Stargate fans, help!

[Dragonblade]

So I have seen a few episodes of SG-1 and they are pretty cool. But in all the episodes I have seen up to this point, I haven't seen any of the Jaffa wearing the cool masks and body armor that the Jaffa and Ra used in the original movie.

The armor that they pushed a button and it expanded to cover their body.

Is there some story reason why the Goa'uld don't use this armor anymore? Has the armor actually appeared in the TV show? Is there a Goa'uld name for it?

Do they have stats for it in the new d20 Stargate game? I always thought it was really cool.

 

[LrdApoc]

Well the simplest answer in this case won't be very satisfying..

Yes they have shown the retracting helmet a few times but for budget reasons they pretty much abandoned it early on. Just like the temperature change after going through the gate.. the wrote that out with a plot explanation.. but basically it's the same thing. They are producing a weekly series rather than a motion picture so the effects budget is stretched throughout the season.

The stats do show up in the RPG but they are nothing special.. just regular armor.

 

[Dragonblade]

I thought it might be something like that.

Well, the stats may be ho-hum but in my mind its having armor that can expand to cover your body or retract at will that is really cool.

Anyway, the show is cool. Too bad I missed the first six seasons.

 

[s/LaSH]

In theory the jaffa wear that armour all the time. In practice they almost never deploy their helmets from the big old collars, perhaps because they look so top-heavy and the jaffa have quickly learned that tau'ri will ruthlessly capitalise on that weakness by shooting them a lot... goa'uld arms and armour are intended to look cool, not be efficient in times of war. (I think they explained that in the episode entitled The Warrior.)

You do, however, see Serpent Guard helmets relatively often on the show, so they haven't forgotten them altogether.

So there's a possible in-setting explanation...

 

[Orius]

In theory the jaffa wear that armour all the time. In practice they almost never deploy their helmets from the big old collars, perhaps because they look so top-heavy and the jaffa have quickly learned that tau'ri will ruthlessly capitalise on that weakness by shooting them a lot... goa'uld arms and armour are intended to look cool, not be efficient in times of war. (I think they explained that in the episode entitled The Warrior.)

It's for appearance. Remember in the movie, Ra's jaffa guards always appeared around the people of Abydos with the armor on. The people feared then and were cowed because they though the jaffa were gods.

But it probably is a budget matter, and probably to make production easier. Just as the people of Abydos spoke some sort of Egyptian-related language in the movie, everyone speaks English in the TV show because it's easier.

 

[Dragonblade]

In theory the jaffa wear that armour all the time. In practice they almost never deploy their helmets from the big old collars, perhaps because they look so top-heavy and the jaffa have quickly learned that tau'ri will ruthlessly capitalise on that weakness by shooting them a lot... goa'uld arms and armour are intended to look cool, not be efficient in times of war. (I think they explained that in the episode entitled The Warrior.)

You do, however, see Serpent Guard helmets relatively often on the show, so they haven't forgotten them altogether.

So there's a possible in-setting explanation...

I have caught a few of the episodes. Enough that this theory makes sense. The Goa'uld wish for the Jaffa and all others to look upon them as gods. A lot of their armor and technology is designed to be flashy, cool, and intimidating. Better to keep the masses cowed.

They are also arrogant and resistant to innovation, perhaps their genetic memory contributes to that. A mature Goa'uld already knows a lot about his race and their technology innately without having to learn it.

Humans have the ability to adapt and change more than any other alien race, which is one reason they kick so much ass even though their tech is slightly more primitive.

I have seen lots of reruns and read episode summaries from different fan sites so I'm starting to get a good picture of the different races. Most of the advanced races like the Goa'uld and the Asgard have stagnated in their development.

See the episode about the Goa'uld Imhotep. Even though O'neill showed the rebel Jaffa and Imhotep the superiority of human machine guns, they still preferred their light staffs (I don't know the name of it).

And the Asgard inability to defeat the replicators is similar. The SG teams have destroyed and defeated the replicators but the Asgard cannot do so. In fact, the Asgard believe that humanity is the next great race to follow in the footsteps of the Ancients who originally created the stargates.

Anyway, I was curious about the expandable armor though because I haven't seen it much in the reruns and the fan sites I have looked at don't explain it much.

 

[s/LaSH]

See the episode about the Goa'uld Imhotep. Even though O'neill showed the rebel Jaffa and Imhotep the superiority of human machine guns, they still preferred their light staffs (I don't know the name of it).

That's the ep I always point to when someone asks why the tau'ri are so effective against the far more advanced aliens they meet. O'Neill's presentation of FN-P90 versus staff weapons sums it up very nicely.

 

[Viking Bastard]

The other reason is Guerilla warfare. Get there, blow it
up and run back to Earth (which the system lords can't
touch thanks to the Asgard). Repeat ad nauseum.