Amanda "Amy" Ripley McClaren is a fictional character in the ''Alien'' franchise. The daughter of

Ellen Ripley Ellen Louise Ripley, often referred to simply as Ripley, is a fictional character and protagonist of the ''Alien'' film series, played by American actress Sigourney Weaver. The character earned Weaver worldwide recognition, and the role remain ...

(main protagonist of the original film series, portrayed by

Sigourney Weaver Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver (; born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. A figure in science fiction and popular culture, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Gramm ...

), the character is first mentioned and seen as an elderly woman in a photograph in the extended "special edition" of ''

Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

''. Amanda Ripley is also the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of the 2014 video game '' Alien: Isolation'', which is set approximately 15 years after ''Alien'' but around 40 years prior to ''Aliens''. In the game, Amanda is in her mid-20s and is an engineer for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation (which was her mother's employer). She has continued searching for her long-lost mother, taking an assignment that enables her to visit the region of space in which her mother was last known to be in years earlier.

Conception and creation

A deleted scene from the 1986 theatrical version of ''Aliens'', reinserted into the Special Edition first released in 1992, reveals that Ellen Ripley (played by

) has a daughter, Amanda. Amanda was still a child when Ellen travels into space before the events of ''Alien'', though Ellen was scheduled to return to Earth in time for Amanda's 11th birthday. The events of the first ''Alien'' film prevented this, Amanda became an adult, married (taking on the surname McClaren), and died during her mother's 57-year

stasis Stasis (from Greek στάσις "a standing still") may refer to: * A state in stability theory, in which all forces are equal and opposing, therefore they cancel out each other * Stasis (political history), a period of civil war within an ancient ...

between the events of the first two films. A picture of Amanda as an elderly adult is shown to Ripley. The picture is one of Weaver's real-life mother, Elizabeth Inglis. The scene was cut from the film due to

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

's concerns about the film's length. Weaver was furious at the removal, considering it to be crucial to Ellen Ripley's character development in the film, taking on a protective mother role to the young character Rebecca "Newt" Jorden. In

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post- New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability ...

's 1983 ''Alien II''

film treatment A film treatment (or simply treatment) is a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards (index cards) and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play. It is generally longer and more detaile ...

for what would become ''Aliens'', Amanda (then unnamed) was alive, but old and crippled. When her mother contacted her from the Gateway Station, Amanda blames her for being absent for most of her life.''Alien II'' original treatment by

For the video game '' Alien: Isolation'', most early development was done with a female test dummy, with it being "almost just an assumption" that the lead would be a female character. The game chose to focus on Amanda. The developers wanted Amanda to echo some of her mother's traits, while being her own distinct character. Examples given of how she mirrored Ellen Ripley included her determination, while also initially being colder than Ellen. ''Isolation'' utilised performance-capture acting in an attempt to bring believability to its characters.

Fictional biography

Amanda was conceived during a layover between haulage trips. Though this contravened Weyland-Yutani (W-Y) policy, her mother was not disciplined and the pregnancy was allowed to come to term.Crew dossier seen in ''Aliens'', available as bonus feature on ''Alien Anthology'' Blu-ray Amanda was delivered in a home birth, with her mother refusing anything for the pain, out of concern for years using cryo-drugs during trips in cryostasis. She was ten years old when Ellen Ripley goes off into space aboard the ''Nostromo''. According to the expanded universe novel '' Alien: Out of the Shadows'', her father abandoned them, when Amanda was only 3 years old. According to the

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of ''Aliens'', Amanda's parents drifted apart and separated; with Ripley gaining custody. Before setting off on the ''Nostromo'', and before the events of ''Alien'', Ellen had promised Amanda that she would be back home in time for her 11th birthday. In ''Alien: Isolation'', Amanda Ripley is an engineer for W-Y who is approached by its

synthetic Synthetic things are composed of multiple parts, often with the implication that they are artificial. In particular, 'synthetic' may refer to: Science * Synthetic chemical or compound, produced by the process of chemical synthesis * Synthetic ...

, Christopher Samuels. Samuels informed her that the

flight recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has ...

of the ''Nostromo'' had been discovered by the

salvage ship A salvage tug, known also historically as a wrecking tug, is a specialized type of tugboat that is used to rescue ships that are in distress or in danger of sinking, or to salvage ships that have already sunk or run aground. Overview Few tugbo ...

''Anesidora'' and taken to the ''Sevastopol Station'', a supply depot in orbit around the

gas giant A gas giant is a giant planet composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Gas giants are also called failed stars because they contain the same basic elements as a star. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of the Solar System. The term "gas giant" ...

KG348. Believing that it will provide her closure, Amanda accepts a place on the recovery team, travelling on the W-Y ship ''Torrens''. According to ''Aliens'', Amanda at some point married, taking on the surname McClaren, but had no children. She died on December 23, 2178 from cancer. Ripley was cremated and interred at Westlake Repository, Little Chute, Wisconsin. According to the non-canon novel, '' Alien: Original Sin'', Ripley-8, in looking further into Amanda's life, learned that she had worked as a reporter.

Reception

The character's critical reception was mixed. Despite criticizing much of ''Isolation'', Ryan McCaffrey from IGN stated that Amanda has a "clearly defined tough-as-nails personality befitting of her mother." Danielle Riendeau of ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed '' polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two ...

'' praised Amanda from a feminist perspective as a worthy successor to, as well as the best female protagonist since Ellen Ripley. Riendeau would later go on to call 2014 "the year women characters rule" for the number of prominent women in video games, further praising the game's ability to tie playing Amanda into its gameplay. ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

''s Matt Peckham criticised the choice to have the player character as Ellen's daughter, calling it a "narrative cheat," and found the ultimate pay-off "hurried and a little forced." Peckham praised having a female player character though, and wrote: "It's wonderful playing as a strong, clever, self-reliant woman, and a testament to the game and character that I stopped caring Amanda was Ellen's daughter an hour or two in, but surely such traits extend beyond the Ripley gene pool." Jeff Marchiafava from ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 ...

'' criticised the character, feeling that she "exhibits little growth or personality." Blake Peterson, writing for ''

Game Revolution ''GameRevolution'' (formerly ''Game-Revolution'') is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshot ...

'', felt the game failed to ever develop Amanda or connect the player to her emotionally, commenting that she "soon feels like a placeholder" for the more iconic Ellen Ripley.

Appearances

* '' Aliens – Special Edition'' (1986) * ''Aliens'' (novel) (1986) * ''Aliens: Female War'' (comic) (1990) * ''Aliens: Female War'' (novel) (1993) * ''Alien Resurrection'' (novel) (1997) * '' Alien: Isolation'' (2014) * ''Alien: Isolation'' (comic) (2014) * ''Alien: Out of the Shadows'' (novel) (2014) * ''Alien: Sea of Sorrows'' (novel) (2014) * ''Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report'' (2014) * ''Aliens vs. Pinball'' (video game) (2016) * ''Aliens: Defiance'' (comic) (2016-2017) * ''Alien: Blackout'' (mobile game) (2019) * '' Alien: Isolation – The Digital Series'' (2019) * ''Alien: Isolation'' (novel) (2019) * ''Aliens: Resistance'' (comic) (2019) * ''Aliens: Rescue'' (comic) (2019)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ripley, Amanda Alien (franchise) characters Fictional cryonically preserved characters Fictional engineers Fictional female engineers Film characters introduced in 1986 First-person shooter characters Female characters in video games Orphan characters in video games Science fiction film characters Science fiction video game characters Sega protagonists Time travelers Video game characters introduced in 2014