Arkad - Jaffa

"Ishta" redirects here. For the 2011 Kannada-language film, see Ishta (film).

The Jaffa are an offshoot of humanity, genetically engineered by the Goa'uld. They have an abdominal pouch which serves to incubate larval Goa'uld. The infant Goa'uld provides strength, longevity, and good health, at the cost of supplanting the Jaffa's natural immune system, making them dependent on the Goa'uld for more symbiotes. The Jaffa have a warrior culture and form the armies of the Goa'uld. In season 8 of Stargate SG-1, the Jaffa Resistance wins their race's freedom from Goa'uld oppression, resulting in the Free Jaffa Nation.

  • Bra'tac, played by Tony Amendola (seasons 1–3, 5–10) – A Jaffa warrior, former First Prime of the Goa'uld System Lord Apophis, and Teal'c's former teacher and closest friend. Bra'tac is over 133 years of age. He is introduced in season 1's "Bloodlines" and is one of the most frequently recurring characters on Stargate SG-1. Bra'tac, having been one of the first Jaffa to doubt the Goa'uld as gods, has been an outcast among the Jaffa since at least season 1. Bra'tac was also the one who initially influenced Teal'c to doubt the Goa'uld as well. Bra'tac helps Teal'c and SG-1 on many missions. He is initially suspicious of the humans, particularly O'Neill. This dynamic is played out somewhat comically, but Bra'tac slowly learns to trust and respect humans. In seasons 1 and 2, Bra'tac helps to save Teal'c's son, Rya'c from several threats and becomes a guardian to him. During a mission to find the Harcesis child (Shifu) on Kheb in season 3's "Maternal Instinct", Bra'tac is presented with the idea of Ascension but in the end decides against this possibility for himself. At the end of season 6, Bra'tac and Teal'c are both badly wounded during a Jaffa meeting and lose their symbiotes, surviving only by taking the new drug Tretonin. Bra'tac is the primary instigator of the Jaffa Resistance, a rebellion aimed at overthrowing the Goa'uld and establishing the freedom of all Jaffa. At the end of season 8, Bra'tac and Teal'c convince the other members of the Jaffa Rebellion to attack Dakara in an ultimately successful mission. The Jaffa obtain freedom, and Bra'tac receives a position of honor. Bra'tac becomes a member of the High Council, the governing body of the new Free Jaffa Nation but still stays loyal to Stargate Command. Some time after the destruction of Dakara by the Ori, leaders of the Free Jaffa Nation meet to consider the future, but Bra'tac and Teal'c are badly injured during an ambush by a former enemy of Teal'c. When they get nursed back at the SGC, Bra'tac tells Teal'c that he is like a son to him.
  • Drey'auc, played by Salli Richardson (season 1) and Brook Parker (seasons 2, 5) – Introduced in "Bloodlines" as Teal'c's wife and mother to Rya'c. Drey'auc remains a loyal follower of Apophis even after Teal'c had defected to Earth. She works diligently to restore Apophis's faith in her and her son so that Rya'c can reach puberty. Unable to support herself and her son by season 2's "Family", Drey'auc is forced to marry the Jaffa Fro'tak for financial and political security, but Fro'tak betrays them to Apophis when he deduces that she had never stopped loving Teal'c. After Fro'tak's death, she and Rya'c take refuge in the Land of Light and eventually move to a Jaffa rebel camp. Drey'auc's unwillingness to obtain a new symbiote to replace her matured one leads to her death in season 6's "Redemption", where Teal'c cremates her.
  • Gerak, played by Louis Gossett, Jr. (season 9) – The former First Prime of Montu. He is first mentioned in season 9's "Avalon, Part 2", and appears one episode later in "Origin" as the first leader of the Free Jaffa Nation and the first head of the Jaffa High Council. As the leader of the traditionalist faction, he is the political rival of Teal'c. When Gerak helps SG-1 in thwarting a plan of the Ori to construct a Supergate in "Beachhead", he inadvertently aids the Ori. Gerak's forces are able to capture Ba'al (later revealed as a clone) in "Ex Deus Machina" and execute him before the Council, scoring a big moral victory for the traditionalists. Although the episode "Origin" outlines Gerak as a firm believer in freedom for all Jaffa and a firm opponent of the Ori, a Prior convinces Gerak in mid-season 9's "The Fourth Horseman" that Origin should be the goal of all Jaffa. Gerak is transformed into a Prior, and when Teal'c convinces him to betray the Ori, a loyalty fail-safe triggers in Gerak and kills him.
  • Haikon, played by Tony Todd (season 9) – Leader of the Sodan people on P9G-844, where he worshipped the Ancients and spent most of his life in search of Ascension. After a visit by an Ori Prior in "Babylon", he instructs the Sodan to switch their spiritual beliefs from the Ancients to the Ori. He also presides over the ritual duel of kel shak lo between Mitchell and the Sodan warrior Jolan. Ordered to attack defenseless farmers in the name of the Ori, Haikon begins to question the Ori's worthiness as gods and finally renounces Origin. He collaborates with SG-1 in "The Fourth Horseman" to capture a Prior and find a cure against the Prior's plague. Haikon makes his last appearance in "Arthur's Mantle", where he is severely wounded by an undead Sodan, Vol'nek. Haikon's symbiote dies, but SG-12 offers him tretonin.
  • Herak, played by Michael Adamthwaite (seasons 6–7) – Introduced in "The Other Guys" as the First Prime of Khonsu, whom he kills after discovering his being a Tok'ra spy. Herak becomes the First Prime of Anubis and follows his orders in "Full Circle" and season 7's "Fallen"/"Homecoming", but fails to succeed each time. Herak is aboard Anubis' ship above Antarctica in "Lost City" when it gets destroyed. • Before being cast, Michael Adamthwaite watched Stargate SG-1 on a part-time fan basis. He auditioned for the show when he was 20 and knew it was a potentially recurring role. According to Adamswaithe, the character "takes pride in the art of killing, the art of war, the art of mastering your enemy" and "hopes that his actions take him to a positive end for his purposes, which are to follow the Goa'uld lords". Herak is one the few Jaffa humans under Anubis' command at the end of season 7 who has not been replaced by Kull Warriors. What angers Herak most is O'Neill's jocular antagonism.
  • Ishta (meaning beloved or "greatest one" in Sanskrit), played by Jolene Blalock (season 7–8) – Leader of the Hak'tyl and love interest of Teal'c. Her former position as the Goa'uld Moloc's temple high priestess enabled her for years to secretly bring many girls to another world named Hak'tyl; Moloc would have killed the newborn Jaffa girls as needless otherwise. Ishta first appears in "Birthright" where the Hak'tyl ask Earth for an alliance, and the drug Tretonin seems like a solution to the Hak'tyl's symbiote problems. Ishta kisses Teal'c goodbye when she leaves Earth. Ishta reappears one year later in "Sacrifices" where she approaches Teal'c to help her kill Moloc. The female resistance is forced to evacuate to SGC until they find a new homeworld.
  • Ka'lel, played by Simone Bailly (seasons 7–9) – A female Jaffa warrior formerly under the service of Moloc. When SG-1 first meets her in "Birthright", she is involved with the Hak'tyl resistance movement under Ishta to fight Moloc. Ka'lel becomes a representative for the Hak'tyl in the newly-formed Jaffa High Council in the Free Jaffa Nation in season 9. She gives SG-1 valuable information about Ba'al to SG-1 in "Ex Deus Machina" and initially supports Teal'c's attempts to replace the Council by a democratically elected government. Ba'al brainwashes her into changing her opinion in "Stronghold".
  • Rak'nor, played by Obi Ndefo (seasons 4–7, 9) – A Jaffa warrior whose father had burned the Goa'uld symbol off Rak'nor's forehead in the belief that Teal'c's rebellion against the Goa'uld would soon free all Jaffa, but the execution of his father pushed Rak'nor into the service of the Goa'uld Heru-ur. In season 4's "The Serpent's Venom" Rak'nor captures Teal'c in Heru'ur's name but gets convinced of Teal'c's cause. Rak'nor joins the rebel Jaffa to lead them on Teal'c's behalf and appears again in season 5's "The Warrior", season 6's "Allegiance" and season 7's "Orpheus". After the collapse of the Goa'uld Empire and the emergence of the Free Jaffa Nation, Rak'nor serves as one of Teal'c's and Bra'tac's allies among the progressive faction, and last appears serving as Teal'c's proxy during votes in season 9's "Avalon".
  • Rya'c, played by Neil Denis (seasons 1–2, 6–8) – The young son of Teal'c and Drey'auc. After Teal'c defects to Earth, Rya'c and his mother are forced to live as pariahs. In season 1's "Bloodlines", Teal'c prevents a ceremony that would have given Rya'c a symbiote to cure his illness. Apophis captures Rya'c in season 2's "Family" and brainwashes him into publicly denouncing his father, but Teal'c and SG-1 are able to break the conditioning. Rya'c grows up under the tutelage of Bra'tac and is taught the ways of the Jaffa. After Drey'auc's death in season 6's "Redemption", Teal'c allows Rya'c to go on his first mission. Rya'c and Bra'tac are captured trying to recruit more allies for the Jaffa rebellion and become prisoners of war in season 7's "Orpheus". In his last appearance in season 8's "Sacrifices", Rya'c marries Kar'yn, a young female Hak'tyl warrior with whom he has fallen in love, despite Teal'c's initial objections.
  • Oshu, played by Kevan Ohtsji (seasons 7–8) – First Prime of Yu who makes his first appearance in "Fallen". Despite knowing of Yu's deteriorating mental health, Oshu remains loyal to his master. Teal'c eventually convinces Oshu in "Homecoming" to bypass Yu for the greater good. Oshu accompanies Yu to the SGC in "New Order" and speaks for him to negotiate a treaty with Earth. Oshu last appears in "Reckoning" and is present when Replicator Carter stabs Yu to death as part of her invasion of the Milky Way galaxy.
  • Yat'Yir, played by Gardiner Millar (season 9) – A Free Jaffa formerly in the service of Montu and now a member of the Jaffa High Council. Yat'Yir is introduced as a trusted aide of the Jaffa leader Gerak in "Origin" and personally conducts a raid on Earth to find Ba'al in "Ex Deus Machina". In "The Fourth Horseman", Yat'Yir expresses his concerns about Gerak's Ori proposal and remains a member of the High Council after Gerak's death. Yat'Yir is present for the Jaffa democracy referendum in "Stronghold".

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