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Daniel Jackson <span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>
Dr. Daniel Jackson is a character created by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, and played by actor James Spader, in the 1994 movie Stargate. When the TV series Stargate SG-1 was created in 1997, fresh-faced, 26-year-old actor Michael Shanks, with a background in theater, was chosen to take on this vital role, despite being considerably younger than Spader. In Shanks, viewers were presented with a Daniel Jackson who combined intelligence with good looks and a somewhat innocent charm. As one of the two leading characters from the movie—the other being Colonel Jack O'Neil, played by Kurt Russell—the character has played a vital role in shaping the Stargate universe. It was Daniel Jackson who opened the Stargate.
Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.
Dr. Daniel Jackson: Stargate (Movie)Viewers first meet Daniel Jackson during a lecture in which he suggested the Great Pyramid was not built by the Pharaohs of the Fourth Dynasty. Members of the audience proceeded to heckle him with derisive remarks about aliens and men from Atlantis being the builders. Catherine Langford, whose father, Professor Langford, was working on the dig in 1928 in Giza when the Stargate was discovered (and was herself there as a young girl) offered him a job translating hieroglyphs, and the chance to prove his theories. She pointed out his grants had run out and all he possessed were in the two suitcases he was currently holding. Daniel arrived at the home of the secret project in Creek Mountain (in the TV series, this became Cheyenne Mountain). Upon seeing the coverstone that had sealed the buried gate, he proceeded to cut through the partial translation, correcting it until he was left with "A million years into the sky is Ra, Sun God. Sealed and buried for all time his Stargate." Thus Daniel Jackson renamed the formerly known "gateway to heaven" to "Stargate." Daniel then accomplished in two weeks what others had been trying to do for two years: open the Stargate. Daniel’s achievement was all the more remarkable given that he discovered the purpose of the Stargate without actually seeing the Stargate itself or being told of its existence. When asked to identify the seventh symbol required to open the Stargate, and finally being shown the gate, he quickly identified the necessary symbol—that representing Earth as the point of origin. Daniel went through with the first team, which included Colonel Jack O'Neil (later Colonel Jack O'Neill in the series), to the planet Abydos. There he met his future wife, Sha'uri—later Sha're in the TV series—and with O'Neil, he was instrumental in freeing the people of Abydos by destroying Ra. Along with Sha’uri’s teenage brother, Skaara, Daniel played an important part in saving the suicidal Jack O'Neil and preventing him from activating a nuclear bomb designed to destroy the planet at the first sign of a threat to Earth. During this time, Daniel and O'Neil developed a mutual respect; they saved each other from probable death, and demonstrate the first instance of their near-telepathy when they both declare in unison, "I have an idea." Another bond that developed on Abydos was that between Daniel and Sha'uri. Sha’uri was given to Daniel as a gift by her father but Daniel refused to use her in such a way, only pretending to go along with the situation so that Sha’uri would not be humiliated by his refusal. During this time, Daniel learned from Sha’uri of writing hidden away and she took him to examine it. With the help of Sha'uri and Skaara, Daniel found the address needed to return back to Earth. After Daniel and O’Neil destroyed Ra with the nuclear device, Daniel chose to stay behind on Abydos with Sha'uri. Daniel Jackson: Stargate SG-1 (TV Series)Daniel Jackson is an orphan, having lost his parents, Drs. Claire and Melburn Jackson, at the age of eight. Daniel witnessed the death of his parents when they were crushed by a falling exhibit at the New York Museum of Art. His grandfather, Nick Ballard, refused to adopt Daniel, leaving him to face a childhood in foster care. According to Devlin and Emmerich, Daniel went to university at age sixteen. This would seem realistic given that Daniel has three Ph.D.s, in archaeology, anthropology, and philology, as mentioned in the Season 9 episode "The Scourge." Daniel studied under Dr. David Jordan in Chicago and his colleagues included Steven Rayner, Robert Rothman and Sarah Gardner. Daniel and Sarah were involved in a relationship that eventually fell apart due to his focus on research that ultimately destroyed his career as well. Rayner was jealous of Daniel's relationship with Jordan as well as his impressive talents. Rothman was his research assistant and also joined Stargate Command. Daniel speaks twenty-three languages including German, Russian, Spanish, Latin, Phoenecian, Babylonian, Mayan and ancient Egyptian. In his travels through the gate he has acquired fluency in written and spoken forms of Abydonian, Goa'uld, Ancient and the primitive language of the Unas. During his stay on Abydos, Daniel discovered a chamber, the walls of which were covered in Stargate addresses. He proposed that the Stargate could go to other places. When astrophysicist Samantha Carter disagreed, he suggested that perhaps the planets could have drifted apart. Immediately, Carter understood what Daniel was suggesting and they began a rapid-fire discussion, a perfect example of what many fans refer to as a "Science Twins" moment. Sha're was kidnapped by Apophis, and Daniel dedicated himself to finding his wife and freeing her of the parasite Goa'uld that had infected her. He left Abydos, where he was much loved and regarded as a hero, and joined SG-1 as their cultural and linguistic expert. Over the years he proved himself, and continues to prove himself, invaluable as a diplomat. During his time with SG-1, Daniel has been instrumental in making several alliances with alien races as a result of his open, friendly nature, honesty, and quick thinking. He was responsible for the treaty that created an alliance between Earth and the Tok'ra, and it was due to his superb ability to communicate and his willingness to understand others that he was able to befriend the Unas and Chaka. Later, he was vital in establishing an agreement between Earth and the Unas of P3X-403 in the Season 7 episode "Enemy Mine." After the tragic death of his wife, he searched for her child, the harcesis Shifu. During this search he made contact with the light being Oma Desala. This contact was later to prove important, when Daniel sacrificed himself to save the people of the Kelowna in the Season 5 episode "Meridian." An experiment they were conducting went wrong, leaving Daniel dying of radiation burns, but Oma stepped in and offered Daniel ascension. He accepted and spent a year as an ascended being. During his time ascended, Daniel found it increasingly difficult to adhere to the rule of non-interference. He helped Jack O'Neill survive torture by Baal, offered O’Neill ascension—which O’Neill refused—and possibly used Teal'c's state of kel’no’reem to plant a suggestion that would lead to O'Neill's rescue. Later, he helped save Teal'c, who was trapped between two dream states as he lay dying while trying to keep himself and Master Bratac alive by sharing one symbiote. His attempts to save the people of Abydos by fighting Anubis led to his being cast out and sent back in human form, his memories erased. Gradually, his memories of who he was and his human life returned, but his memories of his time as an ascended being remain locked, though some memories do leak out. He is now aware that the ascended beings were once a race of people known as the Ancients. Following his return, Daniel once again became an invaluable member of SG-1 and the SGC. His greatest achievement in recent years is arguably that of going back in time and being vital to the rebellion in Ancient Egypt that led to Ra's being driven out. Another achievement was discovering the location of the lost city of Atlantis. More recently, he deciphered a tablet leading to Ancient treasure. One of the devices proved to be a communication device which he and Vala used, hoping to make contact with other beings, possibly of Ancient origin. Unfortunately, the enemies of the Ancients, The Ori, discovered this attempt and are now aware of the existence of human races beyond their own galaxy. Daniel proved vital to the fight against the Ori particularly in the search for Merlin's weapon that they hoped would destroy the Ori altogether. The quest for the weapon ultimately led them to find Merlin who merged his consciousness with Daniel's in order to recreate the weapon. Unable to do so before coming under attack by the Ori leader, Adria, Daniel joined the Ori as a Prior. He used his new powers to force the SGC to commit to a plan to deliver Merlin's weapon to the Ori galaxy. The plan proved successful and Daniel returned to himself but the Galaxy had to face new Ori vessels invading. In the series finale, SG-1 visited the Asgard world, Orilla to receive the Asgard's legacy and their upgrades to the Odyssey. The upgrades, unfortunately, allowed the Ori to track the ship and the vessel engaged a time dilation field to prevent destruction. SG-1 and General Landry lived out the next several decades hoping to find a solution to the problem. Daniel overcame his fear of becoming involved with someone and spent decades with Vala Mal Doran until Carter was able to find a way to reverse time, saving the team and the Asgard legacy, leaving Teal'c, the only one with a memory of the decades they all shared. In the followup film Stargate: The Ark of Truth, Daniel was led by visions, left behind by Merlin's consciousness to seek out an Ancient artifact The Ark of Truth. With the help of Tomin he discovered the device on Celestis in the Ori home galaxy. Daniel realized the key to opening the Ark which led to the end of the crusade to convert the Milky Way and an eye opening for the followers of Origin everywhere.
InjuriesDaniel and SG-1 have been in countless dangerous situations. Naturally, Daniel has been injured several times in the line of duty. There are the natural bumps and bruises that come with being tossed about by an android, and being hit by falling rocks as well as injuries from more unusual events. Daniel has been infected by a histaminolytic virus, driven insane by one of Machello's devices, downloaded into an android body, became addicted to a Sarcophagus and served as host for several alien personalities. He has two bullet wounds, was shot twice with a staff weapon and nine times with a zat'nik'tel. He was also tortured with a goa'uld ribbon device. Not surprisingly, some of these injuries have led to his death, but death never seems to stick for Daniel. Dead-Again DanielThe series has made something of a running gag of Daniel's dying. He has died several times in the series. He was killed by Apophis on the Nox planet, by Apophis' fleet in an alternate reality, by lasers in a future reality, by radiation poisoning received on Kelowna, by a stab wound to the heart at the hands of Replicator Carter, and by Teal'c in an altered timeline. Daniel has also been presumed dead after the first movie, when SG-1 had an implanted memory of Daniel dying in a fire, and after being mortally wounded by Apophis' guards on the ship coming to destroy Earth. Colonel Dave Dixon in the episode "Heroes, Part 1," upon being told "Dr. Jackson is going to die when he sees this," remarks "What, again?" The gag is equally well established within the universe of the show as with viewers. He has also suffered so many injuries during his time with SG-1 that fans have coined the phrase "Danny Whumping." Admiration of this character has lead to another fan term, "TWTID: The Wonder That Is Daniel" and the nickname "Intergalactic Babe." There have been two alternate universes that did not contain Daniel Jackson as part of the Stargate project. In each case, this had disastrous results for Earth. Memorable Quotes"Why are you so quick to jump to the conclusion that I'm crazy? That I'm dangerous and out of control? It's because I'm kinda acting that way, aren't I?" "You know, I died in this room? Ascended. Doctor Fraiser did everything she could. I mean, she went three days without sleep. Even in the end, she didn't want to let me go. I owed her a lot more than I ever gave back." "I don't have a sister, Jack, and if I did I wouldn't let you near her." Daniel Jackson: I agree with Sam. We don't know enough about what happened on that planet, yet. Colonel Frank Simmons: Need I remind you, Dr. Jackson, the dangers that we're trying to defend the Earth against? Daniel Jackson: Oh, uh... could you? I mean, go slow. Daniel Jackson: I'm energy now... Jack O'Neill: How's that working out for you? Daniel Jackson: Good actually. Very... Jack O'Neill: Good. Daniel Jackson: Very good. Daniel Jackson: We have to go in disguise; pretend to be foreigners. Jack O'Neill: How do we do that? Daniel Jackson: Well, I speak 23 languages, Jack. Pick one. Daniel: Go ahead, Teal'c, tell them how deep you are! You'll be lucky if you even understand this! Teal'c: My depth is immaterial to this conversation. Daniel: Oooh! So deep! Jack O'Neill: No more beer for you Daniel Jackson: So we'd be looking for a needle in a haystack. Thor: A haystack of infinite size. Daniel Jackson: That's big. Daniel Jackson: This is the Hall of Might? Gairwyn: You were expecting something different? Daniel Jackson: Well, uh-huh. Maybe a hall. Daniel Jackson: It was a procedure often done in the Middle Ages. They.... well, they'd drill a hole in the person's head. By drilling a hole the evil spirits are released, thus saving the person from eternal damnation. Jack O'Neill: Thus.... "saving" the person? Daniel Jackson: Well, they didn't call them the Dark Ages because it was dark. Daniel Jackson: This tastes like chicken. Sam Carter: So what's wrong with it? Daniel Jackson: It's macaroni and cheese. External LinksMichael Shanks at SciFiQuest fan site that encourages sharing, news, transcripts and screencaps Save Daniel Jackson Contains news updates, screencaps, and general Stargate as well as Daniel Jackson pages. Stargate SG-1 forum Contains several threads devoted to Daniel Jackson and fanfic threads as well as one thread for Michael Shanks. Our Stargate Forum A pro-Daniel Jackson discussion forum. TWTID A humor site. Danielfic Fan fiction. All Danielfic Fan fiction. Daniel Jackson Fanfic Webring 52 Websites, with some adult content. Dr. Daniel Jackson Webring 47 Websites, with some adult content. The Jack Daniel webring 44 Websites, with some adult content. Daniel Diaries Fan fiction. The Tablet Fan fiction. The Toe Zone Humor site dedicated to Daniel's toes. Sam/Daniel website Fan fiction romantically linking Sam Carter and Daniel Jackson. Daniel Daily LiveJournal community for Daniel pictures. Michael Shanks Online unofficial fan site, runs a charity auction for Multiple Sclerosis of Canada.
2008, SCI FI. All rights reserved.
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