The Jaffa are a fictional alien race, in the television series Stargate SG-1. They are actually biologically human and descended from people from Earth who were kidnapped using the stargate. The Jaffa live on several different planets, depending on which Goa'uld they serve, but the home planet of the Jaffa is Chulak.

Their main function is to serve their gods, the Goa'uld, as warriors and incubators for Goa'uld larvae. An immature Goa'uld larva is implanted in a marsupial-like pouch in the Jaffa abdomen, in which it grows to maturity before implantation in a host.

The presence of the larva replaces the Jaffa's immune system, and after receiving a Goa'uld larva a Jaffa is unable to live for long without one. In exchange, the Goa'uld offers strength, health and a long life (about two hundred years). Following the discovery of Egeria, the drug Tretonin was developed to allow the former Jaffa host to survive without a larva.

The actor Christopher Judge plays the role of Teal'c, a Jaffa who chose to join SG-1 team and fight for freedom.

See also

• Stargate movie