APOPHIS: A powerful leader among the Goa’uld, over many centuries Apophis secured his reputation as
one of the most cunning and ruthless System Lords. He was the first to make contact with
Earth and the Tau’ri following the destruction of a key rival, the Supreme System Lord
Ra. And his bitter contest with SG-1 – especially his former First Prime, Teal’c – was matched only
by his conflict other Goa’uld who were looking to eliminate Apophis and seize his territory.
The Goa’uld Apophis lived for many thousands of years, and was reputed to be the “brother”
of Ra. In ancient Egyptian mythology Apophis is the serpent god, the god of night and of death,
who is in a constant struggle with the god of the day – Ra, the sun god.
His beloved mate is Amonet, the mother of his son Klorel. It was the search for a new host
for his queen that brought Apophis to Earth. He abducted an Air Force sergeant and took her
through the Stargate, and also abducted women from many other worlds as well.
On the planet Abydos, Apophis and his serpent guard captured the tribal princess Sha’re,
the wife of Daniel Jackson, as well as her brother Skaara.
Skaara would become the unwilling host body for Apophis’ son,
Klorel – and Sha’re, his queen Amonet. This made SG-1’s opposition to Apophis
particularly bitter. But it would be all the more so when the System Lord’s right-hand man,
his First Prime Teal’c, betrayed his master and defected to the Tau’ri.
In the beginning, however, the Tau’ri were mostly an annoyance to the mighty System Lord, whose
sprawling empire covered many star systems and inhabited worlds. The greater threats to him were
his fellow Goa’uld – and after SG-1 handed him a major defeat, they soon exploited his weakness.
Apophis and Klorel attempted to invade the planet Earth directly in a pair of Goa’uld motherships,
only to have their effort foiled by SG-1 – along with another First Prime
not loyal to Apophis, Master Bra’tac. Apophis escaped through the ship’s Stargate,
and was forced to regroup. It was then that the Goa’uld Sokar attempted to eliminate him. Apophis
was captured and tortured, and when he escaped he turned to the Tau’ri for sanctuary on Earth.
While SG-1 faced their greatest enemy in this utterly helpless state, Dr. Jackson
was able to offer last rites to his host – an Egyptian man who may be thousands of years old.
Apophis died, and his body was returned to Sokar to prevent another attack on Earth.
But Sokar used sarcophagus technology to bring his enemy back to life, so that he
could torture Apophis over and over again. Eventually Apophis was banished to the prison
moon of Ne’tu. There he took the name Na’onak – probably to shield his true identity from his many
enemies – and his cunning soon elevated him to the rank of First Prime to the prison warden, Bynarr.
When SG-1 and the Tok’ra came to Ne’tu to rescue Jacob Carter, Apophis saw an opportunity to escape
and regain his rightful place. Though his entreaties to Sokar failed, Sokar himself was
killed when the prison moon was obliterated. Apophis transported to the planet Delmak,
where he seized control of Sokar’s mighty fleet and bent it to serve his own will.
Apophis later entered into negotiations with another System Lord – Ra’s son, Heru’ur. Again,
SG-1 and the Tok’ra interfered in an attempt to sabotage their alliance.
But the result was worse than they could have imagined: believing that Heru’ur had betrayed him,
he destroyed Heru’ur’s ships, and as a conquering power
absorbed all of Heru’ur’s domain into his own. Apophis was now more powerful than ever, having
risen from nothing to become the most powerful Goa’uld in the galaxy in a few short years.
Apophis was finally eliminated once and for all not by SG-1, but by a common enemy.
Stranded with SG-1 in a distant galaxy, Apophis found his ship overrun by Replicators – a
technological scourge looking to gain a foothold in the Milky Way. Apophis
brainwashed Teal’c and took control of SG-1’s mothership, but his triumph was short-lived.
The Replicators modified the ship’s engines to travel very quickly across galaxies ... but SG-1
sabotaged the vessel’s braking system. When they arrived in the Milky Way the Replicators, along
with a helpless and isolated Apophis, crashed into the planet Delmak in a fiery explosion.
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