The Ripley clones are the result of the United Systems Military and Dr. Mason Wren's experiments to resurrect the Alien species, for use as biological weapons. Created aboard the USM Auriga, they are horrifically malformed creatures, containing aspects of both Ellen Ripley and the Alien. Seven failed clones were developed before the "success" of the eighth clone, "Ripley 8". Clones 1-6 died an indeterminate time after their creation, but Ripley 7 survived to maturity before being euthanized by Ripley 8.
Creation[]
The Ripley clones were intended to grant USM scientists access to an infant Alien Queen, which could then be used to breed the creatures for use as a biological weapon. However, the first seven attempts were failures, the resultant creatures being a randomized mixture of human and Alien DNA from which no viable Alien specimen could be recovered.
Ripleys 1-6[]
The first six Ripley clones were failures. However, with each successive attempt the USM scientists refined their cloning process and created more biologically viable creatures, moving closer towards their ultimate goal of retrieving a stable Queen embryo. While physiologically there was little sign of improvement with successive attempts, each subsequent clone survived longer and gained more biomass than the one before it. Essentially, Ripley 1 was so horribly deformed that it could not sustain itself and died while still very small, whereas Ripley 3 survived to the equivalent age (as accelerated growth techniques were used to speed development) of 2 years old.[1] Ripley 4 survived to the equivalent age of 4 years old,[2] with successive creatures developing further still. Even so, later clones were not necessarily "more human" in appearance than those before it, but merely more biologically stable.
Despite their failure, the early Ripley clones were stored aboard the USM Auriga in large tanks filled with a preservative liquid, presumably both for further study and as a record of what had been achieved. They were later destroyed by Ripley 8, who incinerated the entire lab with a USM Draco Double Burner.
Ripley 7[]
Ripley 7 was the seventh Ripley clone and was arguably the most human in appearance prior to Ripley 8's creation. Outwardly, Ripley 7 closely resembled Ellen Ripley, but much like her predecessors, number 7's body was also badly deformed due to the unstable mixture of Alien and human DNA during the cloning process. Surgical scars on her torso imply that the USM scientist at least attempted to locate and remove a possible Chestburster from her body, although it is unlikely any viable material was recovered. Deemed a failure, number 7 was kept alive within the Auriga's laboratory via life support machines.
When the captive Aliens broke free and wreaked havoc aboard the Auriga, Ripley 8 and the surviving crew of the Betty came across the laboratory that stored number 7. It was apparently in considerable physical pain when discovered, possibly only kept alive by the medical equipment it was connected to. Mentally it appeared to be somewhat handicapped, as it had significant difficulty communicating, capable of muttering only a few disjointed syllables. At its own insistence, the clone was euthanized by Ripley 8, who incinerated it before torching the rest of the laboratory.
Ripley 8[]
- See also: Ripley 8
After 10 years of work,[3] the cloning project finally bore fruit in the creation of "Ripley 8", who outwardly appeared no different to the adult Ellen Ripley, and was created with an intact and viable infant Alien Queen growing safely within her chest cavity. Before the Chestburster could hatch, it was surgically removed from Ripley 8 by Dr. Gediman and subsequently developed under USM supervision.
While initially Wren and the project's overseer, General Perez, intended to dispose of Ripley 8 as soon as the Alien specimen had been retrieved, Wren became curious and subsequently relented, keeping the clone alive for further study by Dr. Gediman and the other scientists.
Trivia[]
- In the novelization of Alien Resurrection, Ripley 7 had metallic silver teeth, just like regular Xenomorphs.[4] However, this was dropped from the film, where Ripley's head is completely normal on the creature's heavily deformed body.
- Ripley 7's "hairy armpits" was the idea of Amalgamated Dynamics, not Sigourney Weaver.[5]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Ann Crispin (1997). Alien Resurrection novelization. Warner Books, Inc., 157.
- ↑ Ann Crispin (1997). Alien Resurrection novelization. Warner Books, Inc., 157.
- ↑ Ann Crispin (1997). Alien Resurrection novelization. Warner Books, Inc., 90.
- ↑ Ann Crispin (1997). Alien Resurrection novelization. Warner Books, Inc., 158.
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/amalgamated.dynamics/posts/370310059755465?stream_ref=10