Ra (Stargate)

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In the science fiction television show Stargate SG-1 and original movie Stargate, Ra was a fictional alien related to Ra of Egyptian Mythology.

Ra was killed in the original Stargate feature film. The premise for the movie was that Ra, a Goa'uld (Though the species was not named in the movie), was actually an alien being who posed as a god to enslave the peoples of Earth. He was overthrown by a planet-wide rebellion on Earth but still ruled over Abydos; to which Colonel Jonathan "Jack" O'Neil, Dr. Daniel Jackson, Lt. Charles Kawalsky, Ferretti, and others traveled. The Stargate had been unearthed from its burial point in Egypt and had been restored to working order by the United States Air Force. The aforementioned team, dispatched to explore and analyse the planet on the other end of the Stargate, managed to communicate with the locals, who believed them to be messengers from Ra, who were being forced to mine naqahdah for the false god.

O'Neil, under covert orders from General West, had brought a nuclear bomb from Earth with orders to detonate it if there was any indication of a hostile threat. When Daniel informed him of the history of Ra, including his previous dominance of the people of Earth, Jack moved to use the device to remove Ra from the galaxy. Ra discovered this plot and planned to instead send the nuclear bomb back to Earth with shipment of naqahdah. Naqahdah, a mineral of many fantastic properties, has the interesting effect of multiplying the explosive force of nuclear weapons by a factor of one hundred. The resulting explosion would most probably have destroyed Earth, destroying all human civilization at the very least.

Before the bomb could be sent, however, the humans managed to escape Ra's clutches and launch an attack on his landed Ha'tak. Ra was defeated before he could dispatch the warhead and decided to flee Abydos, his empire crumbling when the natives rebelled (As had happened on Earth) when Daniel revealed that Ra was not a god. O'Neil had, unfortunately, already activated the nuclear device in an attempt to eliminate the threat posed by Ra. Unable to deactivate the bomb, apparently modified by Ra, Jackson sent the bomb and its naqahdah up into the Ha'tak by way of a ring transporter. The bomb exploded there above Abydos' atmosphere, destroying the Ha'tak and killing Ra.

As a side note, beyond glowing eyes and the bass-augmented voice, when Ra became angry the outline of the real alien Ra could be seen within the host. This portion appears to be in direct contradiction to Stargate SG-1, where the true Goa'uld appear to be a serpent-like creature which occupies the brain stem in order to control the host. It is explained in the movie that the alien entity, near death, found the primitive people of Earth and, with their 'primitive' physiology able to be sustained indefinitely with his advanced technology, he posessed the body of a young Egyptian lad and ruled from within.

According to Stargate SG-1 canon, Ra was the most cunning and ruthless of the System Lords. His power and intelligence so overshadowed the others that he was awarded the title Supreme System Lord and became the de facto Emperor of the Goa'uld, though this would be a very nominal title as the others never ceased their attempts to usurp the position.

Ra has appeared only once on Stargate SG-1, in the season eight episode "Moebius Part 1", in which the SG-1 crew, using an Ancient time machine, traveled to Earth's past before the revolution against Ra.es:Ra (Stargate) fr:Râ (Stargate) it:Ra (Stargate)