Teal'c of Chulak

"Teal'c, I saw you stand up to a god. You refused to kill. I saw you make that decision... In that moment I learned everything I needed to know to trust you."

- Jack O'Neill

Teal'c of Chulak [pronounced ˈtiːəlk], also known as Teal'c of the Tau'ri, and sometimes Shol'va is a Jaffa from the planet Chulak, a planet orbiting a binary star system and who formerly served the Goa'uld and System Lord Apophis as his First Prime.

During his tenure as First Prime, Teal'c was forced to commit many atrocities in his god's name with Teal'c later beginning to suspect that Apophis was not God.

In July 1997, Teal'c eventually gained the strength and courage to finally abandon his service and devotion to the Goa'uld forever which he achieved by defecting from Apophis and joining the Tau'ri, Teal'c pledging his loyalty to Stargate Command and also the cause of the Jaffa Rebellion.

After being regarded as a possible candidate, Teal'c was eventually accepted as a member of the SGC and was later assigned to the SGC's flagship team, SG-1 on a permanent basis with Teal'c's own knowledge about the Goa'uld themselves giving the SGC a huge advantage.

Teal'c is also 166 years old, having aged after being trapped on board the Odyssey for fifty years which occurred during the Battle of the Asgard Legacy.

Background information
Chosen because it means "strength" in the Goa'uld language, Teal'c was named by his father, Ronac. He was born on an unidentified world under the control of the System Lord Cronus circa 1899, where his father served as Cronus' First Prime. After failing to win an unwinnable battle, Cronus killed Ronac by removing Ronac's symbiote which caused Ronac to die slowly and painfully. Cronus also exiled young Teal'c and Teal'c's mother to Chulak with Teal'c growing up on Chulak.

Consumed by nothing but the thought of revenge and swearing to avenge his father, Teal'c swore to become the First Prime of Apophis, Apophis being the mortal enemy of Cronus. Teal'c was eventually taken under the wing of Bra'tac who was the First Prime of Apophis at that time. Bra'tac planted the seeds of doubt about the Goa'uld in Teal'c's mind. After becoming First Prime, he successfully defied Apophis twice and spared two Jaffa, Va'lar and Del'nor, whom he was ordered to kill.

After winning a battle with Arkad's forces, someone killed Teal'c's mother in her sleep. According to Bra'tac, someone slipped into the village in the middle of the night and slit her throat. Years later, Arkad claimed to be responsible, but Teal'c believed if he had been responsible, he was too cowardly to do it himself.

Teal'c later married Drey'auc, and had a son, Rya'c.

1997
"I can save these people! Help me!"

- O'Neill

"Many have said that. But you are the first I believe could do it!"

- Teal'c During the year 1997, Teal'c was the First Prime of Apophis, despite his desire to free the Jaffa from Goa'uld rule. Teal'c joined Apophis in the search for a new host for his mate Amaunet, traveling to Earth and kidnapping Senior Airman Carol Weterings as well as to Abydos where he and his other Jaffa kidnapped Skaara and Sha're.

Watching on with the ritual of choosing Apophis's mate, Teal'c had to hide his own personal disgust at seeing Weterings die at Apophis's hands and then Amaunet claiming Sha're's body.

When Teal'c and his other Jaffa had to kill other prisoners along with the Earth team SG-1 in a jail cell, Colonel Jack O'Neill was able to convince Teal'c that his task of freeing the Jaffa could be possible through the Humans, and defected to them allowing all to escape to the Stargate. He helped defend the gate against a Jaffa assault and headed through the gate to Earth. Despite concern about his loyalties, O'Neill was able to convince Major General George S. Hammond that Teal'c was genuine. After successfully stopping Charles Kawalsky's Goa'uld but at the cost of killing Kawalsky, Teal'c was eventually accepted as a member of the SGC before being permanently assigned to the SGC's flagship team, SG-1.

When he realized that his son Rya'c would undergo his Prim'ta, Teal'c and SG-1 returned to Chulak to prevent the ceremony, meeting up with Bra'tac. Rya'c, however, had contracted scarlet fever, and Teal'c was forced to give his own symbiote to Ry'ac. However, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Captain Samantha Carter were able to acquire another symbiote, which was given to Teal'c. Ry'ac and his mother Drey'auc stayed on Chulak under the care of Bra'tac and he returned to Earth.

1998
During a visit to the planet Cartago, Teal'c briefly faced execution when Hanno, the son of a man that he'd killed on his last visit to the planet, had Teal'c put on trial, but after Teal'c saved Hanno's life during a Jaffa attack, Hanno claimed that he had been mistaken, recognizing that Teal'c was no longer the Jaffa who had been responsible for his father's death.

When SG-1 successfully thwarted Apophis' attempt to invade Earth, Apophis chose to take his revenge by brainwashing Rya'c with Nish'ta. SG-1 and Bra'tac were able to infiltrate Chulak and rescue Ry'ac. They returned to Earth and were able to prevent him from releasing a deadly poison into the atmosphere, but the brainwashing was harder to overcome. Teal'c eventually was forced to shoot Rya'c with a Zat'nik'tel, freeing him. Drey'auc and Rya'c were then taken to live in the Land of Light.

1999
After Apophis claimed sanctuary on Earth, Teal'c reveled in his former god's fall from power, vowing that the day would become a holy day on Chulak.

When SG-1 was kidnapped by Hathor, Teal'c left for Chulak to raise an army to free them. He made an impassioned speech to the Jaffa, urging them to rebel. Only a few joined them, but with Major General George S. Hammond's help, he was able to fly the Needle Threader through the Stargate and SG-1 was rescued.

When Cronus, Nirrti, and Yu came to negotiate with the Asgard to include Earth in the Protected Planets Treaty, Nirrti used a Goa'uld cloaking device to attack him and Cronus in order to frame him for the crime, but Teal'c was soon exonerated and he quickly recovered from his injuries.

During a mission to rescue the Abydonians, Teal'c was forced to kill Sha're, Dr. Daniel Jackson's wife, as Amaunet, the Goa'uld who possessed her, was killing Daniel with a Kara kesh. Daniel quickly forgave him as Sha're had communicated with him through the Kara kesh.

2000
During a trip to a planet caught in a civil war between the Bedrosians- who believed that they had evolved on their world- and the Optricans- who believed that they came from another planet-, the rest of SG-1 were captured by the Bedrosians and Teal'c was badly injured when his Staff weapon backfired in a fight, leaving him blind and Junior forced to focus on healing itself before it could heal Teal'c. Fortunately, Teal'c was aided by Nyan, a Bedrosian archaeologist who had discovered the Stargate, Nyan recognizing that, even if Teal'c was proof that his beliefs were wrong, as a scientist it was just as exciting to be proven wrong as to be proven right. Nyan was able to use a device to repair Teal'c's vision to a point where he was able to rescue his friends. Although Nyan was then forced to return with SG-1 to Earth after such an open betrayal, he expressed hope to Teal'c that he would some day be able to return and share his discoveries with them.

Shau'nac, a priestess and an old friend of Teal'c, came to Earth claiming that she had convinced her symbiote, Tanith to join the Tok'ra, Teal'c refused to believe her. However, after kelno'reeming and communicating with his own symbiote, he was convinced to take her to the Tok'ra. Teal'c, however, was forced to endure Tanith's presence after he murdered Shaun'ac, Tanith having never been swayed by Shau'nac's words and simply being used by the Tok'ra to provide disinformation to Apophis.

Teal'c was captured by the Jaffa of Heru'ur, who planned to give him as a gift to Apophis. However, Teal'c convinced the Jaffa Rak'nor to defect by resisting torture and the two escaped Heru'ur's Ha'tak in a Death Glider.

2001
Teal'c finally had his revenge on Cronus when his robotic duplicate was able to kill the System Lord, which also allowed the Tau'ri to gain his personal Ha'tak.

Teal'c's long-standing grudge against Tanith returned with a vengeance months later when SG-1 embarked on a mission to destroy the Vorash's sun. Unfortunately, Teal'c's need for revenge against Tanith outweighed everything, even clouding his own judgement, something that ended up costing Teal'c his life when he died in an ambush orchestrated by Tanith who later captured Teal'c and presented him as a "gift" to Apophis. Using this to his advantage, Apophis brought Teal'c back to life with a Sarcophagus while also brainwashing Teal'c into believing that he was still Apophis's First Prime and that he had essentially acted as a double agent for the last four years. This effectively turned Teal'c against his teammates with Teal'c maintaining a strong, undying loyalty to Apophis. Even when Apophis was killed, Teal'c still refused to believe the truth. Bra'tac was brought to the SGC and forced to perform the Rite of M'al Sharran on Teal'c which succeeded in breaking the hold by helping Teal'c recall the events that had led to him recognizing that Apophis was not a god. After that, Teal'c was granted permission to officially rejoin SG-1.

2002
During a mission, Teal'c was able to kill Tanith by destroying his Al'kesh with a Staff cannon, but the ship subsequently crashed into the still-active Stargate just as Teal'c was traveling through it, resulting in the wormhole being shut down before Teal'c could exit through the other end, leaving his pattern trapped in the Stargate buffer and forcing Stargate Command to try and devise a way to safely extract Teal'c without dialing another wormhole that would have erased his pattern from the gate's memory. Despite the odds against them- and the recommendation of Dr. Rodney McKay that Teal'c's pattern would have already degraded too significantly to be recovered-, SG-1 were able to recover Teal'c using the Russian Dial Home Device and advice from the Goa'uld using Adrian Conrad as a host.

After Dr. Daniel Jackson died and ascended, Teal'c retreated into himself to manage his grief, noting that he had lost a great friend as well as the fight against the Goa'uld losing one of its greatest soldiers. Unlike Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter, Teal'c bore Jonas Quinn no ill will, and actually took his desire to join SG-1 seriously. However, he found himself in a difficult emotional situation when he learned that Drey'auc had died, and Rya'c resented his father. After learning that Anubis was attacking Earth, Teal'c, Bra'tac, and Rya'c went on a mission to destroy the weapon. They succeeded, and Teal'c and Rya'c bonded.

2003
While attending a meeting of Jaffa Rebellion leaders, the Goa'uld attacked them, removing the symbiotes from the shol'vas. Teal'c and Bra'tac shared Junior between them, causing Teal'c to hallucinate. Dr. Daniel Jackson watched over him during that time. When SG-1 found them, Junior was already too overtaxed to save either of them, so Teal'c and Bra'tac went on Tretonin.

After being injured, Teal'c began to doubt his prowess as a warrior without his symbiote. Dr. Daniel Jackson, who had since descended, helped Teal'c to overcome his fears. During a meditation, Daniel had a subconscious flashback, seeing Rya'c and Bra'tac as slaves on Erebus. A rescue mission was successfully undertaken, and Teal'c found his confidence renewed.

Later, SG-1 encountered the Hak'tyl Resistance. Teal'c helped to convince Ishta, their leader, to take Tretonin instead of stealing symbiotes, and they developed affection for each other.

2004
When Brigadier General Jack O'Neill became commander of Stargate Command, he allowed Teal'c to move off the base. However, Teal'c's code of honor forced him to intervene in disputes. He became close to his neighbor, Krista James, and was framed by The Trust for murdering her boyfriend Doug McNair. However, Teal'c was exonerated thanks to the efforts of Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter and Pete Shanahan.

Dr. Bill Lee and other scientists developed a computer training game program, using the Virtual reality pods that SG-1 had been trapped in years ago, for personnel which they tested on themselves. However, when the game was played by Teal'c with his extensive field experience, it was found lacking. The nature of the chairs’ programming “learned” from the user, and Lee requested Teal'c continue to play the scenario to improve it. Unfortunately, the game quickly became too tough for Teal'c, drawing on his memories of combat to increase the danger he faced in each scenario, to the point that the game would not even let Teal'c leave via the game failsafe as it recognized that Teal'c would normally never quit. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, studying Teal'c's brain patterns from their original experience in the chair, worried that the game would not actually allow Teal'c to win as, when the original scan was taken, Teal'c apparently believed that the Goa'uld could not be defeated, causing her to worry that Teal'c's subconscious would eventually kill him. Even more seriously, Teal'c's continued failures in the game resulted in him receiving sudden jolts each time he lost, causing spikes in his adrenaline production, which, in turn, caused his blood pressure and heart rate to rise dangerously, to the point that Teal'c would eventually suffer a heart attack if he remained in the system. Lee and Carter, inspired by a comment made by Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, exploited a fluke in the system by connecting a second pod up to Teal'c's system while removing the data recorder from the chair. This gave Dr. Daniel Jackson- chosen to prevent the game drawing on a soldier's tactical expertise and becoming even more difficult to defeat- a two second advantage, allowing him to perceive events in the game two seconds in advance, allowing him to join the game and give Teal'c vital information. After several attempts, they were able to defeat the scenario and the pod deactivated, O'Neill confirming Teal'c's assessment of his and Daniel's victory by simply noting that winning was what they did.

Rya'c, having met Kar'yn, an apprentice of Ishta, fell in love and asked her to marry him. Teal'c opposed the union, fearing that Ry'ac would soon have to choose between family and freedom, as he had. However, after helping Ishta's forces kill the System Lord Moloc, Teal'c eventually accepted Kar'yn, and approved of the union. He and Ishta kept from Rya'c and Kar'yn the fact that Moloc's forces had been absorbed by Ba'al to keep from ruining their honeymoon.

2005
When the Replicators invaded the Milky Way, they came into conflict with Ba'al, and wiped out most of the System Lords. Many Rebel Jaffa defected back to the Goa'uld. To stop this, Teal'c proposed that they take Dakara, to shatter the Goa'uld's image as gods. The plan worked, and with the use of a weapon on Dakara, destroyed the Replicators and brought about the fall of the Goa'uld Empire. Afterwards, he and Bra'tac were made Blood Kin to all Jaffa.

Teal'c is still part of SG-1, having rejoined with the efforts of Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, although now not in an official manner. The Jaffa Rebellion has successfully pulled the plug for the Goa'uld and are now building their own society. Teal'c, however, is not glad over the way things are going, since the Jaffa High Council is based on military efforts and not on honor and integrity. Events came to a head when Gerak, the leader of the council, converted to Origin and became a Prior of the Ori. Teal'c was able to convince Gerak to abandon the Ori and help the Tau'ri.

2006
Teal'c was able to convince the Lucian Alliance to help stop the Ori from creating a Supergate to bring ships into the galaxy. However, the plan failed, and Teal'c was tortured by Netan. However, the Odyssey was able to rescue Teal'c.

After the beginning of the Ori crusade, they took control of many Jaffa strongholds including his homeworld Chulak, Dakara and several more worlds.

2007
He helped try to reform the Free Jaffa Nation's government on Dar Eshkalon, where the settlement fell victim to a series of explosions, caused by a faction of Jaffa who embraced the Ori cause. Teal'c went on a quest for revenge by killing Arkad, a Jaffa that he believed to be the one responsible for the attacks (Although Bra'tac noted that Arkad had also played a role in the death of Teal'c's mother). During the brutal fight, Teal'c managed to drive the sword through Arkad's shoulder into his symbiote pouch, killing him.

He, along with SG-1 was stuck on the Odyssey in a Time dilation field for 50 years, but was bought back to the moment before the Odyssey was about to be destroyed by the Ori, providing Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter with a crystal containing a program that she had developed in the intervening time to shut down the Asgard computer core and prevent the Ori from tracking them. Teal'c volunteered for this duty as, while all of the team had aged fifty years during their 'imprisonment' aboard the Odyssey, his Jaffa lifespan meant that the lost years were less of an issue for him than they would be for others. The only visible sign of his age is a streak of grey hair on the right side of his head, although his skills and physique appear otherwise unaffected.

Sometime later, Dr. Daniel Jackson uncovered clues to the location of the Ark of Truth, a powerful Ancient device that has the ability to convince people the "truth" of what was programmed in it. The team went to the ruins of Dakara to search it, but the Ori Army, led by Vala Mal Doran's husband, Tomin arrived. They failed in their attempts to hold them off, but anticipating a Prior would support them, SG-1 activated a Prior disruptor; Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell managed to kill the Prior, and the soldiers surrendered. After returning to Earth, they explained to Tomin that the Ori were destroyed by the Sangraal and they were searching for the Ark because Daniel had a vision of a mountain exploding that he believed was a residual memory of Merlin's. Tomin directed them to the passage of the Book of Origin about Ortus Mallum and Daniel realizes that the Ark may be in the Alteran Home Galaxy. SG-1 and Tomin took the Odyssey through the Supergate and there Vala, Daniel and Tomin met with Hertis, a member of the Anti-Ori underground. He explained that the Fires of Celestis have gone out and that Ortus Mallum is located on the planet Celestis. Once at Celestis, SG-1 beamed to the surface and began searching. After Mitchell and Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter were called back to the ship to deal with James Marrick, Daniel had another vision and they discovered an entrance to an underground tunnel. They enter the tunnel and locate the Ark. Once back on the surface, they are attacked by Ori soldiers. After he is shot in the back, the rest of the team are captured and brought to the City of Celestis. After waking up a short time later, he began to walk the long journey to the city. After reaching the Plains of Celestis, he passed out again. Luckily, Morgan Le Fay was able to use her ascended powers to heal his wound and he continued to the city. Once inside, he disguised himself as a Prior and released Daniel from his cells and they meet up with Vala and Tomin. After Vala was shown by Morgan the symbols necessary to activate the Ark, she took them to the Ark. Vala distracted Adria, allowing Daniel to activate the Ark and he shot the table to allow the Ark to fall to the floor in view of the Doci. Adria was then weak enough for Morgan to attack and destroy her. In the end, with the Ori threat over, he joined a mission to P3K-546.

He later told Colonel Samantha Carter farewell and good luck for her new position as the leader of Atlantis, remarking that "undomesticated equines" could not stop him from visiting.

2008
Colonel Samantha Carter requested that he come to Atlantis to teach Ronon Dex how to handle the International Oversight Advisory. On his visit there, they went on sparring match, where it was proven that they are an equal match, which is another demonstration of Teal'c's incredible strength, agility, durability and warrior skills. Even though he's over 160 years old (112 if not for his 50 years in the time dilation field), which is well beyond even a Jaffa's prime age, Ronon, who was at his prime, could not find an opening or advantage when fighting with weapons or in hand-to-hand combat, which seemed to frustrate him since he had never met someone as tough as Teal'c before. He teamed up with Ronon to prevent the Wraith from taking control of the Midway space station and reaching Earth. He was also fed upon by a Wraith, though Ronon managed to kill it before it had caused any noticeable aging. He also had an interest in the firepower of Ronon's particle magnum and asked where he could get one. The two, while initially not getting along, bonded over killing the Wraith and became friends and this resulted in Ronon finally accepting Teal'c's help in dealing with the IOA.

For the rest of the year, Teal'c spent his time with SG-1 to capture the remaining Ba'al clones and fight against other foes while Colonel Samantha Carter was leading the Atlantis expedition. After capturing the final Ba'al clone, Teal'c attended the Extraction Ceremony on the Tok'ra homeworld with Major General Jack O'Neill and the rest of SG-1. The ceremony went ahead and the final Ba'al clone was killed. Vala Mal Doran stayed behind to help Ba'al's host Aziru cope with the extraction because she knew what he was going through as a former host herself. He and the rest of the team went to lunch, which O'Neill paid for.

Alternate realities

 * In an alternate reality in which SG-1 never visited Chulak, Teal'c remained First Prime of Apophis. Like his counterpart from our reality, he was married to Drey'auc and they had a son named Rya'c. Though he led the invasion of Earth in 1998, he seemed, like the Teal'c from our reality, to hate serving the Goa'uld. Brigadier General Jack O'Neill might have convinced Teal'c to change sides - aided by Dr. Daniel Jackson's video recording of his SG-1, including O'Neill and Teal'c working together - had he not sent a nuclear weapon to Chulak, which killed Teal'c's family. Left grief stricken as well as consumed by the thought of revenge, Teal'c chose to kill General O'Neill and wipe out the Tau'ri instead of helping them. The Teal'c from this reality had a long black hair tied up into a ponytail. When Dr. Jackson went to escape through the Stargate, this Teal'c hesitated in shooting him, aware of his story from O'Neill, but fired at the last second. The alternate Teal'c was killed when Cheyenne Mountain's self-destruct device went off immediately and just seconds after Daniel escaped through the Stargate.
 * In another alternate reality, Teal'c served Apophis as First Prime and was apparently loyal to his master. After Apophis' forces invaded Earth and captured Cheyenne Mountain in 1999, he killed Colonel Jack O'Neill in front of Apophis. This caused O'Neill's close friend Major Charles Kawalsky to react angrily upon seeing the Teal'c of our reality at Stargate Command, though he eventually came to trust him. Teal'c was himself killed several days later by his counterpart from our reality when he refused to betray Apophis, despite our Teal'c offering to spare his life if he would renounce Apophis as a false god and aid them in the liberation of Earth. However, he proclaimed our Teal'c a "shol'va", who promptly shot him with his staff weapon. The Teal'c from our reality then impersonated him until Apophis discovered the deception. The Teal'c from this reality had a small goatee, similar to the one which our Teal'c later grew, except that it was black rather than grey.
 * In 2006, an alternate version of Teal'c came to our reality with his SG-1 in an attempt to steal a Zero Point Module from Atlantis and return it to their reality to defend their Earth from an Ori attack. When the original SG-1 took steps to stop additional SG-1s from arriving, the alternate SG-1 gained control of the Prometheus and set course for Atlantis. Eventually, the original Mitchell outsmarted his counterpart and his team was captured. The original SG-1 was able to use the alternate SG-1's methods to send the various SG-1s back to their own realities. As with his counterpart in our reality, this version of Teal'c left SG-1 after the defeat of Ba'al, the Replicators and Anubis in 2005 and went to live on Dakara but was eventually convinced to rejoin the team by Cameron Mitchell.
 * In another alternate reality, Teal'c was seemingly no longer a member of SG-1 in 2006 as he did not accompany Daniel Jackson, Cameron Mitchell, Doctor Janet Fraiser and Martouf/Lantash on their search for a cure to the Prior virus which was devastating Earth in his reality. Consequently, he was not present when they were accidentally sent to our reality.
 * In another alternate reality, Teal'c was a member of an SG-1 who wore Blue Digital Tiger Stripe uniforms. In 2006, he and his team were under heavy fire and ended up in our reality. Shortly afterwards, they were examined in the infirmary. Eventually, this SG-1 were sent back to their own reality.
 * In another alternate reality, Teal'c was a member of an SG-1 who wore Digital Woodland USMC MARPAT uniforms. This version of Teal'c was still bald. In 2006, he and his team ended up in our reality but were eventually sent home to their own.
 * In another alternate reality, Teal'c was a member of an SG-1 who wore Hazmat suits. In 2006, he and his team ended up in our reality but were eventually sent home to their own.
 * In another alternate reality, Teal'c was a member of an SG-1 who wore green jungle fatigues. In 2006, he and his team ended up in our reality but were eventually sent home to their own.
 * In the alternate reality to which Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter was accidentally transported in 2007, Major Evan Lorne told her that Teal'c had left Earth several years earlier and returned to the Jaffa after the defeat of the Goa'uld.

Alternate timelines

 * In an alternate timeline Teal'c, along with Dr. Daniel Jackson, learned about the sterilization of the Earth's population by the Aschen from Dr. Janet Fraiser and Samantha Carter in 2010. Later, they were able to convince Jack O'Neill to help with their plan to prevent it from ever happening. Teal'c went back to Chulak to avoid arousing suspicion, and, when it came time to put the plan in motion, Janet contacted him. He came back to Earth through the Stargate, giving him the closest position to dial back out. He was able to do this successfully before being killed by the automated defense system. The Teal'c from this reality had his Apophis emblem removed.
 * In an alternate timeline, Teal'c was still the First Prime of Apophis. Like his counterpart from our reality, he believed the Goa'uld were false gods, and after seeing the tape where his unaltered counterpart affirmed this and the Goa'uld's downfall, he changed sides. He killed Dr. Daniel Jackson, after the latter had been implanted with a Goa'uld. Teal'c traveled back to ancient Egypt with Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr. Samantha Carter to fix the timeline. After the rebellion against Ra had succeeded, Teal'c began a relationship with an Egyptian woman named Aset. By 2992 B.C., his symbiote was approaching maturity. As all Goa'uld in Egypt had been killed during the rebellion, he could not procure another and requested that Jack kill him in order to prevent his symbiote from taking a host. However, Jack refused to do so, and obtained coordinates from the Pharaoh Hor-Aha to briefly unearth the Stargate, so that they could travel to another planet and procure another symbiote for Teal'c. Although the Pharaoh was initially reluctant to accede to Jack's request, he eventually did so. By communicating with his symbiote during kelno'reem, Teal'c was able to convince it to wait before taking a host. In the process, he and Daniel learned that the symbiote was Egeria, the mother and founder of the Tok'ra. The plan to obtain a symbiote from a Goa'uld planet was successful. However, Aset was mortally wounded by a stray staff weapon blast which came through the Stargate. In order to save her life, Teal'c asked Egeria (once again through kelno'reem) to blend with Aset and cure her injuries, having been assured by Daniel that the Tok'ra share the body equally with their hosts. Egeria acceded to Teal'c's request and took Aset as her host.
 * In an alternate timeline created by Ba'al, Teal'c, having never ultimately defected from Apophis or even joined Stargate Command as well as SG-1 was his First Prime and bore Ba'al's Jaffa mark instead of Apophis's. He was won over by a promise of freedom for his people from Ba'al. After Qetesh killed Ba'al, he traveled to Earth to use the Stargate and encountered SG-1. He was surprised at their knowledge of him, but refused to listen at first until Colonel Samantha Carter promised they could free his people. After learning what they had in mind, this Teal'c sided with SG-1 and held off Qetesh's Jaffa long enough for Colonel Cameron Mitchell to escape through the Stargate to 1929. This Teal'c was mortally wounded and left behind. He was offered the position of Qetesh's First Prime, but he refused and saying "I die free," detonated an explosive that killed Qetesh, her Jaffa and himself as well as destroying the time machine. (Stargate: Continuum)

Personality
In spite of his intimidating appearance, Teal'c is courageous and willing to stand up for what he truly believes, even though it will render him dead or a disgrace in the eyes of his fellow Jaffa.

He is also loyal to his SG-1 teammates and willing to assist them in the face of great danger.

Upon being brainwashed by Apophis, however, after being brought back from the dead following his death at the hands of one of Apophis's new Jaffa, Teal'c became emotionally distant, cold and ruthless, showing no mercy or remorse, suggesting an almost psychopathic nature.

Teal'c displayed a strong, fierce and overwhelming loyalty to Apophis, who he regarded as a God, and even threatened to kill one of Apophis's fellow Jaffa for what Teal'c believed was "blasphemy".

In addition to that, Teal'c also turned against his friends: Jack, Sam. Daniel and Jacob/Selmak, regarding them as enemies.

Humor
Teal'c frequently misquotes common Earth idioms.
 * "Are you considering the same tactic as I?" (Are you thinking what I'm thinking?)
 * "I believe a "medical attack" could be successful." (surgical strike)
 * "Things will not calm down, Daniel Jackson. Things will, in fact, calm up." (things will escalate)
 * "It is a lengthy tale" (Long story)
 * "Undomesticated equines could not remove me." (wild horses) (This is not a direct misquote, as Teal'c was making a joke).
 * "I will, in fact, keep both eyes on it, Daniel Jackson." (Keep an eye on it)
 * "I will purchase time for you..." (buy time)

Teal'c has been known to show a humorous side occasionally. When discussing Setesh, he told a Jaffa joke about the different Jaffa guards: "A Serpent guard, a Horus guard and a Setesh guard meet on a neutral planet. It is a tense moment. The Serpent guard's eyes glow. The Horus guard's beak glistens. The Setesh guard's nose...drips."

However, he correctly said the phrase "Taking out two birds with but one stone" and when Teal'c goes through the airlock on Thor’s ship and Colonel Jack O'Neill asks him to speak he says "One small step for Jaffa."

Abilities and skills
While not possessing any preternatural abilities as such, Teal'c makes up for it with his superior combat training and proficiency in Jaffa close-quarter combat styles, as well as his ability to quickly adapt to new weaponry. Because of his training as Apophis' First Prime, Teal'c has been trained in various skills that are essential to a System Lord's First Prime, which are now used in the services of SG-1. Teal'c is an accomplished tracker, having demonstrated this on many occasions, and has exceptional sensory skills. Occasionally this has inadvertently gotten him into trouble with local law enforcement - on one occasion, he prevented an assault, taking down three men at once. He was also able to throw an avocado precisely to hit a purse-snatcher from a long distance, knocking him out. These incidents nevertheless highlight Teal'c's lawfulness and reliability.

As stated by Colonel Jack O'Neill, Teal'c is physically much stronger than anyone he knows, even after having his Goa'uld Symbiote removed; a trait he puts to great use in combat. Before having his Goa'uld permanently removed, Teal'c possessed an impressive healing and recovery rate, a long lifespan, perfect health, an immunity to a great range of diseases, poisons, and toxins, and the ability to survive an extended period without oxygen under water. Because of the presence of Naquadah within his Goa'uld symbiote, Teal'c has the ability to sense the presence of other symbiotes and, because their presence disturbs the Goa'uld, the Reetou as well. Since he began to use Tretonin as a substitute for his symbiote, he has lost many of these traits, though some remain.

"Indeed"
The word "Indeed" is the catchphrase and one of the most frequent words spoken by Teal'c. He said this many times over the years, although he didn't say it often in the first few years he was involved with Stargate Command. The word "indeed" is also said by his teammates on a few occasions. In one instance, all of SG1, apart from Teal'c said the word before embarking on a mission. In another instance, Ronon Dex told Teal'c that he says the word a lot, to which Teal'c replied, "Do I? I had not noticed" indicating that while he did it and made a habit out of it, it was something he did subconsciously and it was likely never pointed out to him.

Wise statements
Time to time Teal'c showed his unruffled Jaffa wisdom through his statements. Here are some of them:
 * A great Jaffa once said, "Exalted is the warrior who achieves victory without battle."
 * A mighty Jaffa warrior once said, "The greatest strategy is doomed to fail if there is no army to follow it."

It should be noted that this quality is not lost on the rest of SG-1, as noted by Dr. Daniel Jackson in "Lost City, Part 1". Jackson: [drunk] Teal'c's like one of the deepest people I know. I mean, he's *so* deep. Go on, t-tell them how deep you are! You'll be lucky if you understand this.

Teal'c: [lifts one eyebrow] My depth is immaterial to this conversation.

Jackson: Ooh! See?

O'Neill: No more beer for you.

Nicknames

 * Shol'va: The Goa'uld word for traitor. He is often called this by various Goa'uld and/or Jaffa loyal to them due to the fact that he abandoned the Goa'uld to side with the Tau'ri. (First used in "The Nox").
 * Junior: O'Neill's pet name for both of Teal'c's symbiotes (First used in "Thor's Hammer").
 * T: A shortened version of his name, often used by O'Neill, and a few times by Mitchell. It was also his name when he hallucinated about himself as a fireman in "The Changeling". (First used in "The Curse")
 * Murray: A name he often employs when concealing his identity on Earth or other planets. (First used in "Point of No Return")
 * Muscles: A nickname from Vala in reference to his being the most muscular member of SG-1. (First used in "Avalon, Part 2").

Drey'auc and Rya'c
While still in service to Apophis, Teal'c was married to Drey'auc (now deceased) of the Cord'ai Plains and had a son, Rya'c. He left his family behind when he betrayed Apophis, hoping to return and bring them the freedom he had found, and they were forced to live as pariahs. He returned to Chulak to prevent his son from being implanted with a symbiote, but Rya'c was too ill and ultimately Teal'c gave him his own symbiote. Teal'c later received another that SG-1 had captured.

After he left again, Drey'auc married Fro'tak, a childhood friend of Teal'c, in order to give her son a better life. However, even with such an influential new husband, Drey'auc was unable to prevent Apophis from abducting Rya'c and brainwashing him into publicly denouncing his father. Teal'c believed Rya'c would not succumb to such manipulation, but SG-1 eventually rescued Rya'c and brought him and Drey'auc back to Earth (Fro'tak was killed trying to betray SG-1) where Teal'c soon discovered Rya'c truly was brainwashed and conditioned to immolate himself to destroy Stargate Command. Teal'c had to shoot him with a Zat'nik'tel to break the conditioning. Rya'c and Drey'auc left to live in the Land of Light (P3X-797 by designation) soon after, and eventually moved to a rebel Jaffa camp, wherein Drey'auc died as a result of refusal of a new larval symbiote when hers matured, not wanting to deprive another Jaffa of life.

He was against his son's marriage to Kar'yn, a student of Ishta, believing he was too young, but he finally accepted it.

Shau'nac
Shau'nac of the Red Hills was a priestess on Chulak and an old love of Teal'c. They rekindled their feelings when she reappeared in his life, but she was killed by Tanith soon thereafter.

Ishta
Ishta is the leader of the female Jaffa on Hak'tyl. They rebelled against the Goa'uld Moloc because he ordered the murder of any female Jaffa baby, forcing her and her fellow priestesses to secretly smuggle female children off the planet instead of murdering them. She felt the Jaffa rebellion was useless, believing it better to indiscriminately kill any Goa'uld who posed an immediate threat (particularly Moloc). The other Jaffa Rebel leaders, meanwhile, tried to see the "bigger picture" and not allow a single Goa'uld to become powerful by killing too many prospective opponents. This difference in philosophies strained Teal'c's and Ishta's relationship for a time. After Moloc was eventually killed, however, Ba'al took over Moloc's territory, and Ishta came to see the wisdom of Teal'c and the other Rebel Jaffa's strategy. Teal'c and Ishta still keep in touch months later, however, as Rya'c tells Teal'c that things would be easier for everyone else if he and Ishta just admit they love each other.

Relatives

 * Teal'c's mother (Mother)
 * Ronac (father)
 * Drey'auc (wife)
 * Rya'c (son)
 * Kar'yn (daughter-in-law)
 * Jack O'Neill (foster brother)
 * Bra'tac (foster father)

Other versions

 * Teal'c (android)

Behind the Scenes
"Hi, I'm Teal'c! I play Christopher Judge in real life."

- Christopher Judge in Behind the Scenes


 * At 213 episodes, Teal'c has appeared more times on Stargate SG-1 than any other character, and is second only to Samantha Carter in number of appearances in all Stargate series.
 * Teal'c is the only original SG-1 member to not be mentioned by name or seen in Stargate Universe although his brainwashing by Apophis is mentioned.
 * Along with Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter, George S. Hammond, Walter Harriman and Sylvester Siler, he is one of only seven characters to appear in all ten seasons of Stargate SG-1.

References and notes
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