10 Most Iconic Sci-Fi Movie Characters Of All Time

1. Ripley - Alien

Terminator 2
20th Century Fox

Ellen Ripley was your average space trucker, just looking to get by and make some money. But an ominous signal and slimy killer alien made sure to alter the course of her life. Being one of the first true heroines of cinema, Ripley kept her cool when others would not, bagging a kill, blowing up the Nostromo, and even saving Jonesy the cat in the process.

But if you thought she was done there, oh how you’d be wrong. Ripley went from hardened survivor to full on badass as she vowed the destroy all of the antagonistic Xenomorphs, all with the finesse of a flamethrower duct-taped to a plasma rifle. As adaptive as she was brave, Ripley threw herself into each challenge, where even a mechanical throw-down with the alien Queen wasn’t enough to dissuade her.

Some may argue that her continued presence in films decades after the release of the original soiled her reputation to some degree, and they may be right. But the unconquerable force of Ripley in her first couple of appearance was too great to ignore, and superbly iconic.

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Film, TV and gaming enthusiast hailing from the windy realms of the West of Scotland. Lover of sci-fi and expert in expanding my backlog of video games I’ve yet to complete.