"You people from Earth are really onto something with this chocolate stuff."
Character Information
General Information
Full Name: Andra Kes
Nickname(s): Andi and She-Ra, both monikers given to her by Lt. Col. Sheppard.
DOB: June 4, 1975
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Species: Human
Nationality: Satedan
Homeworld/Birthplace: Sateda
Marital Status: Single
Occupation/Position: Combat and Weapons Specialist/Member of Major Lorne’s exploration team.
Service Branch: Satedan Military
Rank: Specialist
Base Of Operations: City of Atlantis, Pegasus Galaxy
Physical Description
Appearance: Andra is physically fit with an athletic body. And while she is slender, she's well toned and slightly muscular in build -- or at least as muscular as a woman can be.
Height: 5’ 8”
Weight: 136 lbs.
Eyes: Blue to bluish-green
Hair: Blonde, which she wears long -- usually in stylized dreadlocks.
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Andra has full sensuous lips which tend to be her most distinguishing facial feature other than her model-esque check bones. She also sports several tattoos:
- One on the left side of her neck that denotes her Satedan military rank of Specialist.
- A Satedan tribal band around her left bicep.
- An Ancestral prayer on her left shoulder blade for suffering souls,
- A Satedan warrior motto between her shoulder blades that roughly translates as “I am the terror of my enemies.” It’s the equivalent to the Marine Corps’ “Simper Fi.”
- A Kanji style tattoo on her spine in Ancient script that says “Serenity,” presumably a blessing to ease her troubled mind.
- A stylized tribal mark on her right shoulder blade that mimics the curvatures of her favored knife.
- A Satedan tribal tattoo on her right side that starts just below her breast and runs down the front of her hip.
- And an institutional mark on the inside of her right wrist which she generally conceals with a leather wrist band.
In addition to the tattoos, Andra has a few body piercings, mainly her tongue and naval.
Left, Right, Ambi: Ambidextrous
Known Relations
Parents: Unknown
Siblings: None
Spouse/Significant Other: None
Children: None
Other Relations: None
Family Background: Absolutely nothing is known about Andra’s family. She was found wandering the streets just outside Sateda’s capital city around the age of three or four. No one knows how long she had been surviving on her own or what happened to her family. It was presumed that they where either taken during a Wraith culling or perhaps something else. Or it could be that they just abandoned her due to her unusual ‘gifts.’ As a result, Andra grew up being bounced around between orphanages and sanitariums.
Friends: Dr. Rodney McKay, Lt. Col. John Sheppard, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Dr. Carson Beckett, Major Evan Lorne
Background Information
Personality: All her life, Andra has heard how crazy or insane she was. She’s been told this by teachers, social workers, doctors, commanding officers, and the like. She’s heard this so much and so often that to an extent, she actually believes she really is crazy. She knows she’s not normal and that there’s something wrong with her, therefore it only made sense to her that she was mentally ill like everyone claimed and no one was able to prove other wise. Sadly, what no one ever realized due to their limited technology, there was a legitimate scientific reason why Andra heard voices inside her head and saw things that others could not. She was born with Wraith DNA which gives her the ability to hear and see, as well communicate with the Wraith. She has often been seen carrying on entire and lengthy conversations with herself, even arguing in an unknown language -- and surely anyone who does that, must be nuts.
It’s often said there’s a fine line between insanity and genius, and while Andra is for clinical purposes considered insane, she’s extremely smart and she knows it. Not in the sense of an intellectual genius such as Rodney McKay, but she has practical smarts. She’s able to logically rationalize and analyze a situation or problem, seeing the “big” picture and coming up with some very creative and ingenious solutions. She’s very crafty, cunning, and intelligent which generally causes her to get into as well as out of trouble quite frequently. Though she tends to prefer playing the role of the dumb blonde and crazed lunatic because that’s what people expect of her.
She tries and works very hard at being accepted, yet on the other hand, she really doesn’t care what others think of her – or so she says. She has none of the inhibitions or trappings that society generally levels upon a person, doing or saying things as she pleases -- usually to the embarrassment of others and to Rodney McKay in particular -- without being aware that she’s committed some social taboo or faux pas. There’s just something very freeing about being labeled insane. And she gives everyone their own unique nicknames, no matter how in appropriate; however, these names are generally reserved for those she calls friends – the “nicer” names that is. These unorthodoxed naming conventions is kind of like having a pet, and giving it a name is the equivalent of putting her own personal stamp on it, declaring ownership and making it her’s. Plus she’s never been very good with remembering formal names. So, if Andra dubs someone with a special moniker, it’s not usually meant to be offense. She’s just declaring a friend and marking her territory, so to speak, and she can be very possessive of her friends.
Andra possesses a child-like curiosity and wonder towards things around her. Especially when exposed to or presented with something new she’s never seen before. This curiosity and fascination is another factor that often leads her to getting into trouble. It’s also an innate quality about her that drives McKay – along with a few others – batty because she’s constantly getting into and messing with things she probably shouldn’t.
But Andra also has a dark side to her and for the most part, she kills without remorse or regret – generally appearing cold blooded to those that don’t understand. But those that fall victim to her did so for a good reason. This could be a result of her military training in which she was taught it was either kill or be killed. It could also be simply because she has never really developed any close personal ties with anyone. Even within her own regiment, she was still considered a bit of an outcast. Not many people want to associate with a lunatic let alone become friends with one, though it never hurts for others to become “friendly” with her. As the adage goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Though on the rare occasion when Andra does make friends, she’s more inclined to do so with men than with women. Perhaps it’s because women feel threatened by her looks, or maybe it’s because they’re more intuitive and sense that she’s trouble and dangerous. While some men on the other hand, find the danger aspect to be beguiling. And Andra’s not opposed to or above using her feminine wiles to her advantage or to get what she wants. But for the most part, men tend to be more accepting of her than women in general.
Andra is very loyal to her people and will go out of her way to ensure their continued survival. She is also just as loyal as well as protective towards those who are her true friends. Much like her countryman Ronon, Andra is either a great ally to have, or a dangerous enemy.
Likes: Andra loves all men in general and of any type; military, buff, geeky, skinny, it really doesn’t matter as she finds them all charming with their own unique qualities. She also loves leather and not just the look of it, but the feel and smell of it as well. She’s into body art and piercings. She also likes having a good time – partying and drinking. She likes to hunt and has an unhealthy fascination with sharp pointy objects as well as shiny things. She enjoys physical activities – sports, working out, and sparring with anyone who’s willing to fight her. And since she’s discovered the Earth delicacy of chocolate, she can’t get enough of it in any form.
Dislikes: Anyone who claims she’s stupid or crazy, and the Wraith.
Strengths/Weaknesses: While Andra’s ability to sense the Wraith, communicate with them and control them has proven to be a boon for the Atlantis expedition, it also comes at a great personal risk. The longer her contact is with the Wraith, the harder she has to concentrate to maintain that contact and control. This leads to exhaustion, severe nose bleeds, and mind shattering migraines which can lead to a brain aneurysm.
Also, while for the most part Andra has developed a tough skin against the opinions and names leveled at her by others, to hear any such disparaging remarks from a friend affects her deeply. She holds her friends in such high regard -- willing to do nearly anything for them -- that to have any of them call her stupid literally breaks her heart.
Quirks/Habits: Andra has a habit of carrying out entire conversations and arguing with herself, and the closer the Wraith are, the more pronounced those conversations and arguments become. She also has a major leather fetish. And when she uses her energy pistols, she has a habit of cross drawing them rather than pulling them straight from the hip.
Sexual Preference: Andra is primarily straight/heterosexual – she loves men -- although she has been known to play for the other team on occasion.
History: Andra was a Specialist in the military on her homeworld of Sateda – a planet with a 1940s level of technology but not so in regards to their weaponry. It’s not clear what she specialized in, but it is likely that she served in some form of Special Forces.
At the age of around three or four, she was found wandering homelessly along the outskirts of Sateda’s capital city. No parents or relatives could be located for her – nor did any come forth -- and she was shipped off to an orphanage. At the time, she was basically a quite child who kept to herself which made her an ideal candidate for adoption or fostering. However, when she began displaying signs of madness, she was promptly returned to the orphanage. She would complain of hearing voices and behaved strangely, talking to people who weren’t even there and sometimes in a strange tongue. She also turned violent, lashing out at others in frustration, thus began her long succession of being bounced around between orphanages and mental institutions.
At first, Andra’s violent urges began as nothing more than not understanding what was happening to her. But as she grew older, she became belligerent, fighting with the doctors and nurses who attempted to restrain her or put her into “treatment” – shock therapy -- as well as lashing out the other kids in the orphanage for picking on her and calling her names. The sad thing was, even though she displayed the symptoms of being mentally ill, she was misdiagnosed. The root of Andra’s problem was contained within her DNA – she had some Wraith mixed in her cocktail.
One of Andra’s ancestors was of the Taken -- as the Athosians labeled them – a group of people who were taken by a Wraith scientist to try to make their food source (ie: humans), more compatible with their species in an attempt to make the feeding process more efficient. What the scientist didn’t realize was that by imposing Wraith DNA on his subjects, he was enabling them to tap into the Wraith’s psychic network. Once this was discovered, the scientist abandoned his research and released the Taken back to their homes in the hopes that interbreeding with the normal human population would dilute the affect.
The Taken soon became feared as they began to exhibit signs of madness much as Andra had. The villagers turned on the Taken and there was a massacre. All but a few of them were killed and the rest were ostracized and sent away to other planets. But those who survived passed on their “gift” through their lineage. Over time, and through several generations, these people were able to develop mental barriers to protect themselves from the thought projections of the Wraith.
Andra possesses this same gift and is able to sense the Wraith, one of her ancestors having been one of the Taken who was banished and eventually found his/her way to Sateda. However, Andra never developed the natural mental defenses to tune out Wraith communications or see through their eyes. This caused her to go quite literally insane (especially in the view of others), talking to herself as she argued with and tried to purge the voices and visions in her head, hence the sanitariums. Though when the Wraith are not around, Andra is quite lucid, appearing as any normal human would.
Andra’s sense ability is rather acute which allows her to not only sense the presence of Wraith but other beings as well, though not nearly as pronounced or to the degree in which she can sense the Wraith. She is also able to read minds of other beings to a degree. While this ability is not truly telepathic in nature, it’s more of an ability to intuit what another is thinking to an unnerving accuracy, an ability that has saved her life more than once.
When Andra turned 17, she was too old to remain a ward of Sateda -- with no family to speak of -- and lucid enough not to be committed, she was drafted into the Satedan military. It was felt that with her violent behavior, the military would either be a good fit for her or break her. Fortunately, the former proved to be true and she quickly rose to the rank of Specialist. She’s a fierce fighter, an expert at hand-to-hand combat as well as the use of many weapons. She also has the ability to look at the bigger picture, understanding tactics quite well.
Despite her reputation for being stark raving nuts, her special gift has served her well. When she says she senses the Wraith or goes off in a manic tangent in evidence of their proximity, those in her company take note. And it was because of her ability to sense the Wraith that her regiment was able to get many civilians to the shelter west of the capital when Sadeta was attacked, making her one of the fortunate 300 estimated to have survived.
When the culling ended, the survivors emerged from the shelter to discover their world in ruins. With nothing left, they all set off on their own, settling on many different planets throughout the Pegasus galaxy. Andra traveled from world to world, never remaining in one place for too long, making a living as an opportunist.
She first encountered Lt. Col. Sheppard and his team on M3K-237 during a trading mission. They were ambushed by a band of black market pirates who were after the medical supplies Rodney McKay was carrying. During the commotion while Sheppard, Ronon, and Teyla put up some resistance, Andra was able to sneak away with McKay, saving his life. She later helped McKay infiltrate the pirate’s camp and liberate his friends during a Wraith attack in which she was able to use her abilities to their advantage.
Once back in Atlantis, Andra was given sanctuary for having helped the team escape and Sheppard offered her a position on Major Lorne’s team. Despite her apparent insanity issues which they had correctly attributed to her Wraith DNA, she had proven to be handy in a fight as well as a good person to have in their corner. These humans from Earth were totally unlike anyone she’d ever met and they were willing to place a certain amount of trust in her, something very few people ever did. That along with the rapport she was developing with McKay – she thought it was very cute the way the veins on his temples popped out when he was angry – made her decide to stay. She’s never had any true friends or a place that she could call home, and with the Atlantis expedition, she found both.
Weapons: Andra has two twin energy pistols -- like the one Ronon Dex carries – which she wears on each thigh. The guns emit red bursts of energy, and have two settings, stun and kill. They resemble a revolver, with a power cell where the ammunition cylinder would be located. It’s known that Andra procured one of the guns in a card game, but how she came across the other one is as of yet unknown. The popular theory is that she stole it.
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| Andra's Knife |
Special Skills/Training/Abilities/Education: Like her fellow Satedan Ronon, Andra is an expert tracker and hunter. She is also skilled in the use of many weapons and combat techniques. But what sets her apart from Ronon is that she has the ability to sense, communicate with, and control the Wraith, sometimes even speaking in their language without being aware of it.
Medical History
Allergies: No known allergies.
Injuries/Illnesses: Like Ronon and most Satedans, Andra’s physiology is unique. She can withstand several hits from a stunner before being brought down and is quick to recover. However, due to the obvious differences in their physiques, Ronon is by far the harder of the two to subdue.
Most of Andra’s medical records were lost after the destruction of Sateda. But she doesn’t appear to have had any severe injuries or illnesses other than the usual such as Kirsan fever at the age of 8 and a few broken bones.
Mental Health: While Andra may appear sane or lucid most of the time, she suffers from bouts of insanity – most notably when the Wraith are near. However, it’s arguable that she’s not clinically insane, just misunderstood because of her gifts. Though, the thing to note is that because of her apparent upbringing and having never been told differently, she believes she’s crazy. It's also suspected that she may suffer from ADHD since she's easily distracted and exhibits hyperactive character traits.
Eyesight: 20/20
Hearing: Excellent
ATA Gene: Negative – but Andra does possess Wraith DNA.
| Andra's Tatoos | |||
| Neck | Wrist | Side | Back |
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