Stargate’s Ten Coolest Alien Ships

Nothing says science fiction like a kick-ass space ship design.

Great sci-fi entertainment is full of these iconic shapes set against a glimmering star field — the Enterprise, the White Star, Serenity, Nostromo, and the Millennium Falcon. Even video game franchises are making their mark with fantastically realized ships, from Halo to Mass Effect to Starfield.

And Stargate certainly has its share of distinctive ships. With all due props to Earth’s Daedalus-class and F-302 ship designs, here we are counting down our favorite alien ships. From the Goa’uld to the Wraith to the Ancients, and plenty of mysterious vessels in between, these ships were designed and built by alien species — both friend and foe.

Take a look at the list below, then let us know your favorite alien ships in the comments. (Yes, Master Replicas, you can consider this a wish list for the next round of ship models!)

Number 10: Ori Warship

Nicknamed the “toilet bowl” by fans for its open, flushy design, this advanced Ori vessel packs a powerful punch. It is highly advanced technology, given by the ascended Ori to their mortal followers in order to conquer worlds and convert new followers to Origin by any means necessary.

That glowy orb in the middle is a power source — possibly a fusion reaction, or perhaps even some sort of portable singularity? (Is that a thing?) It powers the ship’s engines, hyperdrive, and a very powerful cutting beam. You don’t want to run into one of these in a dark nebula (unless you are ready to convert to the wisdom that is Origin).

Though the ship’s design has been mocked by some, we actually like it because it’s so different. Instead of menacingly angular, the Ori design aesthetic is soft and rounded. Perhaps the Ori wanted to look non-threatening … or they knew that when you are packing a giant space gun you can get away with flying around in a toilet bowl.

Number 9: Replicator Cruiser

Shaped like spiders and other giant bugs before they evolved into human form, the Replicators were never much for style. But there’s something surprisingly elegant about this ship, which emerges from a failed Asgard time dilation bubble when the human-form Replicators first take to space. They set out for the new Asgard homeworld for a little vengeance (and to restock on neutronium to build more Replicators), only for the ship to be shot down the moment it exits hyperspace.

Not to worry, of course — if you’re a Replicator you aren’t particularly worried about losing any one ship. The cruiser was assembled entirely of tiny Replicator blocks, many of which hailed down onto Orilla and continued on with their merry invasion.

Despite its blocky and arguably utilitarian origins, the Replicator cruiser ended up looking sleek and menacing. The round, rotating design and long trailing end make it look almost organic … like a really evil jellyfish.

Number 8: Death Glider

The Goa’uld’s fighter craft are designed not only to be effective in battle against their rivals, but also to intimidate the populations of enslaved worlds. Death Gliders are fast-moving but can be difficult to maneuver, because they fly at such high ballistic speeds. But over their years of being featured on Stargate SG-1 we saw some pretty spectacular dog-fights and piloting moves.

Gliders come with two large staff weapon cannons mounted beneath their broad wings. These weapons aren’t terribly accurate but they are powerful, enabling a Jaffa pilot to go shooting up innocent villages — again, not so much to eliminate targets as to cause mass hysteria and keep the people in line. Ra did just this when he ordered a pair of gliders to terrorize the people of Abydos in the feature film, which Kasuf took as retribution for their having welcomed the strangers from Earth.

Number 7: Tel’tak

Though it was built to be entirely functional, the Goa’uld cargo ship has a sleek, understated elegance about it. It also has a place in our hearts, since SG-1 used this type of ship so much in Seasons Three, Four, and Five (before Earth started building its own ships).

The cargo ship is the workhorse of the Goa’uld fleet. But don’t plan to take it into battle … a standard Tel’tak has no weapons, no shields, and only occasionally a working cloaking device. It’s meant for hauling cargo (and for secret SG-1 / Tok’ra ops), not for holding the line against the forces of Heru’ur.

“Jolinar’s Memories,” “The Serpent’s Venom,” “Fail Safe” … yeah, we miss Goa’uld cargo ships.

Number 6: Parallel Reality Alien Fighter

While most of our picks on this list are mainstays of the Stargate universe, this alien fighter craft made only a single appearance in the franchise — though the writers of Stargate Atlantis were planning to bring back these new bad guys, had the show not been cancelled.

We meet the unnamed race in a parallel reality, after Sheppard and his team hop aboard a version of the Daedalus that is skipping from one universe to the next thanks to its broken “alternate reality drive.” They spot a hostile alien vessel firing on Atlantis and intervene, drawing the aliens’ wrath. The mothership launches a vicious swarm of fighters, attacking Daedalus and even boarding the ship.

These little ships are reminiscent of a swarm of hornets, with stingers pointed forward at their target. This is in keeping with the pilot’s strategy of crashing into a target ship in order to get on board.

Number 5: Wraith Dart

Now if you want angular and menacing, this is as pointy and intimidating as it gets! The aptly-named Dart is the Wraith’s one-man fighter craft. It has energy weapons and can handle itself in a dog fight against a rival hive. But the Dart is most effective in mass numbers, as dozens or even hundreds of Darts swarm an enemy ship.

The Dart’s main function, though, is culling a planet. Pilots do a low, rapid fly-over of your village and activate a transporter beam that functions as a sort of fishing net. Everything it passes over is demolecularized and stored inside the Dart’s computer, to be rematerialized only later … when the Wraith is back on his hive ship and has the munchies.

Because they can dial and fly through an active Stargate, Wraith Darts don’t even need a hive ship in orbit in order to execute a culling. Even the mere activation of the Stargate can send villagers into hiding. The Dart is fast, deadly, and with that organic-sounding hum to its engines, damn intimidating.

Number 4: Destiny

Because Stargate Universe was the first series in the franchise to be set on board a ship, Destiny probably received more screen time than any other vessel on our list. The show’s hero ship was built by the Ancients millions of years ago (it’s older than Atlantis … which honestly should have made this list too, as the city is technically also a ship!). By design Destiny mixes graceful curves and utility kit-bashing, with an overall silhouette that looks like one of the Stargate’s chevrons.

Apart from the beautiful design, the brilliance of Destiny comes in the fact that it has a traveling Stargate on board. Not only does the gate allow the crew to explore planets as Destiny comes within range, but the Ancients planned to board their automated ship using its Stargate after it had gone far enough out. This is the destination of the 9-chevron address!

Destiny is also one of Stargate’s coolest because of its ultimate purpose. While the show was cancelled before this story was fully realized, we did learn that the Ancients created the ship to seek out and map data on the cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang — which appears to have a pattern. Is there an intelligence older than the universe itself? Were the Ancients looking for God? In true Stargate fashion, Destiny was chasing real “meaning of life” stuff.

Number 3: Puddle Jumper

What, you’re gonna walk through the Stargate and hike your way across an alien world like a sucker? Not in this city. The Lanteans created a small fleet of car-sized ships, with physics-defying inertial dampeners and engines that will zip you and your team through the Stargate. The Gate Ship (which John Sheppard likes to call a “Puddle Jumper”) is the best way to travel from gate to gate in the Pegasus Galaxy … especially if you are dialing a space gate. (Definitely don’t go on foot then.)

Jumpers are sleek little ships, built for exploration but also able to handle themselves in a fight. Pegasus is teeming with Wraith, after all, and teams who set out in a Jumper may find themselves in a sticky situation. So the ship has a stock of drone weapons, plus indispensable cloaking technology that lets the team move about undetected.

Big alien warships are cool and all, but if you’re asking which ship on this list we’d like to keep parked in the backyard, it’s the Puddle Jumper.

Number 2: Asgard Mothership

As one of the more technologically advanced species in the Stargate universe, the Asgard have gone through several ship designs. One of the best is the Beliskner class — the ship that Supreme Commander Thor was flying around when we first met him. Its hammerhead design is evocative of Thor’s persona in Norse mythology.

The Asgard (sometimes) served as something of a galactic peacekeeper, and their sophisticated technology — weapons, shields, and transporter beams that can grab a person off the surface of a planet, or disintegrate entire warships (as seen in “Thor’s Chariot”) — helped them do it.

The newer model is the O’Neill-class warship (pictured here), named after the Asgard’s favorite pet human. It has powerful energy weapons and other more advanced technologies, and you can spot the difference with its distinctive arrowhead shape.

Number 1: Goa’uld Ha’tak

They say you never forget your first … invasion of the planet. The Ha’tak-class Goa’uld mothership was the cornerstone of the System Lord arsenal for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. And it was no more menacing to Earth than when Apophis brought two of them into orbit to attack the human race directly.

The design of the Ha’tak is visually striking, thanks to the Egyptian pyramid theme it has going on. The glimmering, golden pyramid at the center of the ship is perfect for landing on top of pyramids (which we all know were actually built as landing platforms).

The Ha’tak has energy shields and also packs a powerful punch, firing huge blasts of energy at enemy vessels or bombarding the surface of a planet from space. But it does have its weaknesses too, including the inability to cloak, an ugly dashboard on the command deck (known as the pel’tac) … and being commanded by snake-heads whose attitude tends to get them blown up.

But it’s still our favorite, because of the central role it plays throughout Stargate SG-1‘s run, and because the design is just so distinctively Stargate.

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What are your five favorite Stargate ships? Post your picks down in the comments!