Movies - Bishop

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Bishop (Alien)

	Movies - Bishop

Bishop 341-B is a fictional character from the Alien series of films, an android created by the Weyland-Yutani corporation. He was portrayed by actor Lance Henriksen.

Background

Bishop was a synthetic (or "artificial person", as he preferred to be called), a very advanced android assigned to the Colonial Marine vessel Sulaco. Like other synthetics, Bishop possesses superior strength and hand-eye coordination, though he did not engage in combat, instead acting in a general support role. Bishop made his first appearance in Aliens when the Sulaco was ordered to investigate loss of colony contact on planet LV-426. Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley was an advisor on the mission.

During the events portrayed in Alien, Ripley was assaulted and nearly killed by Ash, another android that was commissioned on the ship as a science officer. He had been ordered in secret to bring back the Xenomorph life form at the expense of the crew and had to be disabled and ultimately incinerated by Parker (Ripley's crewmate) to prevent any more deaths. Officer Ripley first noticed that Bishop was an android when she saw a trickle of white fluid coming from the cut on his finger. Her reaction was of deep mistrust, both of the people who had put her on the Sulaco and of Bishop because the company hadn't said anything about an android being on board. Ripley was immediately suspicious of Bishop, even though he reassured her that with his behavioural inhibitors it was impossible for him to harm, or by omission of action allow to be harmed, a human being (a reference to the first of the Three Laws of Robotics, as coined by Isaac Asimov).

Analysis

Bishop, despite being an artificial life form, is a character with multiple dimensions, and is more noble and self-sacrificing than most human characters of the Alien series. The name and character of Bishop is possibly meant to evoke religious imagery. Just as science has gradually replaced religion in modern society, and more so in the future world of the Alien universe, so have artificial life forms replaced natural ones. It is ironic then that an artificial life from spawned from science would be given a name traditionally associated with relgious institutions. Furthermore, the lack (as in Alien3, where the prisioners found religion) of religious paraphernalia or other such indicators of the existence of religion in the world of Aliens is part of the design of the overall universe; that a creature as malevolent as the Xenomorph could only exist in a universe without a god.

The name 'Bishop' could also be a reference to the game of chess. Where the Bishop plays an important role in strategy, both in defense and offense, and is one of the last pieces to be sacrificed in defense of the King. Further, in a grim comparison, Bishop is killed by the Queen.

Aliens

The team of marines from the Sulaco along with Ripley, Bishop and a company executive set down on LV-426 and were stranded after encountering heavy alien resistance with the surviving Marines when their first dropship was destroyed. Bishop's calm, selfless bravery throughout the crisis slowly wins Ripley's trust. However, when she returned from rescuing orphaned child Newt from the clutches of the aliens he was nowhere to be seen. Ripley had almost given up hope when the second dropship flew up behind her, saving Newt and her from the Alien Queen. This won over the warrant officer, who congratulated Bishop after escaping the planet. Unbeknownst to the survivors the Queen had stowed away aboard the dropship and they only realized this when its tail stabbed through Bishop and ripped him in two. Still operational, Bishop was able to save Newt from falling out of the airlock after the Queen. Although in two parts, Bishop was repairable. He was put into stasis along with the rest of the crew.

Alien³

Bishop makes a brief appearance in Alien³
when Ripley finds his remains and partially repairs his speech and memory functions. Bishop reveals the events that followed the conclusion of the second film, then asks Ripley to disconnect him for good, saying, "I can be reworked, but I'll never be top of the line again. I'd rather be nothing." His body was most likely recovered by the Weyland-Yutani expedition sent to retrieve the alien.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Bishop (Alien) ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Bishop (Alien); it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Movies - Bishop

Background

Analysis

Aliens

Alien³

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay