Kull Warrior
Encyclopedia
In the fictional universe of the science fiction
TV show Stargate SG-1
, the Kull Warriors (also called Anubis drones or Supersoldiers) are creatures created by the Goa'uld
Anubis for use as his personal army.
, the Kull Warriors were conceived as a much more powerful adversary than the Jaffa, and one that would be more "palatable" to fight. Supervising producer Damian Kindler
states that the Kull Warriors were planned as a Terminator-like enemy, and that many ideas for their creation came from the episode "Cure".
The appearance of the Kull Warriors was developed by the art department, which worked together with Cooper while he was writing the script for the episode "Evolution". According to James Robbins of the art department, the first idea of the Warrior was more of a general direction that evolved into the final concept while the episode was written. It was also Robbins who then developed the appearance of the Kull Warriors and the face behind the mask. At first the face looked a lot like that of the Borg
, and so he came up with the idea of the fiber-optic network that ran over the skull.
Almost every Kull Warrior in the series is played by Dan Payne
. In "Evolution, Part II", Alex Zahara
performed in some scenes when Payne was unavailable. A second extra was also brought in for some scenes where there are two Kull Warriors onscreen at once. The motion of the Kull Warrior was deliberately styled to be unique and not resemble other robotic characters, such as RoboCop
, the Borg, or human-form Replicators. Payne described it as a tough job since it gets very hot in the suit, especially when filming in summer. Payne revealed in an interview that the art department built a body to build the suit on for him and the head. Afterwards they built the armor on top and a suit to go underneath. He also revealed that it was the most functional, mobile full-body unit he has ever been in. At first it took Payne and the staff 30 minutes to get him into the suit, but in the end it only took about 15 to 20 minutes. When fully dressed, the Kull warrior is about seven feet tall thanks to the helmet and the boots.
In "Death Knell", Samantha Carter
and Selmak develop a prototype weapon designed to counteract the energy animating the Kull Warriors. This technology is almost lost when Anubis sends his drones to attack the Alpha Site, but the weapon is tested successfully in battle.
After the apparent defeat of Anubis in "Lost City
", the System Lord Ba'al finds his base on Tartarus and gains control of the Supersoldiers, giving him a significant advantage over his rivals. As a result, in the episode "New Order
" the other System Lords approach Earth for a new military arrangement. A simulated invasion of Stargate Command
by Kull Warriors is the main premise of the episode "Avatar". In "Threads
", the remaining Kull Warriors become aimless and confused after Anubis' final defeat, and are easily dispatched.
The Kull Warriors have made one appearance in Stargate Atlantis
, in the episode "Phantoms", where they are hallucination
s caused by a Wraith
device.
-like woven fiber that absorbs energy, making them impervious to energy weapons such as staff weapons and zats, as well as firearms and explosives, including armor-piercing bullets, C4 explosives, Claymore mines, and even light missiles. The suit is also unaffected by force-fields. However, Samantha Carter found that a small, sharp object, such as a trinium dart, can penetrate the armor. Selmak also believed that a concussive force of sufficient magnitude could kill a Kull Warrior.
The armour itself may be removed and worn by a regular human; Jacob Carter and Selmak impersonated a Kull Warrior after the SGC had captured one alive. Daniel Jackson made use of such armour when the Prometheus had been captured by Vala Mal Doran
with the intention of trading it to some bounty hunters. The bounty hunters promptly shot Jackson who had only worn the harder outer armour and not the woven suit part, but which still protected him from the energy blasts of their weapons, allowing him to overpower them. Vala Mal Doran also made use of the suit to steal the Prometheus in the first place and afterwards took off the outer shell, but kept on the woven suit. She believed it would protect from a zat gun, but was proven wrong when Daniel shot her and she was knocked out.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
TV show Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
, the Kull Warriors (also called Anubis drones or Supersoldiers) are creatures created by the Goa'uld
Goa'uld
The Goa'uld are a fictional symbiotic race of ancient astronauts from the American-Canadian military science fiction television franchise Stargate. The Goa'uld are parasites from the planet P3X-888, integrated within a host, most of the time human. The resulting creatures are a powerful race bent...
Anubis for use as his personal army.
Concept and production
According to executive producer Robert C. CooperRobert C. Cooper
Robert C. Cooper is a Canadian writer and producer best known for his work in the Stargate franchise. He was formerly an executive producer of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis until both series conclusion and currently holds the same title on the third Stargate series Stargate Universe...
, the Kull Warriors were conceived as a much more powerful adversary than the Jaffa, and one that would be more "palatable" to fight. Supervising producer Damian Kindler
Damian Kindler
Damian Kindler is an Australian-born Canadian writer and producer. He emigrated to Toronto, Canada, when he was young. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. He lives with his wife and his two children Hannah and Phoebe Kindler.He is most noted for his contributions to the Stargate...
states that the Kull Warriors were planned as a Terminator-like enemy, and that many ideas for their creation came from the episode "Cure".
The appearance of the Kull Warriors was developed by the art department, which worked together with Cooper while he was writing the script for the episode "Evolution". According to James Robbins of the art department, the first idea of the Warrior was more of a general direction that evolved into the final concept while the episode was written. It was also Robbins who then developed the appearance of the Kull Warriors and the face behind the mask. At first the face looked a lot like that of the Borg
Borg (Star Trek)
The Borg are a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek universe associated with Star Trek.Whereas cybernetics are used by other races in the science fiction world to repair bodily damage and birth defects, the Borg use enforced cybernetic enhancement as a means of...
, and so he came up with the idea of the fiber-optic network that ran over the skull.
Almost every Kull Warrior in the series is played by Dan Payne
Dan Payne
Dan Payne is a Canadian actor best known for playing the role of John in the television series Alice, I Think.Among his numerous television appearances was in an advertisement for Speakeasy from Esat Digifone, an Irish mobile phone operator now owned by O2.He also played the part of the Kull...
. In "Evolution, Part II", Alex Zahara
Alex Zahara
Alex Zahara is a Canadian actor & a voice actor.Alex was born in Northern Alberta, and, according to his mother, has always enjoyed performing for others. He grew up loving the classics in acting, Bogart, Cagney, etc. Got involved with theatre while still in school, performing in a stage version of...
performed in some scenes when Payne was unavailable. A second extra was also brought in for some scenes where there are two Kull Warriors onscreen at once. The motion of the Kull Warrior was deliberately styled to be unique and not resemble other robotic characters, such as RoboCop
RoboCop
RoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction-action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop"...
, the Borg, or human-form Replicators. Payne described it as a tough job since it gets very hot in the suit, especially when filming in summer. Payne revealed in an interview that the art department built a body to build the suit on for him and the head. Afterwards they built the armor on top and a suit to go underneath. He also revealed that it was the most functional, mobile full-body unit he has ever been in. At first it took Payne and the staff 30 minutes to get him into the suit, but in the end it only took about 15 to 20 minutes. When fully dressed, the Kull warrior is about seven feet tall thanks to the helmet and the boots.
Show history
Kull Warriors first appear in the seventh season of Stargate SG-1, in the two-part episode "Evolution". The bulk of the episode is devoted to learning more about the Kull Warriors and finding a way to defeat them, as seemingly none of the weapons of SG-1 or the Jaffa are effective against the new threat. It is revealed that Anubis has created an army of drones on the planet Tartarus, and is using them to assassinate minor Goa'uld and absorb their Jaffa armies into his own. Although SG-1 destroys the Goa'uld Queen who is helping him, this is believed to be no more than a temporary setback.In "Death Knell", Samantha Carter
Samantha Carter
Samantha "Sam" Carter is a fictional character in the Canadian-American military science fiction Stargate franchise, appearing in television series Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe. SG-1 and Atlantis are both about a military team exploring the galaxy via a network of alien...
and Selmak develop a prototype weapon designed to counteract the energy animating the Kull Warriors. This technology is almost lost when Anubis sends his drones to attack the Alpha Site, but the weapon is tested successfully in battle.
After the apparent defeat of Anubis in "Lost City
Lost City (Stargate SG-1)
"Lost City" is the two-part finale to the seventh season of the science fiction television show Stargate SG-1. It was originally intended to be a second Stargate film, and was then to be the show's absolute finale, and finally ended up being the seventh season finale after the series was renewed...
", the System Lord Ba'al finds his base on Tartarus and gains control of the Supersoldiers, giving him a significant advantage over his rivals. As a result, in the episode "New Order
New Order (Stargate SG-1)
New Order is the two-part Season 8 premiere of the science-fiction series Stargate SG-1. The episode earned a 2.4 Nielsen rating, a new record high for the show during its run on cable, which has since been tied, but never beaten...
" the other System Lords approach Earth for a new military arrangement. A simulated invasion of Stargate Command
Stargate Command
The Stargate Program is a fictional top-secret program that plays a key role in the Stargate franchise: it surrounds the operations of the Stargate on Earth. The core of the Stargate Program is Stargate Command , based at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station near Colorado Springs, Colorado...
by Kull Warriors is the main premise of the episode "Avatar". In "Threads
Threads (Stargate SG-1)
"Threads" is an episode from Season 8 of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. Amanda Tapping won a Leo Award in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Lead Performance - Female" and Michael Shanks was nominated for a Leo Award in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Lead Performance -...
", the remaining Kull Warriors become aimless and confused after Anubis' final defeat, and are easily dispatched.
The Kull Warriors have made one appearance in Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper as a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1, which was created by Wright and Jonathan Glassner and was itself...
, in the episode "Phantoms", where they are hallucination
Hallucination
A hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid,...
s caused by a Wraith
Wraith (Stargate)
In the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis, the Wraith are the original enemy alien species, first introduced in the pilot episode . In the series, they are a vampire-like telepathic race who feed on the "life-force" of humans, and are the dominant power in the Pegasus galaxy...
device.
Creation
The bodies of Kull Warriors are grown from organic material, and then given life using an Ancient Healing Device, technology that Anubis gained knowledge of during his time as an Ascended being. The body is then implanted with a "blank" Goa'uld symbiote, spawned by a Queen who deliberately withholds her genetic memory from her progeny. This results in a creature that is utterly obedient to its master.Characteristics
A Kull Warrior possesses much greater strength and stamina than a human. Jacob Carter/Selmak describes its entire physiology as "out of proportion": the drone's heart and lungs are oversized by necessity to supply enough blood and oxygen to its muscles. Even with the healing powers of the Goa'uld symbiote compensating for the strain, Kull Warriors have a short lifespan and eventually succumb to heart attacks. Kull Warriors are relentless and single-mindedly focused on their goal; they will ignore any enemies that stay out of their way.Weapons and armor
Kull Warriors are armed with a wrist-mounted energy weapon with a much higher rate of fire than a staff weapon. The armored suit worn by a Kull Warrior is bonded to its host. The suit is made of a KevlarKevlar
Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires...
-like woven fiber that absorbs energy, making them impervious to energy weapons such as staff weapons and zats, as well as firearms and explosives, including armor-piercing bullets, C4 explosives, Claymore mines, and even light missiles. The suit is also unaffected by force-fields. However, Samantha Carter found that a small, sharp object, such as a trinium dart, can penetrate the armor. Selmak also believed that a concussive force of sufficient magnitude could kill a Kull Warrior.
The armour itself may be removed and worn by a regular human; Jacob Carter and Selmak impersonated a Kull Warrior after the SGC had captured one alive. Daniel Jackson made use of such armour when the Prometheus had been captured by Vala Mal Doran
Vala Mal Doran
Vala Mal Doran is a fictional character in the American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, a science fiction show about a military team exploring the galaxy via a network of alien transportation devices. Played by former Farscape actress Claudia Black, Vala was created by...
with the intention of trading it to some bounty hunters. The bounty hunters promptly shot Jackson who had only worn the harder outer armour and not the woven suit part, but which still protected him from the energy blasts of their weapons, allowing him to overpower them. Vala Mal Doran also made use of the suit to steal the Prometheus in the first place and afterwards took off the outer shell, but kept on the woven suit. She believed it would protect from a zat gun, but was proven wrong when Daniel shot her and she was knocked out.