Ori

"Hallowed are the Ori."

- The Book of Origin

The Ori (owr-ai), are a race of ascended entities who demand the worship of mortal beings.

Early history
"Their power is not what you should question. It's how they use it."

- Cameron Mitchell

The Ori first lived together with the Ancients as one human society in another galaxy as the Alterans. At some point, a split occured among the Alterans. The Ancients began to believe more in science, while the Ori became more religious. The division became so great that the Ori tried to wipe the Ancients out. To avoid a war, the Ancients departed their home galaxy for the Milky Way. Even after they left, the Ancients and the Ori remained enemies. Daniel Jackson believes that the Ori were responsible for the plague that the Ancients suffered from in the Milky Way, which lead them to leave for the Pegasus galaxy in Atlantis. They both eventually ascended and the Ori passed on a religion called "Origin" to the next evolution of humans they created. The Ori use their ascension and knowledge of the universe as justification for praise and worship.

Due to the origins of their ancestry the Ori believe they are the creators of human life. They are aware of the Ancients and shun them, saying they abandoned the "path," and believe in the opposite philosophy. They claim that not sharing the secrets of the universe to those on the lower planes of existence is an evil act and those who practice it must be eliminated.

The Ori conceived the Origin faith, one that puts them in the center of creation, and wrote down their word in the Book of Origin to be administered to followers through Priors, missionaries and teachers of Origin. The Ori use the Doci, the chief Prior, as their "mouthpiece" for communicating with lesser beings. They are able to possess his body to spread their demands and will. When this happens, they can be identified with fiery eyes.

There is growing evidence that the Ancients and Ori possess an equal level of power in the many evolutionary planes of existence. Dr. Daniel Jackson suspected that it is because of this deadlock in strength that the Ancients have been able to prevent the Ori from the knowledge that the Milky Way galaxy populated, and possibly the Pegasus galaxy as well. But the Ancients will not stop free will, nor will they prevent unbelievers from converting. If unbelievers don't convert, the Ori will destroy large numbers of the unbeleivers, as shown in the season finale of season 9.

The second crusade
"Great holy armies shall be gathered and trained to fight all who embrace evil. In the name of the gods, ships shall be built to carry our warriors out amongst the stars, and we will spread Origin to all the unbelievers. The power of the Ori will be felt far and wide, and the wicked shall be vanquished."

- The Doci

Late in 2005 (Earth standard year) we understand from Orlin that the Ori don't offer their followers ascension, because they don't want to share the energy that apparently comes from the worshippers. 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. It is also one of the teasons the Ancients will not interfere with life on the lower planes of existence&mdash;if the Ancients interfere, they are no better than the Ori.

While the Ancients will attempt to stop the Ori, they will not attempt to stop their human followers. One Ancient named Merlin, however, was aware of the threat the Ori could one day present, and created the Sangraal, a weapon capable of neutralizing an ascended being.

In 2006, the Ori managed to establish a link between their galaxy and the Milky Way through a Supergate, sending four ships. Though Stargate Command and the Atlantis Expedition were able to close off the gate and destroy one of the ships, the Ori Army has been decimating the Milky Way, converting them to Origin. They are lead by Adria the Orici, an Ori in human form, so as to prevent the Ancients from stopping them.

However, their real plan to destroy the Ancients may have cost them much more than they anticipated. When Adria discovered the location of the Sangraal, it was learned that Morgan le Fey had destroyed the weapon, and preserved Merlin so that he could make it again. Merlin, too weak to continue, downloaded his conciousness into Daniel Jackson. Adria captured Jackson, and hoped to use his knowledge to create a Sangraal to destroy the Ancients so that the Ori would not have to even fight. However, Jackson intended to send the Sangraal to the Ori home galaxy. With the help of SG-1, the Sangraal was sent through the Supergate, along with Adria.

It remains to be seen, however, if the Ori were destroyed. Several months after the Sangraal was sent, Adria claimed that their attempt failed, while Ba'al, after taking Adria as a host, claimed that they were killed. However, Adria's subsequent reascension has brought the last of the Ori to the higher planes, possibly with the power they once held all being channeled directly to her. While this may leave her as one of the most powerful beings in the universe, it also means that she can no longer interfere in the lowers planes without inciting the Ancients. In any case, the sending of the Sangraal to the Ori galaxy allowed the Ori army to regain control of the Supergate, as another six Ori ships entered the Milky Way.

Culture
Very little is known of the culture of the Ori prior to ascension, though there have been observations of their human followers. The humans created by the Ori live in an agrarian age level of development, presumably to prevent them from becoming a problem (much as how the Goa'uld and the Wraith destroy advanced cultures which could be a threat to them).

The human followers live within villages run by administrators. The administrators appear to possess very broad powers with regards to village administration, such as immolating suspected heretics. One administrator was known to lead Prostration himself. Seevis, another administrator, allowed the local Prior to run it.

Among the Ori's followers, a common saying for greeting is "Above the sun to you."