Ancient characters in Stargate

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In the Stargate fictional universe, the Ancients, also known as the Alterans and Lanteans, are the most advanced race known to have existed, having evolved millions of years prior to the present day and reaching their level of technology long before Human life evolved on Earth.

This is a list of the Ancient characters that have appeared so far in Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.

Contents 1 Aurora Captain 2 Ayiana 3 Chaya Sar 4 Helia 5 Janus 6 Melia 7 Ganos Lal/Morgan le Fay 8 Moros/Myrddin/Merlin 9 Oma Desala 10 Orlin 11 Trebal 12 Other Ancients 13 References

[edit] Aurora Captain

Stargate character
The Captain of the Ancient warship Aurora
Unknown
Race	Ancient
ATA	Ancient
Gender	Male
Rank	Captain
Portrayer	Bruce Dawson
First episode	"Aurora"

Captain of the Ancient warship Aurora during the last days of the war with the Wraith. His ship left for the outer rim of the Pegasus Galaxy after Atlantis had already been submerged during the first siege. He was ordered by the Atlantean Council to conduct reconnaissance on their enemy.

Ultimately his crew discovered a vital weakness in Wraith technology, information that could change the outcome of their war with the Wraith in the Ancients' favour. However, the information was not given to the Captain personally for fear of capture and coercion, and was instead stored in the ship's database. The Aurora was eventually attacked and severely damaged by the Wraith, and the crew were forced to enter stasis pods to save their lives.

Ten thousand years later, a Wraith scout ship discovered the vessel, and gained access to its systems. After killing first officer Trebal, a Wraith took her place inside her stasis pod, accessing the virtual reality the crew was experiencing. This Wraith's ultimate goal was to manipulate the crew of the Aurora into teaching him how to upgrade their hyperdrive technology. The captain was no longer aware that they were in fact experiencing an artificial environment, and did not realize that he was being fooled by the enemy.

When John Sheppard entered the environment, the Captain suspected that he might have been telling the truth, but the Wraith impersonating Trebal convinced him Sheppard was lying. After Sheppard revealed that Trebal was a Wraith and eventually managed to explain the situation, the Aurora captain offered the information concerning the weakness in Wraith technology to Sheppard, but it had already been deleted from the database by the invading Wraith. With two Wraith cruisers approaching the Aurora and their bodies too aged to function on their own, the Captain activated the self destruct sequence. The Aurora and all hands on board were destroyed, taking two Wraith cruisers with them. The Captain's last wish was that Sheppard and his team would keep the memory of the Aurora and its valiant crew alive. ^[1]

• The name of this character was not mentioned in the episode.

[edit] Ayiana

Stargate character
Ayiana in Frozen
"Ayiana"
Race	Ancient
ATA	Ancient
Gender	Female
Portrayer	Ona Grauer
First episode	"Frozen"

Ayiana was the name given to an Ancient woman who lived on Earth between five and ten million years ago. When her people took the city of Atlantis to the Pegasus Galaxy, she was the one Ancient left behind in the Ancient outpost in what would later be called Antarctica. ^[2]

Millions of years later, in 2002 (episode "Frozen"), she was unearthed in a block of ice not far from where the second Stargate was discovered over four years before. Her name, which is the Cherokee word for "eternal bloom", was given to her by Dr. Francine Michaels, one of the researchers who found her whose grandfather was one-quarter Cherokee. (The character's true name was therefore never revealed). SG-1 and Dr. Janet Fraiser were called in to study her. They were shocked to discover upon defrosting her that she was, in fact, alive in a state of cryogenic suspension.

She was the first indication that Ancients were advanced humans who evolved (not necessarily on Earth) millions of years ago. It was later surmised that they were the first evolution of humanity while the humans currently living on Earth and throughout the Milky Way are the second. After spending only a few hours with Jonas Quinn, she was able to fully understand every word of English that he said and could even speak some herself. This was another sign of how advanced she and her people were compared to present day humans. She also possessed the ability to heal almost any injury, though she was severely weakened in the process.

Unfortunately, Ayiana carried the disease that had ravaged her people millions of years ago and infected all of the researchers, SG-1 and Fraiser. All except for Teal'c, whose Goa'uld symbiote protected him from many different types of diseases and infections, soon began to exhibit symptoms. Feeling enormously guilty for this, Ayiana used her abilities to heal them despite the huge risk to herself. She succeeded in completely healing all but Jack O'Neill before she collapsed. She was subsequently brought to the SGC where she died soon afterwards from exhaustion. O'Neill, fortunately, was soon cured when he was blended with a Tok'ra symbiote. ^[3]

Three years later, it became known that the virus which wiped out most of the Ancients millions of years ago, the virus Ayiana carried, bears similarities to the biological weapon created by the Ori. ^[4]

• Ayiana is one of only two Ancients appearing both in Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis - the other being Moros.

[edit] Chaya Sar

Stargate character
Chaya Sar in Sanctuary
Chaya Sar/Athar
Race	Ancient
ATA	Ancient
Gender	Female
Birthplace	Proculus
Portrayer	Leonor Varela
First episode	"Sanctuary"

Chaya Sar, worshipped as Athar on Proculus, a planet in the Pegasus Galaxy, was an ascended Ancient encountered by the Atlantis Expedition. She was posing as the human high priestess of Athar, living secluded from the rest of the people on Proculus. She entertained visitors from the city of Atlantis and expressed an interest in seeing the city. Sheppard allowed her to accompany them back to Atlantis in the hopes of using her planet as a sanctuary for refugees. There, she was allowed to access the human computers and learn a great deal about the spiritual beliefs of the peoples of Earth. Chaya found it disturbing that humans, even now, were at war on the Atlantis Expedition's home world. She also lit up the biometrics console, making them think she was the first human with the ATA gene they had found in the Pegasus Galaxy.

She eventually took a liking to Major Sheppard and he, not knowing what she was at first, invited her to dinner and kissed her. Rodney McKay however was convinced Chaya posed a security risk, and it was McKay who, by doing some scans during an interview between Chaya and Dr. Weir, discovered her true identity. Soon after, Chaya felt ill as her planet was being attacked by the Wraith. Taking her Ascended form again, she returned to her planet through the Stargate.

Sheppard followed her with a Puddle Jumper, and learned that she could not help them. When she ascended, she was unable to leave her people behind and used her powers to destroy the Wraith when they attacked Proculus. The other Ancients punished her by allowing her to protect her planet, but no one else. Over the millennia she had become lonely, and that was why she went to Atlantis. In the end, she shared herself with Sheppard by swirling her ascended energy around the both of them. ^[5]

• Chaya was the only encountered ascended (ANCIENT) being who could switch freely between corporeal and incorporeal form. When Orlin assumed corporeal form he was unable to become pure energy again without the help of the others, and Daniel's manifestations during his time as an ascended being were just insubstantial images. The other Ascended being who could switch freely was Shifu, the Harcesis child, he was corporeal, and Dr Fraser even took some blood from him. He ended that episode by becoming energy, and flying through the stargate.

[edit] Helia

Stargate character
Helia in The Return
Helia
Race	Ancient
ATA	Ancient
Gender	Female
Rank	Captain
Portrayer	Megan Leitch
First episode	"The Return"

Helia was the Captain of the Ancient warship Tria, during the last days of their war with the Wraith.

After her ship had been damaged in battle, the Tria went to Atlantis to join the evacuation, but was forced to travel back to Earth after learning Atlantis had been evacuated. Because of the damage the ship had received, the hyperdrive failed midway through their voyage to the Milky Way. Unable to return to the Pegasus Galaxy, Helia accelerated the ship using a ZPM tied into the ship's engines, and continued on course for Earth at 0.999 times the speed of light. At this speed, the voyage would take millions of years, though the crew would only have to spend a few years in stasis due to relativity.

When the Daedalus located their ship and took them back to Atlantis, Helia locked down the city. They asked the Atlantis Expedition to leave, though they promised to eventually allow them to return, once the Ancients had time to readjust. An IOA representative, Richard Woolsey, however was allowed to remain on Atlantis. When the Asurans sent a ship to attack Atlantis, Helia ordered them to return to Asuras, believing that they would be unable to hurt the Ancients. However, the Asurans had been able to overcome this directive in their programming, attacked and captured the city, and subsequently killed all the Ancients occupying it.^[6]

Megan Leitch who plays Helia, also played "Linea" when she was suffering from Amnesia from the "Fountain of Youth" Effects going by the name of Ke'ra.

• Helia was one of the five daughters of the sun god Helios in Greek mythology.

[edit] Janus

Stargate character
Janus in Before I Sleep
Janus
Race	Ancient
ATA	Ancient
Gender	Male
Portrayer	Gildart Jackson
First episode	"Before I Sleep"

Janus was an Ancient scientist who lived during the first siege of Atlantis by the Wraith.

10,000 years ago, Janus, against the orders of the Atlantean High Council, created a time machine, which was integrated into a Puddle Jumper.

When Dr. Elizabeth Weir, John Sheppard, and Dr. Radek Zelenka accidentally traveled back through time using Janus' time machine from an alternate version of 2004, where her expedition was stranded on a flooding Atlantis, Janus helped recover the crashed Jumper, and tended to the wounds of the only survivor, Dr. Weir.

Janus was receptive to Weir's story, and realised his time travel device could give Weir a chance to save the future Atlantis Expedition. However, the Atlantian Council, especially High Councilor Moros, was angered when they were confronted with a woman, 10,000 years from the future.

Both Weir and Janus pleaded to return her to the future, but the Council was unwilling to risk further damage to the timeline. Janus then disobeyed the orders of Moros and his fellow Councillors, and reconfigured Atlantis' Zero Point Modules to enable them to last longer. He also programmed Atlantis' DHD to block all incoming wormholes except those coming from Earth. As a final fail safe he programmed the city to release itself from the ocean floor and rise to the surface in case of a catastrophic shield failure.

Janus betrayed his superiors again when the last Ancient survivors were leaving Atlantis for Earth, and told Moros that Weir had already left the city. In truth, he had helped her to remain behind and put herself in stasis, so that she could aid her future self saving the city. ^[7]

Janus had promised Weir that he would try to build another time machine, and it is believed that he did what he promised, despite the council's objections. Another Puddle Jumper capable of time travel was eventually found by SG-1 on Arkhan's planet, along with inscriptions describing the planet's history and future in Ancient, possibly written by Janus himself. ^[8]

• Janus was named for Janus, the two-faced Roman god of time.

[edit] Melia

Stargate character
Melia in Before I Sleep
Melia
Race	Ancient
ATA	Ancient
Gender	Female
Rank	Council Member
Portrayer	Melia McClure
First episode	"Rising"
Key episodes	"Before I Sleep"

Melia was a member of the Atlantean High Council during the first siege of Atlantis, some ten millennia ago.

She was first seen as the hologram upon the Atlantis expedition arrival to Atlantis, where she described the history of the Ancients in the Pegasus Galaxy. ^[2]

In the episode "Before I Sleep", an alternate version of Elizabeth Weir who had travelled back through time, was brought before the council. Melia explained to Weir how the Atlanteans were under siege by the Wraith. They had sunk their great city under the ocean as a measure of protection. While sympathetic to Weir and Janus, Melia agreed with the other members of the council that they could not send Dr. Weir back to her own time to protect the time line.

Later in the episode Melia was last seen walking through the Stargate returning to Earth with the final Ancients that would later ascend, die out, or would interbreed with their second evolution (humans). ^[7]

• Melia was probably named after Melia, a nymph in Greek mythology. However, the writers could simply have used the first name of the actress, Melia McClure.

• Prior to her name being revealed on screen, the character was referred to by many fans as "Holly" due to her initial appearance as a hologram.

[edit] Ganos Lal/Morgan le Fay

Stargate character
Morgan le Fay posing as a hologram in The Pegasus Project
Ganos Lal
Race	Ancient
ATA	Ancient
Gender	Female
Portrayer	Sarah Strange
First episode	"The Pegasus Project"

Ganos Lal, is an ascended Ancient who gave rise to the legend of Morgan le Fay, a character in Arthurian legend.

Morgan le Fay, or Ganos Lal at the time, was originally an inhabitant of the Ancient city of Atlantis, where she designed a holographic learning program based on her image to teach young Lantean children about Ancient technology, history and science. When it became clear that the Ancients had been defeated by the Wraith, she fled back to Earth with the other surviving Ancients. There, she secluded herself in meditation, which eventually enabled her to ascend.

When fellow ascended Ancient Myrddin descended in order to construct a weapon to fight the Ori, that could be used against the Ancients themselves, Morgan le Fay was assigned to watch him and, if necessary, prevent him from completing the weapon. For a time in Earth history, she was his rival. However, Myrddin conducted his research in another dimension, thus hiding it from the Ancients and Morgan le Fay.

Although originally a fierce opponent of the creation of an anti-Ori weapon, she eventually, like Myrddin, came to believe that the Ori could some day become a threat to the Ancients themselves. When SG-1 came to Atlantis to search for the weapon, she decided to covertly help Daniel Jackson locate the weapon by posing as a hologram in the learning program she designed ten millennia earlier.

However, Daniel Jackson recognised her as an ascended Ancient, and pushed her to reveal more information. Morgan le Fay, both believing that interfering with the lower planes of existence would make the Ancients no better then the Ori and fearing the punishment of the other Ancients, was hesitant to do so. Just when she was about to give more information about Myrddin's weapon, she was stopped by her peers. Her last words before being snatched away were "Merlin's weapon is not..." ^[9]

The fate of Morgan le Fay remains unknown, however, it is likely that she will be severely punished by the Ancients, or even be forced to take human form again.

Apparently, Morgan eventually found the Sangraal and hid it on a planet where it would be safe from both the Ori and the Ancients. The planet in question was undetectable from space, and an Orici's powers were rendered useless on the surface. The Sangraal itself was protected by several Ancient riddles and challenges. ^[10] However, in actuallity, she put Merlin in stasis to wait for the one day when he would rebuild after she was forced to destroy the original.

[edit] Moros/Myrddin/Merlin

Main article: Moros (Stargate)

Moros was the High Councilor of Atlantis during the days of the first siege of Atlantis. He eventually returned to Earth and ascended.

He eventually chose to take human form again, believing the Ori were a threat to the Ancients, and designed a weapon to defeat them. He also gave rise to Arthurian legend, posing as the wizard Merlin.

[edit] Oma Desala

Main article: Oma Desala

Oma Desala is an Ancient who focuses herself on helping other beings ascend to the higher plane on which the Ancients now live. In doing so, she has become an outcast by the other Ancients.

Going against the ways of the Ancients, Oma believes it is her responsibility as an ascended being to guide those beneath to enlightenment. She can guide individuals to the path, knowing it is they, and they alone, who can make the decision of whether or not to travel the great path. She is known for speaking in riddles, but her words carry great wisdom. Her intent is to ascend people who are "worthy" however she is responsible for partially ascending (he only partially ascended because the other Ancients stepped in and sent him back half-way to 'punish' Oma for her mistake) Anubis, causing him to gain a big advantage over the other Goa'uld. Her punishment was to stand and watch as Anubis abused his advantage. After this she ascends Daniel Jackson and eventually decides to sacrifice her life and spend an eternity fighting Anubis to prevent him from wreaking further havoc on the galaxy.

[edit] Orlin

Stargate character
Orlin
Orlin
Race	Ancient
ATA	Ancient
Gender	Male
Portrayer	Sean Patrick Flanery (adult form) Cameron Bright (child form)
First episode	"Ascension"
Key episodes	"The Fourth Horseman"

Orlin, played by Sean Patrick Flanery, was an outcast Ancient, forced to remain on the dead planet Velona following a terrible tragedy. Orlin came upon the world of Velona long ago, and took pity on the people's struggle against the Goa'uld. Breaking the rules of the Ancients, Orlin gave the people Ancient technology, particularly weapon specifications to Velona materials (it is doubtful he revealed himself directly), from which they constructed an advanced Ancient space gun.

It was not long before the Goa'uld presence was destroyed, and the people celebrated. Unfortunately, this new-found technology birthed ideas of power and corruption, and they soon planned to exploit their enemies on other planets, using the weapon to conquer those worlds. The Ancients saw this possibility and killed the entire civilization, leaving their cities in rubble and Velona's people extinct. Orlin, for his disobedience, was banished for eternity amongst the wreckage he had instigated, to walk among the dead for all time.

Orlin's fate changed with the arrival of SG-1. He was immediately taken with Major Samantha Carter and tried to merge with her thoughts. The unprepared scientist, however, blacked out. Be it secretly or known, Orlin was allowed to leave the planet with SG-1, concealed in an invisible form, to walk among the humans, particularly Carter. He returned with her to her home and remained inside her residence, watching her while she slept. The next morning he showed himself to her, and almost immediately told her he had fallen in love. He proved he had come through the Stargate by crossing through a table.

Carter left the house and sent in a search team, but Orlin was not to be found. He only returned after Carter believed all of surveillance devices were gone, which was not the truth. Orlin revealed himself to be an ascended being. Carter told him of Oma Desala, but he had no knowledge of her because she had been an outcast.

For weeks Orlin seeped into Carter's confidence. They took walks together and discussed the future and his presence. Orlin eventually gave up his powers as an ascended being altogether, becoming fully human again, and planned to spend the rest of his life with her in that form. But the Pentagon had been observing him and his very real presence with Carter, observing acquisition requests being sent to Carter's home. While she was on-base, he ordered parts and equipment from the Internet and developed a miniature Stargate in her basement. When the N.I.D. finally moved in on the house, Orlin activated the Stargate and traveled back to Velona, Carter following. There he discovered the humans planned on studying the Ancient technology, and refused to accept that the same fate would fall upon Earth.

After a member of SG-16 shot Orlin, the Ancients believed he had redeemed himself. They re-ascended him as a reward for his great attempts to sacrifice himself for the Tau'ri. Once ascended, he took the core of the naqahdah reactor powering the space gun, which could not be stopped from activating, into the atmosphere, where it detonated. Immediately he (or the Ancients) destroyed the Ancient space gun so that SG-16 could never replicate the technology. ^[11]

Later, Orlin returned in the form of a child (played by Cameron Bright). This time, he is permanently human, and his child form is intentional; he needs to be in that form in order to retain even a fraction of the knowledge of the Ancients. He tells the SGC that the feud between Alterans and Ori, false promises of ascension and how the Ori gain power. He does succeed in developing a line of research into a cure for the Ori plague, but it requires a bit of material (namely, Prior DNA) which the SGC has not yet obtained. In addition, his gambit with taking child form fails, and he quickly loses memory. Prior to this, he does tell the SGC that Origin and its promise of Ascension are lies. He is interned in a mental institution, having lost all of his memories from his time as an ascended, and suffering significant brain damage from holding on that long. ^[12]

[edit] Trebal

Stargate character
Trebal in Aurora
Trebal
Race	Ancient
ATA	Ancient
Gender	Female
Rank	First Officer
Portrayer	Pascale Hutton
First episode	"Aurora"

Trebal was the first officer of the Ancient warship Aurora during the last days of her people's war with the Wraith.

Trebal had served with the Aurora's Captain for many years, and was his trusted right hand. She, along with the rest of the crew, was sent on a mission by the Atlantean High Council to conduct reconnaissance on their enemy, the Wraith. The ship was sent to the outer reaches of the Pegasus Galaxy where it discovered a vital weakness in Wraith technology, information that could turn the tide of the Ancients' struggle with the Wraith. After the Aurora was attacked and severely damaged by the Wraith, Trebal, along with the rest of the crew, was forced to enter a stasis pod to save her life.

After the Wraith discovered the Aurora ten thousand years later, Trebal was killed by an invading Wraith when she was forcibly removed from her stasis pod. The Wraith subsequently assumed her identity in the artificial environment that networked the minds of the Ancients in stasis, as part of an elaborate scheme to discover how to upgrade Wraith hyperdrive technology. The plan eventually failed after John Sheppard and his team discovered Trebal's body and the Wraith in stasis. ^[1]

• Trebal was never seen in person, as a Wraith had been impersonating her the entire episode. Still, her corpse could be seen outside her stasis pod.

[edit] Other Ancients

Name	Rank/Position	First Appearance	Status	Played by
Hippaforalkus	Ancient general.	"Inferno"	Unknown, most likely deceased.	None - It was only a mentioned name.
	The Battleship Orion was originally named after this general, although the name was quickly changed by John Sheppard.

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Aurora" (Stargate Atlantis)
2. ^ ^{a b} "Rising" (Stargate Atlantis)
3. ^ "Frozen" (Stargate SG-1)
4. ^ "The Powers That Be" (Stargate SG-1)
5. ^ "Sanctuary" (Stargate Atlantis)
6. ^ "The Return" (Stargate Atlantis)
7. ^ ^{a b} "Before I Sleep" (Stargate Atlantis)
8. ^ "It's Good to Be King" (Stargate SG-1)
9. ^ "The Pegasus Project" (Stargate SG-1)
10. ^ "The Quest" (Stargate SG-1)
11. ^ "Ascension" (Stargate SG-1)
12. ^ "The Fourth Horseman" (Stargate SG-1)

Recurring characters on Stargate Atlantis		Edit
Tau'ri	Bates | Laura Cadman | Steven Caldwell | Peter Grodin | Kate Heightmeyer | Kavanagh | Bill Lee | Lorne | Lindsey Novak Richard Woolsey | Radek Zelenka
Other	Acastus Kolya | Lucius Lavin
Lists by race	All | Tau'ri | Ancient, Asgard, Asuran, Athosian, Genii, Wraith

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
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
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