Ellen Ripley is as much of a star of the Alien franchise as the xenomorph, and she has plenty of iconic moments from the original quadrilogy. Ridley Scott’s original Alien movie was written as a true ensemble piece, with no character taking precedence over any of the other characters, so all bets were off when they started getting slaughtered by an alien. But after Ripley emerged as the sole survivor of the Nostromo – and one of the most badass action heroes in movie history – she quickly became the focal point of the series.

Ripley has gone on to rank alongside John McClane and Sarah Connor as one of the greatest heroes in the history of action cinema. James Cameron’s first sequel, Aliens, solidified her place as an action movie icon with a surprisingly moving surrogate mother-daughter storyline. She went on to have a wild arc throughout the next couple of sequels, as she died in Alien 3 and came back as a clone in Alien Resurrection. From confronting Ash to saving Newt, Ripley has plenty of great moments across the Alien saga.

10 Ripley Not Allowing Contamination

Alien

After Kane leaves the Nostromo to explore the alien planet and ends up getting attacked by a facehugger, Ripley doesn’t want to let him back on the ship. According to the protocol, they can’t let any contamination aboard the ship. But according to Dallas, they can’t just abandon their friend. Ash also insists they let Kane back on board, even though following protocol should be his prime directive, offering an early hint of his nefarious ulterior motive.

Left Kane to fend for himself on the alien planet

This is a prime example of Ripley being the smartest and most rational one on the ship. Dallas shouldn’t be the captain; Ripley should be the captain, because she can make the tough calls like this. If they’d listened to Ripley and left Kane to fend for himself on the alien planet, the xenomorph would’ve never gotten aboard the Nostromo.

9 Ripley Cleaning Newt

Aliens

When Ripley is found drifting through space at the beginning of Aliens, having narrowly escaped her initial scrape with the xenomorph, she’s asked to go to an off-world colony that’s been overrun by dozens of xenomorphs. Ripley is naturally skeptical about going right into the lion’s den, but reluctantly agrees to go when they promise to eliminate the creatures. (Of course, that was a lie – the company still wants to capture and weaponize the xenomorphs.)

Upon arrival at the colony, they’re shocked to learn that there’s just one survivor left: an orphaned girl named Newt. Having lost her own daughter during the decades she was in cryosleep, Ripley immediately takes Newt under her wing and becomes a sort of maternal figure to her. This is demonstrated beautifully when Ripley cleans Newt, nurturing her newfound surrogate daughter.

8 Ripley 8 Finds The Failed Cloning Experiments

Alien Resurrection

After killing off Ripley at the end of Alien 3, 20th Century Fox realized that Sigourney Weaver was a major draw for this franchise, so they didn’t want to make a fourth movie without her. Alien Resurrection brings back Ripley as a clone dubbed “Ripley 8,” who was created in an attempt to resurrect the xenomorph. Although Alien Resurrection is widely considered to be one of the worst Alien films, the cloning storyline does deliver one hair-raising sequence.

Midway through the film, Ripley 8 stumbles across a laboratory containing the disturbing results of the seven previous attempts at cloning Ripley. Only one of them is still alive, and she begs Ripley 8 to mercy-kill her. Alien Resurrection isn’t a great movie on the whole, but this sequence is truly chilling in a deeply existential sense.

7 Ripley's Nightmare

Aliens

In the opening act of Aliens, Cameron does a terrific job of showing the impact of the trauma that Ripley suffered in the first film. She may have just about escaped the grasp of that first xenomorph, but she’s still tortured by PTSD from that harrowing ordeal. Cameron visualizes this PTSD the same way that most movies, TV shows, and video games visualize PTSD: with a terrifying nightmare sequence.

In Aliens’ nightmare sequence, Ripley wakes up and is told that she’s been in cryosleep for 57 years. Suddenly, a baby xenomorph starts trying to tear its way through her chest, recalling the horrifying chestburster scene from the original movie. This nightmare shows that Ripley has a tough time feeling safe after her encounter with the xenomorph, since every previous time she felt safe, she wasn’t really safe. Now, she’s just waiting for that rug-pull.

6 Ripley Confronts Ash

Alien

While browsing through Mother’s files, Ripley is horrified to discover that the company awakened them and sent them to the alien planet to get the xenomorph on board. The company has secretly ordered Ash to get the alien back to Earth to be studied, and that the crew should be considered expendable. Ripley doesn’t waste any time confronting Ash about this, proving what a badass she is – she won’t take any guff from a milky-blooded robot.

Ash tries to kill Ripley, but Parker steps in to help her fight him off. They end up ripping off Ash’s head, incapacitating him enough to interrogate him without fear of counterattack. This whole ordeal makes Ripley’s distrust of androids in Aliens totally understandable – who would trust androids after dealing with Ash? – and it paves the way for Bishop’s heartwarming redemption arc.

5 Ripley & Newt Are Trapped With A Facehugger

Aliens

Although the company promised to eliminate the xenomorphs at the beginning of Aliens, the company being the company, they secretly plan to bring some of them back to Earth. Corporate goon Carter Burke is sent along to make sure that at least one xenomorph makes it back onto the ship. While Ripley and Newt are enjoying some sleep in what seems to be a safe room, Burke sneaks a facehugger in there with them.

Fortunately, Ripley wakes up in time to see the facehugger coming after her. This is one of the tensest sequences in the movie. The odds are stacked against Ripley and Newt; they’re trapped in a confined space with an unstoppable creature whose sole purpose is to impregnate unsuspecting victims. Ripley manages to fight it off but, suffice to say, she’s not too happy with Burke.

4 Ripley Throws Herself Into The Furnace

Alien 3

When Ripley is implanted with a xenomorph embryo at the end of Alien 3, the Weyland-Yutani team wants to get a hold of it. They promise that if she undergoes a surgical procedure to have the embryo removed, they’ll destroy it. But after being burned twice before, Ripley doesn’t believe a word the company says – especially when they claim they don’t want to keep the xenomorph this time.

So, she hurls herself into a molten furnace down below. As the baby xenomorph bursts from her chest, she grabs hold of it and takes it down into the fire with her. Although Ripley would eventually be brought back as a clone, this was a fitting end to her arc. After doing everything in her power to stop Weyland-Yutani from obtaining the xenomorph, it made sense that she would have to give her own life for that cause.

3 Ripley Returns To The Hive To Save Newt

Aliens

One of the most glorious money shots in the entire Alien saga is when the elevator door opens, the smoke clears, and Ripley emerges, trusty flamethrower in hand. She was just about to escape from the xenomorph-infested colony when Newt fell into the sewers and got dragged away by the aliens. Ripley already lost one daughter in this movie; she wasn’t going to lose another one. So, she went heroically into the xenomorphs’ hive on a rescue mission.

It’s both terrifying and exhilarating to see Ripley march through the xenomorph nest, picking off any alien that comes near her, looking for her kid. The stakes are clear and Ripley is easy to root for. This whole set-piece of Ripley going into the belly of the beast to save her kid is the perfect culmination of the film’s mother-daughter storyline.

2 Ripley Blasts The Alien Out Of The Shuttle

Alien

Just when the first Alien movie seems to be wrapping up and Ripley seems to have escaped the xenomorph’s wrath, Scott surprises viewers with another spooky set-piece. Ripley has made it onto an escape pod and left the Nostromo to self-destruct, so she seems to be in the clear. But she’s horrified to learn that the xenomorph has made it onto the escape pod with her – and it’s still out for her blood.

She’s transformed into an action hero

Ripley manages to eject the xenomorph from the shuttle, and as it clings to the outside, she turns on the thrusters to blast it into space. Ripley’s last stand against the xenomorph hammers home just how much of a badass she’s become. She started out the story as a typical everywoman, but by the end of it, she’s transformed into an action hero.

1 Ripley Vs. Alien Queen

Aliens

Before Ripley can leave the colony once and for all and take Newt with her, she has to defeat the xenomorph queen. In order to level the playing field, Ripley hops into one of the metal exosuits set up earlier in the film. They’re supposed to be used for loading and unloading, but Ripley finds those suits are quite useful for killing aliens, too. As she emerges in the exosuit, ready for battle, Ripley fires off one of the most iconic one-liners in action movie history: “Get away from her, you b****!”

By using the queen as the big bad of Aliens, Cameron created an interesting thematic parallel with the mother-daughter storyline. Just like Ripley wants to keep Newt safe, the xenomorph queen just wants to protect her kids. This culminates in the most awesome boss battle in the entire Alien franchise.