Throughout theAlienfranchise, several characters have served as protagonists as the series took increasingly bold, varied directions with their storytelling. Whilemost audiences are familiar with Ripley and her adventuresthrough the original movies, she’s not the only character that deserves to be associated with this franchise. Many other actors have made their contributions to the franchise just as unique and memorable, giving this series a sense of longevity that few sci-fi sagas achieve.Alienmay be one of thebest sci-fi movies ever made, but it’s the characters that allowed it to continue into the future.
TheAlienfranchise has reinvented itself several timesthroughout recent years, first with thePrometheusprequel series and later with Fede Alvarez’s long-awaited spin-offAlien: Romulus. It’s also clear the series has no plans to stop there:Ridley Scott is developing anotherAlienmovie, and the story is shifting to televised storytelling with the upcomingAlien: Earth. By this point, there are many faces to theAlienfranchise. While some of them have been more engaging than others, they’ve all done great things for the progression of the narrative.
5Annalee Call (Alien: Resurrection)
Played By Winona Ryder
While Winona Ryder’s performance is easily the best part ofAlien: Resurrection, the film ultimately fails at forging a narrative anywhere near as interesting as the other movies in the franchise. The character of Annalee Call is a pretty generic action heroine who’s very similar to Ripley in many ways.
How Much Time Passes From Alien To Alien Resurrection
The timeframe of the Alien franchise is surprisingly complicated, but it’s clear that several centuries pass between Alien and Alien: Resurrection.
It often feels likethe writers were unsure of what direction to take this story, so they created another version of Ripley to keep audiences invested. It’s probably theleast scaryAlienmovie too, which prevents the audience from ever really getting inside Calls’ head in an interesting way.
Alien Resurrection
Cast
Alien Resurrection is the fourth installment in the Alien franchise, featuring Sigourney Weaver as a cloned version of Ellen Ripley. Set 200 years after her death, the film follows a team of scientists who resurrect Ripley, leading to unforeseen consequences and a battle to prevent aliens from reaching Earth.
4Daniels (Alien: Covenant)
Played By Katherine Waterstone
Alien: Covenantis arguably the most unique of all theAlienmovies. That resulted in a somewhat polarized reception from both critics and audiences. However, one aspect of the film thatmost would agree was a big strength is Katherine Waterstone’s protagonist Daniels.
Her moral complexity and scientific background make her an interesting perspective to center the story around. Her interactions with David account for some of the film’s most interesting commentary. This is an area where the prequel films have always succeeded, and that the film benefited from.
Alien: Covenant
Alien: Covenant, directed by Ridley Scott, follows the crew of the colony ship Covenant as they discover an uncharted planet. Initially seeming like a paradise, the planet soon reveals dark secrets. Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, and Billy Crudup lead the cast in this science fiction horror film, which serves as a direct sequel to Prometheus and continues to explore the origins of the Alien species.
3Elizabeth Shaw (Prometheus)
Played By Noomi Rapace
Prometheusis another fairly controversialAlienmovie, but Elizabeth Shaw’s character manages to hold the story together whenever it’s in danger of getting too self-aggrandizing or philosophical.Shaw proves to be a very reflective and relatable protagonist, which is something that’s absolutely crucial when dealing with far-off concepts like the Engineers and the birth of humanity. Her curiosity always keeps the story grounded, and Shaw’s decision to stick around duringPrometheus’ ending sceneproves that she was always more interesting than the other human characters.
Prometheus
Prometheus, released in 2012, is a science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott. It follows a team of explorers as they uncover clues about humanity’s origins, embarking on a perilous interstellar expedition where they confront formidable challenges to secure the future of mankind.
2Rain Carradine (Alien: Romulus)
Played By Cailee Spaeny
Alien: Romulustakes place between the events ofAlienandAliens, but it follows a totally different set of characters as they’re drawn into the dangerous wreckage of an abandoned space station. The team is headed by Rain Carradine, a young girl who eagerly leads the fight against the Xenomorphs and comes up with an ingenious plan to save them from the spaceship.Rain feels like a spiritual successor to Ripley without being a carbon copy of the original character.
She’s tough, she’s intelligent, and she never puts her own safety above that of those she loves - these are key traits in a protagonist, and they’re all present in Rain.
Rain is among the few characters inAlien: Romuluswho actually makes smart decisions, and that immediately makes her more likable than the friends alongside her. She’s tough, she’s intelligent, and she never puts her own safety above that of those she loves. These are key traits in a compelling protagonist, and they’re all present in Rain. The film was a huge success, marking one of thehighest-grossingAlienmovies, so hopefully Rain’s impact on the franchise won’t be confined to one single story.
Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
1Ellen Ripley (Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3)
Played By Sigourney Weaver
Ripley is the original protagonist of theAlienfranchise, and the series hasn’t quite been able to match enduring qualities. There’s a reason the character stuck around for so many sequels. She’s effortlessly cool but easy to sympathize with, and much of that comes down to Sigourney Weaver’s fierce performance.The actress was made to be an action star, andAlienwas the ideal franchise for her potential. Weaver’s performance as Ripley even netted her an Academy Award nomination, a rarity for the sci-fi genre.
Ripley’s impact on theAlienfranchise is still felt today, and many of the other protagonists that have arisen over the years sometimes feel like varying degrees of imitations of her character. She was such an influential character whose fearlessness, bravery, and courage inspired many young girls to find the same strength within themselves. That’s why her place within the action movie canon has been so irrevocably cemented over the years, and what makes her the bestAlienprotagonist so far.
Alien
Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, is a science fiction horror film that follows the crew of the commercial spacecraft Nostromo. Upon investigating a distress signal on a distant moon, they discover a deadly extraterrestrial lifeform. The film stars Sigourney Weaver as Ripley and became a seminal work in both the sci-fi and horror genres, known for its atmospheric tension and groundbreaking visual effects.
