Asuran

The Asurans are a machine species that feature in Stargate: Atlantis.

History

Creation

The Asurans

Over 10,000 years ago, the Ancients were desperate to find a better way to fight the Wraith. Even though they were outnumbered, they still had a technological advantage, so they developed tiny machines—nanites—that were designed to infiltrate and destroy from within. These tiny machines were programmed with an aggression directive that made them more tenacious than even the Wraith. They were designed to assimilate organic tissue and replicate, but they evolved much faster than the Ancients thought possible when they interlocked to form more complex organisms. Soon, the artificial lifeforms looked just like their creators. (Episode: Progeny) The Ancients developed the replicants in a research facility on the planet Asuras, but they also had one crucial piece of their technology for programming and creating 'full-grown' replicants in Atlantis. Asuras was rich in neutronium, an essential material used in the creation of the nanites. Because they developed on Asuras, the human-form replicators called themselves Asurans, and they began to build a city that emulated the Ancients. The first Asuran and the leader of his people was Oberoth. (Episode: Be All My Sins Remember'd Part 2)

Despite their efforts, the Ancients were not thorough in their extermination with a few of the nanites surviving thus allowing the Asurans to recreate themselves. (Episode: Progeny)

Discovery of Atlantis

When the Atlantis Expedition found the reference to an Ancient research facility in the Ancient Database, they decided to dial the address to investigate. To their surprise, they found an advanced and seemingly Ancient civilization that thrived for the thousands of years after Atlantis fell to the Wraith. The inhabitants introduced their planet as Asuras and themselves as the Asurans. Even though their great city was built to hold millions of people, the Asurans were not receptive to having the Expedition join them as refugees, nor were they interested in involving themselves in the fight against the Wraith. But once Dr. Weir mentioned that most of the Ancients had ascended, some of the Asurans' interest in the Expedition was piqued. Even though their leader Oberoth was not interested in ascension, there was a group, led by Niam, who wished to avoid their society's stagnation and strive for their next form of evolution just as the Ancients had done. (Episode: Progeny)

Overview

Nanites

Though the Asurans appear to be Human at a glance, they are actually made of microscopic nanites that have converged together into a single form. As such, they have incredibly strong; able to lift a grown Human or throw them across a room. This also provides them with other advantages such as the ability to actually move through doors or other enclosures so long as their are microscopic cracks for them to move through. This same ability also allows them to move their hands into the foreheads of captured Humans in order to interrogate them by entering their minds; a process that can be quite painful. Once this is complete, the Asurans know everything their prisoner knew which has proven to be quite an effective information gathering feat.

As they are made from a cloud of nanites, the Asurans have proven to a large number of weaponry; both projectile and energy though the weapon fire does temporarily stun them.

Base Code

The base code is the term given to the underlining program that governs the Asuran replicators. There are millions of such codes embedded within the Asurans which covers various directives. Some commands included a programmed response to attack the Wraith aggressively, to never harm their creators, prevention of taking on a different form from their natural Human looking appearance as well as forbid them from tampering with their own code.

After Dr McKay hacked into the base code the first time, the Asurans were given a window into altering their own code on a limited level. This allowed them to remove the directive that prevented them from harming their makers.

Subspace Link

Asuran network.

All the Asurans are connected to one another through a subspace network; a collective which guides them together as a singular. They are not a hive mind and are capable of working as individuals though the link provides them a greater degree of efficiency. It also allows them to distribute data among their kind during periodic Merges where they remain inactive as the information is uploaded to them.

One of the more powerful aspects of the link is the capability of the Asurans of using it to connect to renegade members of their kind. This allows them to Reset those Asurans that have turned against them and reverted them back to their base programming state. Essentially, this means that all the experiences they have learnt are wiped and they return to their most aggressive earlier state.

Technology

One weapon within their arsenal was a special type of satellite. These satellite were comprised of many of the same basic systems found on a spacecraft. It possessed a hyperdrive engine to travel to its destination, an attitude control system to aim at a target, a navigation system, a defensive energy shield, and a small power source. This power source was designed to power the engines to take the satellite to its intended destination and power the energy shield until the Stargate mounted at the satellite's center can be dialed. The satellite's weapon was not located on the satellite itself, but rather was sent through the Stargate. Once a wormhole has been established, a continuous energy beam was fired into the dialing gate and emerges from the dialed gate. Once this beam is active, the satellite ceases to be powered from its on-board power source, but is rather powered by the energy of the beam itself. Thus, as long as power is provided to the beam from the dialing gate, the Stargate and satellite will remain active. If powered by a black hole or multiple Zero Point Module, it is possible for the energy beam to remain active indefinitely. If a Stargate is already present at the satellite's destination, the satellite's Stargate will prevent the native Stargate from achieving a wormhole due to its proximity, if active. (Episode: First Strike)

Members

• Oberoth :
• Cetus :
• Talus :
• Niam :
• FRAN :

Notes

• The Asurans were created by Robert C. Cooper and Carl Binder where they featured in the setting of the Stargate universe.
• Though introduced as Asurans, they were commonly referred to in dialogue as Replicators.

Appearances

• Stargate Atlantis:

External Links

• Wikipedia Entry
• Stargate Wiki

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