Ellen Louise Ripley is a fictional character and the original protagonist of the Alien film series, played by American actress Sigourney Weaver.

Although she was originally conceived as male for the first Alien film (in which the character is only known as Ripley), director Ridley Scott decided early in production to make her a woman.

Today, Ripley's influence extends beyond that of the original film franchise; she has appeared in novels, comic books and video games.

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.

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, has died of old age.

Ripley finally escapes the planet with Corporal Dwayne Hicks, the android Bishop, and Newt, a young girl who is the last surviving colonist.

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.

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.

[6][5][7] On January 21, 2017, in response to a fan question on Twitter asking what the chances were of his Alien project actually happening, Blomkamp responded "slim.

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.

In a scene included in the extended edition of the film (referenced in the events of Alien: Sea of Sorrows), the Betty lands on Earth and Ripley and Call discover that Paris is desolate.

Ripley's life and career have been extensively expanded on in various spin-off comics and novels, many of which were written before her death on Fiorina 161, providing instead a chronology continuing on from the end of Aliens.

All novels were rebooted in 2012, meaning the only canonical books featuring Ripley are Out of the Shadows (by Tim Lebbon), Sea of Sorrows (by James A. Moore) and River of Pain.

In 2009, Entertainment Weekly ranked Ripley fifth on their list of The 20 All Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture, calling her "one of the first female movie characters who isn't defined by the men around her, or by her relationship to them.

She was ranked eight on Premiere magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time,[23] with her Defining Moment being "Ripley's nervy refusal to open the ship's hatch so that Kane (John Hurt) can be admitted - with a thing attached to his face."