History Franchise / StargateVerse

** The Stargate physics themselves also borrow from an element of real-world wormhole theory. The stable wormholes formed by the Gates are only really large enough for atoms/subatomic particles, as predicted by some interpretations of general relativity; the Gate acts more like a combination Franchise/StarTrek transporter-wormhole. The transporter part dematerializes whatever goes through the Gate, and the resulting stream of atoms is what actually goes through the event horizon to the other Gate. This features in multiple episodes, between how a giant metal iris can stop most every weapon sent through a Gate, including ''nukes''[[explanation: the iris is barely a few microns above the event horizon, which prevents matter from being reconstructed, although nuclear blasts get absorbed by the Gate and lead to an building shake now and again]] to a character being saved from a gate malfunction by being stored in the Gate's buffer.

** The Stargate physics themselves also borrow from an element of real-world wormhole theory. The stable wormholes formed by the Gates are only really large enough for atoms/subatomic particles, as predicted by some interpretations of general relativity; the Gate acts more like a combination [[Franchise/StarTrek]] transporter-wormhole. The transporter part dematerializes whatever goes through the Gate, and the resulting stream of atoms is what actually goes through the event horizon to the other Gate. This features in multiple episodes, between how a giant metal iris can stop most every weapon sent through a Gate, including ''nukes''[[explanation: the iris is barely a few microns above the event horizon, which prevents matter from being reconstructed, although nuclear blasts get absorbed by the Gate and lead to an building shake now and again]] to a character being saved from a gate malfunction by being stored in the Gate's buffer.

* MinovskyPhysics: The stargates' "wormhole physics" are pretty consistent. Matter only goes one way (from dialing gate to receiving gate), but energy and gravity can go both ways. A gate can only stay open for 38 minutes (give or take a few seconds), barring extreme energy or TimeDilation effects on one end. Any matter that is caught in the [[FanNickname "kawoosh"]] when the gate opens (or tries to travel from receiving gate to dialing gate) is disintegrated. Dialing six chevrons and the point of origin gets you to another gate in your galaxy. Dialing seven chevrons and the point of origin dials a gate to another galaxy ("dialing another area code" is the analogy). Dialing all nine chevrons targets a specific gate by its "serial number", for lack of a better term, instead of its location in space. Sending a wormhole past or through a star is a Very Bad Idea: it may cause problems for the star (e.g. retarding fusion), or if it happens during a solar flare, may cause the wormhole to [[TimeTravel travel through time]] as well as space.

Many millions of years ago, aliens that looked exactly like humans evolved elsewhere in the universe, advanced to a stunning level, filled the galaxy with really nifty ImportedAlienPhlebotinum (not the least of which were the titular [[CoolGate Stargates]]), and created the human race before [[EnergyBeings buggering off to a higher plane of existence]]. Some time later, a race of parasitic aliens called the Goa'uld invaded Earth, built pyramids, inspired the various mythological gods, and created a human diaspora in order to serve them as slaves on other worlds, resulting in large populations of ''Homo sapiens'' throughout the galaxy.

Despite being one of the newer Sci-fi franchises (compared to, y'know, the [[Franchise/StarWars other]] [[Franchise/StarTrek franchises]] that start with "Star") The Stargate verse is the third longest science fiction franchise in terms of hours. No single ''Trek'' series has more episodes than ''Series/StargateSG1''. It's a ''long'' way from either ''Series/DoctorWho'' or ''Franchise/StarTrek'', but those have been around since TheSixties, whereas the ''Film/{{Stargate}}'' movie was released in 1994.

* ''Series/StargateOrigins'', a {{Prequel}} series following Catherine Langford, daughter of the archaeologist who discovered the original Stargate.
* ''VideoGame/StargateWorlds'', a now-{{vaporware}} MMORPG seen briefly in the ''SGU'' pilot.[[/index]]

* ThereAreNoGlobalConsequences: The Stargate program remains secret and all it's fruits remain unavailable to the general public throughout the series. Some alternate timelines and universes avert this, usually with disastrous consequences.

* {{Subculture}} (military)

Type 2: The Goa'uld, the Tok'ra, the Jaffa, Hybrids, Teyla.
Type 3: The Wraith, the Tollan, the Priors, Adria, Khalek.
Type 4: The Replicators, The Asurans, The Asgardnote They may qualify as type 3, but during most of the series their forces and resources are constantly tied up fighting back just about everyone else and manage to give the Replicators, the Goa'uld system lords, the Wraith and the Ori a run for their money, sometimes several at once, earning them a Type 4 rating.
Type 5: The Ancients, The Ori, Anubis, Adria after ascending.
Type 6: Unknown Precursors

** Type 0: Scientists, Villagers
** Type 1: SG-1, SG-3, most series regulars
** Type 2: The Goa'uld, the Tok'ra
** Type 3: The Wraith, The Tollan
** Type 4: The Replicators
** Type 5: The Ancients, The Ori, Anubis

* NoSuchAgency: The SGC officially doesn't exist, though it was supposed to be revealed in the movie ''Revolution'' due partly to the number of people involved in the project making keeping the secret increasingly unwieldy. The failure of ''Series/StargateUniverse'' and {{MGM}}'s bankruptcy derailed the plan.

Another relatively unusual feature of the Verse is the scarcity of aliens: aliens do indeed exist, and the universe is teeming with life, but the entire population of the universe seems to consist of no more than two dozen or so distinct races:

* Humans, who -- thanks to the diaspora -- live everywhere in the Milky Way Galaxy. Those from Earth specifically are called the [[HumansByAnyOtherName Tau'ri]]. Humans also inhabit the Pegasus Galaxy and the unnamed galaxy of the Ori due to being "seeded" through genetic engineering by the Ancients and Ori.
* Goa'uld, a race of [[StarfishAliens snakelike parasites]] who, until recently, ran most of the galaxy by pretending to be [[AGodAmI gods]]. Goa'uld require an individual of another species to host them in order to survive, and most Goa'uld take full control over their host. They steal technology, filling their "parasite" role in multiple ways. Most prominent is their sarcophagus technology, which they can use to heal themselves (or to bring their corpses [[BackFromTheDead back to life]]). Unfortunately, this rejuvenation process is part of what makes them so evil (as revealed when Daniel becomes addicted to using a sarcophagus... and his personality mirrors that of a Goa'uld).
** Some Goa'uld, however, decided that this system of [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch involuntary symbiosis was evil]]. They call themselves Tok'ra, which means "Against Ra" (who was the Goa'uld emperor [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil at the time]]). Tok'ra live in voluntary symbiosis with their humanoid hosts. [[NotSoDifferent Usually]]. Also, they don't use the sarcophagus technology, believing it to be unnatural to prolong ones life in such a manner and that it damages the soul, hence why the Goa'uld are so evil. They do '''[[BerserkButton not]]''' take being called [[DoNotCallMePaul Goa'uld]] very well.
* Jaffa, a human-descended race genetically modified by the Goa'uld to serve as their [[SlaveRace soldiers]] and as [[BodyHorror organic life support systems]] for juvenile Goa'uld. After the fall of the Goa'uld, the Jaffa attempt to form a democratic, egalitarian society despite the fact that their history consists entirely of killing one another over their masters' territorial disputes. It turns out to be about as difficult as you'd imagine.
* Nox, an ancient and super-advanced race of peaceful tree-huggers who keep to themselves and live in seclusion, aided by the ability to render themselves and others invisible. It is likely that many of Earth's various legends of "The Little People" or "TheFairFolk" are actually about the Nox. They maintain an ActualPacifist stance, refusing to defend themselves when threatened, (mostly because death is a minor inconvenience when you can resurrect the dead), although when pushed, they are perfectly capable of whisking away enemies back through the Stargate ''without'' their weapons. They were one of the [[TheAlliance Four Races]], most likely TheHeart of the group.
* Asgard, an ancient and super-advanced race with the classic "gray alien" appearance, who inspired the Norse gods, and occasionally bail our sorry backsides out when we get in over our heads, now supposedly extinct, (although ''Atlantis'' revealed that more ruthless offshoot called the Vanir live in Pegasus). Unlike most such advanced species the Asgard have proved to be friendly, helpful, (as much as they can), and all things considered actually decent and polite as well, capable of acknowledging humanity's flaws compared to themselves, (and acknowledging where humanity can help them), without coming across as condescending and [[CantArgueWithElves smugly superior]]. A member of the [[TheAlliance Four Races]], acting as TheLancer to the Ancients.
* The Ancients, an [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin ancient]] and super-advanced race who built the Stargates and Atlantis, then most died from a plague and others evolved into EnergyBeings. Their society shakes down, so far as we know, into the "Alterans", the original parent race which built the gates, the "Lanteans", who moved to the Pegasus galaxy and did more or less the same thing, and the "Ori", their evil cousins, and final ''SG-1'' BigBad. Though we evolved separately, humans and ancients are more or less [[HumanAliens the same biological species]], and most of the population of the Pegasus galaxy evolved similarly. They are also [[NeglectfulPrecursors non-interfering]] to the extreme, to the point of seeming like total [[JerkAss jerks]]. TheLeader of the [[TheAlliance Four Races]].
* Furlings, an ancient and super-advanced race and member of the [[TheAlliance Four Races]], who have, as yet, not bothered to actually [[TheUnseen show up]]. (A [[LampshadeHanging lampshade is hung]] in the episode "Citizen Joe", wherein one of Joe's readers is annoyed that he keeps mentioning them even though they never actually appear.) Although this may be because they are dead, since SG-1 did find a Furling colony once where they had created a paradise and lived in harmony with nature, until some plant that caused paranoia was introduced. The skeletons looked like short humans, although since they invited everyone to come join them, those skeletons might really have been human. Parodied, like many other things, in the ''SG-1'' episode "200", where the Furlings finally appear... and their first on-screen action is having their planet blown up. It was just an ImagineSpot, though.
* Unas, [[LizardFolk big, scary, humanoid and reptilian creatures]], who were the common hosts of the Goa'uld before they encountered humans and subsequently abandoned as hosts, since while being stronger and more durable, humans regenerate more readily and have nimbler hands for tool use. They are believed to have evolved on the same planet as the Goa'uld, where they maintain a Stone Age tribal culture and level of technology.
* The Wraith, evil, powerful vampiric creatures. The result of unfortunate genetic crossover between humans and a really nasty life-sucking bug. All but defeated the Ancients in the Pegasus Galaxy.
* The Replicators, self-replicating Lego bugs (who later evolve into "liquid metal" human-form androids) whose ultimate goal is to consume all other civilizations in the universe, which makes them a major threat to pretty much all of the above. A different kind of Replicators, the human-form Asurans, who were made by the [[NeglectfulPrecursors Ancients]], inhabit the Pegasus galaxy and are pretty much as hostile as the Milky Way Lego bugs. The Replicators in the Milky Way were created by an android named Reese, whose "father" was likely also an Ancient, and learned to produce human-forms after studying her dead body.
* The Reetou are invisible creatures that seem to fill the role of "token insectoid life". As could be expected, they were attacked by the Goa'uld, who apparently developed (read: probably stole) a weapon that not only kills them, it also makes them visible. Most notable for genetically engineering a human being to act as a go-between when they decided to warn Earth about the Reetou Rebels, a group of Reetou who decided that they'd stop the Goa'uld by killing every life form in the galaxy that could possibly be used as a host. Unfortunately, the genetically engineered kid suffers from multiple congenital defects, and has to become a host for a Tok'ra in order to survive.
* One minor race, the Serrakin, who appeared in just two episodes (''SG-1'' season 6's "The Forsaken" and season 7's "Space Race"). They are a vaguely lizard-like humanoid race who live in harmony (and [[HalfHumanHybrid interbreed]]) with a Celtic-descended human culture, whom they liberated from the Goa'uld millenia ago. In the present day, they have a highly industrialized and corporate-dominated society, with advanced technology and interstellar travel. It is unknown exactly how widespread they are, but they have clearly managed to avoid attracting sufficient attention for any Goa'uld system lords to attempt to reconquer them. Since they are humanoid aside from their skin, facial features and corrugated forehead, they count as RubberForeheadAliens.
* Another minor race is the Re'ol, who were seen for but a few moments in a single episode. They can generate a chemical which, when injected into humans, causes them to see the Re'ol as a human being, or whatever the Re'ol wants to be seen as. The single Re'ol to appear onscreen used this to get SG-1 to help it escape the Goa'uld, since it was afraid to ask. When it is seen, it looks like a skeleton with leathery gray skin stretched over it, more or less.
* The Unity, a race of crystalline energy beings who only appeared in one episode.
* The A't'trr, a HiveMind race of microbes who only appeared in one episode.
* The otherwise unnamed (in the episode at least) "GIANT ALIENS!" from the SG-1 episode "Crystal Skull." Not to be confused with the [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull Indiana Jones movie of the same name]]. Almost nothing is known about the "GIANT ALIENS!" except that they are enemies of the Go'auld and live out of phase with the rest of the universe. Note: "GIANT ALIENS!" must be said with a Dutch accent for proper effect. Apparently, they're officially called the [[AllThereInTheManual Omeyocan]], but not only does that not show up in the one episode they appear in, saying "GIANT ALIENS!" is far more amusing and descriptive.
* Then there's the unnamed "foothold aliens," a mildly humanoid, technologically advanced race that briefly conquered Stargate Command using devices that let each of them take on the appearance of a captured human individual. They were only seen in one episode, but their captured devices were used again later. It's not clear what these guys actually look like, as they seem to constantly wear armour or environment suits... unless ''that's'' just their normal appearance. For the record, the RPG calls them the Stragoth.
* [[AllThereInTheManual Oannes]], aquatic humanoids who had visited Earth during Babylonian times appeared in one episode.
* Another unnamed race of gill-faced humanoids possessed of shapeshifting and teleportation powers appeared as protectors to a dislocated tribe of Native Americans in one episode.
* The Oranians are another type of [[PeopleInRubberSuits Aliens in Rubber Suits]], who are also vaguely reptilian. The species is primarily represented by the unscrupulous businessmen Jup and Tanat. If they are any indication, Oranians seem to be fairly hapless and stupid. When Tenat [[spoiler:finds out that he has been tricked into firing on his commanding officer and is about to die,]] he delivers the hilarious [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Kirkesque]] line [[SkywardScream "Damn you Cam Mitchelllll!"]]
* The sulphur based some what reptilian looking Gadmeer who make their appearance in season four's Scorched Earth. A milky way native, they were wiped out by a superior military power who may or may not be the Goa'uld. They created a large terraforming ship to recreate their society.
* The silicon based Sekkari, who look somewhat like a cross between a skeleton and an anatomy model. Some tens of thousands of years prior, they realized they were going extinct, and spent the rest of their days creating over fifty seed carriers that would restart their evolution on new worlds in the Pegasus galaxy. The Atlantis personnel encountered the only still functioning device.
* The Nakai, who are hunting after the protagonists of ''Universe.'' They are vaguely humanoid, but with catfish-like faces, and [[PowerGlows glow neon-blue.]] They possess advanced starship technology and even devices that allow them to communicate with humans telepathically, although understand English well enough to issue the demand to [[AlwaysChaoticEvil "Surrender"]] and taunt ''Destiny'' with "[[{{Determinator}} No Escape]]", after crossing into another ''Galaxy'' in pursuit of them. They appear to communicate to ''each other'' in the form of [[StarfishLanguage clicks and grunts.]]
* Ursini, about 1.2m (4') tall vaguely humanoid (seems like a recurring theme with advanced ''Stargate Universe'' aliens) brown-skinned insect-like aliens with whom the crew of ''Destiny'' have first encountered on a derelict stargate-seeding ship. They also possess advanced spaceships, stun guns and other pieces of advanced technology. Their language is as for now incomprehensible, though it remains to be seen whether they will learn English from [[spoiler:Telford]] or not. They aren't particularly hostile, but the first contact didn't end on good terms due to difficulties communicating. They are probably waging a war with something else. As of "Deliverance," They're [[spoiler:apparently extinct.]]
* Berserker Drones, a type of mechanical drones that were created a long time ago for a war, with the unfortunately vague directions to "[[LiteralGenie Destroy all advanced technology.]]" This naturally backfired when their creators ''own'' [[TechnologyMarchesOn technology advanced]], causing the Drones to turn on them and wipe them out. Since then, their creations have been terrorising their local galaxy, driving races like the Ursini to the point of extinction. Most of the final episodes of ''SGU'' deal with ''Destiny's'' desperate attempts to avoid them.

* Some Creator/BigFinish audio plays.

Really, the defining element of the Stargate verse is the Stargates: a PortalNetwork allowing instantaneous travel between the various worlds. Upon finding Earth's long-lost Stargate, the [[YanksWithTanks US Military]] promptly went out into the universe, and, mostly through pluck and determination, set out to completely rewrite the status quo, despite the fact that the rest of the galaxy is a lot more advanced.

** ''Stargate: Film/TheArkOfTruth'', direct-to-DVD sequel to ''SG-1'' concluding the Ori [[StoryArc arc]].

* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', SpinOff of ''SG-1'' taking place in... yes, [[{{Atlantis}} exactly there]]. Begins chronologically after season 7 of ''SG-1''.

* YouLookFamiliar: A few actors who played minor characters in the film would later turn up in the SpinOff series. Richard Kind (Dr. Myers) would later go on to play Lucius in ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', while French Stewart (Ferretti) would later appear in ''Series/StargateUniverse'' as Dr. Covel.

* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Three of the later-built ''Daedalus''-class battlecruisers. The Russian Air Force-crewed ''Korolev'' is named for Soviet-era rocket scientist [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Korolyov Sergey Korolyov]], while the Chinese-crewed ''Sun Tzu'' is named for [[SunTzu pretty much whom you'd expect]]. The fourth American-crewed 304 is named after Lt. Gen. George S. Hammond, the SGC's founding general, who is FamedInStory.

** ''Made of Diamond'': The Kull Warriors can walk away from anything up to a point-blank explosion. Only two things can reliably kill them: a weapon the SGC built using the technology the Kull were originally created with, and overexertion that strains their bodies beyond the point where their Goa'uld symbiote can keep them alive.

* MedievalStasis: Most of the {{Transplanted Human|s}} civilations encountered in the series haven't advanced much, if at all since they were first seeded on that world, despite the fact that many have been left to their own devices by whoever seeded them for centuries or even millennia. However this varies: at least three planets in the Milky Way have technological parity with mainstream Earth society[[note]]The Langarans are in the late '40s/early '50s, the Tegalans were probably 1970s until they self-destructed in "Ethon," and the planet visited in "Bad Guys" are probably mid-90s.[[/note]] and a few more are actually ahead of us (the big one being the Tollans, who were FTL-capable and had weapons tech superior to the Goa'uld).
** Justified because so many of these humans are living under Goa'uld, Wraith or Ori oppression - and the fact that even in those human communities that aren't under their thumb, these races tend to wipe out or enslave any civilization whose technological advancement might allow them to become a threat. The humans the SG teams encounter are those that are left after that process. Even so, certain planets slip under their radar, as you described (plus, of course, Earth itself).

** ''Made of Diamond'': The Kull Warriors can walk away from anything up to a point-blank explosion. Only an Ancient energy weapon has been effective in stopping them.
** ''Made of air'': The Black Knights.

** The Ancients are the kings of the NeglectfulPrecursors trope, so much so that they've got their own folder on the trope page. They constantly left {{Pointless Doomsday Device}}s and other tech lying around, and their AlienNonInterferenceClause was such that they wouldn't intervene in the lower planes even to save their own asses. Basically, the conflicts of the first eight seasons of ''SG-1'' and all five seasons of ''Atlantis'' are their fault (the Goa'uld learned all their tricks from the Ancients and the Wraith were accidentally ''created'' by them).

Despite being one of the newer Sci-fi franchises (compared to, y'know, the [[Franchise/StarWars other]] [[Franchise/StarTrek franchises]] that start with "Star") The Stargate verse is the third longest science fiction franchise in terms of hours. No single ''Trek'' series has more episodes than ''Series/StargateSG1''. It's a ''long'' way from either ''Series/DoctorWho'' or ''Franchise/StarTrek'', but those have been around since TheSixties, whereas the ''Film/{{Stargate}}'' movie was released in 1994. It's probably not going to be getting any longer, at least not for the foreseeable future - all remaining planned productions have either been officially cancelled or are stuck in DevelopmentHell, and all the sets, props, and costumes used in the shows have been auctioned off, including the Stargate prop itself. As of 2015 The Stargate franchise is effectively dead for the foreseeable future, after a long and prolific life.

Fortunately, we're really good at it. So, as of 2010, while to most of the people on Earth, it does not seem like anything interesting is going on, we actually have offworld colonies, two expeditions to distant galaxies, and ''five'' (intact) intergalactic starships (''Daedalus,'' ''Apollo,'' ''Odyssey,'' ''George Hammond,'' and ''Sun-Tzu''; two older intergalactic starships, ''Prometheus'' and ''Korolev'', have been destroyed).

Despite being one of the newer Sci-fi franchises (compared to, y'know, the [[Franchise/StarWars other]] [[Franchise/StarTrek franchises]] that start with "Star") The Stargate verse is the third longest science fiction franchise in terms of hours. No single ''Trek'' series has more episodes than ''Series/StargateSG1''. It's a ''long'' way from either ''Series/DoctorWho'' or ''Franchise/StarTrek'', but those have been around since TheSixties, whereas the ''Film/{{Stargate}}'' movie was released in 1994. It's probably not going to be getting any longer, at least not for the foreseeable future - all remaining planned productions have either been officially cancelled or are stuck in DevelopmentHell, and all the sets, props, and costumes used in the shows have been auctioned off, including the Stargate prop itself. The Stargate franchise is effectively dead, after a long and prolific life.