Jaffa forehead symbols
Jaffa forehead symbols
All of the major Goa'uld System Lords have their own 'mark' that they put on their Jaffa. The minor System Lords generally use the mark of their overlord, but there are exceptions.
Most Jaffa have a mark/tattoo that is in black ink. Higher ranking Jaffa can have silver tattoos. The First Prime of a Goa'uld will have a gold embossed mark, which is made by cutting into the flesh and pouring pure molten gold into the wound.
The tattoos - and the gold one in particular - are obviously very painful to apply, and they are also very difficult to remove. If a Jaffa try to do that, he or she will end up with an ugly mark. However, the Goa'uld are able to remove the marks, for instance to apply their own mark instead, after taking over the army of a rival Goa'uld.
This table shows the correspondence between Goa'uld and the forehead symbols their Jaffa have - when known.
Goa'uld
Rank
Symbol
Comments
Amaterasu
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Amaunet|Sha're
Apophis's queen.
Does not have her own personal Jaffa, so same symbol as Apophis. Mother of Shi'fu.
Anubis
System Lord
Apophis
System Lord
Ares
System Lord
Ba'al
System Lord
Bastet
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Belus
UNKNOWN
Bynarr
Lord of Netu
Commanded the prison moon of Netu. Served Sokar and did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Camulus
Former System Lord
UNKNOWN
Cronus
System Lord
Grannus
Camulus's lieutenant
Probably did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Hathor
Queen
Former queen of Ra. Probably did not have her own personal Jaffa. Lured Horus guards (Heru'ur) and Serpent guards (Apophis) to her cause.
Heru'ur
System Lord
Ra and Hathor's son.
Imhotep
Minor System Lord
Ishkur
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Former ruler of the Sodan.
Isis
Queen
UNKNOWN
Osiris's queen. Imprisoned within a canopic jar by Seth.
Ja'din
Servant of Cronus
Probably did not have her own personal Jaffa.
Kali
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Khonsu
Servant of Anubis
Tok'ra under-cover agent
Klorel|Skaara
Apophis's son. Probably did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Unknown|Kianna Cyr
In service of Ba'al
Did not have her own personal Jaffa.
Marduk|Major Vallarin
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Imprisoned inside a sarcophagus by his own priests for thousands of years.
Moloc
(Minor?) System Lord
Originally dominant over Ishta's clans.
Montu
Minor Goa'uld
Served Ra and later Ba'al. Probably did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Morrigan
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Mot
Servant of Ba'al.
Served Ba'al and tried to overthrow him. Probably did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Nefertum
(Minor?) System Lord
UNKNOWN
Sekhmet's son. Worshipped by the Bedrosians.
Nerus
Worked for Ba'al as a scientist.
Discovered how to dial all Stargates in the galaxy at once. Lured SG-1 into an Ori trap. Possibly killed by Ba'al. Did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Nirrti
Former System Lord. Scientist.
Olokun
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Osiris|Sarah Gardner
Former System Lord.
UNKNOWN
Lieutenant of Anubis. Did not have his own personal Jaffa at that point, but almost certainly did when he was a System Lord.
Pelops
(Minor?) System Lord
UNKNOWN
Qetesh|Vala Mal Doran
(Minor?) System Lord
UNKNOWN
Ra
Supreme System Lord
Supreme System Lord of the Goa'uld Empire. First to discover the Tau'ri.
Ramius
Minor Goa'uld
Sekhmet
Ra's lieutenant. Possibly also a System Lord once
UNKNOWN
Once served Ra.
Seth
Probably served Ra.
Brother and enemy of Osiris. Placed Osiris and Isis in stasis jars. Rebelled unsuccessfully against Ra. Hid on Earth and became marooned when the Stargate was buried. Leader of several cults in the past 5000 years. Probably did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Shak'ran
(Minor?) System Lord
UNKNOWN
Sobek
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Sokar
System Lord. Former Supreme System Lord
Unknown|Steven Caldwell
Minor Goa'uld operative
Worked for the Trust/served Ba'al. Did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Svarog
System Lord
Tanith|Hebron
Minor Goa'uld servant
Infiltrated the Tok'ra as a spy. Served Apophis and Anubis.
Telchak
Scientist. Possible Minor System Lord
UNKNOWN
Developed the Sarcophagus technology.
Terok
Served Heru'ur.
Expert in torture. Did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Thanos
(Minor?) System Lord. Scientist
UNKNOWN
Once occupied Langara. Made naquadria.
Thoth
Served Anubis. Scientist
Oversaw the Kull Warriors. Did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Tilgath
Minor Goa'uld
He served Hathor at her secret base, trying to lure SG-1.
Yu
System Lord
Zarin
Minor System Lord. Serving Ba'al
Tok'ra undercover operative. Her Jaffa had Ba'al's symbol on their forehead.
Zipacna
Underlord for Apophis, Klorel, and later Anubis
All of the major Goa'uld System Lords have their own 'mark' that they put on their Jaffa. The minor System Lords generally use the mark of their overlord, but there are exceptions.
Most Jaffa have a mark/tattoo that is in black ink. Higher ranking Jaffa can have silver tattoos. The First Prime of a Goa'uld will have a gold embossed mark, which is made by cutting into the flesh and pouring pure molten gold into the wound.
The tattoos - and the gold one in particular - are obviously very painful to apply, and they are also very difficult to remove. If a Jaffa try to do that, he or she will end up with an ugly mark. However, the Goa'uld are able to remove the marks, for instance to apply their own mark instead, after taking over the army of a rival Goa'uld.
This table shows the correspondence between Goa'uld and the forehead symbols their Jaffa have - when known.
Goa'uld
Rank
Symbol
Comments
Amaterasu
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Amaunet|Sha're
Apophis's queen.
Does not have her own personal Jaffa, so same symbol as Apophis. Mother of Shi'fu.
Anubis
System Lord
Apophis
System Lord
Ares
System Lord
Ba'al
System Lord
Bastet
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Belus
UNKNOWN
Bynarr
Lord of Netu
Commanded the prison moon of Netu. Served Sokar and did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Camulus
Former System Lord
UNKNOWN
Cronus
System Lord
Grannus
Camulus's lieutenant
Probably did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Hathor
Queen
Former queen of Ra. Probably did not have her own personal Jaffa. Lured Horus guards (Heru'ur) and Serpent guards (Apophis) to her cause.
Heru'ur
System Lord
Ra and Hathor's son.
Imhotep
Minor System Lord
Ishkur
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Former ruler of the Sodan.
Isis
Queen
UNKNOWN
Osiris's queen. Imprisoned within a canopic jar by Seth.
Ja'din
Servant of Cronus
Probably did not have her own personal Jaffa.
Kali
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Khonsu
Servant of Anubis
Tok'ra under-cover agent
Klorel|Skaara
Apophis's son. Probably did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Unknown|Kianna Cyr
In service of Ba'al
Did not have her own personal Jaffa.
Marduk|Major Vallarin
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Imprisoned inside a sarcophagus by his own priests for thousands of years.
Moloc
(Minor?) System Lord
Originally dominant over Ishta's clans.
Montu
Minor Goa'uld
Served Ra and later Ba'al. Probably did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Morrigan
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Mot
Servant of Ba'al.
Served Ba'al and tried to overthrow him. Probably did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Nefertum
(Minor?) System Lord
UNKNOWN
Sekhmet's son. Worshipped by the Bedrosians.
Nerus
Worked for Ba'al as a scientist.
Discovered how to dial all Stargates in the galaxy at once. Lured SG-1 into an Ori trap. Possibly killed by Ba'al. Did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Nirrti
Former System Lord. Scientist.
Olokun
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Osiris|Sarah Gardner
Former System Lord.
UNKNOWN
Lieutenant of Anubis. Did not have his own personal Jaffa at that point, but almost certainly did when he was a System Lord.
Pelops
(Minor?) System Lord
UNKNOWN
Qetesh|Vala Mal Doran
(Minor?) System Lord
UNKNOWN
Ra
Supreme System Lord
Supreme System Lord of the Goa'uld Empire. First to discover the Tau'ri.
Ramius
Minor Goa'uld
Sekhmet
Ra's lieutenant. Possibly also a System Lord once
UNKNOWN
Once served Ra.
Seth
Probably served Ra.
Brother and enemy of Osiris. Placed Osiris and Isis in stasis jars. Rebelled unsuccessfully against Ra. Hid on Earth and became marooned when the Stargate was buried. Leader of several cults in the past 5000 years. Probably did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Shak'ran
(Minor?) System Lord
UNKNOWN
Sobek
System Lord
UNKNOWN
Sokar
System Lord. Former Supreme System Lord
Unknown|Steven Caldwell
Minor Goa'uld operative
Worked for the Trust/served Ba'al. Did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Svarog
System Lord
Tanith|Hebron
Minor Goa'uld servant
Infiltrated the Tok'ra as a spy. Served Apophis and Anubis.
Telchak
Scientist. Possible Minor System Lord
UNKNOWN
Developed the Sarcophagus technology.
Terok
Served Heru'ur.
Expert in torture. Did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Thanos
(Minor?) System Lord. Scientist
UNKNOWN
Once occupied Langara. Made naquadria.
Thoth
Served Anubis. Scientist
Oversaw the Kull Warriors. Did not have his own personal Jaffa.
Tilgath
Minor Goa'uld
He served Hathor at her secret base, trying to lure SG-1.
Yu
System Lord
Zarin
Minor System Lord. Serving Ba'al
Tok'ra undercover operative. Her Jaffa had Ba'al's symbol on their forehead.
Zipacna
Underlord for Apophis, Klorel, and later Anubis