Zat
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The Zat'nikit'el (pronounced ZAT-nik-a-tel), or Zat Gun for short, is a fictional weapon on the sci-fi television show, Stargate SG-1. It was first discovered in the Stargate SG-1 episode "The Serpent's Grasp."
It is Goa'uld technology and commonly borne by their Jaffa warriors, along with the staff weapon. The Zat is the Goa'uld equivalent to the pistol, and Jaffa tend to carry them as secondary weapons, usually worn either attached to their wrist bracers or on a belt. Stargate Command forces have captured quite a few, and sometimes use them in preference to human-made weapons, their advantages being the fact that neither precise aiming (a Zat blast fired at one's enemy's left little toe is just as effective as one to the head or torso) nor reloading is necessary, as well as the capability to merely stun a target. Zat blasts also have the advantage of being immediately incapacitating, whereas a staff weapon or projectile hit to an extremity will not necessarily prevent a target from firing back. Zats have also been used on occasion to disable or destroy electronic equipment.
Although they can bring zats for special missions, SG teams originally did not generally carry zats as standard equipment. The reason for this is never explicitly stated; it is possibly because the zats are alien technology, or perhaps because Stargate Command does not possess the ability to recharge them, and thus need to conserve their supply. However, this is increasingly changing. As early as Season Four's "Scorched Earth", Samantha Carter carried a zat on missions, apparently as her standard sidearm. Zats were used by Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c to retake the Prometheus from the rogue NID agents, and they were used by Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell and Daniel Jackson as their weapon of choice as they criscrossed the old Goa'uld sphere of influence while following the trail of goods traded by Vala Mal Doran, (The Ties That Bind). They are increasingly becoming standard equipment on off-world missions and frequently provide SG-1, and other SG teams, with interesting solutions to problems which would otherwise be impossible to solve.
Owing to the secrecy required by the nature of their movement, the Tok'ra cannot acquire sufficient raw materials to produce staff weapons in quantity and hence zats are their weapon of choice.
The Zat somewhat resembles a cobra folded in a compact "S" shape with its "tail" as the handgrip. When activated the main body pops up into a less tightly folded configuration and the head of the weapon expands slightly, and when fired it emits a type of short-ranged electrical discharge, the effects of which vary depending on how recently and frequently the target has been shot with previous Zat discharges. A single shot renders a person incapacitated with pain and often unconscious for a period of time (such a shot will not kill a Jaffa of any age, not even a young boy), two shots in quick succession typically kill, and three disintegrate the target – a convenient method of getting rid of bodies on a covert operation. Zats have also been seen to disintegrate inanimate objects of low mass, such as crates (this was demonstrated in the Stargate SG-1 episode "1969").
It is worth noting that the disintegration function has not been used for many seasons, and that producers and writers have stated in chats with fans that they regret having introduced that function. Effectively, this feature has been retconned out of existence. Zats have also not been seen used to kill anyone for quite a while either, although this may not have been intentional.
It appears that, as shown within "Memento Mori", a Zat blast can be transmitted through a metal beam to strike a target beyond the end of the beam. Whether this requires a particular metal to act as a conductor is unknown, and the energy itself did not seem to be effected by the transfer.
[edit] Physiological effects
The electric discharge of the Zat gun is not species-specific, as it has been used on humans, Jaffa, and Asgard alike (this was demonstrated in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Fragile Balance"). Whether it has any effect on Wraith physiology remains to be seen, though there has been no evidence displayed on-screen to hint at a form of immunity. Because of the possible effects the Zat might have upon Wraith soldiers, the non-appearance of Zat guns in Stargate Atlantis remains a debated mystery amongst the show's fanbase.
The effect of the Zat blast might be less pronounced in victims who have been repeatedly rendered unconscious by it, as evidenced by Colonel O'Neill in "Exodus". In this episode, O'Neill was attacked by two Jaffa in an attempted ambush and, instead of being knocked unconscious, he was merely knocked to the ground. Other characters, including Daniel Jackson and several Jaffa, have also been shown to merely experience pain rather than total paralysis upon taking the first shot. The pain is typically sufficient to slow them down and drop whatever it was they were doing, so the weapon's effect has apparently not lost too much of its potency.
[edit] Etymology
The word Zat'nik'tel finds its roots, like many other Stargate terms, in Semitic languages. The root, qtl, refers to killing, and thus, as a composite, can mean, among other possible translations, "This one was killed" or "This one kills."
An intriguing alternative possibility is that the name is based on the Nahuatl (Aztec) word "Xiucoatl", which is the name of the weapon carried by the Aztec war god Huitzilopochtli. "Xiucoatl" means "fire serpent", fired lightning at its targets, and the distinctive rearing coiled shape of the Xiucoatl in Huitzilopochtli's hand is very similar to the appearance of the Zat gun. Knowing the show's premise, this may have been where the prop designers got the idea.
