Harry's Real Name In Resident Alien Is So Weird, The Show Didn't Even Have The Courage To Use It

Resident Alien has already humorously avoided revealing what Alan Tudyk's Harry Vanderspeigle is really called by having him utter his name in an intentionally unintelligible language. However, the show's source material states what the character was originally called before showrunner Chris Sheridan reimagined the story. Based on a series of comic books by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse, Resident Alien has made several changes to the original version of the saga, and one of the most interesting alterations is the main character's real name.

Resident Alien regularly transforms Alan Tudyk into an extraterrestrial so he can play two aesthetically different versions of the same character. He has led the Resident Alien cast since the show began in 2021, and will return to reprise his role when season 4 airs. His performance as Harry is a big cornerstone of the show's identity - especially its more comical moments. However, the live-action adaptation has shied away from using a key piece of Harry's backstory from the comics, because it actually makes very little sense.

Harry's Real Name In The Resident Alien Comics Is Captain Hah Re

"Hah Re" is just a comically lazy reworking of "Harry"

Tudyk's version of the character has only ever gone by Harry Vanderspeigle, as that's the name of the human he killed upon arriving at Earth. He stole the original Harry's physical form to help him blend in with the other humans, which meant he also inherited the same name. Harry has revealed how his people pronounce his name, but it's clear that Tudyk was improvising a string of wild-sounding noises. In the Resident Alien comics, the character's true alien name is Captain Hah Re.

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What's perhaps more interesting than finding out Harry's alien name is the reveal that he holds the rank of captain among his people. If this is also true of Tudyk's iteration of the character, then it has yet to be revealed. His failure to pull off his original mission of killing all humans would seem to suggest a level of ineptitude not befitting a starship captain. As such, it's probably unique to the version of Harry confined to the pages of the comics.

The Resident Alien Show Has Humorously Avoided A Weird Canonical Coincidence

The Hah Re/Harry similarities would be too weird in live-action

I think it's safe to say that the Resident Alien show has dispensed with the name Hah Re. While it works well as a joke written down, it would be a little too on-the-nose for Tudyk to announce his alien name is Hah Re when he has already renamed himself Harry. It also offers a weird kind of foreshadowing that goes a little too far beyond coincidence. The source material's writers clearly gave the character the names of Hah Re and Harry at the same time to aid the switch. In the Resident Alien show, it's not necessary.