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) Smart and capable, Ripley figures out the transmission the Nostromo detected is a warning by running it through the E.C.I.U. database. When Dallas and Kane are gone, she becomes the commanding officer, wisely refusing to let the rescue team back onboard because of the organism attached to Kane's face. Even when Dallas gives her a direct order, she sticks to protocol. If Ash hadn't opened the door, more of the Nostromo's crew might have survived.
After the Facehugger comes off Kane, Ripley believes the specimen should be destroyed immediately. She tries to convince Dallas, but he leaves it up to Ash, the new science officer, who wants to send the creature back for tests. She quickly notices there is something strange about Ash, which she tells Dallas. She does make a foolish mistake when she orders Brett to look for her cat by himself with the Alien on the loose, but she isn't aware of the organism's new size.
Ripley knows trying to hunt down the Alien again won't work so she makes the most rational decision left: set the Nostromo to self-destruct and evacuate in the escape shuttle. When she stumbles on the dead bodies of Parker and Lambert, she manages to control her fear and keep going despite the fact she's the only one left. She does risk her life to go back and save the cat, but she's careful doing it. Once Ripley is on the Narcissus, she realizes the Alien is with her so she cleverly forces it out in the open. Then she blows it into space and incinerates the creature in one of the shuttle's aft thrusters. The character of Ripley was originally written as a man, but it was later changed to a woman. |
) As the individual in command of the Nostromo, Dallas has special access to Mother, the ship's computer, which makes him the first to learn that they've picked up a distress call, and it falls on him to tell the crew they've got to check it out. When Parker and Brett want to talk about shares, Dallas is understandably short with them.
As one of the three to go into the Derelict, Dallas fails to realize the potential danger of bringing Kane back inside with a Facehugger on the executive officer's face. He disregards the 24-hour decontamination procedure and orders Ripley to open the hatch. Dallas isn't willing to risk Kane's life even if puts the rest of the crew in jeopardy, but Ripley won't let them in. Ash, however, obeys the captain. When Ripley warns him about the new science officer, Dallas doesn't listen. "I don't trust anybody," he replies, but the reality is Dallas trusts Ash too much. After Kane dies, Dallas orders a search for the Chestburster. He later comes up with the plan to hunt the full-grown Alien in the air ducts with a Flamethrower. He panics though and goes the wrong way straight to the Alien. His body is never recovered. In the theatrical cut, it's assumed he died during this, but the director's cut reveals that he's only captured by the Alien. Ripley later finds him alive near the Nostromo's landing gear. Dallas is slowly being transformed into an Egg. After he begs Ripley to kill him, she sets the whole place on fire. You can learn more about this in the Deleted Scenes subsection. |
) Kane is the first one to wake from hypersleep. In the Derelict, he explores the Egg chamber, becoming the victim of a Facehugger. Before the crew's last meal, Kane seems fine. After they begin eating, he goes into convulsions. Blood appears on his shirt as a Chestburster violently punches its way out of his torso, making him the first to be killed by the Alien. His body is shot out into space. |
) Assigned to the Nostromo two days before shipping out, Ash is distant and cold. He lets the rescue team back inside when Ripley refuses, later telling her he forget she was in command when Dallas and Kane are off the ship. Ripley doesn't trust him. After Kane is killed, Ash constructs a tracking device to help hunt down the Alien. Once Ripley discovers the truth about the company, he tries to murder her so she can't warn the others. When Parker and Lambert save her, they find out he's an android sent along to protect the Alien. Ash admires the creature's purity, calling it the "perfect organism." Parker burns Ash's remains. |
) Lambert is easily annoyed by Ripley. When the crew realizes they haven't reach Earth yet, Ripley keeps saying, "That's not our system," to which Lambert responds, "I know that." When she goes out on the rescue team, Kane tells her to stop griping. Once Kane is brought back onboard with the Facehugger, there's a deleted scene where Lambert attacks Ripley for not letting them back in. When Parker and her try to get coolant for the escape shuttle, she freezes at the sight of the Alien. After Parker dies trying to save her, the Alien stabs her with its tail and kills her. |
) Like Brett, Parker thinks he deserves the same shares as everyone else. Responsible for maintenance and repairs on the Nostromo, Parker spends a great deal of time fixing the ship, but he likes to mess around and joke a lot too. He gets pissed when Ripley ignores his complaints about shares. When people start dying, Parker turns serious and shows what he's made of. He helps save Ripley when Ash almost suffocates her, and when the Alien shows up in front of Lambert, Parker tries to get her to move so he can use his Flamethrower, but she's too terrified to do anything. In a desperate attempt to rescue her, he throws himself at the Alien, but it knocks him against the wall and tears a hole in his head with its second set of jaws. |
) Brett thinks he and Parker deserve a bonus. When the crew prepare to search for the Alien, he rigs up a cattle prod to help. After Brett accidently lets the cat run off, Ripley and Parker tell him to go get it. The Alien kills him just as he spots the animal. |
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