The Taken

The Taken refers to Athosians who were culled but spared from death and who later possessed extra-sensory abilities. Charin was the only surviving member of the Athosians who remembered stories of the Taken and eventually passed on the knowledge to Teyla Emmagan.

According to the legend there were a select few individuals who were returned to a specific Athosian colony. Many believed it was a gift from the Ancients that their loved ones returned but many others feared them, as those who returned began to behave strangely, spoke of hearing voices, and some even became violent and murderous. Eventually the villagers of this world turned on the taken, killing all but a few.

The ones that had survived were ostracized from the community, surviving among other Athosians and passing the "gift" to their children. However, today very few Athosians have the abilities of the taken.

Teyla and Major John Sheppard's unit discovered that it was a Wraith who was studying ways to enhance the feeding process so that humans would essentially become "tastier" to them. Later he realized that he was enhancing his enemy with Wraith abilities and eventually gave up on the experiment.