Bates (Stargate)
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| Stargate character | |
 Sergeant Bates in Letters From Pegasus |
|
| Bates | |
|---|---|
| Race | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Birthplace | US, Earth |
| Known relatives | Unnamed younger brother |
| Television portrayer | Dean Marshall |
| Key episodes | "Rising" (first appearance) |
Sergeant Bates is a fictional USMC non-commissioned officer played by Dean Marshall in television series Stargate Atlantis. First introduced in the two-part series premiere "Rising", Bates is African-American and around 20-25 years of age.
Bates is a career military man who has demonstrated the abilities of thoroughness and extreme caution. A "by the book" NCO, he is highly suspicious of non-military persons and officers who do not operate "by the book" themselves, a trait which often puts him into conflict with Maj. John Sheppard.
He has a younger brother, with whom he shares an interest in the sport of basketball and one of its teams, the Los Angeles Lakers. He is a fan of Lakers' players Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant [1].
[edit] History
Bates was second-in-command of the USMC security forces under Colonel Marshall Sumner, and was among the first troops who arrived in Atlantis. When Rodney McKay determined that the city's ZPM's would soon run out of power, after which the shield protecting the submerged city from flooding would fail, Bates was sent to scout for a possible evacuation site along with Colonel Sumner and Major Sheppard.
While surveying the planet Athos, he and Sumner were captured by the Wraith and imprisoned on a Hive Ship. He was subsequently rescued by John Sheppard along with several Athosians captives. When Sheppard became the highest ranking officer of the expedition, and thus relegated to command Atlantis' premiere SG team, Bates was charged with Atlantis' base security by Dr. Elizabeth Weir [2].
In this new role, he became highly suspicious of the Athosian refugees they had rescued, believing them to be a security threat. This belief was tested when it was discovered that the Wraith had planted a homing device in an old necklace worn by Teyla Emmagan, a homing device inadvertently activated by Sheppard upon touching it (as the device detected the Ancient gene). While the homing device did not directly bring the Wraith to Atlantis, it did bring the Wraith to planets visited by the Atlantis Expedition, which had been seeded with subspace relay stations that broadcasted the signal to the closest hive-ship. [3]
While Teyla was absolved from being a security threat, she again became a topic of argument between Bates and Sheppard when it was discovered that Teyla had Wraith DNA, left over from unsanctioned experiments done by a Wraith scientist on her people. This DNA introduced the possibility of detecting the presence of a Wraith, as well as the possibility of communicating to them through telepathy. The Wraith, with superior psionic abilities, could use such a connection to control Teyla remotely (either as a spy or as a sleeper agent of sorts), something which Bates did not appreciate. [4]
On the eve of the first attack on Atlantis by the Wraith fleet, Bates aimed to have Teyla restricted from sensitive areas and removed from the base. Bates went as so far as to accuse her of collaborating with the Wraith, which Teyla took as an insult. After the incident, which almost deteriorated into a fist fight, Bates was discovered in a remote section of Atlantis, beaten to unconsciousness. As a result of his injuries, Dr. Carson Beckett placed Bates in a medically-induced coma. While Teyla was believed to be responsible for the attack, a Wraith scout (later dubbed "Bob") was found to be responsible.
Due to the actions of "Bob", Bates was unable to contribute to the defense of Atlantis. [5] Bates has not been seen since, and was most likely returned to Earth once the ZPM was installed.
[edit] References
- ^ "Letters from Pegasus." Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ "Rising." Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ "Suspicion." Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ "The Gift." Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ "The Siege, Part I." Stargate Atlantis.
[edit] External Links
| Recurring characters on Stargate Atlantis | Edit | |
| Tau'ri | Bates | Laura Cadman | Steven Caldwell | Kate Heightmeyer | Kavanagh | Bill Lee | Lorne | Lindsey Novak Richard Woolsey | Radek Zelenka |
 |
| Lists by race | All | Tau'ri | Ancient, Asgard, Asuran, Athosian, Genii, Wraith | |
