Human civilizations in Stargate SG-1

This is a list of the human civilizations featured in the television series "Stargate SG-1".

In the Stargate universe, the alien race known as Goa'uld used Stargates to transport large numbers of humans to other planets for use as slaves. Some of these groups were later abandoned (usually due to a decline of easily mined naqahdah deposits) and developed on their own to a level of technology far greater than that of contemporary Earth. The premise is that had this world not experienced the Dark Ages, it would also have developed to such advanced levels.

People of Earth

The Tau'ri are the original humans of Earth; the ones most recently seen out in the galaxy are from the United States and other countries involved in the Stargate program. "Tau'ri" in Jaffa means "First Born", referring to humans from Earth being the ancestors of all humans on Goa'uld-occupied worlds. The Tau'ri have developed many technologies based on what SG teams have brought back from trips to other planets via the use of the Stargate on Earth. Whilst Earth's level of technology prior even to Stargate travel far superseded the level found on most planets throughout the galaxy (and indeed others), Earth's technology still remains crude compared to some of the more advanced races out there. However with the exploration of the Ancient's city, Atlantis, and with the Asgard giving all their technology and knowledge to them before their destruction in the final episode of the series, the level of Tau'ri technology greatly increased.

Recurring human civilizations

Abydonians

The Abydonians are the people encountered by Colonel O'Neill's team on another planet in the "Stargate" film. Their homeworld is named as Abydos in sgcite|Children of the Gods, and its location is changed from the Kaliem galaxy "on the far side of the known universe" to being one of the closest planets to Earth in the Stargate network. In the movie, the Abydonians are the slaves of the alien Ra, descended from ancient Egyptians brought through the Stargate to mine a fictional mineral (naqahdah). Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson inspire the Abydonians and their leader, Kasuf, to rise up against Ra. The military personnel return to Earth, while Jackson remains behind with Kasuf's daughter Sha're, with whom he has fallen in love.

In sgcite|Children of the Gods, set a year after the movie, O'Neill returns to Abydos with a team after Apophis attacks Earth through the Stargate. Apophis soon attacks Abydos as well, abducting Sha're and her brother Skaara to serve as hosts for his queen Amonet and son Klorel. The Abydonians are revisited in sgcite|Secrets, when a pregnant Sha're/Amonet returns to Abydos."Secrets" ("Stargate SG-1")] Abydos is also seen at the time of Amonet/Sha're's death in "Forever in a Day","Forever in a Day" ("Stargate SG-1")] and the arrival of Shifu, Amonet's and Apophis' son."Absolute Power" ("Stargate SG-1")] In sgcite|Full Circle, Abydos is destroyed by the Goa'uld Anubis, but Oma Desala helps its entire population Ascend."Full Circle" ("Stargate SG-1")]

Langarans

The Langarans are the race of Jonas Quinn, who joined the regular cast of "SG-1" in the sixth season. First encountered in the episode sgcite|Meridian, they are from the planet Langara (SGC designation P2S-4C3), and have technology on par with mid-20th century Earth. The planet is divided into three nations living under a tenuous peace: Kelowna, Terrania, and the Andari Federation, each somewhat encompassing an entire continent. The Kelownans control the stargate as well as the only known source of naqahdriah, an unstable but extremely powerful element related to naqahdah, in the galaxy. The Kelownans were developing a naqahdriah bomb at the time of their first meeting with SG-1. These experiments nearly lead to catastrophe, prompting Jonas Quinn to defect to the SGC with a small quantity of naqadriah. In sgcite|Shadow Play, the Kelownans' situation become dire as the Terranians and the Andari are on the verge of signing a non-aggression pact.

In "Homecoming", it is revealed that the Kelownans used the naqahdriah bomb in a desperate preemptive strike. The devastating weapon caused the three superpowers to return to the negotiation table. After nearly coming under the domination of the Goa'uld Anubis, who was interested in the naqahdriah, the three nations agree to meet for peace talks for the greater good of the planet. This leads to the formation of Joint Ruling Council, seen in "Fallout", and "Langara" becoming the name of the unified planet as a whole. One of the Council's first challenges is stopping a naqahdriah chain reaction, caused by Kelowna's use of the bomb, that almost destroys Langara. The episode "Counterstrike" mentions Langara as one of the many planets that fell to the Ori invasion.

Tollan

The Tollan are one of the most advanced human civilizations encountered by the SGC. Their most impressive technologies include phase-shifting devices that allow them to pass through solid objects, and powerful ion cannons that defend their homeworld Tollana. However, their massive technological superiority, even over the Goa'uld, makes them arrogant and complacent; Teal'c notes in sgcite|Pretense that the Tollan "do not think strategically". The Tollan have a strict policy against sharing technology with more "primitive" races, instituted after such a transfer caused the civilization of their neighboring planet Serita to destroy itself in a single day, a calamity that also forced the evacuation of the original Tollan homeworld.sgcite|Enigma|show=ref] The ruling body of the Tollan is the Curia, led by the High Chancellor. Their version of a trial is called a "Triad", with three "Archons" representing the two sides and the neutral middle.sgcite|Pretense|show=ref]

The Tollan establish relations with Earth after the SGC helps a group of them relocate to a new planet in sgcite|Enigma. The episode sgcite|Between Two Fires reveals that the Goa'uld Anubis has developed technologies that neutralize Tollan weaponry, and sent his underling Tanith to extort the Tollan into building weapons that can be used against Earth. After Narim destroys these weapons, the Tollan are wiped out by Tanith's forces.

Minor human civilizations

A-G

* Altairans An advanced civilization from Altair (designated PX3-989 by the SGC), seen in "Tin Man". The Altairans were forced underground some time ago by deadly radiation, and eventually transferred their minds into exact android duplicates to survive. By the time SG-1 visits their planet there is only one remaining individual, Harlan, who creates android replicas of the Earth team to aid him. Harlan and these replicas return in the later episode "Double Jeopardy".
* Argosians A race descended from the ancient Greeks, seen in "Brief Candle". The Argosians were transplanted to Argos by the Goa'uld Pelops, who implanted nanocytes into their bloodstream as part of his experiments to create an advanced host. As a result, the Argosians aged rapidly and only lived for about 100 days. SG-1 was able to deactivate the nanocytes, restoring the Argosians to normal human lifespans.
* Aschen An advanced race with technology centuries ahead of Earth. A bland and humorless people, they rarely travel outside their Confederation of planets. In the alternate future of the episode sgcite|2010, Earth allies with the Aschen and defeat the Goa'uld, only to discover too late that the Aschen plan to depopulate the planet by secretly sterilizing much of the population through life-extending drugs. Thus, the former members of SG-1 sacrifice their lives to send a warning back in time to themselves not to contact the Aschen homeworld P4C-970. In sgcite|2001, Earth makes contact with the Volians, an Aschen client race. The Aschen desire information about traveling though the Stargate, and offer biological weapons in return. After SG-1 uncovers evidence of the Aschen decimating the Volians, Earth breaks off contact just as the Aschen prepare to attack. It is revealed that the Stargate addresses Earth gifted to the Aschen are all of dangerous and/or useless locations, the black hole planet from sgcite|A Matter of Time being first on the list.
* Bedrosians and Optricans The people of two warring, technologically advanced nations on the planet P2X-416. The war is one of belief: the Bedrosians believe that life was created on their planet by the god Nefertum (a long-dead Goa'uld), while the Optricans believe that they were brought to the planet through the Stargate. In sgcite|New Ground, SG-1, except for Teal'c, is imprisoned by the Bedrosian military, who refuse to accept their account that the Stargate is a transportation device as the Optricans have always claimed. Teal'c frees his team with help from Nyan, one of a minority of Bedrosian scientists willing to approach the Optrican position with an open mind.
* Byrsa A race of humans from the planet Cartego, contacted by SG-1 in "Cor-ai". Because the Goa'uld frequently travel to the planet to gather hosts, the Byrsa possess a vast network of nearby caves and tunnels in which to hide. In the episode, the Byrsa put Teal'c on trial for atrocities he had performed as the First Prime of Apophis.
* Cimmerians Viking descendants from the planet Cimmeria. They worship and are protected by the Asgard Thor. In sgcite|Thor's Hammer, SG-1 disables Thor's Hammer, a device that defends Cimmeria against the Goa'uld, while rescuing Teal'c. Their actions lead to the Goa'uld invasion of Cimmeria in sgcite|Thor's Chariot, which is defeated after SG-1 contacts Thor directly.
* Edorans An agricultural people from sgcite|A Hundred Days, relocated by SG-1 when their world is threatened by meteorites.
* Enkarans A race of humans who have become specifically adapted to their homeworld and thus require exact environmental conditions, including low levels of ultraviolet light. In sgcite|Scorched Earth, SG-1 resettles a group of Enkaran refugees, only to have their planet threatened with terraformation by a ship carrying the last vestiges of the Gadmeer civilization. The two sides reach an impasse as the Gadmeer also have exact environmental requirements, until SG-1 discovers that the location of the original Enkaran homeworld is contained in the Gadmeer database. The Gadmeer terraformer transports the Enkaran refugees to their homeworld before resuming its work.
* Eurondans and "Breeders" A race who contact the SGC in the episode sgcite|The Other Side. The Eurondans are fighting a losing war against an enemy they call the "Breeders". They offer to share their technology, at least a century ahead of Earth, in exchange for desperately needed deuterium with which to power the fusion generators of their shielded underground bunker. Negotiations initially seem promising, and Jack O'Neill is given the opportunity to remotely pilot a Eurondan fighter via neural interface. However, SG-1 discovers that the "Breeders" are so termed because the Eurondans see them as reproducing indiscriminately with "no regard for genetic purity", and that it was the Eurondans who poisoned their planet's atmosphere in an attempt to commit genocide. Earth withdraws its support, and O'Neill uses a Eurondan fighter to assist a Breeder attack on the Eurondan bunker.
* is framed for the murder of a Galaran scientist by her jealous husband, who uses the memory device to transfer his memories of the murder to Mitchell.

H-P

* Hebridians A people descended from the Celts of the Outer Hebrides Islands, first seen in sgcite|Forsaken. The Hebridians were freed from the Goa'uld by the Serrakin, an advanced alien race, and the two species have since formed a largely harmonious merged society on the planet Hebridan. There are a small number of Hebridians who believe that the Serrakin aim to enslave them and are opposed to human-Serrakin interbreeding. The Hebridians have a capitalist economy dominated by Tech Con Group, a corporate conglomerate with a virtual monopoly in every industry. In the episode sgcite|Space Race, Samantha Carter participates in the 59th running of the Loop of Kon Garat, an annual Hebridian race. In return for her help, the SGC receives a Hebridian ion engine for study. In sgcite|Counterstrike, the Hebridians are mentioned to have fallen to the Ori.
* Latonans A once-advanced race from sgcite|The Sentinel, that abandoned technology to focus on mental development. Their homeworld Latona is defended by a 500-year-old device called the Sentinel, which was inadvertently deactivated by rogue NID operatives seeking to reverse-engineer it. With Latona being invaded by the Goa'uld Svarog, SG-1 brings the NID agents with them to repair the Sentinel and save the Latonans.
* Madronans The people of the planet Madrona, who have the ability to control their planet's weather using an artifact called the Touchstone. The device was left behind by an unknown alien race who terraformed Madrona 900 years ago, without which the planet's weather becomes violent. In the episode sgcite|Touchstone, rogue NID agents steal the Touchstone, threatening the Madronans' survival until SG-1 retrieves it. In the episode sgcite|Fallout, the Madronans offer to accept thousands of Langaran refugees in the event of a naqahdria disaster. Jack O'Neill temporarily rescinds their offer due to the squabbling of the Langaran delegates.
* Martin Lloyd's race When their race was overcome in a war with the Goa'uld, a small group of men were selected to leave their planet and search for allies. After failing to find anything but more hardship, they chose to desert the rest of their race and hide out on Earth, among them Martin Lloyd. Martin's race possesses technology far advanced from Earth's. They are obviously capable of space flight, and are in possession of very sophisticated equipment. ("Point of No Return")
* Nassyans A peaceful, technologically unadvanced people seen in the episode "In the Line of Duty". They allowed the SGC to build a camp on their world for scientific research. The Goa'uld attack the Nassyans in pursuit of the Tok'ra Jolinar, who had hidden amongst them. The Nassyans are evacuated to Earth, and later taken in by the people of the Land of Light.
* Orbanians The natives of the planet Orban, featured in the episode sgcite|Learning Curve. Their culture has Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican influences. Technologically ahead of Earth, they teach Earth how to build naqahdah generators. The Orbanians rely on children called "Urrone" to acquire knowledge. The Urrone possess nanites that allow them to absorb vast amounts of information, which they pass on to the general population when they reach a certain age called the "Averium", and their nanites are harvested. Jack O'Neill reacts strongly to this process, seeing it as child abuse since the Urrone regress to an infantile state after the Averium and remain that way as the Orbanians have no concept of traditional education. He causes a diplomatic incident by refusing to return the Urrone Merrin for her Averium and introducing her to Earth culture. O'Neill eventually relents, partly at Merrin's insistence. At her Averium, her experiences are transferred to the entire Orbanian race, who rediscover learning "the old way" and begin teaching their children again.
* Pangarans Humans from the planet Pangar, contacted by SG-1 in the episode "Cure". Their world was once ruled by Ra, who imprisoned the Tok'ra queen Egeria there. The Pangarans discovered her and, unaware that she was sentient, used her progeny to create the drug tretonin. The drug granted perfect health at the cost of destroying the user's immune system, causing a crisis when supplies ran low. After Egeria is freed by the Tok'ra Kelmaa, she tells the remorseful Pangarans how to free themselves from the tretonin.
* People of Tegalus Tegalus is divided between two nuclear-armed nations engaged in a cold war: the Rand Protectorate and the Caledonian Federation, both of which possess a large arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles. In sgcite|Icon, the arrival of a MALP through the Stargate causes a stir in Rand and leads to a short-lived "coup d'etat" by religious fanatics who still worship the Goa'uld. In sgcite|Ethon, Rand converts to Origin and is rewarded with the design for a powerful satellite weapon. Although a costly SGC intervention succeeds in opening a dialogue between Rand and Caledonia towards the resettlement of the Caledonians on another planet, talks soon break down and the two nations annihilate one another.
* People of the Land of Light Inhabitants of the tidally locked planet P3X-797, with a Bronze Age culture bearing similarities to the Minoan civilization. At the time of their first contact with SG-1 in sgcite|The Broca Divide, their people are split into the "Untouched", who live on the planet's light hemisphere, and the "Touched", who live on the dark hemisphere. The Touched are infected with a pathogen that regresses them to barbarism; after Dr. Janet Frasier discovers a cure, the two sides are reunited. The Land of Light often takes in refugees for the SGC.sgcite|Enigma|show=ref] sgcite|In the Line of Duty|show=ref] sgcite|Family|show=ref]

Q-Z

* Salish A migratory people descended from the Salish tribes of Pacific Northwest Native Americans. In the episode sgcite|Spirits, the SGC becomes interested in their planet for its deposits of the valuable metal trinium, which the Salish use to make tools and decorations. The Salish refuse to allow the SGC to mine the trinium, believing it would upset the spirits of the natural world. Under pressure from above, General Hammond orders mining to proceed without Salish permission, incurring the ire of their "spirits", in fact advanced aliens who freed the Salish from the Goa'uld a millennium ago. The Salish Spirits attack the SGC, until SG-1 convinces them that burying their Stargate would be a better solution than destroying the base.
* Shavadai Also known as "the people of the steppe", one of many warring nomadic tribes descended from the Mongols, encountered in sgcite|Emancipation. These tribes regard women as property, and restrict their rights in the belief that to do otherwise would bring "demons" (the Goa'uld) down upon them. Samantha Carter sets the Shavadai on the path to gender equality after defeating Turghan, an enemy warlord, in personal combat.
* Tagreans The civilization of the planet Tagrea, once ruled by the Goa'uld Heru-ur. When Heru-ur abandoned Tagrea three centuries ago, the memory of his occupation was so traumatic that the Tagreans buried their Stargate and wiped out all traces of their earlier history, so as to make a new start. In the episode sgcite|Memento, the Earth ship "Prometheus" is forced to make an emergency landing on Tagrea. Despite opposition from xenophobic elements of the Tagrean military, the progressive Chairman Ashwan assists SG-1 in locating the Stargate and eventually opens relations with Earth. The Tagreans are comparable to Earth in technology.
* Talthuns A spacefaring race from the planet Talthus, seen in sgcite|Lifeboat. They evacuated their original homeworld in three sleeper ships when it was threatened by a dark star. One of the ships, the "Stromos", which carried the Talthun Sovereign, veers off-course and crashes on P2A-347. A crew member transfers the mind of some of the passengers to Daniel Jackson in order to save them. After they are returned to their bodies, the SGC helps the Talthuns find a new home.
* Tiernod A cave-dewelling race under the protection of the Asgard, who gave them invisibility devices to hide from predators.sgcite|Shades of Grey|show=ref]
* Tobin Mentioned in the episode "The Serpent's Venom", the Phoenician-descended Tobin are extinct, but their legacy includes a vast minefield surrounding their homeworld. The mines are programmed to target certain energy frequencies, including Goa'uld weapons fire, making their world an ideal neutral ground for talks between Apophis and Heru-ur. Their numerical system varies from the ancient Phoenicians' in that it contains a zero, so as to meet the mathematical requirements of conditional programming. Their computer systems are color-coded.
* Valonans People who were terrorized by the Goa'uld, until the Ascended Ancient Orlin provided them with an advanced weapon. The Valonans used the weapon to attack other worlds, and as punishment, the Ancients destroyed the Valonans and banished Orlin to their ruined planet.
* Volians Members of the Aschen Confederation, encountered in the episode sgcite|2001. They speak a Celtic language of the Brythonic variety comparable to modern Welsh. Volia was once industrialized, but the Aschen covertly sterilized much of their population using a cure for a plague as pretense. By the time the Volians realized what was happening and fought back, it was too late. The Aschen converted most of their world to farmland and collapsed a gas giant in their star system into a second sun to double the growing season. Modern Volians are ignorant of their history and some are raised by Aschen families. The first talks between Earth and the Aschen take place on Volia, during which SG-1 uncovers a buried Volian city and learns the truth about the Aschen.
* Vyans People of the planet Vyus. In sgcite|Past and Present, the SG-1 find that the Vyans suffer from mass amnesia, which they call the "Vorlix", and that they have no elderly amongst them. Linea, the Destroyer of Worlds, is revealed to have inadvertently caused the Vorlix while experimenting with reversing aging. The SGC helps the Vyans recover their memories, but Linea chooses to forget her old self and start anew.

References