Dr. Daniel Jackson.

Stargate, SG-1

(Professor, Warrior, Best Friend, Lost Soul)

First episode premiered on US TV: July, 1997 

Ran 10 Years Last episode shown on US TV: June 2007

The Look:  6’, lean, muscular, sky blue eyes, glasses.Portrayed by actor Michael Shanks, who has a talent for voice characterization, languages and accents; which is a good thing because Daniel supposedly speaks 23 Earth languages and 4 alien ones.Mr. Shanks was cast as Daniel for the TV show as a result of his spot-on imitation of and sometimes uncanny resemblance to the Daniel Jackson created by James Spader for the original Stargate movie.

The Layers:

Professor: Holder of  PhD’s in Archeology, Anthropology and Linguistics, this archeologist is not a Swashbuckler.  A thirst for knowledge is his raison d’etre, not a thirst for adventure.

Warrior: Forced into this role at first to save his wife and later to save himself, his teammates, the planet and the galaxy.  He has evolved into a competent soldier able to hold his own in a fire fight although hand-to-hand is not a strength and the military attitude of ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ is never his first choice.

Best Friend: Trustworthy, he is a compassionate, caring and peaceful man. He is often the diplomat, brokering alliances between Earth and alien races. He will do anything for the sake and safety of his teammates, planet and galaxy…including self-sacrifice.

Lost Soul: The only child of American archeologists living and working in Egypt, he is a misfit to American society almost from the day he is born.  A child prodigy of languages; he speaks three by the time he is age five  Orphaned at the age of eight by a freak archeological accident, he witnessed, that killed both parents.  He is put into foster care because his only relative, his maternal grandfather will not adopt him.  He bounces through the foster care system, isolated, unwanted and unadopted until he is able to on his own at 16 when he enters college at least two years younger than his classmates. This early life creates a man reticent, and self-protective. Very few people are allowed inside his personal space.  Yet because he lacked positive adult approval as he grew up he has no real sense of self-worth as evidenced by his all-too willingness to sacrifice himself for the greater good.  

Leading Lady(ies):

“Stargate”, the original movie ended with Daniel(James Spader) staying on the planet that most of the movie took place on because he found himself married to the village princess who was offered to him as thanks for his role in destroying the parasitic creature that terrorized the planet.

In the first episode of the TV series, Daniel(Michael Shanks) returns to Earth having lost his wife, whom he had fallen deeply in love with, to another of the same parasitic race of creatures.  His background goal for the first 3 seasons is to save her.  During one episode during this time he must help her deliver a child the parasite’s mate had impregnated her with.  During the third season one of his teammates must kill her before she kills Daniel. For the next four seasons he remains in deep mourning for her.

Halfway thru season 8, the Earth space-battlecruiser he is aboard is commandeered by a seemingly dangerous enemy.  He manages to escape the en masse removal of the rest of the crew; in effect making himself a hostage.  He is stunned when the enemy is revealed to be a beautiful, smart, tough, sexy space pirate by the name of Vala (Claudia Black). In her past she was also a victim of the same race of parasites as his wife, but managed to survive, although she had to resort to a life of crime to do so.  Vala’s surface persona of seductress, thief and con artist is Daniel’s complete antithesis.  In their first encounter she physically beats him up, lies to him, tries to seduce him and almost gets him killed.  In their second encounter she again takes him hostage to help her find treasure, by means of an alien device that it turns out will kill them both should they get too far apart or one of them die.  The necessity to stay in close proximity to each other to keep themselves alive creates a bond that is strengthened when another alien device puts the two of them in a life threatening situation where they must depend solely on each other. The first device is eventually removed but the bond created has penetrated their myriad self-defense mechanisms.  Time and circumstances inevitably bring them back together. By the end of the final season(Season 10) they have forged a friendship that allows them to work together, trusting each other with their lives and may lead to them accepting that what they are to each other is more than friends.

Favourite Quotes:

First encounter, mid season 8: she has just punched him, after a moments hesitation he punches her back

Vala(indignant, holding her nose in pain) “You hit me.”

Daniel(exasperated): “You hit me!”

Vala: “You know we could just have sex instead.”

Second encounter, beginning of season 9: in the base infirmary after it has been discovered what the true effects of the alien bracelets are

Daniel(in an aside to one of his teammates): “Just to clarify. When I kill her…I die too?” 

Mid season 10: after circumstances have brought them back together, she has settled on Earth and is working on his team; she is abducted. When the team finally finds her, she has no memory of herself or of them.  Terrified and trying to escape she threatens to shoot Daniel.

Vala: “Now get out of my way or I will shoot you.”

Daniel: “If I let you go, you’ll just disappear.  You’ve been running so long it’s almost second nature to you. You don’t remember, but I do.  You made a decision to stop running. It’s over. It’s time to come home.”

Bottom Line:   A complicated, wounded man who deserves a “happily ever after”.

Guest Columnist June Collins: 

I am a not-yet-seeking-publication novice writer.  I began writing as a teenage…the usual teenage stuff.  Thankfully most of it has been lost to the mists of time.  I put pen to paper again in the late 90s, once it was no longer necessary for me to use all my brain for the care of my children. 

I have two or three original WIPs in various stages, but have become distracted by the complex, complicated relationship between the hero I’ve just described and his leading lady.  I’m now playing in the genre of  “fan fiction”.  Here you will  find the postings of the ‘opus’ that I’m currently working on, plus two other pieces I have written in this ‘fandom’. The other multi-chapter one has been nominated for two separate ‘fan’ awards. 

Perhaps when I’ve completed  the WIP I have in this ‘fandom’ I’ll go back to my original pieces….if I can create characters that capture my imagination like these two do. 

If any of the writers here that are way more accomplished than I, actually read any of my work I’d love to hear privately anything you’d like to say – good and bad.