Tok'ra
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The Tok'ra are a fictional race on the television series Stargate SG-1.
Opposing the Goa'uld, the Tok'ra (Literal Translation: "Against Ra") are a rebel race of Goa'uld who have come to ally with the Tau'ri and later the rebel Jaffa against the System Lords; on at least one occasion they have called themselves an insurgency. Although biologically the same species as the Goa'uld, the Tok'ra refuse to consider themselves the same race, often angrily asserting that "We are not Goa'uld!" They provide much valuable intelligence and technical assistance to the alliance, serving primarily as scientists and spies among the ranks of the Goa'uld rather than front-line warriors like the other two races.
The Tok'ra do not possess and control unwilling human hosts, the primary difference between them and the Goa'uld they oppose. The Tok'ra make use of a voluntary "blending" with a human host, within each single host body both personalities are free to speak and do what each desires in a truly symbiotic relationship. The benefit to a human who agrees to become a host is long life and perfect health, as well as all of the wisdom and memories of the Tok'ra with whom they are blended. The very first Goa'uld who decided to oppose the System Lords and become the founder of the Tok'ra race was Egeria (Season 6, Episode 10). Millennia ago there was a battle between Ra and Egeria on a planet known as Pangar. Ra prevailed and it was generally thought that Ra had killed Egeria. However, Ra simply imprisoned Egeria for thousands of years until she was discovered by the Pangarans. What was to unfold thereafter is told in the above-mentioned episode, titled "Cure".
In spite of their good will and honorable actions, they are distrusted by most Jaffa because of their policy of secrecy, subversion, and sabotage rather than stand-up combat. However, the Tok'ra themselves are partially at fault for this, as they initially showed little trust in the rebel Jaffa. As Jacob Carter put it, "Every time a Tok'ra has been killed by a staff weapon it was a Jaffa standing at the other end". Jack O'Neill also mistrusts the Tok'ra owing to their form and a bad experience with the Tok'ra Kanan (see below); he often uses the pejorative "snakehead" to refer to Tok'ra as well as Goa'uld.
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Tok'ra Government
The Tok'ra are governed by the Tok'ra High Council; apparently the head of the Council is Per'sus (below), but he has only been seen once. The structure and the selection process for membership on the Council are unknown.
Tok'ra customs
The Tok'ra have developed a unique culture of their own owing to the need for secrecy and the fact that each member of the society must share a body with another.
The Tok'ra do not bury their dead, probably to hide any trace of their existence on a planet. Instead, they place the deceased on a high platform in front of a Stargate, say a few parting words, and activate the gate. The kawoosh disintegrates the body and the top of the platform.
The implantation of a Tok'ra symbiote into its new host is rather different from a Goa'uld implantation. The Goa'uld tend to bury themselves in through the back of the neck, leaving a nasty scar which, according to Martouf, is rather uncomfortable for the host. The Tok'ra, on the other hand, prefer to go through the mouth, avoiding the scar. They say that the Goa'uld avoid this sort of implantation because the Goa'uld would be forced to remember the look of horror on the host's face every time he looked in the mirror. Since the Tok'ra take only voluntary hosts, who are willing to undergo the blending, the host therefor has no such look of horror and fear. Another advantage is that cursory examination by anyone not bearing a symbiote will dismiss a Tok'ra as human (as the standard way to look for a symbiote is to look for an implantation scar). If the investigator in question is Goa'uld or Jaffa, however, this is fairly useless as the symbiotes would detect the Tok'ra's blood naqahdah.
When one Tok'ra is mated to another, typically the host and symbiote are both in love with both the partner's host and the partner's symbiote.
Tok'ra science and technology
The Tok'ra are master scientists in spite of the necessity of maintaining secrecy and the resulting lack of raw materials. They are particularly skilled in organic chemistry; they have invented a symbiote poison harmless to other life forms, created a version of the Re'ol memory-altering substance, and developed a method for mass-producing Tretonin without using symbiotes. They often assist the Tau'ri in developing new weapons and concepts for fighting the Goa'uld; this relationship was aided by the fact that Samantha Carter's father Jacob was host to Selmak, one of the more important Tok'ra.
The Tok'ra have given many pieces of their technology to Stargate Command for field testing, and have also installed their one-way shields in the SGC's isolation rooms. It is possible that the profusion of zats recently seen wielded by SGC personnel are of Tok'ra make.