John Sheppard (Stargate)

John Sheppard
Joe Flanigan as John Sheppard
First appearance	"Rising" (Atlantis)
Created by	Brad Wright Robert C. Cooper
Portrayed by	Joe Flanigan
Information
Species	Human
Occupation	United States Air Force officer Major Lieutenant Colonel
Family	Patrick Sheppard (father, deceased), David Sheppard (brother), Nancy (ex-wife)
Nationality	US American

John Sheppard is a fictional character in the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis, a science fiction show about a military team exploring the galaxy via a network of alien transportation devices. Portrayed by Joe Flanigan, Sheppard holds the military rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the series and is the second-in-command of the Atlantis Expedition after the death of Marshall Sumner (Robert Patrick) in "Rising".

Sheppard and Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) are the only characters to appear in every episode of the series.

Role in Stargate

Character arc

John Sheppard was an experienced and a talented US Air Force Officer in Afghanistan, though his reputation was somewhat tarnished when he disobeyed a direct order in an unsuccessful attempt to save the lives of several US servicemen. When called upon to transport Brigadier General Jack O'Neill to the research base that had been established at the nearby Ancient defense facility, he inadvertently discovered that he not only had the ATA gene (the genetic factor necessary to activate Ancient technology), but that he was naturally proficient at using it. After some doubts, he finally joined the expedition to Atlantis, although Colonel Marshall Sumner made it clear he was not pleased about Sheppard's involvement in the mission.

After they discovered that the shield protecting the underwater city of Atlantis was about to collapse, he joined the mission team searching for a new power source on Athos on Elizabeth Weir's orders. He made a better impression on the Athosian leader, Teyla Emmagan. Sheppard then killed the Wraith Keeper, thus awakening all the other hungry Wraith that were sleeping. After retreating with a Puddle Jumper along with other military personnel and rescued Athosians they returned safely to Atlantis.^[1]

Aside from being the ranking military officer, Sheppard led an exploration team that consisted of Dr. Rodney McKay, Emmagan and Lt. Aiden Ford. After Ford became addicted to the Wraith enzyme and left Atlantis, Ronon Dex joined the team. Sheppard's relaxed command style often put him at odds with his more by the book chief of security, Sergeant Bates, until Bates was severely injured after an attack by a Wraith.^[2] During the Wraith attack on Atlantis, Sheppard lost command of the military after the arrival of Colonel Dillon Everett from Stargate Command (SGC).^[3]

After securing Atlantis, the Daedalus took Sheppard, Weir, McKay and Carson Beckett back to Earth to report on the status of the Atlantis expedition. General Hank Landry implied to Weir that the Pentagon wanted to make Colonel Steven Caldwell the military commander of the Atlantis expedition, but Weir informed them that Atlantis already had a military commander. When they stated that Sheppard was just a Major with a questionable record, she told them they could solve that problem with the President and the International Oversight Committee on her side, Sheppard was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and instated as official military commander of the Atlantis expedition. Colonel Caldwell was displeased by this outtake, who had sought the leadership position.^[4]

While testing a new "Gate bridge" that McKay and Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter came up with to accelerate transportation between Pegasus and the Milky Way, an Ancient ship was located, filled with living Ancients who reclaimed Atlantis. With the expedition disbanded, Sheppard was assigned command of an SG team. When General O'Neill sent a message to Stargate Command telling them that the Asurans have taken control of Atlantis, Sheppard, Weir, McKay and Beckett hijacked a puddle jumper and travel back to the Pegasus via the Gate Bridge. They tracked down Emmagan and Dex, the newly reunited team succeeded in rescuing O'Neill, Richard Woolsey and are able to retake Atlantis.^[5] In the episode Adrift, Sheppard is forced to take command of Atlantis, since Weir is in a coma due to injuries she sustained after Atlantis is grazed by the Replicator's beam.

Characterization

John is one of the more laid-back, easy-going personalities on the Atlantis Expedition. He is capable under pressure, an excellent marksman, and outstanding pilot. He is very instinctual and frequently is able to come up with ingenious solutions to complicated problems. Some put this ability down to his being a closet mathematical genius, despite little to no scientific training. But despite this, he tends to be relatively humble - being able to accept that sometimes there isn't anything he can do to help with the current problem, and leaving it up to more capable minds. He has also occasionally shown a darker side; he did not hesitate in taking action which killed over 50 Genii soldiers when Kolya was trying to take over the city in The Storm. He also supported using torture on a former Atlantis colleague to gain information in Critical Mass. . Also in the episode Millers Crossing, he talked the owner of Devlin Medical Technologies, Henry Wallace into sacrificing himself to a wraith. When McKay voiced his discomfort over this, he replied that he merely presented a situation. He told McKay that the report would only say that the wraith got the upper hand.

Despite being a Lieutenant Colonel, he has an easy rapport with most of the people in Atlantis - including the military personnel that are below him in terms of rank. He is good friends with both Teyla and Ronon, and grudgingly admits that he loves McKay "in the way a friend feels about another friend".^[6] And despite occasional clashes with Elizabeth Weir early on (due to their differing viewpoints), they have developed a strong and respectful friendship due, in no small part, to their parallel leadership roles on the Expedition. In the episode Doppelganger. it was revealed that the thing he is most afraid of is himself, as well as failing to protect his friends. Though he is a somewhat incurable flirt, he has not yet been shown in an actual relationship. In the episode Sunday. , Ronon tells him that Sheppard and Teyla would be good together. Sheppard never answered to Ronon. However, it was recently revealed that Sheppard has an ex-wife named Nancy (Kari Wührer).^[7][8]

He is in possession of a rather wry sense of humor, and frequently alleviates tension by telling jokes to keep spirits up - much to the annoyance of McKay. He hates clowns, enjoys Ferris wheels, American football and 'anything that goes faster than 200 miles an hour', along with displaying a vague aptitude for Chess - beating McKay on at least one occasion, once again to McKay's chagrin.^[9] Sheppard qualified for Mensa, (a "high IQ" society), but never joined.^[10] Sheppard is an avid golf player and a fan of Johnny Cash. He has also on several occasions referred to the movie Alien by Ridley Scott. Sheppard also brought the book War and Peace to pass the time, and in episode 50, states he is "Only a quarter of the way through War and Peace."

Conceptual history

Ben Browder was originally planned to play the part of Sheppard^{[citation needed]}. However, due to the fact that Browder was busy with Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars at the time, Joe Flanigan stepped in and took over the role. After Farscape ended, Browder joined Stargate SG-1 and was given the role of SG-1 regular, Cameron Mitchell instead.

Reception

References

1. ^ "Rising". Stargate Atlantis.
2. ^ "The Siege, Part 1". Stargate Atlantis.
3. ^ "The Siege, Part 2". Stargate Atlantis.
4. ^ "The Intruder". Stargate Atlantis.
5. ^ "The Return". Stargate Atlantis.
6. ^ "Tao of Rodney". Stargate Atlantis.
7. ^ "Sunday". Stargate Atlantis.
8. ^ "Outcast". Stargate Atlantis.
9. ^ "The Game". Stargate Atlantis.
10. ^ "The Brotherhood". Stargate Atlantis.

External links

• John Sheppard at Stargate wikia
• John Sheppard at scifi.com