Goa'uld - SCIFIPEDIA

Goa'uld

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The Goa'uld are a fictional, hostile, alien race from the TV series Stargate SG-1. The Goa'uld are parasitic in nature and are an aquatic species that originated on the planet P3X-888. For the first eight seasons of the series, the Goa'uld were the main enemy and the primary reason for the existence of the Stargate Command. When Apophis, a Goa'uld system lord and his Jaffa came through the Stargate in "Children of the Gods," the SGC learned that there were more planets out there, and a dangerous and powerful enemy. As the people responsible for killing the System Lord Ra, Earth made itself a target of the system lords and that they must use the Stargate to visit other planets, seeking technology to defeat the Goa'uld.

Stargate, the movie, provided a basis for the Goa'uld in the alien Ra, who possessed a human body, posed as a god to the Ancient Egyptians, and enslaved humans for the purpose of mining a rare mineral on the planet Abydos. The series named this mineral naquadah. In the movie, the alien within Ra was physically different from the Goa'uld in the series, who are snakelike creatures who attach themselves to the base of the brain of larger animals. In humans, they usually burrow in through the neck, gaining full control over the body and suppressing the personality of the host, who can experience all a Goa'uld does but has no power to change it. Like Ra from the film, the Goa'uld usually adopt the identities of gods, and enslave humans for their purposes. They derive great pleasure from their positions of power, and their primary goal is to dominate everyone around them.

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.

1 History
2 Biology
3 Society
4 Enemies
5 Notable Goa'uld
6 Related

History

The Goa'uld originate from the planet designated P3X-888, which is also home to a primitive species known as Unas. The Goa'uld live in ponds and lakes, and are both feared and hunted by the Unas for food. They gained the ability to leave their planet by taking Unas as hosts. They learned how to use the Stargate and left their home planet. They scavenged and adopted alien technologies and eventually came to dominate the galaxy.

The Goa'uld and their Unas hosts began to die out at some point several thousand years ago. Eventually, the Goa'uld Ra came across Earth (approximately 10,000 years ago), where he found primitive humans and settled in Ancient Egypt. Humans became the saviors of the species, as they proved to be much better hosts for the Goa'uld. Human bodies were much easier to heal and manipulate. Ra posed as an Egyptian god, establishing an empire and building the pyramids as landing pads for his spaceship. He was the first to take humans from Earth to the planet Abydos.

Humans replaced the Unas altogether as hosts, and numerous Goa'uld came to Earth posing as local gods and taking humans through the Stargate across the galaxy, spreading them across many planets. As a result, the majority of the civilizations SG-1 comes across are human, and the names of the Goa'uld are the same as those of gods in ancient human mythology. Ra, Apophis, Anubis, Osiris, Lord Yu, Cronus, and Baal are just some of the system lords who have pretended to be human gods.

A human possessed by a Goa'uld can live hundreds of years. This lifespan is further extended into thousands of years through the use of the sarcophagus, a healing device based on Ancient technology that is even capable of reversing death. The Goa'uld, being largely scavengers of technology from other cultures, never perfected this technology, and its use results in side effects. The sarcophagus is addictive, and alters the user's mind and personality, making users prone to paranoia and megalomania. It is presumed that the use of the sarcophagus contributed to the Goa'uld's evil nature, traits that are, unfortunately, passed on through genetic memory.

At some point in their history, one queen, Egeria, became aware of the evil of the Goa'uld. It's unknown what brought about this epiphany but it led her to oppose Ra. She was banished and imprisoned in stasis on the planet Pangar. Egeria spawned the symbiotes, who became known as the Tok'ra (against Ra), who have been fighting the system lords for thousands of years.

The Tok'ra only take willing human hosts, developing a symbiotic relationship with their hosts that allows the host equal control of the body. The Tok'ra do not use the sarcophagus and, as a result, have shorter lifespans than the Goa'uld do. They are also a dying race, as they have no queen and can produce no offspring. The Tok'ra eventually become allies of the Tau'ri and, to some extent, the Jaffa. The alliance eventually breaks down because the Tok'ra are dependent on operating in secrecy, working inside the Goa'uld empire to destroy them from within through sabotage. They disapprove of the Tau'ri's methods of taking on the Goa'uld in violent conflict, which sometimes leads to the death of key Tok'ra, who are already small in number.

Over several years, The Tau'ri killed several system lords, including Apophis, Sokar, Nirrti, and Hathor, upsetting the balance of power and making them a prime target for destruction. They also helped empower the Jaffa to rise against their masters and fight for their freedom. The Tok'ra did not believe the Tau'ri methods of taking down the Goa'uld one at a time would be effective, as it would eliminate weaker Goa'uld, concentrating power under a single extremely powerful Goa'uld. This belief came to pass with Anubis, who became incredibly powerful. Fortunately, through the use of Ancient knowledge and technology, and with the help of the free Jaffa, Anubis's fleet was destroyed, and the supremacy of the Goa'uld came to an end in the show's eighth season.

Biology

The Goa'uld have snakelike bodies, with fins protuding from the sides of their heads. These fins provide the means for a Goa'uld to launch itself out of the water at its victim. It also has four pronged jaws that help it to burrow into the victim, where it wraps itself around the spinal column, reaching into the brain. Even when the body of the symbiote is removed, as with Lieutenant Charles Kawalsky in "The Enemy Within," the smaller portion that remains is still capable of maintaining control over the body.

The Goa'uld are asexual, with Goa'uld queens able to fertilize their own eggs. The queen spawns hundreds of Goa'uld larvae at once. She is capable of selecting the memories she wishes to pass on to her offspring. The genetic memories passed on by the queen ensure the Goa'uld's continued evil. In its larval stage, the Goa'uld is not capable of fully controlling a host.

The Goa'uld have developed methods for ensuring successful implantation of the symbiote into a host body. They have genetically altered humans, who grow pouches on their abdomens in which a Goa'uld larva is implanted, remaining there until maturity when it is removed for implantation into a human host. These altered humans are known as Jaffa. The symbiote replaces the Jaffa's immune system, ensuring dependence on the Goa'uld (replaced every seven years) for continued life and health. The Jaffa are, in turn, provided with increased longevity and strength in exchange for the use of their bodies as incubators for Goa'uld young. Goa'uld not raised by this method risk rejection by the human body, which causes death to both host and symbiote.

The Goa'uld have also adapted in other ways. Unlike the primitive Goa'uld on P3X-888, Goa'uld symbiotes raised for human hosts are dependent on a a constant electric charge if they are to survive outside a Jaffa pouch or human body. They also have naquadah in their blood, which they pass on to their hosts. This enables them to operate Goa'uld technology that Jaffa and humans alike interpret as evidence of their magical power as gods.

Once a Goa'uld has taken a host, it becomes difficult, but not impossible, to switch to a new body. The symbiote loses its fins and its body atrophies. Once they have inhabited a body, they gain all its memories and can pretend to be human. The only outward signs that a human has been taken over may be a scar on the back of the neck. They occasionally exhibit glowing eyes and often speak in an eerie, deep voice that can be terrifying to humans and helps convince them the Goa'uld are the gods they claim to be. The presence of a symbiote can be detected by a person with naquadah in their blood. Samantha Carter, once a Tok'ra host, and Cassandra have this ability, as does Vala, who was once a Goa'uld host.

Society

Goa'uld society is feudal in nature. There is a constant power struggle. The average Goa'uld's main goal is to become a system lord. A Goa'uld can become a system lord by destroying his predecessor, and taking over his territory, further expanding it through war. The system lords are the governing body of the Goa'uld; they maintain a tentative alliance that prevents total breakdown and all-out war by maintaining a balance of power among the system lords. Despite this alliance, conflict over territory and resources is not uncommon. The system lords are mistrustful and constantly seek to undermine each other. They agree to share technology they gain, which helps maintain the balance, although sharing does not always occur—particularly if the technology gained enables one Goa'uld to gain vast superiority over others, at which point the superior Goa'uld will seek to wipe out his opposition.

Their society is hierarchical, with the system lords at the top, and lesser Goa'uld in service to the system lords. These secondary Goa'uld aim to use their masters as stepping stones to greater power, while enjoying the power and protection gained from their current position. There are also Goa'uld scientists, who ensure Goa'uld dominance and protect the secrets of Goa'uld technology from the Jaffa.

The Jaffa are the legs on which the Goa'uld stand. They are the warriors who fight the Goa'uld's wars, the incubators of their young, and their general workforce. The Jaffa are also the taskmasters of the human slaves who mine the naquadah the Goa'uld need to power all their technology.

Enemies

The Goa'uld have no known allies and are enemies to nearly every race they have come across, because they destroy advanced societies and enslave the more pimitive ones. Other races have fought the Goa'uld with varying degrees of success.

The Asgard—The Asgard are significantly more advanced than the Goa'uld and, as a result, they have fought them with success. Unfortunately, the Asgard do not have the ships and manpower needed to defend the entire galaxy. They have taken on the persona of Norse gods and protect certain planets from Goa'uld enslavement. The Asgard negotiated the Protected Planets Treaty with the Goa'uld System lords to protect certain planets, provided the inhabitants were not aided in their advancement by the Asgard. The Asgard also agreed not to prevent a planet's destruction from natural disaster. The treaty was violated several times and eventually proved useless.

Giant Aliens—Not much is known about the giant aliens, residents of the planet designated P3X-377. Their first and last appearance was in the episode "Crystal Skull." They appear to live in another dimension and they claim they are enemies of the Goa'uld.

Jaffa—Although rebel Jaffa, including the Sodan, existed in small numbers before Teal'c's betrayal of Apophis, his goal of uniting all Jaffa against the Goa'uld gained momentum with the help of the Tau'ri. Over the years, the Jaffa rebellion grew and they eventually united against their former gods. They have taken over former Goa'uld territory and are in the process of forming a government of their own.

Tok'ra—Similar to the Goa'uld biologically but completely opposed to them philosophically, the Tok'ra have been fighting the Goa'uld for several thousand years through infiltration and sabotage.

Re'tu—A non-humanoid alien species who cannot be seen by the unaided human eye. A select group of Retou wanted to destroy the Goa'uld by wiping humans out, preventing them from using humans as hosts.

Tau'ri—Humans from Earth, the Tau'ri rebelled against the Goa'uld 5,000 years ago, expelled Ra, and buried the Stargate. When the Stargate was discovered in the twentieth century, the Tau'ri travelled through it to Abydos, where they killed the Supreme System Lord Ra, creating a power vacuum among the system lords. The Tau'ri became a target of Apophis and a troublesome force to other Goa'uld. The Tau'ri were latecomers to the fight against the Goa'uld, but were arguably more effective than the Tok'ra and Rebel Jaffa had been. They allied themselves with the Rebel Jaffa and the Tok'ra, and were instrumental in the eventual destruction of the Goa'uld empire.

Ma'chello—An inventor who devoted his life and work to destroying the goa'uld. His inventions proved more troublesome than helpful to the Tau'ri who discovered them, however. Ma'cello died of complications related to his advanced age at the SGC after being convinced to return the body of Daniel Jackson that he'd stolen.

Notable Goa'uld

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.

Apophis — A powerful system lord introduced in the series' first episode and the primary nemesis for two seasons. He was assumed dead after "The Serpent's Lair" but returned later. He was captured by Sokar, but escaped, only to die at the SGC. He was revived by Sokar but later escaped the destruction of Netu. He is now assumed dead after crashing into the planet Delmak in "Enemies."

Lord Yu — One of the oldest of the Goa'uld, Yu was the least malevolent of the Goa'uld toward the Tau'ri. The Tau'ri attempted to form a temporary alliance with him to destroy Anubis's fleet, but his mental instability prevented their attempt from being successful. After years of using the sarcophagus, Yu became paranoid and forgetful. He was killed by the replicator version of Carter.

Baal — One of the few system lords to have survived the defeat of the Goa'uld. Baal tortured and killed Jack O'Neill several times. He betrayed Anubis and allied himself with the Tau'ri to defeat the replicators. He has cloned himself several times. He was discovered to be on Earth in "Ex Deux Machina" when he attempted to destroy the city of Seattle with a naquadah bomb. One of his clones was captured by the Jaffa but others may still be on Earth.

Anubis — A Goa'uld exiled for his unspeakable atrocities. Anubis is unique among Goa'uld as he is half Ascended and doesn't have a physical body. He studied Ancient texts and technology and managed to trick Oma Desala into ascending him. He was forced out by the other Ascended to a lower plane of existence. Anubis created the near invincible Kull Warriors, supersoldiers implanted with blank symbiotes programmed by Anubis and given life through Ancient technology.

Osiris — Discovered in a stasis jar on Earth, Osiris possessed the body of Sarah Gardner, a colleague of Dr. Daniel Jackson. She allied herself with Anubis. The Tok'ra successfully removed Osiris from Sarah's body in Season 8.

Amonet — Apophis's queen, who possessed the body of Daniel's wife Sha're. Sha're gave birth to the Harcesis child. She was later killed by Teal'c when she attempted to kill Daniel.

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