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Ori (Stargate)
Encyclopedia
The Ori are fictional character
s in the science fiction
television series, Stargate SG-1
. They are a group of "ascended" beings who use their advanced technology and knowledge of the universe to attempt to trick non-ascended humans into worshipping them as gods.
They first appeared in the ninth season of Stargate SG-1, replacing the Goa'uld
as the show's primary antagonists. While the Goa'uld relied on stolen technology from other civilizations to pose as gods, the Ori also have paranormal
abilities in addition to very advanced technology. As Ascended beings, they live on a higher plane of existence with great power and knowledge and are as close to being "gods" as any non-deific being can be.
The Ori fabricated a religion called Origin, which they use in an attempt to control non-ascended beings. The Ori also attempt to destroy any planets and civilizations that reject Origin. A central theme in the show is that power does not make someone a god nor entitle them to be worshipped; rather, the way they use great power is the measure of how they should be honored.
and Replicator
s. When the Sci Fi Channel
renewed the series, however, the producers had grown creatively tired of writing endings. Having had good experiences with the first season of Stargate Atlantis
, the producers hence decided to revamp the series in more fronts than just adding new characters by introducing new villains and new missions. Thus they considered the beginning of Season 9 as the pilot of a new show.
Season Nine was about wiping the slate clean and resetting the story to where Stargate SG-1 was in its first season. The reason was that the SG-1 team was now winning every time, having already defeated the main enemies the previous season. Since SG-1 had always been grounded in Earth mythology, the producers chose the King Arthur
mythology for the new season as that had not been done before. Merlin as a famous magical figure was made an Ancient, leading to the Ancients' enemies named the Ori. The Ori are thus "a natural extension of where the Ancient mythology had gone." Up until that point, the story of the Ancients had been kept at arm's length because the show was not about the aliens but "human beings going out into this unexplored, fantastical universe." The producers also acknowledged that a premature full revelation of the Ancients would have caused their story to be less interesting.
Producer Brad Wright
believed the Ori are still within the overriding theme of Stargate, as they are "aliens playing gods" and "false gods" and the relationship between aliens as gods and ordinary human folk. The introduction of the Ori was to prepare the viewer for their invasion and overtaking that would take place later. The Ori also served as a challenge for the new heroes in the SG-1 team (Mitchell, Landry, Vala). The writers believed that new bad guys and new obstacles for the characters to overcome would make for a more interesting story.
The name "Ori" comes from the word "Origin", as in the origin of the Ancients. When Cooper looked at the root of "origin", he retcon-invented the word "Origin" as the name of the Ori religion. Cooper said it was an interesting idea for him to address the philosophical arguments with various religious people, seeing the whole challenge as "how do you prove whose God exists or whether God exists at all?" Instead of the Goa'uld, who were proved quickly to not be gods by killing them and figuring out their technology, it would be hard to present the same argument to the Ori followers because the Ori were essentially ascended gods. Even if their gods were dead, it would not make much difference for them, as their followers would continue to believe; without the "magic powers" of the Ori, their followers and the Priors (the Ori's missionaries) could still use the technology and their ships. Cooper said that "it's not necessarily wrong to believe in something ... what's wrong is to murder somebody because they don't believe the way you do." Although Cooper was reluctant to get too serious about the meaning behind the Ori as Stargate should "first and foremost [...] entertain people", he considered it representative of television and the media, "mak[ing] people believe whatever the people in charge of that magic box – whatever they want you to believe they can pretty much convince you, or convince the vast majority of people." For Cooper, "the followers of the Ori were the interesting part", and he "wanted to do a story that was in some way reflective of the differences between people's beliefs that we see around us in our society, and how conflicts arise as a result of that." Cooper was particularly interested in the interaction between Ori followers and other normal human beings, the resulting "mysterious aspect and quality to religious belief and the passion that it invokes." The producers therefore put the Ori in the story background, similar to the way there was very little direct interaction between the actual deities of the religion and mankind in real life.
Cooper was concerned that the distinction between the Ori and the Ori's followers was often overlooked, and that the SG-1 team dealt with the followers, not the ascended gods. If, as suggested, the Ori were actually destroyed by the Merlin's Ancient weapon, the real issue for the SG-1 teams became the followers. Brad Wright pointed to power corruption, and the catch of the Ori killing unbelievers.
The last ten minutes of "Camelot" should serve as a "great, ominous harbinger of the foe" SG-1 is up against. In Season 10, the Ori sweep through the Milky Way galaxy, forcing SG-1 to start from scratch again to find technology, resources, and allies to fight against them.
If Stargate SG-1 had gone on, the producers would have considered the search for the Ark (of Stargate: The Ark of Truth
) as the overriding story for an eleventh season, similar to the Sangraal in seasons nine and ten. The producers did not explore more detailed ideas after the show's cancellation.
for the Priors and the Doci. The Priors have scarifications on the chin and the cheek, while the Doci also have them on their forehead. Scarification would therefore be a symbol of high establishment. Originally, it was also considered to have scarification on the hands, and to have the Priors have finger extensions, but this became too impracticable. When the Prime Jaffa Gerak became a Prior in , his golden Jaffa tattoo on his forehead was replaced with a Prior scarification, and his makeup was made to look like the gold had melted and become part of his Prior scarification.
Each Prior was given his own unique symbol, which he would wear on his wardrobe and also on his staff weapon. The art department built each staff to have a little orb encased in natural wood, and the orbs start to glow when the actor pushes a little button on the handle.
. Robert C. Cooper considered the backstory "pretty complicated" but felt the show gave the answers to the audience members who wanted to delve deeper.
Part of this story returns to the Ancients, whose backstory began in the Season 1 episode . Early in Season 9, Brad Wright explained that the Ori are the original Ancients, who would disagree with the Alterans (later to relocate and be known as the Ancients of the Milky Way
galaxy
) that they shouldn't interfere because interference would mean playing god, which these beings hadn't quite achieved.
The Ori and the Alterans were one race millions of years ago and lived in a single society on an evolutionary path to ascension. The Ark of Truth shows flashbacks to human Ancients coexisting with the people who eventually became the Ori. However, a philosophical division emerged. The Ori grew more and more fervent in their religious belief, while the Alterans adopted a more scientific/rational outlook to become a more progressive society. The Ancients were well known for their fierce belief in free will
and had a code to be "fairly non-violent". As such, they do not interfere on lower planes of existence at all, not even to save their own kind from being exterminated by the Ori, or to prevent all life in the Milky Way galaxy from being exterminated by Anubis. In contrast, the Ori constantly interfere. For example, Origin states that failure to share the secrets of the universe to those on the lower planes of existence is an evil act and that anyone not following it must be eliminated; by this definition, every ascended Ancient was evil and must be destroyed. They also have no rules against taking direct control of living beings or completely changing them to behave as they desire. With the Ori outnumbering the Alterans, their viewpoints ultimately diverged so much that the two groups split apart and began to actively oppose each other, with the Ori attempting to kill the Alterans.
Their fundamentally different beliefs in regards to science led the Alterans to hide their level of scientific belief so that they would not get into a conflict. Eventually, the Ancients decided to build a space ship and leave rather than to use their technology, like the Ark of Truth, to defeat the Ori. Though they had the ability to stop the Ori, they thought it to be philosophically and morally wrong. The film thus addresses the non-interference policy of the Ancients under the Ori threat, and how they act since SG-1 did them a big favor by killing the Ori.
After much time, believed by Daniel Jackson to be thousands of years, the Alterans discovered the Milky Way
, where they eventually built their empire. However, even after the Ori had forced the Alterans to leave their galaxy, the two factions remained bitter enemies. Eventually, the Alterans were afflicted with a terrible plague that wiped out most of their civilization. It would later be discovered that what was known of this plague is very similar to the disease used by Ori Priors against non-believers, which had led Daniel Jackson to speculate that the pre-Ascended Ori might have been responsible for this plague.
After millions of years, both the Alterans and the Ori learned how to ascend and evolved, forming two groups that continued to oppose each other, even at the higher planes of existence. According to the Orici Adria, the Ori-Ancient war on the Ascended plane is due to the Ancients' intolerance for those who do not comply with their rules about non-interference. According to Orlin, a de-ascended Ancient, the conflict arises from the Ori's ultimate wish to destroy the Ancients once and for all as they seek to eliminate all who oppose them.
When the Ori ascended they re-created humanity (the second generation of humans) to worship them in the Ori galaxy, and gave their followers the knowledge and technology to essentially enslave others and to force them to believe as the Ori desired. The Ancients also created a new evolution of humans (i.e. current human culture) in the Milky Way and shielded them, preventing the Ori from finding out about them and enslaving the people to Origin as they had in their own galaxy. They do not view this action as a violation of their non-interference policies as the Ori are at a level equal to themselves. However, as the Ancients will not interfere in the lower planes of existence, the Ori are allowed to send their human followers to the Milky Way in order to convert it, and anyone who wishes to worship the Ori will not be prevented from doing so.
According to Orlin, ascended beings can be empowered by massive numbers of humans worshipping them. The Ori have fabricated an entire religion, named Origin, based on the false promise of ascension to drain power from their followers. The Ancients firmly resent using their powers this way, and therefore refrain from interfering in the lower planes of existence because manipulating and aligning lower life forms could result in exactly this type of abusive corruption. According to the Ancient Myrddin, the Ori had the best intentions when they first began, but as evidenced on numerous occasions throughout history, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Ori were, for all intents and purposes, omnipotent and liked it. Even after they were presumably destroyed, their followers and Priors continued to use their powers and name to oppress and enslave thousands of people.
ic associations in many modern religions prompted Daniel to posit that the Ancients had influenced this negative connotation in order to identify the threat the Ori pose. Among the populations of natives in the Ori home galaxy are groups of heretics who believe they are being suppressed, and seek to discover forbidden historical knowledge to show others that the Ori, despite their power, are not gods.
Ori military tactics varied during the initial incursions into the Milky Way galaxy and the full scale invasion that was later achieved through the Supergate. The initial incursions were achieved through lone Priors who were sent to worlds in the Milky Way galaxy, preaching to the populace and distributing copies of the Book of Origin. When the people failed to comply, more drastic measures were taken, eventually to the point of destroying the population. The show features powerful Ori weapons in , ships in , control chairs like that in and Supergates in . The Ori can be killed by Merlin's Sangraal weapon, which nullifies ascended beings. As seen in The Ark of Truth, there is also an Ark that Cooper considered "a truly fascinating centerpiece" and "mass brain-washing device" to convince people of the truth. Comparing the Ark to television as it is "a box that light comes out of, and you believe what it says", Cooper left it open whether the choice to do it without guns was ultimately the better method.
The Doci (Latin docere, "to teach"), played by Julian Sands
, represents the Ori in their home galaxy and leads the Priors. He appears in "Origin", "The Fourth Horseman, Part 1" and Stargate: The Ark of Truth
. The Doci is essentially a chief Prior who acts as a mediator or mouthpiece for the Ori. The Doci has brown hair and colored eyes, pale skin and facial markings of a Prior. The Doci was introduced in , where he was shown to reside in the city of Celestis, with his chambers next to the Ori's Flames of Enlightenment. In one instance, the Ori possessed the Doci to speak to Daniel. Had Julian Sands not been able to come back as the Doci for the direct-to-DVD film The Ark of Truth, the producers had planned to hire another actor as a different Doci in charge in Celestis. Although Sands' availability eventually was a hindrance in The Ark of Truth, the producers felt it was better to include the Doci than to forgo the character.
, they send the Priors as their representatives. Cooper said the Priors have "these incredible, superhuman powers", which allows them to perform deeds which they convince people are miracle
s, attack enemies, and resurrect the dead. They also unleash plagues as punishment for not following the Ori. The Priors believe fervently in their mission, and essentially offer a real religion with big promises. Priors have been encountered on various worlds, trying to convert the local population and fight anyone who tried to stop them, including the Tau'ri and the Jaffa.
As shown in the series, priors are normal humans whom the Ori transform into an evolved state of human to serve as missionaries as a reward for loyalty and devoted service. This process drastically alters their appearance: albino skin and hair, a tracery of raised lines on the chin and cheeks, and indentation of the skull
just above and behind the eyes. Their eyes appear as a misty gray pupil without an iris. In and The Ark of Truth
, SG-1 was able to temporarily disable a Prior's abilities by using ultrasonic sounds to deny Priors access to the advanced areas of their brains.
The Ori warriors are conscripted men, who were trained to fight non-believers as foot soldiers and take over the Milky Way. They are plated in metallic armor and are armed with powerful staff weapons. They are men who are actually doing the fighting. They were introduced in "Crusade" and were first shown in combat in Season 10. Cooper wrote "Crusade" with the intention to show that the Ori warriors are not two-dimensional, even though their strength of belief and single-mindedness makes them fight for what they want to fight for. According to Cooper, the Ori warriors are a fictional mirror of the events in the real world, but he wanted people to try and understand "why people want to go to war with us, or blow up our buildings, or our airplanes". Cooper also wanted to show that "there's really no winner to the argument" when it comes to "religion and belief, and gods"; according to Cooper, there is a line when a society takes up arms instead of finding a more civilized way of dialogue.
Tim Guinee
played Tomin, a devout Ori follower of the village of Ver Isca, who becomes an Ori commander in Season 10. He appears in , , , and Stargate: The Ark of Truth
. Tomin is intended as a representation of the Ori warriors, and Cooper described Guinee as a "fabulous actor who instantly creates that humanity and empathy ... while he's mass-murdering people" Tomin is introduced in flashbacks in , having found Vala after she was transported to the Ori home galaxy. Tomin had been crippled since childhood, and was therefore looked down on by his fellow villagers. Tomin married Vala and accepted her pregnancy as his child, not knowing that it was a miraculous conception set by the Ori. A little later, a Prior visited the village and cured Tomin of his limp, allowing him to become a warrior for the Ori. The prior also told Tomin the truth about the child as "the will of the Ori", who would later be the Orici. Tomin is later able to forgive Vala. Tomin and Vala depart aboard the first wave of Ori vessels entering the Milky Way, and they go separate ways in . Tomin rises to the rank of commander within the Ori warrior armies, and he and Vala meet again in . Because a Prior twists the words of the Book of Origin, Tomin begins to doubt the Priors and their interpretations of Origin's teachings, and helps Vala escape. Tomin plays an important role in the film Stargate: The Ark of Truth
, in which, after seeing a Prior's death with his own eyes, he learns the truth about the Ori.
a story and personality arc as a member of the SG-1 team.
Adria's story begins shortly after the events of "Beachhead", when Vala is impregnated by the Ori in the Ori home galaxy. Vala eventually returns to the Milky Way aboard one of the Ori battlecruisers invading the Milky Way galaxy. In "Flesh and Blood", Vala gives birth to a baby girl, the Orici. Within hours of being born, the child reaches the apparent age of four and heals her mother's pain, knowing that Vala is not a believer in Origin. By the child's apparent age of seven, Vala gives her the name Adria, after her "witch of a woman" stepmother. Vala escapes when Adria is at the apparent age of twelve. Adria only starts to have an impact in the second quarter of the season, when she has grown "into a beautiful but deadly young woman".
When Vala, who has joined the SG-1 team, meets adult Adria in "Counterstrike", Adria foreshadows her plans with Daniel. In "The Quest", Adria tricks SG-1 into obtaining the Sangraal for her. Adria captures Daniel before he can complete the device. Hoping to convert both Earth
and Vala, Adria attempts to convert Daniel to the path of Origin and makes him a Prior. In "The Shroud", however, Daniel betrays her and uses the weapon on the Ori galaxy. In "Dominion", Adria is briefly implanted with a cloned Ba'al symbiote. Although the symbiote is removed, the procedure almost kills Adria and she ascends. Being the only surviving Ori power after the events of "The Shroud", Adria alone controls the power generated by the followers of Origin, and continues the Ori's assault on the Milky Way in Stargate: The Ark of Truth. After an Ancient device known as the Ark of Truth affects her galaxy's believers, Adria is last seen in Stargate: The Ark of Truth
in a battle with the Ancient Morgan le Fay, which in Cooper's view started as a fight in the human realm of existence and continues on the ascended level similar to what happened with Anubis and Oma Desala in . Adria is thus "eternally distracted from being able to continue her evil ways".
Young Adria was played by three child actresses – Adria at age four was played by Robert C. Cooper
's daughter Emma, who replaced the originally cast child who suffered from stage fright. Adria at age seven was played by Jodelle Ferland
, and at age twelve by Brenna O'Brien
. Morena Baccarin
was offered the role of adult Adria in a phone call by the producers, who were Firefly
fans. The orange contact lenses that the actress had to wear made her feel nearly blind and irritated her eyes, so the lenses were dropped during the shooting of "The Quest". Baccarin enjoyed "the whole experience [...] incredible" as she got to play a character she could learn from. In her words, "Adria was a complex character and I loved trying to make her sweet as well as totally bad." Brad Wright called Adria "an interesting character because she's the Ori cheating", and compared her to the Ori equivalent of a Harcesis. Cooper considered Adria becoming host to a Goa'uld "the marriage of the old villains and the new villains" and compared it to the episode , the first where both the Replicators and the Goa'uld first appeared together. Morena Baccarin was only available for one day during the filming of Stargate: The Ark of Truth, worth six pages of script. Cooper had written more scenes between her, Julian Sands ("Doci") and the SG-1 team, but the only other option to what ended up in the film was to cut the character.
), Sallis (April Amber Telek), Fannis (Paul Moniz de Sa), Seevis (Michael Ironside
), and Denya (Daniella Evangelista
) – die shortly after their introduction. Another member is introduced in Stargate: The Ark of Truth: Hertis (Chris Gauthier
). Tomin somehow finds him and takes him to meet with Daniel and Vala in order to find the location of Ortus Malum where the team believes the Ark of Truth to be. He is somewhat suspicious of Daniel and Vala as they are unaware that the fires of Celestis are out (an indication that the Ori are dead) which should have spread very far. Apparently Tomin told him they were from far away but just not how far (another galaxy). In order to give him proof of their story, Daniel, Vala and Tomin take him to the Odyssey which is in orbit which is proof enough for him. He tells them what is believed to be the location: a mountain high above the Plains of Celestis on another planet. Presumably he is then returned to his home planet as he is not seen again.
was concerned that "mining Arthurian mythology for season 9 may prove to be a mistake for Stargate", comparing scenes of to "a god-awful Merri Olde England pastiche straight out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
, complete with unwashed peons, an overbearing church and witchburning." He however commented about that "Stargate SG-1 seems to be establishing an interesting set of themes this season, providing a timely commentary on religious evangelism and intolerance with its new villains, the Ori." By , Graves was sure that "the Ori are a force to be reckoned with." Regarding , he thought it was "doubly nice" to see an SG-1 story where the apocalyptic events have an effect on contemporary Earth instead of on alien planets.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s in the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series, Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
. They are a group of "ascended" beings who use their advanced technology and knowledge of the universe to attempt to trick non-ascended humans into worshipping them as gods.
They first appeared in the ninth season of Stargate SG-1, replacing the Goa'uld
Goa'uld
The Goa'uld are a fictional symbiotic race of ancient astronauts from the American-Canadian military science fiction television franchise Stargate. The Goa'uld are parasites from the planet P3X-888, integrated within a host, most of the time human. The resulting creatures are a powerful race bent...
as the show's primary antagonists. While the Goa'uld relied on stolen technology from other civilizations to pose as gods, the Ori also have paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
abilities in addition to very advanced technology. As Ascended beings, they live on a higher plane of existence with great power and knowledge and are as close to being "gods" as any non-deific being can be.
The Ori fabricated a religion called Origin, which they use in an attempt to control non-ascended beings. The Ori also attempt to destroy any planets and civilizations that reject Origin. A central theme in the show is that power does not make someone a god nor entitle them to be worshipped; rather, the way they use great power is the measure of how they should be honored.
Genesis
Since the eighth season of Stargate SG-1 was intended to be the last, the producers finished it with the defeat of the Goa'uldGoa'uld
The Goa'uld are a fictional symbiotic race of ancient astronauts from the American-Canadian military science fiction television franchise Stargate. The Goa'uld are parasites from the planet P3X-888, integrated within a host, most of the time human. The resulting creatures are a powerful race bent...
and Replicator
Replicator (Stargate)
In the military science fiction series Stargate SG-1, the Replicators are antagonistic self-replicating machines that propagate by ingesting the metals that make up civilizations and use them to create either blocks that form the bug-like version or smaller cells that compose the human-form...
s. When the Sci Fi Channel
Sci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
renewed the series, however, the producers had grown creatively tired of writing endings. Having had good experiences with the first season of Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper as a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1, which was created by Wright and Jonathan Glassner and was itself...
, the producers hence decided to revamp the series in more fronts than just adding new characters by introducing new villains and new missions. Thus they considered the beginning of Season 9 as the pilot of a new show.
Season Nine was about wiping the slate clean and resetting the story to where Stargate SG-1 was in its first season. The reason was that the SG-1 team was now winning every time, having already defeated the main enemies the previous season. Since SG-1 had always been grounded in Earth mythology, the producers chose the King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
mythology for the new season as that had not been done before. Merlin as a famous magical figure was made an Ancient, leading to the Ancients' enemies named the Ori. The Ori are thus "a natural extension of where the Ancient mythology had gone." Up until that point, the story of the Ancients had been kept at arm's length because the show was not about the aliens but "human beings going out into this unexplored, fantastical universe." The producers also acknowledged that a premature full revelation of the Ancients would have caused their story to be less interesting.
Producer Brad Wright
Brad Wright
Brad Wright is a Canadian television producer, screenwriter and actor. He is best known as the creator or co-creator of the television series Stargate SG-1 , Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe...
believed the Ori are still within the overriding theme of Stargate, as they are "aliens playing gods" and "false gods" and the relationship between aliens as gods and ordinary human folk. The introduction of the Ori was to prepare the viewer for their invasion and overtaking that would take place later. The Ori also served as a challenge for the new heroes in the SG-1 team (Mitchell, Landry, Vala). The writers believed that new bad guys and new obstacles for the characters to overcome would make for a more interesting story.
The name "Ori" comes from the word "Origin", as in the origin of the Ancients. When Cooper looked at the root of "origin", he retcon-invented the word "Origin" as the name of the Ori religion. Cooper said it was an interesting idea for him to address the philosophical arguments with various religious people, seeing the whole challenge as "how do you prove whose God exists or whether God exists at all?" Instead of the Goa'uld, who were proved quickly to not be gods by killing them and figuring out their technology, it would be hard to present the same argument to the Ori followers because the Ori were essentially ascended gods. Even if their gods were dead, it would not make much difference for them, as their followers would continue to believe; without the "magic powers" of the Ori, their followers and the Priors (the Ori's missionaries) could still use the technology and their ships. Cooper said that "it's not necessarily wrong to believe in something ... what's wrong is to murder somebody because they don't believe the way you do." Although Cooper was reluctant to get too serious about the meaning behind the Ori as Stargate should "first and foremost [...] entertain people", he considered it representative of television and the media, "mak[ing] people believe whatever the people in charge of that magic box – whatever they want you to believe they can pretty much convince you, or convince the vast majority of people." For Cooper, "the followers of the Ori were the interesting part", and he "wanted to do a story that was in some way reflective of the differences between people's beliefs that we see around us in our society, and how conflicts arise as a result of that." Cooper was particularly interested in the interaction between Ori followers and other normal human beings, the resulting "mysterious aspect and quality to religious belief and the passion that it invokes." The producers therefore put the Ori in the story background, similar to the way there was very little direct interaction between the actual deities of the religion and mankind in real life.
Cooper was concerned that the distinction between the Ori and the Ori's followers was often overlooked, and that the SG-1 team dealt with the followers, not the ascended gods. If, as suggested, the Ori were actually destroyed by the Merlin's Ancient weapon, the real issue for the SG-1 teams became the followers. Brad Wright pointed to power corruption, and the catch of the Ori killing unbelievers.
Story ideas
In the original pitch for , Brad Wright had intended to let Ori build the Supergate and come through. It was then decided among the writers to only let the threat of the Ori come through the Priors, and wait for the Ori arrival until the end of the season.The last ten minutes of "Camelot" should serve as a "great, ominous harbinger of the foe" SG-1 is up against. In Season 10, the Ori sweep through the Milky Way galaxy, forcing SG-1 to start from scratch again to find technology, resources, and allies to fight against them.
If Stargate SG-1 had gone on, the producers would have considered the search for the Ark (of Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: The Ark of Truth is a 2008 Canadian-American military science fiction film written and directed by Robert C. Cooper. The film is the conclusion of Stargate SG-1 Ori arc, and picks up after the SG-1 series finale, but takes place before the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis. The Ark of...
) as the overriding story for an eleventh season, similar to the Sangraal in seasons nine and ten. The producers did not explore more detailed ideas after the show's cancellation.
Design
Art director James Robbins developed the design of the Ori and the Priors from scratch. At the beginning he knew a basic description of them and their powers, and that they would carry a staff weapon. The art department first looked at Japanese and Samurai from a costuming point of view. Inspired by remote jungle tribes for the mystical aspects, Robbins came up with the idea of scarificationScarification
Scarifying involves scratching, etching, burning, or superficially cutting designs, pictures, or words into the skin as a permanent body modification.In the process of body scarification, scars are formed by cutting or branding the skin...
for the Priors and the Doci. The Priors have scarifications on the chin and the cheek, while the Doci also have them on their forehead. Scarification would therefore be a symbol of high establishment. Originally, it was also considered to have scarification on the hands, and to have the Priors have finger extensions, but this became too impracticable. When the Prime Jaffa Gerak became a Prior in , his golden Jaffa tattoo on his forehead was replaced with a Prior scarification, and his makeup was made to look like the gold had melted and become part of his Prior scarification.
Each Prior was given his own unique symbol, which he would wear on his wardrobe and also on his staff weapon. The art department built each staff to have a little orb encased in natural wood, and the orbs start to glow when the actor pushes a little button on the handle.
Music
Composer Joel Goldsmith's inspiration for the Ori themes were the "certain parallels to what's happening today, in modern day". He admits that the music of the Ori was intentionally given a gothic, Gregorian and Christian feel. He tried to meld a few different styles.Mythology of the Ori and the Ancients
The Ori backstory is elaborate and is explained over Season 9 and 10 and the film Stargate: The Ark of TruthStargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: The Ark of Truth is a 2008 Canadian-American military science fiction film written and directed by Robert C. Cooper. The film is the conclusion of Stargate SG-1 Ori arc, and picks up after the SG-1 series finale, but takes place before the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis. The Ark of...
. Robert C. Cooper considered the backstory "pretty complicated" but felt the show gave the answers to the audience members who wanted to delve deeper.
Part of this story returns to the Ancients, whose backstory began in the Season 1 episode . Early in Season 9, Brad Wright explained that the Ori are the original Ancients, who would disagree with the Alterans (later to relocate and be known as the Ancients of the Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
galaxy
Galaxy
A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...
) that they shouldn't interfere because interference would mean playing god, which these beings hadn't quite achieved.
The Ori and the Alterans were one race millions of years ago and lived in a single society on an evolutionary path to ascension. The Ark of Truth shows flashbacks to human Ancients coexisting with the people who eventually became the Ori. However, a philosophical division emerged. The Ori grew more and more fervent in their religious belief, while the Alterans adopted a more scientific/rational outlook to become a more progressive society. The Ancients were well known for their fierce belief in free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
and had a code to be "fairly non-violent". As such, they do not interfere on lower planes of existence at all, not even to save their own kind from being exterminated by the Ori, or to prevent all life in the Milky Way galaxy from being exterminated by Anubis. In contrast, the Ori constantly interfere. For example, Origin states that failure to share the secrets of the universe to those on the lower planes of existence is an evil act and that anyone not following it must be eliminated; by this definition, every ascended Ancient was evil and must be destroyed. They also have no rules against taking direct control of living beings or completely changing them to behave as they desire. With the Ori outnumbering the Alterans, their viewpoints ultimately diverged so much that the two groups split apart and began to actively oppose each other, with the Ori attempting to kill the Alterans.
Their fundamentally different beliefs in regards to science led the Alterans to hide their level of scientific belief so that they would not get into a conflict. Eventually, the Ancients decided to build a space ship and leave rather than to use their technology, like the Ark of Truth, to defeat the Ori. Though they had the ability to stop the Ori, they thought it to be philosophically and morally wrong. The film thus addresses the non-interference policy of the Ancients under the Ori threat, and how they act since SG-1 did them a big favor by killing the Ori.
After much time, believed by Daniel Jackson to be thousands of years, the Alterans discovered the Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
, where they eventually built their empire. However, even after the Ori had forced the Alterans to leave their galaxy, the two factions remained bitter enemies. Eventually, the Alterans were afflicted with a terrible plague that wiped out most of their civilization. It would later be discovered that what was known of this plague is very similar to the disease used by Ori Priors against non-believers, which had led Daniel Jackson to speculate that the pre-Ascended Ori might have been responsible for this plague.
After millions of years, both the Alterans and the Ori learned how to ascend and evolved, forming two groups that continued to oppose each other, even at the higher planes of existence. According to the Orici Adria, the Ori-Ancient war on the Ascended plane is due to the Ancients' intolerance for those who do not comply with their rules about non-interference. According to Orlin, a de-ascended Ancient, the conflict arises from the Ori's ultimate wish to destroy the Ancients once and for all as they seek to eliminate all who oppose them.
When the Ori ascended they re-created humanity (the second generation of humans) to worship them in the Ori galaxy, and gave their followers the knowledge and technology to essentially enslave others and to force them to believe as the Ori desired. The Ancients also created a new evolution of humans (i.e. current human culture) in the Milky Way and shielded them, preventing the Ori from finding out about them and enslaving the people to Origin as they had in their own galaxy. They do not view this action as a violation of their non-interference policies as the Ori are at a level equal to themselves. However, as the Ancients will not interfere in the lower planes of existence, the Ori are allowed to send their human followers to the Milky Way in order to convert it, and anyone who wishes to worship the Ori will not be prevented from doing so.
According to Orlin, ascended beings can be empowered by massive numbers of humans worshipping them. The Ori have fabricated an entire religion, named Origin, based on the false promise of ascension to drain power from their followers. The Ancients firmly resent using their powers this way, and therefore refrain from interfering in the lower planes of existence because manipulating and aligning lower life forms could result in exactly this type of abusive corruption. According to the Ancient Myrddin, the Ori had the best intentions when they first began, but as evidenced on numerous occasions throughout history, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Ori were, for all intents and purposes, omnipotent and liked it. Even after they were presumably destroyed, their followers and Priors continued to use their powers and name to oppress and enslave thousands of people.
Characteristics
The Ori impose a religion called Origin on sentient beings, promising a guide towards enlightenment that is also known in the series as Ascension. The faith comes with a holy book called The Book of Origin, and the Priors spread the Word of Origin. The Book of Origin contains tales of how the followers of the Ori returned to the path to enlightenment, and thus achieved Ascension, although some skeptics consider these merely "fables meant to fill a soul bereft of hope with purpose". Several lines from the Book of Origin, or otherwise repeated mantras, are heard on the show. These include variations of "Hallowed are the Ori". The central icon of this religion is fire, something that gives off light and warmth. The fact that on Earth this icon has some evil or SatanSatan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
ic associations in many modern religions prompted Daniel to posit that the Ancients had influenced this negative connotation in order to identify the threat the Ori pose. Among the populations of natives in the Ori home galaxy are groups of heretics who believe they are being suppressed, and seek to discover forbidden historical knowledge to show others that the Ori, despite their power, are not gods.
Ori military tactics varied during the initial incursions into the Milky Way galaxy and the full scale invasion that was later achieved through the Supergate. The initial incursions were achieved through lone Priors who were sent to worlds in the Milky Way galaxy, preaching to the populace and distributing copies of the Book of Origin. When the people failed to comply, more drastic measures were taken, eventually to the point of destroying the population. The show features powerful Ori weapons in , ships in , control chairs like that in and Supergates in . The Ori can be killed by Merlin's Sangraal weapon, which nullifies ascended beings. As seen in The Ark of Truth, there is also an Ark that Cooper considered "a truly fascinating centerpiece" and "mass brain-washing device" to convince people of the truth. Comparing the Ark to television as it is "a box that light comes out of, and you believe what it says", Cooper left it open whether the choice to do it without guns was ultimately the better method.
Doci
Julian Sands
Julian M. Sands is an English actor, known for his roles in the Best Picture nominee The Killing Fields, the cult film Warlock, A Room with a View, Arachnophobia, Vatel, the television series 24 and as Jor-El in the television series Smallville.-Career:Sands began his film career appearing in...
, represents the Ori in their home galaxy and leads the Priors. He appears in "Origin", "The Fourth Horseman, Part 1" and Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: The Ark of Truth is a 2008 Canadian-American military science fiction film written and directed by Robert C. Cooper. The film is the conclusion of Stargate SG-1 Ori arc, and picks up after the SG-1 series finale, but takes place before the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis. The Ark of...
. The Doci is essentially a chief Prior who acts as a mediator or mouthpiece for the Ori. The Doci has brown hair and colored eyes, pale skin and facial markings of a Prior. The Doci was introduced in , where he was shown to reside in the city of Celestis, with his chambers next to the Ori's Flames of Enlightenment. In one instance, the Ori possessed the Doci to speak to Daniel. Had Julian Sands not been able to come back as the Doci for the direct-to-DVD film The Ark of Truth, the producers had planned to hire another actor as a different Doci in charge in Celestis. Although Sands' availability eventually was a hindrance in The Ark of Truth, the producers felt it was better to include the Doci than to forgo the character.
Priors
The Ori are served by so-called Priors, highly evolved human beings who act as missionaries of the Ori by traveling to different planets to spread the religion of Origin. As the Ori are incapable of directly affecting the material universe in the Milky Way Galaxy due to the protection of the ascended AncientsAncient (Stargate)
The Ancients are a humanoid race in the fictional Stargate universe. They are called "Ancients" in the Milky Way, but are also known as Lanteans or Ancestors in the Pegasus galaxy and as the Alterans in their home galaxy, and they sometimes call themselves Anquietas in their language...
, they send the Priors as their representatives. Cooper said the Priors have "these incredible, superhuman powers", which allows them to perform deeds which they convince people are miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
s, attack enemies, and resurrect the dead. They also unleash plagues as punishment for not following the Ori. The Priors believe fervently in their mission, and essentially offer a real religion with big promises. Priors have been encountered on various worlds, trying to convert the local population and fight anyone who tried to stop them, including the Tau'ri and the Jaffa.
As shown in the series, priors are normal humans whom the Ori transform into an evolved state of human to serve as missionaries as a reward for loyalty and devoted service. This process drastically alters their appearance: albino skin and hair, a tracery of raised lines on the chin and cheeks, and indentation of the skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
just above and behind the eyes. Their eyes appear as a misty gray pupil without an iris. In and The Ark of Truth
Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: The Ark of Truth is a 2008 Canadian-American military science fiction film written and directed by Robert C. Cooper. The film is the conclusion of Stargate SG-1 Ori arc, and picks up after the SG-1 series finale, but takes place before the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis. The Ark of...
, SG-1 was able to temporarily disable a Prior's abilities by using ultrasonic sounds to deny Priors access to the advanced areas of their brains.
- Damaris (played by William B. DavisWilliam B. DavisWilliam Bruce Davis is a Canadian actor, known for his role as The Smoking Man on The X-Files. He has also appeared in Stargate SG-1 as Damaris, a Prior of the Ori and as Mayor Tate on Smallville...
) A Prior who makes contact with the Sodan in "Babylon". SG-1 challenges him in "The Fourth Horseman", where Damaris is killed in self-defense. - Daniel Jackson (played by Michael ShanksMichael ShanksMichael Garrett Shanks is a Canadian actor who achieved fame for his role as Dr. Daniel Jackson in the long-running Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.-Early life:...
) Is turned into a Prior by Adria in , as part of her plan to convert the Tau'ri to the path of Origin. However, because Merlin had previously downloaded his memories into him, Daniel is able to maintain his own personality and, after exploiting his Prior powers to finish constructing and activating the Sangraal, reverts to his normal form. - Gerak (played by Louis Gossett, Jr.Louis Gossett, Jr.Louis Cameron Gossett, Jr. is an American actor best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman and Fiddler in the 1970s television miniseries Roots...
) A Jaffa introduced in who, after becoming interested in the promised path of ascension, turns into a Prior in and dies in the same episode after turning against Origin. Daniel Jackson speculated that the Ori had included a kill switch when they transformed him into a Prior, to prevent disloyalty. - Prior #1 (played by Mark Houghton) Visits the village of Ver Eger and revives Vala after her Trial of Fire in . He then brings Vala and Daniel to the Doci in the city of Celestis and back to the village to find more heretics in .
- Prior #2 (played by Larry CedarLarry CedarLarry Cedar is an American actor and a voice actor best known as one of the players of the highly-acclaimed Children's Television Workshop mathematics show, Square One TV on PBS from 1987 to 1994. He also played Alex the Butcher in a series of commercials for Kroger in 1989...
) The first Prior to be sent to the Milky Way after the Ori learned of the existence of humans in this galaxy. Cameron MitchellCameron Mitchell (Stargate)Cameron "Cam" Mitchell is a fictional character in the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, a science fiction show about a military team exploring the galaxy via a network of alien transportation devices...
brings him to Stargate CommandStargate CommandThe Stargate Program is a fictional top-secret program that plays a key role in the Stargate franchise: it surrounds the operations of the Stargate on Earth. The core of the Stargate Program is Stargate Command , based at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station near Colorado Springs, Colorado...
in , where the prior eventually bursts into flames after learning that he would never again leave the planet. - Prior #3 (played by Greg AndersonGreg Anderson (actor)Greg Anderson is a Canadian actor who lives in Woodstock, New Brunswick, with his wife and son. He was born in Chatham Head, New Brunswick...
) The governor of the village of Ver Eger, introduced in when Daniel and Vala first came to the village. As a reward for doing his duties and putting Vala through a Trial by Fire, he is transformed into a Prior in . He is later sent to the Milky Way and makes appearances in unleashing a plague in a defiant village, in turning Gerak into a Prior, and in ordering the destruction of a village by spaceship. He also appeared in Stargate: The Ark of TruthStargate: The Ark of TruthStargate: The Ark of Truth is a 2008 Canadian-American military science fiction film written and directed by Robert C. Cooper. The film is the conclusion of Stargate SG-1 Ori arc, and picks up after the SG-1 series finale, but takes place before the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis. The Ark of...
, in which he was killed. - Prior #4 (played by Ian ButcherIan ButcherIan Paul Butcher is a former English first-class cricketer. He is the brother of former England Test player Alan and uncle of Mark....
) Tries to convert the people of Kallana in and later transforms the planet into a micro black holeMicro black holeMicro black holes are tiny black holes, also called quantum mechanical black holes or mini black holes, for which quantum mechanical effects play an important role....
to power a Supergate. - Prior #5 (played by Morris Chapdelaine) Visits the Sodan homeworld in and causes Volnek to turn on his fellow Jaffa and kill them.
- Prior #6 (played by Doug Abrahams) A Prior introduced in , who visits Ver Isca and cures Tomin of his limp, also informing him that he was unable to father children. Prior #6 is on board one of the Ori battlecruisers invading the Milky Way in and is present during Adria's birth in , informing her parents of her divine purpose. He also appears in , accompanying Adria in the search of the Sangraal. He made an appearance in Stargate: The Ark of TruthStargate: The Ark of TruthStargate: The Ark of Truth is a 2008 Canadian-American military science fiction film written and directed by Robert C. Cooper. The film is the conclusion of Stargate SG-1 Ori arc, and picks up after the SG-1 series finale, but takes place before the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis. The Ark of...
. - Prior #7 (played by Peter Nicholas Smyth) Accompanies Adria in and is killed in an attack by the Jaffa with the Dakara Superweapon.
Tomin and the Ori warriors
Tim Guinee
Tim Guinee
Timothy S. "Tim" Guinee is an American stage, television, and feature film actor.-Life and career:Guinee, who has two brothers and two sisters, was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Illinois and Texas....
played Tomin, a devout Ori follower of the village of Ver Isca, who becomes an Ori commander in Season 10. He appears in , , , and Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: The Ark of Truth is a 2008 Canadian-American military science fiction film written and directed by Robert C. Cooper. The film is the conclusion of Stargate SG-1 Ori arc, and picks up after the SG-1 series finale, but takes place before the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis. The Ark of...
. Tomin is intended as a representation of the Ori warriors, and Cooper described Guinee as a "fabulous actor who instantly creates that humanity and empathy ... while he's mass-murdering people" Tomin is introduced in flashbacks in , having found Vala after she was transported to the Ori home galaxy. Tomin had been crippled since childhood, and was therefore looked down on by his fellow villagers. Tomin married Vala and accepted her pregnancy as his child, not knowing that it was a miraculous conception set by the Ori. A little later, a Prior visited the village and cured Tomin of his limp, allowing him to become a warrior for the Ori. The prior also told Tomin the truth about the child as "the will of the Ori", who would later be the Orici. Tomin is later able to forgive Vala. Tomin and Vala depart aboard the first wave of Ori vessels entering the Milky Way, and they go separate ways in . Tomin rises to the rank of commander within the Ori warrior armies, and he and Vala meet again in . Because a Prior twists the words of the Book of Origin, Tomin begins to doubt the Priors and their interpretations of Origin's teachings, and helps Vala escape. Tomin plays an important role in the film Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: The Ark of Truth is a 2008 Canadian-American military science fiction film written and directed by Robert C. Cooper. The film is the conclusion of Stargate SG-1 Ori arc, and picks up after the SG-1 series finale, but takes place before the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis. The Ark of...
, in which, after seeing a Prior's death with his own eyes, he learns the truth about the Ori.
Adria the Orici
In Season 10, the primary antagonist switched from the Priors and the Doci to the Orici, also known by the name Adria. The story presents her as a genetically advanced human infused with Ori knowledge, created to circumvent the Ancients' rules that the Ori cannot directly use their powers to conquer the Milky Way galaxy. Adria is one step higher than the Doci, but equal in terms of her role in the Milky Way galaxy, which is to lead the armies of the Ori in the Milky Way galaxy, converting the galaxy to Origin in the process. Adria possesses several Prior-like superhuman abilities, and leads the armies of the Ori until her Ascension in the penultimate episode of Stargate SG-1. From a creative standpoint, Adria's character was created to give Vala Mal DoranVala Mal Doran
Vala Mal Doran is a fictional character in the American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, a science fiction show about a military team exploring the galaxy via a network of alien transportation devices. Played by former Farscape actress Claudia Black, Vala was created by...
a story and personality arc as a member of the SG-1 team.
Adria's story begins shortly after the events of "Beachhead", when Vala is impregnated by the Ori in the Ori home galaxy. Vala eventually returns to the Milky Way aboard one of the Ori battlecruisers invading the Milky Way galaxy. In "Flesh and Blood", Vala gives birth to a baby girl, the Orici. Within hours of being born, the child reaches the apparent age of four and heals her mother's pain, knowing that Vala is not a believer in Origin. By the child's apparent age of seven, Vala gives her the name Adria, after her "witch of a woman" stepmother. Vala escapes when Adria is at the apparent age of twelve. Adria only starts to have an impact in the second quarter of the season, when she has grown "into a beautiful but deadly young woman".
When Vala, who has joined the SG-1 team, meets adult Adria in "Counterstrike", Adria foreshadows her plans with Daniel. In "The Quest", Adria tricks SG-1 into obtaining the Sangraal for her. Adria captures Daniel before he can complete the device. Hoping to convert both Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
and Vala, Adria attempts to convert Daniel to the path of Origin and makes him a Prior. In "The Shroud", however, Daniel betrays her and uses the weapon on the Ori galaxy. In "Dominion", Adria is briefly implanted with a cloned Ba'al symbiote. Although the symbiote is removed, the procedure almost kills Adria and she ascends. Being the only surviving Ori power after the events of "The Shroud", Adria alone controls the power generated by the followers of Origin, and continues the Ori's assault on the Milky Way in Stargate: The Ark of Truth. After an Ancient device known as the Ark of Truth affects her galaxy's believers, Adria is last seen in Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: The Ark of Truth is a 2008 Canadian-American military science fiction film written and directed by Robert C. Cooper. The film is the conclusion of Stargate SG-1 Ori arc, and picks up after the SG-1 series finale, but takes place before the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis. The Ark of...
in a battle with the Ancient Morgan le Fay, which in Cooper's view started as a fight in the human realm of existence and continues on the ascended level similar to what happened with Anubis and Oma Desala in . Adria is thus "eternally distracted from being able to continue her evil ways".
Young Adria was played by three child actresses – Adria at age four was played by Robert C. Cooper
Robert C. Cooper
Robert C. Cooper is a Canadian writer and producer best known for his work in the Stargate franchise. He was formerly an executive producer of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis until both series conclusion and currently holds the same title on the third Stargate series Stargate Universe...
's daughter Emma, who replaced the originally cast child who suffered from stage fright. Adria at age seven was played by Jodelle Ferland
Jodelle Ferland
Jodelle Micah Ferland is a Canadian actress, best known for her portrayal of Sharon and Alessa in the 2006 horror film Silent Hill, Mary Jensen in the 2004 miniseries Kingdom Hospital and her portrayal of Bree Tanner in the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.-Life and career:Ferland was born in Nanaimo,...
, and at age twelve by Brenna O'Brien
Brenna O'Brien
Brenna O'Brien is a Canadian actress. She is best known for voicing Rin in the anime series Inuyasha.-Career:She is also known for playing Meghan in Zixx: Level Two and appears in X-Men: The Last Stand as the girl in the car with her family during Magneto's displacement of the Golden Gate Bridge...
. Morena Baccarin
Morena Baccarin
Morena Baccarin is a Brazilian-born American actress most widely known for roles in several American science fiction television shows: as Inara Serra in the series Firefly; as Adria in the series Stargate SG-1; and as Anna in the 2009 version of the series V...
was offered the role of adult Adria in a phone call by the producers, who were Firefly
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
fans. The orange contact lenses that the actress had to wear made her feel nearly blind and irritated her eyes, so the lenses were dropped during the shooting of "The Quest". Baccarin enjoyed "the whole experience [...] incredible" as she got to play a character she could learn from. In her words, "Adria was a complex character and I loved trying to make her sweet as well as totally bad." Brad Wright called Adria "an interesting character because she's the Ori cheating", and compared her to the Ori equivalent of a Harcesis. Cooper considered Adria becoming host to a Goa'uld "the marriage of the old villains and the new villains" and compared it to the episode , the first where both the Replicators and the Goa'uld first appeared together. Morena Baccarin was only available for one day during the filming of Stargate: The Ark of Truth, worth six pages of script. Cooper had written more scenes between her, Julian Sands ("Doci") and the SG-1 team, but the only other option to what ended up in the film was to cut the character.
Anti-Ori underground
In the second episode of season 9, it is shown that not all Humans in the Ori Home Galaxy believe their gods to be benevolent as is seen in the case of the Anti-Ori Underground. This group of humans live a dangerous life in hiding from purges and the fanatical followers. Their purpose is simply to collect enough evidence to prove to their brethren that the claims of the Ori are false. Despite this, they do believe that the Ori are very powerful; it is only their intentions they doubt. Even though the group lives in the shadows of Ori society, they have collected a number of artifacts that they have kept hidden, since such pieces of technology contradict the book of Origin and thus would be destroyed if discovered. The group also has a number of followers in high positions even within the City of the Gods. All known members of this movement – Harrid (played by Stephen ParkStephen Park
Stephen Park is a British artist and comic performer. He was briefly associated with the Young British Artists in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and included in the seminal Freeze show.-Life and work:...
), Sallis (April Amber Telek), Fannis (Paul Moniz de Sa), Seevis (Michael Ironside
Michael Ironside
Michael Ironside is a Canadian-born actor. He has also worked as a voice actor, producer, film director, and screenwriter in movie and television series in various Canadian and American productions. He is best known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, though he has also portrayed...
), and Denya (Daniella Evangelista
Daniella Evangelista
Daniella Evangelista is a Canadian actress and model.- Biography :Her early work in television commercials and modeling included national campaigns for Benetton and worldwide exposure through Japanese calendars and other promotions...
) – die shortly after their introduction. Another member is introduced in Stargate: The Ark of Truth: Hertis (Chris Gauthier
Chris Gauthier
Christopher Gauthier is an English born Canadian actor. He is married with two children and currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada....
). Tomin somehow finds him and takes him to meet with Daniel and Vala in order to find the location of Ortus Malum where the team believes the Ark of Truth to be. He is somewhat suspicious of Daniel and Vala as they are unaware that the fires of Celestis are out (an indication that the Ori are dead) which should have spread very far. Apparently Tomin told him they were from far away but just not how far (another galaxy). In order to give him proof of their story, Daniel, Vala and Tomin take him to the Odyssey which is in orbit which is proof enough for him. He tells them what is believed to be the location: a mountain high above the Plains of Celestis on another planet. Presumably he is then returned to his home planet as he is not seen again.
Reception
In reviewing the first part of Season 9, Steven Graves of TV ZoneTV Zone
TV Zone was a British magazine published every four weeks by Visual Imagination that covered cult television. Initially, it mostly covered science fiction, but branched out to cover other drama and comedy series.-History:...
was concerned that "mining Arthurian mythology for season 9 may prove to be a mistake for Stargate", comparing scenes of to "a god-awful Merri Olde England pastiche straight out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1974 British comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...
, complete with unwashed peons, an overbearing church and witchburning." He however commented about that "Stargate SG-1 seems to be establishing an interesting set of themes this season, providing a timely commentary on religious evangelism and intolerance with its new villains, the Ori." By , Graves was sure that "the Ori are a force to be reckoned with." Regarding , he thought it was "doubly nice" to see an SG-1 story where the apocalyptic events have an effect on contemporary Earth instead of on alien planets.
External links
- Ori at wikiaWikiaWikia is a free web hosting service for wikis . It is normally free of charge for readers and editors, deriving most of its income from advertising, and publishes all user-provided text under copyleft licenses. Wikia hosts several hundred thousand wikis using the open-source wiki software MediaWiki...
- "Ori" at GateWorldGateWorldStargate fandom is a community of people actively interested in the military science fiction film Stargate and the television shows Stargate SG-1 , Stargate Infinity , Stargate Atlantis , Stargate Universe and their spin offs...
Omnipedia