Sigourney Weaver's 'Ripley' Named First Lady Of Sci-Fi

Ellen Ripley, Sigourney Weaver's iconic character from the Alien film series, has been named the No 1 Sci-Fi Woman Of All Time by leading genre website Totalscifionline.com.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Buffy Summers, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, came in second place, while Battlestar Galactica's Starbuck played by Katee Sackhoff, completed the top three.

Ripley first appeared in Ridley Scott's Alien (1979), in which the plucky Warrant Officer emerged as the sole survivor of the Nostromo's encounter with an acid-blooded alien. The character was originally written as a male role, but 20th Century Fox executive Alan Ladd, Jr suggested they change Ripley to become female to make the protagonist stand out in the genre.

Matt McAllister, Editor of Totalscifionline.com said: "Ripley is one of cinema's seminal characters. She is strong, smart, self-reliant and sexy. Sigourney Weaver's confident and utterly believable performance also challenged female stereotypes in Hollywood, and proved a far more inspiring action icon than a thousand Arnies."

Ripley was developed further in the smash hit sequel, Aliens (1986), which saw Ripley proving tougher than a unit of marines but also highlighted her motherly bond with the orphan, Newt. Subsequent sequels Alien 3 (1992) and Alien Resurrection (1997) introduced new dimensions to the action heroine, leading to one of the most critically analysed characters in the history of cinema.

Final list - The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi:

1) ELLEN RIPLEY (Sigourney Weaver, Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection) 2) BUFFY SUMMERS (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) 3) STARBUCK (Katee Sackhoff, Battlestar Galactica) 4) DANA SCULLY (Gillian Anderson, The X-Files) 5) SARAH CONNOR (Linda Hamilton, Terminator, T2) 6) PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA (Carrie Fisher, Star Wars) 7) ROSE TYLER (Billie Piper, Doctor Who) 8) SAM CARTER (Amanda Tapping, Stargate SG-1) 9) NYOTA UHURA (Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek) 10) LEELOO (Milla Jovovich, The Fifth Element) 11) CLAIRE BENNET (Hayden Panettiere, Heroes) 12) STORM (Halle Berry, X-Men) 13) PRIS (Daryl Hannah, Blade Runner) 14) CATWOMAN (Michelle Pfeiffer, Batman Returns) 15) BARBARELLA (Jane Fonda, Barbarella) 16) SARAH-JANE SMITH (Elisabeth Sladen, The Sarah-Jane Adventures / Doctor Who) 17) MIKAELA BANES (Megan Fox, Transformers) 18) SUSAN IVANOVA (Claudia Christian, Babylon 5) 19) NUMBER SIX (Tricia Helfer, Battlestar Galactica) 20) KATHRYN JANEWAY (Kate Mulgrew, Star Trek: Voyager) 21) WILLOW ROSENBERG (Alyson Hannigan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) 22) WONDER WOMAN (Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman) 23) XENA (Lucy Lawless, Xena: Warrior Princess) 24) SYDNEY BRISTOW (Jennifer Garner, Alias) 25) MARINA (Stingray)