake appears in Aliens: Book One with Vasquez, in Hicks’ nightmare. He is seen dead in the generator room having had a Chestburster emerge from him.

Aliens: Newt’s Tale (1992 Comic)

Aliens: Newt’s Tale is a 1992 comic book adaptation of Aliens.

Aliens: Field Report (2014 Comic)

Aliens: Field Report is a 2014 comic book short story that retells the moment that the Marines are the hive.

Aliens: Vasquez (2022 Novel)

Aliens: Vasquez is a 2022 novel that explores the background of Jenette Vasquez, her mission to Hadley’s Hope in Aliens, and the investigation into her disappearance.

Merchandise

A figure based on Drake was released by Kenner as part of their Aliens toy line in the 90s. As of yet, there is no Drake figure from NECA but actor Mark Rolston did say in 2017 he was in negotiations with NECA about having one.

Trivia

• Drake appears as a bonus multiplayer skin in the 2013 video game Aliens: Colonial Marines.

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