Gorman

Lieutenant Scott Gorman was a member of 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. He was the commanding officer of the squad but wasn’t liked due to his inexperience in the role.

He was unconscious for most of the mission and was the last member of the team to be killed. He and Vasquez committed suicide in the vents to avoid being captured by Xenomorphs. Gorman appears in the 1986 film Aliens and is played by William Hope.

Biography

Mission to Hadley’s Hope

In 2179, after contact was lost with the Hadley’s Hope colony, a team of Colonial Marines was being prepared to investigate LV-426. Weyland-Yutani executive Carter Burke specifically arranged for the inexperienced Gorman to command the mission.

Their first job was to recruit Ellen Ripley, the last survivor of the Nostromo and who had previously encountered a Xenomorph, to go with them. Burke and Gorman approached Ripley, even saying that the company would reinstate her as a flight officer if she went. She initially refuses but after suffering recurring nightmares about the Xenomorph threat, Ripley agrees to go with them.

When the Sulaco reached LV-426, Gorman and the squad exited hypersleep. At breakfast, Gorman didn’t sit with the rest of the Marines, instead choosing to sit away from them. After breakfast, Gorman had gathered everybody together in the cargo bay to listen to Ripley outlining the mission. After many of the Marines made fun of the briefing, Gorman issued strict deadlines for preparing for the mission.

The squad boarded the APC and dropped down in the dropship into Hadley’s Hope. As the dropship descended, Gorman was clearly nervous. Vasquez questioned how many drops he had done prior to this. Gorman revealed it was only his second combat drop. When the team reached Hadley’s Hope, the squad secured the main administration building.

Burke, Ripley and Gorman joined the squad inside. They found that there had been a big firefight but there were no signs of life except for a young girl called Newt. 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.

The squad soon entered the Alien Hive. Ripley realised that shooting with their weapons would damage the plant so Gorman ordered Apone to confiscate his squad’s ammunition and told them to switch to flamethrowers. At first, he was hesitant but followed Gorman’s orders. 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. They killed the Chestburster and the hive’s Xenomorphs awoke hearing the commotion.

The squad were surrounded. Gorman ordered Apone to lay down suppression fire with the incinerators and fall back to the APC. Gorman watched on the monitors in horror as his team were slaughtered. Ripley was forced to take over and drove the APC to the location. Gorman tried to stop her but was pulled back by Burke. As the APC was swerving through the tunnels, a container hit Gorman, knocking him unconscious. As the remaining survivors escaped the hive, Vasquez had to be restrained from hitting Gorman after his failures.

Gorman was unconscious for many hours before regaining consciousness and realising that he was no longer in command of the mission and following Hicks’ orders. When Newt and Ripley were trapped with the live Facehuggers, Gorman helped along with the other Marines to free them. Gorman held Burke at gunpoint. When Xenomorphs ascended on the Operation Centre, Gorman released Burke so he could defend himself against the Xenomorphs.

The survivors escaped through the vents while Vasquez was covering the rear. She killed a Xenomorph that dropped from above and spilt acid onto her leg. She was injured and unable to move. Gorman directed Hicks to carry on and Gorman went back to help Vasquez. As he attempts to drag her out, more Xenomorphs appear. Gorman did his best to defend them with his sidearm but ran out of ammunition. They were soon surrounded. Rather than be taken back to the hive to be used as hosts, Gorman pulled out an M40 grenade. They detonated the device together, killing themselves and killing the nearby Xenomorphs.

Personality and Traits

Gorman was a very inexperienced officer, having only had one combat drop. The Marines had very little respect for him as a result. He showed no willingness in getting to know the Marines under his command. He sat away from them during breakfast and during Ripley’s briefing, he even got Hudson’s name wrong.

When the Marines went into the hive, Gorman didn’t even think about what firing bullets could do to the Atmosphere Processor and it was Ripley and Burke that had to inform him that gunfire could cause a rupture, leading to a nuclear meltdown. When the Marines were ambushed in the hive, and particularly when Apone was taken, Gorman completely froze, unable to issue any orders that could help the remaining survivors.

When he regained consciousness in the colony, he realised he was incapable of taking command of the mission and was content to relinquish command to Hicks. He helped Ripley and Newt escape the Facehuggers and his final act of redemption was to rescue Vasquez in the air ducts, even though it would inevitably lead to his own death.

Weapons & Equipment

Gorman carried a Heckler & Koch VP70 sidearm along with a few M40 HEDP Grenades which he used to commit suicide with Vasquez.

Behind-The-Scenes

Actor William Hope was offered a role in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket but chose to do Aliens instead.

Other Media

Aliens Novelization (1986 Novel)

In Alan Dean Foster’s novelization of Aliens, Gorman is actually stung by a Xenomorph’s tail, which paralyzes him with a toxin. This was also in the shooting script but was changed during filming to having him get hit by crates in the APC. Like in the movie, Gorman would have recovered from his injuries.

Aliens: Newt’s Tale (1992 Comic)

Aliens: Newt’s Tale is a 1992 comic book adaptation of Aliens which covers the events in the film.

Aliens: River of Pain (2014 Novel)

Gorman appears in the 2014 novel and 2017 audio drama Aliens: River of Pain which covers what happens on Hadley’s Hope when the colonists receive the Derelict coordinates from Burke. The novel replays the same scene from the film where Gorman visits Ripley to convince her to go to LV-426. Gorman then appears when the Marines secure the colony.

Aliens: River of Pain (2017 Audio Drama)

 William Hope once again provided his voice for the character in the audio drama.

One interesting scene takes place in the Audio Drama that wasn’t in the novel. On Gateway Burke approaches Gorman to discuss the mission. Burke tells Gorman all about the Xenomorphs on the colony, giving them details about how they reproduce using human hosts. Burke then asks Gorman for help to convince Ripley to go along on the mission.

Burke even asks if Bishop can be ordered to make sure Ripley follows company orders and reports back to the company about her actions. Gorman said that the Hyperdyne Systems 341-B is not programmed to spy and if anybody questioned Bishop, he would have to tell the truth. Burke suggests that Bishop be reprogrammed but Gorman refuses, saying if he wants an inside man on the mission, he should go himself.

Aliens: Vasquez (2022 Novel)

Aliens: Vasquez is a 2022 novel and is about the origins of Jenette Vasquez and her mission to Hadley’s Hope. The novel retells Vasquez’s death with Gorman in the vents on LV-426.

Trivia

• Gorman actor William Hope has done voicework for a few characters in various Alien video games. He voiced various Predators in 2001’s Aliens versus Predator 2, Dr. Groves in 2010’s Aliens vs Predator and Marshal Waits in Alien: Isolation. He also did some voicework for a character called T. Shannon in 2013’s Aliens: Colonial Marines but it was cut from the final game.
• When William Gibson was writing a script for Alien 3, in the second draft, one of the characters looks through Gorman’s things on the Sulaco and finds a photograph of his wife or girlfriend.

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