Ba'al (Stargate)
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| Stargate character | |
|---|---|
 Cliff Simon as Ba'al |
|
| Ba'al | |
| Race | Goa'uld |
| Gender | Male |
| Rank | System Lord |
| Portrayer | Cliff Simon |
| First episode | "Summit" |
Ba'al is a fictional character in the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, a Goa'uld based on the Ba'al of mythology. First introduced in Season 5 as one of the major Goa'uld System Lords, he becomes one of the show's major antagonists from Season 8 to the present. With the Ori having replaced the Goa'uld as the show's primary antagonists, Ba'al is the last remaining major Goa'uld character on the series. He is also the longest-running villain in Stargate history.
Although exceptionally ruthless, Ba'al seems to possess a somewhat better understanding of human nature than is typical for the Goa'uld and he has a vague understanding of the concept of humor; his style tends toward subtle insidiousness rather than outright cruelty. Unlike other Goa'uld, Ba'al is reasonable and, since the collapse of the old Goa'uld structure, acknowledges that he is not a god (prior to its downfall, he would treat his "godhood" rather flippantly to those who already knew about the secret - a marked contrast to other Goa'uld, who gave every impression of actually believing their own propaganda), but nevertheless he cares only for his own interests. He is played by South African actor Cliff Simon.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] War with Anubis
Ba'al was first seen in the two part episode in season five, "Summit/Last Stand", portrayed as one of the System Lords at the time. He also appeared to function as first among equals at the meeting, opening and leading votes. When Osiris appeared on behalf of Anubis to petition the System Lords to accept him back—on the condition that Anubis, in turn, destroy the Tau'ri—Ba'al was one of the System Lords supporting the petition.
Anubis subsequently failed in his attempts to destroy the Tau'ri and moved against the other System Lords, demonstrating an impressively powerful fleet which only the combined fleet of the System Lords could hope to take on. When Lord Yu's growing senility left him unable to lead the combined fleets, Teal'c convinced Ba'al to assume control of the fleets and lead the war against Anubis.
[edit] Rise and Fall
After Anubis's fleet was destroyed by the Ancients' Antarctic outpost, Ba'al seized control of Anubis's armies and technology, including captured Asgard teleportation technology, and waged war against all the other System Lords. This led the other Goa'uld into a failed attempt to negotiate with the Tau'ri for their support against Ba'al. Ba'al quickly began to conquer the other System Lords using Anubis' forces. However, at some point Anubis managed to return and secretly re-take control of his forces from Ba'al. Ba'al was forced to serve under Anubis, much to his displeasure.
Ba'al's advance against the other System Lords was stopped only by the long-anticipated invasion of the Replicators into the Milky Way galaxy. The Replicator armadas quickly overwhelmed and destroyed the Goa'uld System Lords, and Ba'al found himself fighting a losing battle against the invaders. When knowledge of an Ancient superweapon capable of destroying all life in the galaxy was discovered, Ba'al secretly assisted Samantha Carter and Jacob Carter in modifying the weapon, along with the Dial-Home Device associated with Dakara's Stargate, destroying all Replicators in the galaxy. Ba'al then moved in to take back Dakara when Rebel Jaffa stormed his ship, forcing him to beam away.
Even with the Replicators destroyed, Anubis still intended to claim the superweapon for himself and use it to destroy all life in the galaxy. Anubis allowed Ba'al to live so that he may bear witness to the end of all galactic life. When Anubis' plan is foiled by Daniel Jackson and Oma Desala, Ba'al is left as the only known surviving System Lord (the others having been killed by the Replicators - except for Anubis, who was neutralized by Oma).
With his power base gone following the destruction of the System Lords and the rebellion of the Jaffa, Ba'al needed a place to hide, and ended up seeking refuge on Earth itself. Ba'al then set himself up as a wealthy businessman to live out his exile.
[edit] The Clones
Ultimately, Ba'al was abducted and publicly executed by the Jaffa leader Gerak, causing the Jaffa and SG-1 to briefly believe Ba'al had finally been killed. However, Ba'al had secretly used the Trust's cloning technology to create multiple versions of himself. Not only was the Ba'al executed by Gerak merely a clone, but several Ba'als continued to be hiding on Earth with at least one other Ba'al presumed to be off-world, possibly in the Archeba system. Ba'al adapted well to the Earth lifestyle, and he even began incorporating elements of 21st century Earth fashion into his offworld System Lord wardrobe (such as long leather coats).
Ba'al is the Goa'uld who infiltrated The Trust. Most if not all surviving Goa'uld are under his command (this was already the trend under his figurehead for Anubis before The Replicators' invasion). He still commands some Jaffa (probably all from brainwashing) and human slaves. It is also likely that he still has some Kull Warriors and will make more at the first chance.
Later, Ba'al managed to regain an army by recruiting Jaffa, largely using mind control. One of Ba'al's clones initiated a scheme to take control of the Jaffa council to prevent their rise to democracy with his mind control technology, but the scheme was foiled and the clone killed by SG-1.
Ba'al also planned to rebuild his empire by using Asgard beaming technology to steal Stargates from other planets and hide them using a method developed by Nerus, Ba'al's former servant who defected to the Ori and was captured by the SGC. His plan was foiled when Nerus returned to Ba'al and accidentally downloaded a virus into one of Ba'al's motherships. The Stargates were then beamed off the mothership by the newly-built Earth ship, the Odyssey, and the mothership (along with several Ba'al clones) was destroyed by the Lucian Alliance.
Later, Ba'al arranged to have his clones captured by the SGC in an attempt to acquire their list of Stargate addresses. To this end, Agent Barrett was (presumably) brainwashed into giving one of the Ba'als his weapon, and all the Ba'als were implanted with locator chips which, when in close proximity to one another, amplified the signal they sent out.
When he discovered the existence of Merlin's Anti-Ori weapon that could not only destroy the Ori, but the Ancients as well, he found the planet where the weapon was located. His ships could not locate it, so he had to come by Stargate. However, the safeguards made by the ascended Ancient Morgan le Fay made it impossible for Ba'al to reach it. His Jaffa had abandoned him, trying to find a way to free him from a forcefield. He was then forced to work alongside SG-1 and the Orici Adria. He was transported to the tomb of Myrddin when the Ancient was awakened who, in his daze, likened Ba'al to Mordred. Ba'al attempted for the remainder of the time to find a way to dial out from the planets stargate which was locked into a random system that beamed the occupants of Myrddins tomb to random worlds in a closed gate system to prevent discovery by the Ori. This version of Ba'al would be stunned by Ori soldiers that would finally locate the world and is presumed to be dead.
Ba'al returned in the episode Dominion, when SG-1 had sucessfuly managed to lure Adria into a trap, Ba'als Jaffa beamed in, and took her. He had plans to use Adria to have the Ori forces leave. He implanted yet another of his cloned Symbiotes within her, but also assassinated his other clones at a meeting of sorts. After SG-1 re-captured Adria, and extracted the symbiote, it is unknown if more Ba'al clones exist, although it is likely, as he makes a return in the second of the Direct to DVD Stargate Movies scheduelled for late 2007. This movie contains time-travel, so his survival may be attributed to an alternate reality, opposed to merely surviving SG-1's rescue of Adria.
[edit] Ba'al and Jack O'Neill
In the Season 6 episode "Abyss", then-SG-1 leader Jack O'Neill was found himself captured by Ba'al's forces. Jack was repeatedly tortured to death and revived by sarcophagus until his eventual escape. Since then, Jack has expressed a particular dislike for Ba'al, above and beyond his distaste for all Goa'uld. He even refused to help Ba'al when they found themselves with the common enemy of the Replicators. Ba'al has demonstrated a similar loathing for O'Neill as well.
| Recurring characters on Stargate SG-1 | Edit | |
| Tau'ri | Malcolm Barrett | Jacob Carter | Chekov | Adrian Conrad | Major Davis | Paul Emerson | Louis Ferretti | Janet Fraiser Walter Harriman | Charles Kawalsky | Robert Kinsey | Carolyn Lam | Catherine Langford | Bill Lee | Harry Maybourne Rodney McKay | Lionel Pendergast | Robert Rothman | Frank Simmons | Pete Shanahan | Siler | Richard Woolsey |
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| Other Humans | Cassandra | Kasuf | Linea | Ma'chello | Martin Lloyd | Sha're | Shifu | Skaara | |
| Goa'uld | Amonet | Anubis | Apophis | Ba'al | Cronus | Hathor | Heru-ur Nerus | Nirrti | Osiris | Ra | Sokar | Tanith | Yu | Zipacna |
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| Jaffa | Bra'tac | Gerak | Ishta | Rya'c | |
| Other | Adria | Chaka | Fifth | Harlan | Merlin | Oma Desala | Reese | Replicator Carter | Thor | |
| Lists by race | All | Tau'ri | Ancient, Aschen, Asgard, Goa'uld, Jaffa, Langaran, Lucian Alliance Ori, Replicator, Tok'ra, Tollan, System Lord |
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