Furling (Stargate)

The Furlings are an advanced alien race within the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.

History
Little is known about them, save that they were a member of the "Alliance of four great races", along with the Ancients, Asgard, and Nox. However, occasional artifacts attributed to the Furlings have been identified. Furling writing has also been seen in the show in the first-season episode "The Torment of Tantalus" along with the writings of the other great races (though only the Ancient and Asgard writings have been positively linked with their civilizations).

It has also been suggested that they are a pacifistic race, like the Nox and somewhat unlike the Ancients and Asgard, who, while they did not like it, were more willing to use military force. In the sixth-season episode "Paradise Lost" it is discovered that the Furlings had set up a Utopian community without weapons or advanced technology. The colony was destroyed by a Goa'uld who was able to smuggle in seeds for a plant that produced a paranoia-inducing chemical, causing the inhabitants to go insane and kill each other, though the Goa'uld himself was also killed.

Harry Maybourne, who had discovered the key to reaching this colony, described them thus:
 * "A long time ago, some people from an advanced alien society, well they chucked it all and they formed this small, isolated Utopian community. They sent out representatives to meet and evaluate people from all over the galaxy and offer them a chance to join them. The scroll and the stone were the invitation."

It is unknown whether any of the skeletons later found at that colony were actually Furlings, or if it was a purely human community that had just been set up by them.

Speculation
Several unnamed races have appeared in Stargate continuity who could in fact be the Furlings. When Executive Producer Robert C. Cooper was asked "Will we ever meet the Furlings?", his answer was "Who says we haven't?"

The design and artwork of their technology resembles Mesoamerican artwork. The season three episode "Crystal Skull" introduced a mysterious being who identified himself as Quetzalcoatl, the name of the Toltec hero from whom all Mesoamerican cultures claim descent, and spoke Mayan. He appeared as a mist inside a giant Mayan pyramid, where the episode's eponymous artifact was used as a transportation device through extra dimensions, apparently inhabited by his race.

After a long absence from the series' ongoing story, this artifact was referred to again in the season nine episode "Arthur's Mantle". This episode's eponymous artifact also shifted people through extra dimensions. Since it was constructed by one of the Ancients, whoever constructed the crystal skulls had a level of technology comparable to one of four great races. Since this technology is proving useful to protect against the Ori, perhaps Quetzalcoatl's race will return in an alliance, if not the alliance of the four great races.

The American heritage dictionary defines the act of furling as "to roll up and secure" and "to be or become rolled up." According to M-theory, which is sometimes referred to in the show, there are other spatial dimensions that are not obvious to us because they are curled up. This makes them extraordinarily difficult to see, similar to how the above artifacts make their users difficult to detect. Perhaps the Furlings were able to roll themselves up in these dimensions and thus protect themselves from their enemies, adding further light to notion that Quetzalcoatl is of their race.

Jokes
Jack O'Neill has concluded that the Furlings must be cute and cuddly creatures, based solely on their name. A man in the episode "Citizen Joe", who heard of the Furlings through a man who could recall O'Neill's memories, equated the Furlings to the Ewoks based on their name. Knowing that they were part of the Alliance of Four Great Races, however, they were likely very powerful and advanced. Furthermore, since the Ewoks are well-known for their annoying many science fiction fans, this was likely an inside joke from the writers.

Joseph Mallozzi claimed that more about the Furlings would finally be revealed in Stargate SG-1's tenth season. In a Sci Fi Channel advertisement for the 200th episode, Cooper stated "We're finally going to get to to see the Furlings." What was actually shown was an imagined scene from a script for a movie based on the fictional television series "Wormhole X-Treme!", a parody of Stargate SG-1 within the Stargate SG-1 universe. The Furlings were portrayed as a race similar to the Ewoks, but are more identifiable as koalas.

The Furlings have yet to be explicitly identified. The unprecedented length of time that their nature has remained a mystery in the series, now in its tenth year, has provided opportunity to tease fans with a running gag.