Mercenaries

Mercenaries Mercenaries can be both humans and synthetics, mostly driven by financial reward and can be in service for Weyland-Yutani or the U.S. Military. They appear in guard and support roles, on spacecrafts, installations and on planets like Earth, LV223 and LV1201.

Characters In films, mercenaries are different in each film and appear as Sheppard, Jackson, Taplow and Vladimir in the film Prometheus, as Mark Verheiden, Joe Connors, Adele Rousseau, Rustin Quinn, Selene, Mikkel, Stone, Boris, Max, Bass, Karl, Ramirez, Klaus and Sven in the film Alien v Predator and as Royce in the film Predators.

Ability Mercenaries are mostly under command by crew, unless like in the film Aliens v Predator when the exploration team were in danger the group of mercenaries under command by Max take control leading the guides and themselves to safety.

Status Rank in most cases depends on the role a mercenary would hold aboard a spacecraft or in a mission. In Alien Resurrection the crew of the Betty were mercenaries with Elgyn as captain, Hillard as the assistant pilot and Christie as second in command. In Aliens v Predator 2, Major Dunya is in the role as a Major in command of the 'Iron Bears' along with General Rykov sent to LV1201.

Weapons Weapons vary depending on which organization has hired them, for Weyland's mission to Antarctica mercenaries were equipped with Pistols and HK G36s with some HK G36s being concealed inside briefcases until they were needed, the guides, scientists and other personnel didn't carry any weapons. For Weyland's mission to LV223 mercenaries were equipped with Pistols, Shotguns and Flame throwers which were also used by the flight crew and mechanics. These weapons fired high velocity bullets and when fired produced air distortions and a high intensity blast. On the Game Reserve, Royce as ex-military, carried a shotgun model AA-12 which wasn't military standard issue, this weapon was camouflaged in military fatigue and equipped with various none military issue rounds.

Notable Mercenaries in films Sheppard, Jackson, Taplow and Vladimir are the names of the mercenaries appearing in the film Prometheus. Mark Verheiden, Joe Connors, Adele Rousseau, Rustin Quinn, Selene, Mikkel, Stone, Boris, Max, Bass, Karl, Ramirez, Klaus and Sven are the names of the mercenaries appearing in the film Alien v Predator. Elgyn, Hillard, Christie, Johner, Vriess and Call are the names of the mercenaries appearing in the film Alien Resurrection. Royce is the name of the mercenary appearing in the film Predators.

Films Predators On-set As with the other actors Adrien Brody watched Predator before filming and before auditions, he used the earlier film as reference in his acting of the character Royce. Nimrod Antal's opinion on the character Royce was, 'We thought casting a physical - a Schwarzenegger-esque character would've done the original film a disservice and would've done this film a disservice because we're not trying to remake or copy the original film. We're trying to further that world and the story further.' Adrien opinion on the character Royce having increased 20 pounds from his last role was, 'The important thing for me rather than a six pack or anything about being kind of buff is to put on a little size both as a look, but also as what that does for me as a person, how I feel, to feel strong enough to handle myself in a situation that this guy would be presented.' Having restricted his diet, Adrien set off in the gym lifting heavy weights. A physical change was important for him in understanding and getting into the role of the character. Also studying military field manuals, Royce said about the character, 'But he's a survivor and I think ultimately just like a scientist there has to be a level of detachment in order to put survival first. I think that makes him very well suited for the circumstances that he's found himself in.' Production As with the other actors, stuntmen stood in for the fall into the water with the actors jumping a short distance and swimming the rest of the distance to the shore. For Adrien, Joey Anaya stunt doubled for him. Various other stuntmen stood in for the actors like Ryan Ryusaki a stunt performer. These would include a falling scene, running and being caught in nets. Alien v Predator On-set On set Carsten Norgaard acts with himself as predators stalks him with CGI effects added later in post production. In this scene he uses a desert eagle which fires blanks and in the scene moments later as Celtic approaches even though Ian Whyte who is over seven foot, he still stands on a ramp increasing his height even further. A quick scene which is cut further in final screening, a technique with filming used multiple locations though filming some as a predator act and other times as the actor is acting or lifted up.