Stargate Atlantis Why Didnt the Wraith Attack Again

"The Wraith allow our kind to grow in numbers, and when that number reaches a sure point they render to choose their human herd. Sometimes a few hundred years will pass earlier they awaken again. We've visited many, many worlds — I know of none untouched by the Wraith."

―Teyla Emmagan^[src]

The Wraith are a vampiric humanoid hive-based species from Pegasus, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, who harvest the 'life-force' of other humanoid beings for nourishment through suckers on their right hand palm. Endless worlds live in constant fear of the Wraith, who render periodically to cull their man herds. After taking their fill, the Wraith hide for centuries, watched over by Keepers, before they wake and feed again.

1 History
- 1.ane Ancestry
- 1.two Lantean-Wraith State of war
- ane.3 Arrival of the Tau'ri
- one.4 Ceremonious War
- i.5 Rise of Queen Expiry
- 1.6 Peace with Atlantis expedition
2 Physiology
- two.ane Feeding
- ii.two Telepathy
3 Culture
- iii.i Hibernation
- 3.2 Politics
- 3.three Order
- 3.4 Engineering
4 Worlds under Wraith command
5 Alternate timelines
6 Alternate realities
7 Come across too
8 References
9 Behind the scenes
ten External links

History [ ]

Beginnings [ ]

"In time, a thousand worlds bore the fruit of life in this class. Then one day our people stepped pes upon a nighttime world where a terrible enemy slept."

―Melia^[src]

The Lanteans first encountered the Wraith many thousands of years ago, however, the Wraith race is over 100,000 years old according to Todd. After arriving in the lifeless Pegasus with Atlantis, the Ancients seeded several planets with humans and Stargates. In regards to the origin of the Wraith, it was theorized that one of these planets held a creature chosen the Iratus bug, which began feeding on the humans. Eventually, they began to have on advantageous human characteristics, such as larger brain mass, bipedal locomotion, and opposable digits. Once awoken, the Wraith went to war with the Lanteans and fed upon the humans of the Pegasus Galaxy. This was obviously later many thousands of years because the Wraith had to become avant-garde enough for interstellar travel. (SGA: "Rising", "The Gift")

However, the Wraith were really created around 9 hundred years before Atlantis was abandoned. In an effort to brand themselves immortal in example they couldn't Ascend, the Ancients began experimenting on transforming themselves into immortal beings. On a frozen planet, the Ancients built a facility where they experimented on i hundred male and one hundred female test subjects taken from around the galaxy while creating a weapon that would wipe out their test subjects if they always lost control of them. All only ix of the females died in the experiment while ninety-nine of the males survived. Under the Ancients testing, the Wraith began developing the characteristics and powers they would afterwards have. Eventually, the Wraith learned how to utilize their telepathic abilities and tricked the guards into releasing them. The Wraith stole the weapon that could kill them and the facility's ZPM and escaped through the Stargate to Athos. The Ancients chased them, but by the time they reached Athos, the Wraith were gone. The Ancients continued to chase the Wraith, setting a trap for them when they briefly attempted to return to Athos. Eventually, the Wraith were able to steal ships and hide the ZPM and weapon. It is suggested that a mollusk animal found on one of their original sanctuaries, Cair Leonid, would become the basis for their hive ships. The Wraith eventually split into various bands and the original nine females became the kickoff Wraith Queens, known as the Beginning Mothers, while the males would become their commanders. (SGA: "Legacy: Secrets")

Lantean-Wraith War [ ]

"Never before had we encountered beings with powers that rivaled our own. In our overconfidence, we were unprepared and outnumbered."

―Melia^[src]

Main commodity: Lantean-Wraith war

The dominating (and at the fourth dimension only) power of the Pegasus galaxy were the peaceful and technologically advanced Lanteans, the grouping of Ancients that had left the Milky Style millions of years ago to escape the plague destroying their race. The Wraith felt a genetically-inherited hatred for the Lanteans, considering the Lantean'due south experiments had fabricated them the fashion they were. They could never render to their normal lives, and felt compelled to become to state of war with the Lanteans for retribution. But the Lanteans were far more than advanced than the Wraith, with 1 Aboriginal warship beingness able to inflict massive damage on several Hive ships at once with their devastating Drone weapons, while at the aforementioned time suffering little to no impairment themselves due to their powerful shield applied science.

At first, the Wraith were at a major disadvantage confronting the avant-garde warships of the Lanteans who, in their overconfidence, began to send their warships deeper into Wraith territory. The Wraith, afterwards a menstruum of time and with great toll to themselves, managed to capture several of these vessels and obtain the Cipher Signal Modules powering a number of them. Using these incredible ability sources, the Wraith began creating a cloning facility which they used to increase their numbers against the Lanteans, giving them a much needed advantage and allowing them to permanently turn the tide of war in their favor. (SGA: "Spoils of War")

A Hive Queen watching the invasion forces as they movement towards Lantea.

The Lanteans began to slowly autumn dorsum into their own territory, which the Wraith continued to absorb into their own, facing the powerful weapons platforms and outposts protecting Lantean-controlled territory in their effort to destroy their enemy. This continued for years until Atlantis was all that remained of the Lantean empire. In a last attempt at ending the war, the Lanteans sent a delegation to come across with the Wraith to negotiate a truce. The Lantean delegation was protected by their most powerful warships, only they were ambushed past the Wraith's massive fleet. Afterward that great boxing, it was only a matter of time before Atlantis fell. (SGA: "The Defiant One", "Before I Slumber")

All that remained of the Lantean empire by this point was their majuscule of Atlantis, which the Wraith lay siege to for ane hundred years, held off only by the powerful shield protecting Atlantis, the urban center's drone weapons, and the Lagrangian Point satellites deployed throughout the star organisation. Somewhen however, the satellites were either destroyed or damaged beyond repair, and the city'due south supply of drone weapons was being diminished far faster than information technology could be replaced. Finally, the Ancient Council decided to sink the metropolis, abandon the galaxy through the Stargate and return to Earth, leaving the Pegasus galaxy at the mercy of the victorious Wraith, who began to gorge on their human herds. (SGA: "Rising")

Shortly subsequently this menses, the Wraith came under assault by a new enemy: the Asurans, who were abandoned experiments of the Lanteans. To combat this foe, the Wraith disabled the directive in the Asurans' base code that forced them to attack the Wraith. The Asurans retreated to Asuras and remained there, leaving the Wraith again in control of the galaxy. (SGA: "Reunion")

Inflow of the Tau'ri [ ]

"We're not like the Ancients: we're not gonna sit effectually and await. If they don't dorsum off, we accept the capacity and the will to go kick their asses for a change."

―John Sheppard^[src]

Primary article: Tau'ri-Wraith state of war

The Wraith connected their feeding blueprint where they would abduct humans and take their life forcefulness after which they entered into a hibernative state assuasive the homo herds to abound while they slumbered. While this happened, they left a few caretakers to watch over them until the time was right to awaken. This cycle continued for 10,000 years until the Atlantis trek arrived in the Pegasus milky way and occupied the Aboriginal city of Atlantis. The Wraith start encountered the humans of Earth on the planet Athos when Wraith Darts were sent to abduct humans to feed on. A squad was sent to the Wraith homeworld which was led past Major John Sheppard and Lt. Aiden Ford, on a rescue mission to call up their people.

When the team arrived to the planet, via Pool Jumper, they discovered that their people were taken to a property cell aboard a Hive ship. Meanwhile, the Keeper interrogated Colonel Marshall Sumner and learned that a plentiful feeding ground—Earth—existed elsewhere in the universe, but she could not detect where. Upon her decease at the hands of Sheppard, the entire Hive reawakened. Now that the species was moving, feeding on planets throughout the Pegasus Galaxy, no 1 was safety. Even so, there were not enough humans to sustain the Wraith for long. (SGA: "Ascension", "The Gift")

Marshaling their forces, the Wraith sent a fleet to assail the planet Lantea once more than, with a force of three Hive ships, forth with cruiser escorts. 1 Hive send was destroyed past an Ancient Lagrangian Point satellite that was reactivated by Dr. Rodney McKay and Dr. Peter Grodin, but the Wraith destroyed it after it destroyed i of their Hive ships. In one case in orbit, they attacked Atlantis, hoping to acquire the location of Earth. The Tau'ri and the Athosians battled to preserve the city with the assist of reinforcements from Globe, which succeeded in destroying the bulk of the Wraith forces, but this was just the first wave. A secondary attack force consisting of twelve Hive ships and their escorts arrived and, though the Daedalus managed to destroy a few, the Wraith were too many. It was decided by the trek that trickery would exist used to escape the Wraith where they faked a self-destruct of Atlantis by setting off a timed Nuclear warhead and cloaking the urban center. Dismayed, the Wraith left the earth and attempted to sustain themselves with what few humans lived in the milky way. (SGA: "The Siege, Function 1", "The Siege, Part 2", "The Siege, Part 3")

In time, nonetheless, with the lack of nutrient and the natural territorial instincts of the Wraith, they entered into a ceremonious war. Stronger Wraith Hives began to set on weaker ones for control over the feeding grounds of the galaxy. (SGA: "Allies")

Ceremonious War [ ]

Main article: Wraith civil war

During the civil war, the diverse Wraith factions fed on the worlds in their possession every bit well every bit against one another and engaged in skirmishes with the Tau'ri from Earth. While this was happening, an one-time threat emerged to claiming the Wraith once more. The Asurans, whose attack Wraith control had been reactivated by the Tau'ri, resulting in a surprise attack against them. While caught off guard at beginning, the Wraith began to form an effective counter attack against this enemy and attempted to reuse their estimator virus assault only this failed due to the Asurans being able to dispense their programming at this point because of the accidental workings of Dr. Rodney McKay. Events became even more desperate when the Asurans decided on a new grade of activeness to destroy the Wraith past targeting their food source: humans. Thus, the Asurans began targeting and destroying human worlds in an effort to starve the Wraith. (SGA: "Lifeline", "Reunion", "The Seer")

All attempts at reusing the virus failed and forced a level of cooperation between the Wraith and the Atlantis expedition. The Wraith known as Todd worked to assemble a fleet of Hive ships that would accompany the Atlantis expedition and the surprise improver of the Travelers in an assault against Asuras itself. This brought about the Battle of Asuras with the allied fleet emerging victorious over the Asurans which were destroyed by McKay in a circuitous plan. With the battle over, the temporary unification of the Wraith fractured once again, and the Wraith resumed their old posturing every bit they in one case again returned to civil war. (SGA: "Exist All My Sins Remember'd")

Still, a new threat emerged when the sometime Wraith known every bit Michael Kenmore began a subtle first assault against Wraith Hives by poisoning their food supply with a modified Hoffan drug. His program was foiled when the Atlantis trek once once more cooperated with Todd to fight this threat, and the hives gained a cure for the drug. Subsequently this, the collective Wraith Hives became targeted by a reactivated Attero device which threatened to destroy them but this was stopped past the efforts of the Wraith known as Todd. Since and so, the Wraith have also continued to eliminate those planets whose Homo inhabitants have gained an amnesty from feeding through the Hoffan drug. Michael was ultimately defeated in battle by the Daedalus and later killed past Teyla Emmagan when he tried to destroy the Atlantis expedition. (SGA: "The Kindred, Part ane", "The Kindred, Function 2", "Search and Rescue", "Showtime Contact", "The Lost Tribe", "Outsiders", "The Prodigal")

Still another threat emerged that could have wiped out all of the other factions of the Wraith if not stopped: the Wraith underling's powerful Super-hive. The Hive was initially under Todd's control and function of his faction, but the Wraith underling mutinied and broke away, taking the ship for himself. It gave him a pregnant reward over the other Wraith and races in the galaxy and Todd contacted the Atlantis expedition to warn them about the ship coming to Globe, urging them to destroy information technology. This led to the Boxing of the Super-hive where the Tau'ri battled the ship, merely were no friction match for it leading to an attempted culling of Earth. The new Hive send was so powerful that even Atlantis itself, powered by three Zero Bespeak Modules retrieved from Todd couldn't defeat information technology. Ultimately, the Super-hive was destroyed over Earth by Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team with a nuclear warhead planted within, eliminating the only technologically enhanced transport that any Wraith possessed and restoring the balance of ability. The Wraith underling was also killed during the battle. (SGA: "Enemy at the Gate")

Rise of Queen Death [ ]

Afterwards Atlantis left the Pegasus galaxy, a new Wraith queen arose, Queen Death. Queen Decease was a "queen of queens" and began forcibly uniting the hive ships under her control with none able to stand up against her. Within six months, fifty-fifty Todd'south alliance was down to a single hive ship loyal to him. Expiry began culling whatever worlds she then chose and destroying anything she didn't take, completely devastating many worlds. Nether the control of Queen Death, a powerfully united Wraith alliance was formed as discovered up the return of the Atlantis expedition to Pegasus six months afterwards departing. Queen Death's forces kidnapped Doctor Rodney McKay and turned him into a Wraith, gaining them a ZPM and limited shield technology in the process. Eventually McKay was rescued while Guide formed a new alliance to oppose Queen Death with the aid of Teyla Emmagan in the guise of Guide's queen, Queen Steelflower. Queen Expiry's brotherhood was defeated in battle over the planet the Wraith were created on and Queen Death herself was killed by Teyla. During this time, it was discovered that Queen Expiry was being used equally a tool by Ashes, the last surviving original Wraith who still wanted revenge upon the Ancients who were long-gone. Queen Death's brotherhood was disbanded and Ashes was handed over to Queens Alabaster and Waterlight for penalisation for his deportment. (SGA: "Legacy")

Peace with Atlantis expedition [ ]

In the aftermath of Decease's defeat and subsequent decease, the remaining Wraith forged a peace treaty and as such, one-half of the Pegasus was relinquished to the Tau'ri. This was facilitated by the creation of a retrovirus that strengthened human physiology while helping the Wraith in turn, with the combined strains significant that feeding on a human was no longer automatically fatal to the humans while notwithstanding providing the Wraith with sufficient sustenance.(SGA: "Inheritors")

The Wraith subsequently began hunting a homo known only as Wolf who acquired many Wraith deaths. Guide eventually tracked him to the Travelers and then to a Traveler supply depot where he demanded to search the Traveler ships for him. John Sheppard was besides on the planet and intervened to stop things from escalating. After it was discovered that the Wolf was long-missing Atlantis expedition member Lieutenant Aiden Ford, Doctor Elizabeth Weir was able to negotiate a deal with the Wraith where the Tau'ri "exiled" Ford back to Earth to keep the peace. Ford returned to Globe in a Vanir sentinel ship while the Wraith took a begetting on the transport's hyperspace vector in hopes of getting a clue as to where Globe is. (SGA: "The Tertiary Path")

Physiology [ ]

"As long equally these cells are properly nourished, I don't see a life class similar this e'er dying of natural crumbling the way we do, and they'd be bloody hard to kill."

―Carson Beckett^[src]

Their optics glow in the dark assuasive them to see in such conditions.

The Wraith are characterized by a pale blue or calorie-free-dark-green epidermis, xanthous eyes, and white, blackness, or red pilus. As a species they have a social construction similar to that of ants or other hive/nest-based creatures, with distinct physiological differences between castes of Wraith, tailored to facilitate different functions within the order. They too possess powerful telepathic abilities. They have displayed in several episodes phenomenal physical strength, along with phenomenal physical agility. Their eyes can glow in darkness, giving them nighttime vision and thermal vision abilities. (SGA: "Rising", "Sateda", "Spoils of State of war")

Perception from the indicate of view of a Wraith.

The majority of Wraith so far observed are male. Adult female Wraith have been seen to make full the higher echelons of Wraith club as 'Queens'. Beneath the Queens are workers, soldiers and drones. The everyman echelons are distinctly unlike; they lack intelligence and are larger and much more muscular.

Wraith exhibit bipedal locomotion and have mostly humanoid characteristics. These characteristics include noticeable sexual dimorphism; female Wraith take protruding breasts while male Wraith exhibit noticeable facial pilus. While information technology is unknown how Wraith reproduce, it is likely that they procreate similarly to placental mammals, given their presumed origin and other sexual characteristics similar to those of humans. The "soldier" caste, presumably too male, exhibit noticeable muscular definition compared to the male person Wraith of the "leadership" caste. According to Michael Kenmore, the soldiers are unimaginative, and possess rigid idea patterns, comparison them to the soldiers of the Tau'ri, although information technology is unknown whether these drones are actually unintelligent or they are just trained to retrieve rigidly. Within each caste, all the same, males differ very lilliputian. (SGA: "Misbegotten")

The reproductive nature of the Wraith and their life wheel is not entirely understood. At that place do appear to be young female adolescent members of the race. Based on their advent, the Wraith appear to maintain a more human being advent until they accomplish their equivalent of puberty. However, it'southward not known whether this specimen was a normal member of the species or whether she would have metamorphosed into one of the female hierarchy. Furthermore, information technology'southward not known whether all immature Wraith start off in this class. The Queens do appear to make utilise of a method of fertilization similar to insects where they secrete genetic fabric which results in warrior Wraith being built-in in pod-like structures. It was believed that this process occurred on their Hive ships. It's unknown how the 2 reproductive processes relate to ane some other, but considering that the cloning facility where the second method was carried had long been fallow before it was discovered by the Atlantis expedition, the nigh likely explanation is that the Wraith are capable of breeding in a like way to humans and only rely on the pods when the situation requires them to produce a big army in a brusk amount of time. (SGA: "Instinct", "Spoils of War")

A newborn warrior emerges from his cocoon and has a mask fitted on him after being born from genetic material secreted by the Queen.

The Atlantis expedition knows niggling of Wraith physiology, but some facts have been learned. Though humanoid in appearance, the Wraith are genetically closer to the Iratus bug than humans. The Wraith possess none of the normal man inhibiting proteins, giving them a frighteningly efficient regenerative mechanism in their genetic makeup, allowing their bodies to heal themselves. Their regenerative abilities are and so powerful that, equally long every bit the cells are properly nourished, it is unlikely that the Wraith ever die from natural causes the way that humans do, and even dismembered body parts take the ability to move on their ain. This makes the Wraith incredibly resilient and able to survive weapon fire and the crushing depths of the ocean floor without whatever grade of mechanical assistance. (SGA: "Rising", "The Souvenir", "The Defiant One", "Submersion")

While the Wraith share many elements with the Iratus issues, there are aspects of their biology that are like to humans. They incorporate all the necessary organs within their bodies that are required to digest food, even though they receive no nourishment from food as adults. (SGA: "Condemned", "The Queen")

Feeding [ ]

"Our current feeding process gives the states strength, our ability to heal, our longevity."

―Kenny^[src]

Nourishment for the adult Wraith is the human "life force". Humans or very similar beings (due east.g., Ancients or other Wraith) are the simply food source that can properly nourish a Wraith. They are capable of cannibalism. It is also unknown whether or not the Wraith crave fluids (e.g., water), to facilitate other bodily functions. The verbal scientific discipline (if in that location is one) of the life-force drain is non described, although it is portrayed as a materialistic process. Information technology could be likened to sipping a drink through a straw. The Wraith can drain their victims slowly in order to torture and obtain information, or just to perform an act of sadism. As the victim is drained of life, the victim experiences hurting and appears to age quickly. This is not bodily concrete crumbling, but a by-product of the feeding process.

Although the Wraith possess teeth, they exercise not utilize them to puncture the epidermis of a man. Instead, they drain the life force through the use of a specialized organ found in the palm of their right hand. This is slammed into the chest of the homo, typically where the heart resides. The nails puncture the skin and the feeding organ begins to bleed the life force. During the feeding process, the victim is injected with a special enzyme, which strengthens the human body temporarily and ensures that the heart continues to shell. The feeding process is so traumatic, that without the special enzyme, the trunk of the human would shut down far sooner than the Wraith would like. Simply put, they make a victim stronger so they tin take more time to kill them. In most cases the enzyme is released slowly into the bloodstream throughout the feeding procedure. (SGA: "Rising", "The Siege, Part three")

Big doses of this enzyme have been known to increase the strength, speed and agility of regular humans. Lt. Aiden Ford became the outset of these 'supermen' when he received a large dose of the enzyme after the expiry of the Wraith feeding on him. The numerous drawbacks of the loftier dose include altered brain chemical science and addiction to the drug requiring addicts to actively search for and impale Wraith to obtain it. (SGA: "The Siege, Part three", "The Lost Boys")

The Wraith are known to employ the feeding machinery and the enzyme as a form of interrogation tool in order to educate humans. The process involves constantly taking the life of a person and returning it back to them making the human see how they would look as they age. The return of their life has a euphoric quality on the human. This was 1 of the methods through which the Wraith gained worshipers. The enzyme is a fundamental component of this process and the worshiper becomes addicted to the feeding. Being deprived of this results in a process similar to Wraith enzyme withdrawal and tin exist incredibly painful. This ensures that the worshipers remain loyal to the Wraith and are quite willing to beguile their ideals or former friends for the gift the Wraith give them. Due to the traumatic nature of the feeding cycle, the stronger the individual the more than indoctrinated they get as weak individuals die in the process. (SGA: "Reunion", "Broken Ties")

Despite the use of a special enzyme during the feeding process, the act of draining a life strength from a homo is extremely painful for the prey. For some, even a partial feeding can cause the person to simply die from the trauma they sustained. Information technology appears that there have been attempts by the Wraith at improving the efficiency of the feeding process. (SGA: "The Defiant I", "The Souvenir")

The Wraith cocoon their prey for later feeding

The Wraith tin can consume human food and drinks, but plainly it gives them no nourishment and is done strictly for pleasure. This is evidently considered to be a more sophisticated type of enjoyment, and not all Wraith exercise this, with most cited examples beingness those Wraith who have allied with humans for some reason. When the Wraith are young, still, they consume normal human being foods (which explains their possession of a fully functional digestive organisation, every bit such a part is useless in the adult Wraith due their method of feeding). Every bit the Wraith mature, they brainstorm to require feeding on the human "life forcefulness", whether or not they accept tasted information technology earlier. (SGA: "Condemned", "Instinct", "The Queen")

Wraith are also able to give back life. "The Gift of Life", as a Wraith referred to information technology, is typically reserved for devout worshipers and their "brothers". Lt. Colonel John Sheppard was returned to normal after being fed upon numerous times by a Wraith, and Dr. Rodney McKay commented on how he looked younger than he did earlier. This appears to be done afterward the Wraith has fed. Apparently, this can likewise revive the expressionless as the Wraith underling uses information technology to revive a dead Ronon Dex in order to question him. (SGA: "Common Footing", "Enemy at the Gate")

The ability to heal is obviously connected to how recently they take fed. If 1 has recently fed, they will heal almost instantly, though one who hasn't fed in some time is much weaker, only still quite potent. Fifty-fifty bullet holes quickly seal themselves like evaporating water. Females have a much stronger immune arrangement than males. The species also has advanced telepathic abilities: they can force their prey to see things that are non there, and can use their mental powers to forcefully interrogate humans, though they are incapable of actually reading a human mind, but rather read their intentions (e.thou. if they are bluffing). The Wraith also release a sticky, web-similar substance that they use to cocoon victims for hereafter feedings. (SGA: "Rise", "The Defiant One", "The Hive", "No Homo's State", "Submersion")

The ane form of defense against feeding was the Hoffan drug, which poisoned the Wraith by causing their internal organs to shut down simultaneously some time after the attempted feeding while also preventing the Wraith from taking whatsoever sustenance from the victim (SGA: "Poisoning the Well", "The Kindred, Part ane"), although some cultures such as Halcyon accept been shown to have adult armor that makes information technology hard for the Wraith to more immediately latch on to them.

In the distant past, a group of human villagers were abducted by a Wraith scientist who added Wraith DNA to their genetic structure in an try to brand them "tastier" for feeding. These experiments were conducted in secrecy from the remainder of the Wraith, who would otherwise disapprove of them. The scientist establish that the Wraith genes allowed the humans to access the Wraith telepathic network. He attempted to dilute this chapters by returning them to the village to interbreed, simply any amount of the Deoxyribonucleic acid gave them the ability. The scientist gave upwardly his experimentation, and the Wraith later destroyed the village, presumably in an try to impale the exam subjects. However, the descendants of these modified humans had lived on and are known as Wraithkin. They include Teyla Emmagan and Kanaan. (SGA: "The Souvenir", "The Kindred, Part i", "The Kindred, Part ii")

Telepathy [ ]

"Do not trust your eyes. The Wraith can brand you run across things that are non there."

―Teyla Emmagan^[src]

While the Wraith accept tongues and vocal cords, their primary means of communication is a telepathic network, allowing for communication over vast distances. (SGA: "The Souvenir")

It has been determined that the proper introduction of Wraith Deoxyribonucleic acid into man DNA, likely via factor splicing, permits humans the ability to admission the Wraith mental network, although the humans who do connect tin can exist summarily controlled past the Wraith, due to superior psychic abilities. Even a pocket-size corporeality of properly introduced DNA is enough to allow this telepathic ability to occur; it remained fifty-fifty after a number of generations of the genes being "watered down" past breeding with humans without this modification. After the initial 'infiltration' by Teyla Emmagan into the telepathic network, the Wraith began to segregate their advice network to preclude sensitive data from beingness received by their enemies, although this has been attributed to the Wraith Ceremonious War requiring them to work in private to sustain individual Hives. (SGA: "The Gift", "The Lost Boys")

A shadow projected past Wraith telepathy.

The Wraith are capable of projecting psychic projections making shadowy ghosts appear in a human's field of vision. This tactic is typically employed during cullings and battle in guild to confuse the enemy. They use the hallucinations to continue the people in one identify and then it makes them easier to cull. During this time they use a shadow/ghost to scare the people abroad from the forest. A trained mind is capable of ignoring this threat and instead focus on the Wraith. A Keeper'due south telepathy is fifty-fifty more enhanced, assuasive them to cause humans to kneel before them and implant suggestions in their mind. This makes for an fantabulous interrogation tool and a Keeper is capable of gathering data from a captured human with ease. This trait appears to be consistent among female person Wraith as the Hive Queens are as well capable of these abilities and are able to incapacitate humans who fall under their telepathic abilities. These telepathic abilities can even get a human to unwillingly work for a Wraith. A Queen was capable of using this ability to determine if in that location are any impostors within a hive, which ways only people with Wraith Deoxyribonucleic acid were capable of fooling a hive queen. (SGA: "Ascension", "The Hive", "Submersion", "The Queen")

Hive Queen incapacitating a human and forcing them to kneel before her.

The telepathy serves as a potent advice tool, with the Wraith being able to interact with ane another over bang-up distances. Notwithstanding, individually, they were unable to utilize this bridge between stars. Furthermore, groups of Wraith or fifty-fifty former Wraith are capable of combining their abilities assuasive them to summon their kind to rescue them making them a dangerous threat even when captured. However, this arrangement can be exploited and Wraith are able to keep their thoughts shielded from their own kind, preventing one of them from realizing the intentions of the hive. (SGA: "The Lost Boys", "Allies", "No Man's Land", "Baseborn")

Hive Queens possess some of the strongest telepathic abilities known, and are quite capable of disarming military personnel by causing them to driblet their weapons or incapacitating them. They were able to disarm an opponent in order to feed easier. This telepathy even allowed them to accept over the listen of a homo with Wraith Deoxyribonucleic acid who are then controlled like a puppet by the Queen. Similarly, two powerful telepaths with Wraith DNA are capable of taking command over a Queen, but this can be a dangerous process as the Hive Queen works to destroy the intruders' mental defenses. In addition, it appears that they are capable of destroying a sentient mind when given the opportunity and seemed capable of killing an unborn child within its female parent's womb through telepathy lone. Wraith Queens are capable of killing bottom Wraith and other Queens telepathically past mentally stopping their actual processes. (SGA: "The Hive", "Submersion", "Spoils of War", "Legacy")

Civilization [ ]

Little was known of Wraith culture itself except that it was focused upon culling the man populations of the milky way for feedings. Concepts such as dazzler and comradeship do appear to exist within the species however. One Wraith that had been captured by the Genii for an unspecified corporeality of fourth dimension alleged that his escape attempt was worth seeing the stars again. In addition to this, the same Wraith performed the Souvenir of Life on a homo which they only did and so to their most devout worshippers, and their "brothers". Despite being hated by a bulk of humans inside the Pegasus galaxy, the Wraith were known to exist served by Wraith worshippers who would exist immune to alive for their obedience. (SGA: "Common Basis")

Hibernation [ ]

"They hibernate betwixt cullings aboard their not bad ships, sometimes for centuries at a time."

―Sora Tyrus^[src]

The Wraith equally a collective species go through long hibernation cycles, lasting hundreds of years. Their massive Hive ships contain untold numbers of hibernation pods. During this fourth dimension only a pocket-size number of them move most, enough to keep their victim worlds on border. The sleeping masses are watched over by a minor grouping led by the Keeper, one Wraith designated with their care whose death would signal their premature awakening—as it did when she was killed by Major John Sheppard. (SGA: "Ascent", "Hole-and-corner")

Politics [ ]

"Well, for one, they seem to be territorial. Very much and then, it turns out. They're non a united foe like we once believed."

―Jace^[src]

To outsiders, the Wraith may seem like a united race that are determined to cull all humans in their path. Nevertheless, they are known to possess an extremely stiff territorial instinct. This makes inter-Hive cooperation rare and multiple Hives engaged in the culling of a planet can cause tensions to rise. They are extremely fierce in the defense of their ain territories and impale any trespassers that enter their feeding grounds. Politically, the Wraith appear to accept lacked any form of united government since the terminate of the war with the Lanteans. (SGA: "Rising", "The Lost Boys")

Later being awakened from their slumber by the arrival of the Atlantis expedition, the Wraith attempted to discover the location of Globe, which was a rich feeding ground that contained far more than humans than the worlds of the Pegasus milky way combined. The Wraith had grown increasingly desperate due to the lack of food as they had prematurely woken up from their hibernation. With too few humans to feed the waking Wraith, the species entered into their civil war with the strong attacking the weak. As such, it is uncommon for two Hive Queens to cooperate with one another. All the same, the rise of threats that might destroy the Wraith has led to rare moments of cooperation. Despite this, treachery is possible amongst a hive'due south ranks with some members willing to support a rival hive. (SGA: "Ascent", "The Gift", "The Siege, Part 1", "The Siege, Role 2", "The Siege, Function 3", "Allies", "Exist All My Sins Remember'd", "Spoils of War")

Social club [ ]

"Well-nigh Wraith seek to exist ruled. They fright being without a Queen."

―Todd^[src]

The Wraith are focused around a Hive-based society similar to some species of insects, but in spite their telepathy, they are not a collective mind. They are given names originating from the instinctive "feel" of their telepathic presence and their role in society; for instance, Todd's proper name among the Wraith is Guide, every bit is Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's.^[ane]

The leaders of a Hive typically consisted of female Hive Queens who are in command of a Hive ship. They are a vital component within their guild as without them, new soldiers cannot be bred. While this is the instance, there are cases where a male has held the dominance of ruler of the hive. Beneath this leadership cast lie the majority of the Wraith which consist of males. The first category consists of intelligent "commanders", who serve every bit lieutenants and scientists. Beneath them lies the masked warriors who perform most of the general duties such every bit defending the hive or participating in attacks or cullings. Some other caste nowadays within Wraith club of which little is known consists of a group known as Keepers. This caste was tasked with maintaining the organic technology of their race. (SGA: "Ascension", "Suspicion", "The Siege, Role ane", "The Siege, Part 2", "The Siege, Role 3", "The Hive", "Allies", "Sateda", "Be All My Sins Recollect'd", "Broken Ties")

"No retreat in the face of battle. No sympathy for the fallen. No mercy for our enemies."

―Wraith Commander^[src]

Perhaps equally a result of their Hive based lodge, the Wraith appear to show little regard to their ain lives with the male warriors too as commanders perfectly willing to brand use of self-destruct mechanisms to impale themselves if facing capture. Wraith Dart pilots take fifty-fifty demonstrated the willingness to appoint in suicide plunges if their carrier vessels have been destroyed. Furthermore, they are quite willing to die as long as their enemies die with them. Nevertheless, if in that location is a potential threat or resource of their hive that might be lost in such a maneuver, then the individual Wraith are willing to prevent deportment that might destroy it. There are a rare few that seem willing to deal for their own lives. The Wraith also seem to exhibit a form of racial purity and seem to distance or fifty-fifty exist hostile towards those members of their kind that have been turned into humans. They are noted to be capable of sensing the humanity in these Wraith. In addition to these qualities, the Wraith have shown several ruthless traits such as non showing sympathy for the fallen and not giving mercy to their enemies. They likewise seem to state that there should not be any retreat in a boxing. There are times when they do seem to retreat, merely usually when at that place have been a keen deal of loss suffered. (SGA: "Suspicion", "The Siege, Part ane", "The Siege, Part ii", "The Siege, Function 3", "No Man'south Land", "Vengeance", "Travelers", "Broken Ties")

One practice that demonstrates that harsh nature of Wraith society is the fact that they are able and willing to engage in cannibalism in times of starvation. Hive Queens accept been known to threaten their lieutenants with feeding on them if they did not accomplish the tasks set to them. The Queens take too shown no hesitation on feeding on a member of their kind that was formerly a Wraith and had been turned into a human. In battle, commanders have been documented to feed upon dying or injured Wraith warriors to continue fighting, fifty-fifty for mere seconds. (SGA: "The Defiant One", "Allies", "Spoils of War")

Closely linked to the Wraith and their civilisation are the Wraith worshippers, who live amongst their masters, or serving as their eyes and ears among human cultures. These followers are known to worship the Wraith and are devoted to them. Some of them are actually broken through Wraith interrogation techniques and become addicted to the feeding process. Excepting these followers, there are no other humans that work among the Wraith as they are considered food. There are a rare few humans who are not fed on and instead outfitted with tracking devices thus turning them into "runners", which serve as sport for the Wraith, and are despised by the humans of the Pegasus milky way. The Wraith themselves accept shown cloy towards the Asurans, who they consider abominations for not being alive and thus immune to the Wraith feeding procedure. (SGA: "Rising", "Suspicion", "Runner", "The Hive", "Reunion", "Broken Ties", "Tracker")

Different humans and other species, the Wraith tin can be described every bit an most nomadic civilisation which are based on their massive Hive ships and vessels which travel space in club to cull inhabitants for feeding. Typically, the security of these vessels were minimal as the Wraith are unaccustomed for intruders reaching their great ships, being the but major infinite flight capable race for ten g years. While this may exist the case, the Wraith are known to make utilize of planetary based installations for research and to serve as strongholds, although these almost ever have Stargates in space preventing access without a ship. (SGA: "Underground", "The Siege, Part 2", "Reunion", "The Kindred, Part 1", "The Kindred, Office 2", "Cleaved Ties")

Within their culture, showing hesitation or anticipation every bit well as other such qualities was a weakness in the Wraith's eyes and treated harshly. They worked through instinct, and power struggles were brutal with assassinations of queens by other queens who usurped ability to become dominant. This was only nowadays with the queens themselves equally a male who accomplished the task was typically killed. This was because the hive who had their queen slain would be terrified of continuing to live without a ruler which meant that they were often quick to take a hive queen in ability. (SGA: "The Queen")

Information technology was noted that Wraith were very good at playing games, and were intelligent enough to overcome the applied science barrier and conform the previously incompatible technology of other races for apply with their own systems. (SGA: "Vegas", "Enemy at the Gate")

Despite possessing telepathy, the Wraith do have language which appears to be a derivative of the Ancients. (SGA: "The Gift")

It should exist noted that the wraith could have genetic retentivity considering that an unusual amount of Wraith tin can recall the war with the Ancients fifty-fifty though the state of war was over 10,000 years ago, and merely three Wraith have been confirmed to have lived that long.

As a result of the Atlantis expedition's presence in the Pegasus Galaxy, both straight and indirectly, a number of variant subspecies of Wraith have developed who are viewed with hostility by the Wraith. These include the Human-grade Wraith, the Problems People, Michael's experiments and, most notably, the Hybrids. (SGA: "Vengeance", "The Kindred, Function 2", "Whispers")

The novel race Lilin are too related to the Wraith every bit are the alternating reality species known as the Eidolon.

Technology [ ]

Main article: Wraith technology

The technology used past the Wraith, while avant-garde compared to the majority of civilizations in both the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies, is far inferior to the technologies of the Lanteans, Asurans, Asgard, and Ori.

Wraith engineering science is unique in that near of information technology has an organic base to it. The Wraith are one of the few races that lack shield technology. This is possibly because Lantean weapons technology tin can tear through all but the most avant-garde shields with minimal endeavour, then they would accept been a waste of time and free energy. Something which has however to be covered is what, exactly, powers Wraith vessels; moving a Hive ship and powering its massive weapon banks must consume vast amounts of power. Yet, it is known that any powers them is nowhere equally efficient as Lantean ability sources. Wraith technology is rarely able to attain its full potential due this inefficient power generation, which was demonstrated when a Hive ship was equipped with at least one Lantean Zero Point Module, making information technology all but invincible, possessing far improved structural integrity, hull density and weapons capabilities. This transport was incredibly powerful, able to all-time even a fully powered Atlantis in battle, and it took a nuclear weapon existence detonated on the inside of the send to destroy it. equally information technology was as well powerful for weapons burn down, even Ancient drones, to take out. (SGA: "Enemy at the Gate")

There is also an unknown weakness in all Wraith technology, perchance the higher up-mentioned power issue, which the Lanteans believed would allow them to plow the tide of the state of war to their favor again if exploited correctly. (SGA: "Aurora")

Worlds nether Wraith command [ ]

Wraith homeworld
Wraith cloning facility planet
M3T-842
PX5-442

Alternate timelines [ ]

In an alternate timeline, Atlantis rose to the surface on its own when its ability ran down, at which point it was retrieved past the Wraith. Using a worshipper with the Ancient cistron to airplane pilot it, the Wraith traveled to the Galaxy milky way, infusing Atlantis with genetic cloth from a hive-ship to increase their own ability to command information technology, only subsequently abased it on Earth while they battled the Goa'uld. The naquadah in the blood of electric current or sometime Goa'uld hosts proved toxic to Wraith, with attempts to feed on these proving impossible at best or unsafe to the Wraith at worst. The Goa'uld Hecate attempted to create a Wraith/Goa'uld hybrid, but this activity created division amidst the Wraith, with the end result of the Wraith Queen Earthborn allying with SG-one- who had been sent into the futurity after Hecate diverted an active wormhole around the elliptical edge of a black hole- to reactivate Atlantis and employ it to accept the Wraith dorsum to Pegasus, later Hecate herself was destroyed in battle with the various competing Wraith factions (Stargate SG-ane: Apocalypse).
In some other alternate timeline, Atlantis had no failsafe mechanism and all Zippo Signal Modules ran simultaneously so the city sank when it was flooded. Consequently, almost the entire Atlantis trek was killed soon subsequently their inflow in the Pegasus galaxy and the Wraith did not awake from their hibernation in 2004. (SGA: "Before I Sleep")
In another alternate timeline, the former Wraith known as Michael Kenmore created an army of one-half-Wraith, one-half-humans known as the Hybrids in an try to readapt the Wraith as the ascendant species of the galaxy. During the Wraith civil state of war, when they were at their weakest, Michael and his forces attacked the Wraith, succeeding in defeating them completely. Presumably, Michael and his hybrids then took consummate command of the milky way. (SGA: "The Last Man")

Alternate realities [ ]

In an alternate reality to which Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter was accidentally transported in 2007, Atlantis was never discovered by the Tau'ri. Consequently, the Wraith did not awake from their hibernation in 2004. (SG1: "The Road Not Taken")
In some other alternate reality, the Wraith somehow learned the location of Earth and sent a Hive ship there. A battle ensued in which the Hive send was destroyed by the Ancient Control chair on World, only one Wraith survived and crash-landed on Earth. He became a serial killer, feeding off humans in the Las Vegas surface area while building a transmitter to ship a manual with the location of Earth to the balance of the Wraith in Pegasus. He got money past playing card games (using his telepathy to win) and bought a truck, trailer and guns, among other things. His actions drew the attention of John Sheppard (a Las Vegas detective in that reality) who ended upwardly approached by that world's version of Richard Woolsey and Dr. Rodney McKay. There he met Todd, a delusional prisoner at Area 51 and figured out where the Wraith was. Thanks to Sheppard's efforts, the Wraith was stopped and killed, only not earlier he sent off a transmission detailing the location of Earth and its defenses. It never reached the Pegasus Galaxy, but got sent through to other realities, leading to the Battle of the Super-hive in the main reality. (SGA: "Vegas")

References [ ]

↑ http://jo-graham.livejournal.com/68260.html

Behind the scenes [ ]

It is speculated in Stargate Atlantis: Legacy: Secrets that the Wraith were instead of a deliberate genetic mutation past the Ancients in order to help the people in the Pegasus Galaxy gain a type of resistance confronting the Iratus bug. The clone of Carson Beckett concluded that the Wraith would accept needed millions of years in order to gain a human class instead of mere thousands.
Although they were the primary antagonist of Stargate: Atlantis for all v seasons, they only made one appearance in Stargate SG-1, specifically in the Season 10 episode "The Pegasus Project".
The Wraith's setting of hive, queen and power to hear each other thoughts is similar to the setting of the Borg in Star Trek.

External links [ ]

GateWorld's article on Wraith in The Stargate Omnipedia
Wraith on Wikipedia

hollowayfige1978.blogspot.com

Source: https://stargate.fandom.com/wiki/Wraith