derigo

Since he's a Wraith, Todd has several special abilities. Here's a quick rundown:

Feeding
Wraith need to feed. Specifically, they need to feed on human - and only human - "life force". The feeding process makes the victim appear to age rapidly. Feeding is done by placing the hand over a human or humanoid chest, where a special enzyme is pumped into the victim. This enzyme strengthens the body, as without it, the shock of the feeding process would kill the victim too quickly for the Wraith to feed. While the sapping of life force isn't fully understood, there is an exchange of bodily fluids between the feeding Wraith and his prey. Contaminants in the victim's bloodstream may end up inside the Wraith's own.

It should be noted that even though both Wraith and humans refer to "life force", Wraith do not feed on any sort of metaphysical energy. "Life force" or "life energy" is a catch-all term for the chemical nutrients that a Wraith receives from the feeding process. Feeding victims are often drained so completely that it seems like a Wraith actually has sucked the life out of his prey.

Feeding is not necessarily fatal, as a Wraith may withdraw before completely draining his prey. Though a Wraith might not kill his prey, the feeding process is so traumatic that victims of a partial feeding sometimes die anyway. Light feedings are not likely to kill, however, and hardier individuals may have a greater chance of surviving a partial feeding.

Gift of Life
The feeding process can be reversed, healing instead of hurting. Called 'The Gift of Life', Wraith can restore someone that has been fed upon or mend someone's injuries. Wraith may even bring back someone from death, as long as the brain has not been starved of oxygen for too long and the cause of death has not caused too much damage to the body. Wounds that leave the body mostly intact (small stab wounds, clean lacerations, etc.) are relatively easy to repair, but those that do not (crushed bones, severed limbs, extreme burns, and so on) are difficult to heal at best. The Gift is given at a Wraith's expense, so it is an ability that they only use sparingly.

Telepathy
All Wraith are natural telepaths. They can project their thoughts, feelings, and ideas to each other over vast distances, though how far tends to vary by the individual. Although they can and do speak, Wraith primarily communicate with each other by telepathy. Telepathy seems to be a passive ability rather than an active one, but a Wraith may 'close' his mind to others if he does not wish to broadcast his thoughts and feelings to everyone.

Wraith also have a limited ability to read human minds, but it is not a very precise ability. The Wraith must be in close proximity to the human or human-like being that he wants to read. Even then, the Wraith is limited to reading surface thoughts and feelings.

And so, here are the questions:

May he feed on your character? If yes, is there anything that might complicate feeding? Does your character have unusual blood/bodily fluids? Are they carrying contaminants within their body? Are they exceptionally tough or resistant to psychic pressure? Things like that go here. If your character is not human, skip to the final question.
If your character has won his trust, may he bestow the Gift of Life to your character?
Can he read your character's thoughts? He can really only read feelings and intentions, rather than detailed thoughts or ideas. This means that, for example, while he is able to 'read' hunger, he won't be able to tell that your character is thinking about a specific meal. If your character has some psychic resistance, Todd may not be able to read you character's thoughts at all.

<b>May he feed on your character?</b> <b>If your character has won his trust, may he bestow the Gift of Life to your character?</b> <b>Can he read your character's thoughts?</b>

I tend to throw around the phrase 'space vampire' a lot when describing Todd and other Wraith. It's a quick and easy off-the-cuff way to sum up the Wraith, but it seems to cause a bit of confusion for anyone who hasn't seen Stargate Atlantis.

In truth, the Wraith are not mythological creatures of any sort. They may have inspired part of the vampire mythos in the world of Stargate, which is not an uncommon occurrence. The Goa'uld either inspired or assumed the roles of various classical gods - primarily the gods of ancient Egypt - while the Norse gods took their names and some of their personality from the Roswell Grey-like Asgard. The wizard Merlin began as Moros, the last high councilor of Atlantis, and Ganos Lal, a Lantean scientist, is better known as Morgan le Fey. Whether it's fair or not to suggest that aliens played a role in shaping mythologies, it is how Stargate has operated since the Roland Emmerich film.

The Wraith are not vampires. Their exact origins are muddled, but they are flesh-and-blood, living creatures, a hybrid species that the Lanteans accidentally created after introducing humans to a world populated by the Iratus, a spider-like animal. In the TV series, it's suggested that the Wraith evolved after the Iratus fed upon the human population and inadvertently absorbed some human DNA. In the Legacy series of follow-up novels, it's suggested that the Lanteans sought out a way to prevent the Iratus from feeding on the humans they protected, but that their experiment gave rise to the Wraith instead. Either way, modern humans and Wraith share a common ancestor - they're so closely related, in fact, that with the Iratus part of their genetic code deactivated, the Wraith are nigh-indistinguishable from modern humans.

As going on about the Wraith's origin is a bit tedious, it's easy to fall into the habit of calling them 'space vampires'. However, while they may have inspired the myth (canon is unclear on that fact), several parts of the vampire mythos - the traditional vampire's strengths and weaknesses - are not applicable.

( Mythos Busting )

Maelstrom
The navigator of Todd's downed cruiser, and the one that is most likely to violate the Evil Overlord List. Having known nothing else but the absolute domination over humanity, he is haughty and arrogant, and has a very low opinion of non-Wraith. For that matter, he has a very low opinion of most other Wraith.

He largely puts up with Todd's eccentric leadership because it's proven to be effective, but he would much rather have a more traditional leader. Given the opportunity, he's more likely to betray Todd than the others.

He has a black tattoo on the left side of his face and neck, shaped like a stylized Iratus carapace and tail.

Starstroke
A Keeper, one who maintains the organic Wraith technology. He is not an exceptionally gifted scientist, but he knows enough about Wraith technology to keep it running smoothly. He's keenly aware that he's not the most talented Keeper, but he makes no effort to hide that. He does, however, make an effort to be a dependable Keeper - even without much talent, his loyalty has value.

While not nearly as high-strung and dramatic as his comrades, Starstroke is still aggressive toward humans and other non-Wraith sentients. Todd is able to make him stand down, though, so he's unlikely to attack unless provoked... or hungry.

Shadowfury
At only two hibernation cycles old (or about 350-400 years), Shadowfury is the youngest member of Todd's crew. He's Starstroke's immediate subordinate, and an apprentice Keeper. He has a certain amount of talent for manipulating Wraith technology, but his personality overwhelms whatever good that comes of that talent.

Hotheaded and contentious, he seeks to carve out a bigger place for himself, but has comparatively little experience to draw on. Of the three, he's most likely to use the tried-and-true method of Wraith promotion - a knife to his superior's back.

He has a pair of tear-line tattoos under his eyes. While this was ostensibly done because he thought it looked cool, it also keeps him from having to squint in bright light.

Mun:

Your Name: Pyraven (Kaviiq)
Your Journal: kaviiq
Your Email: maddening [dot] gale [at] gmail [dot] com
Your AIM: pyraven

Character:

Character's Name: "Todd" (Guide)*

( tl;dr ahead )