Ellen Ripley
Encyclopedia
Ellen Ripley is a fictional character and the main protagonist
of the Alien film series
played by American actress Sigourney Weaver
. The character was heralded as a seminal role for challenging gender role
s, particularly in the science fiction
genre, and remains Weaver's most famous role to date.
The character has been included in various best heroes lists: in 2003, Ripley was selected by the American Film Institute
as the eighth greatest hero in American cinema history on their 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains
list. Entertainment Weekly
ranked her the 5th coolest hero in pop culture and called the character "one of the first female movie characters who isn't defined by the men around her, or by her relationship to them". In 2009, Empire ranked her the 9th greatest movie character ever, the highest-placing female of the list.
For her performance as Ripley in Aliens
, Weaver earned her first Academy Awards
and Golden Globe Awards nominations, winning the Saturn Award for Best Actress.
's list of the 100 greatest heroes and villains
. Entertainment Weekly
ranked Ripley 5th on their list of The 20 All Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture. Additionally, she was ranked #9 on Empire
magazine's compilation of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters, number 8 on Premiere
magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time, and number 57 on Fandomania's list of the 100 Greatest Fictional Characters. The role garnered Sigourney Weaver an Academy Award
nomination for the film Aliens
. It also garnered her a Golden Globe award nomination for Best Actress in the dramatic category and a Saturn Award
win for Best Actress. For her role in Alien
, Weaver received a BAFTA Award
nomination for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles
and a nomination at the Saturn Awards for Best Actress.
and novels
, many of which discount her death on Fiorina 161, instead providing a chronology continuing on from the end of Aliens
. One version
stars Ripley as an advanced synthetic clone, who overcomes her memory problems to help human survivors re-take the Earth from xenomorphs. The Ripley Clone plays a central role in the three-way Dark Horse Comics crossover, Aliens versus Predator versus The Terminator.
Although Sigourney Weaver
initially expressed interest in reprising this character in further installments of the Alien franchise
, the releases of Alien vs. Predator
and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem have led the franchise on to a different path away from the central story of Ellen Ripley.
An Audio-Animatronic
Ripley appears in the Alien scene of The Great Movie Ride
at Disney's Hollywood Studios
at Walt Disney World
.
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the Alien film series
Alien (franchise)
The Alien film series is a science fiction horror film franchise, focusing on Lieutenant Ellen Ripley and her battle with an extraterrestrial lifeform, commonly referred to as "the Alien"...
played by American actress Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
. The character was heralded as a seminal role for challenging gender role
Gender role
Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...
s, particularly in the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
genre, and remains Weaver's most famous role to date.
The character has been included in various best heroes lists: in 2003, Ripley was selected by the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
as the eighth greatest hero in American cinema history on their 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains is a list of the 100 greatest screen characters chosen by American Film Institute in June 2003. It is part of the AFI 100 Years… series. The series was first presented in a CBS special hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger...
list. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
ranked her the 5th coolest hero in pop culture and called the character "one of the first female movie characters who isn't defined by the men around her, or by her relationship to them". In 2009, Empire ranked her the 9th greatest movie character ever, the highest-placing female of the list.
For her performance as Ripley in Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
, Weaver earned her first Academy Awards
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
and Golden Globe Awards nominations, winning the Saturn Award for Best Actress.
Awards and accolades
Ellen Ripley was listed at #8 on the American Film InstituteAmerican Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
's list of the 100 greatest heroes and villains
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains is a list of the 100 greatest screen characters chosen by American Film Institute in June 2003. It is part of the AFI 100 Years… series. The series was first presented in a CBS special hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger...
. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
ranked Ripley 5th on their list of The 20 All Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture. Additionally, she was ranked #9 on Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine's compilation of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters, number 8 on Premiere
Premiere (magazine)
Premiere was an American and New York City-based film magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., published between the years 1987 and 2007. The original version of the magazine, Première , was started in France in 1976 and is still being published there.-History:The magazine originally...
magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time, and number 57 on Fandomania's list of the 100 Greatest Fictional Characters. The role garnered Sigourney Weaver an Academy Award
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
nomination for the film Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
. It also garnered her a Golden Globe award nomination for Best Actress in the dramatic category and a Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
win for Best Actress. For her role in Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
, Weaver received a BAFTA Award
British Academy Film Awards
The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . It is the British counterpart of the Oscars. As of 2008, it has taken place in the Royal Opera House, having taken over from the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square...
nomination for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles
BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer
-Best British Director, Producer or Writer in the First Film:*2006 - Red Road - Andrea Arnold**Black Sun – Gary Tarn**Pierrepoint – Christine Langan**London to Brighton – Paul Andrew Williams...
and a nomination at the Saturn Awards for Best Actress.
Spin-off media
Ripley's life and career has been extensively expanded on in various spin-off comicsAliens (comic book)
The Aliens comic books were first published by Dark Horse Comics in 1988 and set in the Alien fictional universe.Some stories often feature the company Weyland-Yutani and the United States Colonial Marines. Originally intended as a sequel to James Cameron's Aliens, the first mini-series features...
and novels
Aliens (novel series)
The Aliens novels are an extension of the Alien franchise. Up until 1998, the novels were published by Bantam Books and were all adaptations of various comics previously published by Dark Horse Comics...
, many of which discount her death on Fiorina 161, instead providing a chronology continuing on from the end of Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
. One version
Aliens (comic book)
The Aliens comic books were first published by Dark Horse Comics in 1988 and set in the Alien fictional universe.Some stories often feature the company Weyland-Yutani and the United States Colonial Marines. Originally intended as a sequel to James Cameron's Aliens, the first mini-series features...
stars Ripley as an advanced synthetic clone, who overcomes her memory problems to help human survivors re-take the Earth from xenomorphs. The Ripley Clone plays a central role in the three-way Dark Horse Comics crossover, Aliens versus Predator versus The Terminator.
Although Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
initially expressed interest in reprising this character in further installments of the Alien franchise
Alien (franchise)
The Alien film series is a science fiction horror film franchise, focusing on Lieutenant Ellen Ripley and her battle with an extraterrestrial lifeform, commonly referred to as "the Alien"...
, the releases of Alien vs. Predator
Alien vs. Predator (film)
Alien vs. Predator is a 2004 American science fiction film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson for 20th Century Fox and starring Sanaa Lathan and Lance Henriksen. The film adapts the Alien vs. Predator crossover imprint bringing together the eponymous creatures of the Alien and Predator series, a...
and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem have led the franchise on to a different path away from the central story of Ellen Ripley.
An Audio-Animatronic
Audio-Animatronics
Audio-Animatronics is the registered trademark for a form of robotics created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequently expanded on and used by other companies. The robots move and make noise, generally in speech or song...
Ripley appears in the Alien scene of The Great Movie Ride
The Great Movie Ride
The Great Movie Ride is an attraction at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park. It is a dark ride which takes guests through scenes from famous films throughout motion picture history....
at Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...
at Walt Disney World
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
.