Aiden Ford

"When we weren't out on harrowing missions, we used to hang out together. I'd share my dreams of a self-sustaining fusion and he would talk of how you could sever a man's torso with a P90."

- Rodney McKay

Aiden Ford is a Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps and a former member of the Atlantis expedition. He was an original member of the First Atlantis Reconnaissance Team.

Background information
Aiden Ford was an only child and his parents are never mentioned. He was very close to his grandparents who appeared to have raised him. He has a cousin named Lara who he was very close to because they were both only children.

2004
Representing the United States Marine Corps, Aiden Ford was present during the scientific investigation of the Antarctic outpost until he was transferred to the Atlantis expedition, arriving at Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy. He was part of the team lead by Colonel Marshall Sumner that traveled to Athos to find a viable evacuation planet in case Atlantis flooded. When the Wraith culled the planet, he was guarding the Stargate. Major John Sheppard ordered him to memorize the gate address of the planet the Wraith Darts traveled to. He accompanied Sheppard on his mission to rescue Sumner, Teyla Emmagan, other Athosians and Tau'ri captured when Athos was culled. He and Sheppard infiltrated the Hive ship and located the prisoners after planting C-4 throughout the ship. Sheppard ordered him to stay with the prisoners while he went to find Sumner. He eventually followed Sheppard's boot trail and saved him from being feed on by the Wraith Keeper. They then blew the C-4 and escaped back to the Puddle Jumper and back to Atlantis. He was later assigned to the First Atlantis Reconnaissance Team with Sheppard, Teyla, and Dr. Rodney McKay.

When Jinto accidentally released the Shadow creature, he was guarding a hallway with Sgt. Stackhouse when the creature approached. Since the doors were affected by the power drain of the creature he had to bypass the door manually and was enveloped by the creature. He suffered minor burns similar to being struck by lightning and was back on duty in short order.

On a recon mission to the Wraith homeworld, he and his team were attacked by Wraith warriors. While fleeing back to the ship, Major John Sheppard was attacked by an Iratus bug. On the way back to Atlantis, the Puddle Jumper became lodged in the Stargate. He was partially dematerialized in the Event horizon and was pulled out Teyla Emmagan and Dr. Rodney McKay. After using salt and iodine to try to remove the Iratus bug, Dr. Carson Beckett suggested the use of a Defibrillator to stop his heart. When Sheppard could not be revived, he had Teyla take him though the event horizon. After McKay managed to retract the drive pods on the Jumper, he had McKay enter the event horizon so he could blow the rear hatch to propel the Jumper through the gate. Beckett then revived Sheppard when he reached Atlantis.

A short time later, Ford accompanied Major John Sheppard on a Puddle Jumper exploration of Lantea. During their voyage, they discovered the mainland. After the Athosians relocated to the mainland, he and his team traveled to an unnamed planet. While deciphering ruins, Major John Sheppard sent Ford with Teyla Emmagan to find the inhabitants to help with the translation. While they were away the Wraith attacked the ruins. Cut off from the Stargate and abandoned by the rest of their team, Teyla and Ford were forced to fight their way to the gate. During the fight, Ford dove out of the way of a Wraith stunner blast and hit his head, knocking him unconscious. Teyla managed to drag him through the gate to safety. After he recovered, he joined the rest of his team on an ambush to capture a Wraith on the same planet. They were successful and able to capture Steve.

When his team's Puddle Jumper crashed on M7G-677, he tried to use a Magnetic compass to locate the direction of the Stargate but it was rendered useless by the Electromagnetic field generator the Ancients left on the planet. Dr. Rodney McKay used the compass to locate the device. He and McKay unplugged the Zero Point Module and returned to Atlantis to test the ZPM. When McKay discovered that it was almost depleted, they returned it to the device. When the Wraith sent a probe, he and Major John Sheppard attempted to shoot it down but failed. Fortunately, McKay was able to reactivate the device and the probe shut down.

He was in charge of transporting Steve to Hoff in order to test the Hoffan drug. After the test, he alerted Major John Sheppard that Steve had fallen ill and eventually died.

On a mission to the Genii homeworld, he and Teyla Emmagan stayed for the harvest ceremony while Major John Sheppard and Dr. Rodney McKay returned to Atlantis to discuss the trade deal with Dr. Elizabeth Weir. When Sheppard and McKay returned and found a secret Underground Bunker, they were arrested by Tyrus and Sora Tyrus and brought inside. After a loose alliance was formed between the two, he and his team joined Cowen and Tyrus on a mission to a Wraith Hive ship. Once on the Hive, Sheppard orders him to guard the Puddle Jumper while they download information to the Wraith data storage device. When they returned to the Genii homeworld and Cowen tried to double-cross them, he drew his weapon but was not forced to fire as Cowen surrounded when two Jumpers decloaked.

After the discovery of M5S-224's powerful atmosphere, he traveled back to the planet with Dr. Rodney McKay to attempt to dial Earth. He assisted him in inserting the control crystal into the Dial Home Device to allow an eight symbol address. He traveled to Earth to brief Stargate Command of the situation in the Pegasus galaxy. While preparing to return, there was an accident aboard the Prometheus and he was unable to return to Atlantis. He was then reassigned to Antarctica. Fortunately, this was all an allusion created by the inhabitants of the planet and he never left Pegasus.

When the Lantean storm was approaching Atlantis, he and Major John Sheppard traveled to Manara to negotiate with Smeadon about evacuating the Atlantis expedition there. He then assisted Dr. Carson Beckett and Teyla Emmagan in evacuating the Athosians from the mainland. However, by the time the last of the hunters arrived at the Puddle Jumper, the storm was about to hit and Beckett insisted he lacked the skill to fly through it. He eventually persuaded Beckett during the eye, to return to Atlantis after learning that a Genii strike team infiltrated the city. After arriving back on Atlantis, he, along with Beckett and Teyla saved Major John Sheppard from a Genii trap at the Naquadah generator. He then paired up with Sheppard to retake Stargate Operations.

2005
When Major John Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay, Dr. Brendan Gall and Dr. Abrams lost contact with Atlantis while exploring a planet in the Lantean system, he was sent by Dr. Elizabeth Weir on a rescue mission. He assembled a team consisting of Teyla Emmagan, Sgt. Markham and several Marines. When they arrived in orbit above the planet, Sheppard ordered them to fire a Drone weapon at the Wraith survivor killing him.

While surveying the formally flooded sections of Atlantis for structural damage, Ford was exposed to an Ancient nanovirus. Fortunately, Major John Sheppard was able to overload a Naquadah generator, causing an electromagnetic pulse, which deactivated the nanites.

On a mission to Proculus, his team's Puddle Jumper was attacked by Wraith Darts. They were saved by a mysterious force from the planet below. After landing on the surface, they were introduced to Chaya Sar.

While searching Atlantis, he, Major John Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan found a room with a women preserved in a Stasis pod. After reviving her it is discovered that she is an alternate Dr. Elizabeth Weir. She explained that in her timeline he drowned helping people evacuate to the Jumper bay.

He and the team went to Dagan to search for a Zero Point Module, after an alternate Dr. Elizabeth Weir gave him five addresses with a guaranteed ZPM on them. When they discovered the Quindosim Chamber, he stayed above ground while the rest of the team entered. He was then shot with a tranquilizer dart and knocked out by Commander Acastus Kolya's men. Koyla took Dr. Rodney McKay and Allina to help him locate the ZPM and put him in the chamber. He, along with Major John Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan came up with a plan to ambush Koyla and his men with stun grenades. After Sheppard retrieved the ZPM they sprung the trap and overtook the Genii. The team had acquired a ZPM, but since McKay told Allina, who was a member of the new Quindosim that the Atlantis expedition weren't the Lanteans they hoped and took the ZPM until the Ancients came back to reward, despite the fact they all ascended. McKay tried his best to convince of the impending Wraith siege, but lost. They returned to Atlantis and were informed by Dr. Elizabeth Weir that the Long range sensors had detected three Wraith Hive ships.

Dr. Elizabeth Weir assigned him to the task of recording personal messages back to Earth to be included in the distress call sent to Stargate Command. He also sent a message to his grandparents.

He and his team traveled to a planet and discovered a Wraith Lab that belonged to a Wraith Scientist that experimented on Teyla Emmagan's ancestors. They discovered a Wraith data storage device and brought it back to Atlantis.

With three Wraith Hive ships heading to Atlantis, he assisted Major John Sheppard in choosing a new Alpha Site. On a mission to M1M-316 he and his team encountered a Dinosaur like creature and had to evacuate. After a Wraith was discovered in the city, he led the second team to search for him. After Sheppard's team was stunned by the Wraith, his team double timed it to his position and stunned the Wraith before it could feed on Sheppard. During the first wave of Wraith Darts, he took over firing the Railgun position that had been vacated after Major Ferrell was taken by a Wraith beam. After the defeat of the first wave, he and Sheppard teamed up to search the city for Wraith that beamed in. During the second wave, he was searching the city with Captain Radner for Wraith infiltrates when a group of Wraith beamed in front and behind them. During the fight, he was personally attacked by a Wraith warrior and both fell into the ocean. When he was found after having spent nearly an hour in the freezing water outside Atlantis, a Wraith had begun to feed on him. In the process his body was injected with a high dosage of the enzyme that the Wraith inject into their victims so that the victims will remain alive during the feeding process. From this point on, he became dependent upon the enzyme. Dr. Carson Beckett attempted to wean him off the enzyme slowly by collecting enzyme for the Wraith bodies in the morgue. Ford awoke and insisted on helping but was told by Dr. Elizabeth Weir to return to the infirmary. While in the infirmary he overheard Beckett talking about getting him off the enzyme. He attacked the guard and took his weapon. At gunpoint he demanded Beckett give him the supply of enzyme and he escaped. Sheppard pursued him but he stole a Puddle Jumper and escaped through the Stargate.

A few months later, he was on a Wraith controlled planet and noticed a heavily armed Wraith heading through the Stargate alone. He followed him to P3M-736 and ran into a Runner named Ronon Dex. He killed the Wraith and harvested the enzyme while Ronon escaped. A short time later, Major Evan Lorne and Dr. Parrish were exploring the planet when they came across the Wraith corpse. Lorne sent the body back to Atlantis and Dr. Carson Beckett discovered the enzyme sack had been removed. Lt. Colonel John Sheppard recognized that Ford was responsible and took his team and Lorne's team to the planet to search for him. During the search, Ford ambushed the team of Lorne and Dr. Rodney McKay and stunned Lorne. He explained to McKay that Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan had been captured by Ronon and they needed to rescue them. During their search McKay attempted to convince Ford to return to Atlantis and let Beckett help him. After Ford stunned two Atlantis personnel, McKay pulled his gun and demanded Ford return to the gate. Ford refused and McKay shot him in the shoulder. McKay realizing how mad Ford was ran and Ford chased him through the forest. McKay inadvertently triggered one of the traps that Ronon had laid for the Wraith and his leg was caught in a rope and it flipped him upside down hanging from a tree. Ford approached still intent on killing him but is attacked by Ronon. The two of them both pulled knifes and attacked each other. Sheppard interrupted them and Ford ran off. Sheppard chased Ford and cornered him. He reached for his sidearm but Sheppard shot him in the leg. Seeing no way to escape, he ran into the beam of a Wraith Dart.

He was removed from the Wraith beaming device aboard a Wraith cruiser but because of the Wraith enzyme he was awake instead of stunned. He killed the Wraith warrior and escaped. He made his way to a tavern on a planet and met Kanayo and several other men. He told them about the enzyme and they agreed to join his Coalition.

A few months later, his men captured Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team. He spiked the food that Teyla Emmagan, Dr. Rodney McKay, and Ronon Dex were eating to show that the enzyme works, leaving only Sheppard unaffected to better convince Dr. Elizabeth Weir. He also recruited their help in sabotaging a Wraith Hive Ship. He forced McKay to fix the Wraith Dart and Sheppard to pilot it. He made McKay stay back on his planet so Sheppard would stick to the plan. Sheppard beamed everyone into the Dart and headed through the Stargate. While approaching the Hive the Dart went on Autopilot and forced Sheppard to unload his cargo blind. Half of Ford's men were beamed off a ledge. Believing Sheppard did it on purpose, Ford turned off his radio against Teyla's wishes. When Sheppard landed the alarms sounded and they were captured as was Sheppard. Once in a cell, the group managed to escape but were quickly captured. The Wraith separated the team this time and put Ford in a cell with Sheppard and Neera a woman Sheppard was trying to save when they were captured. While in the cell, Ford began to experience withdrawal. During this, he apologized to Sheppard for the entire enzyme incident. He was later taken away by the Wraith Commander to be cocooned. He escaped with enzyme, and rescued Sheppard from the Wraith Queen. Ford then headed off to give Sheppard a chance to save Teyla and Ronon, though the Hive Ship he was on was soon destroyed. Ford is presumed dead, though Sheppard says he was alive when he last saw him, and he's sticking to that.

Alternate timeline

 * In an alternate timeline, the "first" time the expedition arrived in Atlantis, there was no Failsafe mechanism to release the city from the ocean floor when the shield failed and the city completely flooded. Ford helped some of the members to escape to a Puddle Jumper and informed Maj. Sheppard right before Sheppard, Dr. Weir and Dr. Zelenka traveled 10 000 years back in time. His fate was left unknown.

Military Decorations
During his military career, Aiden Ford received a number of military decorations.

Behind the scenes

 * As a major character, he appears in most episodes of Stargate: Atlantis in Season 1. In Season 2, his role is reduced to recurring status. He does not appear in any episodes of Season 3. His most recent appearance is during a brief hallucination at the beginning of the season 5 episode "Search and Rescue", in which he compares Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's failure to rescue Teyla Emmagan from Michael Kenmore to Sheppard's failure to save Ford himself. He also appeared in flashback sequences in "Inquisition".
 * Rainbow Sun Francks was unable to audition for the role of Ford so he obtained the casting sides from a friend and he posted his reading online. Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper became aware of the audition and Rainbow got the part.