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    Colonel Everett Young 

Colonel Everett Young

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c91874ae_9670_4ec9_8ddd_40af6a16267e.jpeg
"Make no mistake, my first priority is to make sure that we all return to those we love."
Played By: Louis Ferreira
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

Military commander of the Icarus base, now in command of Destiny.


  • Anti-Hero: Increasingly this since "Justice". Type III.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: He's a very patient and forebearing man, but when he's finally pushed too far, he snaps. This includes giving Telford a beatdown for trying to ruin his marriage behind his back and pinning Spencer against a wall when he finally gets tired of putting up with the guy's cowardly, subversive behavior. He puts up with a lot of Rush's manipulations, but when Rush frames him for murder and nearly causes him to lose command of Destiny, (getting Doctor Franklin hurt in the process) Young decides he's had enough, beats the ever loving shit out of him, and leaves him to die on a barren world. Afterwards, he is incredibly cold to Wray, who was very quick to throw him to the wolves.
  • Character Catchphrase: "Lotta work."
  • Colonel Badass: After he recovers from his injuries sustained in the pilot.
  • Deconstructed Character Archetype: Like Jack O'Neill in the movie, Young is depressed/suicidal and struggling with personal problems. Unlike movie O'Neill, these things actually impact his ability to do his job.
    • Normally, when a military officer takes over a scientific expedition in any sort in fiction, they are set up to be the villain, becoming despotic, murderous, and perhaps even outright insane. But here, it is repeatedly displayed that Everett is a Reasonable Authority Figure and is the most qualified person to be in charge, (not to mention the fact that the entire expedition was military to begin with, making him more or less entirely within his rights to take command) and that it is the civilians, particularly Wray and Rush, who are being unreasonable and letting fear get the better of them.
  • Descent into Addiction: His decision to turn away from alcohol as an increasing crutch lampshaded in 'Trial and Error.' After which he starts to recover.
  • Dysfunction Junction: Young is trying to repair his marriage (redefining the term "long-distance relationship" in the process) while being stuck on Destiny with T.J., whom he had an affair with (and unknowingly knocked up).
  • Establishing Character Moment: When Rush and Eli's attempt to dial the stargate on Icarus once again ends in failure, Young orders the gate to be powered down. When Rush starts to complain about this, Young glares at him and tells him that the safety of the base's personnel is his number one concern. This displays the differences in outlook between the two men, setting the stage for their later conflicts.
  • Everyone Has Standards: He's disgusted when Wray tries to convince him to rig the lifeboat lottery, as he (correctly) realizes her motive is to save her own life, (keep in mind, Everett had taken himself out of the lottery entirely) and he seriously even considers removing her name from contention entirely. Although when she practically cries and begs him not to, he sees how scared she really is deep down and doesn't do it.
  • Experienced Protagonist: A former STG leader and a full-bird colonel in the United States Air Force. It's safe to say he's probably seen a thing or two in his time.
  • A Father to His Men: Which really hits him hard in "Aftermath" as having to lose Riley to something he can't get angry over leaves him pretty torn up.
  • Good Is Not Dumb: He's not a genius scientist like Rush or even Eli, but he's certainly up there in terms of intellect.
  • Good Is Not Soft: Pretty much everyone accuses him of being a pushover early on. He becomes much more violent later, and possibly does so specifically in order to dispel other characters' belief that he is weak.
  • The Hero: A flawed but ultimately decent man with plenty of admirable qualities who takes up the burden of making sure those under his command can one day return to Earth with quiet resolve.
  • Hidden Depths: Everyone assumes he's kind of a washout, but it turns out he was General O'Neill's first pick to head up the Icarus Project, only for him to turn it down. He's able to keep up with Rush's manipulations and keep the man in his place.
  • The Kirk
  • Nice Guy: He is a genuinely compassionate man who just wants to get the people he's leading back to their loved ones.
  • The Quiet One - with a touch of Deadpan Snarker on occasion.
  • Odd Friendship: With Telford, surprisingly. They start out the series hating each other's guts, but Young notes that he was never like this until recently. It turns out that Telford was subjected to Goa'uld mind-control by The Lucian Alliance to make him their spy in Stargate Command, and this is largely why he has been such an asshole. Afterwards, Telford feels immensely guilty, not just for the things he did, but also for the way he treated Everett. It says a lot that even after everything, when the Lucian Alliance was boarding Destiny and the ship was at risk, Young still refused to vent the compartment if it would cost Telford's life.
  • Parental Substitute: Acts as one to Scott.
    • Scott even hallucinates that Young is indeed his father in "Cloverdale".
  • Power Trio: Either the Superego or a second Id in the Young/Rush/Camille trio. YMMV.
    • In the military one he's definitely the Superego.
  • Team Dad: Even lamsphades this in the final episode.
  • Trauma Conga Line: Let's see: he's just been divorced, his unborn kid is dead, he had to Mercy Kill someone under his command, and now Telford has been lost. You can hardly blame him for hitting the bottle again and again.
  • Martyr Without a Cause: Much happier with volunteering to die himself than with risking anyone else, particularly those he cares about.
  • Misery Builds Character: Comes out of his trauma conga line a more humbled character.
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: Is in his quarters crying, while drinking copious amounts of diluted moonshine in a few scenes.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: He gives one to Scott when the latter objects to Young's orders to vent the atmosphere in Telford's cell and suffocate him. It turns out Young did so so he could resuscitate Telford and break The Lucian Alliance's mind control over him. When Scott demands to know why he didn't tell him, Young angrily shoots back that he shouldn't have to always have to explain himself to Scott for him to have a little faith in his orders. He's also on the receiving end of one of these from General O'Neill not long after when he ultimately doesn't vent the gate room into space when The Lucian Alliance uses it to board because he didn't want to kill Telford, which results in a battle that leads to hostages and multiple fatalities, including Young and TJ's unborn daughter.
  • You Are What You Hate: Young and Rush tend to despise each other, giving a special color to their respective morally ambiguous actions.

    Dr. Nicholas Rush 

Dr. Nicholas Rush

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/95dad4af_c072_49b9_a013_2ea6a8655943.jpeg
"I have earned the right to make decisions without explaining myself to you or anyone else!"
Played By: Robert Carlyle
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

Icarus' lead scientist, and the resident expert on Ancient technology. Also an Insufferable Genius who likes playing power games.


  • The Atoner: Ever since the events of "Human", Rush seems to have been taken off of his high horse and has actually been trying to help the crew. For a few episodes anyway. Now he's back to being morally ambiguous, making it Aesop Amnesia. However, he can still be said to be trying to help, just trying to balance that with his own interests, which predictably isn't panning out as well as he'd like.
  • Better to Die than Be Killed: His alternate self in "Time", who elects to run through an unstable wormhole, instead of letting himself be killed by the nocturnal creatures. It's implied it was either the transit or the virus they were suffering from that killed him instead.
  • Break the Haughty: It's happening, slowly but surely. And, as of Malice, has kicked into overdrive
  • Chewing the Scenery: THERE IS NO MORE POWER!. Somewhat justified given that he was under an incredible amount of stress trying to handle the ship's power issues effectively singlehanded, in withdrawal, hadn't slept for days, and was generally in the middle of a complete nervous breakdown.
  • The Chessmaster: It's very rare for him not to be plotting something.
  • Consummate Liar: He doesn't even skip a heartbeat to lie in normal conversation. And he's so good, he can even fool himself!
  • Dead Person Conversation: In the second season, he speaks to his dead wife and Franklin, who may or may not have died. He claims that either the ship is creating holograms to help him or he's just gone crazy; his wife's flippant attitude toward the affair convinces him it's the latter.
    • Rush makes this even scarier because he doesn't treat this as surprising. In fact, he eventually gets tired of his wife questioning all his decisions and asks to see Franklin, because he at least is helpful when he does it.
  • For Science!: His main motivation, even if the means to pursue said science, might put people in jeopardy.
    • First and foremost, his dialing the ninth Chevron in the pilot. He did it because he wanted to know where it went, and by all accounts still doesn't care that it stranded everyone on the other side of the universe.
  • Freudian Excuse: A lot of his behavior is motivated by his wife's death.
  • Going Down with the Ship: Future!Rush elects to stay behind on the alternate Destiny, when it's about to be destroyed.
  • Future Me Scares Me: In "Twin Destinies", his interaction with Future!Rush demonstrates that he doesn't even trust himself.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Young beats him and leaves him for dead on a lifeless rock after Rush tries to frame him for murder. It's especially this trope because Rush's entire speech to Young immediately before this event was about how Young was a liability because 'he didn't want to make the life and death decisions.' He clearly didn't think the colonel had it in him.
  • Insistent Terminology: He rarely refers to Chloe by her given name, instead referring to her as "Miss Armstrong". With everyone else onboard Destiny, he either calls them by their first name or their surname. Presumably this Affectionate Nickname derives due to Rush having been first introduced to her as Senator Armstrong's daughter. As the series progresses and she begins to forgive him for his role in her father's death, and after he begins mentoring her, he begins to refer to her as Chloe.
  • Insufferable Genius: As is Stargate tradition. Unlike other InsufferableGeniuses like Rodney, Rush actually is an unrepentant jerkass who is probably batshit insane too.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Most of his points, particularly when it comes to Destiny herself, actually are valid. Young to his credit almost always recognizes this.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In "Deliverance", he proves to be this, as he hands Chloe over the aliens so they can cure her, despite the fact that it'll be putting the ship in danger. As Camille points out, he's putting a single life before the mission, which contradicts what you'd expect from him.
  • Kick the Dog:
    • Separating Destiny from the seed ship while Telford was still on board and fixing the problem. Dick move, Rush.
    • His KickTheDog moment sets off the whole plot , when he decides to maroon a collected group of untrained civilians and unprepared military in unknown space because he did not want to miss his chance to get onto the Destiny.
    • Hid the fact he had found a secret control room on Destiny allowing more control of the ship from the crew, leading to Hunters death. He gets called out regarding this.
    • Frames the Commander for murder, leading to almost open conflict between civilians and the military.
  • Left for Dead: "Dear diary, my friends left me on an empty planet all alone. FML."
  • Married to the Job: His obsession with unlocking the ninth chevron caused him to miss his dying wife's last days.
  • Morally Ambiguous Doctorate
  • Mr. Exposition: His primary role in the show, as their resident expert on Ancient technology. The crew openly discuss this in "Darkness", wondering if Rush is just that much smarter than everyone else, or if he is simply making educated guesses.
  • Must Have Caffeine: Was forced to quit caffeine cold turkey, which in addition to being awake for several days and under constant stress, leads him to collapsing whilst suffering a complete nervous breakdown in "Darkness".
  • My God, What Have I Done?: His reaction in "Twin Destinies" upon accidentally killing Telford.
  • Never My Fault: Occasionally invokes this after his keeping secrets has made the situation worse.
  • Pet the Dog: Despite himself becomes sort of a mentor to Eli. And has reached an understanding with Young. They may not like each other, but will hold off trying to harm the other. He is also surprisingly nice to Chloe - Even Camile was surprised that Rush seemingly put the ship at risk to save her.
  • Phrase Catcher: Drinking everytime you hear someone say "Whole lotta work" or "Dammit, Rush!" is not advised.
  • The Resenter: He admits to his wife in "Human" that he resents Brilliant, but Lazy Eli, whose natural talents at mathematics and advanced science put his hard-won position to shame. The fact that Eli stumbled into the Icarus Project and solved the power problem that stymied Rush for months doesn't help.
  • Refuge in Audacity: Most of Rush's ideas are completely removed from conventional reality. Generally speaking, his ideas either work, someone gets killed, or sometimes both. When Scott gets infested with an alien organism in "Cloverdale", Rush tells Colonel Young to give him all of the available medical supplies, alien tick venom which had been used in the past, hydrochloric acid, and "something that can cut through bone."
  • Self-Made Man: When Greer calls him "a rich guy" in the pilot, Rush angrily corrects him: he was born to a poor family in Glasgow, and worked 2 jobs while studying at Oxford.
  • Token Evil Teammate: While not really evil, Rush is quite willing to sacrifice people for the greater good. Or what he considers the greater good anyway. Others might describe it as "his own convenience". He plays it much closer in the second season, where people keep getting harmed while he plays with his secret bridge. This is an occasional source of dark humour, when enemies of the ship first gain the impression that Colonel Young is compassionate and can therefore be manipulated, and are then horrified to learn that Rush is (at least until the very last minute) extremely casual about letting people die. Lampshaded in the last episode when Young compares them all to a family, defining Rush's position as:
    Young: The, uh, slightly crazy uncle who despite everything, still manages to come through for you in the end.
  • The Unfettered: Will stop at nothing if it means success.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: When faced with a mile-long room aboard an Ancient Seed Ship that is filled with completed and incomplete Stargates: the very thing that the Stargate Program was built around and Humanity has used since its' first discovery and activation that the Taur'i have never been able to recreate. How does Rush react to the sight? Mild interest.
  • Violent Glaswegian: At times, and usually subverted because Rush isn't a very good fighter. He does manage to get the "Glasgow Kiss" in at one point.
    • Despite being a small man physically, however, he is more a wrestler than a boxer; he bodily throws himself at people with ferocity when he fights.
  • What You Are in the Dark: In "Divided", after waiting to the last possible minute to allow the transfer to complete on it's own, he cancels it and lets Eli restore the docking clamps on the Ancient Shuttle, saving Young and Scott from being vaporised when the ship jumps to FTL.
  • Wild Card

    Eli Wallace 

Eli Wallace

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4d86e49d_b74a_4cf1_9fdd_735e18ebe746.jpeg
Played By: David Blue
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

MIT dropout who solved the problem of dialing the ninth chevron (it was embedded in a video game), and Ascended Fanboy subsequently brought onboard. Now acts as The Smart Guy and foil to Rush. Also in charge of the kinos. 25 years old.


  • Acrofatic: He's noted to be quite overweight. Still, he holds his own quite well any time something has to be done, even if it involves combat or physical exercise. To wit, he's been shown to be able to keep up with Ronald Greer, he's basically run from one side of Destiny to the other in a matter of minutes, and was originally one of those who held out the longest in both episodes "Air" and "Time", as well as managed to avoid capture when the Lucian Alliance came to Destiny. Considering he has practically no military training, this is mighty impressive.
  • Apocalyptic Log: Eli is keeping one using the Kinos. It comes in handy in "Time".
  • Ascended Fanboy: Eli played an online game loosely based on the Stargate program. Plus, he's an avowed science fiction geek who makes constant references and shows the most genuine glee about being on a spaceship.
  • Alone Among the Couples: For most of the series. He's quietly grieved by this.
  • Big Fun
  • Break the Cutie: His mother's condition is getting worse, his girlfriend was killed, one of his best friends / ex-Love Interest is slowly turning into... something alien and he (as a civilian) has lost plenty of comrades / friends. Quite a Trauma Conga Line he has there.
  • Brilliant, but Lazy: Before he ended up on Destiny.
  • The Everyman
  • For Want Of A Nail: Relates to Ginn how his parents bought him a hamster to teach him responsibility, but he accidentally left the cage door open and his father stepped on the escaped hamster. Since then he's been unsure of himself and refused any kind of responsibility put on him. This lead him to drop out of MIT and spend all his time video-gaming, where he solved the Ancient code that stranded both the expedition, and later, the Lucian Alliance on Destiny. Ginn points out that without that hamster, they would have never met.
  • Genre Savvy: Comes from being a sci-fi geek.
  • Good with Numbers: His nickname early on was "Math Boy". In fact, he is so good with numbers, he is the only person on the ship whose intellect Rush actually respects.
  • Just Friends: With Chloe.
  • I Know Mortal Kombat: Eli learned Ancient from the game he was playing.
  • Nerds Are Sexy: Ginn thinks so, but then she's a nerd herself.
  • Refusal of the Call: Eli is completely unconvinced when O'Neill and Dr. Rush show up on his doorstep, informing him that he is their Chosen One. Unlike most examples, however, this doesn't end all that badly for him (well, other than the whole stranded on the other side of the universe thing, but that has nothing to do with him refusing the Call). He actually took to the Call pretty well when he learned all the details. And was standing in a spaceship.
  • The Smart Guy
  • Supporting Protagonist
  • The Watson

    Lt. Matthew Scott 

Lt. Matthew Scott

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9f08aa85_6428_4a12_8348_90ad130072d3.jpeg
Played By: Brian J. Smith
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

Destiny's second-highest ranking officer. Usually leads away missions. Also in a relationship with Chloe. 27 years old.


  • Orphan's Ordeal: As revealed in "Air, Part 3", Scott's parents were killed in a car crash when he was very young and the priest who raised him basically drank himself to death when he was 16.
  • The Pornomancer: Subverted. He seemed slated for this role (and having a child he didn't know about certainly didn't help) but seems to have settled down with Chloe.
  • Power Trio: In the one running the military contingent he's the Ego.

    Chloe Armstrong 

Chloe Armstrong

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ee4584c2_d8b8_41e0_8aff_630425c11c5f.jpeg
Played By: Elyse Levesque
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

Senator's daughter, accompanied him on a review of the original station. In a relationship with Scott.


  • Cursed with Awesome: Her transformation gave her super math skills, healing factor and antibiotic blood.
  • I Just Want to Be Special: She wants to be a part of Destiny's mission to give her father's death a reason. So even though she's probably the last person that would be useful on the ship (alien knowledge later changes that), she tries her best and even volunteers to stay on the ship when the option to return home becomes available.
  • Just Friends: With Eli although she considers that type of relationship as very important due to her realization that he's the first real friend she's ever had. So unlike the usual situation of the trope, she's aware of... you know... but she doesn't want to screw things up by getting involved with Eli. That last bit probably hinges on exactly when she figured out Eli's feelings for her, compared to when she hooked up with Scott.
  • The Load: And she acknowledges this fact, which is part of the reason she sides with Rush in "Divided". She seems to be trying to rectify it by becoming this show's Daniel Jackson.invoked
  • Too Dumb to Live: Aliens are cutting a hole into the ship to invade, so the first thing she did was to run to and stand right next to it like a deer in front of headlights, getting herself kidnapped.
  • Viral Transformation: She's slowly transforming into something, more than likely one of the aliens that kidnapped her. This was cured later, but she retained some of her math skills.

    Lt. Tamara "TJ" Johansen 

Lt. Tamara "TJ" Johansen

Played By: Alaina Huffman
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

An Air Force medic, and Destiny's ranking medical officer. Slated to leave the post just before it was attacked because of an affair she had with Young (with whose child she is pregnant).


    M Sgt. Ronald Greer 

M Sgt. Ronald Greer

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f9737158_cc94_4091_9199_db6e547d83e6.jpeg
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

Short-tempered Marine sergeant.


  • Abusive Parents: His father was not such a nice guy, supposedly because of his involvement in the Gulf War.
  • Berserk Button: When Eli makes a crack about his claustrophobia, Greer gives him a Death Glare that takes both Eli and Scott aback.
  • Claustrophobia: A mild case.
  • Daddy Issues: Has a mild case of this, due to his veteran father becoming abusive after developing Gulf War Syndrome. In "Air Part 3", Rush unwittingly implies this is why he and Scott are so insistent on "playing soldiers" to gain someone's approval, leading to Greer immediately kicking him on his ass.
  • Death Glare: He's pretty good at this if you mention his Claustrophobia.
  • Hidden Depths: As early as "Light" he established himself as more than just a jarhead with a chip on his shoulder. His Kino message about their impending destruction was quite poetic.
    Greer: I can't think of a better way to move on from - from this world into the next, or whatever comes, than to fly into the most powerful thing in all creation ... a star. Out in a blaze of glory. I like that...that's beautiful.
  • Honor Before Reason: While pretty reasonable otherwise, question the honor of his commanding officer or the value of his soldiers and their role aboard Destiny, and he tends to get... perturbed.
  • Hold the Line: And does he ever in Cloverdale,it involves using the gate as a weapon and a whole bunch of flamethrowers.
    Rush: This is an enemy you can't fight.
    Greer: Watch. Me.
  • Kill It with Fire: He even makes his own flamethrowers for the occasion, which says a lot.
    Greer: I can invent things, too.
  • Odd Friendship: Greer is a stoic soldier with a deadpanned humor, Eli is an excitable Geek a little too uncertain in himself. Greer sincerely respects him and offers him advise regarding his love life.
    • Made even more significant by the fact that Greer seems to dislike or at least distrust civilians in general.
  • Noodle Incident: It has never been completely explained exactly what Telford did that provoked Greer into striking a superior officer. Young at least believes that Telford deserved it. Though from what we know of Greer, it must have really been something to make Greer develop such a long-lasting hatred for the guy. To put it in perspective, Greer has as of "Malice" only just begun to really outright dislike Rush (in his own words, he's not going to watch Rush's back any more).
  • Power Trio: In the military one he's definitely the Id.
  • Scary Black Man: Somewhat. To the people he sees as enemies, it's really apparent, but he's a decent guy otherwise.
  • Semper Fi: Greer is dangerous, but tightly controlled, and he is also the man who is asked to do things that no one else can or will do. He defends those he is loyal to with his life, kills those who he views as enemies without flinching, and more importantly, is able to emotionally cope when someone who was formerly in the first group, becomes a member of the second.
  • Sex Equals Love: Averted with him and Dr Park.
    • Or not. Park seems to be very close to him (as of "Visitation").

    Camille Wray 

Camile Wray

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/66f09220_0d39_41f1_aa9b_6299dd4b3987.jpeg
Played By: Ming-Na Wen
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

IOA representative on Icarus (and now Destiny). Seems to have taken up the leadership of those who haven't sided with Rush or Young and otherwise representing a more humanitarian approach to things. As of "Awakening," she seems to have taken up tending to the hydroponics garden.


  • The Chessmaster
    • Or tries to be, unfortunately her opponents are Young and Rush.
  • Dirty Coward: Averted, Wray isn't a coward, (which she proves more than once) she's just afraid to die. The show makes certain to draw a clear line of distinction between those two things. Wray fights primarily via intrigue, however, and she is very quick to dive behind cover when fighting starts.
  • Heel–Face Turn: This happens gradually over time. Although Camille is never a genuine monster, she eventually stops playing her earlier power games and becomes a genuinely kind person.
  • Last of His Kind: Alternate!Wray was the longest surviving member of Alt!Destiny's crew on Novus.
  • Nominal Hero: Although she frequently claims that she is only interested in the Greater Good, it is never completely clear whether or not this is true, or simply what she tells herself in order to justify her actions.
  • Obstructive Bureaucrat -> Reasonable Authority Figure
  • Only Sane Woman: To a certain extent from the beginning but increasingly so as Young and Rush get progressively unhinged in the second season.
  • Pet the Dog: Can be viewed as abrasive, and openly hostile towards the military. Her relationship with Sharon shows a very loving woman. And her willingness to be trapped in a paralyzed body for weeks shows she has conviction. She also likes Eli, letting his mother visit him aboard Destiny.
  • Power Trio: The Ego.
  • Straight Gay: Nothing stereotypical about her. Her partner Sharon is also Straight Gay.
  • Shoot the Dangerous Minion: Averted, although Greer nearly does this to her when he is bitten by a tick which injects psychedelic venom, which causes him to believe that she and Rush are again conspiring to take over the ship.
  • The Starscream: Frequently, although in a low key and subtle way. As a member of the IOA, Wray thinks she should be the civilian administrator aboard the Destiny, in the same way that Dr Wier was aboard Atlantis. Unfortunately, she has neither Wier's competence nor integrity. Wray is (at least initially) a short sighted, power hungry bureaucrat who repeatedly conspires with Rush and Telford to undermine Colonel Young. She and Rush stage a literal coup early in the series, but after that fails, her attempts to overthrow Young are generally less direct.
  • Team Mom: Depending on your perspective. Though especially so for Eli given that his actual mom doesn't get to visit often.
  • Twofer Token Minority: As an Asian lesbian.

    Lt. Vanessa James 

Lt. Vanessa James

Played By: Julia Benson
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

Another Air Force officer on Destiny. As with Riley (see below), despite being military, she seems to be on pretty good terms with the civilians and scientists compared to the drama that occurs among the more prominent members of both sides.


  • Hidden Buxom: When in full military gear, her bust tends to be concealed.
  • Made of Iron: She takes a blast from an alien lightning storm (okay, so it was a few feet away but close enough to knock her back) and comes away none worse for wear. Maybe she's just immune to electricity.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Even more so than Chloe. She is normally the first example that fans bring up when accusing this series of deciding that Darker and Edgier means needs more half-naked women.
  • My Eyes Are Up Here: "I'm up here." Said to, of course, McKay, who was ogling her assets. Again.
  • Romantic False Lead: Is introduced having sex with Scott, and pines for him. He eventually settles down with Chloe, and she's not happy about it. She's also had a bit of ship tease with Eli, of all people. Again, nothing came of it.

    Colonel David Telford 

Colonel David Telford

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/720f9366_74db_4021_add4_4c9130e5a368.jpeg
"What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment."
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

Air Force officer who was assigned to Icarus, but got out on the Hammond instead of going through the Stargate to Destiny. He seems to be Colonel Young's designated body-swap partner.


  • Brainwashed: Up until he's brought to the edge of death to break it.
  • Expendable Clone: Well, time-displaced duplicate from 12 hours in the future. For a brief moment, there are actually two Telfords, one on Destiny and one on Earth... until Rush accidentally kills the Destiny one during an argument.
  • Jerkass: While YMMV on Rush or Young being the Jerkass, Telford is almost universally accepted as one.
    • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Post-brainwashing he still has a habit of going on the occasional jerk streak, but he has the crew's best interests at heart and just wants to get everybody home.
  • Manipulative Bastard
  • The Mole: Honestly, was anyone actually surprised by this?
    • But only until he's unbrainwashed. Then becomes The Mole against the Alliance.
  • The Neidermeyer
  • Never My Fault: Depending on your perspective, this could apply to Telford; whenever his supported plans to allow Destiny to dial a wormhole back to Earth fail, he repeatedly acts as though the only explanation is that someone sabotaged it, rather than just accept that the plan he supported didn't work.
  • Put on a Bus: Well, on a ship at any rate.

Supporting characters

    Dr. Lisa Park 

Dr. Lisa Park

Played By: Jennifer Spence
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

One of the scientists (astrophysicist, to be precise) on Destiny.


    Lt. General Jack O'Neill 

Lt. General Jack O'Neill

Played By: Kurt Russell (movie), Richard Dean Anderson (all TV series)
First Appearance: Stargate

Runs the Department of Homeworld Security back on Earth.


  • Older and Wiser: With over a decade of experience with the Stargate, it's hard to surprise him with anything.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Now he's the leader of Homeworld Security, he makes it clear he'll do anything to protect Earth.
    • Most fans forget that O'Neill spent most of the 80's performing Black Ops work.
  • Transplant: From Stargate SG-1.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Gives one to Young for his indecisiveness in dealing with the Lucian Alliance invasion.

    Sgt. Hunter Riley 

Sgt. Hunter Riley

Played By: Haig Sutherland
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

Essentially a combination of Siler and Walter from Stargate SG-1. He is usually seen supporting the staff at various points. He seems to be good friends with pretty much everyone on the ship; he, among the rest of the military, seems to be particularly competent with Ancient tech as he's identified the address to send them to Earth, helps with major repairs, mans the Stargate console on occasion, and can interpret Ancient. In one of the webisodes he even rigs one of Destiny's consoles to show a false self-destruct signal as a prank on Brody. He died in the second episode of season two.


  • Escalating War: The Kino videos show he has a long-running prank war with Brody. He once turned him purple!
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Though he didn't actually die, he shoved Brody out a corridor with an overloading power conduit so Brody wouldn't get caught by the blast. He was also trying to fix it so the ship wouldn't blow up. Didn't quite get far enough to keep himself out of harm's way, but he saved the ship. It puts him out of action for the latter half of the first ten episodes. He lampshades all of these incidents before his death; having survived an improbable number of incidents, he assumed it just it just wasn't his time yet.
  • Mauve Shirt: His purpose really. He's not quite as widely seen as, say, Brody and Volker, but every time he appears helps to paint him as practically the one guy on this ship who's taking the whole thing in stride. That's why, when they kill them, it really hits home.
  • Mercy Kill: Young gives him one upon request. Not a quick kill, either. Young has to suffocate him because Riley isn't willing to take a bullet. Not because he's afraid to, mind you, but because he doesn't want the others to know that Young killed (or helped kill) him.
  • Soundtrack Dissonance: Used to perfection when he dies. That is to say, there is no sound at all. Just complete and utter silence until Young finally lets out the breath he was holding. And it's that much more tear jerk-ing. It doesn't stop there. This episode doesn't even have the usual song ending the others do; instead we get Riley's video diary, which is almost as depressing as his death.

    Pvt. Darren Becker 

Pvt. Darren Becker

First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

Runs the mess hall, more or less, and as a result is the go-to guy for meals and making alien food palatable.


  • Camp Cook: But to be fair it's not his fault since he has to work with such low-grade crap. He actually does pretty good, all things considered.

    Dr. Adam Brody 

Dr. Adam Brody

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3666927b_c637_49c6_a664_d748bc4bdee1.jpeg
"I always knew I was going to die in space."
Played By: Peter Kelamis
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

An engineer and computer expert. Friends and prank rival with Riley (he gets turned purple for his efforts). Also runs a still used to make alcohol in a makeshift bar for the crew. According to The Other Wiki, Telford's gambit to dial Earth and thus getting Riley injured was why Brody sides with Rush against the military. Which explains why a guy that probably isn't all that violent is willing to space Telford in "Subversion" - hurting Riley, blowing up Icarus, etc. There is the implication that Riley's death has hit him particularly hard out of the secondary characters due to their friendship. As of Season 2, he's also started to get a bit more of an active role in things as well as developing somewhat of an angry snarker personality (though for good reason).


  • Ascended Meme: Has the Numa Numa song on his iPod.
  • Deadpan Snarker: "Awakening" has him comment on some of the alien food they've been eating. "Tastes like crap." They then feed it to an alien, which spits it out. "Told ya."
  • Military Moonshiner: Despite not being military, he's filled this role.
  • Once Done, Never Forgotten: No one lets Brody forget his Novus counterpart named a nation "Futura"
    "Its a font!"
  • Those Two Guys: With Volker to Rush, though a fairly light version of the trope as they're pretty involved in the story as side characters go.

    Dr. Robert Caine 

Dr. Robert Caine

Played By: Tygh Runyan
First Appearance: "Justice"

An I.T. tech who shows up near the end of the first half of the season, apparently just to remind us there are more than ten people on the ship. James tries to hook up with him but he turns her down, then he decides to stay on an alien planet because he thinks the people that built it (long story) have a better chance of getting the crew home.


  • Chekhov's Gunman: He started as a random guy sent on a mission because main characters had another thing to do. As the beginning of season 2 he became some kind of higher force's messenger. Or not. Who knows?
  • Is This Thing Still On??: Has to remind James of this trope when she starts going on about how attractive he is over an open Kino line.
  • Preacher Man: Becomes this in "Faith". Leading to...
  • Put On A Planet: Willingly stayed behind on an alien planet with no Stargate and no way off, believing that advanced aliens (or God, which he pretty much admits to earlier) are trying to help them.
  • Foregone Conclusion: Despite being part of a group of intelligent scientists, what happens when you leave a dozen individuals on a planet alone, with next-to-no supplies, who have only built settlements for summer and then a bad winter comes along? They all freaking die, that's what!

    Dr. Jeremy Franklin 

Dr. Jeremy Franklin

Played By: Mark Burgess
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

A scientist who, straight from the beginning, just has the worst luck.


  • Brain Uploading: This is what the chair did to him. His body's disappearance is still a mystery.
  • Heroic Sacrifice/Put on a Bus: He surely did the first in "Sabotage". The second is because we don't know exactly what happened to him. Possibly Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence. It remains to be seen. He's still gone, though.
  • Death Seeker: In the pilot, he was so desperate to escape Destiny, that he was willing to strand Scott, Eli, Greer, and everyone who was looking for lime to use on the ship's CO2 scrubbers, not to mention doom the crew on Destiny to a slow death of asphyxiation, and had to be shot. As the series progressed, he grew only more and more angry and desperate until he learned about "the chair" and happily used that device that he knew is deadly dangerous, twice.
  • Idiot Ball: There's really no other excuse for him sitting in the chair which downloads a ridiculous amount of information into the user's brain, which is potentially fatal.
  • Spirit Advisor: Assuming Rush isn't just insane, which we really can't rule out, Franklin serves this role to him in "Aftermath".
    • He's later revealed to be an hallucination generated by Destiny, the real Franklin having been uploaded into it's memory.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: His distrust of the military aboard Destiny is due to Greer shooting him during the pilot (although to save his life).
  • The Woobie: This man cannot catch a break. He gets shot in the pilot for heaven's sake, though admittedly he did bring it on himself. It gets worse from there.

    Dr. Dale Volker 

Dr. Dale Volker

Played By: Patrick Gilmore
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

Astrophysicist and one of Rush's core team of scientists.


  • Ascended Extra: Originally intended to be a simple side character, the actor's portrayal impressed the showrunners enough to make him a more in-depth and involved character. Probably a CMOA for the actor considering how little most side characters have to work with.
  • Just Friends: With Park.
  • Only Sane Man: At times. At the very least, he has a thread of common sense some of the other scientists seem to lack, though one may attribute this to being overly cautious.
  • Those Two Guys: With Brody to Rush, though a fairly light version of the trope as they're pretty involved in the story as side characters go.

    Dr. Amanda Perry 

Dr. Amanda Perry

Played By: Kathleen Munroe
First Appearance: "Sabotage"

Quadriplegic physicist on Earth; joins the crew via the communication stones in a number of episodes to work on the ship's drive. Love Interest to Rush (whose nickname for her is "Little Miss Brilliant"). NOT Killed Off for Real along with Ginn by Simeon. Since she was killed while connected to another body via the stones, her consciousness stuck in the ether, then linked to Chloe and was downloaded to Destiny. Yes, it's quite a Mind Screw.


    Varro 

Varro

Played By: Mike Dopud
First Appearance: "Subversion"

The leader of what remains of the Lucian Alliance takeover force. His wife was killed during a rainstorm when the shelter she was in collapsed. He seems to have a thing for TJ.


  • Punch-Clock Villain: Win or lose, he just wants everyone to get along now that they're stuck together. While he is now free, he remained the only Lucian Alliance member alive due to a hunting accident.

    Ginn 

Ginn

Played By: Julie McNiven
First Appearance: "Intervention"

A scientist in the Lucian Alliance and one of the handful that were allowed to stay on board the ship. She was forced to join the Lucian Alliance or have her family killed.


    Simeon 

Simeon

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/447937c1_8543_49d7_ac3f_7346891e3f64.jpeg
Played By: Robert Knepper
First Appearance: "Intervention"

A soldier in the Lucian Alliance and one of the handful that were allowed to stay on board the ship.


  • Enigmatic Minion: We don't see much of him, and he usually only speaks up to make quips. He interrogated Telford about how Kiva was shot and obviously didn't believe his story, yet made nothing of it. He also tried to get rough with TJ; he regretted it.

    Senator Alan Armstrong 

Senator Alan Armstrong

First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

A U.S. Senator with oversight over the Stargate program and Chloe's father.


  • Doomed Hurt Guy: He takes severe injuries during the attack on the Icarus Base, though it’s implied that what really doomed him was his anticoagulant heart medication.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: He seals off a leak to the vacuum of space in a malfunctioning shuttle at the cost of his own life. To be fair, he was already dying.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Certainly compared to a lot of politicians in the franchise. He's a resolute supporter of the Stargate program, patient when they don't instantly succeed and, as noted above, he ultimately sacrificed himself to save everyone else.
  • Sacrificial Lamb: In the same vein as Colonel Marshall Sumner before him, he’s played by one of the biggest names in the cast and is killed off in the opening two-parter.

    Sgt. Spencer 

Sgt. Spencer

Played By: Josh Blacker
First Appearance: "Air, Part 1"

A cowardly soldier who quickly and singlehandedly becomes one of the greatest hindrances to the rest of the crew.


  • Addled Addict: The sleeping pills he’s addicted to have a negative affect on his psyche and make him even more of a Jerkass.
  • Asshole Victim: Subverted, since he wasn’t murdered; it was a suicide.
  • Driven to Suicide Blows his brains out in his quarters after he runs out of the sleeping pills he’s addicted to.
  • It's All About Me: He steals and hoards water and rations. Repeatedly.
  • The Millstone: He steals food and water, supplies that are desperately needed, starts a riot, and abuses the people assigned to learn physical fitness under him.

    Destiny 

Destiny

Yes, the ship. It actually has enough oddities that it must be considered a character.


  • Mind Screw: Destiny can play around with the crew's brainwaves. Confirmed hallucinations include Young's dreams, while TJ's baby and Rush's wife are possibilities, but unconfirmed yet.
    • Confirmed eventually. Destiny was trying to help TJ deal with the pain of losing her child and Rush's wife is one it's chosen forms when communicating with Rush on the bridge, along with the uploaded Franklin.
  • Ragnarök Proofing: Considering it's held up for over sixty million years, it's amazing that it's only now starting to break down.
  • Setting as a Character: Destiny is definitely a lot smarter than your average spaceship, Ancient or other. Rush has asserted that it doesn't actually have any personality, but apparently just freakishly appropriate deductive reasoning. One way of looking at it would be like your desktop computer with all the different programs on it (anti-virus, word processor, USB ports, etc) only more powerful and advanced. It has no real emotions or whatnot, but the complexity of it all can sometimes mean that when it tries to do something non-routine or something changes in its environment, something crashes (and usually when you're doing something important).
  • The Power of the Sun: The Destiny is literally powered by the sun. The ship has to dive into stars to recharge its power reserves regularly.
  • Time Abyss: The thing is the oldest non-maintained structure in Stargate, having been constructed in the Ancients' early stay in the Milky Way. Even its Stargates are based on a notably older design than anything we've seen in the Milky Way or Pegasus galaxies.

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