So were Satedans Superhuman?

[Ripple in Space]

I'm not trying for another Teal'c vs. Ronon thread here--I do think Teal'c is a bit stronger, but the fact that Ronon can go toe-to-toe with Teal'c for an hour, shouldn't that mean Satedans are at least somewhat superhuman?

We're led to believe that Stargate personnel are amongst the best soldiers on Earth, yet Ronon can pick apart SGC-trained US Marines with ease. Given Beckett's claim that Teyla has superhuman fighting abilities, and Teal'c being an established superhuman (Jaffa), the fact that Ronon can even spar with those guys and keep up seems to imply unnatural strength. You also have Ford who was almost matched by Ronon despite being a highly trained Marine on a Wraith enzyme that gave him abnormal strength...

[escyos]

i imagine it was a train to fight to the death type thing for them and thus very strong and aggressive fighters.

Seems to work, for a time until they were wiped out.

[bailey1ak]

I think similarly to escyos. I think it is the training that Teal'c and Ronon had. I think both cultures relied more heavily on their training as a means for necessary for survival.

I know when Mitchell was captured by the Sodan warriors in season 9, he spent weeks training with them and becoming a good competitor. It was obviously a much more intense training than what they went through at the SGC.

[The Flyattractor]

It was the Hair. had to be the hair.

[Sealurk]

Satedans do seem to be naturally 'peak' human if nothing else. Constant military/physical training was probably a massive chunk of their lifestyle and culture but they may, over time, have benefited from a more hostile or at least more unusual environment than most humans are used to.

Or maybe it was the fact that they used riveted plate metal body armour. Wear that long enough and you'll either hear your spine and shoulders crumbling or else be able to go toe-to-toe with even the meanest Wraith.

[Ripple in Space]

Satedans do seem to be naturally 'peak' human if nothing else. Constant military/physical training was probably a massive chunk of their lifestyle and culture but they may, over time, have benefited from a more hostile or at least more unusual environment than most humans are used to.

Or maybe it was the fact that they used riveted plate metal body armour. Wear that long enough and you'll either hear your spine and shoulders crumbling or else be able to go toe-to-toe with even the meanest Wraith.

Interesting theory! Do you think training & weighted armor alone would be enough to push a 100% human into Jaffa-level? While Teal'c is arguably the strongest Jaffa, on average, they were genetically mutated to be physically superior to humans...

I suppose it would be similar to the Batman vs. Captain America debate. Man who trains himself to the peak of human capacity vs. man who is genetically manipulated to the peak of human capacity and given military training. The only difference is I would give Batman (the pure human) the edge there, where I would give Teal'c (the genetically altered human) the edge here...

[Sealurk]

Interesting theory! Do you think training & weighted armor alone would be enough to push a 100% human into Jaffa-level? While Teal'c is arguably the strongest Jaffa, on average, they were genetically mutated to be physically superior to humans...

I suppose it would be similar to the Batman vs. Captain America debate. Man who trains himself to the peak of human capacity vs. man who is genetically manipulated to the peak of human capacity and given military training. The only difference is I would give Batman (the pure human) the edge there, where I would give Teal'c (the genetically altered human) the edge here...

Personally I would say there's something else at work with the Satedans and that as a race they may well be approaching Jaffa levels of physical power. Perhaps Sateda had stronger gravity or they were themselves genetically modified by Wraith (sport, slaves, other uses) or Lanteans, or they discovered a naturally occurring steroid or muscle stimulant...

We only have a few Satedans to go on but they certainly seemed to be a very martial and rather brutal society, so it's not hard to imagine conscription and mandatory military training from a comparatively early age, lifelong physical training etc. I don't know that this alone would explain Ronon's strength - rage may help, but he's definitely above regular human level. For all we know, Satedans were deliberately trying to breed or otherwise produce a powerful warrior class that could match Wraith in combat.

[jelgate]

Genetics alone done does give strength. All jaffa are suppose to have superhuman strength and yet some of them were terrible fighters. The brain is just as powerful weapon as muscles

[Starsaber]

Interesting theory! Do you think training & weighted armor alone would be enough to push a 100% human into Jaffa-level? While Teal'c is arguably the strongest Jaffa, on average, they were genetically mutated to be physically superior to humans...

I suppose it would be similar to the Batman vs. Captain America debate. Man who trains himself to the peak of human capacity vs. man who is genetically manipulated to the peak of human capacity and given military training. The only difference is I would give Batman (the pure human) the edge there, where I would give Teal'c (the genetically altered human) the edge here...

The only Satedan we saw fight Teal'c was Ronon, and he was picked to be a Runner for a reason. I'd say that Ronon is toward the top end of even the Satedan range. The fact that he survived so long as a Runner both honed his edge even more and taught him some nasty tricks.

Sealurk has a good point with the gravity too. That's something not enough science fiction considers. Obviously it would be tricky on a TV budget to deal too much with gravitational extremes, but usually shows just completely ignore it.

[garhkal]

I think similarly to escyos. I think it is the training that Teal'c and Ronon had. I think both cultures relied more heavily on their training as a means for necessary for survival.

I know when Mitchell was captured by the Sodan warriors in season 9, he spent weeks training with them and becoming a good competitor. It was obviously a much more intense training than what they went through at the SGC.

Plus who's to say the Satedan's were not somewhat genetically special.. Look at what Nerti said about Jonas.

[Ripple in Space]

The only Satedan we saw fight Teal'c was Ronon, and he was picked to be a Runner for a reason. I'd say that Ronon is toward the top end of even the Satedan range. The fact that he survived so long as a Runner both honed his edge even more and taught him some nasty tricks.

Definitely, but SGC-trained US Marines would surely be at the top of the Tau'ri range. Real world US Marines that go through Recon Special Forces training are arguably the best trained military fighters on Earth, it's extremely doubtful that even the least experienced Marine Jack O'Neill would assign to the Pegasus Galaxy to fight super-powered immortal creatures would have any less training than them.

Atlantis makes it clear that the Air Force & IOA are used for leadership roles, and the Marines are their elite fighters, yet Ronon demolishes teams of Marines in training without breaking a sweat.

It wasn't surprising with Teal'c since he's not human, he was genetically modified to be stronger than a human, so seeing him outclass even Earth's most elite warriors was understandable--not to mention he had been training for combat longer than any SGC personnel had been alive. In Ronon's case, if he is purely human, it's a bit puzzling how he can even stay in a ring with Teal'c for a full hour. And while I'd agree that Satedan training is strongly implied to be superior to US Air Force combat training, we see that when Lt. Ford has the strength boost of the Wraith enzyme, his US Marine training is more than sufficient to fight Ronon.

Sealurk has a good point with the gravity too. That's something not enough science fiction considers. Obviously it would be tricky on a TV budget to deal too much with gravitational extremes, but usually shows just completely ignore it.

That is a good theory.

Plus who's to say the Satedan's were not somewhat genetically special.. Look at what Nerti said about Jonas.

Also a good theory. Also shows how "conveniently" SG-1 coincidentally had:
1.) Jonas: a human with a genetic mutation that made his brain superhuman.
2.) Jack: the most evolved human in at least two galaxies.
3.) Daniel: the only human on Earth enlightened enough to ascend to a higher level of existence.

I won't count Sam & Teal'c in there because they were recruited to the team because of their special abilities, but surely Hammond wasn't aware of the other three's superior evolution XD

[The Flyattractor]

I think Ronon's "superness" were just another one of those Story Arc concepts that they started then dropped and then completely forgot about. Typical SGA writer stuff.

[garhkal]

I think Ronon's "superness" were just another one of those Story Arc concepts that they started then dropped and then completely forgot about. Typical SGA writer stuff.

True.. it would be nice had they gone into WHY satedans are so strong as well as what made Ronon so special he was made a runner...

Though as an off this thought idea.. what would have happened to S2 had it been Ronon that the gou'ald had taken over, rather than cadwell?

[Ripple in Space]

True.. it would be nice had they gone into WHY satedans are so strong as well as what made Ronon so special he was made a runner...

I got the feeling they made him a runner simply because he was so strong, end of story. It was open-ended, so they could've added a more complex reason later on, but given the information, and the fact that the other Runner in AS5 was just another big strong guy, it seems that's the only requirement.

I hate to agree with The Flyattractor's low assessment of the writers, but it does seem that they dropped Ronon's "superness" after "Midway," because from then on he was portrayed a roughly as tough as a Wraith, as opposed to outclassing an average Wraith. Michael beat Ronon in a fight, and it only took two random Wraith to "kill" Ronon in the finale.

Though as an off this thought idea.. what would have happened to S2 had it been Ronon that the gou'ald had taken over, rather than cadwell?

It would, but Caldwell did make the most sense based on the latter seasons of SG-1. The Trust went after high ranking officials in government--short of Jack O'Neill (and good luck to any Goa'uld sneak-attacking him), Col. Caldwell was about as high up the chain as you could get--even Carter wasn't a full Colonel at that time if I recall.

[The Flyattractor]

I hate to agree with The Flyattractor's

I get that a lot!