When Ridley Scott's Alien was released in 1979, audiences were introduced to the perfect protagonist in Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley. Ripley was a crew member of the Nostromo, a starfreighter on a return trip to Earth. Before the crew arrived at their home destination, they investigated a distress signal coming from a mysterious alien ship. What they discovered threatened the lives of the entire crew, putting their survival skills to the ultimate test. It was not an ideal situation, but it was not a challenge they could back out from. Ripley understood this and became a legendary sci-fi hero.
During a time when pop culture was dominated by male heroes, Ripley proved not only to be a great woman character, but one of the best characters in the sci-fi horror genre. Her strength and her resilience resonated with audiences because she was an ordinary person doing her best in a bad situation. Immediately, it was something that viewers could relate to but also aspire to. Here are several reasons why Ellen Ripley is one of the strongest characters of all time.
Staying Afraid, But Fighting Anyway
The crew of the Nostromo had never encountered a Xenomorph before the events of the first Alien film. The film's Xenomorph represented the worst of anyone's nightmares; a monstrous alien creature that killed its victims in the most brutal of ways. Fighting against the Xenomorph proved to be difficult as it had acidic blood, harming its enemies and causing major damage to ship interiors. The alien was taller, stronger, and faster than any human being. But it was still no match for Ripley's resourcefulness and will to survive. That did not mean Ripley was not afraid. It meant she was able to take her fear and convert it into willpower.
After becoming the Nostromo's only surviving crew member, Ripley continued to fight aliens in Aliens and Alien 3. She fully understood the threat of the aliens and could have run away from her problems. But she chose not to, instead choosing to face them head-on. With Ripley, there was no hesitation. If there was something that needed to be done, she made sure that it got done. If Ripley had allowed fear to conquer her, she would have seen greater fears such as a painful death being realized. Fortunately for Ripley, she was able to summon incredible inner strength that allowed her to survive nearly three films. Courage could be Ripley's middle name.
Neither a Chosen One Nor Someone with Superpowers
Modern film audiences have gotten accustomed to seeing super powered heroes on screen. But those characters possessed extraordinary abilities they used to defeat the villains. In the world of Alien, humans without superpowers were tasked with defeating what was essentially a super powered enemy. Ripley was a regular human being. She was not a "chosen one" type that could rely on the universe going out of its way to protect her. Ripley had the same vulnerabilities as other humans and found herself in constant danger. She accepted her fate when she discovered the embryo of an alien queen inside her. Before her death, she ensured that all aliens were killed by the end of Alien 3.
Ripley was neither trained as a soldier nor trained to deal with Xenomorphs. Everything she knew about how to deal with the aliens, she learned herself. That made for a more interesting story than a character obtaining superpowers that placed them at an immediate advantage. While Ripley recognized the importance of working in a team, she never relied on anyone to get her out of difficult situations. The strongest people are those who are able to accomplish things alone, but even more with the help of others. A Ripley clone in Alien Resurrection had enhanced physical strength, but failed to represent the same level of inner strength as the original Ripley.
Served Something Greater than Herself
From the very beginning, Ripley was never interested in profit and self-gain, unlike the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Aside from the aliens, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation have been the main antagonists of the Alien franchise. The evil conglomerate always prioritized financial gain over human lives. They sought to secure Xenomorphs so that the aliens could be sold and used as biological weapons. Throughout the franchise, Ripley protected the Nostromo crew in Alien, the young girl named Newt in Aliens, and the Fiorina inmates in Alien 3. Sigourney Weaver's heroic character possessed the spirit of a warrior and a protector.
When faced with overwhelming odds, Ripley still served a cause that was greater than herself. At the end of Alien 3, Ripley rejected Weyland-Yutani's offer to remove the Alien Queen embryo from her body and destroy it. The company's long history of lies caused Ridley to be skeptical that the company would keep their promise. However, accepting the offer was Ripley's only chance at survival. Ripley instead chose to ensure that the human race would be protected from the Xenomorphs. The survival of even one alien proved to have disastrous consequences in the Alien films. Ripley's sacrifice killed the alien queen and prevented it from falling into Weyland-Yutani's possession. The sacrifice ultimately saved the alien race. Two hundred years after the events of Alien 3, a clone of Ripley once again saved the universe from the aliens and an evil mega-corporation.