The Goa'uld [ˈgoʊ˘uːld] are a fictional parasitic alien race in the Stargate SG-1 universe. They look like snakes but they normally insinuate themselves into the brains of large animals, which they can control. They find humans particularly suitable as hosts. A singular Goa'uld is sometimes referred to as a symbiote. The Goa'uld were the primary enemies of SG-1 for most of the series, although in season 9 they will be supplanted in this role by the Ori.
Description
Origins
On their native homeworld (known only by its SGC designation, P3X-888 and its address 
) the Goa'uld begin their lifecycle as relatively helpless aquatic larvae, spawned in large numbers from a Goa'uld queen. Those that survive to maturity develop elaborate fins that allow them to spring powerfully out of the water to burrow into a suitable creature's neck. The Unas evolved on the same world and were their original favoured host. Once a Goa'uld takes a host it is not easy for it to switch to another; it loses its fins and its body appears to atrophy significantly. Starfaring Goa'uld developed an alternative lifecycle, modifying a race of humans into Jaffa to act as incubators for their larvae. This was apparently done both to produce powerful warrior servants and to improve the ability of the larval Goa'uld to take a human host on maturity; Goa'uld larvae that grow up "in the wild" have only a fifty percent chance of being able to take a host whereas Jaffa-reared larvae are universally capable.
Characteristics
Most Goa'uld like to take the name of a classical god from Earth, especially those of ancient Egypt, but not the Norse or Aztec gods (whose identities were assumed by other alien races). In fact, the term Goa'uld means "Children of the Gods". There is still debate as to whether the Goa'uld assumed the names of Egyptian gods already in existence or whether Egyptian mythology stems from the Goa'uld's one-time domination of (ancient) Earth. The most powerful Goa'uld are called System Lords. They rule whole planets, lead huge armies of Jaffa warriors, and maintain fleets of powerful spaceships that resemble pyramids. Major Goa'uld System Lords included Apophis, Ba'al, Heru'ur, Hathor, and Osiris. Anubis is a former system lord. Many of them have since died during the progression of the show. The most powerful System Lord was Ra — until the Tau'ri killed him in the 1994 movie Stargate.
Goa'uld are able to pass their memories directly to their offspring through genetic memory. This can also occur when a pair of Goa'uld hosts mate and produce an offspring; the resulting child is biologically human but possesses the knowledge of the Goa'uld. Such a child is known as a Harcesis and is considered an abomination by the Goa'uld, who do not normally choose to produce them.
A Goa'uld-occupied host usually speaks in an eerily flanged, bass-augmented register (except when allowing the host to act freely, or imitating a normal human); extreme emotions in the Goa'uld cause the host's eyes to briefly glow. The Goa'uld instill increased strength and remarkable healing abilities in their hosts; the host shrugs off injuries that would incapacitate or kill most humans and experiences a lifespan of centuries (which System Lords commonly extend almost indefinitely through the technological means of a sarcophagus). Being a host is regarded as a living hell and those hosts who have been under the control of Goa'uld for extended periods of time are widely suspected of having gone insane. Most of the Goa'uld killed in Stargate SG-1 have been in a host at the time, who died along with them. The death of the host in these instances has generally been considered merciful. If any attempt is made to forcibly remove a Goa'uld from a host the Goa'uld may release a deadly toxin into the blood stream of the host, killing the hapless individual. Nevertheless, the Tok'ra and the Tollan are able safely remove a Goa'uld parasite.
Goa'uld are parasitic in a technological sense as well. While many races in the galaxy, like the Asgard and the Ancients, developed their own technology over many thousands of years, the Goa'uld achieved their current level of technological strength by discovering or stealing the technology of other races and adapting it to their own use. It is unknown if any individual pieces of Goa'uld technology were actually developed originally by the Goa'uld themselves; more often than not, the Goa'uld, in their arrogance, will claim to have 'invented' a piece of technology that they in fact did not. The Stargates themselves are a prime example of this; while they were created and built by the Ancients, the Goa'uld have controlled so many of the galaxy's Stargates for such a long period of time that they automatically take credit for their invention. This fiction is just another of the claims that helps reinforce the Goa'ulds' position as gods in the minds of those who are ruled by them.
Other Information
A subculture exists within the Goa'uld called the Tok'ra (meaning literally "Against Ra"), a group of Goa'uld who are opposed to the ways of the System Lords. Descended from the Goa'uld Egeria, they share the desire to have a truly symbiotic relationship with their hosts. They are a resistance movement which attempts to overthrow the System Lords' tyranny. Although biologically the same species, Tok'ra prefer to not be referred to as Goa'uld.
Goa'uld symbiotes can be refined and used as a drug called Tretonin. When used, the user gains many of the same health advantages having a Goa'uld symbiote allows. However, use of the drug also kills the user's immune system.
The Ashrak
An Ashrak is a highly trained, highly dangerous Goa'uld assassin, usually employed by a System Lord. Ashrak exhibit such techniques as technically advanced rings which can alter memories of those it is used upon, and cloaking, similar in technology to the Goa'uld Nirrti.
An Ashrak usually uses a Harakesh (aka Ashrak device), which is a smaller version of the Goa'uld hand device, taking the form of an elaborate ring. Its function is to kill the Ashrak's victim, but it is also mainly used to torture victims into releasing information. It is also capable of affecting other people to make them obey the Ashrak's commands. Afterwards the victim remembers nothing of the Ashrak.
List of known Goa'uld
| Name | Host | Rank | Status | First Appareance | Played by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amonet | Sha're | Queen | Killed by Teal'c | "Children of the Gods" | Vaitiare Bandera |
| Apophis's queen. Mother of Shifu. | |||||
| Anubis | None | System Lord | Banished by Oma Desala (Season 8) | "Revelations" | David Palffy Dean Aylesworth Rik Kiviaho George Dzundza |
| Apophis | System Lord | Deceased (Season 5) | "Children of the Gods" | Peter Williams | |
| Aries | System Lord | Deceased (Season 8) | "It's Good to Be King" | ||
| Baal | System Lord | "Summit" | Cliff Simon | ||
| Bastet | System Lord | "Summit" | Natasha Khadr | ||
| Bynarr | Killed by Apophis | "Jolinar's Memories" | Bob Dawson | ||
| Served Sokar. Commanded the prison moon of Ne'tu. | |||||
| Camulus | "New Order (Part 1)" | Steve Bacic | |||
| Defected to the SGC after his army was destroyed by Anubis. | |||||
| Cronus | System Lord | Killed by Teal'c | "Fair Game" | Ron Halder | |
| Grannus | Killed by his own Jaffa | Unseen | Unplayed | ||
| Camulus' lieutenant. | |||||
| Hathor | Queen | Killed by O'Neill | "Hathor" | Suanne Braun | |
| Former queen of Ra. | |||||
| Heru-ur | System Lord | Killed by Apophis | "Thor's Chariot" | Douglas H. Arthurs | |
| Ra's son. | |||||
| Isis | None | Queen | Deceased | ||
| Osiris' queen. Imprisoned within a canopic jar by Seth. Killed when the jar was damaged on route to America. | |||||
| Kali | System Lord | "Summit" | Suleka Mathew | ||
| Klorel | Skaara | Separated from his host | "Children of the Gods" | Alexis Cruz | |
| Apophis' son. | |||||
| Marduk | Major Vallarin | Killed by SG-1 | "The Tomb" | Alexander Kalugin | |
| Imprisoned inside a sarcophagus by his own priests for thousands of years. Accidentally freed by a Russian SG team. | |||||
| Moloc | Killed by the SGC (Season 8) | "Sacrifices" | Royston Innes | ||
| Originally dominant over Ishta's clans. | |||||
| Montu | Unseen | Unplayed | |||
| Served Ra and Baal. | |||||
| Morrigan | System Lord | "Summit" | Bonnie Kilroe | ||
| Mot | Shot by Natania (Season 8) | "Prophecy" | Victor Talmadge | ||
| Served Baal and tried to overthrow him. | |||||
| Nefertum | Unseen | Unplayed | |||
| Sekhmet's son. | |||||
| Nerus | Scientist | "Beachhead" | Maury Chaykin | ||
| Worked for Baal as a scientist. Discovered how to dial all Stargates in the galaxy at once. Lured SG-1 into an Ori trap. Currently working as forced intellectual labor at Area 51. | |||||
| Nirrti | Once a System Lord | Killed by her own test subjects (Season 6) | "Fair Game" | Jacqueline Samuda | |
| Olokun | System Lord | "Summit" | Kwesi Ameyaw | ||
| Osiris | Sarah Gardner | Extracted from his host (Season 7) | "The Curse" | Anna-Louise Plowman | |
| Pelops | Unseen | Unplayed | |||
| Qetesh | Vala Mal Doran | Extracted from her host and killed (before Season 8) | Unseen | Unplayed | |
| Ra | Supreme System Lord | Killed by O'Neill and Jackson (Stargate) | Stargate | Jaye Davidson | |
| Ramius | Killed by a super-soldier (Season 7) | "Evolution (Part 1)" | Sean Whale | ||
| Sekhmet | Deceased | "Resurrection" | Kristen Dalton | ||
| Once served Ra. Her DNA was used by the NID to create the Goa'uld/human hybrid Anna. | |||||
| Seth | Killed by Carter wielding a hand device | ||||
| Brother of Osiris. Hid on Earth and became marooned when the Stargate was buried. Leader of a cult. | |||||
| Shaq'ran | Unseen | Unplayed | |||
| Defeated by Apophis. | |||||
| Sobek | Decapitated by Bastet and Kali | ||||
| Sokar | System Lord | Deceased | David Palffy | ||
| Svarog | System Lord | Fate Unknown | "Summit" | ||
| Tanith | Hebron | Killed by Teal'c | "Crossroads" | Peter Wingfield | |
| Infiltrated the Tok'ra as a spy. Served Apophis and Anubis. | |||||
| Telchak | Unseen | Unplayed | |||
| Developed the Sarcophagus technology. | |||||
| Terok | Deceased | "The Serpent's Venom" | Paul Koslo | ||
| Served Heru-ur. Expert in torture. | |||||
| Thanos | Fate Unknown | Unseen | Unplayed | ||
| Once ocuppied Langara. | |||||
| Thoth | Killed by Carter | "Evolution (Part 2)" | Ian Marsh | ||
| Served Anubis. Oversaw the Kull Warriors. | |||||
| Tilgath | Killed by a super-soldier | "Evolution (Part 1)" | |||
| Yu | System Lord | Killed by RepliCarter (Season 8) | "Fair Game" | Vince Crestejo | |
| Zipacna | Fate Unknown | "Pretense" | Kevin Durand | ||
| Worked for Apophis, Klorel and Anubis. Argued Klorel's case in Tollan Triad. Commanded Goa'uld assault on the Tok'ra base on Revanna. | |||||