Ancient

"Jack, the Others are the Ancients. The original creators of the Stargates."

- Daniel Jackson

The Ancients, as they are called by the Tau'ri, are also known as the Alterans, the Atlanteans, and the Ancestors to other races, and called themselves Anqueetas or Alteras in their language. They are one of the most advanced races known to have existed, having evolved for millions of years prior to the present day and reaching their level of technology long before humanity evolved on Earth. They are best known as the builders of the Stargates and Atlantis, and are directly responsible for the emergence of the Asurans and the Wraith.

The Alteran Home Galaxy
"Well, it stands to reason they weren't always called the Ancients."

- Daniel Jackson

Millions of years ago, the Alterans, the first evolution of humanity, lived together as one society on an evolutionary path to Ascension in the Alteran Home Galaxy. A split then occured among the Alterans, dividing them into two factions: the Ancients (who still called themselves the Alterans), who "believed" more in science, and the Ori, who became more religious.

Eventually, the Ori became so extreme in their beliefs that they tried to wipe out the Ancients. The Ancients numbers were too few, and they were ultimately forced to hide their ways. Though they considered using their knowledge to defend themselves, they faced a war of attrition, one they ultimately believed that they could not win. To avoid genocide, the Ancients built a ship and left their galaxy, while the Ori remained. They both eventually ascended, but their paths continued to differ.

The Milky Way
"Once upon a time, there was a race of people that went on a great journey through space, across the universe. They were called the Altera."

- Daniel Jackson

After many thousands of years the Ancients discovered the Milky Way, which they named Avalon, and first colonized the planets Dakara and Terra, which would later be known as Earth. They also built many Astria Porta, developed Zero Point Modules, and established colonies on many of the planets of the Milky Way, most notably Terra, Proclarush Taonas, Vis Uban, P3R-272 and Heliopolis. The earliest outposts were established approximately thirty to fifty million years ago.

Approximately five million years ago, a virulent plague infected the Ancients that nearly wiped out their entire species. Originating at the construction site for their new capital known as Vis Uban, the deadly disease would spread across much of the galaxy. They attempted to travel back in time, to stop the plague from spreading, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Unable to cure it, the surviving Ancients left Earth in a huge space-borne city, which they called Atlantus.


 * Though the theory was postulated by Dr Jackson that the Ori plague and the plague that infected the Ancients were similar; nothing confirms that the Ori were responsible for sending it to the Milky Way galaxy.

Pegasus Galaxy


"Why'd they leave? Um, who knows? We know the Ancients on Earth were suffering from a plague. Uh, maybe some of them were trying to start over, seeding life in a new galaxy."

- Daniel Jackson

After leaving the Milky Way and arriving in the Pegasus Galaxy, the Ancients settled on a planet named Lantea, and came to be known as the Atlanteans or Lanteans. Finding Pegasus devoid of sentient life, the Atlanteans seeded Pegasus with humans. The humans seeded by the Ancients came to call them the Ancestors.

However, one of the planets seeded held a creature called the Iratus bug, which began feeding off the humans seeded there. Eventually, the Iratus bugs began to mutate, taking on advantageous human characteristics. This resulted in a hybrid species, the Wraith. For over a century, the Atlanteans and the Wraith warred with each other.

While the Atlanteans had technological superiority, the Wraith were too many. Desperate, they turned to extreme measures, such as Project Arcturus, an attempt to extract Zero Point energy from their own universe, and created the Asurans, nanites designed to destroy the Wraith from within. Both attempts failed, with disasterous consequences.

Seeing no way to win the war, the remaining Ancients submerged Atlantis and returned via Stargate to Earth.

End of the Ancients
"When we first abandoned Atlantis all those millennia ago, the Earth was so harsh, its people so primitive by comparison, there was no hope of living among them as Lanteans or rebuilding our society. So instead, we spread out to many lands, some of us planting a few small seeds of civilization among the first tribes of man. Others making their way to the Stargate at your southern pole. Still others choosing to live the remainder of our lives in seclusion and meditation. Merlin and I both chose the latter path."

- Ganos Lal

Upon arriving at Earth, they quickly realized that there was no hope of rebuilding their society, as Earth was too harsh and the Humans too primitive. Some chose to go to other worlds, others secluded themselves in meditation and ascended, and others chose to join the native humans, where they reintegrated back into human society. This is how several humans, such as Jack O'Neill and John Sheppard have "the Ancient gene" required to use Ancient technology.

The Ancients that left Earth were later part of the Alliance of Four Great Races, with the Asgard, the Furlings, and the Nox.

Physiology
"In fact, they were first. We're the second evolution of their kind."

- Carson Beckett

Over the tens of millions of years of their existence, the Ancients gradually evolved to become much more advanced than baseline humans, and the neurological makeup of the Ancients was much more complex than that of the average human. As their brains further evolved, their intelligence and capacity to store knowledge greatly increased, allowing them to develop some of the most advanced technology encountered thus far. Towards the end of their evolutionary development, but still before they ascended, they also developed various advanced mental abilities, such as telekinesis, extraordinary sensory abilities, the ability to heal others with a touch, and possibly telepathy or precognition.

Within their genetic makeup was a particular gene, the so-called Ancient Technology Activation (ATA) gene, used to interact with and activate some of their more advanced technology. It is still unknown if the gene was naturally occuring within the Ancients' physiology, or the result of genetic manipulation.

Architecture
"...a remarkable feat of engineering. The Ancients really knew what they were doing."

- Samantha Carter

The architecture of the Ancients varied greatly during their time in the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies.

Despite being an advanced, industrialized society, the Ancients seemed to have a preference for stone structures in the Milky Way galaxy. There were also two instances of a large monument with an enthroned figure housing advanced technology, such as the Repository of Knowledge and the Dakara superweapon. Even their technology appeared stone like. The Stargates had their symbols engraved on them, and spinned when dialing. They were also known for writting information on stone tablets.

In the Pegasus Galaxy, the Ancients built structures of metal, and they were quite large. Atlantis, the centerpiece of their society, was a massive city-ship capable of space travel. They built many other city-ships, but most were destroyed during the war with the Wraith. Their technology also looked more advanced, being made of metal and digitalized, like the symbols on the Stargates. They also kept their archives in their computers.

Philosophy
"If we interfere, we are no better than the Ori."

- Ganos Lal

Mortal
The Ancients believed in science, reason, and logic. Knowledge and enlightenment were fundamental to their world view. They believed that the universe was to be studied, and that scientific experimentation was essential to gaining understanding. Most importantly, the Ancients believed in free will. They believed that the right to choose whatever a person wants to believe is more important than anything else. This has been to their detriment, however, as it has been that very belief in free will that forces them to respect the rights of the Ori in believing their fanaticism. They also believed that they did not have the right to restrict the freedom of the followers of Origin to believe in the Ori by "brainwashing" the true nature of the Ori into their followers for much the same reasons.

Ascended
Retaining their beliefs in free will, as well as rules of non-interference, the highest law of the Ascended Ancients is the following:


 * "Do not accelerate the natural ascension process of those beneath."

To accelerate the natural ascension of any living being is a high crime among their people, and the Others, those who follow their rules of non-interference, have taken harsh measures against those that break. Oma Desala was an outcast for her efforts in helping others to ascend, and she was forced to watch Anubis use his knowledge to conquer the Milky Way. Orlin was also outcast when he used his powers to help the people of Velona to construct a weapon to protect themselves, but then intended to use the weapon against other races. Similarly, Chaya Sar was sentenced to protect only the people of Proculus when she destroyed a Wraith fleet over the planet.

There is a real, physical transfer of energy to the Ori that occurs through a human being's belief in them. For it to have a measurable effect, it requires massive numbers of humans relinquishing their will. This is one of the main reasons the Anceints have so strongly believed in strict non-interference in the lower planes, because the temptation to manipulate and align lower life forms in some order for your own purposes could result in this type of abusive corruption, as they see it. While this has lead to what might be considered draconian or cruel punishments to those who violate this rule, it stems from their belief in free will, and that to use their powers in such a way would make them no better than the Ori.

Technology
"We're talking about the Gate Builders here. They did everything big."

- Daniel Jackson

The technology of the Ancients is far more advanced than that of the Tau'ri, the Goa'uld, and the Wraith. Only Ori technology, which was most likely created with ascended knowledge by the Priors, and the most recent Asgard technology, come close in certain respects, and in other respects even surpass it. Noted for its massive redundancies and the extensive use of control crystals, Ancient technology is remarkably similar, in both appearance and function, to that of the Ori, as they both once lived together as one society: the Alterans.

Among their many achievements, the Stargates and Atlantis are their most famous, but they have also developed technology as diverse and complicated as flying cities, advanced healing devices and power sources, long-range communication devices, seek-and-destroy projectiles, and even genetic manipulation devices. Much of the Ancients' weapons technology was used in, or designed for use during, the centuries-long war with the Wraith in the Pegasus Galaxy.

As a safeguard, most Ancient technology requires the presence of the ATA gene to use, but some instances have only required the gene to activate it. In such cases, once active anyone can use the technology, regardless of whether or not they possess the gene.

Known Ancients

 * Adalyx
 * Amelius
 * Atlas
 * Ayiana
 * Brallymynn
 * Chaya Sar
 * Cynrrid
 * Dalera
 * Didthura
 * Dosa
 * Ea
 * Frodren
 * Ganos Lal/Morgan Le Fay
 * Glendolph
 * Helia
 * Hippoforalcus
 * Janus
 * Laphrotia
 * Llewcygad
 * Llyggabrd
 * Luthan
 * Melia
 * Moros/Merlin
 * Minawara
 * Oma Desala
 * Orlin
 * Selmonkiv
 * Sigrid
 * Smylkamen
 * Srenala
 * Trebal
 * Tristac
 * Tsiggnayl
 * Vortensis
 * Wendamin

Milky Way

 * Proclarush Taonas
 * Terra Atlantus

Pegasus Galaxy

 * Doranda outpost
 * Lantea Atlantus
 * Taranis outpost