Wraith ships are constructed from a biological polymer similar to polysaccharides but containing organo-metallic compounds. They are grown from a host infected with a Wraith pathogen.
It resembles an insect's or crustacean's shell in the sense that it starts out soft and pliable, then it becomes tough and leathery and eventually hardens to become extremely dense and resistant to heat, pressure and even radiation (though it is not sufficient to protect a Wraith ship from the effect of the radiation in hyperspace indefinitely). The polymer uses the resources around it to grow into what ever ship or outpost it is designed to become. (SGA: "The Siege, Part 1", "The Seed")
Wraith ships are significantly weaker than those of the Ancient fleet or the Asgard upgraded Tau'ri fleet and must therefore rely on strength in numbers. (SGA: "No Man's Land", "The Siege, Part 3")
History[]
Lantean-Wraith War[]
The Wraith fleet is at minimum 10,000 years old since the war with the Lanteans. Being significantly weaker than the Ancient Warships the Wraith fleets were unable to best the Lanteans during the beginning stages of the war. Due to the Lanteans overconfidence and believing that their Aurora-class warships and other vessels were unbeatable, they sent them deeper and deeper into Wraith controlled territory to weed them out. The Wraith needed an advantage to turn the tide of the war. They went to great lengths to capture three Ancient vessels that were powered by Zero Point Modules and used them to power a cloning facility causing their army to grow many times its original size as well as allowing many more Hive ships and Wraith cruisers to be constructed very rapidly. The Lanteans, desiring to end the war and temporarily ignorant of the massive surge in Wraith numbers, sent a large contingent of their fleet into Wraith territory; They were ambushed and destroyed. The outward surge of the Wraith could not be curbed by the Lanteans. From that point onward the Wraith-Lantean war was a long drawn-out, systematic annihilation of the Lantean forces.
Wraith Civil War[]
By the time of the Wraith civil war, less than 48 Hive Ships remained in the Pegasus galaxy due to the efforts of the Atlantis expedition as well as the Wraith's own territorial instincts which were intensified by the few numbers of Humans in the galaxy to feed upon. Hives formed alliances with others and the strong ones attacked the weak in an effort to gain control of the "food supply", creating a volatile situation. Over the course of the next year, the situation would become worse as, with the help of Dr. Rodney McKay, an enemy known as the Asurans attacked the feuding Wraith causing a new war to come about.
In the course of the war, the Wraith lost another 12 Hive Ships to the attacks of the Asurans until they discovered a vital weakness; the need for the Wraith to feed on Humans. In order to kill their enemy through starvation, the Asurans began to target the human worlds and annihilate six of them killing tens of thousands of humans in the Pegasus galaxy, causing the already precarious situation to grow even worse. During the battle to destroy them, the Wraith under the command of Todd brought a force of 7 Hives to join the battle along with the Atlantis expedition and Travelers. While the battle raged a single hive was destroyed by the Asurans.
Impact of the Asuran-Tau'ri-Wraith War[]
The war would have far more exceedingly devastating effects on the Pegasus galaxy than could have been foreseen. A number of Zero Point Modules were stolen from the Asuran homeworld before it was destroyed and were spread to several different projects. Three were known to be used to power a Wraith cloning facility to create a massive army against rival alliances and the facility was destroyed when a Hive Ship was used to crash into it. Another ZPM was given to a single Hive Ship in order to make it into a Super-hive that would go on to not only reach Earth, but also was able to outmatch two Tau'ri BC-304 's, nearly culled Earth, and nearly destroyed Atlantis in the ensuing conflict. The last two ZPMs were used to bring Atlantis to full power so that it could reach Earth to render aid before it was too late.
Ship classes[]
- Hive ship - Mothership
- Hive ship (Rising)
- Hive ship (Underground)
- Hive ship 1 (Letters from Pegasus)
- Hive ship 2 (Letters from Pegasus)
- Hive ship 3 (Letters from Pegasus)
- Hive ship 1 (The Siege, Part 3)
- Hive ship 2 (The Siege, Part 3)
- Hive ship (Runner)
- Scar's hive ship
- Hive ship (The Lost Boys)
- Hive ship (The Hive)
- Nightwind's hive ship
- Hive ship (Allies)
- Hive ship (Misbegotten)
- Hive ship (The Pegasus Project)
- Snow's hive ship
- Hive ship (The Seer)
- Atlantis' hive ship
- Todd's hive ship
- Hive ship (Spoils of War)
- Michael's hive ship
- Just Fortune
- Hive ship (The Queen)
- Hive ship (Outsiders)
- Hive ship (Vegas)
- Super-hive
- Bright Venture
- Revenant
- Waterlight's hive ship
- Cruiser - Battleship/ Escort
- Scout ship - Scouting and personal shuttle
- Supply ship - Supply and transport (modified cruiser)
- Dart - Personal fighter/Culling vessel
Specific starships[]
Cruiser • Dart • Escape pod • Hive ship • Scout ship • Supply ship |