John Sheppard

John Sheppard was a Major and, later, a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force and was assigned to the military contingent of the Atlantis Expedition in the Pegasus Galaxy.

Biography
Before joining the Atlantis Expedition, Sheppard was serving at McMurdo Air Force Base in Antarctica. When he was given the assignment of flying General Jack O'Neill to the Ancient outpost nearby, it was discovered that he possessed the Ancient gene that gave him the ability to control the Ancients' Drone technology. This led to the leader of the Expedition, Doctor Elizabeth Weir, to insist on his addition to her military contingent, which was being led by Colonel Marshall Sumner.

Soon after arriving on Atlantis, Sheppard was assigned to a team that came into contact with the Athosians, who were led by Teyla Emmagan. Not long after their arrival, he witnessed the "culling" of the Athosians' village, in which both Teyla and Colonel Sumner were captured.

Eventually, Sheppard lead a team to rescue Sumner and the captured Athosians. They escaped with nearly everyone, but Sheppard was forced to gun down his own commanding officer in order to keep him from suffering further from the life-sucking power of the Wraith. Sheppard was also able to kill the Wraith Keeper, allowing the Tau'ri and Athosians to escape, but with the unfortunate result of awakening the Wraith from their hibernation cycle fifty years prematurely.

With the loss of Colonel Sumner, Sheppard was left to command the military contingent of Atlantis. He also took up the command of Atlantis 1, one of the exploratory teams of the Expedition. Teyla, Doctor Rodney McKay, and Lt. Aiden Ford were selected to make up the rest of his team.

When a Genii strike force under Acastus Kolya tried to take Atlantis, Sheppard waged a one-man war on the invading Genii, systematically sabotaging their efforts and killing fifty-five Genii soldiers by activating the gate shield. The Genii eventually decided to retreat, trying to take Weir and McKay with them. Sheppard was able to save Weir by hitting Kolya in the shoulder, but the incident was the begining of a long animosity between the two soldiers.

Within a year, the Wraith descended on Atlantis, hoping to locate Earth and ending the "uprising" that the Expedition had caused. Along with Weir and Colonel Dillon Everett, Sheppard spearheaded the defense of the city, but the battle soon became desperate enough for Sheppard to take one of the Puddle Jumpers on a suicide mission to destroy one of the Wraith hive ships in orbit. The mission was successful, but Sheppard was saved by the timely arrival of the Daedalus and its commanding officer, Colonel Steven Caldwell. The invasion was eventually ended when the members of the Expedition faked the destruction of the city, causing the Wraith to withdraw. There were still great losses, including Sheppard's friend, Aiden Ford, who became warped when an invading Wraith attempted to feed on him and he subsequently fled from Atlantis.

Not long after the thwarted invasion, Sheppard returned to Earth with several other senior members of the Expedition, including Elizabeth Weir and Rodney McKay. Despite concerns by General Landry, at the insistence of Weir and to the annoyance of Caldwell, Sheppard was left in command of the military contingent of Atlantis and also received a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.

Sheppard continued to lead his team to other worlds, with Ronon Dex making them a team of four once again.

Alternate realities

 * In an alternate reality John Sheppard traveled to Atlantis, while the power began to fail and the city began to be flooded by the ocean. Upon finding the bay of Puddle jumpers, he suggested they be used a escape vessels. Sheppard, Elizabeth Weir, and Radek Zelenka boarded a jumper different from the others: it was carrying a time machine in it. Sheppard activated the time machine, sending them back to the time of the Ancient-Wraith war, when the city was under seige. They came under attack by a pair of Wraith Darts. Though Sheppard managed to take out one of the darts, the other shot them down. Sheppard and Zelenka were killed in the crash, but Weir survived.

Behind the Scenes

 * John Sheppard is played by Joe Flanigan and has appeared in all the episodes of Seasons One and Two to date.