Replicator (Stargate)
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The Replicators are a fictional mechanical race on the television series Stargate SG-1.
Background and History
The Replicators are a race created by a female android, Reese, who was retrieved from a depopulated world. Reese had the body of a young woman, but the mind of a spoiled child. She created the first Replicator as a toy (which was under her control), but this alarmed the denizens of that world, who claimed she was 'built wrong'. Out of fear of being destroyed, she instructed her toys on self-replication, and self-preservation of herself and themselves. This was a mistake, however, as the Replicators escaped her control and began to destroy her world. Reese escaped this catastrophe by going to 'sleep'.
The Replicators themselves are composed of modular blocks which are created using nanotechnology and have very high intercommunicativity. They are very generalized and they can assemble to become many forms, the most common being the small spider variation illustrated above. They are highly intelligent, although it is not clear if they are sentient, and they can absorb raw materials into new blocks to form versions of themselves that are more durable (or less so if the materials are of poor quality) and can even commandeer new technology in the same way. In fact, they are generally driven to assimilate new technology, often passing up technology familiar to them or less advanced than theirs in order to acquire more advanced technology.
Much later, after they had spread amongst the stars and had become a menace to the galaxy, Reese was recovered by the SGC. After a near-repeat of what happened to her planet at the SGC, she was killed. Her body ultimately yielded the key to capturing the Replicators, as one key command first installed by Reese was still present in all replicators that followed: "Come Forth". This was used by the Asgard to trap the replicators in a time dialation field where time would flow at a rate 104 slower than outside the bubble. They ultimately escaped this and a new, sentient human form of Replicators using nanotechnology instead of 'blocks' to compose themselves were discovered. They advanced to this form after they discovered Reese's body and realized what they thought was their true purpose, universal domination.
The initial flaw with Reese, her lack of humanity, was corrected in only one of the self-aware Replicators, "Fifth." His humanity, however, was seen as a flaw by the others (named First, Second, etc.), and the humanity was removed from the following versions. His humanity is what was betrayed by SG-1 to trap the Replicators on the planet with the time dilation device. However, Fifth's humanity is also what makes him much more dangerous than any other Replicator in existence -- as he points out to (then) Maj. Carter in the season 8 opening episode, while the other self-aware Replicators were consumed with self-replication, they had no real concept of cruelty or torture because of their lack of humanity, something he knows all too well. It also seems that the inhuman self-aware Replicators were destroyed in the conflicts in the season 8 opener, leaving Fifth in control of all Replicators -- a disturbing prospect.
Up to the eighth season, there was no truly effective way to handle Replicators en masse; while projectile weapons are effective to a degree against small numbers, they can easily overwhelm whole Asgard ships. However, the Asgard commander Thor managed to "commandeer" Col. O'Neill while he still possessed the knowledge of the Ancients in his mind and linked him to his ship, the Daniel Jackson. By doing this, O'Neill was capable of designing an effective anti-Replicator weapon which works by permanently rendering a Replicator block/nanite caught in its fire incapable of communicating with other blocks, resulting in the Replicator literally "falling to pieces". Thor then was able to adapt the weapon to be used as an Asgard ship's armament, capable of destroying Replicators for miles from the blast site. This weapon has basically made the Asgard-Replicator conflict a more balanced one, and has forced the Replicators into hiding to rebuild their strength.
Not all has been disclosed about the Replicators, so what is known as of yet may be incomplete.
