THE SYMBIOTE

The true form of the Goa'uld. The symbiote is a snake-like entity that must attach itself at the base of the neck on the spinal cord in order to take control of an individual's nervous system.

A larval symbiote must mature for around seven years inside the stomach pouch of a Jaffa. Upon reaching maturity, the adult symbiote must find a host since it can't survive for very long outside of it's natural water-based environment. The symbiote can take over a variety of hosts and very few beings are unsuitable for the "blending" as the Goa'uld call it. The criteria the most used for selecting a host for the Goa'uld is beauty of the individual.

It was once thought that nothing of the host survived, but that was later disproved with the successful removal of Klorel from the Abydonian Skaara.

LONGEVITY

After a maturation period of around seven years inside of a jaffa, the symbiote must quickly take a host or return to it's watery environment. The mature symbiote can't survive for very long since the Jaffa aren't suitable hosts for the Goa'uld due to the genetic alterations done to them in order to sustain larval symbiote during maturation.

When the symbiote takes a human host, it can increase it's longevity up to around a 150 or 200 years. As an addition, the symbiote can cure almost any known disease. Many Goa'uld use a sarcophagus to prolong the life of the host to around a thousand years and in some cases, indefinitely.

But it is also known that the sarcophagus can alter the personality of it's user over time, making them evil, corrupt and greedy. It was this alteration that is speculated to make the Goa'uld as power-hungry as they are.

PERSONALITY

There is one common trait that all Goa'uld(save the Tok'ra) share: A thirst for power. If it is natural or because of the sarcophagus, most Goa'uld war on each other over power and territory. Few ever deviate from this way of thinking for every time a Goa'uld uses a sarcophagus, the effects are renewed and a dependency is created. Not using the sarcophagus provokes withdrawal effects that wreak havoc on the host body.

The Goa'uld desir control and can suppress the host and completely take over the host body without objection. Some hosts prove stronger and can exert a limit influence on the Goa'uld, but it is minimal at best. Continual use of the sarcophagus strenghtens the hold that the Goa'uld has on the host's body.

Most Goa'uld share a desire for worship leading them to masquerade as gods among the lesser developed worlds. They use their advanced technology to easily impress the population and subdue them to their will.

ABILITIES

In most cases, the Goa'uld can increase the strength and resiliance of it's host. As an added advantage, the Goa'uld symbiote has access to the memories of the host and can use this knowledge to better masquerade as it's host when necessary.

The symbiote also acts as the host's immune system, protecting it from numerous and deadly diseases. In the case of the Jaffa, the immature symbiote implanted in them totally destroys and replaces their immune system, making them dependant of the Goa'uld. This addiction is not found among former hosts, but rather the symbiote leaves a protein marker that can be sensed by other Goa'uld, alerting them that the individual was a former host.

All Goa'uld can make the eyes of their hosts glow, adding to the effect of "godliness" as well as change the intonation of their voices to distinguish the host from the symbiote. But the voice can be changed at the will of the Goa'uld since the symbiote can use the host's original voice at will to pretend being the host.

All current Goa'uld(including the Tok'ra) have some quantity of naquadah in their bloodstream, allowing them to use most of their advanced devices and technology. The Goa'uld remaining on the primordial homeworld lack this strain of naquadah.

HOST SPECIES

Humans
The most common human host used by the Goa'uld. Ra discovered humanity several thousand years ago and, along with his System Lord brethren, spred humanity accross that galaxy in the form of small colonies on isolated planets. Most of these planets are regularly visited by the Goa'uld and it is among these planets that the System Lords and their servants take their hosts by force.

The main criteria for host selection when it comes to humans is beauty. The Goa'uld pay little attention to the knowledge of the host, but in some occasions, certain humans such as Machello(who developed technology to destroy the Goa'uld) have been marked to become hosts so that their knowledge may better serve the Goa'uld.

Unas
The first host species. They evolved from same primordial ocean as the Goa'uld symbiotes themselves. They have great regenerative capabilities, but their numbers are so few that the Goa'uld have practically abandoned using them as hosts.

A small group of Unas still exist freely on the primordial homeworld of the Goa'uld. They society is that of the average caveman on Earth. They are primitive, but they manage to avoid possession from the local primordial Goa'uld who've been seperated from the main Goa'uld race for several millenia.

* Very few beings are unsuitable for being hosts. One such species is that of bounty hunter Aris Boch, a race which the Goa'uld enslaved and the Jaffa since they are genetically engineered to sustain larval symbiotes.