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Ellen Louise Ripley, often referred to simply as Ripley, is a fictional character and protagonist of the Alien film series, played by American actress Sigourney Weaver. The character earned Weaver world recognition, and the role remains her most famous to date. Ridley Scott, director of the first film in the series, Alien, made the decision early in production to switch Ripley from a standard male action hero to a heroine.
Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) were heralded for challenging gender roles, particularly in the science fiction, action, and horror genres. Weaver's performances are also highly praised: for Aliens, she earned her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, which is now seen as a landmark since the Academy, to that point, had given little recognition to the genres of science-fiction and horror. For her role in the franchise, Weaver has also been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama, a BAFTA Award for Best Leading Newcomer, and four Saturn Awards for Best Actress, winning one for Aliens.
Ripley is often considered one of the most significant female protagonists in cinematic history, and is a prominent figure in popular culture. Today, Ripley's influence extends beyond that of the original film franchise; she has appeared in novels, comic books and video games.
Films[]
Alien (1979)[]
Ripley is introduced as a warrant officer aboard the Nostromo, a spaceship en route to Earth from Thedus. Having been placed in stasis for the long journey home, the crew is awakened when the Nostromo receives a transmission of unknown origin from a nearby planetoid. Following their landing, an unknown creature infiltrates the ship, and kills every other member of the crew. Ripley is the only member to escape from the Nostromo prior to its explosion, which she deliberately commenced to kill the monster. However, she discovers that the Alien is also aboard the ship's shuttle, but expels it into space before putting herself in stasis for the return trip to Earth.
Aliens (1986)[]
57 years later, Ripley awakes from her stasis. Her testimony regarding the Alien is met with extreme skepticism; she loses her space flight license as a result of her "questionable judgment," and finds out that her daughter, Amanda, is dead. However, after contact was lost with a colony on LV-426, the planet where her crew first encountered the Alien eggs, Ripley is requested to go with Colonial Marines aboard the Sulaco to LV-426. They find the planet infested by many Aliens, who wipe out almost all of the marines. Ripley finally escapes the planet with Corporal Dwayne Hicks, the android Bishop, and Newt, a young girl who is the last surviving colonist. Back on the Sulaco, they are soon attacked by the surviving Alien Queen, which is finally expelled into space by Ripley. Ripley enters hypersleep alongside the three other survivors for the return to Earth.
Alien³ (1992)[]
The Sulaco launches an escape pod containing the four survivors, which then crashes on Fiorina 'Fury' 161, an abandoned foundry facility and penal colony. Ripley alone survives the crash. Unbeknownst to her, an Alien egg had been aboard the ship. Once hatched in the prison, the creature begins to kill inmates and guards, but strangely refuses to kill her. After rallying the inmates and preparing the defense against the creature, Ripley discovers the embryo of an Alien Queen growing inside her, thus realizing why she had not been attacked. After having killed the Alien by thermal shock, Ripley sacrifices herself by diving into a gigantic furnace just as the alien Queen begins to erupt from her chest. Her plan was to exterminate the final trace of the Aliens and prevent the Weyland-Yutani Corporation from using it as a biological weapon. However, as seen earlier in the film, the aliens are able to survive being submerged in molten lead so the Queen's fate is uncertain.
Alien Resurrection (1997)[]
200 years after her death, scientists clone Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and surgically retrieve the Alien Queen embryo from her body. The United Systems Military hopes to breed Aliens to study on the spaceship USM Auriga, using kidnapped hosts delivered to them by a group of mercenaries. The Aliens escape their enclosures, while Ripley and the mercenaries attempt to flee to the Betty. They must destroy the Auriga, lest it make its emergency landing and unleashes Xenomorphs on Earth. Ripley is taken to the Alien nest, where the Queen gives birth to a Newborn, a Xenomorph with human traits. The hybrid Alien recognizes Ripley as its mother and kills the Queen. Ripley escapes to the Betty, where she tearfully kills the Newborn when it is discovered aboard attacking the other survivors. The Auriga crashes into Earth, destroying all the remaining Xenomorphs in a massive explosion. From the windows of the Betty, Call and Ripley look down at Earth, and when Call asks what Ripley wants to do next, she says, "I'm a stranger here myself." In an alternate ending, the Betty lands in a ruined Paris.
Video games[]
Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013)[]
Ripley has two cameos in the "Stasis Interrupted" DLC for the game. In this prequel campaign, Ripley is seen being impregnated by a facehugger and also appeared recreating the same final scene of Alien 3. The game also revealed that Hicks actually survived the events of Alien 3 as he was retrieved by another Colonial Marines team, with the body in the stasis chamber that crashed being another marine who was knocked into Hicks' pod during a firefight, dying when the EEV crashed. Ripley, Newt and Bishop's pods were ejected while Hicks had to go with the other Marines.
Alien: Isolation (2014)[]
In 2014, Weaver reprised her role as Ripley for the first time in 17 years for a voice cameo in the video game Alien: Isolation, centered on Ripley's daughter Amanda, and more extensively in its two DLCs set during the events of Alien.
This game, set 15 years after the events of Alien and 42 years before the events of Aliens, features Ripley's daughter Amanda. Amanda was originally introduced in the extended version of Aliens, when Ripley learns that during her 57-years long stasis, Amanda grew up, married, and died. In the game, Amanda investigates potential clues regarding her mother's disappearance, and goes to the space station Sevastopol in hope to find answers. Near the end of the game, Amanda ultimately finds a vocal message from her mother (voiced by Weaver), who added a personal message to the Nostromo's final log entry at the end of Alien addressed to Amanda, in which Ripley explains the true nature of the disappearance of the Nostromo, tells her she loves her, and hopes that she will get to hear this someday.
Weaver also reprises her role more extensively alongside several other original cast members in the game's two DLCs, set during the events of Alien. Ripley is joined by Dallas (Tom Skerritt), Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), Brett (Harry Dean Stanton), Parker (Yaphet Kotto) and Ash (Ian Holm, likeness only), allowing the player to play through two iconic scenes from the film. With the Nostromo Edition pre-order, the "Crew Expendable" bonus content allows gamers to play as one of the surviving crew members just after Brett's demise to entice the Alien to the ship's airlock. In the "Last Survivor", Ripley initiates the self-destruct sequence before escaping on the Narcissus.
In Alien: Isolation – The Digital Series, Ripley was voiced by Andrea Deck in voiceovers for Ripley's final moments to her daughter.