Leonard Dillon

Leonard Dillon was an inmate at the Fiorina “Fury” 161 Class C Work Correctional Unit and was one of several inmates who stayed behind when Weyland-Yutani closed down the prison.

He sacrificed himself so the other survivors could kill the Xenomorph in the leadworks. Dillon appears in 1992’s Alien 3 and is played by Charles S. Dutton.

Biography

Early Life

Dillon was imprisoned on Fiorina 161 for two counts of rape and first-degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Ripley’s Arrival on Fiorina 161

When Dillon was told about Ripley’s arrival, he was wary of an outsider, especially a woman, who could cause problems for the prison inmates. When the bodies of Hicks and Newt were cremated in the furnace, Dillon gave a moving prayer about their passing. Later in the mess hall, Dillon talks to Boggs and Rains about their dislike of Golic.

Ripley tried to thank Dillon for what he had said. He made it clear that he is a rapist and murderer of women and will only speak to her due to his religious beliefs requiring him to show tolerance to everybody.

When Ripley went to the junkyard to recover Bishop, four of the prisoners attempted to rape Ripley. Dillon was the one who saved her by beating the other prisoners with a metal pipe saying he had “re-educate some of the brothers”.

After Boggs and Rains are killed, Golic is the prime suspect. Clemens, Dillon, Andrews and Aaron go to the mess hall and restrain Golic, bringing him to the infirmary. Dillon tries to get answers from Golic and Golic claims there was a Dragon that killed them.

When Superintendent Andrews was killed by the Xenomorph, many of the inmates looked to Dillon for leadership but he insisted that Ripley take the lead. Ripley and the remaining inmates created a plan to use quinitricetyline to burn the Xenomorph out of the air shafts and into the nuclear waste tank.

One of the inmates accidentally sparked the quinitricetyline, causing huge explosions. Dillon activated the sprinkler system to suppress the fires, saving many lives. Junior sacrificed himself and lead the Xenomorph into the tank. Ripley trapped the creature inside.

Ripley tells Dillon that the Company is coming to take this creature away to use it as a weapon and she insists that it needs to be killed. Dillon is apathetic, not really caring if they do that. Dillon is informed that Golic has let the Xenomorph out of the toxic waste tank.

Dillon gathers the prisoners together and works out a new plan. When Ripley realises she has a Chestburster inside of her, she asks Dillon to kill her. He refused and said that if the Xenomorph wouldn’t kill her, they could use that to their advantage. Ripley pleaded with her to kill her. Dillon said he’ll do it once the creature is dead.

Dillon and Ripley created a plan to use the prisoners as bait to lure the Xenomorph into the mold in the leadworks where they could pour molten lead onto it. Many of the prisoners didn’t want to take part but Dillon’s speech convinced them otherwise.

When they put the plan into motion, many of the prisoners were killed by the Xenomorph. Dillon witnessed one of the inmates being attacked but Dillon dragged him back to the mold. The piston is activated but the Xenomorph drags the dead prisoner out of the mold and escapes. Ripley chases after the creature. Dillon drags Ripley away, pretending to hurt her and they lure the creature back to the mold.

As Ripley and Dillon attempted to climb out of the mold, the Xenomorph followed. Dillon sacrificed himself and stayed in the mold by himself and allowed Ripley to escape. The Xenomorph lunged at Dillon and mauled him. He was killed just before Morse poured the molten lead onto the beast.

Personality and Traits

Dillon warned Ripley that he was a rapist and murderer and she should stay away from him. He eventually gained a lot of respect for her as they tried to deal with the Xenomorph threat. Dillon was akin to a religious leader for the rest of the inmates and cared for them.

However, he was quick to punish them if they stepped out of place and caused disruption. He beat the inmates who were trying to rape Ripley in the junkyard.

Behind-The-Scenes

The character of Dillon is based on a character called Brother Kyle from Vincent Ward’s Wooden Planet script for Alien 3.

Early Scripts

In some early drafts for the final film, the character was known as Malcolm. Dillon’s death changed throughout those scripts. In an early draft, he sacrificed himself in the assembly hall so it wouldn’t kill Morse.

In another draft, the Xenomorph has made a hive in the assembly hall where its previous victims are cocooned. Morse and Dillon find the hive. Dillon pushes Morse outside and locks it so he can face the Xenomorph alone.

In a later draft, Dillon survives and escapes the mold before Morse pours the molten lead on the creature. Ripley asks Dillon to kill her again. He tries to strangle her but still can’t do it.

The Xenomorph emerges from the lead and drags Dillon into the molten lead, killing him. This scene is also featured in the Novelization and Comic adaptations of the film

Other Media

Alien 3 Novelization (1992 Novel)

In the Alien 3 novelization by Alan Dean Foster, Dillon appears as in the film. The novelization mostly follows the same path as the Alien 3 Assembly Cut. One notable difference is that Dillon has hair in the way of a single deadlock. His death is also different as described above.

Alien 3 Comic (1992 Comic)

The Alien 3 Comic is a mixture of the theatrical and assembly cut with some new additions. His death is also different as described above.

Trivia

• Dillon is one of the few inmates on Fiorina 161 who is not English. He’s American.

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