Teal'c

Teal'c [ˈtiːəlk] is a fictional character in the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.

History

Teal'c is a Jaffa who is one of the leading authorities on the Goa'uld on Earth. Once serving the System Lord Apophis as his First Prime, Teal'c defected in the first episode of the series ("Children of the Gods"). Teal'c believed that the "warriors" of the Tau'ri presented actual hope for the eventual defeat of the Goa'uld. After Jack O'Neill asked for Teal'c's help while about to be executed, Teal'c turned his weapon on his fellow Jaffa and returned with SG-1 to the SGC.

Teal'c's father was once the First Prime of Cronus, a rival System Lord. However, when his father retreated in a battle that could not be won, Cronos personally executed him for failure. The procedure was painful, as Cronos reached into the prim'tah (symbiote carrying pouch all Jaffa have) and crushed the larval Goa'uld within him. 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 Cronos and avenging his father's death (Teal'c would later get revenge in the Season Four episode "Double Jeopardy," where Teal'c along with his Robot Duplicate killed Cronos together). 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.

Although Apophis was very fond of him, the lessons he learned from Bra'tac's wisdom and his own personal experiences led him to doubt the divinity of the Goa'uld. But the truly defining moment of Teal'c's belief in the falsehood of the Goa'uld's divinity came about immediately before he became First Prime. Valar, a close friend of Teal'c's, failed Apophis in an important battle. Apophis ordered Teal'c to kill Valar. Teal'c took Valar to the surface of the planet, and despite Valar's protests refused to kill him. Taking the symbiote from a nearby fallen Jaffa, he returned to Apophis' Mothership and presented the symbiote to Apophis. Apophis took the symbiote to be Valars, and gave Teal'c the praise of "You have promise." Teal'c's belief in the falsehood of the Gods was irreversibly confirmed. Unfortunately, he was unable do to anything about it without the certainty of execution as a traitor, until he encountered SG-1.

Around four years after he joined the SGC, Teal'c was captured in battle by Apophis, and brainwashed into believing that he was once again the First Prime of Apophis. 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 Jaffa resistance to millennia of enslavement by the Goa'uld. Apparently, due to Teal'c's infamy among the Goa'uld (more often than not, he is referred to as shol'va or "traitor" by many Jaffa and Goa'uld), the ranks of the Jaffa Rebellion have increased as more Jaffa catch wind of Teal'c's brazen actions.

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 as a 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, and Bra'tac's news of the Jaffa being scattered by the destruction of their power base, his current standing among them is unknown.

Personality

In the Goa'uld/Jaffa language, 'teal'c' means 'strength'. This facet is dominant in Teal'c's personality, as he does not run from extenuating circumstances but faces his checkered past, and uses the present to atone for past misdeeds ("Cor-ai") and amplify the fight against the oppression of the Goa'uld. Moreover, he is a firm proponent of the SGC's maxim of "never leaving [our] people behind." On more than one occasion, he was dismayed at being denied the chance to rescue SG-1 or other people, even with overwhelming odds against achieving that goal. Although Teal'c assumes a quiet demeanor and terse way of expression (seen by his preference to short phrases such as "Indeed" or "I see" over full sentences), his actions speak volumes about his care for life and freedom.

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Teal'c

He has amazing self-control, restraining himself to calm actions when others would often become extremely angry, but he makes no claim to a lack of emotion and he has been known to lose his temper when his close friends and family are threatened. He places his honor and duty above his own personal welfare and would gladly give up his life if it meant freedom for the Jaffa and the continued existence of Earth. In addition, Teal'c usually accepts death as a normal part of life, seeing it as a necessary side-effect of the difficult path he walks. Teal'c is by no means heartless, however, expressing emotion and grievances in a more suppressed, solemn fashion. After Daniel Jackson dies in "Meridian" (he actually Ascends, but this was a relatively new concept in the show), Teal'c is berated by Carter for giving her "the way of the warrior crap," saying that she didn't care if Daniel had obtained something of "great cosmic significance," she would rather have him back, to which Teal'c quietly replies "As would I."

Though Senator/Vice-President/Mister Kinsey says Teal'c "switches sides more often than I change the oil in my car," he has long since proven his loyalty and martial skill to Stargate Command on numerous occasions. From saving members of the SGC to providing critical intelligence on Goa'uld System Lords and troop movements, he is the one person the SGC can count on to continue the fight, no matter what happens. It is worth noting that, as early as Season 2, Teal'c is referred to as "Sir" by most enlisted men in the SGC, and is confirmed to have the "Highest security clearance available" in the Season 7 episode "Inauguration." Despite not being an officially enlisted member of the United States Military, or even considered a true citizen of Earth, to the men and women serving in the SGC he is tantamount to a high-ranking officer. Interestingly, despite being an alien in both species and place of origin, Teal'c is often singlehandedly responsible for preserving the Earth from destruction.

In season four (Small Victories), Teal'c started with a beard, a goatee, because Christopher Judge insisted on it. Daniel notices it, but O'Neill replies Teal'c doesn't want to explain it. It disappears later in the same season. Since season eight (New Order), he has stopped shaving his head and now grows hair.

Abilities and skills

While not possessing any preternatural abilities and 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 demonstrating this on many occasions, and has exceptional sensory skills.

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, 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. However, since he began to use Tretonin in substitute of his symbiote, he has lost many of these traits, though some remain.

The Prototypical Jaffa

The first member of his race with prolonged contact with members of the Tau'ri, giving Earth humans their first look into Jaffa culture and traditions, Teal'c transformed his race from anonymous and irredeemable villains (in the early seasons of the show) into a rich society further developed by the writers of each episode. In the process, Teal'c has come to symbolize the Jaffa as his cultural perspectives become key points in story plots throughout the series.

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 immolate himself to destroy Stargate Command. 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 indiscriminantly 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'nik'tel, or a "Zat gun". He also on a few occasions used the salvaged cannon from a death glider — specifically, it was the weapon he used to kill his sworn enemy Tanith in "48 Hours".

However, as the series progressed he was more and more often seen using Tau'ri weapons, mainly the classic 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, whilst Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson both use single MP7s, leading some to speculate that this weapon would replace the P90 as the main weapon for the team, along with the G36K which Cameron Mitchell uses. However, with the return of P90s in "The Scourge," it appears that only Mitchell will continue to use the new weapon.

Teal'c has also been seen with M249 & GAU-5A/A/M203 in "Full Circle," two P-90's in "Arthur's Mantle," and even two staff weapons in "Sacrifices."

Trivia

In the Episode "Past and Present", Teal'c said his name was chosen by his father and means strength.
He once drank half a gallon of steaming hot coffee in a single swallow while under the influence of an alien implant ("Urgo"[1]).
In the Last episode Teal'c is said to be 130 years old due to spending 50 years in a time dilation field.
Teal'c believes that "the Canucks of Vancouver are superior warriors." The Canucks are Daniel Jackson actor Michael Shanks' favorite Hockey team.
Teal'c actually does have a sense of humor, albeit different from his Earth friends, as evidenced by his example of "Jaffa jokes" in the episode "Seth"[2]. Over the run of the series he has gone on to develop a sense of humour more compatible with Earth culture, albeit an extraordinarily dead-pan one.
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".
Christopher Judge, who plays Teal'c, has appeared in more episodes of Stargate SG-1 than anyone else. The only episode thus far in which he does not appear is "Prometheus Unbound"[3].
Teal'c has read the Bible ("Demons"[4]) and seen Star Wars at least nine times ("Ascension"[5]). It is presumed that he has seen the entire series, as in the episode "Crusade"[6] he knows of Darth Vader's origins. Apparently, he desires a greater understanding of Earth humor, and decided to watch Old School for the weekly SG-1 movie night; he was overruled by Mitchell, who declared that they would be watching Starship Troopers ("The Scourge"[7]). He has also seen The Vagina Monologues ("Family Ties") and Die Hard ("Bad Guys").
In the episode "Avatar"[8], Teal'c comments that he plays Def Jam Vendetta. Christopher Judge was the voice actor for D-Mob, the main villain of the game.
O'Neill comments that Teal'c is into Earth Tabloid newspapers in "The Curse"[9].
In the 200th episode pre-show, Judge joked that in the first 9 seasons, Teal'c had said the word "indeed" 27,896 times (which would have required him to use the word an average of 143 times per episode.) This, however, was a number he made up on the spot.
The Season 10 episode Counterstrike was Teal'c's 200th appearance within Stargate SG-1.
In the Season 1 episode The Enemy Within in the scene where O'Neill first visits Teal'c in his quarters and interrupts Teal'c's Kel-No-Reem, you can clearly see that the snake-symbol on his tattoo is backwards from how it appears throughout the rest of the series.

Key episodes

External links

Character description from GateWorld. Visited May 29, 2006.
Character biography from StargateWiki. Visited May 29, 2006.

Preceded by None	Leader of the Jaffa Progressive Caucus 2005-2006	Succeeded by Master Bra'tac

Template:Stargate SG-1 regulars