Apophis

Biography

Apophis

Apophis was one of the parasitical Goa'uld race. When the goa'uld Ra discovered Earth, most Goa'uld, including Apophis, chose to take human hosts. Apophis chose an Egyptian scribe from the temple of Amun at Carnak. Apophis swiftly rose in power to become the chief rival of Ra. Apophis struggled with Ra for dominance, but was unsuccessful for five thousand years, until Ra was killed at Abydos by an Earth exploration team. Apophis quickly moved to fill the power vacuum, though he still had significant opposition from Ra's son, Heru'ur, Cronus, and other system lords. While questing for a host for his new queen, Amaunet, Apophis went to Earth, where he found the people had advanced much further than was thought. He was further surprised when an Earth expedition was sent against him at his home base on Chulak. What was more, Earth had quickly established a protective iris on its stargate, preventing a retaliatory attack. Apophis spent the next year building up his forces, then took two motherships to attack Earth. His attack was thwarted when SG-1 managed to sneak aboard his ships and destroy them, along with most of his troops. Apophis and his son (Klorel) barely escaped in time. Apophis' failure cost him a great deal of prestige and power among the system lords, and he attempted several times to exact revenge on Earth, always failing. Finally, the rival system lord Sokar defeated Apophis in battle and Apophis sought refuge on Earth where he died. Apophis' body was sent to Sokar, who revived him with a medical sarcophagus device. Apophis was then imprisoned on the moon Netu, where he soon became first prime to Bynarr, the prison warden. When SG-1 sneaked onto Netu, Apophis saw his chance to improve his lot. He killed Bynarr and took over the moon. On Sokar's ship, he was nearly executed, but he managed to escape, just in time, as Sokar's ship was soon destryed (along with Netu) by a Tok'ra planet-buster. Apophis slowly took over the worlds and troops of Sokar and added the remanants of his own forces when they were found. After a year, Apophis was soon the most powerful of the system lords. To completely establish himself as the dominant system lord, Apophis attempted to establish an alliance with his rival Heru'ur. However, a mine explosion caused him to believe he was betrayed, and he destroyed Heru'ur's ship (and Heru'ur). The results were even better, as Apophis took Heru'ur's forces and added them to his own, making his superiority overwhelming. Nonetheless, the other system lords resisted him. But, his dominance was assured when his chief rival, Cronus was killed by SG-1. With the largest fleet in the history of the Goa'uld, Apophs next moved to attack the Tok'ra base at Vorash. However, SG-1 and the Tok'ra set a trap. The Tok'ra left Vorash and the sun was made to supernova. The bulk of Apophis' fleet was destroyed when Vorash's sun exploded. Apophis' ship managed to escape to hyperspace, but the supernova caused his ship to move to an entirely different galaxy. In that galaxy, he found SG-1's ship, also blown there by the supernova. Unfortunately, that galaxy was under the control of the Replicators, and his ship was soon compromised. He abandoned his vessel and took control of SG-1's, but that vessel was soon compromised as well. The vessel was taken to Earth's galaxy by the Replicators, but SG-1 managed to cause the ship to crash into the planet Delmak. Though SG-1 escaped, Apophis was still aboard, and he was finally destroyed.

PORTRAYALS

Peter Williams portrayed Apophis for nearly every appearance in Stargate SG-1.

Dion Johnstone portrayed a masked Apophis using the assumed name Na'onak in Jolinar's Memories.

Dillon Moen, Richard Dean Anderson, and Carmen Argenziano each portrayed Apophis as manifested in narcotic "blood of Sokar" delusions for the episode The Devil You Know.

Note: Though credited in this role (under the name Na'onak) for The Devil You Know, Dion Johnstone did not appear in that episodes. The episode was a part of a two-part episode that shared common credits, and the character he only appeared in the other part.