Characters / Aliens: Infestation

Default Marines

Lieutenant Colonel Patrick "Stainless" Steele

The commanding officer in charge of the mission to deploy Marines onto the Sulaco, and one of the first to realize how bad the xenomorph infestation has become.

• The Chains of Commanding: At multiple points in the game, he's forced to make unpopular choices that have the Marines asking him what the hell he's thinking, such as opting for dangerous plans that are practically a Suicide Mission.
• Expy: Of Captain Cruz from Aliens: Colonial Marines, the inspiration that this game distanced itself from after development on the latter title went on too long. Steele is a hardened military veteran who acts as your Mission Control, makes it clear that he's will to flout regulations to protect his troops, and has a far greater grasp of the situation than most of the rank-and-file soldiers.
• A Father to His Men: He makes it very clear to any and all Marines that No One Gets Left Behind, and the safety of his officers, even in dire (or morally-grey) situations is of the utmost importance to him. When the player character questions him on his plan to destroy the Sulaco by overloading its systems, Steele will assure them that he only thought of the plan because it gives them enough to time to escape back to the dropship.

• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In certain conversations with the Marines (particularly with some of the optional ones), he will break from conventional identification and call them by their first name instead of their callsign.
  Steele: (to "Cutter" Kennedy in her ending) Kennedy... Zoe... this has never been a suicide mission.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He's unambiguously on your side, does everything he can to prevent you from getting into risky situations (he warns the player character about going into dark areas without a flashlight, tries to find them the most direct path to their objective), and recommends not going in guns-blazing (as he does with the initial meeting with Davis) until it's absolutely clear that other solutions won't work.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Despite recognizing that his actions will likely lead to a court-martial, he nonetheless orders the Marines to destroy the Sulaco, first by attempting to overload its systems, then by forcibly crashing it into Phobos.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: Steele commands the Marines from the dropship they used to deploy.

Corporal John "Duke" Cameron

The highest-ranking, and oldest, member of the initial group of Marines deployed to the Sulaco as the game begins.

• Named After Someone Famous: Probably James Cameron, the director of Aliens.
• Standardized Leader: Of the four starting Marines, he is the closest to the operational lead of the group, having the highest rank of the four, being the oldest (and having the scars to match), and acting the most professional of the group, responding to Steele's commands with very clipped acknowledgement. As shown in certain sequences (such as when he tells the others to knock off harassing Whistler), the rest of the group defers to his authority.

Private Buddy "Brando" Whistler

The most inexperienced of the four starting Marines, Whistler is a young enlistee who makes it very clear at the outset that he's determined to get the job done.

• Determinator: Despite the fact that he's functionally the "neophyte" of the starting group, it doesn't stop him from volunteering for missions that other Marines would balk at, such as being deployed on his own to repair comm towers — or even fight off an encroaching xenomorph queen if the need arises.
• New Meat: The lowest-ranked of all the playable characters. Everyone except Steele keeps hassling him about it.

Lance Corporal Samantha "Homewrecker" Johnston

A Military Maverick who tends to take matters into her own hands (and fiercely enjoys combat) when the situation becomes dire.

• Captain Morgan Pose: Her idle animation in the save room involves her setting her helmet on the ground, putting one foot on top of it and stand proudly.

• Dark and Troubled Past: As established by her backstory, something happened in her past that caused her to change her entire outlook on life — she's generally distrustful of everyone except herself, and she has picked up a reputation as being "mean" by other Marines.
• Expy: Functionally this to Vasquez from Aliens — a Military Maverick and Blood Knight who's intensely focused on getting the job done, at any cost. Homewrecker may also be this to Bella, the Aliens: Colonial Marines character who herself was an Expy to Vasquez, and to whom she shares similar characteristics.
• Insistent Terminology: Her backstory establishes that she prefers to be called by her callsign, to such an extent that calling her "Samantha" causes a Berserk Button.
• Non-Indicative Name: Her nickname, "Homewrecker", refers to an incident where she cleared out an entire UPP terrorist cell during a house-clearing operation on a backwater colony.
• Military Maverick: It becomes clear very quickly that the guidelines around proper military protocol are merely suggestions to her, as she will take matters into her hands if the "professional" way doesn't work. This is emphasized in the first conversation with Davis, where she chastizes Steele for taking the non-combative approach, and decided to fire her gun into the roof of the Sulaco to get Davis' and his guards' attention.

Private First Class Brock "Bear" Paulson

A fiercely-loyal soldier who is equally loved and respected by his team, both for his combat prowess and strength of character.

• Badass Bandolier: As part of his character design, he carries a bandolier with custom-painted grenades that have skulls and crossbones on them, casting an intimidating look in battle.

• Cigar Chomper: Similar to Apone from Aliens, he maintains a constant habit of smoking cigars, so much so that it's permanently seen in his character photo.

Optional Marines

Private First Class Angel "Cuchillos" Sinise

Private First Class Deepak "Cowboy" Singh

Private First Class Amber "Buster" Fischer

A former Valley Girl who rebelled against her family and enlisted with the USCM after graduating.

• Ascended Extra: She's the only Marine who isn't unlocked by default (she has to be found and recruited), but nevertheless appears as the third Marine on the cover / boxart of the game.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Despite being thrown into Training from Hell and getting no shortage of flak from her superiors (to say nothing of the incursion that caused her to lose her fireteam before the player character finds her), her looks aren't impacted in any way.
• Big Brother Instinct: Her backstory establishes that she had three highly protective older brothers, who smothered her by being overprotective. This appears to have informed her need to protect others, specifically wanting to find and rendezvous with her missing fireteam.
• Determinator: She joined the USCM to prove she was worth something without her brothers watching out for her.

Corporal John "Booker" Losso

Sergeant Jay "Gristle" Henick

Private First Class Zoe Anna "Cutter" Kennedy

A self-described "black sheep" who nonetheless enlisted in the USCM to escape her family, and can be found during the second visit to the Sulaco.

• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: She retains a disturbingly-pale white complexion and a permanently-dour expression, making her look like an unnatural entity.

• Rebel Relaxation: Unlike the rest of the Marines (who tend to strike up heroic or otherwise-engaged poses), her idle animation in the save room involves her taking off her helmet and slumping against a wall, in the prototypical "rebel" fashion.

• Suicide Mission: Her character ending has her elect to do this in an attempt to stop Wey-Yu forces from stealing back the xenomorph cargo from the Sulaco, which is still spiraling out of control and while dealing with a limited oxygen supply.

Lance Corporal Mike "Five-Pack" Coleman

• Determinator: He once was out to prove HE COULD HANDLE EVERYTHING. It broke him.

• Noodle Incident: The specific reason for his PTSD is unknown.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: How he got assigned to this mission, his PTSD gets in the way of a normal military career.

Lance Corporal Dave "BBQ" Williams

• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He appears to hold this attitude towards everything that isn't about cooking, such that the player character's dialogue treats him as somewhat insane. He turned his bolt-hole into a BBQ house!

• Real Men Cook: Seen as part of his Establishing Character Moment — when the player finds him, he's busy cooking up a large platter of ribs, and espouses the joys of staying fed, even in a combat situation. He may no longer be a Cook, but he's still a cook. He regularly cooks for his teammates.
• Shout-Out: To Tom Petty, one of his album names is written on BBQ's armour.

Corporal Frank "Bonesaw" Heston

• No One Gets Left Behind: He cut off a man's trapped leg with machine gun fire in order to carry him off the battlefield, thus earning himself the name.

Private First Class Mei-Lin "Beta" Chau

• Expy: Probably of Mei Ling from Metal Gear Solid. Her first name is one letter missing from having the same name and is a hacker of Chinese descent.

Staff Sergeant Jasper "Iron Sights" Watson

• Younger Than He Looks: He looks like he's pushing seventy. He's 49.

Chief Warrant Officer Friedric "Rook" Marcus

• The Engineer: He builds guns himself. In the dark. While reciting the 13 General Orders. Or so his squadmates say.

Lance Corporal Hank "Husker" Thompson

Corporal Jeff "Lucky" Palms

• Cursed with Awesome: He's very lucky, he survives everything the world throws at him. Unfortunately, he's also a...
• Doom Magnet: The people around him, however, tend to suffer from the things he survives. Many die.
• Weirdness Magnet: Improbable and deadly stuff? Yep, it seems to aim straight for him... and then leave him the only survivor.

Private First Class Jimmy "Chiever" Kim

• No One Gets Left Behind: You meet him quite early in the game, but he refuses to join because there are Marines in need of saving. He's the last recruitable team member - he spends most of the game ensuring this trope.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: He keeps overachieving in order to impress his father... and keeps failing at it.

Other Characters

Sean Davis

A high-ranking Weyland-Yutani official who confronts the player character during their second visit to the Sulaco, and whose true purpose for being onboard (and what he wants) quickly becomes clear.

• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He initially tries to play nice with the player character regarding their questioning of the "cargo" currently sitting in the Sulaco's storage bay, but couches it in veiled insults that all but make it clear that something is... off about him.
• Breaking Speech: During the attempts to destroy the Sulaco, he will call the player in an attempt to seriously demoralize them and deter them from their mission:
  "Why do you want to see these things destroyed? Is it really to protect mankind, or is it because you fear that one day they may replace you on the battlefield, soldier?"
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: By the endgame, he makes his plan very apparent — he is attempting to have xenomorph speciments moved to a Wey-Yu research facility to help jumpstart a weapons program that will allow the company to functionally shred entire planets in the pursuit of profit, and he doesn't care if he has to kill a few Marines to do it.
• Entitled Bastard: He begs the player to save him from the Final Boss, even after trying to have them killed. Naturally, this doesn't work.
• Faux Affably Evil: Even when his master plan becomes clear and he's set an army of androids loose in an attempt to stall out the Marines, he'll still regard the player character with an odd degree of... civility, responding to their queries despite not having any reason to do so. This is most notably in his introductory conversation, when he tries to dissuade you from going after the mysterious "Cargo" that's being transported.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: Every xenomorph outbreak in the game can be traced to his decision to extract xenomorph specimens and bring them to Phobos, which kicked off an infestation of the colony (and eventually the Sulaco itself).
• Karmic Death: He gets inner-jawed to death by the Final Boss, moments after he attempts to ask the player character to save him from the bioengineered xenomorphs he was responsible for creating.