Atlantis (Stargate)

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Aerial view of Atlantis.

Atlantis is a fictional, technologically advanced city, featured in the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis, the spin-off of Stargate SG-1, both of which are part of the Stargate science fiction setting. It is based on, and serves to explain, the Greek myth of the Lost City of Atlantis.

On the popular television series, the City of Atlantis resides on a planet located in the Pegasus galaxy, and was built by the Ancients and later abandoned. SG-1's 7th Season was spent in search of the Lost City, and culminated in the Atlantis Expedition when its location was found. In the series premiere of Atlantis, this team from Earth used the Stargate to travel to the City in search of knowledge and possible contact with its builders, ten-thousand years after it was abandoned.

This team of humans today makes up the bulk of Atlantis' urban inhabitants, and the city now acts as the secure main base for Stargate operations in the Pegasus Galaxy. With only a few exceptions, any episode of Stargate Atlantis begins and ends at Atlantis.

History

["Atlantis Wakes" (2005)] ([file info])
["The Rising" (2005)] ([file info])
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The City (which also functions as a huge spaceship) was once located on Earth in what is now Antarctica. Several million years ago, apparently due to a plague (the same one with which Ayiana was infected), many of the Ancients who inhabited Earth at that time relocated the giant city to the Pegasus Galaxy. A small outpost was left behind, with information on how to use a Stargate to get to the new location. After years of being under siege by Wraith ships in orbit, the Atlantis inhabitants abandoned the city, travelling back to Earth via the Stargate.

In the beginning of the first episode, Atlantis sits on the floor of the ocean, several hundred feet below the surface. It was left like this to keep it intact and safe from the Wraith. Due to an energy shortage, the autonomous city released its clamps on the ocean floor and resurfaced. In contrast to Plato's Timaeus, this Atlantis did not sink in destructive "earthquakes and floods", but rather did so in a controlled fashion with a protective shield, keeping the city still intact underwater.

In an alternate timeline, the city did not have a failsafe to raise it from the sea floor, and was destroyed shortly after the arrival of Weir's team. However, she managed to escape using a time machine, which allowed her to go back in time and convince one of the original Ancients to install the failsafe and devise a means to store enough power to make its use practical.

In the episode "The Tower", it was revealed that a "sister city" to Atlantis was also constructed on a different planet. This city was nearly identical to Atlantis in layout but was in much worse condition, having been exposed to the elements and largely buried since it was abandoned by the Ancients. Only the central tower remained visible. It has been speculated by fans that the name of the sister city's name is Lemuria which was a civilization that existed prior and during the time of Atlantis according to legend.

} There is at least one more duplicate of Atlantis as in the Season 3 episode "Progeny" which is named Asuras, although it is inhabited by android form unascended Ancients whom broke off from the Ancients in Atlantis 10,000 years ago when they disapproved of the Atlantean council's handling of the war with the Wraith.

Architecture and structure

Atlantis is a huge, snowflake-shaped, spacefaring platform with skyscrapers on it, lower buildings in the six outlying sections, and the highest building, the control tower, in the centre. The shape of the city is in fact very similar to that of a self similar fractal. The "Gate Room", where the Stargate is located, and the expedition crew have their centre of operations, is located in this tower, as are the Jumper bay and the control room. This is the most protected area of the city. Outlying parts of the city are easily accessible by using a system of internal teleporters which function similarly to Ring Transporters.

The Atlantean buildings depicted in the series is probably best attributed as a postmodern architecture with elements from futurism. It retains and relies heavily on a prism shaped, functional form, while being very free to modify this in the detailed realization. The architecture is eager to include ornaments or other purely decorative, while still abstract forms, in an even more intensified form as most postmodern style buildings. Next to prism, diagonal and pyramidal forms are key elements on Atlantean buildings, while curved forms are used with much restraint, unlike many buildings attributed to the modern futurism.

Technology in the city

The city holds many secrets and technology far in advance of that mastered by the human expedition. In regular use are the transporters to move people and objects around the city and the twelve Puddle Jumpers docked in Atlantis. But the city has not been fully explored due to its size, and search teams are finding new rooms and technology every day.

The city has two primary defensive measures: firstly it has an all-encompassing shield. Whilst this shield is invaluable and can effectively hold back almost any threat, it requires so much energy that for a long time it couldn't even be activated, and even after it could, doing so was impractical. Secondly, the city possesses a number of Drone Weapons like those seen in SG-1 Season 7's finale, "Lost City". Although only a few dozen drones remained in the city and were depleted during the Siege on Atlantis, Sheppard's team managed to acquire more of them also a number of puddle jumpers (although the exact number is not known) from the sister city in the episode "The Tower" since its ZPM was depleted and therefore useless to the planet.

On top of these functions, the city is also a spacecraft in itself, although the stardrive's power requirements are far beyond the means of the current inhabitants.

Atlantis is powered by Zero Point Modules. The city can operate on one but requires three to achieve full functionality. The city will automaticaly power up rooms depending on the number of people in the city. The city shield is an enormous drain on the power and can deplete a ZPM much faster than normal. The city can also be powered by Naqahdah Generators, but at reduced power output. In general, the less power the city has, the less technology is available for use in it, and indeed a large amount of technology and functionality was never even noticed until greater power was supplied. For these reasons, locating and acquiring ZPMs is one of the standing orders of any team from Atlantis, especially as these devices are now extremely rare and impossible to recharge.