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Apart from maybe the impregnation of Vala, that is a slight hint towards Jesus, is there any mention in Stargate SG-1 of the modern gods that are known to mankind today, such as the deities behind Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism or Islam?

I can only, for certain, account for Ancient Egyptian gods, Norse gods and Slav gods (Svarog).

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  • 9
    I'm pretty sure it was deliberately avoided. Marvel does the same thing.
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 11:09
  • 7
    Though you're missing ancient Middle-East (Ba'al), Roman (Camalus), Greek (Cronus), Chinese (Yu) and Mayan (Zipacna).
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 11:13
  • @OrangeDog I forgot about Yu, any of the others I wasn't sure where exactly they were from. Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 11:43
  • 2
    @OrangeDog While the name we know is Roman, Camulus was actually a Celtic god.
    – talrnu
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 15:12
  • @OrangeDog Actually, the Abrahamic God has appeared in-person within the Marvel universe, and I think that some Hindu deities have shown up too. Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 21:52

6 Answers 6

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Yes & No

For a very good In Universe reason.... most of those religions weren't (AFAIK) established until after the Goa'uld had left Earth in 3000BC.

The episode Mobius established that SG1 helped oust the Goa'uld from Earth by travelling in time to 3000BC using a Puddle Jumper.

In addition, the religions described (he says carefully) would not fit the Goa'u'd methodology. Teal'c says...

I know of no Goa’uld capable of showing the necessary compassion or benevolence that I have read of in your Bible.

However, as has been pointed out in comments various religions that came into existence after the removal of the Egyptian stargate are referenced, including Hinduism, Shinto and, by implication Christianity.

Whether the Goa'uld were the inspiration for these "gods" or just assumed their names is unclear though.

For instance: Christianity

The medieval Christian beliefs of the humans means that their ancestors must have been taken from Earth after the first council of Nicaea in AD 325 that established the said belief system and likely after the fall of the Roman empire and into the Dark Ages given their belief in demons, which makes it highly likely they were the last group of humans to leave Earth until the rediscovery of the Stargate and Dr. Ernest Littlefield's 1945 trip though the gate and the last group of humans ever to be taken off-world as Goa'uld slaves. Since this puts their departure well beyond the known date of the rebellion against the Goa'uld, especially after the alternate SG-1's involvement in "Moebius, Part 2", they were likely removed via ships...or via the second Stargate in Antarctica as it was stated the Goa'uld used it and as evident of the two Jaffa they found frozen there.

Wikia

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  • I think it's implied that the Ancients inspired Buddhism, but that doesn't involve any deities.
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 11:49
  • I never thought of that, that makes all the sense in the world, they simply weren't around to play gods anymore. Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 11:50
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    Yet there are Goa'uld impersonating deities that are more recent than 3000BC. The historical Yu was ~2000BC. Zipacna (Mayan) would also be around then. And there are aliens that aren't Goa'uld that also impersonate deities (the Asgard).
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 11:51
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    This description of the historical Yu (pright moral character.) doesn't really match the Goa'uld. Isn#t it more likely that he was named after the Goa'uld? But...perhps the writers messed up. ☺
    – Paulie_D
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 11:55
  • Good edit. However, to be technical, the show's canon asserts that Nirrti and Kali were venerated as Hindu goddesses before the Tauri uprising, which canonically happened ca 3000 BCE (per the Moebius episodes). Some scholars date the formation of Hinduism (or at least its earliest traditions) to as early as 3900 BCE, so Hinduism possibly pre-dates the uprising and therefore these Goa'uld would have been directly involved in its formation instead of taking their deities' names after the fact.
    – talrnu
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 16:24
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Yes: Satan (Christianity) and Nirrti (Hinduism)

In season 3 episode Demons they encounter a medieval Catholic society.

Carter: The UAV photos were right, there it is. Looks like a church.

O'Neill: And that would mean what?

Teal'c: That it is most likely Christians reside here, O'Neill. [...]

Daniel: Which means they probably had to have been taken from somewhere in medieval Europe through the Antarctic gate.

At first, they think the Goa'uld is playing the Abrahamic God

Daniel: Well, if these people were already Christians when they were taken from Earth, that suggests this Goa'uld is…is playing…

O'Neill: God? As in God God? It's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?

Teal'c: I know of no Goa'uld capable of showing the necessary compassion or benevolence that I have read of in your Bible.

The people feared a demon (Unas) who was a servant of the devil (Sokar).

Unas (in a distorted, Goa'uld-like voice): The time of Sacrifice is at hand. My lord Satan calls for five wretched souls to reclaim as his.

Recurring character Nirrti was also the Hindu goddess of 'deathly hidden realms and sorrows'.

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  • Good find! I've added some quotes from the episode to support this, and changed the header a bit. I hope that's okay. Feel free to edit or undo my changes if you don't like them. Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 21:59
  • @Thunderforge as you asked so nicely it's fine ;) And less of a good find... more I watched this programme too much as a child!
    – Crazy Dino
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 22:08
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Yes, several made appearances on the show:

There are also numerous Hindu deities mentioned in canon, including Shiva, Indra, and Vritra.

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Does Satan count as a "modern god"?

If so, then there's Sokar.

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  • Yeah I figured he's close enough but I think there's a counterpart in most religions. Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 11:49
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    He is explicitly impersonating the Christian Devil (although not on Earth).
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 11:50
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Islam, Christianity and Judaism have the same god. I doubt any Goa’uld would dare mimic him, as he did kill the first born son of all Egyptians under the rule of Thutmose II. See this Quora post.

I also would remind others that Hinduism is almost as ancient as God, 4000 years instead of 5000 years.

And that no Goa’uld would be patient enough to be Buddhist. Perhaps Tok’Ra created Buddhism in SGU?

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    There's the start of an answer here but I suggest you edit your post to include references from the show, not just (even accurate) comment on why such gods wouldn't be present. :)
    – Jenayah
    Commented May 27, 2019 at 16:39
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As mentioned previously, unequovocally yes. Teal'c specifically states that no Goa'uld would have the benevelence to mimic the Christian God. Additionally there is an implicit racial bias towards the Gods of SGU. All of the Goa'uld (not Tok'ra) draw their names from non-white non-judeo-christian origins, while the good guys draw their inspiration from white religious ideas. The Asgard are drawn from the Vikings of the Scandinavia, the Nox draw their inspiration from the Sidhe of Celtic/Gaelic traditions in that they are immensely powerful, secretive and desire only to be left alone and in harmony with nature.

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  • This seems to be a replication of the accepted answer, except with commentary.
    – Valorum
    Commented Jan 17 at 8:12

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