Nicholas Ballard

Nicholas Ballard

Summary

Nicholas Ballard was an archaeologist and Daniel Jackson's grandfather. Daniel called him "Nick" and "the not so great grandfather." (3.21 "Crystal Skull")

Character Biography

Nicholas "Nick" Ballard was a Dutchman who was the father of Dr. Claire Jackson, Dr. Daniel Jackson's mother. When Daniel was eight years old, his parents were killed when a coverstone fell and crushed them while they were preparing an exhibit at the New York Museum of Art. Nick attended the funeral and afterwards, took young Daniel to a diner where he was served waffles. This might have been the last Daniel saw of his grandfather before he was placed into foster care. Nick refused to take care of Daniel, but instead decided to pursue his obsession of discovering the secrets of a crystal skull he found in a temple in Belize in 1971. Daniel seemed to come to terms with Nick's decision and showed the same kind of obsession in his work only a few years later. (Stargate: The Movie, 2.04 "The Game Keeper", 3.20 "Crystal Skull", 4.02 "The Other Side", 8.18 "Threads")

Nick's obsession with the crystal skull he had discovered was due to his story of having been transported to a large cavern and coming face-to-face with giant aliens made of mist. He wasn't able to answer the riddle, spoken to him in Mayan, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Because he couldn't answer, he was transported back into the temple in Belize. Soon thereafter, the earth shook and he grabbed the skull before the entire temple collapsed. Eventually, the crystal skull was placed in the Smithsonian and Nick checked himself into a mental hospital in Oregon after he failed to prove that the skull was a transportation device. (3.20 "Crystal Skull")

Daniel visited Nick in the hospital up until he was recuited by Catherine Langford to decipher the glyphs of the coverstone which was found in Giza with the Stargate in 1928. Daniel's theories about the pyramids caused him to lose favor in the archaeological community. Nick didn't believe Daniel's theories any more than Daniel believed his about the crystal skull. (3.20 "Crystal Skull")

When SG-1 discovered the planet (P7X-377) to which Nick had been transported 29 years before, Daniel stared into the eyes of the skull and got caught in a transformation midway through the process. This malfunction, produced by Teal'c when he fired a zat gun at the skull when he saw Daniel enveloped in a wave of energy, caused Daniel to become out of phase with everyone else. Nick was contacted by the remaining members of SG-1 in the hope that he could help them figure out what happened to Daniel. They brought him to the SGC and showed him the skull found on the planet. Nick, having also been affected by the skull, was the only one who could hear or see Daniel. (3.20 "Crystal Skull")

Nick related everything Daniel said to the team and told them that Daniel instructed them to go back to the planet to allow the process to complete. He also told them that Daniel said that he should go with them, but this was a lie. Nick still had the heart of an explorer in him and he used the situation to his advantage. Once they arrived on the planet, Nick recognized it as the place to which he had been transported in 1971. Daniel stared into the skull again and the process completed. This time, Col. Jack O'Neill and Maj. Samantha Carter were taken out of phase along with Nick and Daniel and got to see the giant aliens for themselves. Daniel answered the riddle by declaring that they were enemies of the Goa'uld, his conclusion based on the fact that Teal'c had been left behind. The giant alien who greeted them, Quetzalcoatl, invited Nick to stay so that they could exchange knowledge. Quetzalcoatl, as it turns out, recognized Nick from the time he had been transported before. (3.20 "Crystal Skull")

Just as Daniel and Nick had found common ground, Nick chose once again his interests over his grandson. Nick, however, told Daniel that he was proud of him and Daniel called him "grandpa" for the first time in his life upon their parting. (3.20 "Crystal Skull")

As far as we know, Nick is still sharing knowledge with the giant aliens on P7X-377. His work, however, has been mentioned by Daniel in relation to the Mayan studies Nick had conducted. When it was discovered that a Goa'uld named Telchak had developed the first sarcophagus from Ancient technology, Daniel theorized that this Goa'uld had been impersonating the Mayan god of rain, Chac. Daniel showed Jacob Carter/Selmak Nick's notes on Chac and they discovered that Nick had recorded ancient Goa'uld glyphs. Using the information found in the journal, Daniel discovered the location of the Telchak Device in Honduras and the Tok'ra and SGC developed a weapon to kill Anubis' Kull Warriors who had been animated with similar technology. (3.20 "Crystal Skull", 7.11-7.12 "Evolution", 7.16 "Death Knell")

Episodes

• Stargate: The Movie
• 2.04 "The Game Keeper"
• 3.21 "Crystal Skull"
• 4.02 "The Other Side"
• 7.11 "Evolution Part 1"
• 7.12 "Evolution Part 2"
• 7.16 "Death Knell"
• 8.18 "Threads"

Related Characters

• Col. Jack O'Neill
• Dr. Daniel Jackson
• Maj. Samantha Carter
• Teal'c
• Anubis
• Jacob Carter/Selmak
• Dr. Claire Jackson
• Dr. Catherine Langford
• Quetzalcoatl
• Telchak

Related Articles

• Ancients
• Crystal Skull
• Daniel Jackson: Family And Relationships
• Giant Aliens
• Goa'uld
• Kull Warrior
• P7X-377
• Sarcophagus
• Telchak Device
• Zat

Actor

• Jan Rubeŝ

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--DeeKayP 20:23, 1 Jun 2005 (PDT)