Athosians
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Athosian | |
|---|---|
| Species | Human |
| Homeworld | Athos, then Atlantis |
| Governing body | Informal. Teyla Emmagan appears to be the de facto leader. |
| Key episodes | "Rising" (first appearance) |
.jpg/250px-Athosians_(Rising).jpg)
In the fictional universe of the science fiction TV show Stargate Atlantis, the Athosians are a fictional human race from the planet Athos (
) in the Pegasus Galaxy.
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[edit] History
Like other human cultures throughout Pegasus, the Athosians were subject to periodic culling every few hundred years by the Wraith. Some time ago, the Athosians were a relatively advanced society, possessing technology such as the Athosian fire starter and living in large cities. However, after the last Great Attack, in which the Wraith almost wiped them out as they do to all species reaching a level of technology that could potentially threaten them, the Athosians abandoned city living and reverted to an agrarian society to avoid detection by the Wraith.
They still retain some advanced technology, hiding it to avoid detection. The Athosians moved their hunting camps to confuse invaders, and in the past, were known to use nearby caves to hide in and document the attacks on their planet. However, their people remained prey, and dying in peace, instead of being fed on by the Wraith, is very rare. Almost every Athosian has lost someone to the Wraith.
[edit] Contact with the Atlantis Expedition
When the Atlantis expedition arrived searching for a viable evacuation site, the Athosian people were initially suspicious of the strange group that had never heard of the Wraith. Eventually, through Major John Sheppard and their leader, Teyla Emmagan, the two peoples connected. After several Athosians and Atlantis personnel were abducted in a Wraith attack, Sheppard evacuated the encampment's survivors back to Atlantis. It is unknown if there were any other Athosian villages on the planet. [1]
In "The Storm" Teyla said that her people were talking of returning to Athos even though she told them that the Wraith had "scorched it bare in revenge for our resistance". This seems to indicate that at some point in time the Atlantis Expedition returned to the planet perhaps to see if the Athosians could return now that the threat was over and discovered it destroyed.
As the Athosians had nowhere else to go, the displaced people were forced to remain living in Atlantis. However, they found their new surroundings very intimidating, and were distrusted by several members of the Atlantis Expedition, including Sergeant Bates. Becoming disgruntled with living in the Ancient city, they eventually relocated to a nearby continent on the Atlantis planet, which had been recently discovered. There, they began a new life. [2]
Still, their villages have been evacuated several times when the Wraith threatened to attack Atlantis. [3][4] When an Ancient delegation temporarily retook control of Atlantis, the Athosians were forced to relocate to another planet. Teyla returned after the Tau'ri regained control of the city. However, her people chose to remain on New Athos. The Athosians remeained on New Athos for some time (probably months) before they all mysteriously disappeared [5]. Teyla is now faced with the task of finding and saving her people from their mysterious fate, whether it was being culled by the wraith, or something else. After searching for several months they were all taken by Micheal. At least a few of them have turned to Wraith-Human hybrids, but many others were rescued by the Atlantis Expedition during a raid on one of Michael's facilities.[6]
[edit] Culture and Customs
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As a people, the Athosians hold a special reverence for the Ancestors (better known as the Ancients). Although not fanatically worshipped, prayers are often dedicated to them. [7] Many Athosians believe the Atlantis Expedition is trespassing on sacred ground by setting up a base in Atlantis, as evident when Halling objected to destroying the city should the need ever arise.[3]
Death is an important cornerstone of the Athosian way of life. Because of the numerous Wraith cullings, an Athosian is considered very lucky if they know when and where they are going to die. [8] In respect of this knowledge, prayers and meditation are performed to allow the dying and their close friends and family to meditate on their life.
On the even rarer occasion of a funeral, the body is put in the middle of a stone ring, a representation of the Stargate. During the Ring Ceremony, prayers are said and a song is performed to honour the life of a person who did not die at the hands of the Wraith to celebrate the new journey they undertake with the Ancestors. It is unknown what is done with the body after the ceremony. [4]
In the early morning, the Athosians enjoy a stout tea to brace them for the rest of the day.[1] They also eat Tuttleroot soup, a dish that Teyla considers difficult to make.[4] In Athosian culture, women are not expected to express their attraction to someone before the male does. [9]
[edit] Interstellar Relations
The Athosians were popular interstellar traders before they evacuated their planet. As a society, they know a great number of Stargate addresses and use them to trade with the people of other worlds. When the Atlantis Expedition first arrived in the Pegasus Galaxy, the Athosians were invaluable in introducing the humans of Earth to the native societies in Pegasus. In the early exploratory missions Athosians accompanied teams to introduce them to other cultures.[2]
However, when some members of the Atlantis Expedition became convinced that an Athosian who strongly disagreed with the Earth expedition taking control of Atlantis was leaking information to the Wraith, the friendship between the two peoples were strained, and the Athosians felt they had no choice but to move to the mainland to separate themselves from the expedition and start again. It was later determined that a necklace worn by Teyla, which was part of a Wraith signalling device, had been responsible for alerting the Wraith to a team's presence on alien worlds, not the Athosians.[2]
Later, Teyla introduced Sheppard and his team to the Genii, apparently a race of farmers. Eventually, Teyla discovered that the Genii were actually a developed civilization living underground and on the brink of creating a nuclear weapon. She was shocked that people she would call friends could kept such a large part of their life hidden for so long from the Athosians. [10]
[edit] Genetic Attributes
Like most of the other native civilisations of the Pegasus Galaxy, Athosians do not possess the ATA gene as the Ancients rarely interbred with cultures in Pegasus as they did with the people of Earth. Several bloodlines however have the ability to 'sense' Wraith approaching, due to their possession of Wraith DNA. Of these people, their leader Teyla has the keenest sense currently known. Her Wraith DNA is so pronounced that she can actually connect to the Wraith telepathic network [11] and, to a limited degree, pilot a Wraith Hive-Ship. [12] When Teyla got pregnant, her mental powers doubled, with her child helping her. She was able to fully control a hive ship, and she was also able to control a weakened Wraith queen.
It is believed that the ability comes from a man the Athosians once offered sanctuary to many generations ago. This man, along with several others, had been taken during a Wraith culling and then set free again to their homeworld. The people there believed they were blessed by the Ancestors and celebrated their return. But when he and the others started telling the villagers of dreams they were having about the Wraith and in one or two instances, were becoming homicidal, the villagers exiled the "blessed". One man found his way to Athos, where it is believed his descendants are those that can sense the Wraith coming because of their mixed Human/Wraith DNA. [11]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Rising" (Stargate Atlantis)
- ^ a b c "Suspicion" (Stargate Atlantis)
- ^ a b "The Siege" (Stargate Atlantis)
- ^ a b c "Critical Mass" (Stargate Atlantis)
- ^ "Missing" (Stargate Atlantis)
- ^ "The Kindred" (Stargate Atlantis)
- ^ "Hide and Seek" (Stargate Atlantis)
- ^ "Thirty Eight Minutes" (Stargate Atlantis)
- ^ "Sunday" (Stargate Atlantis)
- ^ "Underground" (Stargate Atlantis)
- ^ a b "The Gift" (Stargate Atlantis)
- ^ "Misbegotten" (Stargate Atlantis)
[edit] External links
- "Athosians" at GateWorld Omnipedia.
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