Ellen L. Ripley

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Lieutenant First Class **Ellen Louise Ripley** was a human female who lived in the 22nd and 23rd centuries. She was a civilian adviser to the United Nations Colonial Marine Corps and a hugely influential figure in humanity's encounters with the species Xenomorph XX121. Beginning her career as a warrant officer with Weyland-Yutani's commercial freight operations, she was assigned to the USCSS *Nostromo* in 2182 when it encountered a single Xenomorph unintentionally collected from the planetoid LV-426. The event led to the death of the rest of her crew and the destruction of the ship, and her discovery of the Xenomorph would change the course of her life and plague her for the rest of her existence.

Later promoted to Lieutenant First Class and attached to the UN Colonial Marines as a civilian adviser, she would go on to have several more encounters with the creatures over the following decades, before eventually giving her life on Fiorina "Fury" 161 to put an end to the alien menace once and for all. Her exploits ensured that she was well-known among groups and individuals that dealt with the Xenomorph for decades, even centuries, after her death.

## Early life

Ellen Ripley was born on January 7, 2152 at the Olympia colony on Luna. After gaining a Masters in engineering from the New Broker Aeronautics University, she served with the Union America-Canada Merchant Navy aboard the *Zelazny*, where she acted as co-pilot. She eventually met and married her husband Alex Sherp, when she was 19 and he was 18. During a layover between trips they conceived their first child. Despite the fact it violated Weyland-Yutani regulations, Ripley allowed the pregnancy to come to term, eventually resulting in the birth of her daughter Amanda on June 24, 2171 while working on Ganymede. She was not disciplined for this discretion. Alex would later leave the marriage when Amanda was 3 years old, and had no further contact with either Ripley or his daughter.

By 2182, Ripley was serving as a warrant officer and third in command aboard the commercial freighter *Nostromo*. Prior to the vessel's fateful final voyage, Ripley attempted to renegotiate her contract so that she could take a leave of absence and spend more time with Amanda. Eventually Ripley and Weyland-Yutani reached a compromise whereby she would agree to serve aboard the *Nostromo* for the forthcoming trip and take her leave subsequently.

## Nostromo Xenomorph incident

### Investigating the "distress signal"

In June 2182, while the *Nostromo* was still ten months away from Earth on its return trip from Thedus, the crew was woken from hypersleep in response to a mysterious signal emanating from an unsurveyed moon, eventually designated LV-426. Following standard company directives requiring the investigation of any unknown signal of possible intelligent origin, the *Nostromo* set down on LV-426, and was damaged in the process when dust entered and clogged a damaged engine intake, causing systems to overheat and sparking an electrical fire on board. While Ripley stayed on board to supervise repairs, Captain Dallas, Kane and Lambert set out on foot to locate the source of the transmission.

While the team was away, Ripley attempted to decipher the signal that had brought them there, and with the computer MU-TH-UR's help determined that it was not a distress call, as initially believed, but rather a warning of some kind. However, Dallas and the others were out of radio contact and she was unable to warn them.

### Kane and his "guest

The exploration team eventually returned, reporting that Kane was unconscious and had something attached to his face. Ripley, citing quarantine protocols, refused to let them back aboard the ship with an unknown organism and insisted they remain in the airlock for at least twenty-four hours' decontamination. Despite Dallas' furious protests, she resolved to maintain her stance, but was undermined when crew member Ash opened the hatch and took Kane to the infirmary. After a preliminary examination of the Facehugger attached to Kane, Ripley confronted Ash about his breaching the quarantine regulations and allowing the creature on board. Unsatisfied with his responses, she took her concerns to Dallas, but was rebuffed.

The Facehugger later detached from Kane, leaving him comatose but apparently unharmed, and with repairs to the ship completed, the *Nostromo* took off from LV-426 and resumed its voyage home. Kane soon revived, and the crew elected to have a final meal before re-entering hypersleep. During this meal the Chestburster laid inside him emerged, exploding from his chest before escaping into the ship. The remaining crew promptly began searching for the creature using motion detectors and armed with nets and cattle prods, but the Xenomorph, already fully grown after only a few hours, first killed crew member Brett and later wounded and captured Dallas alive.