Ma'Tok staff

"This is a weapon of terror. It's made to intimidate the enemy."

- Colonel Jack O'Neill

The Ma'Tok staff, known more commonly as simply a staff weapon, is the primary weapon of Jaffa warriors.

Overview
The Ma'Tok staff is a high-power, anti-personnel energy weapon. It is a two-meter staff shaped vaguely like a Goa'uld symbiote. The front end is oval-shaped, which opens to reveal the barrel of the weapon. The back end has a club, allowing the staff to double as a melee weapon at close range. It is activated by a small control spot near the mid-section and is powered by a small naquadah power cell which will furnish the weapon for a seemingly indefinite amount of time.

The Ma'Tok staff fires a powerful plasma blast which can kill most humans with a single shot if it strikes near the center mass of the body (or other vital areas). Glancing blows will cause severe pain, but the victim may survive if the wound is treated. The high heat of the plasma blast will cauterize the wound instantly. At close range, the blast can go completely through a victim, and even blow off limbs. In addition to being lethal to humans, the blast can cause significant damage to solid objects. Staff blasts have been shown to be capable of leaving holes in a wall the size of a man's head, blow apart trees, and even damage blast doors.

The Ma'Tok staff is noted for its short range of approximately 50 to 60 meters and low rate of fire (although Bra'tac was seen capable of firing a succession of low powered shots at a higher rate than usual). It's also rather unwieldy, given its large size and weight. Jack O'Neill describes it as a weapon of terror, being made to intimidate rather than kill.

The weapon is, like most projectile and energy weapons, useless against Kull armor. The weapon is also ineffective against Priors of the Ori and Replicators. The Tau'ri have also developed a type of ceramic polymer armor that is capable of blocking a staff blast, though it is not infallible.

Users
The Ma'Tok staff is used almost exclusively by the Jaffa, who use it as their primary weapon, occasionally carrying zat'nik'tels and shock grenades. Even after gaining their freedom from the Goa'uld, the Jaffa continue to make use of them. The Sodan use a modified version that is smaller and easier to carry, being about half the length of a normal staff. Humans serving the Goa'uld have also been seen to use them (mainly Ra and Apophis's forces).