Sergeant is a fictional
USMC Non-commissioned Officer played by
Dean Marshall in television series ''
Stargate Atlantis ''.
He was first introduced in the two-part series premiere, "
Rising ", is apparently
African-American and around 20-25 years of age.
Bates is a career military man who has demonstrated the abilities of thoroughness and extreme caution. A "by the book"
NCO , he is highly suspicious of non-military persons and officers who do not not operate "by the book" themselves, a trait which often puts him into conflict with Maj.
John Sheppard .
He has a younger
Brother , with whom he shares an interest in the
Sport of
Basketball and one of its teams, the
Los Angeles Lakers . He is a fan of Lakers' players
Shaquille O'Neal and
Kobe Bryant ("
Letters From Pegasus ").
Bates' involvement in the Atlantis expedition began from the onset. On that expedition, he was second-in-command of the USMC security forces under Colonel
Marshall Sumner . When scouting for a possible evacuation site on the planet
Athos , he and Sumner were captured by the
Humanoid Extraterrestrial species called the "
Wraith " and imprisoned onboard a
Hibernating Colony Ship known as a "
Wraith Hive-Ship ".
Bates was subsequently rescued by Major
John Sheppard along with some Athosians who had been culled by the
Wraith Dart s. When Sheppard became the highest ranking officer of the expedition, and thus relegated to command Atlantis' premiere
SG Team , Bates was charged with
Atlantis ' base security by Dr.
Elizabeth Weir ("Rising").
In this new role, he became highly suspicious of the Athosian
Refugee s they had rescued, believing them to be a security threat. This belief was tested when it was discovered that the Wraith had planted a homing device in an old
Necklace worn by
Teyla Emmagan , a homing device inadvertantly activated by Sheppard upon touching it -- as the device detected the
Ancient Gene . While the homing device did not directly bring the Wraith to Atlantis, it did bring the Wraith to planets visited by the Atlantis Expedition, which had been seeded with
Subspace relay stations that broadcasted the signal to the closest hive-ship ("
Suspicion ").
While Teyla was absolved from being a security threat, Teyla became a topic of argument between Bates and Sheppard. An argument revisited when it was discovered that Teyla had Wraith
DNA , left over from an unsanctioned experiment done by a Wraith scientist on Teyla's
People , who hoped that integrating their DNA into
Human Biology would make a more compatible food-source. This DNA introduced the possibility of detecting the presence of a Wraith, as well as the possibility of communicating to them through
Telepathy . The Wraith, with superior
Psionic abilities, could use such a connection to control Teyla remotely (either as a spy or as a
Sleeper Agent of sorts) -- something which Bates did not appreciate ("
The Gift ").
On the eve of an attack by the Wraith fleet, Bates aimed to have Teyla restricted from sensitive areas of Atlantis and removed from the base. Bates went as so far as to accuse her of collaborating with the Wraith, which Teyla took as an insult. After the incident, which almost deteriorated into fisticuffs, Bates was found in a remote section of Atlantis, beaten to unconsciousness. As a result of his injuries, which included a fractured
Collarbone , five broken
Rib s, and a
Concussion , Dr.
Carson Beckett placed Bates in a medically-induced
Coma . While Teyla was believed to be responsible for the attack, a Wraith (later dubbed "
Bob ") scout was found to be responsible and later terminated by Sheppard. ("Bob" had hoped that by using Teyla as a scapegoat for the attack on Bates, "Bob" would have free run of Atlantis, causing
Sabotage as the Wraith fleet approached.)
Due to the actions of "Bob", Bates was unable to contribute to the defense of Atlantis ("
The Siege, Part 1 "). It also left the character absent from the second season, most likely returned to earth once the ZPM was installed, allowing the stargate to dial earth. Whether or not Bates will return in season three is yet to be revealed.
