Lt. Ellen Ripley

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 stereotype, particularly in the science fiction genre, and remains Weaver's most famous role to date.

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 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".

Ellen Ripley was listed at #8 on the American Film Institute'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.

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