- "Somebody's got to teach that guy how to die!"
- ―Jack O'Neill
Apophis was once an extremely powerful Goa'uld System Lord. The brother of the Supreme System Lord Ra, Apophis originally commanded a minor fleet, but he grew in strength to command the power of multiple System Lords that had been killed during his reign, ultimately succeeding Ra as the dominant System Lord after the latter's death. He had one human host in his life.
In addition, Apophis was one of the most powerful enemies of the Tau'ri and a personal enemy (ultimate nemesis) of SG-1, the flagship team of Stargate Command due to the fact that Apophis himself had taken Sha're, Daniel Jackson's wife and Skaara, Daniel's brother-in-law as hosts for his Goa'uld family as well as an enemy of Teal'c of Chulak who had previously served Apophis as his First Prime before defecting to join Stargate Command and SG-1 stop Apophis and all the other Goa'uld once and for all.
After many years of war against his fellow Goa'uld and the Tau'ri, Apophis's fleet was destroyed in the Vorash system and Apophis himself was finally killed for good when his ship crashed into his new homeworld of Delmak in June 2001 thanks to SG-1 and the Replicators.
Biography
1997
Apophis during the invasion of Stargate Command. From the Stargate SG-1 Season 1 premiere episode, "Children of the Gods".
In July 1997, Apophis and his Jaffa Serpent guards used a Stargate to head to Earth, arriving in the empty Embarkation room of Stargate Command.
Prior to invading the SGC, Apophis used a Goa'uld scanning device to determine if the planet was suitable. After the object deemed Senior Airman Carol Weterings as a possible candidate to host Apophis's mate, Amaunet, Apophis and his men arrived at the SGC.
Apophis and his Serpent Guards in the Embarkation Room of the vacant Stargate Command. From the Stargate SG-1 Season 1 premiere episode, "Children of the Gods Part 1".
With his First Prime, Teal'c of Chulak having restrained Weterings, Apophis scanned her with a Goa'uld hand device with the effect knocking Weterings unconcious.
Weterings's colleagues who like her were Airmen and soldiers attempted to repel the invaders, triggering a massive gunfight but despite their efforts which included killing two of Apophis's six Serpent Guard party, the four male soldiers were all eventually killed due to the fact that they had been ill-prepared and also poorly equipped to deal with such an attack.
As reinforcements and Major General George S. Hammond arrived, Apophis and the Serpent Guards later fled back through the Stargate, taking an unconscious Weterings with them.
Apophis on Abydos. From the Stargate SG-1 Season 1 premiere episode, "Children of the Gods".
Following that, Apophis later arrived at Abydos, while Colonel Jack O'Neill's team were off exploring a cave except for Louis Ferretti where following another gunfight, Apophis and his men kidnapped both Sha're and Skaara while killing some Abydonians and also leaving Ferretti badly injured before the group left Abydos.
With his job done, Apophis returned to his palace on Chulak and began the process of determining if the women he had chosen were suitable for Amaunet. Apophis first chose Weterings, only for Amaunet to reject the possibility of inhabiting Weterings's body straightaway with Apophis later killing Weterings with his hand device.
A while later, Sha're was chosen and after an inspection, Amaunet accepted, taking control of Sha're's body. Arriving at a village in Chulak, he revealed the implanted Sha're to a group of individuals, which included SG-1. Apophis ordered SG-1 taken prisoner, and they were thrown into a large cell with other prisoners. He returned to the cell and ordered his Jaffa servants to locate children to select the "Children of the gods" or rather, those who would the new hosts for his fellow symbiotes with Skaara, Sha're's brother being among the chosen. Once the "children" were selected, Apophis ordered the other prisoners to be executed and promptly left to go to the Stargate. The execution was foiled by O'Neill and Apophis's First Prime Teal'c who having had doubts about Apophis finally defected from Apophis's service to help the team escape. Eventually, Teal'c, SG-1 and the rest of the refugees, attempted to stop Apophis from leaving with Skaara. Their attempts failed and Apophis and his group left to an unknown planet. (SG1: "Children of the Gods")
Apophis' symbol.
In revenge for the actions of SG-1 and SG-2, Apophis had a number of his Jaffa attempt to invade Stargate Command but his attempts were thwarted by the SGC's Stargate Iris. Apophis eventually stopped his assault after a number of attempted invasions with an unknown number of his Jaffa troops dying in the process. (SG1: "The Enemy Within", "Emancipation")
Continuing his search for the seemingly cloakable Fenri on a planet occupied by the Nox, Apophis attempted to capture a Fenri with three other Jaffa guards, including Shak'l. At the same time, SG-1 was investigating the creature in hopes of obtaining it's cloaking ability. Apophis encountered SG-1, who had ambushed him, but he was able to activate his personal force field within his hand device before he could be stunned. Using one of his guards' staff weapons, he was able to kill all members of SG-1 except for Teal'c. The Nox took SG-1, along with an injured Shak'l and healed them. When Shak'l escaped, he alerted Apophis to the incredible powers of the Nox, which prompted an attack. However, Apophis' attack was foiled by a revived SG-1. Colonel Jack O'Neill was ready to stun Apophis, but before he could, the Nox transported Apophis through the Stargate. (SG1: "The Nox")
1998
Apophis before his capture by Sokar
Because of the problems the Tau'ri were causing the Goa'uld, Apophis, with his son Klorel, took two Ha'taks in a campaign to conquer Earth. SG-1, however, had already arrived on a Stargate being carried in Klorel's mothership, and managed to rig the vessel to explode and incapacitate Klorel. Bra'tac, Apophis' former First Prime, also helped SG-1, by directing Klorel's mothership to move closer to Apophis', and damaging the Pel'tac's controls. Unable to save his ship, Apophis and Klorel ringed over to Klorel's mothership and used the Stargate to escape. However, the damage to Apophis was incalculable. (SG1: "The Serpent's Lair")
The cover story for the destruction of Apophis' fleet was massive solar flare activity. In 2004, Joe Spencer attempted to use these reports to prove to his estranged wife Charlene Spencer that his visions about SG-1 were real.
Shortly after this incident, the SGC received intel suggesting that Apophis may have survived the destruction of his mothership and escaped to Chulak. Major General George S. Hammond called a briefing to discuss the matter with SG-1. However, it seems that nothing came of this information as they still erroneously believed that he had been killed until several months later. (SG1: "Citizen Joe", "Family")
Because of the loss of two motherships and most of his Serpent Guards, Apophis' standing among the System Lords was considerably weakened. Apophis attempted to take revenge on Teal'c by brainwashing his son Rya'c with Nish'ta and using him to infect Earth with a deadly plague, though Stargate Command stopped him. (SG1: "Family")
He also impregnated Sha're, the host of Amaunet, with the hopes of using the child as a future host. He hid Sha're on her homeworld Abydos to keep the other System Lords from discovering her. However, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c thwarted his efforts, feeding him misinformation that Heru'ur took the child. (SG1: "Secrets")
1999
Within a year, Apophis' forces were nearly depleted, suffering losses to both Heru'ur and Sokar. Fleeing from Sokar's forces, Apophis demanded sanctuary among the Tau'ri, at the very least hoping that Sokar would kill the Tau'ri with him. However, the Tau'ri soon turned Apophis over to Sokar after his death. Sokar revived him with a Sarcophagus and sent him to Netu. Apophis managed to assume the guise of Na'onak, First Prime of Bynarr, Lord of Netu. However, at some point his face was left permanently and horribly disfigured on one side, presumably from torture and he took to wearing a sort of mask over that side after his escape. (SG1: "Serpent's Song")
Apophis in Netu.
When SG-1 and the Tok'ra Martouf arrived hoping to rescue Jacob Carter, Apophis killed Bynarr, and incited a rebellion. He tortured SG-1, trying to learn information to make Sokar spare his life, such as information about Iris codes and how to contact the Asgard. While he greatly enjoyed torturing SG-1, all he learned was that the Tok'ra were based on Entac. Planning to kill Sokar once he was in his presence, Apophis ringed aboard Sokar's mothership. However, Sokar had already conquered Entac, and there were no Tok'ra there. Sokar ordered Apophis to be killed, but soon Netu's core began to destabilize. Apophis killed Sokar's guards and ringed to Delmak, Sokar's homeworld. Sokar was killed when Netu's explosion destroyed his ship. There, he claimed that he had killed Sokar, and took Sokar's forces for his own. (SG1: "Jolinar's Memories", "The Devil You Know").
2000
Apophis during his negotiations with Heru'ur
Less than a year later, Stargate Command learned of Apophis' survival, after he launched an attack on Chulak, searching for the Harcesis, and later launched an attack on Kheb. He also built a new flagship, more powerful than the standard Ha'tak, and began to build a new type of mothership. The latter was destroyed when SG-1 sabotaged the construction facility. (SG1: "Maternal Instinct", "Upgrades")
Apophis later came close to an alliance with Heru'ur, but the Tok'ra and SG-1 were able to sabotage it, hoping to start a war between the two and decimating their power. However, Apophis had brought a cloaked fleet with him, and was able to destroy Heru'ur's mothership, killing him. Absorbing Heru'ur's forces into his own, Apophis was easily the most powerful System Lord within the Goa'uld Empire. (SG1: "The Serpent's Venom")
2001
With his fleet on the way to attack the Tok'ra base on Vorash, Major Samantha Carter and Jacob Carter devised a bold trap: they intended to cause Vorash's sun to go supernova, hoping to destroy most of Apophis' fleet and possibly even Apophis himself. The plan worked, but Apophis survived, capturing Teal'c in the process. Apophis' mothership and a Ha'tak that SG-1 had acquired after they had killed Cronus was thrown to another galaxy, one which the Replicators were in.
The Replicators destroyed Apophis' mothership, though Apophis was able to escape along with a few Jaffa bodyguards and Teal'c, who had been brainwashed into believing he was his First Prime. Apophis and his forces were able to take over the Ha'tak, but the Replicators had managed to sneak aboard (Apophis brought them with him to the Ha'tak). The Replicators took control of the Ha'tak, flying to Delmak at incredible speeds (up to 800 times the normal maximum Hyperspace speed of a Ha'tak). Though SG-1 and Jacob were able to escape, taking Teal'c with them, Apophis was trapped in the Pel'tac. SG-1 was able to disable the Sublight engine, causing an uncontrolled re-entry into Delmak with Apophis dying in the crash which also finally ended his host's torment. (SG1: "Exodus", "Enemies")
Apophis's death, following the death of Cronus a few days earlier, caused the System Lords to enter into a war that the Tok'ra hoped would last for years. However, it helped Tanith and Zipacna become formidable players in the "new order" forged and also accelerated events, resulting in the return of the supposedly dead System Lord, Anubis who would later go on to become a huge threat to Stargate Command and the Tok'ra. (SG1: "Enemies", "Between Two Fires", "Summit", "Last Stand")
Alternative realities
- In an alternative reality, Apophis was a powerful Goa'uld System Lord who launched a devastating attack on Earth in 1998, destroying most of the planet's major cities and killing more than 1.5 billion Tau'ri in the process. He lost his First Prime, Teal'c, when his Jaffa army invaded the SGA in Cheyenne Mountain. It is never made clear if he planned to enslave the Tau'ri or commit genocide. (SG1: "There But for the Grace of God")
Apophis in an alternate reality
- In another alternative reality, Apophis took control of Earth in 1999 and tortured Major General George Hammond for the location of the Beta Site. However, with the help of visitors from another reality, the Tau'ri contacted the Asgard and Apophis was defeated, though his fate is unclear. This version of Apophis had a goatee. (SG1: "Point of View")
- While technically not an alternative reality, Apophis did appear as a doctor and an accident victim in a hallucination that Teal'c was having when he was sharing his symbiote with Bra'tac after the Ambush of Kresh'ta. (SG1: "The Changeling")
Alternative timelines
Apophis in the alternate timeline accidentally created by SG-1
- In an alternative timeline accidentally created by SG-1, Apophis was still in control of Chulak with Teal'c as his First Prime in 2005. He tortured Doctor Daniel Jackson, but Daniel resisted so Apophis implanted him with a Goa'uld to access his knowledge. He then sent a fleet of Ha'taks to attack Earth. (SG1: "Moebius, Part 2")
Apophis in the alternate reality in "Stargate: Continuum".
- In an alternative timeline created by Ba'al, Apophis was the last System Lord to have stood against Ba'al, who became sovereign of the galaxy. He was captured and imprisoned on Ba'al's mothership. After his First Prime Teal'c brought Apophis before him, Ba'al responded by executing Apophis by cutting off the top of his head, letting the symbiote fall out which not only resulted in the death of the symbiote but Apophis's host as well. (SG1: "Continuum")
Personality
Like all Goa'uld, Apophis was arrogant, egotistical, and confident. But he seemed less confident than others by comparison, though this was only after he experienced torture at the hands of Sokar. Apophis did seem to genuinely care about his son and wife, as he was outraged at his son's disgrace, and cried out his wife's name as he died. It is interesting to note he was one of if not the only Goa'uld to actually admit fear. Like many Goa'uld Apophis was sadistic, taking pleasure in the torturing of his enemies.
Apophis was a thoughtful individual, and a keen strategist, having been shown to play out long term, calculated plans. He also was ready and willing to use underhand tactics, such as flat out lying to his enemies. He also is a powerful manipulator, manipulating Teal'c at one point with relative ease.
In contrast to his brother, Apophis seemed to be comfortable on the battlefield. He was one of only two Goa'uld, the other being Heru'ur, to actually lead his Jaffa servants out into the battlefield.
Apophis seemed to be the first of the System Lords to recognize the Tau'ri as a possible threat, though he took them into little consideration when it came to his long term plans.
Despite his arrogance, Apophis was willing to swallow his pride, and beg for help from his own enemies, and was willing to bargain with them. Although it would have no effect on his enemies, Apophis offered them all the knowledge of the Goa'uld Empire.
First Primes
Behind the scenes
David J. Tholen and Roy A. Tucker, two astronomers who are reportedly fans of Stargate SG-1, named a near-Earth asteroid that they co-discovered in 2004, 99942 Apophis as an allusion to the Stargate villain.[2]
External links
- Apophis on the official MGM website. (backup link)
- Apophis in Kathleen Ritter's Lexicon.
- GateWorld's article on Apophis in The Stargate Omnipedia
- Apophis article on Stargate SG-1 Solutions' The StargateWiki
- The mythological Apophis on Wikipedia
References and notes
- ↑ (SG1: "Maternal Instinct")
- ↑ Asteroid Apophis set for a makeover in the Astronomy Magazine