Unas

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Chaka of the Unas

Summary

According to a theory developed by Drs. Daniel Jackson and Robert Rothman, the Unas evolved on the same planet as the Goa'uld and were, therefore, the first hosts to the symbiotes. Eventually, however, the Goa'uld preferred to take human beings as hosts because their bodies were more easily maintained. Because of their physical strength, however, the Unas became slaves of the Goa'uld, primarily used to mine the precious mineral naquadah upon which the Goa'uld's technology depended.

Stargate References

The first Unas which SG-1 encountered was on the planet Cimmeria. The Asgard had protected Cimmeria with a device which would detect Goa'uld symbiotes as soon as the host or Jaffa stepped through the Stargate and transport the individual to a labyrinth inside a mountain. The only way out of the labyrinth was for the individual to pass through "Thor's Hammer", a device which would kill the symbiote, but leave the host unharmed. Only the host could leave the labyrinth alive. According to Teal'c, the Unas were a species which were believed to have been the first hosts, born of the same primordial waters as the Goa'uld. This belief had become a myth among the Jaffa, but proved to be the basis of the theories put forth by Drs. Daniel Jackson and Robert Rothman concerning the planet P3X-888 (1.10 "Thor's Hammer", 4.08 "The First Ones").

This large Unas had been trapped in the labyrinth at least for ten seasons since that was how long ago Kendra had been in the labyrinth when she was freed of her Goa'uld symbiote by the Hammer. He ate the others who were trapped with him to stay alive. The Unas had great regenerative abilities, enhanced by the healing powers of the symbiote. He spoke to Jack and Teal'c who had been trapped there as soon as they stepped through the Stargate and Teal'c's larval Goa'uld was detected. This Unas said he was "The First One" and that even though his kind were few, they ruled over millions. Jack and Teal'c killed the Unas through the use of Earth weapons (which drew the Unas's green blood) and the Hammer. Kendra led Daniel and Carter to the labyrinth to reunite SG-1. In order to free Teal'c, Jack asked Daniel to destroy the Hammer.

The First One: Unas trapped on Cimmeria
Teal'c kills The First One in Thor's Hammer

Sokar's Unas was considered a demon by the Christian society on the planet P9X-3971. It was an appropriate name for the creature who was also a Goa'uld host. Since Sokar impersonated the Devil (Satan), it was easy for this Unas to promote fear and terror among the people, coming routinely through the Circle of Darkness (Stargate) to take five humans to become hosts. These people were usually those who were ill or had been deemed by the village Canon to have evil souls. SG-1 convinced the people to oppose the Unas and he was killed. His symbiote transferred to the Canon, but he, too, was killed. The people of P9X-3971 promised to bury their Stargate as soon as SG-1 left. (3.08 "Demons")

Unas impersonating Satan's demon
Teal'c approaches the dead Unas

The most prominent of the Unas befriended by the SGC was Chaka. He was a young Unas who raided the paleontological dig site being manned by SG-11, including Dr. Robert Rothman, and Daniel Jackson on the planet P3X-888, the planet which was theorized to be the birthplace of both the Goa'uld and the Unas. Chaka killed several members of SG-11 in his effort to obtain his human captive, Daniel, who was going to be served as a meal in celebration of Chaka's success in his rite of passage. While Chaka dragged Daniel to his cave home, the two began to communicate and care for each other as friends. Even though they did start to understand each other, Daniel still wasn't certain of his fate, so he left clues along the way so that the search party could find and rescue him. Chaka presented Daniel to his clan's leader, a huge and quite aggressive alpha male, but instead of killing Daniel for the ceremony, Chaka proposed allowing Daniel into the clan. The alpha male did not approve and attempted to kill Daniel, but Chaka stepped in to protect him. The remaining members of SG-1 arrived in time to help Chaka kill the alpha male and become his clan's new leader. He wanted Daniel to stay, but Daniel declined. They parted friends, however, and Chaka left the invitation open for him to return to get to know the Unas. (4.08 "The First Ones")

Chaka of P3X-888
Unas Alpha Male
Chaka kills the Alpha Male and becomes his clan's new leader

Daniel and a new SG-11 continued to study the Unas of P3X-888 by leaving a video camera hidden from view near the Stargate. Daniel would leave Chaka a present each time he visited, usually an energy bar which Chaka enjoyed very much. Daniel had made his first breakthrough with communicating with Chaka with one of these energy bars, and Chaka used the same method to attempt to befriend human strangers who visited his planet. These men, however, were Unas Traders who made their living breeding and training Unas for domesticated labor, or slavery. Having captured Chaka's abduction on video tape, Daniel asked for permission to rescue his friend. The video camera had recorded the Stargate coordinates from the DHD as the Unas Traders returned home, and SG-1 went to this planet to retrieve Chaka. They found a society which had originally been enslaved by the Unas, most probably those Unas who were hosts to Goa'uld symbiotes. The humans of the planet revolted and soon the Unas became the slaves instead of the masters. This happened generations ago and was called the Beast Wars. Chaka befriended some of the other Unas held captive with him, and soon SG-1 found themselves in the middle of an Unas revolt. Chaka killed the leader of the Unas Traders, Burrock, started a revolt, and eventually, negotiated a truce with the human inhabitants of the planet which successfully freed the Unas. (5.07 "Beast of Burden", 7.07 "Enemy Mine")

Enslaved Unas ("Big One"), one of the first to fall in the revolt
This Enslaved Unas ("Shy One") declared Chaka the alpha male of the Unas slaves
Daniel entreats Chaka to find a peaceable solution to the Unas revolt

Chaka's friendship with Daniel continued and his understanding of humans improved. Daniel also learned much of the Unas language through Chaka, but felt that it was not enough to negotiate with the Unas clans left behind by the Goa'uld on P3X-403. For whatever reason, the Goa'uld left these Unas behind after using them to mine naquadah. The SGC discovered a rich vein of naquadah and began mining operations, not knowing that there were Unas on the planet, since they are primarily cave dwellers. Having failed to consult Daniel when artifacts were found, the mining crew inadvertantly provoked the Unas when they encroached on the Unas' sacred grounds. The Unas killed one of the SG-11 surveyors as a warning, but the SGC was under pressure from the Pentagon to mine the naquadah to build spaceships like the Prometheus. Daniel asked Chaka to help him contact and negotiate with the leader of the Unas on the planet to see if an agreement could be reached before any more blood was shed. The leader of the Unas was Iron Shirt, an extremely charismatic Unas with tremendous presence and negotiating skills. With Iron Shirt's wise leadership and Chaka's assistance in showing Daniel the Unas ways of negotiating, the Unas and the SGC made an agreement where the Unas would mine the naquadah themselves and give it to the SGC to build the weapons necessary to defeat the Goa'uld. Iron Shirt proposed this contract because he wanted to give his clans a way to honor their dead ancestors who had labored and died in the mines under Goa'uld oppression. (7.07 "Enemy Mine")

Iron Shirt, Alpha Male of P3X-403
Unas clan members ready to attack the humans
Daniel and Chaka befriend Iron Shirt

Notable Characters

  • Chaka - Chaka could have become an enemy, but with Daniel Jackson's reaching out to befriend him, he became an important representative of the Unas and a skilled negotiator.
  • Iron Shirt - His Unas name was Kor Asek and he was the Alpha Male of the Unas of P3X-403. With the help of Chaka and Daniel, Iron Shirt proposed a naquadah mining contract with the SGC to honor his enslaved ancestors who died in the mines under Goa'uld oppression.

Alliances

  • The Unas were the first hosts to the Goa'uld, but most likely were taken as hosts unwillingly. The Unas who have never been taken as hosts wear bony necklaces to prevent a Goa'uld symbiote from invading through the neck.
  • With the help of Chaka, the Unas of three planets (P3X-888, P3X-403, and one unidentified planet) have become allies of the SGC.

Enemies

  • Unas Traders - These men bred and trained Unas as slaves, but their practices were limited to a single planet and were ended when the Unas, led by Chaka, revolted and gained their freedom.
  • Goa'uld - For thousands of years, the Unas were taken as Goa'uld hosts. Once the Goa'uld discovered human hosts 10,000 years ago, they used the Unas as slave labor.

Episodes

Related Articles

Related Characters

Keywords

Actors

Voice Characterization:

Unnamed Unas:

Chaka:

Iron Shirt:

--DeeKayP 13:35, 28 Sep 2004 (PDT)

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