Jonas Quinn
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Jonas Quinn is a scientist from Langara, and formerly a member of SG-1.
History
SG-1 first encountered Jonas Quinn during a routine visit to his homeworld. Jonas was an academic with multiple degrees, involved with the research into Naquadria — an potent variant of Naquadah — on behalf of his nation, Kelowna. When Kelowna's experiments with a Naquadria bomb went awry, Daniel Jackson of SG-1 intervened, receiving a deadly dose of radiation as a result. Though Jackson evaded his death via Ascension, Jonas blamed himself for not intervening instead, and defected to Earth with a sample of Naquadria to make amends. (SG1: "Meridian")
Earth made several attempts to use Naquadria as a power source, beliving that, while exponentially volatile, it represented a short cut to a viable hyperspace engine. A Naquadria-powered hyperdrive was tested aboard the X-302 and later F-302 with only limited success, viable for short bursts in hyperspace to bypass shields or cross brief distances, but not for interstellar travel. A larger unit was trialled aboard the X-303, but an interaction with gravitational waves while in hyperspace caused the drive's buffer — designed to offset the Naquadria's instability — to burn out, and subsequent attempts to use the drive led to its overload and eventual detonation. This stranded the Prometheus and her crew on Tagrea for several months, until an alternate hyperdrive could be salvaged from an Al'kesh. Naquadria was ultimately abandoned as a power source, with Earth later receiving more reliable hyperspace technology from the Asgard. (SG1: "Redemption, Part 1", "Redemption, Part 2", "Memento", "Fallen", "Avenger 2.0", "Grace", "Covenant")
While his gift of Naquadria ultimately amounted to very little, Jonas Quinn was still able to contribute to Stargate Command, joining SG-1 as Doctor Jackson's replacement. His perspective during Anubis' attempt to overload Earth's Stargate with an energy weapon helped save Earth; he contributed to the rescue of Supreme Commander Thor, and helped the Asgard trap the Replicators in a time dialation field on their homeworld; and was part to the downfall of at least two System Lords. Jonas was present for SG-1's first contact with Pangar, the planet responsible for the symbiote-derived wonder-drug Tretonin; with the people of Tagrea, who he helped to locate their buried Stargate and establish trade relations with Earth; and for first contact with the Human and Serrakin natives of the planet Hebridan, encountered on P4X-131. He also helped resolve several incidents involving the NID and their rogue offshoot that would become The Trust: the infiltration of Stevenson, Oregon by infant Goa'uld, the attempted theft of the X-303, and the attempted assassination of Senator Robert Kinsey. (SG1: "Redemption, Part 2", "Descent", "Nightwalkers", "Cure", "Prometheus", "Unnatural Selection", "Smoke and Mirrors", "Metamorphosis", "Forsaken", "Memento", "Prophecy")
While a prisoner of Nirrti, Jonas was studied as part of her hok'tar research; she considered him to be more "advanced" than other Humans; months later, Jonas would develop precognitive abilities similar to those seen in other hok'tars as well as in pre-Ascension Ancients, although these powers disappeared after the associated brain tumor was removed. (SG1: "Metamorphosis", "Prophecy")
Jonas Quinn assisted with SG-1's attempts to locate the Eye of Ra on Abydos, a current fixation of Anubis. Though successful, they were unable to prevent it from falling into enemy hands; Anubis was able to integrate the device into a planet-destroying superweapon aboard his Mothership, and use it to destroy the Abydos Stargate. While searching for the Lost City of the Ancients, Jonas stumbled across the location of Vis Uban — the last city of the Ancients — where Stargate Command lured Anubis and his Mothership into a trap, hoping to destroy it with an F-302 that had been dismantled, moved through the gate, and reassembled on Vis Uban. Jonas was captured during the attempt, and Anubis used a neural implant to extract information from Jonas' mind, learning the location of Langara and its Naquadria supplies. However, even Anubis could not overcome Naquadria's instabilities, and he was eventually driven off by the United Alliance of System Lords. With the existance of the Stargate and aliens now revealed to his entire planet, Jonas Quinn returned home to serve as part of the new Joint Ruling Council. (SG1: "Lost City", "Fallen", "Homecoming")
Back on Langara, Jonas resumed his Naquadria research, using his newly acquired insight and understanding to study the research of the Goa'uld Thanos who had discovered — or created — the original Naquadria deposits on his world. It soon became clear that the process responsible for creating the Naquadria was ongoing, slowly converting a native Naquadah vein and posing a severe risk to the planet. With the help of Samantha Carter, and his assistant, Kianna Cyr, Jonas planned to use the Deep Underground Excavation Vehicle — originally constructed to mine Naquadria on a large scale — to drill down to the Naquadria vein and detonate an explosive charge that would halt the conversion process. During the mission, Kianna was discovered to be a Goa'uld spy, but one that proved willing to assist in their efforts, and even sacrificed itself to ensure the success of the mission. (SG1: "Fallout")
When Colonel Cameron Mitchell was placed in command of SG-1, he found himself lacking all of the team's historic members: Daniel Jackson preparing to leave for Atlantis, Samantha Carter overseeing research and development at Area 51, and Teal'c accepting a seat on the Jaffa High Council on Dakara. He reached out to Jonas Quinn alongside his efforts to lure the other team members back: not Mitchell's first choice, although Jonas was at least a flattered to not be the last, either. Jonas felt compelled to decline, feeling that the same shift in interstellar politics that had drawn the rest of SG-1 elsewhere had set the stage for his own people to begin exploring a much safer galaxy. However, after the outbreak of the Ori Crusade, and the destruction of the Korolev at the Battle of P3Y-229 — and worse, direct threats by the Ori against Langara — Jonas relocated to the Beta Site in order to assist in Stargate Command's efforts to develop countermeasures against the Ori Motherships that had begun harassing the galaxy. One of those proposed countermeasures was a Naquadria-powered enhancements for the Asgard shields of the BC-304. Jonas worked alongside Kvasir and Hermiod of the Asgard, as well as Jalen of the Tok'ra, Alec Colson and Claire Tobias from the Alpha Site, and a handful of scientists from Area 51 to try and make it possible for a BC-304 to withstand the impacts of the Ori's beam weapons, in the hopes that Langara would be one of the first targets for a Tau'ri counterattack. (SGR: "The Arrow")
Behind the Scenes
Jonas Quinn was portrayed by Corin Nemec in 25 episodes of Stargate SG-1. He also appeared in Supernatural, where he played a cousin to the Winchesters, alongside their grandfather: played by Mitch Pileggi.
Nemec also appeared in the fan film Star Trek: Renegades, alongside Robert Picardo and Tim Russ.
Jonas not returning in Season 8 or Season 9 is likely just a matter of "TV reasons", but it does seem a little out of character for Cameron Mitchell in particular — notoriously versed in all of SG-1's mission reports — to not have even considered Jonas when attempting to bring the band back together. "The Arrow" rectifies this, adding a short flashback scene that establishes Langara as Mitchell's next destination after visiting Teal'c on Dakara, an off-camera fix for an oversight his character probably wouldn't have made.