Ash (Alien)

Ash
Ian Holm as Ash in Alien.
First appearance	Alien
Last appearance	Alien: Out of the Shadows
Created by	Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett
Portrayed by	Ian Holm Dave B. Mitchell (voice, Alien: Isolation) Rutger Hauer (voice, Alien: Out of the Shadows audio play)
Information
Species	Hyperdyne Systems 120-A/2 android
Gender	Male
Occupation	Science officer

Ash is a fictional character in the movie Alien, who was portrayed by actor Ian Holm, who, although known in the U.K. as a stage actor, was at the time unknown to American audiences. Ash serves as an antagonist of the first film. The character is the science officer of the Nostromo, who breaks quarantine by allowing Kane, a member of the crew, back on board after he has been infected by an alien life form. It is later discovered that Ash is not human at all, as he appears, but is in fact a Hyperdyne Systems 120-A/2android, who is acting upon secret orders to bring back the alien lifeform and to consider the crew "expendable".

At the beginning of the film, Ash is depicted as quiet and logical, greatly adherent to company regulations. When Nostromo ostensibly discovered a signal on LV-426, Ash ensured that the crew investigated by pointing out that failure to do so would incur a total forfeiture of their personal shares in Weyland-Yutani, as per company regulations. Ash originally claimed the message was undecipherable, but after landing on LV-426 Ripley was able to determine that it was likely some form of warning and not an S.O.S. as previously assumed. Even so, Ash successfully convinced her that heading out after the search party to warn them would be futile. Once the search party returned, Ash breaks quarantine protocol (disobeying Ripley, the ship's ranking officer left aboard the ship) and allows the infected Kane aboard the ship, seemingly out of compassion, and is later seen marveling at the creature attached to him.

Ripley became suspicious of Ash as a result of these actions. Captain Dallas disclosed that Ash replaced the vessel's regular science officer two days before the ship left Thedus. When Ripley discovers the real reason for Nostromo's diversion by checking the main computer, Ash assaults Ripley, attempting to kill her by forcing a rolled-up pornographic magazine down her throat. However, the two other surviving crew members Parker and Lambert arrive and rescue Ripley. He is struck over the head twice with a canister, the first time causing him to malfunction and the second decapitating him. When even that fails to kill him, he's electrocuted with a cattle prod.

His severed head is reactivated to provide the crew with the truth about the creature. Ash complies, revealing that the company installed him to ensure that the creature was brought to them, with the crew's lives being expendable. After informing them of all he knows about the creature, Ash tells the crew, "You have my sympathies," regarding their chances of survival. Ripley then unplugs him and Parker incinerates his head with a flamethrower.