THE GENII: A secretive and militaristic society,
the Genii endured generations of persecution at the hands of the Wraith.
This drove their society underground, where they could advance technologically –
and develop weapons of war in the hopes of one day striking back against their enemy.
As a result the Genii became deeply untrusting of others,
interacting with worlds across the Pegasus Galaxy ... but rarely making true friends and allies.
The Genii are natives of the Pegasus Galaxy, where like many other human cultures they live
under the oppression of the Wraith. The vampiric species awakens from hibernation
to feed upon human victims once every several decades, and these cullings
suppress the development of human cultures. In response the Genii people lived a dual
existence for generations. One sits above ground, where they appear to be a simple,
agrarian society, known throughout the galaxy particularly for their tava beans.
But another is concealed in a network of underground caverns, where the true Genii
were able to advance technologically and build their military forces.
Their single-minded devotion to this appears to have left other aspects of their culture suppressed.
The Genii have used the Stargate network to trade with other planets for countless generations,
always hiding their true nature even from their allies.
Long ago, in fact the Genii civilization itself spanned a great confederation of planets.
But the Wraith drove them to the brink of extinction thousands of years ago.
It was then that the Genii leadership sought protection
for their people in underground bunkers. Today the Genii’s level of technology is
roughly equivalent to the United States and Europe of the 1940s. They possess small-caliber firearms,
and have developed (but not perfected) atomic weapons. This, along with their eager willingness
to take the fight straight to the Wraith, makes them a dangerous player in the Pegasus Galaxy.
When Major John Sheppard and his team first met the Genii,
their leader was a military chief named Cowen. After a joint operation to infiltrate a Wraith
hive ship resulted in the death of one of his men, Cowen turned on Sheppard’s team. At gunpoint he
attempted to extort both a valuable Wraith data storage device and the team’s Puddle Jumper.
The effort failed, and Atlantis’ relationship with the Genii was soured.
Some weeks later Cowen ordered Genii Commander Acastus Kolya to seize the city of the Ancients.
A Genii infiltration team penetrated the city and temporarily took control,
taking advantage of a major storm that had forced most of the inhabitants to evacuate.
When his strike force was taken out and the measures protecting the city from the stormfront
were disabled, Kolya gave up Atlantis and fled through the Stargate. The Genii lost more than
60 soldiers in the effort, solidifying hostile relations with the expedition from Earth.
Later Atlantis was besieged by the Wraith, and Elizabeth Weir contacted the Genii in
an effort to secure their aid against their common enemy. After tense negotiations with
Prenum, Weir provided the Genii with an opportunity to test their new weapons.
A nuclear device was deployed successfully against a Wraith hive ship.
After Kolya’s failed attempt to seize Atlantis he lost his standing with Chief Cowen and was pushed
out of the inner circles of power on the Genii homeworld. His suspicious nature now turned upon
his own leader, Kolya determined to overthrow what he believed was Cowen’s corrupt regime.
When his plans were exposed Kolya was forced to flee,
along with a small detachment of men still loyal to him. Before he could mount his return to oppose
Cowen for control of the Genii’s future, Kolya met his end in a standoff with John Sheppard.
Meanwhile one of Kolya’s cunning young soldiers, Ladon Radim, orchestrated his own power grab.
It was he who had exposed Kolya’s plan to Chief Cowen, in order to eliminate the competition.
Ladon himself then enacted a shrewd plan to eliminate Cowen and replace him in a coup d’etat.
Pretending to be working with Cowen to trick Atlantis, Ladon turned the tables on the
Genii commander – killing Cowen and his elite guard with one of his own nuclear weapons.
When Ladon returned home Cowen’s loyalists saw their defeat
and laid down their weapons. The Genii hailed the event as
a “bloodless coup” ... since none of their people had died on Genii soil.
In subsequent years Ladon proved to be more amicable to an alliance with Atlantis –
if an uneasy one. Though he did not try to storm the city or kill its people,
Ladon continued to operate in his own interests, and those of the Genii people.
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