The Others

The Others manifested in a cloud

Summary

The Others are a group of Ascended Beings who have joined in a collective to enforce rules governing their interactions with those not on their higher plane of existence.

Known by Many Names

The Altera are the Ancients

The Ancients are The Others

Perhaps as long as 50 million years ago, a group of advanced humans known as the Altera left their home galaxy to flee for their lives. Those who sought to kill them were the Ori. The Altera and Ori had belonged to one society, but divided when they had philosophical differences concerning ascension, the shedding of the physical form to become a being of energy — an Ascended Being. The Altera saw the process to ascension as a scientific one where a human evolved both physically and mentally, while the Ori attached a religious aspect to ascension, calling it the Path to Enlightenment because ascension exposes one to greater knowledge and understanding of the universe. Over time, the Ori became extremists in their religion and sought to kill all those who did not see ascension as they did. There is a great responsibility put upon those who achieve ascension because the various planes of existence are connected such that those who are on the higher planes can become more powerful through the surrender of the free will of a human on the lower plane. (6.04 "Frozen", 9.02 "Avalon Part 2", 9.10 "The Fourth Horseman Part 1")

The Altera found the Milky Way Galaxy after traveling thousands of years from their home. They called their new home "Avalon" and built the network of Stargates, called "Astria Porta", as well as several other technologies. After being present in the galaxy for some time, they became known as the Ancients. (9.02 "Avalon Part 2")

The Altera and Ori were advanced in their evolution so that eventually they ascended. In order to make sure that they handled themselves responsibly in the ascended planes, the Altera joined together into a collective which shared the same philosophy concerning ascension and how they interacted with the lower planes of existence. This group became known as The Others. The Ori organized themselves into a collective as well and built a religion centered around worshipping them as humanity's creators and gods, but lying to their believers that they will achieve ascension. The two groups manifest themselves differently in the physical plane of existence: The Others usually take on the form of dark storm clouds, while the Ori have taken on the form of a wall of fire. (5.03 "Ascension", 6.22 "Full Circle", 9.03 "Origin Part 3", 9.10 "The Fourth Horseman Part 1")

The Ancients, the human descendants of the Altera who populated the Milky Way Galaxy, also learned to ascend. There were still some of them, however, who had not yet reached that point. Some of them continued research into ascension where technology could be used to advance a human's evolution through DNA manipulation. While the Ancients existed in both the corporeal and ascended planes, a plague swept through the galaxy and killed off those who could not ascend. Before this happened, however, a group of the Ancients left the Milky Way Galaxy five to ten million years ago in their city-ship Atlantis and settled in the Pegasus Galaxy. After the plague swept through the galaxy, a group of Ancients used a device on the planet known as Dakara and reseeded the galaxy with life. (6.22 "Full Circle", 8.18 "Threads", 9.09 "Prototype"; Stargate Atlantis: 1.01 "Rising Part 1")

The Ancients who left the Milky Way Galaxy to live in the Pegasus Galaxy continued research on ascension. Even throughout those millions of years in the Pegasus Galaxy, there remained those who had not yet evolved to the point where they could naturally ascend. As late as 10,000 years ago, there still remained Ancients who were in human form. These people were the last of the city-dwellers who escaped through the Stargate back to Earth after they lost the war to a race called the Wraith. Ironically, the Ancients created this race when they seeded the Pegasus Galaxy with life upon their arrival. Those Ancients who returned to Earth 10,000 years ago integrated themselves into Earth's societies and some of them actually influenced Earth's history. (9.02 "Avalon Part 2"; Stargate Atlantis: 1.03 "Hide And Seek", 1.15 "Before I Sleep")

Throughout these millions of years, the Altera and Ancients have ascended. Some have joined the collective of Ascended Beings called The Others and it is this group that are now caught in a war of cosmic significance.

The Rules of The Others

The rules of The Others are designed to ensure a kind of balance in the many levels of existence. The Others are afraid of becoming corrupted with the power obtained through the surrender of man's free will, so they have kept their existence secret in order to prevent man from worshipping them as gods and to prevent themselves from succumbing to the temptation of manipulating life on the lower planes to obtain this power. After seeing what the power obtained through worship has done to the Ori, their first rule is that of non-interference. They chose to avoid entirely the risk of corruption this type of power brings (to "deny the battle"). The Others are aware of the planes of existence higher than their own and have decided to pursue a different path in reaching those levels. (4.17 "Absolute Power", 8.18 "Threads", 9.09 "Prototype", 9.10 "The Fourth Horseman Part 1")

The Others' rules concerning action and inaction on the lower planes of existence:

Do not accelerate the natural ascension process of those beneath. (5.03 "Ascension")
No lone ascended being shall help a lower to ascend. (8.18 "Threads")
If you deserve to be here you should be able to get here on your own. If there's an exception, for whatever reason, a majority vote by the collective can get you in. (8.18 "Threads")
The Others use their collective powers to avert anything from affecting the universe on a grand cosmic level. (8.18 "Threads")
The Others are always watching each other and other ascended. (8.18 "Threads")

The Others have enforced these rules through various means when an Ascended Being breaks the rules and takes action in the lower planes. The form of punishment of each individual's crimes varies, but in all cases known to-date, The Others have not destroyed another Ascended Being.

The Outcasts

The following are outcasts of The Others, meaning that they had been part of the collective at one time, but chose to break the rules. Additionally, only those outcasts who have interacted with humanity in the Milky Way Galaxy are included (that is to say, only those met in Stargate SG-1).

Oma Desala

Oma Desala at Kheb

Oma in energy form

Oma in Daniel's death encounters

Oma Desala was the first Ascended Being that the members of SG-1 met. She broke the "number one" rule of The Others: No lone ascended being shall help a lower to ascend. She also broke other rules, such as revealing the Path to Enlightenment (ascension) and spawning religions concerning ascension in several cultures, including those of the Jaffa and of Earth (akin to Buddhism). She built a temple on the planet Kheb and wrote instructions on how to reach the higher planes of existence through metaphysical means. Her philosophy was, "When the mind is enlightened, the spirit is free and the body matters not." She felt that a person who was good to the very core deserved to obtain ascension even if his body was not advanced physically to do it on his own. When she saw "humanity's potential" in an individual, she would watch that person, and when the time was right, usually at that person's death, she'd offer ascension. If the person released his burdens and put behind him his mortal existence, she'd help him to ascend. (3.20 "Maternal Instinct", 6.22 "Full Circle", 8.18 "Threads")

Oma's philosophy was embraced by Daniel Jackson when he began to read the writings on the temple walls at Kheb. He opened his mind to the possibility of ascension, of higher planes of existence. Oma saw a purity in him that singled him out and when he was dying of radiation poisoning, she helped him to ascend. (3.20 "Maternal Instinct", 5.21 "Meridian")

Oma did this with many people over the thousands of years that she worked. For the most part, she was successful in bringing good people into the ascended planes. But, her judgment was not perfect and she made some mistakes. Her biggest mistake was helping Anubis, a Goa'uld, to ascend. He learned enough about ascension from research left behind by the Ancients to trick her. She was not able to see the evil that he was and as soon as she realized what she had done, she tried to undo it, but The Others stepped in. They sent him down a few levels and warned him that he could only do things that a regular Goa'uld could do. But, as Oma's punishment, she could not destroy him and had to watch as he continued to wreak havoc and keep eternal life. All her attempts to do good deeds could not negate the mistake she had made, and as she continued to do her "work", she risked the balance by possibly ascending someone who could not responsibly handle the power which came with being ascended. When Anubis was poised to kill all life in the galaxy, Oma finally decided to take responsibility for breaking the rules and engaged him in an eternal struggle. Now, neither one of them can interfere in any plane of existence, and thus, Oma's work is now ended. (3.20 "Maternal Instinct", 8.18 "Threads")

Orlin

Orlin's first human form

Orlin's second human form

Orlin broke "one of the most sacred rules" of The Others: Do not accelerate the natural ascension process of those beneath. The "natural ascension process" includes both physical and mental advancement. Orlin gave the knowledge on how to build a weapon to a society which was not yet technologically sophisticated enough to create the weapon on their own. The Velonans were about to be destroyed by a Goa'uld and Orlin couldn't stand and watch them die, so he gave them this knowledge and they defeated the Goa'uld. But, with this great power came great responsibility, and the Velonans were so corrupted by this advancement that they decided to use the weapon to conquer other worlds. The Others destroyed the Velonans and then banished Orlin on the desolate planet. (5.03 "Ascension")

When the SGC was about to power up the weapon on Velona, Orlin retook human form and physically tried to prevent its use. The Others had seen Orlin's sacrifice after he successfully disconnected the naquadah reactor the SGC had used as the weapon's new power source and was mortally wounded in the process. As he lay dying, The Others accepted him back into the collective and he ascended once more. He destroyed the remaining pieces of the weapon with lightning and then rejoined The Others in their storm cloud. (5.03 "Ascension")

But, Orlin kept an eye on what was going on with Carter since he had fallen in love with her the moment he first saw her on Velona. After the Ori sent a plague to Earth through one of their Priors (missionaries), he decided to retake human form once again to help find a cure. Surprisingly, Orlin was permitted to retain all of his advanced knowledge he had gained as an Ascended Being. The Others permitted him to keep this knowledge because of the great threat the Ori posed to everyone's planes of existence. But, Orlin's crossing the line came at a tremendous sacrifice, for he knew that he would not be permitted to ascend again and his use of the knowledge would permanently damage his brain. Orlin did help the SGC in developing a vaccine to the plauge, but the cost was his memories of those he loved and of his successful contributions to help humanity. He was committed to a care facility on Earth to live out his days as a human. (9.10 "The Fourth Horseman Part 1", 9.11 "The Fourth Horseman Part 2")

The Outsiders

Outsiders are those who were never part of the collective. They ascended through various means and were never accepted by The Others, but were always watched by them. The two outsiders mentioned in this section both happened to have been helped to ascend by Oma Desala.

Daniel Jackson

Daniel Jackson ascending

Daniel's first ascension

Daniel's second ascension

After meeting Daniel Jackson on the planet Kheb, Oma Desala watched him and offered him ascension after his body was exposed to a lethal dose of radiation on the planet Kelowna. She was impressed by him while on Kheb and admired him for his selfless and courageous sacrifice to save the people of Kelowna with no thought of himself. Daniel accepted ascension and spent a year learning from Oma. As one of Oma's followers, Daniel creatively interpreted the rules of The Others and often broke them when the lives of his friends were at stake. He was never accepted by The Others and hadn't met any of them by the time he decided to cross the line and help SG-1 and the Abydonians fight against Anubis. But, Oma had warned him that if he did anything that would attract The Others' attention, she'd pull him out. True to her word, as soon as she saw that Daniel was about to use his ascended powers to kill Anubis, Oma pulled him out, fearing that The Others would do something more drastic to him. (3.20 "Maternal Instinct", 5.21 "Meridian", 6.06 "Abyss", 6.19 "Changeling", 6.22 "Full Circle", 8.18 "Threads")

Daniel found out that Oma had helped Anubis to ascend and grew angry. He couldn't continue in his state knowing that he would be stopped from fighting Anubis and helping humanity any way he could while The Others did nothing but watch. He decided to return to human form. The Others allowed his return, under the condition that his memories be erased. Oma broke the rules again and merely buried Daniel's memories and extensive ascended knowledge. She sent him to the planet Vis Uban where he could be found by his friends and returned home. Daniel's pre-ascension memories began to return, but only a few instances of his life as an Ascended Being ever resurfaced. The buried Ancient knowledge was discovered by Replicator Carter during a mind probe and was brought forth at an overwhelming pace. Daniel said that it was more than a mere human could understand, but he was able to use some of it to gain control over the Replicators. Replicator Carter killed him to end this control. (7.01 "Fallen Part 1", 7.04 "Orpheus", 8.16 "Reckoning Part 1", 8.17 "Reckoning Part 2", 8.18 "Threads")

Oma, still believing that Daniel deserved ascension and knowing that she had something to do with his first ascension going wrong, took Daniel to a stopping place between death and ascension to offer him a chance to continue as an Ascended Being. Daniel encountered The Others for the first time in this "stop along the way", a surreal place which took on the form of a diner from Daniel's childhood memories. The Others were customers in this place and Oma was their waitress. Daniel and Oma talked about his first ascension and the circumstances of his decision to retake human form, and The Others ignored his attempts at conversation and merely watched silently. When Daniel was visited by Anubis in the form of a friendly businessman, he discovered for a second time that Oma had helped Anubis to ascend. His emotional plea to The Others to end Oma's punishment and to stop Anubis from destroying all life in the Milky Way Galaxy fell on deaf ears, but Oma was moved to take action. She engaged Anubis in an eternal battle which would prevent either one of them from ever interfering with the lower planes again. (8.18 "Threads")

This left Daniel alone with The Others. Their attention was gained when Oma made her move, but Daniel's further interactions with them was not revealed. Most likely it was The Others who caused the confusion of Anubis' Kull Warriors on Dakara so that the Free Jaffa could defeat them and the suspension of the self-destruct at the SGC which they had activated to attempt to save themselves from the destructive wave of the device on Dakara which Anubis was about to activate to destroy all life in the galaxy. Daniel retook human form once again, this time reappearing in Jack's office and with his memories intact. Whether or not he still possessed the knowledge of the Ancients was not addressed, but it is highly unlikely that The Others would permit him to retain such knowledge. (8.18 "Threads")

At first, after Daniel's return from his first ascension, Jack and others believed that Daniel had been kicked out by The Others because of his inability to abide by their rules. Indeed, Daniel interpreted the rules creatively and walked the fine line which would have gained The Others' attention, but ultimately, it was his decision to return to human form. But because he couldn't remember the circumstances of his return, Daniel also believed that he had done something seriously wrong and thought that he'd never be able to make up for it. Not understanding The Others' reasons for their non-interference policy, members of the SGC believed that The Others merely felt that they were so far above humanity that humanity was insignificant to them, much like insects are to humans. This attitude continued for some time until Daniel actually met The Others and the Ori. Now, Daniel appears to have a greater respect for The Others and often argues on their behalf when facing the Ori, the Doci, and the Priors. (7.01 "Fallen Part 1", 7.03 "Fragile Balance", 7.20 "Inauguration", 8.18 "Threads", 9.02 "Avalon Part 2", 9.03 "Origin Part 3", 9.05 "The Powers That Be", 9.10 "The Fourth Horseman Part 1", 9.11 "The Fourth Horseman Part 2")

Anubis

Anubis in his cloak and shield

Anubis burning out a host

Anubis in Daniel's death encounter

Anubis found some Ancient research on ascension and made his way to Kheb where he tricked Oma Desala into ascending him. After realizing her mistake, Oma tried to undo it, but The Others stepped in. Anubis was placed on a level described by Daniel as being "stuck somewhere between human existence and ascension." The Others warned him that he could only do things that a regular Goa'uld could do, but he was permitted to stay in this form, basically having eternal life. Anubis created a cloak and shield which permitted him to interact with the physical plane, but he still remained a form of energy. (6.22 "Full Circle", 8.18 "Threads")

Daniel attempted to kill Anubis with his ascended powers when Anubis threatened Abydos, but Oma pulled him out. Anubis cowered at the attack, apparently believing that Daniel had the power to kill him, even in his ascended state. Anubis lost his shield when his fleet was destroyed from the use of the Ancient weapons in the Antarctic Outpost, but his energy form remained. He hitched a ride on a cosmonaut who was working in the International Space Station and from there, he continued to take human hosts to gain access to the Stargate on Earth. Anubis' possession of a host was temporary because his energy form burned up the bodies unto their deaths. While at the SGC, Anubis actually took Daniel Jackson as a host. The extent of how much information he obtained from any of the hosts he had at the SGC was never given, but he clearly had full access to their minds. (6.22 "Full Circle", 7.22 "Lost City Part 2", 8.03 "Lockdown")

Daniel wanted to use the rules of The Others to get them to act against Anubis while he was haunting the SGC. The SGC devised a plan in which they would force Anubis to use his ascended powers to get to the Stargate, but Anubis, ironically, adhered to the rules of The Others closer than Daniel ever did, and made it to the Stargate without drawing The Others' attention. Even though he was incapacitated for a short while, Anubis made it back to his homeworld, but decided from then on out to use human hosts. He'd take a new host once the previous one's body burned out. The vanity for which the Goa'uld are famous took the form of handsome male hosts whom Anubis enjoyed looking at in the mirror. (8.03 "Lockdown", 8.16 "Reckoning Part 1")

Once Anubis decided to destroy all life in the Milky Way Galaxy, The Others still stood silently and watched. Daniel eventually interpreted this inaction as being The Others' desire that man exercise his own free will, even if it meant his own destruction. Eventually, however, Daniel learned that there was more to it than just a respect for humanity's free will that played a role in The Others' non-interference policy. (8.18 "Threads", 9.02 "Avalon Part 2", 9.03 "Origin Part 3", 9.10 "The Fourth Horseman Part 1")

After Oma decided to engage Anubis in an eternal battle, The Others might have voted to intervene and confuse Anubis' Kull Warriors on Dakara and stop the SGC's self-destruct. For whatever reasons they used to take action, they actually saved many lives rather than destroyed them as they had done to the Velonans. Daniel's plea might have had something to do with their decision to take action, but we were never told what exactly happened during Daniel's time with The Others after Oma left him alone with them in his plane of existence. (8.18 "Threads")

Several months after Anubis and Oma entered their eternal battle, SG-1 discovered a human-Goa'uld hybrid named Khalek who was created by Anubis in an underground lab on the planet P3X-584. Anubis was using an Ancient DNA manipulation device to create an advanced human with the ability to ascend. Teal'c speculated that Anubis was attempting to create a more advanced soldier than the Kull Warriors, but Khalek's true purpose was never revealed. Khalek possessed all of Anubis' Goa'uld genetic memories and Anubis gave him his ascended memories as well. Khalek also inherited Anubis' evil nature and used his advanced powers to kill and destroy. Daniel and Mitchell, SG-1's new leader, killed him before he could advance his evolution further toward ascension. If Khalek had ascended, it's not clear what The Others would have done, but they most likely would have taken some form of action against him because Anubis had physically and mentally accelerated Khalek's ascension process and Khalek would not have gotten there on his own. (9.09 "Prototype")

A War of Cosmic Significance

The Ori in their wall of fire

The Doci speaks the word of the Ori

The Priors of the Ori obtain worshippers

For millions of years, The Others have watched and have only used their collective powers when they deem it necessary to preserve the cosmic balance. After the Ori discovered that there was a generation of humanity in the Milky Way Galaxy, they saw that they could increase their power with the additional billions of worshippers they hoped to obtain. With every planet that the Ori successfully turn to them, the Ori grow stronger in their powers, threatening The Others' existence. If the Ori fail at converting someone, they destroy them, thus preventing the possibility that that individual would turn to The Others or any other Ascended Being. The Others' numbers might be more at this time, but they are not increasing their numbers or powers now. Ironically, Oma's work might have actually strengthened them. (9.03 "Origin Part 3", 9.10 "The Fourth Horseman Part 1")

The Others are not certain what the outcome would be if they were to engage the Ori directly. They used their collective power to shield the existence of humanity in the Milky Way from the Ori, but now that the Ori are aware, The Others will not interfere because of their strict non-interference policy. Even more ironic is the fact that The Others currently depend on rogue members, such as Orlin, who sacrifice their ascension and chance for further enlightenment to take human form to aid humanity in the fight against an enemy of their own making. The Others have voted to permit such rogues to retain enough of their ascended knowledge to make a difference, but the attempts to retain such knowledge for a long period of time prove detrimental and irreversible. (9.03 "Origin Part 3", 9.10 "The Fourth Horseman Part 1", 9.11 "The Fourth Horseman Part 2")

Notable Characters

Oma Desala - Oma Desala was banished by The Others because she felt it was her duty to help people ascend, thus breaking one of the most sacred rules of the ascended. The Others watched and waited for Oma to take responsibility for helping the evil Goa'uld Anubis to ascend. Because she was prevented from destroying Anubis, Oma felt that she could make up for his evil actions with helping good people to ascend. Finally, after Daniel made a heart-felt plea on her behalf to end her punishment regarding Anubis, Oma decided to take action herself. She engaged Anubis in an eternal struggle which would prevent both of them from ever interacting with the corporeal plane again.
Orlin - At one time, Orlin was an outcast, but he was accepted back into The Others. After the Ori discovered humanity in the Milky Way Galaxy, The Others permitted Orlin to return to human form with some of his ascended knowledge to help the SGC in the fight against the Priors, the Ori's corporeal representatives. Orlin helped the SGC develop a vaccine against the Prior Plague, but the cost was his mental health. He was committed to a care facility on Earth with no memory of those close to him or of his successful contributions to help humanity.

Alliances

SGC - Although not a true alliance because none of The Others are interacting directly with the members of the SGC, The Others have permitted one of their own to retake human form with his ascended memories intact in order to aid in the fight against the Ori. Thus far, such rogue members of The Others include: Orlin

Enemies

Anubis - The Others acted against Anubis after he first ascended, placed him on a lower level, and warned him not to use any of his ascended powers. Anubis is now engaged in an eternal battle with Oma Desala and, theoretically, no longer poses a threat.
Ori - Before they ascended, the Ori and the Alterans were of one society, but they divided because of philosophical differences. The Ori attempted to wipe out the Alterans, so the Alterans fled. Now that both groups are Ascended Beings, they hold a kind of balance in the ascended planes which the Ori are now trying to tip in their favor with the addition of human worshippers from the Milky Way Galaxy. Once they gain the power they need from new worshippers, they mean to destroy the Ancients.

Episodes

Gallery

Ascended Beings Screencapture Gallery Contains images of Oma Desala, Shifu, Orlin, The Others, the ascended Daniel Jackson and the partially ascended Anubis. Clicking on each thumbnail will lead you to a larger image which you are welcome to download. If you click on the gallery's home button, you will be sent to the article on Ascended Beings.

The Others

Contents

Summary

Known by Many Names

The Rules of The Others