Vanir
From SGCommand
| Vanir | |
|---|---|
| |
| Species | |
| Homeworld |
Toxic planet (last), Othala (original) |
| Language | |
| First appearance | |
- "I know you're not human, you're definitely not Wraith, and if you were an Ancient you wouldn't have needed our help to activate the device so...what are you?"
- —Daniel Jackson
The Vanir, also known as the Lost Tribe, is a group of Asgard in the Pegasus galaxy that live inside powerful and resilient battle suits.
Contents |
Overview
- "Because they do not believe the ends justify the means... And look where it got them."
- —Vanir leader
Members of the Vanir were physiologically similar to the Asgard as they are descended from the same race. However, where the main Asgard species and their High Council were unwilling to engage in acts that risked other lives, the Vanir believed that the ends justified the means. As such, they are consumed with the desire to survive and note that their way of thinking was right as evidenced by the demise of the rest of their kin.
Like their Ida cousins, the Vanir employ cloning as a means of propagating their race. However, unlike the main Asgard, this tribe had been experimenting on Humans (like experimentation done by Loki) in the Pegasus galaxy, allowing them a small level of success in stabilizing their genome and preventing extreme cellular degradation.
In order to survive on their harsh homeworld in the Pegasus galaxy and fight off enemies, the Vanir make use of powered exoskeletons that serve as a life support machine as well as battle armor. Furthermore, their survival was their primary goal as they did not wish to end up like their Asgard cousins and did not wish for a hundred thousand years of history would be lost forever.
History
- "My people are dying. The fact that, as you tell us, our brothers are already gone only reinforces the need. If we do not do this, our whole civilization, a hundred thousand years of history, would be wiped out forever. I cannot allow that to happen."
- —Vanir leader
The history of the Vanir began over 10,000 years ago when they split from their Asgard kin and made their way to the Pegasus galaxy. This was during the early years of the war between the Lanteans and the Wraith. This distraction allowed the self-exiled Asgard to begin their experimentation on Humans in order to solve their cloning problem without interference from both the Asgard High Council or the Lantean Council. They believed that the war between the Lanteans and Wraith would give them enough time to find a solution to the genetic problems caused by the repeated cloning of their species. (ATL: "The Lost Tribe")
However, the war took an unexpected turn when the Lanteans were forced back to Atlantis and abandons the Pegasus Galaxy, leaving the Wraith the victors. The Vanir had believed that the Lanteans would win the war due to their technology level, but instead the Wraith became the dominant species of the galaxy. Unlike the Lanteans, who would have only censored their immoral research, the Wraith did not tolerate any species with advanced technology other then their own. To that end, they began attacking the Vanir, who were caught off guard. This resulted in their intergalactic starships being destroyed, stranding them in the Pegasus galaxy. In order to survive, the tribe abandoned their settlements and retreated to a planet who's atmosphere was toxic so that the Wraith would never find them. (ATL: "The Lost Tribe")
Their new homeworld was somewhat tolerable to live on at first as they simply required breathing apparatuses. But over the eons, the planet became more and more hostile, which required the Vanir to make use of powerful exoskeletons to protect them. This continued for nearly 10,000 years until the planet became too hostile for the race to survive on by the year 2008. Desperate, they ventured out into the galaxy for the first time in centuries and discovered a secret outpost with a powerful weapon within it. However, they lacked the means of operating the device, which they knew was capable of destroying the Wraith once and for all. (ATL: "The Lost Tribe")
Encounter with the Atlantis Expedition
After Drs. McKay and Jackson found a hidden lab in Atlantis, they unwittingly activated and transmitted a subspace signal to a distant planet and, hours later, the city was paid a visit by a group of these aliens. Upon arriving in Atlantis, they obtained a necessary component of the Attero device and took McKay and Jackson with them to get the device up and running, which they were unable to do due to their lack of the ATA gene. During a conversation with Daniel Jackson, the Vanir leader revealed his identity, as well as the history of his group. He furthermore stated that it was a matter of survival that they conducted their attack against the Wraith by the activation of the Attero device. Since they traveled only by ship and didn't use the Stargates, they did not care about the fact that Gates exploded when the device was in use, because they only cared about destroying the Wraith. (ATL: "First Contact", "The Lost Tribe")
When Colonel John Sheppard showed up in a Traveler ship to rescue McKay and Jackson and stop the device, two of three Vanir starships engaged the Traveler ship and were ultimately destroyed, while the third jumped to hyperspace with the control key for the Attero Device so it couldn't be shut down. McKay and Jackson managed to disable it, and the device and facility were destroyed by the Traveler ship, foiling the Vanir's plan. It was believed that the Vanir were not hostile to the Atlantis Expedition for the interference in their attempts at destroying the Wraith. (ATL: "First Contact", "The Lost Tribe")
Technological overview
The Vanir have incredibly advanced technology, ranging from hyperspace capable starships that can pass through Atlantis' shield with ease (although it has since been reconfigured to prevent this,) to personal energy shields and transportation devices. They also possess energy weapons similar to Wraith stunners and appear to have at least a rudimentary understanding of Ancient technology, as witnessed by their discovery of the location and purpose of the Attero device. It is unknown if any of their technology is based on Asgard technology developed by their Ida Galaxy counterparts, but the technology doesn't seem to share the sleek design. However, much of the Vanir's original technology, such as their intergalatic starships, was destroyed during their first war with the Wraith, which forced them to remain in the Pegasus galaxy. (ATL: "The Lost Tribe")
Another piece of technology of the Vanir are their Armored suits. The armor had a wide range of technological abilities imparted on its user giving them superiority in personal combat. (ATL: "First Contact", "The Lost Tribe")
The weapons and shields used on Vanir ships appear to be far inferior to those of the Asgard in the Ida galaxy and the Lanteans, but they about match those of the Travelers.
Known technologies
Behind the scenes
Though not given a name in the two episodes they appeared in, the Vanir were originally named after the episode "The Lost Tribe" and received the name Lost Tribe. Later, in an interview with Martin Gero, GateWorld suggested the name Vanir which Martin Gero accepted as their official name.[1]
