Thomas Murphy
Posted by Darkness on November 27, 2023 (Updated: 27-Nov-2023)
Christopher Fairbank as Murphy
Thomas Murphy was one of the inmates in the Fiorina “Fury” 161 Class C Work Correctional Unit and stayed on after Weyland-Yutani had closed the prison down.
Murphy was the first prisoner to be killed by the Xenomorph while cleaning the air ducts. Murphy appears in 1992’s Alien 3 and is played by Christopher Fairbank.
Biography
Early Life
Murphy was involved in criminal activities from a young age and spent a long time on the run. He was sent to prison for theft of a space vehicle and for killing four people.
Ripley’s Arrival on Fiorina 161
An EEV, ejected from the USS Sulaco, carrying Ellen Ripley, Corporal Hicks, Newt and Bishop the android crashed onto Fiorina 161 in 2179. There was just one survivor – Ellen Ripley.
[Theatrical Edition] Murphy helped recover the wreckage along with his dog Spike. Unknown to Murphy, his dog later returned to the EEV by itself and was later attacked by a Facehugger who was hiding in the EEV. Murphy later finds Spike in his room with injuries to his face.
Murphy finds his dog, Spike.
[Special Edition] In the prison’s abattoir, Frank and Murphy bring Babe, one of the oxen who has suddenly died so they can feed it to the prisoners later. Murphy asks Frank about what he’d say to Ripley given the chance. Murphy then finds a dead Super Facehugger nearby.
Murphy
Murphy is later assigned to clean the ventilation shaft. He finds some slimy substance which turns out to be the Xenomorph’s shedded skin. In a nearby hole, Murphy looks and sees something which he initially thinks is his dog Spike.
It’s the Xenomorph who spits acid into his face. Murphy staggers back in pain and accidentally moves into the nearby fan, which kills him instantly.
Murphy cleaning the ventilation shaft.
Superintendent Andrews, Aaron and Clemens investigate the death and determine that it was Murphy. Andrews says it was a simple accident while Clemens suspects otherwise.
Personality and Traits
He was reportedly a well-behaved inmate and was protective of his dog Spike.
Behind-The-Scenes
The Special Edition of the film cuts out scenes of Murphy and his dog Spike and adds new scenes of Murphy, Frank and the dead ox. Particularly, Murphy finds the dead Super Facehugger which is more regal in appearance compared to the Facehugger we saw in the Theatrical cut.
Other Media
Alien 3 #1
Alien 3 Novelization (1992 Novel)
In the Alien 3 novelization by Alan Dean Foster, Murphy appears as in the film. The novelization mostly follows the same path as the Alien 3 Assembly Cut. One notable difference is that Murphy is using a laser to clean the ventilation shaft rather than a shovel.
Alien 3 Comic (1992 Comic)
The Alien 3 Comic is a mixture of the theatrical and assembly cut with some new additions. There are a few differences in the comic. Firstly, Murphy is singing the Rolling Stones song Paint It Black before he was killed.
This was originally supposed to be in the film but was changed to In The Year 2525 by Dennis Zager and Richard Evans. In the comic, he is mopping the floor rather than cleaning an air duct. Murphy is decapitated in the comic.
Gallery
