Stargate SG-1 Guide to Goa'ulds and Jaffa
Ra |
Bio: Ra was the first Goa'uld encountered by the SGC. The original team who went through the gate to Abydos encountered a colony of humans under his rule. They freed the world from him and his Jaffa, and he was destroyed by a nuclear bomb transported to his ship. Ra was the Goa'uld who first discovered the Tau'ri on Earth, and took an Egyptian boy as his host. A powerful system lord, Ra fought many battles, including one against Apophis, in which Teal'c fought. Ra was husband to Hathor, whom he exiled to Earth, and father to Heru-ur.
Episodes: Stargate: The Movie Mythology: Ra was the ancient Egyptian sun god, and credited with creating people. He is usually represented by a sun disk encircled by two horns. |
Apophis |
Bio: Apophis was the first Goa'uld encountered on the series, when he led a team of Jaffa through the Earth gate and killed a number of airmen at the closed-up SGC. He was initially mistaken for Ra, but the team sent to retrieve the woman he kidnapped discovered that he resided on a planet called Chu'lak, and was looking for hosts for his wife and son. He chose Daniel Jackson's wife Shar'ai and the young Abydosian boy Skar'ra. He eventually decided that Earth was athreat to him, and launched an attack with his 'son', Klor-el, in mother-ships. Thanks to SG-1 and Jaffa defector Bra'tac, the plan was thwarted but Apophis and Klor-el escaped by Stargate. It later emerges that Shar'ai, taken by the Goa'uld Amonet, is carrying Apophis' child. Because of the nature of infected hosts mating, the child will hold all of the Goa'uld's combined knowledge but no symbiote. Apophis intends to use the boy as his new host. However, SG-1 find him first, and give him into the safe keeping of energy being Oma Desala. The next time that Apophis appears, he is considerably less powerful. He is dying, and, after being refused a host, finally dies and is sent back through the gate. Sokar, who was responsible for his death, resurrects him by sarcophagus, and tortures him. Eventually, Apophis, while serving Sokar, rebels against him, and takes over his vast army. Later, while forging an alliance with Heru-ur, he kills his rival and absorbs his Jaffa, again doubling his power. He now appears almost unbeatable but the Tok'ra and SG-1 hatch a plan to take out him and his fleet forever, by igniting a star. His ship, however, survives, and, along with the Ha'tack piloted by SG-1 and Jacob Carter, is trapped in a far galaxy, where Apophis' ship is infested with Replicator bugs. To destroy the Replicators, SG-1 fly the ship into the atmosphere of Delmac, where the ship, its metallic passengers, and Apophis are incinerated. It is presumed that he did not survive the crash.
Episodes: Children of the Gods, The Nox, Within the Serpent's Grasp, The Serpent's Lair, Family, Secrets, Serpent's Song, Jolinhar's Memories, The Devil you Know, Maternal Instinct, Serpent's Venom, Exodus, Enemies, Threshold. Mythology: Apophis was an Egyptian god of darkness and terror, represented by a wavy snake hieroglyph. |
Amonet |
Bio: When Daniel Jackson was left on Abydos after the initial Stargate mission, he took a waife named Shar'ai. In the series' pilot episode, Apophis kidnapped her, and chose her to be the new host for his wife. Implanted with the Goa'uld Amonet, Shar'ai gave birth to Apophis' child, who he intended to use as his new host. Daniel's personal
mission with SG-1 was to find his wife, but once SG-1 did find her, she attempted to kill him, and Teal'c was forced to shoot her with his staff weapon. However, she apparently communicated to him through the Goa'uld hand device, and told him to complete his mission by looking after her child. Shar'ai was freed from the Goa'uld, and buried on Abydos with the proper ceremonies.
Episodes: Children of the Gods, Secrets, Forever in a Day Mythology: Amonet is an Egyptian mother goddess, the bringer of life. |
Klor-el |
Bio: In the Stargate Movie, the Earth team was helped to defeat Ra by a group of people from the alien village. an integral member of this group was a boy named Skar'ra, who befriended O'Neill and his team. However, when the Goa'uld attacked Abydos, he was taken as a host for Apophis' son Klor-el. He, along with his father, launched an attack on Earth a year later, but Skar'ra was strong, and, along with interference by SG-1, the plan was defeated. Although thought killed in the explosion, Klor-el and Apophis actually escaped by Stargate, and Klor-el later appeared on Tollana, where the Tollan were to decide whether the host or the parasite had dominance over the body. Eventually, after the treachery of the Goa'uld delegation was discovered, the Tollan ruled in Skar'ra's favour and Klor-el was removed. The symbiote was taken away from Tollana by Zipachna, and has not been seen since.
Episodes: Stargate: The Movie, Children of the Gods, Within the Serpents Grasp, The Serpent's Lair, Pretense Mythology: None found |
Heru-ur |
Bio: Heru-ur (Also Horus the Elder) is a system lord, and the son of Ra and Hathor. Perhaps because of his parentage, his Jaffa wear the same helmet headdresses as Ra's Jaffa in the film. Little is known about him, except that he became powerful during the fourth season of SG-1, and prepared to form an alliance with Apophis. However, Apophis double-crossed him, and destroyed his ship, presumably killing him (along with his Goa'uld torturer Terok). He then absorbed Heru-ur's Jaffa into his own ranks.
Episodes: Thor's Chariot, Secrets, Serpent's Venom Mythology: Heru-ur, or Horus, was actually the name of several deities, among whom the themes of kingship, victory, and solar symbolism are dominant. Horus gods are depicted as hawks or hawk-headed men and on SG-1, Heru-ur's Jaffa bear a hawk symbol on their foreheads. |
Seth |
Bio: Seth (Also Set, Setesh) was a Goa'uld who opposed the system lords and tried to rise up and overthrow them. When he failed, he fled, and, as the system lords and the Tokr'a had a price on his head, he took shelter among the Tau'ri. He was stranded on Earth when the gate in Giza was buried, and through the centuries he has led various cults of followers, including one in Seattle in the twentieth century. It was here that the SGC, with the help of Selmac, tracked him down, and eventually he was killed by Carter using a Goa'uld hand device.
Episodes: Seth Mythology: Seth, also known as Setekh, Set or Setesh, was the embodiment of chaos and hostility. He is represented, as mentioned on the show, by an animal similar to an aardvark which is thought to be mythical. Although none of his Jaffa appear in the episode, Teal'c makes a reference to their helmets representing this animal. |
Hathor |
Bio: Hathor was the wife of Ra, but he banished her to Earth, where she was imprisoned within a sarcophagus for millennia. However, in the 1990's, archeologists uncovered her tomb and released her. She attempted to take over the SGC, using her powerful seductive potion to turn the men of the base to her side, hoping to turn the SGC personnel into her new Jaffa. However her plan is thwarted by Carter and Dr. Frasier, and she escapes. Later, SG-1 is captured by Hathor, who intends to use their memories to learn more about the system lords. However, Jack realizes what is going on, and Hathor is defeated, when Jack, aided by a Tok'ra infiltrator, pushes her into a cryogenic pit of liquid nitrogen.
Episodes: Hathor, Out of Mind, Into the Fire Mythology: Hathor was the feminine goddess of love and the goddess of the queen. |
Sokar |
Bio: Sokar is a pale and deathly Goa'uld who has impersonated the God of Death in many cultures, including Satan on the primitive world of Demons. He is not a system lord, although very powerful, and plotted against the system lords to tip the galactic scale of power in his favour. He defeated his arch enemy, Apophis, after the people of Earth refused him a new host, but resurrected his nemesis in a sarcophagus, a poor tactical move which allowed Apophis to rise up and overthrow him. He is presumed dead, and his Jaffa followed Apophis until his demise.
Episodes: Demons, Serpent's Song, Jolinar's Memories, The Devil You Know Mythology: A funery God of ancient Egypt, Sokar (or Seker) was associated with embalming and other funeral rituals. He was often depicted with a hawk's head. |
Cronus |
Bio: Cronus is a Goa'uld system lord who was first seen when he arrived through Earth's Stargate along with Nurrti and Yu to negotiate a peace agreement between the system lords and the Tau'ri. He was attacked during the summit, and believed that his assailant was in the SGC. It emerged, however, that it was Nirrti, and the treaty was concluded. SG-1 again encountered Cronus when they followed their robot doubles to a planet which they had freed from the clutches of Heru-ur. Cronus had taken over there, and he was responsible for the deaths of the robot SG-1. He is eventually killed by Teal'c, who has a 'Jaffa revenge thing' going because he killed his father, who was Cronus' first prime. His mothership was commandeered by SG-1 and played a vital role in the downfall of Apophis.
Episodes: Fair Game, Crossroads, Double Jeopardy Mythology: The Greek god of fates, Cronus was the father of many other Greek gods, including Zeus and Hades. |
Yu |
Bio: Yu (whose full name is Yu-huang Shang Ti) is a powerful Goa'uld system lord, who travelled through the gate along with Cronus and Nirrti to negotiate a peace treaty with Earth. Later, Yu attends a summit of system lords, at which Daniel Jackson masquerades as his trusted servant. Yu is the only system lord to oppose Anubis' re-entry into their ranks, and it is revealed that he is the only remaining system lord from the time when Anubis was banished. He tried to have him murdered, without success. When the Goa'uld Imhotep, posing as a free Jaffa sends Teal'c on a suicide mission to Yu's planet, it is Yu who tells Teal'c the truth before sending him back. A Ha'tak belonging to him then attacks the rebel Jaffa base, but most escaped.After the SGC ensured that he recieved information about a secret base belonging to Ba'al, he attacked it, and provided a distraction which allowed the captured O'Neill to escape. Episodes: Fair Game, Summit, Last Stand, The Warrior Mythology: Two unconnected figures in Chinese mythology, Yu and Yu-huang have been used as the basis of Yu in Fair Game and Summit. Yu was a sorcerer who sprung from the body of a dragon. Yu-huang was a man who became immortal after devoting his life to the sick and the poor, and became the exulted Jade Emperor eons later. An extremely important deity, all other Chinese gods in heaven report to him. The latter appears more Goa'uld-like. |
Tanith |
Bio: Tanith resided in the Jaffa priestess Shau'nac, who learned to communicate with him. She believed that she had convinced him to give up the evil ways of the Goa'uld and join the Tok'ra cause. However, when the Tok'ra found him a host, Hebron, he killed Shau'nac. His deception was discovered, but he was allowed to believe that he had been accepted, in order to pass false information to Apophis. Once his usefulness had been expended, he was imprisoned to be extracted from Hebron. However, he escaped, and eventually left the doomed system on board an escape pod from Apophis' ship. He fell into the service of Anubis, and tried to destroy Earth by forcing the Tollan to make weapons which would pass through the iris on Earth's gate. However, SG-1 prevents his plan from succeeding, and he destroys Tollana. He is apparently killed by Teal'c, who vowed revenge for Shau'nac's murder, when Teal'c shoots down his Al-kesh while he is scouting a planet for a new base.
Episodes: Crossroads, Exodus, Between Two Fires, 48 Hours Mythology: This Goa'uld, to my knowledge, is not based on any actual mythical figure. |
Osiris |
Bio: Osiris was a once-powerful Goa'uld, who ruled ancient Egypt along with his queen, Isis. The two Goa'uld were extracted from their hosts and imprisoned in stasis jars by Osiris' brother Seth. Although Isis did not survive, Osiris took a host in modern day America when the stasis jar was opened by a young archeologist. Sarah Gardner, the Goa'uld's new host, was an old girlfriend of Daniel's, but Osiris uses a hand device on Daniel and escapes in a hidden ship. The next appearance of this Goa'uld is at the summit of system Lords, where he is recruited by Zipacna to speak for Anubis. Thanks to his promises that Anubis will wipe out the Tok'ra and the Tau'ri, Anubis is readmitted to the ranks of the System Lords. Daniel attempts to take Sarah back with him but after Yu intervenes, the two Goa'uld fight, and Yu is stabbed by Osiris while Daniel escapes. Osiris next appears when he attacks a Asgard lab in order to steal their secrets in the name of Anubis.
Episodes: The Curse, Summit, Last Stand, Revelations Mythology: Osiris was the lord of the Egyptian underworld, and consort of Isis. He was killed by his treacherous brother Setesh, who strew the pieces of his body across the known lands. Isis, with the aid of Ra, Anubis and Thoth, resurrected Osiris but he could not return to the land of the living and instead guards the underworld. Osiris the god is father to Horus but in SG-1 mythology, Ra fathered Horus (Heru-ur) |
Zipacna |
Bio: The first appearance of Zipacna is as an underlord of Apophis. He speaks for Klor-el at the trial on Tollana to decide whether host or symbiote has the right to the body. It is discovered that he is using the trial as a cover for an attack on Tollana, and as such loses the case. Following Apophis' death, Zipacna turns up as a servant of Anubis, and talks Osiris into following him also. He also leads the attack on the Tok'ra base at Rivana, in Anubis' name.
Episodes: Pretense, Summit, Last Stand Mythology: Zipacna, to my knowledge, is not based on any actual mythical figure. His dress in Pretense reveals Aztec or at least South-American ancestry. |
Imhotep |
Bio: Imhotep is, as Daniel puts it, a minor Goa'uld on a backwater planet. His name would likely be lost to history except that his Jaffa apparently rebelled against him, and his First Prime Kytano became a leader of the Jaffa rebellion. Through his rousing speeches and promises of freedom, he gained a large following, which nearly included Teal'c and Bra'tac. However, he became power-hungry, and sent potential rival Teal'c on a suicide mission. However, Teal'c returned, and challenged him to a duel. Just before striking the killing blow, Kytano revealed himself to be Imhotep himself - he had taken the body of his first prime in order to gain real power. Teal'c killed him, and rescued the rebel Jaffa.
Episodes: The Warrior Mythology: Imhotep was a figure in ancient Egypt credited with building the pyramids. He was deified after his death, as someone with his knowledge and abilities could not, the Egyptians believed, have been a mere mortal. The forehead symbol of his Jaffa is likely based on an inverted pyramid. |
Nurrti |
Bio: Nurrti was a system lord, who tried to blow up Earth's Stargate by placing a naquaada bomb inside Cassandra. That plan failed, and she was in fact sent to Earth herself the following year to negotiate Earth's inclusion in the Asgard's protected planets treaty. She betrayed her fellow system lords, attempting to kill Cronus, and as a result was expelled from the ranks of the system lords. It later emerges that her actions on Cassandra's planet were more suspicious than first thought, as she was trying to breed a race of superhumans. Her banishment is still in force at the time of the summit to discuss Anubis' return. Nurrti is by no means gone, however, and at least one of her planets is known to Imhotep, who led a team of rebel Jaffa to steal supplies bound for her base. Nurrti employs technology which can allow her to become invisible.
Episodes: Singularity, Fair Game, Rite of Passage, The Warrior Mythology: Nurrti is a Hindu goddess of destruction. |
Svarog |
Bio: Svarog is a leader of the Goa'uld system lords, and attends the summit on Anubis. Little is known about Svarog, but he votes to allow Anubis back into the ranks of the system lords. He later attacks a planet once protected by a powerful device known as the Sentinel. However, the rogue NID agents stealing technology through the second gate disabled the device, and the planet is laid open for Svarog. However, SG-1 repair the device, and his Jaffa are wiped out. It is not made clear if Svarog himself survives this.
Episodes: Summit, Last Stand, The Sentinel Mythology: Svarog is the Slavic god of the sun and fire. |
Ba'al |
Bio: Ba'al is a powerful and outspoken leader of the Goa'uld system lords, who attended the summit on Anubis. He voted to allow Anubis back into the ranks of the system lords. Ba'al later captured Colonel O'Neill and tortured him, continually killing and reviving him to try to discover information on the Tok'ra carried by O'Neill. His base is attacked by Yu, after SG-1 covertly reveal its location to him.
Episodes: Summit, Last Stand, Abyss Mythology: The god or gods named Ba'al have been worshiped across the ancient world, and are usually associated with drought, famine, and disaster. Some early Jewish tribes made sacrifices to him as a sun god, and he is found in the Bible as Beelzebub, one of Satan's fallen angels. |
Kali |
Bio: Kali the Destroyer is a leader of the Goa'uld system lords, who attends the system lord's summit. She implicates Olokun in the hidden attacks as some Jaffa who attacked her fleets bore his mark. Despite heavy losses to him, Kali votes to allow Anubis back into the system lords.
Episodes: Summit, Last Stand Mythology: Kali is the Hindu mother goddess, who symbolizes dissolution and destruction. |
Olukun |
Bio: Olukan is a leader of the Goa'uld System Lords, who attends the summit. He is outspoken and quick to defend himself from accusations that he is the mysterious attacker.
Episodes: Summit, Last Stand Mythology: The Yoruba god of the sea. |
Bastet |
Bio: Bastet is one of the leaders of the Goa'uld system lords, and a particularly treacherous one - she signed a treaty with Sobek and then killed him during the feast afterwards. His head apparently still hangs in her palace. She attended the summit of system lords, and voted to allow Anubis back to their ranks.
Episodes: Summit, Last Stand Mythology: Bastet was an Egyptian cat goddess. |
Anubis |
Bio: Anubis was a system lord millennia ago, and only Yu remains from that time. He was banished from the galaxy because his crimes were unspeakable, even to the Goa'uld. He was thought dead after Yu launched an assassination plot on him. However, he has recently returned to our galaxy, and has recruited several Goa'ulds, including Osiris, Tanith and Zipacna. He sent Osiris to the system lords summit and she convinced them to allow him back into their ranks. He launched attacks on the Tok'ra base on Rivana, and attempted to destroy Earth by sending a bomb from Tollana which could pass through Earth's iris. When the plan failed, Tanith destroyed Tollana. Anubis uses advanced technology to probe the mind of the Asgard Thor, to learn his secrets. He uses this knowledge and a weapon of the Ancients to attack Earth, by turning the Earth Stargate into a time bomb of global proportions.
Episodes: Between two Fires, Summit, Last Stand, Revelations, Redemption, Parts I & II. Mythology: Anubis is a very ancient Egyptian funerary god, who crosses paths with Osiris a number of times in mythology. |
The Jaffa |
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Bra'tac |
Bio: Bra'tac was, when he was younger, the First Prime of Apophis, and he followed his father's belief that the Goa'uld are not gods. He saw the seed of doubt in one Jaffa, Teal'c, and made him his apprentice. After Teal'c's defection to the Tau'ri, Bra'tac aided the team on a number of occasions, including helping SG-1 to save Earth from Apophis and Klor'el at the end of season 1. He also helped Teal'c and General Hammond to free SG-1 from Hathor, and went with SG-1 to find the Harcesis before Apophis could. After Teal'c is brainwashed by Apophis, Bra'tac forces him to undergo the Rite of Mal'Sharran to return to his true path. The rite is successful, and Teal'c and Bra'tac later find a base of rebel Jaffa together, and both believe completely in Kytano. Bra'tac undergoes a mission with Teal'c and Ry'ac to save Earth from Anubis and his weapon of the Ancients, and they destroy the weapon, although not before it destroys Earth's Beta Gate.
Episodes: Bloodlines, The Serpent's Lair, Into the Fire, Maternal Instinct, Threshold, The Warrior, Redemption, Parts I & II, Allegiance |
Rak'nor |
Bio: Rak'nor's father, inspired by Teal'c's teachings, burned the seal of Apophis from his son's forehead. However, his father was killed, and Rak'nor moved into the service of Heru'ur. While there, he encountered Teal'c himself, and saw him resist the Goa'uld torturer Terok. Inspired by him as his father was, he helps Teal'c escape, and joins the Jaffa rebellion. He is a supporter of Kytano, until his downfall, and escapes Yu's attack with the rest of the rebels.
Episodes: Serpent's Venom, The Warrior, Allegiance |
Kytano |
Bio: Kytano was first prime to Imhotep, and his master took over him and took over the Jaffa rebellion, rousing a fanatical following before Teal'c kills him, and exposes his deception.
Episodes: The Warrior |
Ry'ac |
Bio: Ry'ac is the son of Teal'c and Drey'auc. An outcast from Jaffa society after Teal'c's defection, Ry'ac is dying of scarlet fever when his father arrives to stop his implantation ceremony. However, to save his life, Teal'c gives him his own symbiote, and Bra'tac takes him as a charge. His family later go to live in the Land of Light (The Broca Divide). Ry'ac appears later, and challenges his father to prove his belief that the Goa'uld can be defeated.
Episodes: Bloodlines, Family, Redemption Parts I & II |
Drey'auc |
Bio: Drey'auc was Teal'c's wife, who bore him a son, Ry'ac. She is initially very angry at Teal'c's decision to defect to the SGC, as she was thrown out of her house along with her son. However, she later comes to believe as he does that the Goa'uld are false gods, and eventually refuses to take a new symbiote.
Episodes: Bloodlines, Family |