Teal'c

Stargate character


caption=Teal'c
site=http://tealc.org
race=Jaffa
name=Teal'c
gender=Male
rank=Jaffa High Councillor
Former First Prime to Apophis
birthplace=A planet under Cronus' control
family = Ronac (father, deceased)
Unknown Mother (mother, deceased)
Drey'auc (wife, deceased)
Rya'c (son)
Kar'yn (daughter-in-law)
tv=Christopher Judge
homepage=http://tealc.org
first=Children of the Gods

Teal'c [ˈtiːəlk] (born c. March 14, 1899 [cite episode| episodelink=The Light (Stargate SG-1)| title=The Light | series= Stargate SG-1| serieslink=Stargate SG-1 ] ) is a fictional character in the science fiction television series "Stargate SG-1". Christopher Judge, who plays Teal'c, has appeared in more episodes of "Stargate SG-1" than anyone else. The only episode in which he does not appear is "Prometheus Unbound". Teal'c also appeared in the "Stargate Atlantis" episodes "Reunion" and "Midway". In 2002, Christopher Judge was nominated for a Saturn Award in the category "Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series".

History

Teal'c is a Jaffa, who once served the System Lord Apophis in the capacity of First Prime and then later joined SG-1.

Teal'c's father had served as the First Prime of Cronus, a rival System Lord. When his father retreated in a battle that could not be won, Cronus executed him for failure. Teal'c and his mother fled to Apophis' territory, and Teal'c joined the Serpent God's army in the hopes of one day encountering Cronus and avenging his father's death. Under the direction of Bra'tac, the then First Prime, he learned the ways of a warrior and rose in the ranks to become Apophis's new First Prime.

His interaction with Bra'tac and his own personal experiences led him to doubt the divinity of the Goa'uld. This was further reinforced when Valar, a close friend of Teal'c's, failed Apophis in an important battle. Apophis ordered Teal'c to kill Valar but instead he faked his death. The failure of Apophis to see through the fake confirmed his belief in the falsehood of the Gods.

In the first episode of the series, ["Children of the Gods"] Teal'c defected and returned with SG-1 to the SGC. Teal'c believed that the "warriors" of the Tau'ri (Humans) presented an opportunity for the eventual defeat of the Goa'uld.

Around four years after he joined the SGC, Teal'c was captured in battle by Apophis, and brainwashed into believing that he was still the First Prime of Apophis, and that his friendship with the Tau'ri was a ruse. SG-1 managed to recapture Teal'c, and killed Apophis once and for all in the process, but the damage was still done. It took Master Bra'tac and the Rite of Mal'shuran to restore Teal'c's true beliefs. Teal'c later used this incident to bond with his son, who was similarly brainwashed in the Season 2 episode "Family."

Teal'c's main drive throughout the series is to topple the Goa'uld regime and bring freedom to all Jaffa. After several battles with the Goa'uld, during which they suffered several highly visible defeats, an organized Jaffa resistance eventually came to fruition. In "The Warrior," the First Prime of a minor Goa'uld, Imhotep, organizes Jaffa of several other Goa'uld into a small army. Though this gathering was only subterfuge by Imhotep, Teal'c and SG-1 were able to save the bulk of this resistance from slaughter by moving them to the Alpha Site. However, the Tok'ra later took refuge at the Alpha site as well and soon clashed with the ideals of the Jaffa Resistance. Teal'c, Bra'tac, and SG-1 could not quell the tension between the two factions so they simply went their separate ways. Yet, these many events permanently planted the seed of resistance and the ranks of the Jaffa Rebellion have increased.

About six years after Teal'c joined the SGC, Teal'c and Master Bra'tac attended a summit of Rebel Jaffa. The Rebels were massacred by Jaffa loyal to the Goa'uld, and only Teal'c and Bra'tac survived, with a single Goa'uld symbiote between them. Teal'c transferred the single symbiote between the pair of them, and eventually began to hallucinate, slipping between visions of his life in the SGC and a fictional life where he was an ordinary human firefighter. With the help from an Ascended Daniel Jackson, Teal'c kept himself and Bra'tac alive long enough for SG-1 to rescue them. Jacob Carter arrived at the SGC with a modified version of the Tretonin medicine (Season Six Episode "Cure"). Both Teal'c and Bra'tac now sustain themselves with the use of Tretonin, and the drug has become instrumental in liberating Jaffa from physiological reliance on Goa'uld symbiotes (though some Jaffa simply see this as transferring reliance from the Goa'uld to the Tau'ri).

Teal'c and Bra'tac took an influential role over the free Jaffa and eventually mobilized and led them to victory over the Goa'uld at Dakara, where a new Jaffa democracy was established. From the day of victory on Dakara, Teal'c and Bra'tac were hailed as "blood kin to all Jaffa."

He is currently a member of the Jaffa High Council and a leader of the liberal faction that supports Tau'ri-based representative democracy for the new Free Jaffa Nation, opposed to the traditionalist faction headed by Gerak. Since Gerak's death, it would appear that Teal'c has supported Bra'tac as an interim leader before a type of government is solidified. However, since the destruction of Dakara by the Ori, and Bra'tac's news of the Jaffa being scattered by the destruction of their power base, his current standing among them is unknown.

Humor

*Teal'c frequently misquotes common earth clichés. [
*"Are you considering the tactic I am considering?" (are you thinking what I'm thinking) "Thor's Hammer"
*"Things will not calm down, Daniel Jackson. Things will, in fact, calm up." (things will escalate) "Thor's Chariot"
*"I believe a "medical attack" could be successful." (surgical strike) "Within the Serpent's Grasp"
*"It is a lengthy tale, O'Neill." (long story) "Secrets"
*"I will purchase time for you..." (buy time) "Foothold"
*"Undomesticated equines could not remove me." (wild horses) "Message in a Bottle" (This is not a direct misquote, as dialogue immediately afterward establishes that Teal'c was making a joke).
*"I will, in fact, keep both eyes on it, Dr. Jackson." (Keep an eye on it) "One False Step"] Teal'c has been known to show a humorous side in several episodes. He made a joke about "Undomesticated equines could not move me" in "Message in a Bottle". Teal'c told a Jaffa joke about the different Jaffa guards in the episode "Seth", although no one else understands it. [A Serpent guard, a Horus guard and a Setesh guard meet on a neutral planet. It is a tense moment. The Serpent guard's eyes glow. The Horus guard's beak glistens. The Setesh guard's nose...drips.] He is seen laughing with the rest of SG-1 and General Landry in the episode "Unending".

*Teal'c frequently says "Indeed" which is his effective catchphrase, much like Mr. Spock's "Fascinating." It becomes a joke for the other characters as the series progresses, becoming the final line spoken on by a team member on Stargate SG-1 (by everyone but Teal'c). Landry has the final line of the series. During the Atlantis episode Midway the character Ronon tells Teal'c he "say [s] that a lot." Teal'c replies "Do I? I had not noticed."

Abilities and skills

While not possessing any preternatural abilities as such, Teal'c makes up for it with his superior combat training and proficiency in Jaffa close-quarter combat styles, as well as his ability to quickly adapt to new weaponry. Because of his training as Apophis' First Prime, Teal'c has been trained in various skills that are essential to a System Lord's First Prime, which are now used in the services of SG-1. Teal'c is an accomplished tracker, having demonstrated this on many occasions, and has exceptional sensory skills. Occasionally this has inadvertently gotten him into trouble with local law enforcement - on one occasion, he prevented a carjacking, taking down three men at once (and in the same episode, throwing an avocado precisely to hit a purse-snatcher from a long distance, knocking him out). These incidents nevertheless highlight Teal'c's lawfulness and reliability.

As stated by O'Neill, Teal'c is physically much stronger than anyone he knows, even after having his Goa'uld Symbiote removed; a trait he puts to great use in combat. Before having his Goa'uld permanently removed, and now while using Tretonin, Teal'c possessed an impressive healing and recovery rate, a long lifespan, perfect health, an immunity to a great range of diseases, poisons, and toxins, and the ability to survive an extended period without oxygen under water. Because of the presence of naqahdah within his Goa'uld symbiote, Teal'c has the ability to sense the presence of other symbiotes and, because their presence disturbs the Goa'uld, the Re'tu as well.

Family and Love Life

While still in service to Apophis, Teal'c was married to Drey'auc (now deceased) of the Cordai Plains and had a son, Rya'c. He left his family behind when he betrayed Apophis, hoping to return and bring them the freedom he had found, and they were forced to live as pariahs. He returned to Chulak to prevent his son from being implanted with a symbiote, but Rya'c was too ill and ultimately Teal'c gave him his own symbiote. Teal'c later received another that SG-1 had captured. ["Bloodlines"]

After he left again, Drey'auc married Fro'tak, a childhood friend of Teal'c, in order to give her son a better life. However, even with such an influential new husband, Drey'auc was unable to prevent Apophis from abducting Rya'c and brainwashing him into publicly denouncing his father. Teal'c believed Rya'c would not succumb to such manipulation, but SG-1 eventually rescued Rya'c and brought him and Drey'auc back to Earth (Fro'tak was killed trying to betray SG-1) where Teal'c soon discovered Rya'c truly was brainwashed and conditioned to destroy Stargate Command via a biological suicide attack. Teal'c had to shoot him with the zat to break the conditioning. Rya'c and Drey'auc left to live in the Land of Light (P3X-797 by designation) soon after, ["Family"] and eventually moved to a rebel Jaffa camp, wherein Drey'auc died as a result of refusal of a new larval symbiote when hers matured, not wanting to deprive another Jaffa of life. ["Redemption (part 1)"]

Shau'nac of the Red Hills was a priestess on Chulak and an old love of Teal'c. They rekindled their feelings when she reappeared in his life, but she was killed soon thereafter. ["Crossroads"]

Ishta is the leader of the female Jaffa on Hak'tyl. They rebelled against the Goa'uld Moloc because he ordered the murder of any female Jaffa baby, forcing her and her fellow priestesses to secretly smuggle female children off the planet instead of murdering them. She felt the Jaffa rebellion was useless, believing it better to indiscriminately kill any Goa'uld who posed an immediate threat (particularly Moloc). The other Jaffa Rebel leaders, meanwhile, tried to see the "bigger picture" and not allow a single Goa'uld to become powerful by killing too many prospective opponents. This difference in philosophies strained Teal'c's and Ishta's relationship for a time. After Moloc was eventually killed, however, Baal took over Moloc's territory, and Ishta came to see the wisdom of Teal'c and the other Rebel Jaffa's strategy. Teal'c and Ishta still keep in touch months later, however, as Rya'c tells Teal'c that things would be easier for everyone else if he and Ishta just admit they love each other. ["Birthright", "Sacrifices"]

He was against his son's marriage to Kar'yn, a student of Ishta, believing he was too young, but he finally accepted it. ["Sacrifices"]

Weaponry

Originally, Teal'c used the traditional Jaffa staff weapon and a Zat'n'ktel, or a "Zat gun". However, as the series progressed he was more and more often seen using human weapons, mainly the FN P90, typically taking advantage of his superior arm strength by wielding it one-handed and occasionally dual-wielding.

In the episode "Off The Grid," Teal'c wields two Heckler & Koch MP7s. However, he returns to the P90 in "The Scourge" and two P90s in "Arthur's Mantle." Teal'c has also been seen with M249 & GAU-5A/A/M203 in "Full Circle," and even two staff weapons in "Sacrifices."

Teal'c has also used a staff cannon from a Goa'uld glider, which he took from a downed glider in "The Fifth Man." It is very powerful, but very difficult to use; Teal'c himself has to strap it over his shoulder and use two hands to operate it. It can be seen in several episodes, particularly in Season 5.

In the Stargate Atlantis episode "Midway," Teal'c uses a G36K for most of the episode, and picks up 2 wraith stunners, though he never fires them. At one point he even uses Ronon's gun to kill a wraith, afterwords he comments on its power, saying to Ronon, "I would very much like to have a weapon such as this".

Tattoo

One of Teal'c's most notable features is his golden tattoo on his forehead. All Jaffa have the symbol of the Goa'uld they serve on their forehead, in Teal'c's case this is Apophis. It is gold because Teal'c was once Apophis's First Prime, the most senior jaffa rank. All First Primes featured in the series have a gold tattoo as well. When asked how he got his tattoo in the episode "Bane" he said "The skin is cut with an Orak knife and molten gold is poured into the wound." In an episode when he briefly gets an apartment for himself off-base, Teal'c explains to curious neighbors that it is a mark of his tribe.

Trivia

*As a result of the events in Unending, Teal'c aged 50 years in a split second ["Unending""I didn't mean for the next 50 years" Also, the commentary for this episode mentions 50 years twice. ] , surpassing Bra'tac, Teal'c's surrogate father, by over a decade. However, he looks much younger.
* In a handful of episodes, Teal'c wears a floppy-brimmed hat and assumes the pseudonym "Murray" when trying to pose as human. This is first seen in "Point of No Return".
* In the episode "Avatar", Teal'c comments that he plays "Def Jam Vendetta". Christopher Judge was the voice actor for D-Mob, the main villain of the game. [http://www.gateworld.net/sg1/s8/making/806.shtml GateWorld - Stargate SG-1 'In the Making': "Avatar" ] ]
* In the episode "Ascension", Teal'c is said to have seen the movie series Star Wars nine times, having liked it very much.
* In the episode "The Light", Teal'c stated he is 101 years old, but he will turn 102 in just 47 days. This episode aired January 26, 2001 making his birthday March 14, 1899.

Reception

In 2002, Christopher Judge was nominated for a Saturn Award in the category "Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series". [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118480/awards "Stargate SG-1" (1997) - Awards ] ]

References

External links

* [http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Teal%27c Teal'c] - [http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Stargate_Wiki Stargate Wiki]
* [http://www.gateworld.net/omnipedia/characters/links/tealc.shtml Teal'c] - [http://www.gateworld.net/omnipedia GateWorld Omnipedia]
* [http://www.stargate-sg1-solutions.com/wiki/Teal%27c Teal'c] - [http://www.stargate-sg1-solutions.com Stargate Solutions]