Lantash (Martouf)

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Character
Name: Lantash (symbiote) or Martouf (host)
Occupation: Member of the Tok'ra
Relationships: romantically involved with Jolinar of Malkshur
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Other:
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Canon Background

Lantash has been shown to have many different duties, from being a diplomat, to being sent on rescue missions. Despite this, he is believed to be a relatively influential Tok'ra.

Lantash is very passionate in his ideas, as his host Martouf pointed out after one Lantash made it clear to the Tau'ri that they were behaving foolishly.

Lantash comes to love Samantha Carter as deeply as he once loved Jolinar. Since Tok'ra love as one, Martouf shares these feelings.

Lantash's host, Martouf, is wise and kind, as well as usually much more controlled and calm than Lantash. This is probably why Martouf is usually the one in control and most will thus refer to them as "Martouf."

Martouf and Lantash have a truly symbiotic relationship. Despite their differences, they complement each other in many ways. They have been on missions with SG-1, and have come to the aid of SGC on several occasions. They are sympathetic to the Tau'ri, perhaps to some degree because of Samantha Carter, and are generally well liked.

History

Lantash was the mate of Jolinar and Rosha for almost one hundred years (since Lantash is the one stating this, we technically do not know how long Martouf has been part of the relationship - he may have entered it at a later date, when he became Lantash's host).

Martouf or Lantash seems to have scientific knowledge, as they suggest a beam of highly energetic sub-atomic particles can be used to attack Earth's iris. This helps Samantha Carter understanding what it is Sokar is doing when the Tau'ri Stargate is being attacked.

Lantash/Martouf are later brainwashed and becomes a zatarc. Martouf dies and a badly injured Lantash takes another host, Lt. Elliott. They die shortly after when they release symbiote poison to kill the invading Jaffa, thereby saving the lives of SG-1 and Selmak/Jacob.

Martouf and Lantash survive in other, alternate realities. We later meet one of these Martouf/Lantash-es, who had moved to Earth and become a member of SG-1, in order to be closer to Samantha Carter with whom they had a relationship, for a while at least.

Known hosts

  • Martouf
  • Lt. Elliott

Fandom

Fannish opinion of Martouf and Lantash are split. There are a fairly large group of fans who dislike him, mainly because of his love for Samantha Carter. The fact that he is Jack O'Neill's rival for Sam's affections, makes him unpopular among many Sam/Jack shippers. Martouf also icks some people, who find him creepy, saying he has transferred his love for Jolinar to Sam. However, since he died relatively early in the series, he has not received the same amount of hate as Sam's boyfriend Pete.

Among Tok'ra fans, Martouf/Lantash is generally popular and the Sam/Martouf ship more or less started the interest in the Tok'ra. Martouf/Lantash is actually the Tok'ra that has most fans, now closely followed by Malek and Jacob/Selmak.

Martouf is generally kind and friendly towards Earth, so he is (like Jacob/Selmak) liked or at least accepted by some who otherwise do not like the Tok'ra. These characters are also characteristic by being some of the few Tok'ra were the host is in control more than the symbiote, perhaps making them appear more "human" and less "Goa'uld."

He is by far the Tok'ra character who has most fanfic written about him, though many of the early stories focus mainly on Martouf, hardly even mentioning Lantash. This has changed and Lantash is now usually included as more than just an afterthought in the stories.

Since Martouf/Lantash were killed off on the show, many stories about him were fixit fics, especially shortly after the episode (Divide and Conquer) where he was killed. There were/are a group of his fans who refuses to accept the episode, and they are sometimes referred to as "D&C deniers".

Fanfiction

In Tok'ra fandom, Martouf/Lantash have much more fanfic written about them than any other Tok'ra. The vast majority of these fics are Sam/Martouf ship fics, but there are also a few gen fics about them. There are many fixit fics - focusing on bringing Martouf and Lantash back to life.

The early fics were almost exclusively about the host, Martouf. Sam/Martouf ship fics started the Tok'ra fanfic-writing. There is a yahoo-group dedicated to this pairing, called SamandMartouf. It is no longer very active, and much discussion and writing has moved to the branched-off group tokra-resistance. There were a couple of archives dedicated specifically to this pairing, but they no longer exist in active form. After several years of unavailability, the original SamandMartouf archive has been restored [1] for viewing (but no new additions), and most of the stories are now archived at the main Tok'ra fanfic archive, Symbiotica.

Most fics about Martouf/Lantash are het, though there are a few gen fics, often focusing on Martouf's background and how he became a Tok'ra, and some slash, such as Martouf/O'Neill.

Many fanfic writers assume that Martouf became a host relatively recently (20-30 years ago), and that Lantash was blended with another host when he started the relationship with Rosha and Jolinar. This is possible to fit into canon, since Lantash is the only one to have stated that he has been in a relationship with Jolinar for about 100 years.

Lantash is always considered male in fanfics, even if he end up in a female host, despite the fact that ordinary symbiotes does not have a gender.

Almost all fanfic is about Lantash when he has Martouf as his host. There is a small amount written about him in other hosts: Lt. Elliot, Narim, Daniel, Samantha Carter, Jack O'Neill, pre-Martouf hosts.

Examples of Fanfic

Gen

  • Martouf How did Martouf become a Tok'ra?
  • The First Night Martouf has just become blended with Lantash and this is their first night together.
  • Take With You My Love - Blending of Lantash&Martouf This story takes place one hundred plus years in the past. Lantash and Justin, his host, meet Martouf, and as events unfold we learn how Lantash and Martouf became a blended pair.
  • Lantash Lantash/Elliot somehow survived the symbiote poison and their injuries. R Sequel is het (see below)
  • [From the hurt and the pain] After escaping from Naetu, Lantesh helps Sam deal with the torture Apophis inflicted upon her. Warnings: This story deals with the aftermath of rape, and contains controversial subject matter. NC-17. No pairings.
  • Roles One of Machello's little monsters rears its head again, and causes trouble. Slight Sam/Martouf.
  • Willing What if during Summit, Lantash had gone into Sam instead of Elliot?
  • A Day In The Life A typical day in the life of a Tok'ra. Lantash's POV.

Het

  • Lantash's Fear's Sequel to 'Lantash'. Lantash/Narim must face the Goa'uld while adjusting to being blended. Sam/Lantash/Narim
  • Clueless Sam's brother Mark is captured by the Goa'uld. Funny. S/M.
  • Through A Candle's Flame. What happens after the death of the man you love? And in the face of the myriad of possibilities, is it possible that somehow, somewhere love remains? AU R S/M Example of fixit fic
  • Too Hard to Say Goodbye What if Martouf hadn't left at the end of Ripple Effect? S/M
  • Where Destiny Leads Egeria has been saved. They've made it out, haven't they? What kind of welcome will the Tok'ra give them...What will happen to them now? What does the future hold? Sam & Martouf/Lantash Malek/Other. PG-13.
  • Together for ever What if Lantash ended up in Jack instead of Elliott. S/J
  • [Pain and Sorrow] Story starts off when SG1 enter an alternate universe, and she sees the life she's wanted all along. The story is sad with a lot of pain focused around Sam. SML pairing
  • Stolen Property Sam has been stolen. Lantash retrieves her and she now belongs to him. In fact, she is now his slave. Fairly hard NC-17. Sam/Lantash/(Martouf)
  • The Fall of Setona When the Tok'ra learn that the Goa'uld Nephthys wishes to subjugate a planet that has been free of the Goa'uld for centuries, they decide to intervene. Pre-series. Takes place about 25 years before The Tok'ra I & II. Mostly Gen, but Het in last chapter. Pairing: Rosha/Jolinar/Martouf/Lantash NC-17
  • Unexpected The Wraith and the Asurans have becomes allies. Together they have located Atlantis. During the attack Sam realises that not everything is as it seems. Spoilers up to and including season 4 of SGA. Pairing: Sam/Martouf/Lantash. NC-17. Also a fixit fic
  • The Alternative Factor In an alternative reality, SG-1 was unable to reach the weapons platform at the Ancient outpost in Antarctica in time to save Earth from Anubis. Only Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c survive. They manage to escape and use the quantum mirror to go to a reality where they have just died a short while ago. Sam/Jolinar/Martouf/Lantash at the end, otherwise Gen.
  • Alive When Martouf and Lantash return from a short mission, they learn their mates have been found, having escaped from the inescapable prison, Netu. Rosha/Jolinar/Martouf/Lantash. Lantash's POV
  • Five Days Sam and Martouf become stranded on a planet in the midst of a five day religious ritual. A romantic romp on a tropical planet. R/NC-17
  • The One You Hold Sam visits the Tok'ra for some physical training, and Martouf finds her washing her cares away in those lovely Tok'ra pools. Sam/Martouf with barely a mention of Lantash.


Some of the het fics above show different types of fixit fics: Through A Candle's Flame finds a way of bringing back the 'original' Martouf/Lantash, from the same universe. Too Hard to Say Goodbye and Where Destiny Leads both bring a Martouf/Lantash from a different reality to this one - in both cases their personalities are virtually indistinguishable to the 'original' one.

There are also examples of Lantash ending up in a different host, eg. Narim, Jack, or even Sam.

I have attempted to chose the fics to cover as broad a span of different fic types as possible, though I was unable to find many of the early Sam/Martouf fics that barely acknowledge the existence of Lantash. Most of these only exist on mailinglists and cannot be linked.

Vids

Resources

References

  1. ^ SamandMartouf Legacy Archive
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