Stargate Atlantis/Ronon Dex - Fanlore

Stargate Atlantis/Ronon Dex

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Name: Ronon Dex
Occupation:
Title/Rank: Specialist
Location: Pegasus, Atlantis
Status: alive
Relationships: Melena (wife, deceased)
Other: SGA-1 Team Member
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Originally from the planet Sateda, Ronon was captured by the Wraith after a culling and made into a Runner. He endured the hardship for seven years before he captured John Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan during a search for Aiden Ford. Ronon agreed to help track Ford in exchange for the removal of the Wraith tracking device in his neck. While the capture of Ford was a failure, Dr. Carson Beckett did remove the device, finally ending Ronon's time as a Runner. After learning that Sateda was destroyed, and believing he was the lone survivor (which would eventually be proven incorrect[1]), he joined the Atlantis expedition and Sheppard's away team.

Ronon

Ronon is played by Jason Momoa.

Contents

Fan response

Ronon's background prior to joining the Atlantis expedition is not well fleshed-out in canon; fan authors have taken the opportunity to expand on it and invent details of his family life, his military service, his prior romantic/sexual relationships. There are many competing backstories for Ronon in fanfiction, but none that have reached the level of widely accepted fanon.

Ronon is sometimes spelled "Ronan." Ronon introduces himself as "Specialist Ronon Dex," but this rank is rarely referenced and never explained in canon. Possibly because of this probably military ranking, early fics with Ronon sometimes called him by his last name in narration, or had Sheppard calling him such, the same as Sheppard addresses Earth military members.[2] Canonically, Ronon is never addressed or referred to as only "Dex," but fanfic and pairing names will use it on occasion.

Like Teyla, Ronon's character has been both the impetus and the flashpoint for fannish discussions of race and racism. (Jason Momoa is a person of color; his ethnic background is Hawaiian.) There have been criticisms of the show itself for using the most conventional scifi media tropes, and casting people of color to indicate cultural or biological alienness. There have also been discussions and disagreements regarding the portrayal, or lack of portrayals, of Ronon as a character in fanfiction.

The replacement of Aiden Ford with Ronon was painless for some, problematic for others. Before Ford, the Stargate franchise had not had a very good record as far as casting actors of color as anything but alien Others. (Despite the fact that Stargate SG-1 ran for ten years, the only person of color in the regular cast who ever played an Earth-human character was Lexa Doig as Carolyn Lam. The character only appeared in eleven episodes.)

Because Ford was a rare exception as a person of color playing a normal, not-Othered human being, some fans were displeased with the storyline which removed Ford from the show, transforming him into an angry, out of control junkie who later resurfaced as a violent, aggressive gang leader. Replacing one of Stargate's rare "normal human" characters of color with a character who could be seen as a stereotypical savage warrior was also not seen as a positive development. Some fans disliked these developments so much that they stopped watching, [3] while others grew to appreciate the parts of Ronon's character that transcended the stereotypical aspects of his initial introduction.

"Ronon sparkles" is a reference to the vid Another Sunday by Jescaflowne, and fans may occasionally shout this out whenever he appears on-screen, or mention it in recaps. Because of this vid, many fans consider Ronon to be the sparkliest member of the team.

Ronon in Fan Fiction

Ronon is hot, and right from his first appearances, he has held a fascination for het writers as well as slash.

Ronon in het fanfic

His two earliest relationships in fic were Teyla and Elizabeth, and both pairings had several stories that appealed to readers that didn't normally read het fandoms.

To Serve A Queen by tielan Written for the Harlequin challenge in September, 2005, this story immediately converted a lot of slash fans over to the Ronon/Elizabeth het pairing. A fusion with the Black Jewels Trilogy universe, Ronon is a warrior/slave who is purchased by Elizabeth, so that she may free him. The lush world and the sensual nature of the story were enticing, and the interleaving of Atlantis characters with a rich political storyline--not to mention the promise of sex--kept readers entranced. It became a foundation story for the pairing, and one even non-Elizabeth/non-Ronon/non-het fans read, as long as they liked romance. Many SGA fans then went on to purchase the Black Jewels Trilogy itself, as they were unfamiliar with the source universe for the fusion, and became fans of that series as well.

The Bee-Charmer by Hth An excellent Teyla/Ronon story, with great portraits of both characters. Originally posted as part of SGA_Santa in 2005, during the first year Ronon was on the team. The slow, languid build up and gentle approach really appealed to romance readers, yet at the same time, its strong 'real world' tone appealed to readers that liked more canon-based stories.

Steadfast, Loyal, and True by Hth. A long look at Ronon Dex: his history (Sateda, the army, Melena) and his present (Teyla, SGA-1, Atlantis.)

Ronon/Keller

"Quarantine" hinted at the possibility of a relationship between Ronon and Jennifer Keller, which appealed to a number of fans, many of whom were disappointed when it never came to pass in canon. In fanfic it continues, however.

To Fight Aloud Is Very Brave by Siriaeve. Jennifer Keller asks Ronon to teach her how to fight. Set just after 4.07, "Missing," this premise was later Kripked in season 5's "Tracker."

John/Ronon

When Ronon came on the scene, he was an immediate hit with many SGA fans who liked John Sheppard but didn't see the appeal of Rodney McKay. A lot of stories were written by new to SGA authors (Bone, Destina) during early Season 2 dealing with a slash relationship between John and Ronon. However, as a slash fandom, the relationship never coalesced, and the slash pairing remains a small fandom.

Red Moon by sol-se, a classic John/Ronon vid

On the friendship side of the house, however, a lot of stories have been written dealing with Sheppard and Ronon's relationship, whether alone or as part of a teamfic story.

Belonging by Ltlj


Rodney/Ronon

While Rodney is the teammate Ronon has the least interactions with in canon, the opposites-attract nature of this pairing attracted some fans. Lingual by Nestra was posted in late August, 2005 and is one of the first Rodney/Ronon stories. Hth wrote multiple stories featuring the pairing, as well as a long Ronon/Rodney/John series.

A few fans became interested in the potential for gen Rodney-Ronon friendship that was rarely explored in canon, such as in Hero for a New Age by Smitty, featuring Ronon, Rodney and comic books; and Sablecain's hurt/comfort story A New Respect.

In vidding, Too Good To Be True manipulates SGA footage to reveal Rodney's secret BSO.

OT3, OT4 and Teamfic

  • Healing Station Argh by Toft, which is an OT4 story that posits a novel youthful history for Ronon. This history ends up being the catalyst for events in the story.

Crossovers featuring Ronon

  • The Sateda!Dean universe by poisontaster and Mona a crossover series/fusion with supernatural, where Dean is from Sateda and is in a relationship with Ronon.
  • Outward Bound by Hth A crossover/Fusion with Angel, where Charles Gunn ends up in Pegasus, and they think he's a runner. Eventually, Sheppard's team runs into him as well.

Ronon Art and Vids


Ronon-centric LJ Communities

References

  1. ↑ Season 2, Episode 6, Trinity.
  2. ↑ See use of "Ronon" and "Dex" in Under Glass by NotTasha, completed February 16, 2006. (Accessed 20 February 2009)
  3. ↑ The Angry Black Woman's TV Corner. Stargate: Atlantis and why I hate it. 25 August 2007. (Accessed October 11, 2008)
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