 | |
| Ripley 8 | |
| Continuity: | Aliens |
| Notability: | Main character |
| Gender: | Female |
| Race: | Clone |
| Location: | USM Auriga |
| Relatives: | Ellen Ripley [1] Ripley 1-7 [2] |
| Status: | Alive |
| First: | Alien: Resurrection (1997) |
| Actor: | Sigourney Weaver Nicole Fellows Lani Minella [3] |
Ripley 8 is a fictional clone featured in the Aliens multimedia franchise. She is the main character from the fourth installment of the film series, Alien: Resurrection, and was played by actress Sigourney Weaver.
Biography[]
- "My Mommy always said there were no monsters. No real ones. But there are."
- ―Ripley
Around the year 2379, scientists aboard the space vessel USM Auriga used genetic samples taken from Ellen Ripley from two-hundred years earlier to create a clone hybrid of a human with Xenomorph DNA. Seven such clones were created, all of which were failures, resulting in hideous monstrosities kept inside of a lab, but the eighth iteration, dubbed Ripley-8, proved to be a success. The project was overseen by an obsessive scientist named Doctor Jonathan Gediman. In addition to enhanced physical traits, Ripley-8 also had preternatural instincts, acidic blood and shared an empathic bond with other Xenomorphs.
The birth of Ripley 8.
Another project leader, Doctor Mason Wren, hired a team of mercenaries to bring human hosts to the ship so they could be impregnated with Xenomoprh embryos. One of the crew members on this mercenary band was an android named Call. When Call and Ripley discovered the true nature of the mercenaries' cargo, they worked together to prevent the spread of alien reproduction. Through the course of fighting up against escaped Xenomorphs, they found that the Auriga 's emergency protocols set them on a return course to Earth. Call interfaced with the ship's computer, to put it on a crash course, hoping that the collision would destroy all of the Xenomorphs.
Ripley, Call and one surviving mercenary named Johner went through the ship en route to Johner's vessel. Along the way, they found the laboratory containing the other failed Ripley experiments. Ripley 8 was horrified by what she saw as she walked past one incubation tube after another, each one filled with grotesque monstrosities bearing physical similarities to both humans and Xenomorphs.
She came upon one of the Ripley samples, which was not in a stasis tube, but rather lying on an operating table with tubes running from her body. The pathetic creature was barely conscious and begged Ripley to kill her. Call handed Ripley a flamethrower and Ripley 8 incinerated the woman, and then turned the weapon upon the other containment tubes, destroying everything in the laboratory. When all was said and done, Johner scoffed at her, considering the entire affair a "waste of ammo".
Confounding their efforts even further was the discovery of a newborn - another creature possessing both human and Xenomorph DNA, but one that is more monstrous and predatory than Ripley-8. Ripley knew that this creature of science was too dangerous to live, so she cut her own hand, allowing her blood to drip onto a port window. When the glass shattered, the suction drew the newborn out into space, killing it.
Ripley and Call then escaped aboard the mercenaries' ship, The Betty, and watched as the Auriga proceeded on its crash course towards Earth.
Abilities[]
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Ripley 8 was created by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and screenwriter Joss Whedon.
- Her name may also be spelled as Ripley-8 (with a hyphen).
- Nicole Fellows played a young Ripley 8 in the film.
- In the Alien: Resurrection video game by Argonaut Games, Ripley 8 was voiced by Lani Minella.
- There's a scene in the film where Ripley makes a behind-the-back basketball shot six-feet past the three-point line. Although the ball exits the frame between Ripley taking the shot and it swooshing through the hoop, the shot was actually executed by Sigourney Weaver, who did it on the very first take. [4][5]
- Ripley 8 had a number 8 tattoo on the interior of her left forearm to distinguish her from the other clones.
See also[]
Media
The World of Aliens
Aliens miscellaneous
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ Clone progenitor.
- ↑ Clone siblings.
- ↑ Lani Minella was the voice of Ripley 8 in the Alien: Resurrection video game only.
- ↑ Alien: Resurrection; DVD audio commentary.
- ↑ IMDB; Alien: Resurrection (1997); Trivia.