Wraith

"The Wraith allow our kind to grow in numbers, and when that number reaches a certain point they return to cull their human herd. Sometimes a few hundred years will pass before they awaken again. We've visited many, many worlds -- I know of none untouched by the Wraith."

- Teyla Emmagan

The Wraith are a vampirous, hive-based species that harvest on the 'life-force' of other beings for nourishment through suckers on their palms. Countless worlds in the Pegasus Galaxy live in constant fear of the Wraith, who return periodically to cull their human herds.

Lantean-Wraith War
"Never before had we encountered beings with powers that rivaled our own. In our overconfidence, we were unprepared and outnumbered."

- Melia

The Lanteans first encountered the Wraith many thousands of years ago. After arriving in Pegasus in Atlantis, the Ancients seeded several planets with humans and Stargates. One of the planets held a creature called the Iratus bug, which began feeding off the humans. Eventually, they began to take on advantageous human characteristics, such as larger brain mass, bipedal locomotion, and opposable digits. Once awoken, the Wraith went to war with the Ancients and fed upon the people on these worlds.

At first, the Wraith were at a disadvantage against the Ancient fleets who in their overconfidence began to send their warships deeper into Wraith territory. The Wraith managed to capture these vessels at a great cost to themselvesand managed to recover several ZPM's. Using these potent power sources, the Wraith creating a cloning facility which they used to enhance their numbers against the Lanteans which allowed them to turn the tide to their advantage.

The Lanteans began to slowly fall back into their own territory which the Wraith contined to attack; facing against powerful weapon platforms in their effort to destroy their enemy. This continued til Atlantis was all that remained of the Lantean's empire. In a final act of achieving some peace, the Lanteans sent a delegation to meet the Wraith to negotiate a truce. The Ancient fleet was protected by their most powerful warships but they were attacked by the Wraith. After that great battle, it was only inevitable for the Lanteans to face their defeat.

All that remained of the Lanteans at this point was their capitol of Atlantis which they orbited and sieged for many years as they were unable to pierce the powerful protective shield. Finally, the Ancient Council decided to sink the city and abandoned the galaxy through the Stargate, returning to Earth. This left the Pegasus galaxy in the hands of the victorious Wraith who began to feed on their Human herds.

Shortly after this period, the Wraith came under assault by a new enemy; the mechanical Asurans who were abandoned experiments of the Lanteans. To combat this foe, the Wraith created a computer virus which attacked the Asurans base code and shut down the directive that forced them in attacking the Wraith. This foe retreated to their homeworld and remained there leaving the Wraith in control of the galaxy.

Arrival of the Tau'ri
The Wraith continued their feeding pattern where they would abduct Humans and take their lifeforce after which they entered into a hibernative state allowing the Human herds to grow while they slumbered. While this happened, they left a few caretakers to watch over them until the time was right to awaken. This cycle continued for 10,000 years until the Atlantis Expedition arrived in the Pegasus galaxy and occupied the Ancient city of Atlantis. The Wraith first encountered the Humans of Earth on the planet Athos when Wraith darts were sent to abduct Humans to feed on. A team was sent to the Wraith homeworld which wasled by Major John Sheppard and Lt. Ford, on a rescue mission the retrieve their people.

When the team arrived to the planet, via Puddle Jumper, they discovered that their people were taken to a holding cell aboard a Wraith hive ship. Meanwhile, The Keeper interrogated Col. Marshall Sumner and learned that a plentiful feeding ground&mdash;Earth&mdash;existed elsewhere in the universe, but she was unable to determine where. Upon her death at the hands of John Sheppard, the entire hive reawakened. Now that the species is moving, feeding on planets throughout the Pegasus Galaxy, no one is safe. However, there are not enough humans to sustain for long.

Marshalling their forces, the Wraith sent a fleet to attack the planet Lantea once more with a force of three Hiveships along with cruiser escorts. One Hiveship was destroyed by an Ancient defense satellite that was reactivated by the Humans of Earth but they destroyed it in turn while making their way to the planet. Once in orbit, they attacked Atlantis, hoping to learn the location of Earth. The Tau'ri and the Athosians battled to preserve the city with the assistance of reinforcements from Earth which succeeded in destroying the Wraith force but this was only the first wave. A secondary attack force consisting of fifteen Hiveships arrived and though the Daedalus managed to destroy few, the Wraith were too many. It was decided by the expedition that trickery would be used to escape the Wraith where they faked a self-destruct of Atlantis by setting off a timed nuclear warhead and cloaking the city. Dismayed, the Wraith left the world and attempted to sustain themselves with what Humans lived in the galaxy.

In time, however, with the lack of food and the natural territorial instincts of the Wraith, they entered into a civil war. Stronger Wraith hives began to attack weaker ones over the Humans of the galaxy.

Aftermath
During the civil war, the various Wraith factions fed on the worlds in their possession as welll as fought against one another and engaged in skirmishes with the Humans from Earth. While this was happening, an old threat emerged to challenge the Wraith once more. The Asuran replicators attack Wraith command had been reactivated by the Earth humans resulting a surprise attack against them. While caught off guard at first, the Wraith began to form an effective counter assault against this enemy and attempted to reuse their computer virus attack but this failed due to the Asurans being able to manipulate their programming at this point because of the accidental workings of Dr Rodney McKay. Events became even more desperate when the Asurans decided on a new course of action to destroy the Wraith which was by targeting their food source. Thus, the Asurans began targeting and destroying Human worlds in an effort to starve the Wraith.

All attempts at reusing the virus failed and forced a level of cooperation between the Wraith and the Atlantis Expedition. The Wraith known as Todd worked to assemble a fleet of Hiveships that would accompany the Atlantis Expedition and the surprise addition of the Travelers in an assault against Asuras itself. This brought about the Battle of Asuras with the allied fleet emerging victorious who defeated the Asurans. With the battle over, the Wraith separated once more and resumed their old posturing as they once again returned to their civil war.

However, a new threat emerged when the former Wraith known as Michael Kenmore began a subtle first attack against the Wraith hives by poisoning their food supply with a modified Hoffan drug. This plan failed when the Atlantis Expedition once again cooperated with Todd to fight this threat and resulted in the hives gaining a cure for the drug.

Alternate Future
In one possible future, the former Wraith known as Michael created an army of half-Wraith, half-Humans known as the Hybrids in an attempt to displace the Wraith as the dominant species of the galaxy. During the Wraith civil war when they were at their weakest, Michael and his forces attacked which succeeded in defeating them completely.


 * Presumably, in this alternate future, the Wraith were exterminated and the Hybrids took control of the galaxy.

Physiology
The Wraith are characterized by a pale blue or light-green epidermis, yellow eyes, and white, black, or red hair. As a species they have a social structure similar to that of Ants or other hive/nest-based creatures, with distinct physiological differences between castes of Wraith, tailored to facilitate different functions within the society. They also possess telepathic abilities. They have displayed in several episodes phenomenal physical strength, along with phenomenal physical agility. Their eyes can glow in darkness, giving them night vision and thermal vision abilities.

The majority of Wraith so far observed are male. Adult female Wraith have been seen to fill the higher echelons of Wraith society as 'Queens'. Beneath the Queens are workers, soldiers and drones. The lowest echelons are distinctly different; they lack intelligence and are larger and much more muscular.

Wraith exhibit bipedal locomotion and have mostly humanoid characteristics. These characteristics include noticeable sexual dimorphism; female Wraith have protruded breasts while male Wraith exhibit noticeable facial hair. While it is unknown how Wraith reproduce, it is likely that they procreate similarly to placental mammals, given their presumed origin and other sexual characteristics similar to those of humans. The "soldier" caste, presumably also "male", exhibit noticeable muscular definition as compared to the male Wraith of the "leadership" caste, who are considerably meeker. According to Michael, the soldiers are unimaginative, and possess rigid thought patterns. Within the separate castes, however, males differ very little.

An adolescent female, Ellia, was a key character in "Instinct". Based on her appearance, it seems that the Wraith maintain a more human appearance until they reach their equivalent of puberty. Ellia possessed dark brown hair and a more human complexion. It is unknown whether Ellia is an entirely different kind of female Wraith, or if she would have eventually metamorphised into one of the females of the type seen in "Rising" and "The Lost Boys". It is also not yet known if all young Wraith start off looking this way.

The Atlantis Expedition knows little of Wraith physiology, but some facts have been learned. Though humanoid in appearance, the Wraith are genetically closer to the Iratus bug than humans. The Wraith possess none of the normal human inhibiting proteins, giving them a frighteningly efficient regenerative mechanism in their genetic makeup, allowing their bodies to heal themselves. Their regenerative abilities are so powerful that, as long as the cells are properly nourished, it is unlikely that the Wraith ever die from natural causes the way that humans do. These abilities are powerful to the point that dismembered body parts have the ability to move on their own.

Feeding
"All living things must eat."

- Wraith Keeper Nourishment for the adult Wraith is the human "life force". Humans or very similar beings (e.g., Ancients) are the only food source that can properly nourish a Wraith, although they are capable of cannibalism. It is also unknown whether or not the Wraith require fluids (e.g., water), to facilitate other bodily functions. The exact science of the life-force drain is not described, although it is portrayed as a materialistic process. This drain is depicted as though it could be likened to the sipping of a drink through a straw. The Wraith can drain their victims slowly in order to torture and obtain information, or just to perform an act of sadism. As the victim is drained of life, the victim experiences pain and appears to age rapidly. This is not actual physical aging, but a by-product of the feeding process.

Despite the presence of teeth, the Wraith do not use their teeth to puncture the epidermis of a human. Rather, the life force is drained via specialized organs in the palm of their hand. Wraith typically attach this organ to their victims' chest, particularly right near the heart, where the skin is punctured. During the feeding process, the victim is injected with a special enzyme. It strengthens the human body temporarily and ensures that the heart continues to beat. This is so the victim doesn't die immediately. The feeding process is so traumatic, without the special enzyme, the body of the human would shut down far sooner than the Wraith would like. Simply put, they make a victim stronger so they can take more time to kill them. In most cases the enzyme is released slowly into the bloodstream throughout the feeding process.

Large doses of this enzyme have been known to increase the strength, speed and agility of regular humans. Lieutenant Aiden Ford became the first of these 'supermen' when he received a large dose of the enzyme after the death of the Wraith feeding on him. The numerous drawbacks of the high dose include altered brain chemistry and addiction to the drug requiring addicts to actively search for and kill Wraith to obtain it.

Despite the use of a special enzyme during the feeding process, the act of draining a life force from a Human is extremely painful for the prey. For some, even a partial feeding can cause the person to simply die from the trauma they sustained.

The Wraith can consume human food and drinks, but apparently it gives them no nourishment and is strictly done for pleasure. This is apparently considered to be a more sophisticated type of enjoyment, and not all Wraith do this. When the Wraith are young however, they consume normal human foods (which explains their possession of a fully functional digestive system). As the Wraith mature, they begin to crave feeding on the human "life force", regardless of whether or not they have tasted it before.

Wraith are also able to give back life. "The Gift of Life", as a Wraith referred to it, is typically reserved for devout worshipers and their "brothers". John Sheppard was returned to normal and perhaps even younger than he was previously after being fed upon numerous times by a Wraith, who he escaped with from Kolya's prison. Dr. McKay commented on how he looked younger than he did before. This appears to be done after the Wraith has fed.

The ability to heal is apparently connected to how recently they have fed. If one has recently fed, they will heal almost instantly, though one who hasn't fed in some time is much weaker, but still quite strong. Even bullet holes quickly seal themselves like evaporating water. Females have a much stronger immune system. The species also has advanced telepathic abilities: they can force their prey to see things that are not there, and can use their mental powers to forcefully interrogate humans, though they are incapable of actually reading a human mind. The Wraith also release a sticky, web-like substance that they use to cocoon victims for future feedings.

Telepathy
"Do not trust your eyes. The Wraith can make you see things that are not there."

- Teyla

While the Wraith have tongues and vocal cords, their primary means of communication is telepathic in nature. In effect, the Wraith have developed a telepathic network, allowing for communication over vast distances.

It has been determined that the proper introduction of Wraith DNA into human DNA, likely via gene splicing, permits humans the ability to access the Wraith mental network, although the humans who do connect can be summarily controlled by the Wraith, due to superior psionic abilities. Even a small amount of properly introduced DNA is enough to allow this telepathic ability to occur; it remained even after a number of generations of the genes being "watered down" by breeding with humans without this modification. After the initial 'infiltration' by Teyla into the telepathic network, the Wraith began to segregate their communication network to prevent sensitive information from being received by their enemies.

The Wraith are also capable of psychic projection, causing humans to hallucinate (resulting in disorientation), and also enabling them to undermine the ability to resist Wraith interrogation through the power of suggestion. This ability was demonstrated on Colonel Marshall Sumner during his interrogation by the "Queen Keeper" Wraith, when she wished to know from where the Colonel and his team had come. Another Wraith Queen later used this ability to interrogate Sheppard, but was interrupted. Another time they use the hallucination powers is when they are in the middle of a culling. This is shown in "Rising" (Part 2), when they use the hallucinations to keep the people in one place so it makes them easier to cull. During this time they use a shadow/ghost to scare the people away from the forest. The Wraith are also able to keep their thoughts from other Wraith, as Michael was deceived by his hive regarding their intentions toward their alliance with the Atlantis expedition, and was also able to deceive another Wraith when he said he was asked by the Queen to interrogate Colonel Sheppard.

This telepathic network makes Wraith somewhat of a security hazard when captured as they can project their telepathy to summon their comrades to assist them. This telepathy is not very strong and cannot go beyond a planet which has aided some people when capturing the Wraith. However, groups of Wraith combined can merge their talents to focus their telepathic field which can be received by distant Hiveships as was the case with Michael and his band of hybrid Wraith.

Telepathy can be used by the strongest of telepaths in battle as a Wraith Queen was once able to get Atlantis military personnel to drop their weapons and bow down to her so she could feed.

Culture
"We are a patient race, Major."

- Steve (Wraith)

Little was known of Wraith culture itself except that it was focused upon culling the Human populations of the galaxy for feedings. Concepts such as beauty and comradeship do appear to be present within the vampiric species however. One Wraith that had been captured by the Genii for an unspecified amount of time declared that his escape attempt was worth seeing the stars once again. In addition to this, the same Wraith performed the Gift of Life on a Human which they only did so to their most devout of worshipers and their 'brothers'. Despite being hated by a majority of Humans within the Pegasus galaxy, the Wraith were known to be served by Wraith worshippers who would be allowed to live for their obedience.

Hibernation
The Wraith as a collective species go through long hibernation cycles, lasting hundreds of years. Their massive hive ships contain untold numbers of hibernation pods. During this time only a small number of them move about, enough to keep their victim worlds on edge. The sleeping masses are watched over by a small group led by the Keeper, one Wraith designated with their care whose death would signal their premature awakening&mdash;as it did when she was killed by Major John Sheppard.

Politics
The Wraith possess an extremely strong territorial instinct, making inter-hive cooperation very rare. Politically, the Wraith appear to have lacked any form of united government since the end of the war with the Lanteans. The hives are extremely fierce in the defense of their own territories, and kill any who trespass on worlds which they claim as their feeding ground.

The situation was made worse with the arrival of the Atlantis Expedition. Upon learning of the existence of Earth, the Wraith awoke from their hibernation cycle fifty years prematurely with the hopes of culling Earth. However, the Wraith have been unable to locate Earth. As the humans of Pegasus were unable to repopulate themselves, and as there were too many Wraith to allow them to sustain themselves, the Wraith have devolved into civil war. This, however, has allowed the Tau'ri a new strategy in fighting the Wraith.

Society
The Wraith are focused around a hive based society similar to insects but this does not mean that they are guided by a collective mind despite being telepathic. Within the Hive, there exists lower caste of 'drones', which are masked warriors that perform most of the general duties. This lower caste is supervised by more intelligent male 'commanders' whose faces are not masked. Higher above these Wraith are an unknown group known as Keepers which are tasked with maintaining their technology. The highest authority of the Hive iss the Hive queen, who maintained near absolute control of the hive-ships. It was rare for males to take command of their gargantuan hive ships but there was one occasion where a Wraith 'king' was sighted who had been responsible for the culling of Sateda.

Technology
The technology used by the Wraith, while advanced compared to the Tau'ri and the human civilizations in the Pegasus galaxy, is inferior to the technology of the Ancients, Asgard technology, and Ori technology. The only advantage the Wraith enjoyed over the Lanteans, indeed the only reason they won the war at all, was through sheer numbers. Wraith technology is unique in that most of it has an organic base to it. The Wraith are almost unique in the known universe for being a space-faring race, but without developing shield technology. This is probably because the technology of the Lanteans was so much more advanced than their own that shields would have been a waste of time and energy.