Eli Wallace
WARNING: SPOILERS
The following article contains SPOILERS. Proceed at your own risk.
Summary
From MGM: A technology wunderkid with an inability to apply himself, Eli spends most of his time playing on his computer. He catches the attention of the Icarus program after solving an embedded code in a particular video game. Eli finds himself beamed aboard a spaceship, recruited to solve the 9th Chevron power dilemma. A sarcastic pop culture nerd, he immediately connects with Chloe Armstrong, the beautiful political aide. His genius is a valuable commodity once stranded aboard the Destiny and leads him to being pulled between the many camps and players on the ship. While torn with leaving his single mother behind, he realizes that he may be part of the most important discovery mankind has ever made.
Personal Data
- Birthday:
- Birthplace:
- Marital Status: Single
- Children:
- Parents: Maryann Wallace
- Siblings:
- Stargate Program Rank: Civilian
- Stargate Program Position: Math and technology expert working on the ninth chevron mystery of the Stargate, and due to circumstances, among those stranded on Destiny
Before Joining the Stargate Program
"I play Eli Wallace. He's two things: He is all of us, especially dorks like me who follow science fiction, who follow technology, video games, pretty much anything that has a fantasy element. On the other side of things, he's also this—not idiot savant—but I'll take the 'savant' part. He's not just naturally good at things; he has a predisposition to being curious. He always wants to know how things work and why things work, and the only thing that's keeping him really from probably being a McKay or a Daniel Jackson is that he just—he didn't finish. He started MIT; he started pursuing all these interests and just somewhere along the way, I personally think that he was just afraid to not follow through so the easiest way to do that would be just to not follow through himself by choice. That's kind of where we first meet Eli." (David Blue, MGM Character Profile video)
Icarus Base and Destiny
"Even the characters amongst us who are maybe a little bit more light hearted, like Eli is, finding the wit in it, there's something below there that caused that, and I think that's where the hero and villain comes in for Eli. He tries to be the good guy but there's this laziness amongst him, almost an indifference which in situations may not be the most helpful thing. But for the most part, I'm lucky in that my character means well, so I get to kind of err on the side of the hero, but my villainy lies mostly in my unwillingness to be the hero." (David Blue, Moviehole interview, August 11, 2009)
What caught the eye of the higher-ups in the Stargate Program, and of the Icarus project in particular, was Eli's solving of the Dakara Puzzle that was embedded in a popular online video game. He was recruited by Lt. General Jack O'Neill and Dr. Nicholas Rush because of his tremendous mathematical genius. Rush admitted that he needed Eli, something that came hard to a man as knowledgeable as Rush is with Ancient technology. The two worked closely together to figure out how the ninth chevron functioned in a Stargate. They often get into verbal battles when debating their opposing views, but still, Eli has a great respect for Rush's intellect. (spoilers for "Air" and "Sabotage")
After becoming stranded on the Destiny, Eli uses the Ancient Communications Stones to swap bodies with someone on Earth. He and Chloe Armstrong visit a bar where Eli witnesses Chloe's heartbreak of not being loved by her so-called friends. Eli shows a soft side by offering Chloe comfort and admits that the only person in the world who cares about him is his mother. He also admits that he's both excited and scared about their being stranded on the Destiny with no current means to return home. (Based on spoilers for "Air", subject to change; see Solutions: SGU Audition Sides Reveal Characters, Technology, November 21, 2008)
Hobbies and Other Interests
- Video games
- Pop culture
Injuries, Illnesses/Sicknesses, Deaths
Key Episodes
Gallery
Related Characters
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Actor
--17:05, 22 July 2009 (UTC)