Wraith (Stargate)

<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Wraith queen from "Allies"

The Wraith are a hostile alien species from the TV series Stargate Atlantis. They are native to the Pegasus Galaxy. A vampire-like, hive-based humanoid species, the Wraith survive and thrive by using suckers in their palms to extract and consume the life force of humans. The Wraith are extremely long-lived, possibly immortal as long as they are able to feed. A recently fed Wraith is superior in strength to humans and very difficult to kill.

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.

The Wraith hibernate for hundreds of years between major culling periods, when they awaken to harvest humans, reducing the population to only enough to continue breeding. Minor culling happens in between the longer cycles, presumably to feed the guards and replenish their stock. When the Atlantis team arrived in Pegasus, the Wraith had been in hibernation for several thousand years. The team alerted the Wraith to their presence by entering an Ancient city. When Lieutenant John Sheppard kills the keeper of the hive, she awakens the entire species, and a new massive culling cycle begins ahead of schedule.

As the Wraith are awake ahead of schedule, the human population has not sufficiently grown to support their numbers. They are in a desperate situation. Due to information gleaned from the mind of Colonel Sumner in "Rising," they are aware of a new feeding ground filled with billions of humans: Earth. The Wraith want Atlantis for its hyperdrive engines so they can cross the intergalactic void and gain new feeding grounds.

1 History
2 Biology
3 Society
4 Culling
5 Technology
6 Trivia
7 Noteable Wraith
8 External Links

History

The Wraith are believed to have evolved as a result of an accident. When the Ancients, humanity's ancestors, arrived in Pegasus via Atlantis, they believed the galaxy to be largely uninhabited. They began to seed human life. They made a mistake in allowing humans to evolve on a planet with an insectoid species known as Iratus, a strange creature that latches on to its prey, becoming stronger as it drains life from its victim. The Iratus bug incorporated human DNA into its makeup, eventually evolving into the Wraith.

Though the specific timing of events is unclear, it is believed the Ancients came across hibernating Wraith and awakened them, which set off a massive culling of the humans in the galaxy. The Ancients, confident in their technological superiority, tried to negotiate a peace treaty with the Wraith, but instead sparked a hundred-year war. Overcome by the vast numbers of Wraith, the Ancients lost all their cities and human-inhabited worlds except for Atlantis. As a last resort, the Ancients sank Atlantis to the bottom of the ocean, retreating through the stargate to Earth. They left behind a holographic message indicating that they hoped one day to return. But they never did. The Atlantis expedition became the first humans to enter the city in more than ten thousand years.

Biology

On average, the Wraith appear to be taller than humans. They have pale, gray-green-blue skin, yellow eyes, small holes in their cheeks, and sharp, pointy teeth. Both males and females wear their hair long and the color varies dramatically with shades of black, white, dark brown, and even pink.

Despite Dr. Carson Beckett's theory that they are more buglike than human, they have similar characteristics to other humanoid species. There are clear distinctions between male and female Wraith, with females having breasts and men having facial hair. There has been no information on their procreation, so it is unclear whether the visible humanoid characteristics serve any function in the reproductive process.

The Wraith seem to be immortal, dying only from severe wounds or starvation. When fed, however, they are extremely strong, with amazing regenerative powers. Several bullets are required to kill a Wraith who has recently fed.

Wraith can survive for a long time without feeding, although precisely how long is unknown. They can go into a state of suspended animation to conserve energy, during which their life signs are undetectable. They can also feed off each other in desperate situations, as noted in the episode "The Defiant One," where a single Wraith survivor of a crashed hive ship lasted for approximately ten thousand years by cannibalizing his shipmates.

Wraith children are similar to human children and digest regular food. As they mature, they lose their ability to survive this way and must resort to feeding off the human life force. Grown Wraith may continue to eat human food but it has no nutritional value for them.

The Wraith share a telepathic connection with each other, through which they can exchange information over vast distances. They also have the power to generate ghostly apparitions, which they use to instill fear in their victims. They also seem to be able to forcibly extract information during an interrogation, as seen in the episode "Rising," in which the keeper learns information from Colonel Sumner despite his determination to say nothing.

Society

Little is known of the organization of the hive, but there appear to be different kinds of Wraith. Each hive has a queen, a keeper, male leaders, and a group of foot soldiers with a thick leathery covering on their faces. These foot soldiers have no observed speech. A hive led by a male leader was first seen in the episode "Sateda". He had a deeper voice, stronger brow ridges, and appeared to be physically stronger than the other Wraith with an almost Unas-like appearance.

At of the end of Season 2, the only keeper shown in the series has been female. Keepers are responsible for maintaining information and technology, and watching over the hibernating Wraith. No other females besides the hive queens have been seen.

The Wraith view humans in much the same way humans view cows. They refer to humans as their "herd."

If the Wraith have individual names, they have not shared them. As a result, names have been devised by humans for them. There have been four Wraith who have received names: Bob, Steve (named by Sheppard), Ellia, and Michael.

All Wraith society appears to revolve around culling. There don't seem to be any Wraith who serve functions that do not involve culling or technology related to it. In the show's second season, it is discovered that the Wraith are territorial, with each hive overseeing specific systems. They are currently engaged in a civil war over their feeding grounds.

The Wraith have an extreme aversion to hunger. For them, it is the worst possible situation, and they have a hard time understanding why anyone would deny himself or herself nourishment.

Culling

There are very few worlds in Pegasus untouched by Wraith culling, and it is considered a fact of life. The Wraith do not allow advanced societies to exist, and destroy them before they can achieve much. As a result, most Pegasus humans lack any technology to fight the Wraith effectively.

Culling is a highly efficient process. Each hive ship is equipped with a large complement of Wraith darts — small, extremely fast and maneuverable spaceships, each capable of traveling through the stargate. Each dart is equipped with a DHD, a transporter/culling beam, and a Wraith stunner. During a culling, the Wraith dial the stargate on the planet, ensuring no one can escape through it. They sometimes beam soldiers to the ground, who use handheld Wraith stunners to paralyze their victims temporarily. The humans are beamed aboard the darts, where they are stored in the ship's buffer until the dart returns to the hive, where they are reconstituted.

Wraith culling beams are unique among other transporter beams because they are capable of capturing humans in motion. Humans who are not immediately killed for food are stored in stasis aboard the hive ship for future consumption.

During the feeding process, the human body weakens and rapidly ages. The Wraith inject a serum into their victims that strengthens the human body, enabling it to survive feeding for a longer period of time. It's unclear whether the Wraith produce this serum inside their bodies or if it's produced externally. In the episode "The Seige," a Wraith is killed while feeding on Lt. Aiden Ford. Ford's body was flooded with the serum, and as a result, his strength and reflexes were greatly improved and he survived the attack. The serum is instantly addictive and alters behavior and decision-making. Ford left Atlantis, hunting down Wraith in search of more of the serum.

In the episode "Common Ground" it was revealed that the energy consumed during a feeding is not immediately processed and can be transferred to a human. In the episode, a Wraith prisoner feeds on several humans including John Sheppard. In return for his help, the Wraith returned Sheppard's life force in much the same way he took it, giving him back his youth and vitality. It is worth noting that this transfer of life means sacrificing no less than one human life for another and given the Wraith's need to sustain themselves, it usually means more than one life. The Wraith claimed the giving of life was reserved for only their most devoted followers.

In "The Gift," it is discovered that the Wraith experimented on several humans in an attempt to improve the feeding process. The humans were engineered with Wraith DNA. The unexpected result was that the humans were able to hear the communications of the Wraith telepathic network and sense their presence. The altered humans were returned to the population in the hope that their abilities would diminish over several generations. When other Wraith learned of the situation, they wiped out the population, but not before some of the changed humans escaped to Athos. Teyla Emmagan inherited this ability, and she is able to sense the Wraith and tap into their telepathic network. The Wraith were able to reverse this intrusion and control her actions. Her Wraith DNA also gave her access to the lab where the experiments were conducted.

Technology

The Wraith, while not technologically superior to the Ancients, possess enough advanced technology to be significant rivals. A major portion of Wraith technology seems to be organic. Sections of Wraith hive ships appear to be made out of living material; in particular, the hibernation chambers.

Wraith technology shares several similarities with that of the Ancients. Some technology requires the user to have Wraith DNA, similar to the Ancient gene, in order to operate it. Their darts, like puddle jumpers, have DHDs and are designed for gate travel. They are also piloted by mental control.

The Wraith have hyperdrive engines that allow them to travel within the Pegasus Galaxy. They do not, however, possess intergalactic engines that would allow them to cross the void between galaxies and explore new feeding grounds. In "Aurora" a Wraith infiltrates an Ancient virtual reality on board the ship Aurora in order to discover a means to modify the existing engines to make them capable of intergalactic travel. Fortunately, he was stopped before he could transmit any information to the Wraith.

Wraith technology is geared towards culling and feeding. They carry weapons designed not to kill, but to immobilize. Their main handheld weapons are a stunner rifle, a stunner pistol, and an easy-to-handle stunner staff.

The Wraith carry transmitters that transmit their location back to the hive ship. Some Wraith warriors also wear self-destruct devices built into their chest armor. Rather than risk capture, they destroy themselves completely.

In "The Intruder," the Wraith create a self-replicating, intelligent virus, designed to infect and shut down the Daedalus, thus delivering it into Wraith hands.

Trivia

The Wraith language is a derivative of Ancient speech.
Dr. Beckett devised a retrovirus that suppresses Wraith DNA, allowing a Wraith to appear human.
The Wraith can give life just like they take it.