John Sheppard (Stargate)
John Sheppard | |
---|---|
Lieutenant Colonel | |
Family | Patrick Sheppard (father, deceased), David Sheppard (brother), Nancy (ex-wife) |
Nationality | American |
Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard,
Sheppard and Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) are the only characters to appear in all one hundred episodes of the series.
Role in Stargate Atlantis
Character arc
John Sheppard was an experienced and a talented
After they discovered that the shield protecting the underwater city of Atlantis was about to collapse, he joined the mission team searching for a new power source on
Aside from being the ranking military officer, Sheppard led an exploration team that consisted of Dr.
After securing Atlantis, the
While testing a new "Gate bridge" that McKay and Lt. Colonel
After piloting Atlantis to a new home, Sheppard fell under the command of Colonel Samantha Carter, the new leader of Atlantis. He acted as her second-in-command during the war with the Replicators, a war which reunited him with the Wraith he later named "Todd." Thanks to a brilliant plan by McKay, the Replicators were destroyed by an alliance of Wraith and human forces, but a new threat emerged in the form of the former Wraith, Michael, who kidnapped Teyla. After rescuing Teyla and apparently killing Michael, Sheppard encountered a new change of command as Richard Woolsey took over Atlantis.
Under Woolsey, Sheppard continued to lead efforts to fight the Wraith and Michael, who returned a final time to takeover Atlantis. With the help of Todd, Sheppard and his team attempted to find a way to eliminate the Wraith's need to feed on humans, but this led to a betrayal by Todd when he believed that Sheppard activated the Attero Device to destroy the Wraith at the cost of any activated Stargate in the Pegasus Galaxy. Despite this, Sheppard continued working with Todd when the situation called for it. In the series finale, Enemy at the Gate, Sheppard learned about a new, more powerful hive ship from Todd and worked to stop it from reaching and destroying Earth. When all else failed, even Atlantis, Sheppard boarded the ship with a nuclear weapon in a suicide mission to save Earth. Sheppard succeeded in destroying the hive ship and saving Atlantis and Earth, but, due to a surprise appearance by the rest of his team, survived the experience. He later joined Atlantis' senior staff as they looked out over the Golden Gate Bridge from Atlantis, which had landed on Earth in the aftermath of the hive ship's attempted attack.
John Sheppard learns how to fly a Wraith dart in the season 2 episode "
Characterization
John is one of the more laid-back, easy-going personalities on the Atlantis Expedition. He is capable under pressure, an excellent marksman, and outstanding pilot. He is very instinctual and frequently is able to come up with ingenious solutions to complicated problems. Some put this ability down to his being a closet mathematical genius, despite little scientific training. He also has displayed the ability to keep up with much of Rodney McKay's complicated plans. But despite this, he tends to be relatively humble—being able to accept that sometimes there isn't anything he can do to help to resolve the current problem, and leaving it up to more capable minds. He has also occasionally shown a darker side; he did not hesitate to take action that killed over 50 Genii soldiers when Kolya was trying to take over the city in
Despite being a lieutenant colonel, he has an easy rapport with most of the people in Atlantis - including the military personnel that are below him in terms of rank. He is good friends with both Teyla and Ronon, and grudgingly admits that he loves McKay "in the way a friend feels about another friend".
He is in possession of a rather wry sense of humor, and frequently alleviates tension by telling jokes to keep spirits up - much to the annoyance of McKay. He hates clowns, enjoys Ferris wheels, American football and 'anything that goes faster than 200 miles an hour', along with displaying a vague aptitude for Chess - beating McKay on at least one occasion, once again to McKay's chagrin.[9] Sheppard qualified for Mensa, (a "high IQ" society), but never joined.[10] Sheppard is an avid golf player and a fan of Johnny Cash. He has also on several occasions referred to the movies Alien by Ridley Scott, Star Trek, Star Wars, and The Abyss. Sheppard also brought the book War and Peace to pass the time, and in episode 50, states he is "Only a quarter of the way through War and Peace."
Sheppard possesses a unique relationship with the Wraith "Todd." The two were initially held prisoner together by Acastus Koyla with Todd being forced to feed on Sheppard to torture him. Sheppard's unfailing belief that they could escape or be rescued convinced Todd to work with him to get out with the deal that if they ever met again "all bets are off." Both kept their ends of the deal: Todd restored the life he stole from Sheppard, something he stated was reserved only for their worshippers and "brothers" and Sheppard took him somewhere he could be found by the Wraith rather than killing him. Despite their deal, Sheppard later agreed to work with Todd on several occasions, even once saying that Todd may be their best chance at defeating the Wraith, but is very distrusting of him. However, Todd, even after betraying Sheppard once, kept coming back to him for help despite repeated death threats and the two seem to have a mutual understanding of each other. In one episode, Sheppard uses his understanding of Todd's personality to convince him to do what he wants. Todd realizes this and states to him "you know how to talk to me," but is amused rather than angry as Sheppard was right. Todd also seems to trust at least Sheppard's word as he has never seriously questioned him when they make a deal which Sheppard always upholds. When Sheppard did so once to the point that it saved Todd's life, the Wraith promised to remember his actions.
Conceptual history
Ben Browder was originally planned to play the part of Sheppard[citation needed]. However, because Browder was busy with Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars at the time, Joe Flanigan stepped in and took over the role. After Farscape ended, Browder joined Stargate SG-1 and was given the role of SG-1 regular, Cameron Mitchell instead.
References
- ^ "Rising". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ "The Siege, Part 1". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ "The Siege, Part 2". Stargate Atlantis.
- The Intruder". Stargate Atlantis.
- The Return". Stargate Atlantis.
- Tao of Rodney". Stargate Atlantis.
- Sunday". Stargate Atlantis.
- Outcast". Stargate Atlantis.
- The Game". Stargate Atlantis.
- The Brotherhood". Stargate Atlantis.
External links
- John Sheppard at Stargate wikia
- John Sheppard Archived 2006-11-28 at the scifi.com