Ellen Ripley clone

The Ellen Ripley clone is a fictional character portrayed by actress Sigourney Weaver in the movie Alien: Resurrection which is the fourth installment in the Alien series. Although the character is referred to in the movie as "Ellen Ripley" and is portrayed by the same actress, canonically she is only a copy of the original Ellen Ripley, and does not have the same personality or history.

The character was created when it was decided that a third sequel to Alien would be produced and Sigourney Weaver expressed interest in the project. Due to the fact that her character had died in Alien³, an alternate method had to be employed to enable her to return to the film franchise. It was then decided that she would portray a clone copy of the original Ellen Ripley.

Character history
This Ellen Ripley clone is the eighth in a line of clones that have been made from samples recovered from Fury 161, the site of the original Ellen Ripley's death. The recovered samples contained the DNA of Ellen Ripley along with the Xenomorph Chest-Burster that had been incubating in her chest at the time. The original goal of the cloning project was to recover the Xenomorph only; the cloned host was regarded as a by-product.

After the Xenomorph was recovered successfully from the clone host, Dr. Jonathan Gediman, one of the scientists on the project, asked permission to keep her alive so she could be studied. Project leader Dr. Mason Wren agreed, though he asserted the main focus of the project would remain on the Xenomorph. The Ellen Ripley clone, otherwise referred to as "8", was allowed to live and became involved in the further events in Alien: Resurrection when the Xenomorphs escaped from their prisons and wrought havoc on the USM Auriga. Although her xenomorph DNA left her more sympathetic to the Xenomorphs than to her fellow humans at first, when the xenomorphs broke out of containment and began to attack the people there, the Ripley clone fought alongside a group of mercenaries to escape. In the film's finale, the clone encountered the true result of the scientist's endeavours; a human/alien hybrid, created when Ripley's DNA was subtly combined with that of the alien Queen, giving the queen a more human reproductive system that allowed her to give birth to a live offspring. Although the 'Newborn' seemed to regard the Ripley clone as its mother, actually showing affection to her despite having killed the Queen and some scientists witnessing the birth, Ripley killed the newborn by flicking her acidic blood against a nearby window while the ship was in space, drawing the newborn out into space through the compressed hole.

The Ellen Ripley clone survives the events of Alien: Resurrection and presumably lands on Earth after the finale, to an unknown future.

Genetic fusion
As a result of the genetic experiment, the clone is a genetic mix of the original Ellen Ripley's DNA and the DNA of the Xenomorph she'd been hosting. Early in the movie it is revealed that the Xenomorphs have genetic memory, and because of this the clone has vague memories that belonged to both the original Ellen Ripley and the xenomorph. This results in the clone suffering a crisis of loyalty over the span of the movie, until the finale when she decides to side with the humans.

Additionally, the clone has physical "bonuses" as a result of the genetic crossing, including heightened strength, dexterity, and endurance, acid for blood (which is much milder than the pure Xenomorph blood), enhanced healing, heightened senses and an apparent mental connection with the Xenomorph hive. Other physical differences include glossy metalic teeth, naturally dark fingernails, and a slightly altered skin tone. As well, the clone displays anti-social behavior (by human standards) and appears to lack empathy. Her general outlook and mindset are notably cynical, arrogant and defensive, which may be a reminiscent of the Xenomorph behavior. Even her body language speaks of the alien DNA she possesses, as her movements are feral and almost cat-like.

Examples of her abilities, violent behavior and cruelty include: casually and dryly telling a man he has "a monster in his chest", instigating a fight against half a dozen armed mercenaries (and defeating them all singlehandedly using only a basketball as a weapon), shrugging off a blow to the face from a heavy iron barbell, sinking a basketball from behind without looking, leaping approximately 5 meters (a little over 16 feet) through the air, outrunning several sprinting Xenomorphs, holding her breath underwater for many minutes at a time with no apparent difficulty, ripping the secondary jaw from a dead Xenomorph's mouth, punching through a solid steel wall panel, deliberately impaling her hand on a knife (which seems to have mostly healed mere hours after the initial injury), being able to tell that the ship had begun moving (the ship had "stealth-runners" which apparently cancel out the ship's inertia), being able to smell the presence of an unborn chest burster inside an infected human host, using her acid blood to burn out an electrical circuit and to burn a hole through thick acrylic glass, removing an attacking facehugger from her face barehandedly, and strangling a strong man who clearly outweighed her by a considerable amount with only one hand.

Comics
The Ripley Clone plays a central role in the three-way Dark Horse Comics crossover, Aliens versus Predator versus The Terminator, when she is blackmailed to help investigate rumours that a scientist named Doctor Trollenberg is creating a hybrid alien super soldier. Arriving on the ship, she soon learns that not only have the Predators come to the ship to hunt the super-soldiers, but also that the super soldier experiments were also part of the "Skynet Resurrection Program". According to a program left by John Connor, following Skynet's defeat by the human resistance, multiple Crypto Terminators (of which Trollenberg was one) were created, each one capable of existing in civilisation indefinitely until such time that technological advancements would allow for the creation of a new, unstoppable generation of Terminators. Forming a certain alliance with the Predators, the Ripley clone released the Aliens against the super-soldiers, their acidic blood destroying this latest generation of Terminators, before sacrificing herself to destroy the prototype super-soldier in an explosion that destroys the station they are located on, thus preventing the work from beginning again.

Future installments
Although Sigourney Weaver initially expressed interest in reprising this character in further installments of the Alien franchise, the release of Alien vs. Predator has led the franchise on to a different path away from the central story of Ellen Ripley.