Jaffa (Stargate)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please rewrite this article or section to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. |
| Jaffa | |
|---|---|
| Species | Jaffa (genetically altered human) |
| Homeworld | settled on Dakara |
| Governing body | Free Jaffa Nation |
| Alliances as of season 10 | Tau'ri, Tok'ra |
| Prior Alliances | Many; formerly served the Goa'uld |
| Key episodes | "Stargate" (first appearance) |
The Jaffa are a fictional race, in the television series Stargate SG-1. They were modified to serve as warriors and incubators for larval Goa'uld. They first made a limited appearance in the movie Stargate as a mutation of humanity, descended from genetically modified humans who were kidnapped from Earth by the Goa'uld during antiquity.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Jaffa have no "homeworld" (as they were originally human slaves from Earth), and live on several different planets, depending on which Goa'uld they serve. However, planets with large concentrations of Jaffa include Chulak, Dakara, and Delmak; with Dakara claimed as the site of the original genetic modification. Other known Jaffa planets include Kallana and Dar Eshkalon.
The main function of the Jaffa is to serve their gods, the Goa'uld, as warriors and incubators for Goa'uld larvae. An immature Goa'uld larva is implanted in a marsupial-like pouch in the Jaffa abdomen, in which it grows to maturity before being implantated into a host. The presence of the larval symbiote replaces the Jaffa's immune system, and after receiving a Goa'uld symbiote, a Jaffa is unable to live for long without one. With a Goa'uld symbiote, a Jaffa is offered increased strength, health, and a long life (120-150 years). Additionally, the Jaffa require no sleep. Instead, the Jaffa must engage in a form of meditation known as Kel no'reem on a regular basis in order to synchronise with their symbiote. If Kel no'reem is not performed, the Jaffa might become seriously ill.
Following the discovery of Egeria, the drug Tretonin was developed to allow the former Jaffa host to survive without a symbiote. This drug allows Jaffa to reclaim their immune system and live a life free from the symbiote. There are trade-offs, however. For example, once a Jaffa begins using Tretonin, sleep is required.
All Jaffa formerly in service to the System Lords have a brand on their foreheads bearing the insignia of the Goa'uld they serve. In most cases it is just a black tattoo, but in the case of each System Lord's First Prime (chief warrior and commander), it is a raised mark, made by baring the bone with a special knife and filling the wound with pure molten gold in what even Teal'c says is a very painful process. Other high-ranking Jaffa bear a similar, silver mark.
A faction of the Jaffa that identified the Goa'uld as false gods went into hiding thousands of years ago, and became known as the Legendary Sodan. These Jaffa do not bear any mark, but retain the symbiote pouch; they steal larval Goa'uld in raids and kill them once they have reached maturity.
Supposedly, married male Jaffa must shave their heads soon after their wedding. However, in his current spirit of rebellion against the old ways, Teal'c later grew some hair.
[edit] Events in the series
Teal'c (portrayed by Christopher Judge) is a Jaffa who chose to join SG-1 and fight for the freedom of all Jaffa, started out as a lone traitor, but gradually and with the aid of his former Jaffa mentor, Bra'tac, is able to rally an increasing number of Jaffa to his cause.
[edit] Jaffa Resistance
By season six, the Jaffa Resistance (Occasionally referred to as the Fifth Column) has been formed; an organized rebellion against the Goa'uld of which Teal'c is a prominent leader. At the end of season eight, Teal'c achieves his goal and finally helps liberate most of the Jaffa from the Goa'uld; the Goa'uld have long weakened one another by continuous civil war amongst the System Lords, and were then crippled by the Replicator invasion of the galaxy.
Soon after, forces of the Tau'ri are able to defeat the Replicators. The Jaffa see the Goa'uld's inability to save themselves from the Replicators as proof that they are false Gods, especially when System Lord Ba'al makes a cowardly escape from the Jaffa Resistance, after which the Jaffa turn against the Goa'uld en masse.
[edit] Free Jaffa Nation
In season nine, the Jaffa Resistance and the destruction of the System Lords gave birth to the Free Jaffa Nation, with the planet Dakara as its new capital. The new nation immediately became a major power, inheriting part of the fleets of the System Lords, partially filling the power vacuum left by their defeat. In an elaborate ceremony marking the official founding of the Jaffa Nation, Teal'c and Bra'tac were knighted Bloodkin to all Jaffa, the highest honour that can be bestowed on any Jaffa.
The nation was initially ruled by the Jaffa High Council, on which votes were appropriated based on unconfirmed military assets, the nation is divided between at least two major political factions: the opposition progressives who support Teal'c and Master Bra'tac's vision of a representative democracy and the ruling traditionalists who support the military oligarchy with Gerak at the head of the High Council.
With the arrival of the Ori, things began to become difficult for the Jaffa Nation. The nation was initially committed to resisting the spread of Origin and its attendant Priors; most Jaffa were horrified at the idea of worshipping false gods once more, as the resistance of the Jaffa of Kallana showed ("Beachhead"). However, Gerak was converted to Origin and as a result the Ori gained a powerful ally in the form of the Jaffa loyal to them. However, Gerak's choice threatened to split the Jaffa with civil war as the progressives and even some of Gerak's fellow traditionalists were opposed to this idea; even Gerak's aide Yat'Yir had doubts. In the end, however, Gerak chose to rebel against the Ori.
A resolution passed by the High Council mandated a referendum to determine whether the nation would adopt a constitution based on Earth representative democracies. It passed in "Stronghold", with elections to be held two months later. The Jaffa suffered greatly against the followers of the Ori with their ships being almost completely ineffective at stopping the recently arrived Ori battlecruisers. One of the first Jaffa worlds to fall to the Ori was Teal'c's home planet of Chulak.
The Jaffa leader Se'tak took matters into his own hands to deal with the Ori via the Dakara Superweapon. This weapon was used to target Ori worlds to wipe out the followers of Origin. A Jaffa strike force faced competition in the form of SG-1 and Adria, who killed the Jaffa who challenged her. Learning of the location of Dakara, Adria targeted the Dakara device and destroyed it, along with Se'tak and his loyal followers. Master Bra'tac survived the devastation of Dakara. Many other Jaffa worlds bowed down to the Ori afterwards, whether through fear or having actually been converted is unknown.
Several Jaffa worlds had willingly fallen into the hand of the Ori crusaders though small resistance movements still existed that gained intelligence on these enemies. Some groups, such as the Illac Renin, became devoted to the path the Ori showed them though many resisted it. In order to help stabilise the leadership of the Jaffa, a peaceful summit was called on the Jaffa world of Dar Eshkalon but a deceptive strike killed many of it attendees. It was revealed that this was done by radical Jaffa who followed the Ori and were led by a former First Prime known as Arkad who wished to steer the Jaffa's destiny into the hands of the Ori. Furthermore, to gain the favour of his new masters, he attempted to stockpile weapons grade naquadah to use against the Tau'ri but he was killed by Teal'c before he could accomplish this. Currently, the fate of the Jaffa Nation is unknown beyond the elimination of this single threat. (Talion)
[edit] Jaffa High Council
The Jaffa High Council was the ruling body of the Free Jaffa Nation for one season. Votes were appropriated on the Council based on unconfirmed military assets of the various coalitions represented. Many of the councillors are the former leaders of the Jaffa Resistance. The Jaffa High Council was divided between Traditionalists, favoring old-style government based on military strength, and Progressives, favoring some form of republic. The Traditionalist faction was led by Gerak and Yat'Yir, both former servants of Montu. In "Ex Deus Machina", it is revealed that the former followers of Yu tend to be traditionalists.
Other groups are known to exist as the episode "Talion" revealed a group that worships the path of ascension the Ori bring to the galaxy. This group, known as the Illac Renin, which is Ancient that loosely translates as 'Kingdom of the Path'. This cult willingly believe in the Ori's goals and attempted to gain power, however, this was blocked by the other Jaffa factions. It was led by the Jaffa known as Arkad before his death.
Some known councillors include:
- Gerak (Deceased) - Former Head of the Council and of the ruling Traditionalist faction.
- Yat'Yir - Gerak's aide and successor as head of the Traditionalists.
- Teal'c - Former leader of the Progressive opposition.
- Master Bra'tac - Leader of the Progressive opposition.
- Ka'lel - a Hak'tyl who appears to be moderately Progressive.
- The former First Prime of Moloc was a member of the anti-Origin party after Gerak's conversion.
- Maz'rai {Deceased} - a former Apophis servant, native of Chulak, and a progressive who committed suicide by symbiote removal to undo Ba'al's brainwashing.
- Se'tak {Deceased} - a Jaffa leader who came into power after Geraks death, he advocated a more harsh policy of dealing with the Ori through the use of the Dakara device. He was hostile towards Earth believing that the Jaffa should remain independent and free from alien influence. He was killed when Adria's battlecruiser targeted the Dakaran superweapon and destroyed it.
[edit] Groups and factions
[edit] Hak'tyl
| Hak'tyl | |
|---|---|
| Species | Jaffa |
| Homeworld | Hak'tyl |
| Governing body | |
| Alliances as of season 10 | Jaffa Resistance, Earth |
| Prior Alliances | None |
| Key episodes | "Birthright" (first appearance) |
The Hak'tyl (alt. spelling Ha'ktyl) are a group of female Jaffa warriors in the Stargate universe. The group was founded by the warrior Ishta, who serves as high priestess to the Goa'uld Moloc. Her duties as priestess required her to sacrifice all female children born to the Jaffa serving Moloc, because he believed they would not strengthen his forces. Outraged by this practice, Ishta and some of her fellow priestesses decided to hide the female children away and train them as free Jaffa warriors. As high priestess, Ishta has virtually unlimited access to the Stargates on worlds under Moloc's control. She uses the gates to transport the children to the planet Hak'tyl--meaning "Liberation"" in Goa'uld, rather than sacrificing them by fire.
The Hak'tyl, like all Jaffa, require larval Goa'uld symbiotes to live past the "Age of Prata," or puberty. They would raid parties of Jaffa and kill them to take their symbiotes.
SG-1 first encountered the Hak'tyl which saved them from a group of attacking Jaffa. The female warriors invite them to their planet and when the team arrives there, they are informed about their history and their problems. SG-1 informs the warriors of the existence of the Tok'ra healing compound Tretonin that can be taken in place of a symbiote. Although at first most of the women are not interested in this new drug, four women finally become volunteers for a test. Although one dies from a reaction with her symbiote, it is otherwise successful. A young girl, Nesa, who has reached the Age of Prata but does not want someone else to die so she may have their symbiote tries the drug against her sister's wishes, helping to convince the rest of the Hak'tyl women to accept it.
The Hak'tyl joined forces with the Jaffa Resistance on the advice of Ishta, who had been convinced by Teal'c that the cause was right.
Since the founding of the Free Jaffa Nation, at least one member of the Jaffa High Council has been a Hak'tyl. The Hak'tyl are an armed movement, with control over the domain of a former System Lord. The Hak'tyl representative on the Council, Ka'lel is sympathetic to Teal'c and the progressives.
[edit] Sodan
| Sodan | |
|---|---|
| Species | Jaffa |
| Homeworld | P9G-844 (SGC designation) |
| Governing body | Unknown; head of government is Lord Haikon |
| Alliances as of season 10 | Tau'ri |
| Prior Alliances | Ori |
| Key episodes | "Babylon" (first appearance) |
The Sodan are a group of Jaffa who, over 5,000 years ago, realized that the Goa'uld were not gods and rebelled against their ruling Goa'uld, the System Lord Ishkur. Because they were now considered traitors by the Goa'uld, they started to travel through the galaxy and searched for Kheb. They finally settled on a hidden planet which had apparently previously been settled by the Ancients and found a large amount of Ancient technology there, including a transportation device which transports them to the other end of the planet, ensuring safety. The Sodan have waited these past five thousand years for the return of the Ancients and their eventual Ascension.
The Sodan are a proud warrior people, bearing the mark of no Goa'uld, and stealing their prim'tahs (larval Goa'uld) from the Goa'uld in secret raids and killing their prim'tahs when the symbiote reaches maturity.
The Sodan fighting style is generally considered superior to anything else that the Jaffa have yet produced. A prisoner of the Sodan who killed a Sodan warrior must undergo Kel Shak Lo: ritual combat with another Sodan warrior, typically the deceased's closest male relative; because of the skill of Sodan warriors, the prisoner almost never survives. Like all Jaffa, however, the Sodan have a strong sense of honor, and teach their prisoners the fighting style of the Sodan before the Kel Shak Lo.
Ancient writings are everywhere on the Sodan homeworld and as a result, the Sodan have long worshipped the Ancients, seeking after Ascension. However, the similarities between the Ancients and the Ori and the promise of Ascension caused the Sodan to officially convert to Origin, though there were still some dissenters. Soon after, an Ori Prior dispatched the Sodan to a planet to exterminate a group of nonbelievers who were conspiring against the Ori. However, when the Sodan arrived at the planet they found that the people were nothing but simple farmers. Leaving them unharmed, the Sodan traveled to another planet, rumoured to have defied the Ori. They found the entire civilization destroyed by a mysterious plague (the same plague which the Ori had released on Earth). As of "The Fourth Horseman", the Sodan have officially rejected the Ori and assisted SG-1 in their attempt to capture their Prior, which later resulted in the Prior's death. It is unknown if any Sodan still worshipped the Ori after this incident.
As a result of the Sodan treachery, a Prior infected Vol'nek, the Sodan who was almost killed by Mitchell, with a disease that killed him, then revived him in a manner remarkably similar to the Ancient Healing Device. Crazed, he proceeded to kill every Sodan man, woman, and child he could find, with the sole exception of Lord Haikon, who survived solely because members of the SGC arrived and were able to administer a supply of tretonin to replace the symbiote that Vol'nek had killed. He was finally killed by Mitchell, Teal'c, and SGs 3 and 12 with a buried claymore which destroyed the entirety of his body. ("Arthur's Mantle").
As of the episode Uninvited, the SGC has collected every Sodan cloaking device that they could find and has been using them for stealth recon missions to investigate planets that have converted to Origin. However, these devices shift the wearer into another dimension in which a slug like parasite resides that can shift into our dimension if the parasites are in the field at the right time. As a safeguard, the Sodan cloaking devices emit a field of radiation to protect to wearer from these creatures. Originally intended for Jaffa, this radiation is harmless to them. However, when the SGC uses these devices, they disabled the radiation field which results in a number of these parasites shifting to our dimension and occupying the bodies of indigenous animals of various planets and mutating them.
[edit] Illac Renin
Several Jaffa factions had joined a former First Prime, Arkad, who formed a cult known as Illac Renin, a group of Jaffa who follow the Ori ("Talion"). Because the Tau'ri are becoming a thorn in the side of their masters, Illac Renin stocked up weapons-grade naquadah for an attack on Earth. However, Teal'c was able to kill him before it could happen.
The name "Illac Renin" is a derivative of Ancient which loosely means 'Kingdom of the Path' and signifies the cult are followers of Origin. The group believed that the path of Ascension offered by the Ori was the way for their people. The symbol of Origin is placed in the place of worship where meditation appears to be done in front of a number of lit candles.
They were led by a Jaffa warrior known as Arkad who took control of those Jaffa planets that submitted to the rule of the Ori. To please his new masters, Arkad began to stockpile naqahdah for a strike against the Tau'ri. After the death of Arkad, the fate of this Jaffa groups is unknown.
[edit] Horus Guard
The Horus Guard were a group of warriors whose helmets look like the head of birds and consisted of metal plates that could be folded back into the collar of the uniform. They first appear in the movie Stargate as protectors of the family of Ra. In the TV show continuation, Stargate SG-1, they appear under the service of Heru-ur and Hathor in episodes such as "Thor's Chariot." They are also lead by a commander that appears to wear an Anubis helmet instead of the falcon usually associated with Horus, as shown in the film. The TV show does not continue this.
Since the Horus Guard are without symbiote pouches in the movie Stargate, questions have arisen as to whether or not they are Jaffa. Daniel says "look at your Gods." when he open's up the Anubis guard's helmet. this suggests that the Abydonians worship the horus and Anubis Guards as Gods. They are not Jaffa, probably minor Goa'uld under the service of Ra. The concept of Jaffa was not introduced until later, the Horus Guards that appear in Stargate SG-1 are without a doubt Jaffa. The pilot to the series, Children of the Gods acknowledges, but does not explain this discrepancy.
[edit] Other Helmeted Jaffa
In addition to there being Horus guards, there are also Serpent (Apophis) guards (Episode: Children of the Gods) and Setesh (Seth) guards, who remain unseen (Episode: Seth).
[edit] See also
- Jaffa characters in Stargate
- Goa'uld language, also used by the Jaffa
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
