Stargate SG-1/S to Z

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Tropes A-F | Tropes G-L | Tropes M-R | Tropes S-Z

Stargate SG-1 provides examples of the following tropes:

  • Samus Is a Girl
    • The pilot had a (extremely brief) moment of confusion with regards to Carter. When General Hammond mentioned that their foremost expert on the stargate, Sam Carter, would be arriving soon, O'Neill asked where he was transferring from, only for Carter to walk in at that point and say that she is transferring from the Pentagon.
    • Val Mal Doran was introduced in "Prometheus Unbound" in the armor of a Kull Warrior with an artificially-deepened voice. She had already taken the Prometheus and flirted with Daniel Jackson before the helmet was removed to reveal that she was a woman.
  • Saw Star Wars 27 Times: Teal'c and O'Neill drop by Carter's place with pizza and Star Wars, which O'Neill assumes must be be an okay movie because T's watched it nine times. Carter, however, thinks O'Neill is the weird one.

Carter: You've never watched Star Wars?
O'Neill: Oh, come on Carter. You know me and sci-fi.

  • Scary Dogmatic Aliens: The Goa'uld and the Ori. After being indoctrinated by the Goa'uld over the millennia, the Jaffa look like this, especially the Free Jaffa Nation. Teal'c frequently shows irritation that they're stuck in the "old ways" even after they gained their freedom in Season 8.
  • Sci Fi Name Buzzwords: When Vala pitches a story idea based on The Wizard of Oz, she tries to disguise it by renaming the primary events characters with stargate-themed titles. The house caught in a tornado becomes a cargo ship that crashes on a planet, the Wicked Witch of the East is the local ruling Goa'uld, Glinda the Good Witch is "a lovely, fair-haired Tok'ra" and Oz is a wise Ascended being. Martin Lloyd sees right through the whole thing.
  • Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale: Averted. Traveling between different stellar systems, even at faster than light speeds, takes months or years (The fastest Goa'uld ship encountered can travel at 32,000 times the speed of light, which would take three years to cross the diameter of the Milky Way Galaxy), which is why the stargate network is still vital to the Goa'uld economy and military complex. The concept of conquering a planet requires millions of soldiers and defending a planet, even with technologically advanced weaponry, requires numerous weapons placed all around the planet, not just at vital areas. Multiple characters point out the flawed thinking of other people when they fall into the traditional pitfalls of discounting the sheer size of the universe.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Connections: After they have saved the world numerous times SG-1 is able to place direct calls to the President of the United States when they need a favor.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: This trope is used quite a bit.
    • In the pilot episode, O'Neil(l) admits, in his roundabout way, that his report on the first trip was not completely accurate because a) genocide against the Abydonian slaves would not be right and b) technically, they did nuke Ra, who was the actual threat.
    • In the first season episode "Enigma", Daniel Jackson goes against orders to help the Tollan get to their stargateless new world.
    • In the first season finale "Within the Serpent's Grasp", the whole of SG-1 disobeys orders to launch a first strike against Apophis and his assault upon the planet after the Obstructive and Corrupt Bureaucrat Senator Robert Kinsey shuts down Stargate Command.
    • In the Ori arc, three ascended ancients are shown to do this to help humanity.
  • Sealed Evil in a Duel
    • Oma vs. Anubis.
    • Morgan Le Fay v. Adria.
  • Season Finale
  • Seinfeldian Conversation: When Mitchell, Daniel and SG-22 have managed to capture a Prior, Mitchell spends a lengthy period trying to get the Prior to discuss the recipies of the Ori home galaxy. He, in turn, explains how to make a delicious omlette, and is disappointed when the Prior will not even give a pie crust.
  • Self-Deprecation: Sam's "Reproductive Organ" speech from the pilot returns only to be mocked in later seasons.
  • Self-Insert Fic: "Wormhole X-Treme!" reveals that when Martin originally wrote his treatment for the Show Within a Show, it had a fifth character based on himself, which he describes as a handsome alien marooned on Earth when his crew betrayed him. The executives took that part out.
  • Self-Parody: The self-referential episodes "Wormhole X-Treme!" and "200" revolve around the making of a Show Within a Show based on the exploits of SG-1, with many jokes and insults aimed at sci-fi cliches and past stories of the SGC.
  • Semper Fi: SG-3 is a dedicated combat support group composed of US Marines. It was originally commanded by Colonel Makepeace, former Trope Namer of Hero of Another Story, and then led by Colonel Reynolds in the later seasons. SG-5 and SG-18 are also drawn from the Marines.
  • Send in the Clones: Ba'al's clones (to great comedic effect) and, to a much lesser extent, the Asgard.
  • Shaggy Frog Story: Combined with Brick Joke when O'Neill tries to tell the story about the dog and the dancing monkeys.

Col. O'Neill: Haven't you guys heard the story about the dog and the dancing monkeys? It's about getting along and... dancing.

  • Shame If Something Happened
    • In "Prodigy," when a group of scientists disparage O'Neill's experience and right to be in command, Teal'c walks up and "strongly advises" that the scientists listen to O'Neill. Afterwards, O'Neill calls Teal'c "Rocco."
    • Arkad, a Jaffa hoping to lead others to follow the Ori, attempts to bully Earth into not opposing his plans by informing them of a plan to attack the planet that he can help them thwart. SG-1 and General Landry are well aware of exactly what he is doing, and do not even let him finish his speech before ridiculing his actions and likening him to a criminal thug.
  • Shirtless Scene: Frequently.
  • Ship Tease: O'Neill and Carter being the biggest case. You know you are being teased when every non-military alternate version of Carter is married to the O'Neill of her reality.
  • Shoot the Shaggy Dog: "Ethon". SG-1 successfully mediates a truce between the two nations, only for them to destroy each other immediately after they leave.
  • Shot to the Heart: Happens in the episode "Avatar", in which Teal'c gets trapped in a virtual reality training program that shocks him every time he dies to increase the realism. The doctor monitoring him has to administer an adrenaline shot when his heart stops after dying for the umpteenth time.
  • Show Within a Show: Wormhole X-Treme!, used twice to great comedic effect, including the celebrated 200th episode. Its original run was cancelled after airing three episodes, but it sold so well on DVD that the studio decided to give it a movie adaptation. The production of the movie was then frought with issues and the studio decided to cancel production, but decided to relaunch the series again and it aired for ten years, with the movie greenlighted (again) after the two-hundredth episode of the series.
  • Side Effects Include:

Daniel: That warm, fuzzy feeling you're experiencing may be the effects of a device that is inhibiting your ability to concentrate and focus your powers.
Mitchell: Symptoms may include dizziness, irritability...
Daniel: Nausea.
Mitchell: Mild nausea, and a condition known as hot dog fingers.

  • Sigil Spam: You won't find the Ori symbol just on the Book of Origins' cover. In their galaxy, it is everywhere -- on the Prior's clothes, the crusaders' weapons, the fire pits they execute nonbelievers in, the power sources in their ships... even the ships themselves follow the pattern.
  • Sincerity Mode: When discussing the Goa'uld Nerus, who has contacted the SGC in the hopes of working together against the Ori, General Landry says that he had nice things to say about SG-1. The scene then cuts to Daniel Jackson reading Nerus' communication and he remarks with surprise that Nerus really did have some very nice things to say about SG-1.
  • Sinister Minister
    • The Canon on the medieval planet in "Demons" made use of creative interpretations of The Bible, the fear engendered by the Goa'uld System Lord Sokar's raids for hosts, and a lightning-summoning ring in order to maintain control over his village. When SG-1 arrived, he accused Teal'c of consorting with demons.
    • All the Priors of the Ori are downright scary.
  • Single Biome Planet: Deconstructed, as the characters often decree the nature an entire planet based only on a brief exploration of the area surrounding the gate. One member concluded that she was on an "ice planet" when she found herself in Antarctica by mistake, and many characters point out that a day of exploration does not come close to discovering what might be just out of visual range.
  • Skeleton Government: The Goa'uld.
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: Contrasts Daniel Jackson, who cares about making friends and allies, to the NID, who care about getting technology to defend Earth at any cost, and Jack O'Neill, who is somewhere in the middle, mostly on the side of pragmatism. An example of the show running on different points of the scale is "Scorched Earth", where Daniel finds a way to save both civilizations vying for control of the planet's ecosystem despite Jack's plan to blow one of them up with a naqadah bomb, and "Entity", where Daniel and Sam's idealism leads to the latter being possessed by a vengeful (our probes accidentally caused damage to them) computer entity, even then Daniel insists Sam trying to make contact with the creature was not the wrong move. The entity only releases its hold on her when Jack threatens to send more probes. Jack basically has to tell Daniel to shut up, and let him do it his way.
  • Soft-Spoken Sadist: The Goa'uld Tanith, who politely wiped out the Tollans.
  • Something Only They Would Say: In "Crystal Skull", O'Neill starts to believe that he really is talking to Daniel when Nicholas Ballard responds to one of his flippant remarks with "Jack, don't be an ass."
  • So Proud of You: In "Talion", Bra'tac explains that Teal'c is like a son to him and that he is very proud of what he has accomplished.
  • Sound Effect Bleep: In "Heroes", O'Neill goes on a tirade against Senator Kinsey, most of which is drowned out by the alarm announcing an incoming wormhole.
  • Space Fighter: Notable in that the villains have space fighters from the very start, but the good guys have to develop theirs slowly over several seasons. As with all Goa'uld technology, their Death Gliders are more impressive than practical. The Ori crusaders have space fighters too, which easily curbstomp Death Gliders.
  • Space Is an Ocean: Partially averted, with space travel being in the hands of the Air Force. Most of the trappings of this trope are there, but they specifically avoid naval terminology; they use missiles instead of torpedoes, nobody says "port" or "starboard," the ships are flown by a pilot instead of a helmsman, etc. At the same time, given the size and purpose of the larger craft, it is apparently acceptable to refer to BC-303s and BC-304s (which do kinda look like flying aircraft carriers) as Prometheus-class and Daedalus-class ships, respectively.
  • Space Mines: "The Serpent's Venom" takes place in a space minefield where the mines all lock onto any sign of weapons, which is used by the Goa'uld as a neutral meeting place. SG-1 has to reprogram a mine to attack one of the Goa'uld ships at the meeting in order to instigate a conflict.
  • Special Guest: The US Air Force really likes this show. Enough that Generals and USAF Chiefs of Staff Michael E. Ryan and John P. Jumper made guest appearances as themselves.
  • Spit Take: In "Ripple Effect", Colonel Mitchell gets into a rather animated conversation (with himself) about "the spit take of all spit takes."
  • Spock Speak: Teal'c. "Indeed."
  • Stalking Is Love: Averted. Orlin claims that he loves Carter, but she explicitly points out that he is stalking her, and what they have is not a "relationship". She does warm up to him eventually, and even grows to like him, but she never falls in love with him in return.
  • Standard Starship Scuffle: Increasingly frequent once the Tau'ri got Cool Starships of their own.
  • Standard Sci-Fi Army: Typical for television, the military forces are limited to infantry. Considering the Stargate limits how much can go through, it's justified.
  • Star-Killing: Samantha did this, and got a trope named for her.
  • Stargate City: This show is how Vancouver, British Columbia got that nickname.
  • The Starscream: Ba'al, the most free-thinking and adaptable of the System Lords, rises from obscurity to become not just the most powerful one, but the only one left.
  • Stating the Simple Solution: When O'Neill was serving as a technical advisor for Wormhole X-Treme! he overheard the executives debating how to have the character get past a giant alien guard, since budget constraints meant that they would need to re-write the previous plan of having him be weightless. When O'Neill asks why he does not just shoot the guard, they decide to go with that.
  • Sterility Plague: In the Bad Future portrayed in "2010", the Aschen plan to surreptitiously conquer Earth involves one of these, distributed under cover of advanced medical tech. As shown in the later episode "2001", this is their modus operandi.
  • Stock Footage: The gate dialing and opening -- sometimes subverted with powerful effect when things go wrong.
  • Story Arc: At least one per season.
  • Strange Minds Think Alike: General Landry has a habit of quoting famous historical generals, and he is in turn occasionally quoted by Colonel Mitchell. In "Counterstrike," Mitchell repeated a quote Landry had given, explaining it came from Sun Tzu, but he then amended that Landry might have actually been repeating Dr. Phil that time. In the next scene, when Landy provides a different quote to Bra'tac, who praises the wisdom of the warrior who provided it, Landry said that that time he was quoting Dr. Phil.
  • Stupid Evil: The Goa'uld; in "In the Line of Duty" Teal'c explains that he has seen certain victory turn to defeat simply because the Goa'uld cannot reign in their gloating or pointless sadism.
  • Stupid Sacrifice: Averted by the ever Genre Savvy O'Neill. After successfully destroying the shield system on an invading Goa'uld mothership, they ponder their next move. The following dialogue occurs:

O'Neill: Now what?
Bra'tac: Now, we die.
O'Neill: Well, that's a bad plan. Where's the glider bay?

  • Styrofoam Rocks
    • Played straight in "The Gamekeeper", which seemingly reveals that Daniel's parents died by being crushed inside an ancient cardboard temple.
    • Parodied in "Wormhole X-Treme!" and discussed in the Troperiffic "200", in which an actor on the Show Within a Show complained about the career choices that led to him being pelted with Styrofoam Rocks.
  • Sufficiently Advanced Alien
    • Despite the standard Goa'uld procedure of posing as a deity in order to rule a conquered people, the technology of the Goa'uld does not qualify as Sufficiently Advanced as visible technology is directly connected to all accomplished feats.
    • The Nox, introduced in the self-titled episode "The Nox", possessed the ability to raise the dead, teleport from point to point and become intangible/invisible at will. They accomplished these feats with woodland rituals, symbolic gestures and a philosphy which emphasized nature and pacifism. The end of their introductory episode reveals that they do have a technological city, but their skills and abilities do not visibly derive from it.
    • The unnamed aliens masquerading as the divine spirits of a group of Salish-descended people had the ability to change their shape and image, communicate telepathically and make people appear/disappear. This was accomplished with only a wave of their arms and was effective across interstellar distances.
  • Suspiciously Similar Song: The dance scene at Mitchell's reunion in "Bounty" has several. When he dances with his old flame it is a pretty blatant Suspiciously Similar Song version of "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute
    • The trope was originally named "Jonas Quinn", after Daniel Jackson's replacement in season six when actor Michael Shanks left the show.
    • Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell was added to the cast in season nine as a replacement for Jack O'Neill with the same humorous personality. Teal'c even commented that he reminded him of O'Neill.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: When the pilot was Recut into a DTV movie, Carter's infamous "reproductive organs" line was removed in order to give the character more natural dialogue. Unfortunately, O'Neill's response is kept intact, so in the new film, instead of refuting an accusation that he is sexist, he instead brings up her gender apropos of absolutely nothing.
  • Sword Fight: Mitchell fights two of Merlin's holographic knights in season nine: The first is more of a test than an actual enemy, and he manages to defeat it after gaining a new determination, but the second is a security device that is about to kill him when Daniel comes to his rescue.
  • Sympathetic Criminal: In "Bad Guys", SG-1 ends up playing this role, mostly by accident.
  • Sympathetic Murder Backstory: In "Collateral Damage", Cam recalls a mission in the Middle East during which he bombed what he believed to be enemy targets only to learn that they were a convoy of refugees.
  • Take That
    • In "Politics" Daniel mocks the idea of regular US military forces taking on the Goa'uld by saying that sure, they will just upload a virus into the mothership.
    • In "Orpheus", Carter discusses seeing the movie Signs and is incredulous that the alien's weakness was water. When Daniel asked her why she even watches science fiction if she is just going to tear it apart, she mentions that she wants to see if they are getting it even close to right.
    • In "The Scourge", Mitchell explains that the team is going to watch Starship Troopers for movie night since they spent the episode fighting a horde of alien insects. Teal'c, who had been planning to watch Old School, asks if the movie is humorous, to which Mitchell responds "is it ever."
  • Taking You with Me
    • The Alternate Samantha Carter of "There But for the Grace of God" lured in several Jaffa with the offer of valuable information for Apophis, then pulled out a grenade to take them out along with her.
    • During the Battle of Antarctica in "Lost City", Hammond orders the Prometheus onto a collision course with Anubis' flagship, saying "We go, they go." Subverted in that the weapons of the Ancient outpost get there first, and Hammond is only too happy to break off.
  • Tantrum Throwing: Cam gets frustrated and trashes his room in "Unending".
  • Tastes Like Friendship: Daniel feeds random alien, random alien becomes his friend.

Daniel: You know, it's funny, I met my father-in-law like this...

  • Techno Babble: Mostly courtesy of Carter, McKay, and a couple of others. O'Neill serves as a bit of a Greek Chorus when this happens, either interrupting Carter to ask a simple "yes or no" question, or else to irritatedly inform her that he does know what photosynthesis and supernovas are, thank you.
  • Teleporter Accident: "Solitude"; "1969"; "48 Hours"
  • Teleporters and Transporters: The stargates and ring transport platforms inherited from the movie are the most common. The Asgard bring the Star Trek-style "beams" into play.
  • Teleport Interdiction: The iris is used to prevent anything unwanted from coming through the Stargate.
  • Temporary Love Interest: Several.
  • Terminally Dependent Society
  • That Man Is Dead: At the conclusion of "Cor-ai," Hanno, who has spent the episode trying to get Teal'c executed for killing his father, allows him to go free after Teal'c had helped save him and his people from the Goa'uld. When Teal'c asks why, since he did kill his father, Hanno explains the he did not, as the Jaffa who did is dead.
  • Theme Tune Cameo
    • Carter is humming the SG-1 theme song in the elevator in "Chimera". She was originally going to hum the theme to MacGyver, but neither she nor anybody else on set could remember how it went.
    • During the wedding scene in "200", the organ is playing a combination of Mendelssohn's Wedding March (the "standard" wedding composition) and the shows theme.
  • They Called Me Mad: Daniel Jackson and his grandfather, plus several different scientists encountered off-world who were studying their stargates. The plausibility of this varies, but is generally pretty strong if the Stargate is the only evidence of Ancient Astronauts in the setting. In the case of Daniel and his grandfather, though, it is a bit of a Contrived Coincidence to have two scientists called mad in the same family researching completely different alien artifacts.
  • They Look Like Us Now
  • Throat Light: When a person is being tortured with the Goa'uld cattle-prod device, light shines out of their mouths and eyes. Richard Dean Anderson did not like this visual effect, and would close his eyes whenever Jack O'Neill was being tortured in order to keep it from being used
  • Time Compression Montage: "Unending", the series finale, had one of these, set to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"
  • Time for Plan B
    • O'Neill likes to poke fun at this line.

Reynolds: Not much faith in Plan A?
O'Neill: Since when has Plan A ever worked?

    • Another time:

O'Neill: It's time for Plan B.
Carter: We have a Plan B?
O'Neill: No, but it's time for one.

  • Time Travel: Multiple times, including alternate timelines.
  • Time Travelers Are Spies: In "1969".
  • Tomato in the Mirror: In "Tin Man", where after visiting the ruins of a technologically advanced society, the team comes back through the Stargate only to discover that they are robot copies of the originals.
  • Tomboyish Name: Samantha "Sam" Carter. In the pilot O'Neill mistook her for a man when he was told that Sam Carter was their foremost expert on the stargate, and in a later episode when is asked what her name means, she responded that it means her dad wanted a boy.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Daniel takes at least one level in Badass over the course of the series.
  • Touched by Vorlons: Daniel, Anubis, Priors, Carter and O'Neill.
  • Tranquillizer Dart: Osiris is twice shot by a tranquilizer dart tipped with a Goa'uld-specific sedative.
  • Translation Convention: The episodes "Summit" and "Last Stand" are explicitly stated to be spoken in Goa'uld, but all the dialogue is in English for the convenience of the audience. Several other episodes have dialogue that is implied to be the same, particularly when aliens speak amongst themselves.
  • Translator Microbes: Though never mentioned in the show, the novels based on the series reveal that the stargates somehow allow people from different planets to understand one another. The characters themselves do not understand how it works, nor why it works sometimes but not others, but it explains why almost all the aliens speak English.
  • Transplanted Humans: The majority of the inhabitants of the Milky Way are humans that the Goa'uld transplanted from Earth to serve as their labor force. The name used throughout SG-1 to refer to the people of Earth, "Tau'ri", translates as "those of the first world", since Earth is where everybody else originally came from.
  • Trial by Combat: The Jaffa believe firmly in the concept of Asskicking Equals Authority; if a Jaffa believes that he is more worthy of leading than the Jaffa in charge he may challenge him to ritual combat for the position of leader.
  • Tricolours With Rusting Rockets: The Russians manage to acquire a Stargate and briefly run their own program. Later, Russian officers are part of the international program.
  • True Companions: SG-1, of course.

Samantha Carter: We were a team. No one else can even begin to understand what that means.

  • Two-Keyed Lock: Sometimes it is passwords, sometimes it is keys.
  • Two of Your Earth Minutes: In "Beachhead", Mitchell explains to a Prior that their bomb will detonate in thirty "Earth minutes." When Daniel asks why he used the term, he explains that he always wanted to say that.
  • Typhoid Mary: The Priors managed to sneak their plague onto the Earth by turning an SGC lieutenant into an asymptomatic carrier, passing through quarantine because he exhibited no signs of the disease before he began passing it on to civilians he encountered outside the base.
  • Tyrant Takes the Helm: General Bauer in "Chain Reaction".
  • Unflinching Walk: Teal'c pulls this off in the episode "Talion".

Teal'c: I am leaving, you are about to explode.

  • Ungrateful Bastard: SG-1 abandons Replicator Fifth to an eternal prison in a time bubble after Fifth betrayed his brethren to help them. This is heavily weighed before they follow their orders.
  • Unique Pilot Title Sequence: "Children of the Gods" imitates the movie with a long pan over the mask of Ra. After that, they used cut-together clips from season 1, changing it only when the main cast changed. The DVD releases of seasons 4 and 5 use the "Children of the Gods" title sequence for some reason.
  • The Un-Smile: In the first season, when Teal'c was still getting angry looks for being a Jaffa, Daniel explained that he was a friend and told him to smile. The resulting facial movement was... off.
  • Unwanted Rescue: In "The Other Guys", SG-1 allowed themselves to be captured on purpose in order to make contact with a Tok'ra that was undercover as a Goa'uld working for Anubis. They are somewhat perturbed when Coombs and Felger stow away aboard their prison ship in order to rescue them.
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension: Carter and O'Neill. Word of God states that just about the nanosecond Jack retired, he and Sam got it together and got it on. (Alternatively, Word of a Different God states that they got together after "Threads" and have merely kept the relationship quiet ever since.) A deleted scene from the Stargate Atlantis episode "Trio" also pretty much confirms that it finally got resolved.
    This causes the pair to be mistaken for brainwashed assassins in "Divide and Conquer", when a Tok'ra Lie Detector gets a false positive because they do not admit the real reason he would not leave her behind on the previous mission. The writers play with this hilariously in "Window of Opportunity". During one timeline cycle, since neither Carter nor, more importantly, General Hammond, will remember it after the timeline resets, O'Neill resigns his commission so he can finally kiss Carter.
  • Unobtainium
    • The heavy metal naquadah, which is the material the stargate is composed of, does not naturally exist within the Solar System and is heavily involved in Goa'uld technology. Its nonexistence in the Solar System is a minor plot point in "Fail Safe". Carter realizes that the asteroid they are trying to stop from hitting Earth has a core of naquadah, leading her to the conclusion that it was imported by the Goa'uld to circumvent the Protected Planets Treaty with a manufactured natural disaster. Naquadah can be converted to naquadria, a more powerful but unstable variant, when it is exposed to certain radiation.
    • Trinium is a silvery metal that is very light and about a hundred times stronger than steel. The Tau'ri and Asgard use it in the hulls of Prometheus-, Daedalus-, and O'Neill-class warships, while the Tollans combine it with other substances in several pieces of Applied Phlebotinum (including the device that lets them walk through walls).
  • Unusual Euphemism: "I told her that she should attempt procreation... with herself."
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The team often walks right into settlements with guns at the ready. Rarely does anyone seem to have any trouble with this, though it does pop up when the plot demands it.
  • Victoria's Secret Compartment: Vala, who else?
  • Villain Ball: The Goa'uld, the Ori, the Lucian Alliance, even Tau'ri factions like the NID all juggled it from time to time. See examples in the trope page.
  • Villain Pedigree: The Ori and Replicator pull this on the Goa'uld.
  • Voice of the Legion
  • Wasn't That Fun?: Used in the ninth season; after the team has posed as drug dealers, been captured by drug dealers, got beaten up, captured by the Lucian Alliance, etc., they finally get back to Earth.

Mitchell: We have the best jobs in the world.
(Beat)
Sam: I'm going to hit the showers. (exits)
Daniel: I'm going to find the doctor. (exits)
Teal'c: We are indeed suitably employed, Colonel Mitchell. (exits)
Mitchell: Yeah, good day.

  • Wasteland Elder: Several, usually one per Adventure Town-- err, planet.
  • The Watson: Jonas Quinn joined the cast in season six from an alien planet, requiring him to be filled in on past SGC missions and esoteric parts of Earth history. This was particularly helpful since season six was the season where they began connecting and expanding on a lot of previously introduced continuity, primarily the concepts of Ascension, the Ancients and the greater society of the Goa'uld, so he could help bring new viewers up to speed.
  • We Have Forgotten the Phlebotinum: Several cases of needing something from another base, planet, or needing a bit of MacGyvering to make a new doohickey.
  • We Will Use Manual Labor in the Future: Justified for the the Goa'uld, who keep most of their human slaves in Medieval Stasis to prevent rebellion. Generally averted by most of the other technologically advanced civilizations.
  • Wham! Episode: In the episode "Heroes", the death of Dr. Janet Fraiser. To add extra oomph, Killed Off for Real is played with in this episode, as two characters (including an Red Shirt) receive potentially fatal wounds before it is revealed quite shockingly that Janet, whom the viewer does not even know got injured, is the one who actually died.
  • What Could Have Been: Apparently the third movie, entitled Stargate: Revolution, would have featured Jack's return as the main character and it would have finally had the Stargate program going public. However it has been considered shelved for good at this point.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: So many incidents that the show gets its own section on the trope's Live-Action TV subpage.
  • What the Hell, Hero?
    • "Shades of Grey", when Jack steals technology from Tollana. Subverted when revealed to be a Batman Gambit to draw out the real thieves from the NID.
    • "Unnatural Selection", where Jack made the hard call and was called on it by the team.
  • What We Now Know to Be True: The Tollan have studied quantum physics... "among other misconceptions of elementary science".
  • Where It All Began: The season six finale, the first season finale that was originally planned to be the series finale, takes place primarily on Abydos, the planet visited in the movie and the very first planet that SG-1 went to when the show began.
  • Who's on First?: The Goa'uld Yu resulted in some of this.

Dr. Jackson: And the last one is Lord Yu.
Dr. Weir: Yu?
Dr. Jackson: Don't. Every joke, every pun, done to death. Seriously.

  • Who Watches the Watchmen?: Colonel Simmons of the NID explains the organization's mandate to O'Neill: Providing civilian oversight to top-secret military projects. Jack, however, wonders who oversees them.
  • Who Writes This Crap?: When O'Neill summarizes his history to the memory-erased Martin, at the opening of act four, Martin comments that that is the worst Act Four Opener he has ever heard.
  • Why Am I Ticking?: Cassandra
  • Why Won't You Die?: Apophis had a habit of returning from supposed (And actual) deaths, much to the chagrin of SG-1.

O'Neill: (referring to Apophis) Somebody's gotta teach that guy how to die.

  • Will: Colonel O'Neill has Sgt. Siler designated in his will as the recipient of his collection of Simpsons videos. Siler has the colonel in his will as well, but what is left to him is never revealed.

O'Neill: (rescuing Siler) I expect to be put in your will for this!
Siler: Already are, sir!
O'Neill: OK, that's... weird.

  • Will They or Won't They?: In several episodes, the writers play with romantic tension between O'Neill and Carter, and two different Alternate Reality versions of Carter are either engaged or married to O'Neill. The "won't they" wins out in the prime reality largely because for most of the show's run, O'Neill is Carter's direct superior and is thus barred from pursuing her by the Air Force's anti-fraternization rules.
  • Win to Exit: In "Avatar", Teal'c needs to defeat the simulated Goa'uld invasion of the SGC in order to leave the chair, as the programmed exit feature is not functioning.
  • Wire Dilemma: All the wires are yellow, so Jack has to guess which to cut.

Col. O'Neill: I'd like to take this opportunity to say that this is a very poorly designed bomb, and I think we should say something to somebody about it when we get back.

  • With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
    • The Atoniek armbands, which grant the human members of SG-1 super strength, speed and senses, also impair their judgement and decision-making skills. They never quite reach the full level of "insanity", but they begin to disobey orders (well, more than usual) and recklessly use their powers, starting a Bar Brawl and inadvertently hospitalizing SGC personnel.
    • In "Absolute Power", Shifu, the Harcesis Child, gave Daniel a vision of what would happen if he gave Daniel the colletive knowledge of the Goa'uld. Daniel would become a despot who would murder millions of innocents and regularly fantasize about being a Goa'uld.
  • Within Parameters: Justified. Sam notices that the power level of a force shield surrounding the town they are in (protecting it from the poisonous wasteland outside) is dropping. The other scientist present insists it is nothing. He is being brainwashed by the computer.
  • With Lyrics: The theme song was given lyrics in one DVD commentary, sung by the producers.
  • Won't Take Yes for An Answer: When the SGC was first founded and its members began to wonder what kind of institution it would become, Daniel pushed heavily for the anthropological study of the civilizations they encounter to be given just as much a priority as military development. He was so ready to do battle with the pig-headed, stubborn military minds of the base that Hammond could not get out the words to tell him that he agreed and would be following up with studies of the people they encountered.
  • The Worf Barrage: In the episode "Beachhead", an Ori force-field is powered by the weapons fired at it.
  • Workaholic: Carter has little to no life outside of the SGC, and spends her free time in her lab on the base running various experiments. When she is finally ordered to spend some time away from work in "Ascension", she comments that she really does not have anything else to do.
  • World-Healing Wave: The Dakara superweapon.
  • The World Is Always Doomed:

Mitchell: I think that was dealt with when you guys saved the world for the sixth or seventh time.
O'Neill: Ah, who's counting?
Mitchell: Teal'c, apparently. He mentions it quite a lot.

    • First mentioned in The Other Guys

Felger: Don't worry, Colonel O'Neill, you can get back to saving the world for the sixth time.
Teal'c: Seventh.
O'Neill: You're counting?
Teal'c: (shrugs)

  • World of Badass
  • Worthy Opponent: Arkad wants to be Teal'c's famed foe, and explains that he admired Teal'c's bravery and skill even when Teal'c killed his parents, but both Teal'c and Bra'tac have nothing but contempt for him.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: When the team is faced with a very real dragon, Col. Mitchell suddenly decides he is some kind of dracologist and plans to kill it by setting off a brick of C-4 underneath it, since "that's where dragons are weakest." The dragon proves him to be very wrong.
  • Xtreme Kool Letterz: Martin explains that the title "Wormhole X-Treme!" was a marketing decision, since shows with the letter "x" in their title do better than other shows.
  • Year Inside, Hour Outside
    • In the series finale, Sam does this to keep the Odyssey from getting blown to smithereens while she uses the extra time to try and figure a way out of danger. The good news is that she succeeds. The bad news is that it takes her fifty years.
    • This also happens at the start of "Unnatural Selection"; at the end it is Year Outside Hour Inside.
  • Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: Averted. When SG-1 finds a tablet written in Middle English it is indecipherable to O'Neill and can only be identified as English by Daniel, the archaeologist.
  • You Are in Command Now
    • "Spirits" opens with O'Neill wounded by an arrow through the shoulder, forcing Carter to take command of SG-1 when they are sent through the gate to discover its source. O'Neill observes that it is her first command, commenting "cool."
    • In "Lost City", General Hammond authorizes Carter to take command of SG-1 if she determines that the Ancient knowledge downloaded in O'Neill's mind is beginning to compromise his judgement. When she tells O'Neill of her orders, he says he understands and that she should take command now instead of waiting for him to lose control.
  • You Are Not Ready: The standard explanation for why advanced alien races will not share their technology with us; the Asgard specifically explain that we are "too young." However, unlike most examples of the trope, the Asgard help us get ready. They gradually introduced us to their technology, first giving us devices and later showing us how to manufacture them ourselves, so that we could appreciate their power and learn to handle them appropriately.
  • You Are the Translated Foreign Word
    • Kasuf says in "Forever in a Day" that Sha're/Amonet's son is harcesis, "the one who holds the secrets."
    • In "A Hundred Days", Daniel explains that the "fire rain" is called a "falling star" on Earth, and Tealc' then gives the Goa'uld name of the phenomena. After a moment, Daniel translates that to "falling star".
  • You Can't Go Home Again: Jonas Quinn spent season six living on Earth and unable to return to his home, the nation Kelowna on the planet Langara, because he stole a quantity of naquadriah to give to the SGC.
  • You Didn't Ask: In "Brief Candle" Daniel encounters Linear-A script, which has never been fully deciphered on Earth, but Teal'c recognizes it as an old dialect of Goa'uld. When he is able to read part of the script Daniel asks hy he did not mention it before, and Teal'c responds that Daniel "did not inquire."
  • You Had Us Worried There: O'Neill jumping an about-to-explode Stargate through the Earth, with a scare about whether or not he was able to eject.
  • You Have Got to Be Kidding Me!: Practically O'Neill's catch phrase.
  • You Have Failed Me...: Standard Goa'uld operating procedure.
  • You Have 48 Hours: "48 Hours"
  • You Meddling Kids: Daniel says the line at the end of "Bounty".
  • Younger Than They Look: The people of "Brief Candle" are all being artificially aged by Goa'uld technology at a rate of approximately one year per day. When he discovers this, O'Neill is rather disturbed to learn that the woman he slept with was not thirty years old, but thirty days old.
  • Your Costume Needs Work: When O'Neill is on the set of Wormhole X-Treme! he goes to the security office to get information on recent visitors to the studio. He is first told how to find the auditions, and then needs to add "really" after he explains that he is from the actual Air Force.
  • You Remind Me of X: Teal'c once said that Mitchell reminded him heavily of O'Neill, which Mitchell took as a compliment. Teal'c said that that was up to him.
  • Your Mom: In the fifth season episode "Failsafe", O'Neill and Jackson recount how a particular negotiation with the Asgard went south.

O'Neill: ... And after that, I kind of lost my temper.
Hammond: What exactly does that mean?
Jackson: Let's just say Jack made a reference to Freyr's mother.

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