Asgard (Stargate)

The Asgard are a fictional alien race in the television series Stargate SG-1.

The Asgard are a benevolent, highly advanced and evolved race from another galaxy who have visited Earth on many occasions, giving rise to the Norse legends. They were one of the races in the alliance of four great races. They oppose the Goa'uld. Also, they appear to be the grey aliens, eerily similar to the so-dubbed "Roswell greys". The Asgard are far more technologically advanced than the Goa'uld. Their ships are capable of traversing thousands of light years of space in minutes. They have also mastered transporter and holographic projection technologies. They reproduce by cloning their bodies and then transferring their minds from one body to another, thus making them incredibly long-lived (depending on how you look at it). However, millennia of cloning have degenerated the Asgard genome and they are now a dying race. Their language may have influenced the formation of the Germanic languages and their written language is runic and is believed to have been given to the Teutonic tribes. As the Goa'uld are named primarily after figures from Earth's Egyptian and Greek mythologies, members of the Asgard race are typically named after characters from Norse mythology.

The most important Asgard characters include Thor and Freyr. Thor styles himself "The Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet", and is often very helpful to the USAF's Stargate Command (SGC). Thor has helped SG-1, the SGC, and Earth out of trouble more than a few times. The humans of Earth have also helped the Asgard several times, so it has become a very beneficial alliance for them both. Freyr has come to Earth a few times when Thor was unable to. Freyr recruited SG-1 to help an Asgard scientist, Heimdall, escape a Siege by the Goa'uld.

Of particular significance, the Asgard came to Earth's assistance when the Asgard learned that the Goa'uld System Lords had decided to attack Earth ("Fair Game"). The Asgard called a meeting between delegations representing the Goa'uld, the Humans and the Asgard. Its purpose was to attempt to place Earth under the protection of the "Protected Planets Treaty". This treaty has apparently been in place for several millennia between the Goa'uld and the Asgard and has served to maintain a very fragile peace between their two races. Attending on behalf of the Goa'uld were the System Lords Yu, Nirrti and Cronos. Thor represented the Asgard and chose Colonel Jack O'Neill to represent the Humans. Thor commenced the proceeding by offering the Goa'uld access to a particular corridor of a heretofore restricted region of space. The Goa'uld counterproposal demanded that Earth give up both it's Stargates. After events went haywire Thor was recalled by the Asgard High Council. But eventually an accommodation was reached.

A rogue Asgard (Loki) has been responsible for many "non-sanctioned" alien abductions in an attempt to solve the Asgard's cloning problems. His actions were eventually stopped by Thor, albeit it caused the creation of a Young Jack O'Neill

The Asgard have been unable to help Earth with their fight against the Goa'uld due to a war with a greater enemy. These enemies are known as the replicators. SG-1 has helped Thor and the Asgard fight them on several occasions. With the help of SG-1, the Asgard set a trap for the replicators by luring them into a device that slowed down time around it. Unfortunately, the replicators escaped and attacked the Asgard's new home world, Orilla. An attempt to prevent this was led by Aegir attacking the ship before it could raise its shields. Thor was then informed by Penigal that some remaining replicators were attacking the settlement. The Asgard were able to devise a weapon to combat the replicators, thanks to Colonel O'Neill.

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